In the courtyard of Dali Monastery,
Chen Jue was practicing basic boxing with the guards,
He was sweating profusely.
Li Xiao handed him water and a cloth towel to wipe his sweat.
Although the bailiffs who went to and from the North Yamen of Dali Monastery pretended to be busy,
They couldn't help but look at Lord Chen when they passed by.
The words that Lord Chen had once said seemed to still ring in their ears, "A person who practices martial arts has developed limbs,
A simple mind.
What I need is a developed brain,
I will never practice martial arts. "
However..,
Look!
What was Lord Chen doing now?
He was learning from two 'simple-minded' guards... what the hell was that?
Basic Fist Technique?
Old Man's Fist!
Chen Jue did not know that he was being ridiculed by his subordinates, big and small, who had been scolded miserably by him,
A small breeze blew past the sweat on his face and body, making him feel a little cool.
The injury on his shoulder blade hurt slightly, so he had to avoid the wound and slowly practice boxing.
Even so, he still insisted on practicing boxing.
After practicing for a while,
He felt his chest burning. Although he had practiced martial arts since he was young,
For a scholarly family like the Chen family, it was just to strengthen their body.
Compared to Wang Yi, it was really showy and impractical.
Of course, Wang Yi was the most powerful person by his side, so he shouldn't be compared to him.
The Chen family sighed. These two cases were too dangerous,
Every time they had to meet with swords and spears,
They were covered in injuries.
These few nights..,
When he was alone, he recalled the fear of being controlled by Ban Xia,
It made him very upset.
Especially when he often thought of Li Xiao strangling his neck,
His face was red, and his eyes were filled with fear and pain.
When those watery eyes looked at him, they were full of sadness, as if there was a small animal crying for help, and also a kind of desolation after experiencing many hardships.
He would unconsciously think a lot. What had that child experienced when he traveled from the north to the capital alone?
How could he walk to the capital with great difficulty.
In this world, there were bandits and ferocious beasts in the mountains.
In towns and villages, there were simple and honest men with a straight face of evil.
Chen Jue recalled all the hardships and dangers he had to endure every time he went out to investigate a case.
He felt anxious and vexed.
He didn't dare to think about what Li Xiao had encountered every day, every hour, every quarter of an hour.
There would be an inexplicable feeling in his chest, swinging back and forth, hoping that he could save her in the past.
When Li Xiao was controlled by Ban Xia and strangled him, if he could save her immediately …
When Li Xiao was being controlled by Ban Xia and was rushing towards him, if he had been stronger, for example, if he had been able to catch Ban Xia and cut off his head …
When Su King jumped out of the shadow to stab Li Xiao to death, if he had been stronger, he would have been able to take her and escape unscathed.
If …
What about next time?
Was it the right thing for him to bring her along?
Previously, he wanted to use her ability, the ability that he guessed would allow her to foresee something.
But now, he began to care more and more about the dangers she would encounter while helping him with the case.
What if …
Every time he thought of this, he wanted to immediately jump up and go to the courtyard to practice martial arts and sword for a while.
…
Just as he was thinking, he saw Li Xiao running over from the side, holding a cup of water in one hand and a handkerchief in the other. She had a heartless smile on her face as she walked towards him.
This small person was holding a cup full of water. She walked so fast, yet she was still very steady.
That pair of extraordinarily beautiful cat eyes seemed to have become even more seductive. In contrast to her pure eyes, it was especially seductive.
Nodding at the guards, Chen Jue walked towards Li Xiao. With one hand, he took the handkerchief to wipe the sweat on his face, and with the other, he took the cup of water that Li Xiao was holding.
After soaking the handkerchief in cold water, he immediately felt refreshed after wiping it on his face.
The water in the cup was cold boiled water. After drinking it in big gulps, he felt refreshed from inside out.
"Sir, do you want to scrub yourself?
The warm water has already been prepared. It's in the side room. "Li Xiao wore the hat that Lord Chen had given him and asked with a happy expression.
Ever since she received the gift, she had worn the hat and it had not left her head.
However, at this moment, because they were in Dali Temple Yamen, she did not lower her veil to cover her face.
The sun shone directly on the little girl's smiling face. It was bright and beautiful, like a flower that bloomed without restraint.
She felt safe here. Chen Jue could tell from her smile and eyes.
"Yes."
Perhaps it was because he had just finished exercising, Chen Jue was in a good mood. As he walked with Li Xiao to the side room, he unconsciously revealed a faint smile.
Although it was very faint, Li Xiao still caught it when she turned around to look at him.
Her eyebrows immediately curved a few more times. If she had a tail, it would definitely be wagging it.
…
After a simple scrub, he felt much better.
Chen Jue sat in front of the desk and drank a mouthful of hot tea. He sighed and raised his head to look at Zhang Tang, who was standing in front of the desk.
"These are the major murder cases that happened in the past few months?" Chen Jue asked as he flipped through the files.
"Yes, sir," Zhang Tang nodded and said respectfully.
There was a thick stack of countless cases.
They were all 'difficult and miscellaneous cases' submitted by the Ministry of Justice, the yamen of the lower province, and other departments.
"When will Liu Tianping come back?" Chen Jue took a deep breath and impatiently closed the file. He raised his head to look at Zhang Tang.
"Lord Liu is still in Wei County. The case there is more complicated." Zhang Tang said respectfully.
Liu Tianping was the Vice-Chancellor of the Dali Monastery. In the Dali Monastery, he was second only to Chen Jue and above all the other Vice-Chancellors.
Chen Jue looked at the squeezed files and was already dissatisfied with Liu Tianping's speed of handling cases. Why don't you hurry back to the capital and work for me? How long are you going to stay in Wei County?
