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墨書 Inktalez
A certain person?
Xing Ruyi looked into Yin Yuan's eyes, trying to guess the meaning of the "certain person" he mentioned.
Yin Yuan was not idle either; he pointed with his chubby, greasy hand at a robust woman in the crowd.
"This lady here seems to have come to see her daughter, but Mother, take a closer look at her face. Doesn't it seem a bit familiar?"
Following Yin Yuan's direction, Xing Ruyi spotted a woman squeezed among the crowd. Due to her sturdy build, she even pushed another woman nearby out of shape. From this angle, it was hard to see the woman's face, but her back seemed increasingly familiar. Xing Ruyi began to involuntarily search her memory and finally, the robust figure of the woman overlapped with someone from her recollections.
"She is the wife of that herbalist! On the day Xing opened his shop, she came in to drum up business. She was quite persuasive, and in the end, even I couldn't resist buying thirty pounds of Balloon Flower from her, which is still sitting under the counter.
I remember that when she came that day, she had a young man in his early twenties with her; he was her eldest son. That boy was quite honest. When I said I wanted to buy thirty pounds of Balloon Flower, he immediately panicked. I could have bought less; buying so much would be wasteful if I couldn't use it all. In the end, this woman shot me two sharp looks.
When this mother and son left, her son kept looking back at me. Perhaps it was because he felt he hadn't been able to help me, so there was a hint of apology in his eyes. Because of this, I also took a few more glances at this woman's back; my impression of her was quite deep."
"Mother, how come you only remember these things?" Yin Yuan shook his head helplessly. "I remember that the reason her son kept looking back was that you are beautiful; he couldn't help but be moved and even stuttered when talking to you. Not only was his face red, but even his ears were flushed. He looked more honest and adorable than my Uncle Chang, who is busy running around."
Also, during our chat, you asked this woman how many children she had. She replied that there were three sons; this one is the eldest, and there's a second one who is studying. The youngest is mischievous and doesn't like studying, so he stays home with his father to learn about herbs like the eldest son. You even specifically asked if there were any daughters in her family; you said daughters are your precious little treasures. The woman disdainfully replied that no matter how dear a daughter is, she will eventually marry and serve someone else's father and mother. She said she was fortunate enough to give birth only to sons and didn't have any burdensome daughters."
With Yin Yuan's reminder, Xing Ruyi recalled that indeed such an incident had occurred. She had looked down on the woman's disdainful expression when talking about daughters.
"Seeing your expression, Mother, you must have remembered," Yin Yuan sighed. "Think about it: this woman has no daughters in her family. Why did she come here today? Who is she here for? I don't see her as someone who enjoys matchmaking or would take on such concerns."
Looking at her feet, it was clear they were still smeared with some black mud—something needed for planting special herbs. So it's obvious that this woman was called here while working by someone.
"Does this certain person have such great influence?" Xing Ruyi carefully searched through her mind.
Yun Family Gathering is just one of the countless ordinary towns in the Golden Tang Dynasty. Its relative prosperity is partly due to its proximity to Yun Village, along with convenient travel routes and a reasonable distance from the county town, which is why the court established a post station for officials here.
In Yun Family Gathering, there are not many notable figures. Aside from the Hu Family Brothers, there are only a few families that are doing reasonably well in business, such as Wang Jiang from the Zhu family who sells silk. However, regardless of how one analyzes it, these people have no connection to Brother Chang. If they were coming for their own Rouge shop, there would be no need to go through such roundabout ways to find some girls, sisters-in-law, or deities to please Brother Chang. What kind of approach is this?
"Do you know something but are deliberately avoiding it, just leading your mother around in circles with your words?"
Xing Ruyi poked Yin Yuan's head with her index finger.
"Alright, if you know something, hurry up. Your mother is quite busy and doesn't have time to listen to your paranoid speculations."
"Yin Yuan isn't being paranoid; it's just that you are overcomplicating things." Yin Yuan stood up, muttering something under her breath, and pointed at those people: "The reason these people can be summoned by someone is not because that person has any special status or identity, but because she has used dark arts. The strange behaviors and nearly identical words of these individuals indicate that they have fallen under the influence of the Puppet technique."
"Puppet technique?" Xing Ruyi glanced at Chang Tai. "What's the purpose? It can't be just to find Brother Chang a regular sister-in-law, right? If that's the case, then the person casting the spell is surprisingly kind-hearted."
