Chapter 702: Chapter 683 The Reason for Lishui
Lin Yi really dared not guess what kind of pit this quirky Ouyang Qian might have him fall into; he could only reel in his curiosity.
“I can’t satisfy your request. What if you want me to stay in Nan Zhao Country to be your Ouyang Family’s live-in son-in-law? My wives and concubines are still waiting for me to return home.”
He thought that saying this would be a huge blow to Ouyang Qian, yet to his surprise, she looked at him as if she had discovered a treasure, obsessed.
“Hehe, the man that catches my eye really isn’t bad. I like a man who is deeply affectionate and responsible.”
Lin Yi felt embarrassed; he never imagined Ouyang Qian to be a girl who thrived on setbacks.
‘I’ve really met my match. If you can’t provoke someone, you should at least be able to hide from them, right?’
This was Nan Zhao Country, and Ouyang Qian’s status was no ordinary matter; Lin Yi didn’t want to cause any trouble.
‘As for women, once I get back to Dayu, I definitely need the Emperor’s Harem to fight a three-day and three-night battle with me.’
With that thought, Lin Yi, holding an empty fruit plate, quickly walked toward the dining room, while Ouyang Qian, like a tail, followed closely behind, impossible to shake off.
By the afternoon, Lin Yi wanted to return to his guest room to listen in on Bu Cuoyang’s surveillance, but he was constantly entangled by Ouyang Qian, which made him quite impatient.
“My dear lady, what will it take for you to let me be?” Lin Yi was truly fed up with the feeling of being pestered.
But Ouyang Qian carelessly said, “Quite simple, accompany me for half an hour more, ask me questions, and then I’ll answer them.”
To be able to stay by Lin Yi’s side longer, Ouyang Qian really tried her best, coming up with all sorts of ways to keep him.
Now, Lin Yi was the one who lost his composure, wishing he could just flick Ouyang Qian on the forehead.
‘You little missy, just a moment ago when I wanted to ask you a question, you made it difficult for me, insisting I agree to your terms.’
‘Now you’re requesting me to ask you questions; it’s come full circle, why all the unnecessary hassle?’
In the back courtyard of Puyun Temple, Lin Yi and Ouyang Qian sat in a pavilion.
Lin Yi’s first question was still the same as before; why Bu Cuoyang agreed to meet Ouyang Qian.
The answer given by Ouyang Qian was that the Ouyang Family promised to provide Puyun Temple with ten years’ worth of Buddha Jade fittings, and they also took care of hiring craftsmen to finish them.
In terms of Silver Taels, it was worth about 200,000 Silver Taels, and these pieces of jade had already been delivered to the storehouse of Puyun Temple.
In Ouyang Qian’s opinion, the fact that Bu Cuoyang was willing to make an exception and meet with her just showed that her family was wealthy and bold.
Lin Yi nodded, admitting that Madam Ouyang indeed had vision and could live up to the words ‘wealthy and bold’.
In comparison, the jade worth 3,000 Silver Taels given by Huo Cheng seemed quite inferior in front of Madam Ouyang.
‘Sure enough, Madam Ouyang knows how to create fate.’
Lin Yi suddenly realized, the jade had already been delivered to Puyun Temple’s storehouse?
That jade worth 200,000 Silver Taels must be substantial; just yesterday Madam Ouyang was playing the sob story in front of Lin Yi, saying that the jade production in Lingyun City was low.
The jade given to Puyun Temple was very likely the same jade stolen from Luoyang Mountain last night.
At this thought, Lin Yi immediately became unsettled.
“Qianqian, when did your family send the jade to Puyun Temple?”
Ouyang Qian thought for a moment, uncertainly saying, “I’m not clear on that. After we visited Uncle Huo’s home that night and returned, my mother told me about sending a great gift to Puyun Temple.”
Lin Yi couldn’t help but sneer inwardly; by this point, he was pretty much certain that the jade sent to Puyun Temple was the one stolen from Luoyang Mountain.
‘What a fine act of ‘bringing a borrowed blossom to present to Buddha’. Madam Ouyang, if your precious daughter knew of the dirty deeds you’ve done, would she still forgive her mother?’
Having asked the first question, Lin Yi then wanted to inquire about Lishui and to persuade Ouyang Qian to speak on his behalf to Bu Cuoyang.
Lin Yi figured that Bu Cuoyang should, given the face of the Sun God Bronze Plate and the 200,000 taels’ worth of jade, grant him a favor.
Who knew that Ouyang Qian would be so shocked that she stood up straight away.
“Divine Doctor Lin, are you out of your mind? Lishui is the last place that leaders of the Lesser Vehicle Buddhism would like to mention, a taboo. Why must you insist on pressing on their death spot?”
Whenever Lishui was mentioned, Ouyang Qian would become irate, which greatly surprised Lin Yi.
‘What’s with Lishui, the largest river basin in Nan Zhao Country, that makes everyone hesitate to mention it?’
Under Lin Yi’s persistent questioning, Ouyang Qian eventually chose to tell the truth.
It turned out that eighteen years ago, the leader Bu Cuoyang brought back a baby girl during his travels.
One day, Bu Cuoyang took the baby girl to view the scenery at Lishui, and somehow, he saw a few beautiful flowers not far away, which he wanted to pick for the girl.
He left the girl by the riverbank, and when he returned after picking the flowers, the baby girl was nowhere to be found.
Bu Cuoyang searched for a long time, but couldn’t find her downstream of Lishui either.
In order to find the baby girl, Bu Cuoyang had no choice but to humble himself before the Government, asking the court to help extend the search area, but the current Government kept making excuses to shirk the responsibility.
They even mocked him, speculating the baby girl was Bu Cuoyang’s daughter and that such a heartless man shouldn’t have a daughter. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by N0v3l.Fiɾe.net
Bu Cuoyang spent a whole half a year searching but still failed to find the baby girl.
Since then, Bu Cuoyang trusted the court even less.
“So that’s how it is,” Lin Yi nodded thoughtfully.
As evening approached, after Ouyang Qian left, Lin Yi went back into his guest room and hurriedly turned on the surveillance of Bu Cuoyang.
Out of the twenty or so listening devices, more than half were silent, presumably swatted away by Bu Cuoyang, with only the last three picking up any sound.
“Hehe, good thing I came prepared.”
After checking, Lin Yi confirmed one device still transmitted sound.
But when he heard the sound coming from the listening device, Lin Yi was bewildered.
‘What’s going on, how come it’s not Bu Cuoyang’s voice as before? Why is it so different?’
Lin Yi ruminated, unable to come up with an explanation, and continued to listen attentively, hoping to catch some useful information.
It was not until the hour of the Pig that the sound of a door being pushed open was heard, and from outside the door came a monk calling for Huiming.
Huiming’s voice came through the listening device with clarity, shocking Lin Yi.
‘Wait, let me think, how did Bu Cuoyang’s voice turn into Huiming’s?’
Before Lin Yi could gather his thoughts, he heard the young monk Huiming conversing with other monks coming through the device.
‘Could it be that the young monk Huiming accidentally picked up Bu Cuoyang’s listening earpiece?’
Lin Yi listened attentively for over an hour, which was mostly the daily routine of Puyun Temple. As he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly heard the words “Sun God Bronze Plate” coming through the device.
Lin Yi immediately perked up, sat upright, and listened carefully to the sounds from the monitor.
But upon listening closer, what he heard was only intermittent sobbing.
‘Strange, why is this young monk Huiming crying and sniffing like a woman?’
Just as Lin Yi was puzzled, he suddenly remembered where he had heard this sobbing sound before.
‘That’s right, I remember now!’