They ignored Xia Shuang, who had invited herself over. When Sui Yun saw Yunjian reaching for the dark vinegar in front of him, he picked it up and passed it to her.
His fingers were long and jade-like, with well-defined joints, and the veins on the backs of his hands were clearly visible beneath his skin.
His slender fingers wrapped around the black porcelain bottle. With a stretch of his long arm, he effortlessly set the dark vinegar in front of Yunjian.
His palm was large, making the porcelain bottle of dark vinegar look even more petite.
At the sight of those beautiful hands, as though lifted straight out of a comic, Yunjian's ears inexplicably grew hot, and a blush spread across her cheeks.
[Yunjian: Aaaah~ What do I do, Little Shui? I really want to strip every piece of clothing off him, one by one. That would feel so good.]
[Yunjian: Look at his hands! So long, so slender, so beautiful! How can anyone look like such an enchanting creature?]
[Yunjian: His expression is so aloof. I really want to pin him to a bed and bully him until he cries!!!]
Sui Yun: ...
The three princes: ...
This one was a brave soul, too!
With Sui Yun's fearsome reputation, there was actually a woman in the Capital City who fancied him!
[If you want him, go after him! Stop just fantasizing about it every time!]
I was utterly helpless when it came to Yunjian's habit of silently watching from the sidelines whenever she met a man who made her heart flutter.
[We're all adults. If you want to pursue him, do it! No one says you have to marry someone just because you've dated them.]
[Yunjian: That's true. How do you think I should go after him? Stake out his front gate every day? Or climb over his wall?]
Wenren Luoshui couldn't help pressing a hand to her forehead. What kind of ideas were these?
[Did I forget to tell you that Sui Yun is the commander of the Embroidered Guards? You want to climb over his wall? Aren't you afraid he'll send a hidden weapon flying your way and end your little life?]
Yet Yunjian's attention wasn't on her little life at all.
[Yunjian: Holy shit! The Embroidered Guards? Then how handsome must he look in a Flying Fish Uniform!!!!]
Wenren Luoshui pressed a hand to her forehead with a helpless, wry smile.
As expected of her bestie, her attention always veered off course.
Who knew which of Yunjian's remarks had amused Sui Yun, but the corners of his lips lifted slightly on his otherwise impassive face.
This little girl wanted to pursue him?
How long would that idea last?
The three princes, who had grown up with Sui Yun, saw the playful smile at the corners of his mouth and silently mourned for Yunjian.
This fellow was white on the outside and black at the core. Otherwise, he could never have risen to commander of the Embroidered Guards.
They could only hope his true nature wouldn't frighten Yunjian.
Xia Shuang had been sitting there for ages, yet these people only chatted among themselves, completely ignoring her. Unwilling to accept it, she spoke up again to announce her presence.
"You four dear brothers, this is my first time in the Capital City. Could you..."
She trailed off, making her meaning perfectly clear: could the four of them take her in?
Sui Yun's voice was like jade striking stone, clear and pleasing to the ear, yet carrying a refusal that brooked no argument.
"I barely know you."
Xia Shuang: ...
When one person rejected her, she could still console herself that he simply didn't appreciate her good qualities.
But after Sui Yun rejected her, the three princes promptly distanced themselves from her as well.
They acted as though she would latch onto them if they spoke even a moment too late.
Xia Shuang's pure, innocent little face twisted with anger at these four clueless men who didn't know how to cherish a delicate beauty.
If she hadn't wanted to avoid another punishment from the system, she would have slammed the table, leaped to her feet, and pointed at the men seated around it while unleashing a torrent of abuse.
That was right-this Xia Shuang was Wenren Shuang.
After she and Yunjian's third sister-in-law were sent back to their natal families last time, she refused to accept it and courted disaster again, only to be thrown out by the Director of the Imperial Academy's family once more.
In the end, she died from a minor cold.
After this rebirth, the system told her that if she couldn't earn fifty years of lifespan, it would forcibly unbind itself from her.
Unwilling to become an ordinary person again, Xia Shuang had no choice but to rein in her temper and swallow her pride around these people.
They were just a bunch of ignorant ancient people. Her willingness to win them over was already doing them an honor!
Yet they actually dared to give her the cold shoulder!
Xia Shuang still wanted to make another attempt, but before she could speak, an Embroidered Guard ran over and whispered in Sui Yun's ear. Sui Yun then said he had something to attend to and needed to leave.
[Salty Fish System: Host, host, hurry and follow him! There's some huge gossip.]
At the system's prompting, I took Yunjian along and followed behind Sui Yun.
The remaining three princes also rose and followed, leaving Xia Shuang alone at the wonton stall.
She was so angry that even the corners of her eyes turned crimson!
[System, what juicy gossip is hiding in this case?]
[Salty Fish System: Actually, this gossip isn't very pleasant to feast on.]
The more the system said that, the more interested everyone became.
Yunjian even forgot about her heart-fluttering crush and hurriedly questioned it in her mind.
[How so? Don't tell me it's another revenge killing?]
[Salty Fish System: No, it's a case of one child murdering another.]
According to the system, the son of a wealthy family surnamed Zhao in the eastern part of the city had shown an antisocial personality from an early age.
He was seven this year and had always enjoyed torturing small animals to death. Almost all the cats and dogs he kept had been beaten to death by his own hands.
At first, he would stuff those cats and dogs into burlap sacks, then pound the little animals inside as though beating laundry with a wooden club, deriving an unprecedented thrill from it.
Gradually, that thrill could no longer satisfy him.
So he fetched a cleaver from the kitchen and hacked at the little animals' heads, blow after blow.
Although his treatment of these animals was cruel, there were no animal protection laws in ancient times, and his family didn't think much of it either.
As he grew older day by day, the pleasure he gained from torturing animals to death could no longer satisfy him.
Half a month ago, while out playing in the streets, he spotted a five-year-old girl and used a skewer of candied hawthorn to lure her to a secluded place.
It was his secret hideout, where he had already dug a large pit.
He told the little girl that as long as she obediently jumped into the pit, he would buy her more candied hawthorn than she could ever eat.
The little girl believed him. One moment she had just jumped into the pit, and the next he picked up a shovel and began filling it with dirt.
Just like that, the little girl was buried alive by a strange boy two years older than her.
Her family adored her. When they discovered she was missing, they immediately reported it to the authorities, but after so many days of investigation, the officials still hadn't found a single clue.
After burying the little girl alive, Zhao Junsheng behaved as though nothing had happened. He had been exactly the same these past few days as he always was.
[Salty Fish System: Half a month has already passed. Zhao Junsheng has realized the authorities haven't traced it back to him, and now he's looking for his next victim.]
[Yunjian: What a little beast!]
By then, Sui Yun had arrived at the Embroidered Guards' offices, where his subordinate was briefing him.
"Young Marquis Yun, I recently became the Imperial Preceptor's disciple and learned a few rudimentary skills from him. I can perform a divination to help you with this case."
Sui Yun now knew who the real culprit in this case was, but he couldn't simply swagger over and arrest him, could he?
Now that I had stepped forward and claimed I could divine the truth by counting on my fingers, he calmly nodded, giving me permission to do so.
Wenren Luoshui casually moved her fingers through a divination. A moment later, she opened her eyes and said to Sui Yun,
"The daughter of the family who reported the case is beside a small river in the eastern part of the city. Her body is beneath the largest willow tree on the riverbank."