Chapter 6: The Turbulent Xuanwu Lake

  Our boss Su dressed up and arrived at the side of Xuanwu Lake, but he didn't idle around. His eyes kept scanning the girls who came and went in a hurry. Most of the people who came here were some beautiful women, which was a feast for Su Jing's eyes. It could be said that it was an appetizer before dinner.

  The rippling lake surface, the beautiful boats passing by leisurely, and the weeping willows swaying in the wind on the shore. If there was a beauty accompanying him at this moment, it would be perfect. But Su Jing waited for a long time without seeing Xie Pei Rong's figure.

  "The boss is dressed like this, he must be here to seduce women! Did you really fall for the foolish scholar's words?" Chen Zhan whispered to Ah-Shu from behind a thick tree trunk not far away.

  "No way, I was just casually saying that. Su Jing wouldn't have the ability to do that. It must be that he had Miss Xie's family help him arrange a marriage, yeah, it's like that." The foolish bookworm stared without blinking.

  "How dare you call the boss by his name? Oh, I knew it. You're not willing to be subordinate to the boss."

  "Anyway, he's not here, but brother, don't tell Su Jing about this. I, Lin Yunzhi, am in a difficult situation now and can only humble myself by Su Jing's side for a while. Anyway, after five years, I'll be free. When the time comes and I become an official, you guys can also bask in my glory, right?"

  "Look at you, you're not even worthy of being a high school official. You should just stay by the boss's side and behave yourself. If I didn't pity you, I'd definitely tell Old Su about your thoughts. From now on, be more obedient and focus on your work."

  Lin Yun, who was about to retort, suddenly saw Su Jing board a boat and hastily pulled Chen Zhan: "Look, Su Jing has boarded the pirate ship! Should we continue to follow him?"

  "Come on! Didn't the boss teach us? The most basic ability of a detective is tracking ability! This is the best opportunity to test our abilities!"

  "I thought Miss Xie wasn't coming back!" Su Jing got on the boat and exclaimed, "Miss Xie's yacht is really luxurious!"

  Xie Pei'er smiled slightly, "Su Gongzi is overpraising, this is just an ordinary pleasure boat, which can be seen everywhere on the Xuanwu Lake. Since it was a young woman who took the initiative to invite him, how could she dare to stand him up? It's just that waiting for He Gongzi delayed some time."

  "What? He Gongzi? Is that the famous number one detective in Jiangnan, He Yihan? Where is he? I didn't see him anywhere!" Su Jing looked around and his eyes stopped at a curtain on the boat.

  As expected, a voice he least wanted to hear came from inside, "I'm in here, haha, Su Gongzi is fine, right?"

  Originally thought this was Su Jing who came to show his love for Miss Xie, but now his heart has turned cold.

  "Miss Xie, what's this..."

  "Oh, it's He Gongzi's intention. He said he wants to meet you and see your talent, so he asked me to invite you out." Xie Miss explained.

  Su Jing sat down somewhat unhappily, picked up the teacup in his hand, and said bluntly: "If Brother He wants to compete with me in talent, he can directly invite me to his mansion. Why must it go through Miss Xie's hands?"

  "Su brother misunderstood, I originally wanted to go myself, but Pei Rong found out and insisted that her sister go. So she borrowed her own name." He Yihuan explained.

  Xie Pei Rong hastily added: "Ah, actually it was my sister who wanted to meet you, this troublemaker who's been causing a stir all over the city, but she couldn't come up with an excuse, so I helped her out..."

  Su Jing was really confused, one moment it was He Yihuan, the next it was Xie Xiaojie, and then it became Xie Erjie again. These relationships were more complicated than a serial murder case, so confusing!

  "This explanation has confused me even more! How did it get related to Miss Xie again? What does Master He mean?" Su Jing was truly perplexed.

  He Yihan and Xie Peirong exchanged a glance, burst out laughing, but didn't answer. This made Su Jing even more confused.

  "Su brother, why be so particular about the purpose? Coming to this Xuanwu Lake, one should appreciate the scenery and indulge in poetic sentiments. How about I invite you to compose a poem?" He Yihan pointed at the sparkling lake surface, her white folding fan fluttering gently.

  Su Jing leaned against the railing of the boat and said, "Facing such a beautiful scenery, isn't it easy to come up with a poem?! It's just that after I finish one, Mr. He, would you also compose one?"

  He Yihan naturally had no objection and nodded in agreement.

  Su Jing smiled to himself, in this strange land, I wonder if there are any Li Bai or Du Fu, those poetic saints and immortals. However, in the Tang Dynasty, it's better not to recite poetry from people of the Tang Dynasty, let's do one from after the Tang Dynasty instead. Su Jing made up his mind and began to recite:

  A new poem with a cup of wine, last year's weather on an old boat stage, when will the sunset return?

  No help for it, flowers fall and go, as if they had been here before, swallows return. Alone in the small garden, I wander along the fragrant path.

  He Yihan murmured a few lines of Su Jing's poem in her mouth, clapped her hands and praised: "Good words! Brother Su is indeed talented! I admire you, admire you!"

  Su Jing smiled secretly in his heart and thought: "Isn't it because of my good memory? I haven't forgotten the words I learned in junior high school!"

  "Su Gongzi's writing is very good, don't admit defeat just yet, okay?" Xie Peirong cheered her on from the side.

  He Yihan bowed slightly towards the two of them and gazed out at the lake before saying:

  The lake is like a mirror, people are like boats, drifting aimlessly with no end in sight.

  All living beings are suffering, why must you ask where to return?

