Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 260 Invitation
When the dinner bell rang, Wang Heng and Xiaocai said they were having lunch in another courtyard, so they said goodbye to Mr. Zhang and went downstairs.

The two of them walked straight out of the mountain gate to the villa. After having a vegetarian meal, they returned to the west wing. They saw a figure flash in front of the gauze window. Xiaocai leaned over to look and saw that it was Xiaowu outside the gauze window.

Xiaocai gently pushed the wooden door open, and Jinyang Jun Li Yan stood in front of the door with a smile, with Xiaowu beside him.

Xiao Wu returned from Li's residence in Cuihua Village with four servants from Jubao Temple. They thought they would not be able to get back to the temple until dark. He walked very fast and it seemed that he had some basic skills in martial arts.

The doors and windows of the west wing were closed during the day, and the room was a bit stuffy. Wang Heng brought out bamboo stools and chairs, and the host and guests sat in the corridor to enjoy the cool air.

Li Wei asked, "Brother Ruan was sent to the Li family. Is his injury getting better now?"

Wang Heng smiled and said, "Mr. Zhao, who is worshipped by the Li family, is very skilled. Brother Ruan is now safe and sound. He can return to the South Prison after resting for two or three days."

Li Wei was surprised and asked, "Such a serious wound can be healed in just two or three days?"

Wang Heng added, "Tomorrow is the birthday banquet for our father, Lord Li. We have learned that you are on Jubao Mountain, and we would like to invite you to join us for the banquet."

I thought Li Yan would decline politely, but Jinyang Jun readily agreed and said, "It is reasonable for me to go visit Brother Li and Brother Ruan, but I cannot use my real name. When Brother Wang introduced me, he just said that I was a classmate of the Southern Prison."

Wang Heng nodded and said with a smile: "It's enough to just call you Li Jiansheng. There are so many students in the Southern Prison, I don't know how many Li Jiansheng there are."

Xiaocai changed his mind and said, "Tomorrow when we get to the Li family, I will go find Lao Chen first and ask him to keep it a secret for you and not to tell anyone."

"Oh, it turned out that it was Old Chen and Brother Ruan who sent Brother Li home. Old Chen is a decent person and knows how to behave." Li Fu felt relieved.

They agreed to go down the mountain together at the beginning of the next morning at 9:00 p.m., and Li Fu took Xiao Wu and said goodbye.

The backs of the two of them gradually disappeared in the twilight. Xiaocai saw that there was no one under the corridor, and said leisurely: "Jinyang Jun is very interesting. He was afraid of causing controversy yesterday, but he gladly accepted the invitation today. I am afraid that even if the seventh brother did not mention it, he would take the initiative to go."

Wang Heng seemed to have gained something, and said, "Maybe Xiao Wu should go and observe first. It's worth his trip. If they have any plans, they will only be in the next few days. We just need to keep an eye on them."

Xiaocai said, "Is there any relationship between Jinyang Jun's biological mother, Madam Jin, and Fu Niang, the mistress of Hexiang Tower in "Hexiang Tower Memories"? Why don't you show Jinyang Jun "Hexiang Tower Memories"?"

Wang Heng shook his head repeatedly: "Not right, not right. It is not right to interfere with other people's karma for no reason. Jinyang Jun is a noble of the Li Dynasty, and it will bring disaster upon himself."

Xiaocai poured himself a cup of tea, sniffing the lingering fragrance, and said, "Now that we're talking about it, how could Mrs. Liu's mother Le's surname be Xu? I remember it clearly. Xiaodie, the maid of the Liu family, said that Mrs. Xu, who lived in Li Garden in Jiangning County, was Mrs. Liu's godmother. How could Mrs. Liu have the godmother's surname?"

Wang Heng also said: "This is indeed very strange. We have no idea where Madam Xu came from."

As the afterglow of the sunset faded, the young monk in the courtyard began to water the flowers and trees with a wooden bucket. Wang Heng and Xiao Cai stopped their conversation and sipped their tea in the cool breeze.

The young monk watering the flowers was Wushan, who had left food for them. They were now familiar with each other. He greeted them as they passed by the corridor: "You two benefactors, how pleasant it is." Xiaocai smiled and walked over to them, hooked his arm around Wushan's shoulder and said: "Wushan, don't be busy working, come and take a break and have a cup of tea."

Wushan put his hands together and said, "Always wipe it away, so as not to attract dust."

Xiaocai replied, "There is nothing in the first place, so how can dust gather? Master Wushan, I have already poured the tea for you."

"Don't be polite, benefactor." Wushan said this, putting down the big wooden barrel in his hand and sitting on the bamboo stool. "Actually, there are no religious ceremonies in the temple these days, so it's quite quiet. There are only three or two pilgrims in the annex, so naturally there's not much work."

Xiaocai said, "I noticed that after the Liu family left the mountain, no one has been performing rituals in the past few days. So, rituals in the temple also have off-peak and off-peak seasons?"

Wu Shan smiled and said, "Of course. On such a hot day, there are very few people who perform rituals."

Wang Heng suddenly had an idea in his mind and asked, "Has the Liu family ever held a ritual in Jubao Temple before?"

Wushan lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said, "I have never met the Liu family before. They probably haven't performed rituals in this temple in the past one or two years."

"Liu Biejia passed away more than a year ago. There must have been a ritual performed at that time. Most people would invite the monks and Taoists who performed the rituals at the funeral to perform them again. Why did the Liu family choose Jubao Temple for the anniversary celebration? Could it be that the receptionist went to the Liu family to collect alms?" Wang Heng asked with a frown.

"I am only responsible for the cleaning of the courtyard, and I don't know much about other people and things." Wushan hesitated a little and said, "However, Senior Brother Wufa seems to know someone from the Liu family."

Xiaocai was shocked: "What? Wufa knows someone from the Liu family? Is he the Wufa who used to follow Master Guangheng?"

“It was Senior Brother Wufa who served as an errand boy for Senior Brother Guangheng.” Wu Shan pointed in the direction of the east wing and said, “I saw Senior Brother Wufa come out of the east wing where the master of the Liu family lived at that time.”

Wang Heng asked, "Wu Shan, do you remember which day Wu Fa went to the East Wing?"

"It's been quite a while, I can't quite remember it," Wushan pondered, "It was probably the second day of the Liu family's ritual, at dusk, about the same time as now. The sky had already darkened, but if you were not too far away, you could still see the person's face clearly."

As they were talking, Xiaocai refilled Wushan's glass of water. After Wushan finished drinking it, he saw that it was getting late, so he stood up, moved the wooden barrel and continued to work.

When the silver moon first appeared, Wang Heng and Xiaocai moved the bamboo stools and chairs back to the west wing and closed the door.

Xiaocai lit up the mosquito coils and said, "We have to go ask Wufa whether he knows the Liu family or Monk Guangheng knows the Liu family."

Wang Heng thought for a long time and said, "It's a little late today. It's not appropriate to go look for Wufa. It's not clear whether Wufa knew the Liu family and didn't expect to tell us or he deliberately concealed it. If we rashly ask him, we will alert the enemy. I think we should try to find out the truth indirectly."

Xiaocai nodded in agreement.

That night the mountains were misty and the evening breeze was gentle, which did not disturb my sleep.