…
In the past two days, Zhang Tang was still in a happy state after being rewarded for a case he had just finished.
He relied on Lord Chen like a child who had not been weaned off his mother's milk …
At this moment, Zhang Tang was staring at Lord Chen eagerly. He was certain that Lord Chen would definitely pick 'that' case first!
Chen Jue closed the file and opened it again. After thinking for a while, he asked, "What's the matter with the Mummy Case?"
"Ha!" Zhang Tang clapped his hands fiercely.
As expected, Lord Chen picked this case!
“？”
Chen Jue frowned. He was startled by Zhang Tang's sudden outburst. His expression was that of looking at an idiot, and he was very displeased.
Zhang Tang hurriedly composed himself and said, "Four people have already died. All of them were women from brothels. They were all the top courtesans in the capital."
Although his expression had become serious, Zhang Tang was still thinking in his heart, 'It seems that I've already grasped Lord Chen's preferences.'
He immediately felt a strange sense of superiority. When he looked at Li Xiao, he even subconsciously raised his chin.
Chen Jue nodded. Just as he was about to ask more questions, he suddenly saw Zhang Long at the door looking at him.
He gestured for Zhang Tang to wait for a moment, then said to Zhang Long, "What's the matter?"
Zhang Long hurriedly walked around the screen and walked to Lord Chen's desk in the inner hall. He stole a glance at Li Xiao, who was arranging files at the side. When he saw Li Xiao's beautiful side profile, he was satisfied and handed a slip of paper to Chen Jue.
"…" Chen Jue took the slip of paper. The words "To Only Chen Jue" were written on it. It was a handwriting that he had never seen before.
Then, he unfolded the slip of paper and glanced at it.
Chen Jue immediately frowned and turned to look at Li Xiao. The little girl was still busy arranging the files.
"Who handed this to you?"
Chen Jue looked up. He crumpled the slip of paper into a ball, then unfolded it, tore it into pieces, and threw them into the paper tube next to him.
Zhang Long shook his head. When he saw Chen Jue's sour expression, he mumbled, "It flew here."
Chen Jue stared at Zhang Long for a while. Although Zhang Long's body was stiff from the stare, he did not refute.
Then, he stood up and said to Zhang Long, "Let's go."
"…?" Zhang Long was puzzled, but he cleverly kept his mouth shut and did not ask any more questions. He followed Chen Jue out.
After taking a step, he secretly looked back at Li Xiao. 'She's so pretty …'
As Chen Jue walked, he said to Zhang Tang, who was looking at him curiously, "First, sort out all the information about the 'Mummy Case' and present it to me in the afternoon."
"Yes, sir," Zhang Tang replied.
Li Xiao looked up at Zhang Tang and Chen Jue. She did not pay much attention to them and continued to look at her case file.
Chen Jue took two steps and suddenly stopped. He hesitated and turned to look at Li Xiao.
He looked like he had something he could not say.
Li Xiao happened to look up and saw Lord Chen standing there and looking at her as if he had something to say.
"?" Li Xiao raised her eyebrows. Her curious eyes seemed to be asking a question.
Chen Jue looked into her eyes and asked, "What year, month, and day were you born?"
Li Xiao was puzzled, but she subconsciously trusted Chen Jue and answered him honestly.
"…" Chen Jue's face darkened.
“？”
Just as Li Xiao was about to ask what was wrong, Chen Jue said, "You don't have to wait for me for lunch."
After that, Chen Jue looked at Zhang Tang.
Zhang Tang immediately said, "Sir, don't worry. I'll take Li Xiao for lunch."
Chen Jue turned around and strode away.
"…" Zhang Tang looked at Chen Jue's back as he disappeared at the door. He raised his head even higher.
He started to think that he might be able to see through Lord Chen's heart!
Not only did he have an excellent memory, but he might also be extremely smart!
"Lord Zhang, Lord Zhang," Li Xiao saw that Chen Jue had left and suddenly called out to Zhang Tang cheerfully.
"Hmm?" Zhang Tang turned around and stroked his sparse beard proudly.
"Look, does my hat look good?" Li Xiao peeked at the door and made sure that Chen Jue was no longer at the door.
Then, she smiled brightly at Zhang Tang and showed Zhang Tang her new hat.
She tilted her head and shook the hat. Her smile revealed her white teeth, and her eyes turned into crescents. She looked innocent and carefree.
"…" Zhang Tang was speechless.
He had heard enough of this little girl showing off her hat today.
Although this was the first time Li Xiao showed off the hat that Chen Jue bought for her, but … she had already shown it off to almost everyone in the Dali Monastery!
"I'll treat everyone to lunch at Fortune Restaurant.
These two cases are going well, and I've received a lot of rewards. I was going to treat everyone to lunch … It just so happens that Lord Chen isn't here today. "
When Zhang Tang spoke to Li Xiao, he would subconsciously lower his voice and put on the calm and wise face of an elder.
"Lord Zhang, don't you want to treat Lord Chen to lunch?" Li Xiao raised her eyebrows and asked curiously.
She had already treated Lord Chen to snacks.
Zhang Tang suddenly heard Li Xiao say what was on his mind. He raised his eyebrows and glared at Li Xiao with his triangular eyes. "What nonsense are you talking about?!"
"…" Li Xiao hurriedly shrunk her shoulders. She would stop talking, okay?
However, Zhang Tang still felt uneasy. He turned his head and looked at the door to make sure that Chen Jue was indeed not at the door and did not hear what he said just now.
He turned around and glared at Lord Chen again. He explained again, "Is Lord Chen a distinguished guest that we can invite?"
"Yes, yes!" Li Xiao said.