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In Yun Family Market, a beggar went mad, telling everyone that he had encountered the female Bodhisattva in a temple and had stripped her of her clothes right in front of her.
A well-meaning person, seeing the woman's outer garment draped over him, approached with the intention of coaxing him into revealing the details of how he had stripped the Bodhisattva. To his surprise, the beggar stared wide-eyed and grinned at him, stuttering, "If you want to know, you can strip it yourself."
The well-meaning person felt embarrassed and left in frustration. However, one unscrupulous individual wandering around the market, lured by a reward, tricked the beggar into being dragged to the magistrate's office. It turned out that the beggar was the very thief wanted for killing someone after failing to assault them, with evidence being the outer robe he wore.
The beggar, foolish and dazed, did not understand how to defend himself. No matter how many times the magistrate questioned him, he only repeated, "I stripped the Bodhisattva's clothes in the dilapidated temple."
Thus, the magistrate began to form his own theories and conducted an in-depth analysis of the beggar's statement. The phrase about stripping in front of the Bodhisattva was not difficult to understand. The victim, Zhu, had been murdered near a dilapidated temple; as for who built it, that was no longer traceable. The temple was dedicated to no proper deity, and locals rarely visited it for fear of attracting something unclean.
The latter part of his statement, "stripped the Bodhisattva's clothes," was also understandable. Zhu bore a striking resemblance to a Buddha statue and was considered quite beautiful within a hundred-mile radius. The beggar appeared to be only thirteen or fourteen years old and likely had never seen any beautiful women before; he probably mistook Zhu for a descending Bodhisattva and thus developed lustful intentions. When Zhu refused him, the beggar's anger flared up, leading him to kill her.
After seeing Zhu dead and coveting her possessions, he stripped her clothes with plans to sell them. However, somehow he ended up frightened out of his wits. In common folk terms, this could be seen as evil meeting its just deserts. Realizing all this made the magistrate feel incredibly wise; he instructed his clerk to write down a statement and had the Yard Officer take it to have the beggar sign it. He immediately sentenced him to death. As it was close to the New Year and he did not want bloodshed on his hands, he postponed the execution until after the holiday. The beggar was imprisoned as a suspect in Zhu's murder case.
When news reached Ruyi Rouge shop, Xing Ruyi was busy making turnip cakes. She first shredded white radish and saved the juice that came out for later use. Then she stir-fried the radish shreds until they became translucent before briefly frying some mushrooms. She soaked dried shrimp that Li Mao had previously fished out from a ditch in clean water and drained them for later use. Just as she was chopping cilantro, Li Mao rushed in with hurried steps, excitedly talking about what had just happened in Yun Family Market—the beggar's murder of Zhu.
Xing Ruyi quickly finished chopping cilantro and then mixed radish shreds with rice flour in clean water while asking, "Why would this beggar suddenly murder Zhu? In this cold winter season, if someone were to commit murder, it should be for money. Lusting after beauty seems rather out of place."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It sounds like a wrongful conviction; this beggar is likely being framed," Xing Ruyi replied while continuing her work without slowing down; she had already begun frying those cut pieces.
"How do you know this beggar is innocent? From what I've heard on the streets, everyone seems convinced that he deserves to be caught and should pay for Zhu's life. You might not know that this beggar has been wandering around this market for quite some time now, mumbling just one phrase: 'In front of the Bodhisattva, I stripped her clothes.' Doesn't that sound strange?"
"It is a bit strange, but it may not necessarily be related to Zhu," Xing Ruyi carefully arranged the plate and finally placed the shaped Carrot cake in front of Li Mao. "This beggar is just a beggar; he has no fixed abode. Even if he temporarily resides in the Ruined Temple, it is understandable. Wandering the streets late at night is also to be expected. As for Zhu, if I remember correctly, her family is in the silk business. On the day Xing opened for business, she even brought her maid to buy Rouge. Although they are not a wealthy family, they have some savings. Why would such a lovely woman be out at such a late hour, and why would she be near that Ruined Temple? Could it be that she had an appointment with that beggar?"
"How could that be possible?" Li Mao pinched a piece of Carrot cake and put it in his mouth, blowing out air because it was hot. "The Shopkeeper must be joking. At the Yun Family Gathering, whether it's a woman like Zhu or an ordinary household, they wouldn't necessarily give a beggar a smile. However, I have heard that Zhu is quite kind-hearted and often helps these beggars. Perhaps she knows that beggar and was unguarded?"
"Even if you are familiar with a beggar, as a married man, would you go to the Ruined Temple to help him at midnight?" Xing Ruyi slapped Li Mao's hand as he reached for the Carrot cake. "Have you washed your hands? And you're still eating!"