"Mother, I've noticed that ever since Father Fox left, your intelligence seems to have declined as well. Not only your intelligence but even your sense of smell seems to have become ineffective. Didn't you notice that our shop has taken on a different scent?"
"Scent?"
Xing Ruyi sniffed carefully and discovered that amidst the mixed aromas of various Rouge herbs, there was a very fresh Fruitwood Fragrance. This scent was faint and blended with the smells of Rouge and Face Powder; without careful discernment, it would be hard to identify.
"There is indeed a scent, a very fresh Fruitwood Fragrance. However, at this time of year, most plants have withered, and those that can emit such a fragrance are extremely rare. Where does this scent come from?"
Yin Yuan pointed at Chang Tai: "Naturally from Uncle Chang! Mother has been back for quite some time; didn't you notice that while these people are surrounding Uncle Chang and flattering him with sweet words, their noses keep twitching as if mimicking what you just did?"
Xing Ruyi carefully identified the scent again and confirmed that the faint aroma indeed emanated from Chang Tai. However, she had known Brother Chang for quite some time and had never noticed this scent on him before. If it wasn't something he carried himself, it must have come from elsewhere. Could it be that Brother Chang knew so many women would visit today and deliberately applied scented powder?
This thought was quickly dismissed by Xing Ruyi. According to Yin Yuan, ever since the fox left, her ability to think had indeed been declining. Now she could even come up with such unreliable deductions.
"I remember that after I left, the General's wife and the county magistrate visited the Rouge shop. Li Mao is a clerk who handles ordinary customers well, but for someone of the General's wife and county magistrate's status, he would definitely consult you first. Although you are powerful, in the eyes of others, you are still a child. Even if you were willing to greet them, they might not take you seriously. So, you must go back and find Brother Chang.
Brother Chang has met with the county magistrate several times due to Zhu's case, and since you have been there, Brother Chang is also quite familiar with that General. It stands to reason that he is well-acquainted with the General's wife as well. Therefore, having him intervene would be most appropriate. Given the relationships among these three, Brother Chang would certainly be close to them and would know how to exchange pleasantries. Thus, he would inevitably pick up some of their aura.
I have also seen this county magistrate before. He is an ordinary official; aside from the typical smell of sweat that men carry, he also has that common scent of Rouge and Face Powder. The last time we met, I noticed at least seven or eight different fragrances on him, all mixed together in a rather uneven manner. This suggests that he must have many wives and concubines at home. If the county magistrate does not have a unique way of managing his household to ensure harmony among his many wives and concubines, he must be struggling to deal with their jealousy and competition for his attention. As a result, within just one day, he would end up carrying a mix of unpleasant odors.
However, today the county magistrate came with the General's wife. Before leaving home, he must have bathed and changed clothes; even if there were some lingering scents on him, they could not possibly be so fresh and refined. Therefore, this Fruitwood Fragrance must come from the General's wife. Brother Chang is quite familiar with the General and surely knows the General's wife as well. Given Brother Chang's usual attentiveness towards others, he might have even assisted her in some way—his clothing brushing against hers or their bodies making contact—thus transferring this Fruitwood Fragrance onto him. However, it seems this scent has lingered for too long.
"It has lingered too long because this Fruitwood Fragrance is not an ordinary scent. In the spirit realm, this fragrance serves as a means to identify friend from foe and to find one's way."
"The spirit realm? Identifying friend from foe? Finding one's way?" Xing Ruyi squinted: "Are you suggesting that this General's wife has an extraordinary background and that those surrounding our shop are here because of her? However, when they arrived, the General's wife's carriage had already left. But because Brother Chang carries this scent on him, they mistakenly took him for the person they were looking for… What is their purpose?"
"Well, that is the purpose of the person behind this!"
Yin Yuan pointed at Chang Tai, and suddenly the women who had been surrounding him changed their expressions dramatically. One by one, they pulled out seven-inch wooden stakes stained with black substances from their sleeves and fiercely stabbed them towards Chang Tai. Although Chang Tai was trained in martial arts, this situation unfolded too suddenly; despite reacting immediately, he could not evade in time and ended up with several puncture wounds on his hand and body. Fortunately, winter clothing is thick enough that it did not injure his flesh.
"Brother Chang!" Xing Ruyi exclaimed anxiously as she tried to move forward but was tightly held back by Yin Yuan’s hand.
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