  Xie Peirong gazed thoughtfully at the fishermen fishing in the distance, and indeed, He Yihuan's words carried a somewhat heavy meaning.

  "What a noble sentiment, Lord He! It seems you also have a compassionate heart. If you can achieve great things in the future, you will surely bring blessings to the people!" Xiao Jing's flattery skills were still top-notch.

  He Yihan didn't flinch at all, her pale face was very tangled in expression. "If possible, I don't want to go to the capital for the exam either! How would you know what's on my mind?"

  At this time, Chen Zhan and Lin Yun, who were approaching from the other end, stumbled towards them.

  "What a magnificent vessel! It must be Miss Xie's!" Chen Zhan said.

  Lin Yun Dao said: "That's not necessarily true, without seeing it with our own eyes, we can't rely on visual illusions to make judgments! Isn't this also the detective knowledge that Su Jing taught us?"

  Chen Zhan nodded and suddenly shouted loudly: "Book-born, book-born! Quick look over there, isn't that the second young lady of the Xie family?"

  Lin Yun followed the sound and looked over, only to see a woman wearing a red tight-fitting dress holding a long Western-style mirror looking towards the ship where Su Jing was. "How is she also here? It seems we are going to meet this ancestor! Let's go! We'll go there." Lin Yun thought of the events from that morning, and he couldn't swallow his anger.

  "But aren't we supposed to go see what the boss is doing? Are you not going?"

  "Su Jing's matter can be looked back on, if not, ask the person involved, okay?! I've already made a move towards her!" Lin Yun was unwilling to give up this opportunity, he thought his skills in water were still good and should be able to bully this second-generation rich kid.

  At this moment, Miss Xie Er was intently watching everything happening on the boat, muttering to herself: "What could make you guys sometimes look so serious and sometimes laugh with such abandon? Ah... can't hear the sound..."

  "Xie family's second ancestor, we meet again! It's really fate, isn't it? Xuanwu Lake is so big, and yet we still ran into each other."

  Xie Peishan turned around and saw Lin Yun, that silly bookworm, and ignored him.

  "What the...! Are you still pretending to be tough here? On land, you may be a heroic female knight, but this is water, and I am an invincible pirate!" Lin Yun made a fierce face.

  Xie Peishan waved her sword irritably and said, "Scram! I don't have the leisure to argue with you!"

  "Oh, really? You're peeking at that too? Our boss and your beautiful sister are having a secret meeting, what are you sneaking a look at? I get it, you've never had a date with a boy before, you must be very eager and want to sneak a peek to satisfy your curiosity, haha..."

  Listening to the silly bookworm's words, Chen Zhan also laughed. The two of them laughed and rolled around in the boat, but they didn't pay attention to their balance. The small boat suddenly lost its balance, and with a splash, both of them fell into the water at the same time.

  Xie Peishan, who was originally very angry, saw the awkward appearance of these two people and her anger disappeared.

  "You guys are mocking others, now you're doomed! Hey, you won't be drowned, will you? What's going on? I don't understand swimming," Xie Peishan looked at the slowly calming lake surface, but didn't see the two people's figures, and suddenly became a bit panicked.

  She looked around and was about to shout for help loudly, but suddenly a big hand grabbed her ankle.

  "Come down for me!" Lin Yun suddenly pulled Xie Peishan into the water. Then he got on the second lady's boat, Chen Zhan also got on the boat, looking at the struggling knight girl in the water with some amusement.

  "Haha, you still dare to laugh at us? Let you have a good drink of lake water! I'll take a look at what's going on with that boat first!" Lin Yun said, taking the Western-style mirror he had snatched and gazing into the distance.

  Chen Zhan gazed at the flustered Second Miss, somewhat worried. After some deliberation, he decided to rescue her anyway; bullying the Second Miss of the Xie family would surely cost them their lives, as Old Master Xie would not let them off easily.

  Xie Peishan was already exhausted after boarding the ship, panting heavily and kicking Lin Yun's leg in anger.

  "Bitter melon face, after I go back, I must make you pay double! Hey, did you hear me? What are you looking at!"

  Chen Zhan also curiously squeezed over and asked: "Foolish bookworm, what are you looking at? The bosses' ships are over there."

  Lin Yun finally came back to himself, "N...nothing, over here, oh, I'll just...Huh? Why did you bring her up here?"

  Only then did Miss Xie get up, glare around with anger, and lift her long legs.

  "What's wrong?! I'll send you to the bottom of the water!"

  All that could be heard was a cry of despair, and Lin Yun fell into the water. Xie Peishan ordered Chen Zhan to quickly row the boat away from where Lin Yun had fallen in. This time, the foolish bookworm would have to swim ashore by himself!

  It was already late afternoon, the evening breeze gently swept across, and the red glow occupied half of the sky. The scenery was indeed beautiful. However, Lin Yun didn't have the heart to appreciate it, as he lay exhausted on the grass after swimming ashore.

  "This second-generation ancestor! If I have a chance, I will definitely break her legs!" Lin Yun gritted his teeth.

  "Lin Yun? What are you doing here too? You look so tired, where have you been?" said Yan Song.

  As soon as Lin Yun saw him, he remembered the scene he had seen through the Western-style mirror on the boat. "I went for a swim, but I did see something I shouldn't have. How could you be with one of the girls from the Wan Hua Lou?! Brother Yan, how can you disregard your identity as a reader of sacred books and be with that kind of person?!" The appearance of the flower queen of Wan Hua Lou was well-known in Jianye City, and Lin Yun naturally knew about it too.

  Yan Song's expression suddenly became tense, "I didn't think you saw it, yes, I and Du Chuyan were indeed secretly meeting on the boat just now!"