plumnovel #655 - Righteous Alliance
#655 - Righteous Alliance
Inside the residence of Cai Yong, the Grand Tutor of the current dynasty.
A young girl was pushing another girl on a swing.
With a gentle push, she sent the girl on the swing soaring into the air, her skirt billowing with the motion.
A series of giggles echoed from the swing.
However, the girl pushing the swing seemed to have her mind elsewhere, her eyes darting around, occasionally glancing towards a courtyard wall.
The girl who had been pushing the swing looked delighted, "Good, that means those righteous experts can be saved."
"You seem to trust him a lot," the girl on the swing said, tilting her head.
"Anyone who's been to Wu River City wouldn't doubt his strength. Besides, according to you, he's even joined that mysterious organization now, so he should be even stronger."
The girl on the swing still looked puzzled, "Lili, why are you so concerned about tonight's events? Even if all those righteous experts die in the capital, it shouldn't have anything to do with your father's Dali Temple, right?"
"Who says it doesn't?" Xie Lili said, "Tonight's gathering in the capital involves all the prominent figures of the righteous path, and behind them stand the top sects in the martial world. If something were to happen to them, those sects certainly wouldn't report to the authorities, but they would definitely resolve it according to the rules of the martial world."
"In other words, there would be a bloodbath. Besides, these leaders of the righteous path, you can say they aren't necessarily all good people, but at least with them around, those demonic practitioners wouldn't be so rampant. If they're gone, the capital will probably descend into chaos."
"I understand your worries," the girl on the swing said, "but I think that after this incident, you shouldn't continue investigating similar matters."
"Why?" Xie Lili asked.
Her eyes were sparkling, a telltale sign to those who knew her that she was extremely interested in something.
"Because you are the daughter of the Vice Minister of the Dali Temple, and you don't belong in that world."
"You're still the daughter of the Grand Tutor, aren't you also in this world?"
"We're different," the girl on the swing shook her head, "I had no choice. I was born weak and sickly, and the doctors my father hired all said I wouldn't live past ten. So, I had to become a sugar figurine to survive."
"To avoid the omnipresent eyes of the Directorate of Astronomy, I haven't left this courtyard for years. I can only rely on the sugar figurines and Granny Wang to tell me about the outside world. My father, to protect me, also doesn't let anyone know he has a daughter like me. I admire you for finding me."
"But if you want to enter that world through me, I advise you to give up on that idea."
"Don't be so quick to refuse," Xie Lili coaxed, "Your abilities and my deductions are a perfect match! As long as the two of us join forces, there won't be any cases in the capital we can't solve. I see that Grand Tutor Cai has been very busy lately... You also want to share the burden for your father, don't you?"
The girl on the swing remained unmoved, "You're thinking too simply. The Directorate of Astronomy has a history of over a thousand years, with countless experts within its ranks. It can also mobilize local governments and the forces of the righteous path. Dealing with those strange creatures is still fraught with danger. We can't accomplish this with just the two of us."
Although Xie Lili verbally agreed, her expression showed that she didn't take it to heart at all.
So, the girl on the swing paused and said, "Take tonight's matter, for example. Even if you found out that those righteous leaders were in danger, you were still powerless and could only rely on external forces to solve it."
"That's right, now that you mention it, I've also realized that we're missing someone who can fight. What do you think of Hero Lu? When I came to the capital before, I was on the same boat as him, and I found him to be a pretty good person. Not only is his martial arts high enough, but he's also easy to talk to."
"Perhaps we can discuss it with him. As long as he doesn't expose you, the three of us can investigate cases together in the future, and all the credit for solving the cases will be his."
Xie Lili became more and more excited as she spoke.
But the girl on the swing remained noncommittal, "Let's see if he can get through tonight first."
........
Lu Jing led A'mu out of the small courtyard made of sugar, first taking a look around, seeing the stone pier in front of the courtyard gate, and an old locust tree.
Afterward, he noted down the door decorations in front of the two adjacent courtyards as well.
Only then did he leave the alley along the small path, and upon seeing a shoe store across the street, he immediately went up to it, asking the owner of the shoe store about whose residence it was that had a stone pier and a locust tree in front of it.
But the owner's answer stunned Lu Jing.
"Stone pier and locust tree? There's no such household in Immortal Gate Lane."
"How could that be? To its east is a house with wintersweet planted in the front yard, and to its west is a house with a water tank at the entrance."
"I know those two houses you're talking about," the shoe store owner said, "The one with the water tank is my house, and next to my house is the Yang Imperial Academy Drafter's house."
Lu Jing had originally suspected that the shoe store owner might have misremembered, but hearing him say this, he couldn't bring himself to ask any further.
Moreover, after he turned back to that alley and walked around in it, he actually couldn't find the small courtyard with the stone pier and the locust tree at the entrance anymore.
Lu Jing wasn't too disappointed either. He knew that this Sugar Figurine Granny was able to hide under the eyes of the Directorate of Astronomy for so many years, so she must have a few tricks up her sleeve.
If her hideout could be found so easily, then there would have been no point in using dragon's beard candy to drug him and using a carriage to pick him up earlier.
He shook his head, temporarily putting this matter behind him, and shifting his attention to tonight's righteous path gathering.
The first thing Lu Jing thought of was that Yan Yun should also be there. If there was really any danger, then even if the Sugar Figurine Granny didn't consider this matter as payment, he definitely couldn't leave it alone.
So, Lu Jing later first sent A'mu to Gu Caiwei's place, asking her to help take care of him.
Afterward, he casually asked a martial artist and learned that tonight's righteous path gathering was being held in the Number One Scholar Restaurant.
When Lu Jing arrived there, basically all the sect leaders and pavilion masters had already entered.
Tonight's Number One Scholar Restaurant had also been completely booked, no longer allowing other diners to enter. Fortunately, the guards at the door were from the Chang Le Gang, and Lu Jing asked someone to bring a message to Li Bufan.
Before long, the vice leader of the Chang Le Gang, the Tiger Crane Twin Stance Luo Cheng Song, personally came out to greet him.