The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#316 - Deep House

"It's an old house on Old Cao Street, with an old osmanthus tree outside the door that's been half-struck by lightning, and two stone lions," Yan Yun said.

Lu Jing knew where Old Cao Street was; it was half a li west of Yongfeng Bridge, and was considered a wealthy area of Wujiang City, inhabited by merchants or retired officials.

And since Yan Yun's brother-in-law could afford to hire someone to deliver things for him with ten thousand taels of silver, his family's financial situation was naturally not bad.

Lu Jing led the way, and soon found the place.

Yan Yun stepped forward and knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside.

By this time, the nearby neighbors should have already gone to sleep, so Yan Yun was embarrassed to directly call out to her cousin, and could only knock a few more times.

Fortunately, this time there was finally a response from behind the door, and the sound of footsteps could be heard.

However, the person didn't remove the bolt, but cautiously peered out through the crack in the door.

When they saw the white lantern Lu Jing was holding, they were so frightened that they took three steps back, almost falling on their backside.

They turned to run, but then the woman behind the door opened her mouth and said, "I am Wang Wan's cousin. I received her letter and came to help her investigate the cause of her husband's death."

The person behind the door stopped in their tracks when they heard this, and said in surprise, "Is the person outside the Yunshui Jing Ci Pavilion's Yan Yun, Heroine Yan?"

"That's right."

However, after Yan Yun finished speaking, the door still didn't open, and the person inside became vigilant again, muttering, "No, it's impossible... It would take at least a month to send a letter from Wujiang City to the capital. Calculating the time, Heroine Yan should have only just received the letter. How could she possibly appear in Wujiang City so quickly?"

Yan Yun was a little helpless, "Tell my cousin that nine years ago, when celebrating Grandpa's birthday, I accidentally dirtied my ruqun, and she lent me a light silk pleated skirt to wear."

The person behind the door was somewhat doubtful, but still went inside to report.

This time, it only took a moment before the footsteps returned, and there was more than one person.

Soon, the bolt was pulled out, and then the door was opened wide.

A young woman wearing only a thin shirt rushed out. She hadn't seen Yan Yun since that birthday banquet nine years ago, and both of them had changed a lot over the years, so she stared at Yan Yun for a long time before recognizing her.

She squeezed out a smile from her somewhat pale face, "Sister Yan, long time no see. I didn't expect that the little girl from back then has now grown into a stunning beauty.

"I heard storytellers in the teahouse telling stories about you, and I found it hard to believe, like I was dreaming. I heard you even made it onto some Heavenly Pivot Ranking. Uncle Han said that most of the people on that ranking are old men, and there are very few middle-aged people in their thirties and forties.

"There are only two young people, one is you, and the other is Great Hero Lu. By the way, the person next to you looks a bit familiar, is it..."

"Lu Jing."

After hearing these two words, Wang Wan couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise, and then quickly covered her mouth with her hand, but tears still streamed down her cheeks, and she choked with sobs.

"Heaven has eyes, Great Hero Lu, have you returned to Wujiang City? Husband, your revenge can be taken. With Great Hero Lu here this time, those villains who harmed you will definitely not be allowed to roam free again."

Although Lu Jing's reputation had risen in the past two years, he certainly couldn't compare to Yan Yun, who came from the Yunshui Jing Ci Pavilion and was hailed as the number one person of the younger generation, in terms of Jianghu prestige.

But that was outside of Wujiang City. For the common people living in Wujiang City and the surrounding areas, Yan Yun was just a story in the mouths of storytellers, but Lu Jing's chivalry was real and visible to everyone.

Whether it was overthrowing Song Zhubu's uncle and nephew who colluded with the Demonic Path, killing Yama Xiao alone, or helping the hard-working coolies at the docks to get more wages from the gangs, and then setting up a charity hall and generously donating money... these things were all directly affecting the lives of everyone in the city.

So in Wujiang City, Lu Jing's name was indeed more effective than Yan Yun's, even Yan Yun's cousin Wang Wan subconsciously felt this way.

Afterwards, she invited Lu Jing and Yan Yun to sit down in the main hall, and asked her personal maid to make tea.

However, Yan Yun then stopped the excited gatekeeper, Han Bo, from telling the others in the house about her and Lu Jing's arrival.

"We're in the dark and they're in the light. Before things are clear, it's best for us to keep a low profile."

Han Bo naturally nodded in agreement, but after returning, he didn't even bother to properly bolt the door, wishing that all those sneaky guys from before would run in now and be caught by Yan Yun and Lu Jing.

On the other side, Wang Wan had just invited the two to sit down and hadn't had time to say anything when suddenly a burst of crying came from the inner courtyard.

Wang Wan's expression changed, "It's my youngest son, Bao'er. I'll go coax him to sleep first."

"Sister Wang, you've worked hard," Yan Yun said.

As Wang Wan returned to the inner courtyard, the child's crying gradually subsided, until it could no longer be heard. After another half a stick of incense's time, Wang Wan returned to the main hall again.

She showed Yan Yun a wry smile, "Do you remember about seven years ago, you wrote to me asking if I would be willing to go to Yunshui Jing Ci Pavilion and learn martial arts with you? At that time, I felt that fighting and killing was not something women should do. I preferred to do needlework, sing songs, and dance, and find a good husband to have children with.

Yan Yun shook her head and comforted her, "Sister Wang, don't blame yourself. The Jianghu is full of dangers. There are many martial arts masters who have lost their loved ones and friends, and some have even ended up with their entire families being wiped out. There will always be someone in this world whose martial arts are higher than yours and whose knife is faster than yours.

"Besides, Sister Wang, you should still have a lot of wealth at home, right? Why not hire a few more guards if there are villains coming to snoop around?"

"The original guards in my family were hired from the Tianma Escort Agency. After that incident, I sent them all away. Later, I wanted to find another escort agency, but the Tianma Escort Agency is powerful in the city. The镖师 from other small escort agencies were unwilling to come after knowing that my family had a conflict with the Tianma Escort Agency.

"And my family of orphans and widows doesn't dare to directly recruit those Jianghu people whose backgrounds are unclear, so now, in this large mansion, apart from the gatekeeper Han Bo and a small servant who is responsible for feeding the horses and doing odd jobs, there are no other men."