The man had no idea he was being watched. He swaggered around the temple fair, crunching loudly on a skewer of candied hawthorns and scattering bits of sugar all over the ground.
Chen Ye trailed him at an unhurried pace, like a patient hunter.
The temple fair was crowded, but the man was clearly on guard. He had tucked his money pouch deep inside his inner lapel and wore a thick cotton robe over it, making it extremely difficult to get at by ordinary means.
Unfortunately for him, he had run into Chen Ye.
A fork in the road lay ahead, where the crowd grew even denser. Chen Ye seized his chance and slipped straight through.
As he brushed past the man, a blade as thin as a cicada's wing appeared between Chen Ye's fingertips. Its edge silently sliced through the man's cotton robe and inner lapel, the force controlled to perfection, cutting only the cloth without touching his flesh.
His fingers slipped inside as though they had eyes of their own and gave a gentle hook.
By the time Chen Ye squeezed out of the crowd, the heavy money pouch was in his hand, while the man remained completely oblivious.
Chen Ye walked away without looking back. Once he was clear of the crowd, he found a secluded corner and took out the pouch. When he opened it, his eyes lit up.
Besides a string of copper coins, it contained several pieces of silver, amounting to perhaps two or three taels.
For an ordinary commoner, that was a small fortune.
Chen Ye poured out all the money, filled the empty pouch with stones, then strolled into a temporary latrine set up especially for the fair and tossed it into the pit.
With that done, Chen Ye retraced his steps, whistling in high spirits.
The old man selling candied hawthorns was still at his stall. The handprint on his face had grown even more pronounced, like a ripe peach.
Even so, he was still forcing himself to call out to customers.
Chen Ye walked up to the stall. "Old sir, how much for the candied hawthorns?"
Seeing a customer, the old man hurriedly forced a smile. "Three copper coins a skewer, sir."
Chen Ye took down a skewer of candied hawthorns, then casually pressed the string of copper coins into the old man's hand.
"Keep the change!"
With that, Chen Ye turned and disappeared into the crowd.
The sudden gesture left the old man stunned. He looked down at the heavy string of copper coins in his hand. There had to be at least a hundred, enough to pay for more than half a cartload of his candied hawthorns.
"Ah, sir..."
By the time he came to his senses and looked up to search for the young man, he had vanished without a trace.
The old man's eyes reddened instantly, and his lips trembled as he murmured to himself.
"What a good man. I've met a good man today!"
Meanwhile, Chen Ye had strolled into Fayuan Temple.
What he had taken from that one man was enough to fulfill today's task. Having also helped the old man along the way, Chen Ye was in exceptionally high spirits and decided to take a look around the thousand-year-old temple.
But just as he reached the pagoda up ahead, he stopped short, his gaze fixing on a figure hurrying past not far away.
She was a maid, young in years, but dressed in fine silks, with pearls and jade glittering in her hair. She was better dressed than the young ladies of ordinary wealthy households.
Others might not have recognized her, but Chen Ye did.
Wasn't that Mengtao, the personal maid of Lin Yan, the Lin Family's third young lady?
Back when his predecessor had been falsely accused of stealing a jeweled hairpin, it was this maid who had swaggered over to deliver the message. Chen Ye still vividly remembered the superior look on her face.
Now Mengtao was leading several young maids hurriedly toward the main hall, without noticing Chen Ye hiding behind the pagoda.
Even if she had noticed him, it wouldn't have mattered.
Over the past six months, Chen Ye had grown much taller, and his features had changed a great deal. Even his old acquaintances might not have recognized him at a glance, let alone Mengtao.
After Mengtao had gone some distance, Chen Ye stepped out from behind the pagoda, puzzled.
Why is she here? Is something going on?
With that thought, Chen Ye quietly followed.
When he neared the main hall, Chen Ye found that the area had been cleared.
More than a dozen burly men in matching clothes stood in two rows, regulation sabers at their waists, barring all worshippers from approaching.
From the way they were dressed, Chen Ye recognized them at once as the private soldiers maintained by the Lin residence.
Just as I thought.
The pampered and precious third young lady of the Lin Family, Lin Yan, had come.
Otherwise, there was no way to mount such a grand display and have a thousand-year-old temple like Fayuan Temple cleared at a word.
But the question was, what had she come for?
Chen Ye didn't believe for a moment that the woman had come to the temple simply to worship the Buddha in earnest.
There was something else odd about it: if Lin Yan had truly come to offer incense, the spectacle should have been far grander. At the very least, the entire Fayuan Temple ought to have been sealed off.
That was hardly impossible. The Lin Family was a powerful aristocratic clan, and when one of its direct-line women came to a temple to offer incense, clearing the entire place was perfectly normal. So why hadn't she done it?
Full of questions, Chen Ye withdrew into the shadow of a large tree in the distance, concealed his presence, and watched quietly.
A little over a quarter of an hour later, the doors of the main hall opened.
Surrounded by a crowd of maids and older female attendants, a beautiful woman in a luxurious fur coat walked slowly out.
She had a graceful figure and a lovely face, with a touch of innate pride and nobility in her expression. It was Lin Yan.
At the sight of her, Chen Ye suddenly felt an urge to rush over and kill the woman with a single stroke of his blade.
It was probably his predecessor's memories at work.
Fortunately, Chen Ye quickly restrained himself.
After all, the fully armed Lin Family private soldiers were not far away. If he really charged over, he would most likely fail to kill her and expose himself instead.
Patience!
There'll be plenty of chances to deal with her later!
Chen Ye thought silently.
Meanwhile, after offering incense, Lin Yan did not leave immediately. Instead, she began touring the temple with apparent interest.
Chen Ye frowned slightly.
Without a doubt, the woman had an ulterior motive.
So Chen Ye continued to follow her quietly from a distance.
Lin Yan and her party walked and stopped along the way, eventually arriving at a rather secluded side hall.
Lin Yan then entered the side hall, while the maids and household servants stood guard outside.
Chen Ye hid behind a tree in the distance, watching the tightly closed doors as his doubts grew.
What on earth is Lin Yan up to?
Could it be... she's having an affair with a monk here, and came to meet her lover in secret under the pretext of offering incense?
But no sooner had the thought occurred to him than he dismissed it.
No, when they cleared the place just now, even the abbot of Fayuan Temple was politely asked to leave, let alone the ordinary monks. It can't be a monk.
While Chen Ye was racking his brains, Mengtao appeared, leading several young maids hurriedly along another path.
One of the women was a head taller than the other maids and kept the lower half of her face covered with a plain white silk handkerchief, leaving only her eyes exposed. She walked hurriedly, seemingly afraid of being seen.
They soon entered the side hall, and the doors closed again.
Standing in the shadow behind the tree, Chen Ye swiftly replayed what he had just seen in his mind.
That gait, that straight back, and that familiar outline...
An image buried deep in his memories suddenly overlapped with the scene before him!
It's him!
The man his predecessor had caught meeting Lin Yan in secret in the Lin Family's back garden!
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