I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 324, please leave one for me!
Lu Fei said he couldn't help, that was all he knew.

But according to his observation, Wu Mian ran and jumped freely, and did not resemble the zombies in the rumors at all. Perhaps he had faked his death before.

As for why he didn't wake up for two days, he probably fainted temporarily and didn't receive timely treatment, which is why he lay there for two days.

After all, no one would be so idle as to reach into a coffin to check if a dead person is breathing or has a heartbeat.

Feng Jing's eyes darted around, and he beckoned to Chao Chenxing.

Chen Xing immediately let go of Lü Fei's sleeve and walked to the side with him.

The two huddled together and whispered to each other, their voices barely audible, so that no one else could hear what they were saying.

Chu Liuzheng curiously leaned over to listen, and the two of them tacitly stopped talking and turned to look at her.

Chu Liuzheng touched his nose and returned empty-handed under the expectant gazes of everyone.

"Ahem." Xiao Jingfan cleared his throat and instructed Zhou Yuande, "Send two men to keep an eye on Wu Mian's house, and then—"

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Xing and Feng Jing raised their hands eagerly. Chen Xing said, "Young Master, Doctor Feng and I will go keep an eye on things."

Xiao Jingfan had heard Xiao Da talk about Chenxing's various actions in the Dark Guard Camp. Even if he tried to stop Chenxing from going, Chenxing would still sneak off on his own. What's more, now there's also Feng Jing, who loves to join in the fun.

With these two keeping an eye on Wu Mian, he could save two people and send them to Taoran Temple to investigate.

"Okay." He nodded to the two of them and instructed them, "Don't reveal your whereabouts."

"Don't worry about me, young master." Chen Xing patted his chest, grabbed Feng Jing, and ran outside. "Let's go."

You can tell from their backs that they can't wait.

Siyue was also curious about what was going on with Wu Mian and wanted to go with him, but after glancing at Chu Liuzheng beside her, she gave up the idea.

Chu Liuzheng tiptoed, somewhat wanting to join in the fun.

She turned to look at Xiao Jingfan, but before she could even open her mouth, Xiao Jingfan posed a probing question: "Chen Xing is skilled in martial arts, Feng Jing is adept at poison, what about you?"

Chu Liuzheng: "..."

Is it okay to just be a gossipmonger?

Xiao Jingfan: "Stay put."

Chu Liuzheng: ...Eek!

Upon hearing this conversation, Lü Fei suddenly understood something.

His gaze toward Chu Liuzheng immediately became meaningful.

Chu Liuzheng blinked.

Is Lord Lü trying to set me up with someone by giving me that look?

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingfan nearly choked on his tea and looked at Lü Fei curiously, wondering what the look of a matchmaker was.
Lü Fei: ?
He asked tentatively, "Does the young master have something to tell me?"

"Take a few men and sneak into Taoran Temple at night," Xiao Jingfan said. "I suspect this temple has some connection with Yin Lanci, so be careful and don't let the people in the temple find out."

"Yes." Lü Fei solemnly accepted the order, went out and selected three people to accompany him, and specially went back to his room to change into night clothes before setting off.

Unable to witness the gossip firsthand, Chu Liuzheng could only search for it within the system. Little did she know that Siyue, being considerate of her, thought that since she slept so much during the day, she might not be able to sleep at night, so she specially lit some calming incense in her room.

Chu Liuzheng hadn't even found the melon yet when his consciousness had already drifted into a sweet dream.

Siyue slept in the same bed with her, and knew she was asleep when she heard her even breathing.

She stretched her hand out of the bed curtains and flicked two fingers.

A strong gust of wind swept by, and the calming incense went out.

A good night's sleep.

The next day, the sunlight was as bright as snow, making the house exceptionally bright.

Everyone gathered in the lobby for breakfast, and even Xiao Jingfan didn't eat in his room.

He sat by the window, his eyes half-closed as if he hadn't woken up yet, eating the three-delicacy wontons that the cook claimed were even better than those made by the imperial chefs. Clearly, the cook was exaggerating, because Chu Liuzheng saw the emperor put down his spoon after tasting only one wonton.

