Xiaoyue covered her face and smiled, her enchanting gaze sweeping over Chen Yuan as if capable of bewitching souls. Although Chen Yuan felt a dryness in his throat, he managed to maintain his composure.

"Hahaha, a talented scholar and a beautiful woman, a talented scholar and a beautiful woman..."

Ma Dayuan laughed a few times, though it was unclear where he got the idea of Chen Yuan being a "talented scholar" from.

"Master Chen, please."

Xiaoyue swirled her light gauze and slowly walked up the stairs to the second floor.

Chen Yuan stood up, smiled at Ma Dayuan and Wang Ping, and followed Xiaoyue's steps.

The madam, though disappointed at not receiving any silver, dared not scold him and watched Chen Yuan and Xiaoyue go upstairs.

Chen Yuan glanced back and, seeing everyone's eyes on him, tossed a silver coin to the madam:

"Why are you all looking at me?"

"Continue the music, continue the dance!"

......

Xiaoyue's boudoir was called Water Moon Pavilion. As soon as Chen Yuan entered, he felt a subtle fragrance permeate his heart, causing him to relax unconsciously.

"My name is Su..."

Su Xiaoyue walked out from the inner room holding a jade flute, a light smile on her face.

"Miss Su."

Chen Yuan nodded, casually found a stool to sit on, and looked around the boudoir.

"I didn't expect this place to be so serene. Miss Su is very thoughtful."

A hint of sadness flashed across Su Xiaoyue's face:

"This room was decorated for me by my mother when I was young and before my family fell into decline. I always remember it."

Chen Yuan's expression remained unchanged, and he said cooperatively:

"Miss Su is also a person with a bitter fate. May I hear your story?"

Tears welled up in Su Xiaoyue's eyes, and she raised her hand to gently wipe them away, forcing a smile:

"There's nothing good to mention about the past. Master Chen came up here to listen to music, not to hear my sad stories."

"That's right, then play something for me."

Chen Yuan nodded in agreement.

Su Xiaoyue: "???"

"Okay."

Su Xiaoyue raised the jade flute to her lips.

Chen Yuan listened calmly to Su Xiaoyue's flute music. It was indeed very beautiful, but his attention wasn't on it. He had originally thought that some unexpected situation might occur after entering.

Perhaps she would ask him for help, or perhaps she would attack him.

He hadn't expected that it would really be just listening to music, the proper kind.

A long time passed.

The sound stopped, Su Xiaoyue lowered the jade flute from her lips, her alluring eyes slowly wandering over Chen Yuan, and she chuckled softly, saying:

"Master Chen, how was my flute music?"

"Not bad. Based on this skill alone, Miss Su can be considered exceptional."

"Unfortunately, it's useless. They value my appearance more. Unlike Master Chen, who seems to be indifferent to me..." Su Xiaoyue gently held her chin with her slender, fair fingers.

The corner of her mouth curved up as she looked directly at Chen Yuan.

"You're wrong. I value appearance even more..."

"Does Master Chen mean that I don't meet your eye?"

"Hehe..."

Chen Yuan chuckled softly.

It wasn't that. In his previous life, he often wore those Elan Spirit brand boots to walk the muddy roads while working at the foot bath. But in this world, without the strength to protect himself,

Chen Yuan didn't want to indulge in wine and women.

"It's not like that. I just said that because of my cultivation, if there's an opportunity in the future, I'll have in-depth exchanges with Miss Xiaoyue."

After saying that, Chen Yuan stood up, ignored the amorous look in Su Xiaoyue's eyes, slowly pushed the door open, and walked out.

Su Xiaoyue watched Chen Yuan's departing back, her eyes narrowed, a flash of interest in her eyes, and the corners of her mouth slightly raised, revealing a faint smile.

......

In front of the Misty Rain Brothel.

Chen Yuan left with Wang Ping. Since there was nothing in the Misty Rain Brothel that interested him, there was no need to waste time.

It was better to go home and cultivate.

Even if he suspected that Su Xiaoyue wasn't as simple as she seemed, Chen Yuan wasn't very interested. As long as she didn't provoke him, everything would be fine. But if she really didn't know what was good for her and wanted to use him for something,

Chen Yuan wouldn't be soft-hearted. His blade didn't discriminate between men and women!

"Yuan-ge'er, how was it?"

Wang Ping winked and smiled, his gaze still looking towards the Misty Rain Brothel.

In his opinion, Yuan-ge'er must have been up to no good on the second floor.

Chen Yuan took a deep breath and chuckled softly:

"Very moist!"

Ignoring Wang Ping's surprise, Chen Yuan turned and walked towards the county yamen.

As soon as he approached, he saw Xiao Fang and her father hesitating at the door, frequently looking inside, but not daring to approach. The majesty of the yamen was still very heavy in the eyes of ordinary people.

"Uncle Zhou, what's going on?"

Chen Yuan walked up and asked.

"Yuan-ge'er..." Xiao Fang suddenly turned her head and, seeing that it was Chen Yuan, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Chen... Chen Yuan, we have something to ask you." Zhou Zhong hesitated.

He had heard something about Chen Yuan becoming a constable, and knew that things were different now. Xiao Fang was no longer worthy of him, and Chen Yuan, except for occasionally passing by and saying hello when eating breakfast,

Generally, he wouldn't have any contact with their family.

Only Xiao Fang was still foolishly fantasizing that her childhood sweetheart would marry her.

"Let's go inside and talk," Chen Yuan nodded and led Zhou Zhong and his daughter into the county yamen.

From time to time, people cupped their hands at Chen Yuan, or bowed, all with respect and awe on their faces, which shocked Zhou Zhong and made him even more cautious.

"Uncle Zhou, A-Fang, sit down, don't be nervous, we're all family." Chen Yuan said with a smile.

In his mind, the Zhou Zhong family was still relatively peaceful. Since they came to him, they must be in some difficulty, so he directly asked:

"Uncle Zhou, what do you need me for?"

"Yuan-ge'er, we're here to report a case."

Xiao Fang replied from the side.

Chen Yuan frowned:

"Report a case? Did someone cause trouble for you?"

He had previously warned Zhu Si Hai that the North Sea Gang wasn't allowed to bully the neighbors near their home. He couldn't and wasn't interested in managing other things, but the people around him were all old acquaintances of their family.

They usually didn't have any conflicts, and some had even helped their family when Chen Yuan was young. To the best of his ability, Chen Yuan wouldn't be unreasonable.

"No... no, even the people from the North Sea Gang haven't come to collect protection money recently." Zhou Zhong said quickly.

"Then?"

"It's like this, yesterday Wu Lao San said that there was a big hole in Cheng'er's grave, so I was thinking of moving him to another place. As a result, when I opened the coffin today, I found that Cheng'er's body was gone."

"I suspect someone stole the corpse, so I was thinking of reporting it to the authorities..."

Zhou Zhong explained in detail.

Chen Yuan had some impression of Cheng'er, who Zhou Zhong mentioned. He was Zhou Zhong's son, who he had at nearly forty years old, and he usually treasured him very much.

But he died of a strange disease a year ago. He had even helped when he was buried.

————

Stop raising the book, persistent men!