A female coroner arrived at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Chapter 257 Headless Female Corpse (45)

After dinner, Liu's mother cleared the table, set out tea, snacks, and dried fruit, and then tactfully withdrew.

To prevent Song Shuyu from getting jealous again, Mu Qingcheng emphasized, "My lord, the reason I'm so anxious to know about Lu Xun's situation is because of Zhizhi! She... she keeps asking me why Lu Xun hasn't returned yet, and I want to put her mind at ease."

Song Shuyu was slightly surprised, "Miss Bai also cares about Lu Xun?"

"Including last night, Lu Xun has saved Zhizhi twice now. It's only natural for him to care about his savior."

Since it concerned Bai Zhizhi's reputation and she had not yet obtained Bai Zhizhi's consent, Mu Qingcheng carefully considered the matter and decided to keep it from Song Shuyu as well.

However, Song Shuyu, that old fox, immediately sensed something fishy. "Just this reason?"

"Otherwise what?" Mu Qingcheng asked calmly.

Song Shuyu reached out and tapped Mu Qingcheng's nose with her finger, a pleased smile playing on her lips. "What, you don't trust your master anymore? I was originally planning to help Miss Bai break off her engagement and find her a good marriage in the capital, so that you two wouldn't have to endure the pain of being separated as sisters. Now that she has her own goal, I'm not only happy to see it happen, but I will also give it my full support!"

Mu Qingcheng was speechless. "Is this exactly what you wanted?"

“Of course!” Song Shuyu raised an eyebrow, a sly smile playing in his eyes. “I never expected Miss Bai to be my lucky star! If she can help me get rid of Lu Xun, this major threat, I will definitely reward her handsomely.”

"My master is so clever!" Mu Qingcheng picked up a piece of sour candied fruit and stuffed it into Song Shuyu's mouth, teasingly saying, "Here, a reward for my master."

The sour taste filled his mouth, and Song Shuyu's face contorted instantly. He wanted to spit it out, but Mu Qingcheng pressed her finger to his lips and said with a smile, "Isn't your ability to get jealous amazing, sir? Since you like sour food, then eat it properly and don't waste any."

Song Shuyu felt like dying. He had never been able to eat sour food since he was a child. Because Mu Qingcheng liked sour food, he had someone specially make sweet and sour candied fruit. Who would have thought that she would use it to punish him!

He stared longingly at Mu Qingcheng, the candied fruit in his mouth but refusing to swallow, making "woo-woo" sounds in his throat, looking extremely pitiful.

Seeing this, Mu Qingcheng was both amused and annoyed. "You clearly can't eat sour things, but you insist on being jealous. Tell me, sir, shouldn't you be punished?"

Song Shuyu nodded vigorously.

Mu Qingcheng narrowed her eyes, "Then will you still get jealous indiscriminately in the future?"

Song Shuyu obediently shook her head.

Mu Qingcheng finally let go, satisfied. "Well, considering your behavior was alright, I'll let it go this time!"

Song Shuyu quickly spat out the dried fruit and rinsed his mouth repeatedly with tea.

Mu Qingcheng lay on the table, secretly laughing.

It took Song Shuyu a while to feel much better.

Taking advantage of Mu Qingcheng's inattention, he secretly picked up the plate of preserved fruit, quickly walked out of the bedroom, and ordered the servant guarding outside to take it away.

This childish behavior almost made Mu Qingcheng laugh in exasperation. When he returned, she tapped the table and reminded him, "A gentleman's word is as good as his bond. You pride yourself on being a gentleman; if you dare to go back on your word, I'll just feed you a bowl of vinegar!"

Song Shuyu smiled awkwardly: "No, no, my greatest virtue is that I always obey Madam's every word and would never dare to disobey her."

Mu Qingcheng's pretty face flushed. "Who's your wife? You're so glib!" "You, Mu Qingcheng, are Song Shuyu's fiancée!"

He spoke each word clearly and firmly, "I can listen to you on everything else, but on this matter, there's no room for discussion!"

After saying that, he opened his collar, took off the mutton-fat jade Guanyin pendant from his neck, and put it on Mu Qingcheng's neck. He said with great care, "Qingcheng, this was left to me by my mother. I have worn it for twenty-one years. Now that we are in love, I am giving it to you as a token of our love to show my sincerity and my determination to marry you."

Mu Qingcheng was so shocked she didn't know what to do. "My lord, this...this token is far too valuable!"

Song Shuyu cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips deeply, his eyes filled with boundless affection. "Even I am yours, so what do things matter? If you don't accept them, I'll be so sad that I'll slit my own throat and hang myself."

Mu Qingcheng wrapped her arms around Song Shuyu's neck, rested her head on his shoulder, and said in a choked voice, "What kind of person would slit their own throat and hang themselves? Don't talk nonsense, it's shameful!"

Song Shuyu embraced the woman tightly, feeling a happiness and sweetness he had never experienced in his lonely life.

After the tender moment, Song Shuyu truthfully told Mu Qingcheng about Lu Xun's situation, but he cleverly omitted the part about preventing Lu Xun from coming to see her.

After hearing this, Mu Qingcheng felt a pang of regret. "Why bother? You've just brought trouble upon yourself and made people worry."

Song Shuyu kept her mouth shut, refusing to make any comments, lest she be unable to resist saying something sarcastic and anger her.

"However, sir, while you were saving people, you also managed to make five thousand taels of silver. What a lucrative business you've done!" Mu Qingcheng exclaimed with another sigh.

Song Shuyu chuckled dryly, "I should always charge a little for my trouble."

Mu Qingcheng chuckled and said, "As expected of my master, your ability to extort people is just as great as your ability to infuriate people. I bet Guo Xuan will be cursing you in his dreams tonight."

"Ha, if I don't teach him a lesson today, tomorrow anyone in the Jingzhao Prefecture will dare to trample on us!" Song Shuyu stopped joking, his expression turning cold and stern. "As the saying goes, a cowardly soldier is a coward, but a cowardly general makes a whole army cowardly. Now that I, Song Shuyu, have become the head of the Jingzhao Prefecture, I have no reason to let my brothers be humiliated by others! From now on, the constables and police officers of his Dali Temple will have to take a detour when they see our people!"

"A strong general has no weak soldiers!" Mu Qingcheng gave a thumbs up, her eyes sparkling. "Your Excellency is so domineering and mighty, truly the pillar of the Jingzhao Prefecture!"

Song Shuyu was amused again. "Your flattery is quite effective."

"By the way, sir, there are a few things I need to report to you."

Mu Qingcheng gave a detailed account of the day's findings, and concluded by saying, "Therefore, tomorrow I plan to go to the Pingnan Marquis's residence to investigate the situation once more. If there are no unforeseen circumstances, the day after tomorrow I will lead a group to the border area between Meishan County and Fengxian County to search for Shenmo Village."

Song Shuyu pondered for a moment and said, "You suspect that all the girls who got into trouble through Wang Ruhua's matchmaking are related to Shenmo Village? Including Liao Ruyi?"

"Yes."

"You're taking Registrar Zhang, Secretary Dou, and Clerk Lin with you?"

"Yes, they are very proactive and voluntarily gave up their annual leave for the case."

Song Shuyu paused for a moment, then said, "There's no need for Lin Shuban to go. He's been very busy lately, and Lin Shuban is the most experienced clerk. He shouldn't leave the capital so easily."

(End of this chapter)