"I washed them already when I was at the Hu Family," Li Mao said with a silly grin. "The new herbs delivered today were all unfamiliar to me. The steward Hu Fu didn't know how to prepare them or what heat level to use, so he kept me around for a while and taught him step by step. The Second Master of the Hu Family saw that the Master's condition was improving and sent word back that he would personally come to thank you, Shopkeeper, another day. Oh, and today I received a silver ingot as a reward. I know you wouldn't care for it, so I just tucked it into my pocket."
Xing Ruyi shot Li Mao an exasperated look. "Look at you! Just for one silver ingot, you think it's worth hiding? What are you worried about? Are you afraid I'll take it from you?"
"That's not it!" Li Mao scratched his head. "I just worry that if you find out I took Hu Family's silver, you might be unhappy."
"What do I have to be unhappy about? I wish I could gather all of Hu Family's silver into our Xing establishment. That silver from the Hu Family isn't exactly clean silver; if I don't take it, I'd feel uncomfortable instead. Also, regarding the Hu Family's matters, you can handle them yourself; there's no need for you to involve me in everything. Just hearing the name 'Hu' makes me feel uneasy."
"You know that the Shopkeeper doesn't want that Hu Family Master to get better at all. To be honest, neither do I; neither of those two masters from the Hu Family are good people, especially that Hu Er Ye—his malevolence has been growing stronger lately. It seems he hasn't given up on researching that Corpse Puppet."
"If he doesn't stop meddling with it, Hu Er Ye will eventually die by its hand. Well, this can be seen as cause and effect; we outsiders should just stay out of it."
"Don't worry, Shopkeeper; I know how to handle things with the Hu Family," Li Mao said while taking advantage of Xing Ruyi's distraction to sneak another piece of Carrot cake into his mouth. When Xing Ruyi looked up at him, he was puffing out his cheeks, unable to swallow or spit it out.
Seeing him like this made Xing Ruyi cover her mouth and laugh softly: "You really are hopeless; you have no ambition at all. This Carrot cake is best eaten while it's hot, but there's no need for you to rush like this! I'm not stopping you from eating because I'm afraid you'll burn yourself. This time out, I only brought you as my Clerk; if your mouth gets burned, how will we manage business in this shop?"
"The Shopkeeper can rest assured; my mouth may not be made of iron and steel, but it's not as delicate as our Yin Ye at home who can't handle hot food or cold drinks. I can swallow anything," Li Mao said as he lifted an entire plate of Carrot cakes.
Hearing Li Mao mention the fox, Xing Ruyi felt her heart sink. It had been several days since their separation, and she wondered if the fox had returned to Qingqiu and whether it had encountered any trouble along the way. That night, although she was surrounded by Fireflies and couldn't hear the conversation between Yin Yuan and Moxuyou clearly, there were a few sentences she caught.
Moxuyou mentioned that Qingqiu was in danger, and that danger stemmed from the two Inner Dans within the fox. One was the Ghost Dan extracted from her ancestor, Lord Yun of Yun Village, while the other was the Snake Dan obtained from Bai Jiao of the Spirit Serpent Clan in Qingqiu. For her, these two items were lifesaving; for those of the cultivation clan, they were excellent elixirs to enhance their own cultivation. Although Qingqiu was strongest with the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, the fox in question did not belong to this era's Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, which made Qingqiu's denial of it worth considering.
Thinking of this made her feel restless. If it weren't for Yin Yuan's insistence on stopping her, she would have already left the Yun Family Gathering to search for the fox.
"Where is Yin Yuan? I haven't seen him since this morning. Did he go to Hu Residence with you or is he off watching the beggar's trial?"
"What's wrong? Didn't the Shopkeeper see him either?" Li Mao picked up a piece of carrot cake and then set it down again. "When I got up this morning, he was already gone. I didn't see him on the way to Hu Family either. As for watching the beggar's trial, at this hour, there probably isn't much excitement left to see. If he were watching, he should have returned by now."
"You stay here and keep an eye on things; I'll go take a look."
"Shopkeeper!" Li Mao called out to Xing Ruyi. "With our young master's abilities, nothing unexpected will happen at this Yun Family Gathering. Even if something does happen, it will surely be those who provoke him that will be unfortunate. Based on my guess, our young master has likely gone out these past few days for that matter."
"That matter! What matter are you talking about? Could it be that you and Yin Yuan are hiding something from me that you don't want me to know?" Xing Ruyi placed her hands on her hips, displaying a defiant demeanor she hadn't shown since leaving Rouge Shop. "What else is there between you and Yin Yuan that I don't know? What does 'that matter' refer to?"
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