Zhou Yuande gave Chu Liuzheng a wink and quickly urged him to stop.

Chu Liuzheng sighed.

What happened to the alliance to fatten up the emperor? How come she's the one who's now responsible for persuading the emperor to eat?

She got up and went to the kitchen. A moment later, she brought out a plate of beef pancakes and a bowl of vegetable porridge and placed them in front of Xiao Jingfan: "Young Master, we still have to travel later, so please have some more."

The freshly made beef pancakes are steaming hot, with a golden-brown, crispy exterior and a juicy, generous filling. They look even better than wontons.

Xiao Jingfan reluctantly tried one and felt it was not quite the same as what the chef made. At least the stir-fried beef last night was not as good as the beef filling in the pancake.

He asked, "Did they change the chef?"

[Her tongue is quite nimble.]

Chu Liuzheng cut the second pancake for him, saying as she did so, "I saw some dough ready in the kitchen, so I chopped some ground beef and made this plate of pancakes. If you like it, young master, please have a couple more."

Xiao Jingfan looked up in surprise: "You did this?"

Chu Liuzheng nodded.

She's going to open a restaurant someday, so she needs to have some culinary skills to rely on.
Although she couldn't compare to the imperial chefs, she had served the emperor's meals for so long that she knew his tastes better than the inn's cooks, so she could just tailor her cooking accordingly.

Xiao Jingfan did indeed think that pancakes were tastier than wontons. He ate the pancakes with vegetable porridge and unknowingly finished all four pancakes on the plate.

Chu Liuzheng stared longingly.

[You said you had no appetite? You should at least leave me one!]

Xiao Jingfan wiped his mouth while glancing at her: "If you want to eat, make some more. What are you staring at the plate for?"

This was perfectly justified, and Chu Liuzheng intermittently wanted to give the big boss a piece of his mind.

Zhou Yuande was quite considerate; upon hearing this, he instructed the waiter to have the kitchen prepare two more plates of beef pancakes.

After everyone had eaten wontons and beef pancakes, Siyue looked towards the entrance of the inn and asked in doubt, "Why haven't Chenxing and Doctor Feng returned yet?"

Not only the two of them, but Lü Fei and his group also went out on a night scouting mission and did not return.

Chu Liuzheng was eating a pancake while browsing the system, just as he was about to check on the situation of these people, when Chen Xing and Feng Jingxian returned.

The two looked radiant, not at all like people who had stayed up all night; they must have had a very fruitful day.

Xiao Jingfan didn't rush to ask about the situation and told the two to have breakfast first.

Not long after, Lü Fei returned with his men, but he came downstairs, apparently having gone back to his room to change into his night clothes first.

He wanted to report first, but Xiao Jingfan waved his hand, indicating that they should talk about it after they had eaten.

After finishing their meal, everyone moved to the guest rooms, still gathering in Xiao Jingfan's room.

Chu Liuzheng and Siyue took the tea leaves they brought from home to the kitchen, brewed some tea, and brought it into the house to pour for everyone.

Xiao Jingfan first asked Lü Fei, "How is the situation?"

Lu Fei, holding a cup of tea, said, "The Taoran Temple outside the city isn't very big. In the front courtyard, there's a statue of the Three Pure Ones. The incense burner is almost full of ash, so the temple must be very popular."

"There are five rooms in the backyard. Three are for living, and the other two are used as a kitchen and a storage room."

“We looked inside and out. Besides the abbot, there were only two children in the temple. They looked to be eleven or twelve years old and were probably in charge of the daily cleaning and sweeping.”

Xiao Jingfan asked, "And what about the abbot?"

“I didn’t see him.” Lu Fei shook his head. “The two children said that the abbot went out yesterday evening, seemingly on some urgent business. We waited until dawn but didn’t see him return. However, one or two worshippers did come to visit.”

"I was worried that you would be anxious, so I left one person to keep watch outside the Taoist temple and brought the others back first."

"Young Master, Doctor Feng and I have made a discovery." Seeing that Lü Fei had finished speaking, Chen Xing quickly interjected, bursting with the desire to share.