The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#324 - At the end of one's rope

Yan Jun and Lu Jing exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of bewilderment in each other's eyes.

The fact that Zen Master Jiyuan of the Hanging Temple personally vouched for him carried significant weight, and even if they didn't trust the words of this high-ranking monk of the Ji generation,

they still had the testimonies of Fang Zichuan, the great hero of Yu Prefecture, and He Buyu, the clumsy sword among the Thirteen Swords of the Sword Washing Pavilion.

The probability of these three people lying together was probably smaller than that of a man giving birth.

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In addition, Yan Jun's senior brother, Fish Chief镖師 of the Changfeng镖局, also confirmed that Zhao Banshan had been with him on the night of May 26th. But if that was the case, where did the Zhao Banshan that Wang Wan saw secretly meeting Su Zhe that night come from? Could it be that there were more ghostly things at play?

Yan Jun pondered for a moment and asked Zhao Banshan, "Can we meet Meng Xueru?"

"Please do as you wish," Zhao Banshan said, and then picked up the teacup on the table.

So Yan Jun and Lu Jing knocked on Meng Xueru's door.

After a moment, a somewhat wary female voice came from inside, "Who is it?"

"We are friends of Geng Nantian," Lu Jing said.

Silence fell inside the room. After a while, the door opened, and Lu Jing and Yan Jun saw a woman with a somewhat foxy appearance walk out. She sized them up and down several times before saying, "Did Chief鏢師 Geng send you here?"

Yan Jun nodded, "Can we talk inside?"

Meng Xueru hesitated, but eventually let the two in. Yan Jun glanced at the room and found that it was a very simple民宅, even somewhat rudimentary. Besides the necessary furniture, only the zither on the east wall seemed to be worth any money.

And there was also some half-finished needlework on the table, which looked like it was being made to exchange for money.

Yan Jun was a little surprised. She didn't expect that Meng Xueru, a woman from a brothel, could endure such a living environment. From this point of view, she and Geng Nantian were indeed truly in love.

Therefore, she should be able to find out a lot of Geng Nantian's secrets from her.

"How about the house?" Yan Jun asked first.

"What house?" Meng Xueru frowned.

"The house you went to see this morning. How much did that widow Wang offer? Is five thousand taels enough?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Meng Xueru said, looking confused, and her expression gradually became wary. "Are you really friends of Chief鏢師 Geng?"

"Of course, Geng Nantian sent us here, otherwise we wouldn't have found this place," Lu Jing said.

"But Chief鏢師 Geng has never mentioned me in front of outsiders," Meng Xueru's expression became more and more wary. "Who exactly are you people?"

Lu Jing and Yan Jun didn't stop her. They could both see that Meng Xueru just wanted to protect herself, and even if she got the scissors, she wouldn't pose any threat to them.

Yan Jun was still making a final effort, "We just want to ask you a few questions. As long as you answer us, we will leave immediately."

"No!" Meng Xueru grabbed the scissors, her expression agitated. "Get out of my house! Now, no, otherwise I'll scream, and when the local yamen runners are attracted, none of you will be able to escape."

…………

Seeing Lu Jing and Yan Jun slinking out of Meng Xueru's house, Zhao Banshan put down the teacup in his hand and slowly said, "How was it?"

"Not very smooth," Lu Jing said with a wry smile.

"Do you want me to help?"

"It would be great if you, old man, were willing to lend a hand."

Zhao Banshan raised his eyes, "Aren't you afraid that I'll secretly use some tricks to make Miss Meng lie to you in front of you? Forget it… it's all for investigating the case, and I won't hold it against you, otherwise I'd seem petty."

After saying that, he threw a tael of silver to the stall owner of the tea stall, and stood up amidst the latter's profuse thanks.

He walked to Meng Xueru's door and knocked on it.

This time, Meng Xueru was obviously more vigilant, "Are you still not leaving?! Do you really want me to report to the authorities!"

"It's me," Zhao Banshan said, "Zhao Banshan of the Tianma镖局."

A cry of surprise sounded from behind the door, and this time the door was immediately opened.

However, Zhao Banshan was not in a hurry to go in. Instead, he turned to Lu Jing and said leisurely, "You weren't wrong about one thing earlier. I am indeed very loyal and treat my subordinates very well, so no matter whose house I go to, they will open the door for me."

"Alright, alright, I know that your, Old Master Zhao's, golden signboard works well in the city," Lu Jing rolled his eyes.

"Your, Great Hero Lu's, golden signboard also works well in the city, it's just that you chose to wear a斗笠 and hide your head and show your tail."

After Zhao Banshan finished speaking, he didn't give Lu Jing a chance to retort, and then turned to Meng Xueru, who was still a little confused behind the door.

"I know that you and Nantian are in love with each other, and I gave half of the money he used to redeem you from the brothel."

"Thank you, Old Master Zhao, for your help," Meng Xueru said, and was about to kneel.

But just as her body bent down, she was lifted up by a gentle force.

"Don't kneel. I'm not here today to ask you to repay my kindness. I just hope you can answer a few questions truthfully for my sake."

Meng Xueru glanced at Lu Jing and Yan Jun worriedly, but finally gritted her teeth and said, "Okay."

"Ask away," Zhao Banshan said to Yan Jun.

Yan Jun thought for a while and asked first, "Did you go to the old Cao Street to see a house this morning?"

"No," Meng Xueru shook her head, "I was washing clothes by the river this morning."

"Washing clothes?" Lu Jing suddenly understood. He had noticed before when he entered the door that Meng Xueru's palms were a little rough, different from the skin on her other parts, and also a little swollen, probably from soaking in water for too long.

"Were you washing clothes by the river all morning? Did anyone see you?"

Meng Xueru nodded, "I now earn money by washing clothes and doing needlework. Of course, Geng Lang will also give me money to spend, but I'm worried about being discovered by his wife, so I try to earn money myself as much as possible. As for people… there are many by the river, mostly maids or women, from the Zhang family, the Li family, the Zhou family, and a few who earn money by washing clothes with me."

"So you really didn't go to old Cao Street this morning?"

"No."

"What about the silver note?"

"There isn't one either," Meng Xueru shook her head, "I'm just a laundress now, where would I get a silver note?"

"Do you mind if we take a look inside?" Lu Jing asked.

Meng Xueru hesitated, but finally nodded again. As a result, Lu Jing and Yan Jun searched all over the bed and under the bed, and indeed, as Meng Xueru said, there was not a single silver note, and besides the zither, they couldn't even find a valuable item.

If Su Zhe was really killed by Geng Nantian, and his ten thousand taels of silver fell into Geng Nantian's hands, it seemed unlikely that Meng Xueru, who was so close to Geng Nantian, would still be living in such poverty three months later.

Lu Jing sighed, "I'm sorry to have frightened Miss Meng this time. We don't have any more questions."