"I wonder what your intentions are?" Ling An raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and raised the corners of his fox eyes.
Qiao Qixin looked at Liu Zhan.
Liu Zhan's eyes dimmed slightly, "City Lord Ling has invited me like this, so if I don't go, wouldn't I be betraying City Lord Ling's kindness?"
"Then, please." Ling An had a teasing smile on his lips and stepped aside to make way for the passage.
Liu Zhan took a step and walked past Ling An.
Qiao Qixin also followed closely, but a hand suddenly stretched out and pressed on the wall nearby, blocking Qiao Qixin right in front of her.
Liu Zhan, who heard the voice, turned around and saw Ling An stopping Qiao Qixin, his face darkened slightly.
A chilling air filled the air around the three of them.
Qiao Qixin noticed the change in her aura and subconsciously looked at Liu Zhan.
Sure enough, Liu Zhan's face was completely dark.
I don't know if Ling An is slow or something else, but he looks at Qiao Qixin with a smile and doesn't say anything.
In this weird atmosphere, Qiao Qixin didn't know the solution, so she could only stand on the spot.
After a long time, Liu Zhan finally spoke.
He said coldly, "I don't know what City Lord Ling means."
Ling An heard the sound and turned around with a smile on his face, "Mr. Liu, I wonder who this is to you?"
Liu Zhan frowned slightly, nodded and said, "She is a painter from Dali Temple."
"Mr. Liu, don't evade the question. The question for me, the city lord, is who is this of yours?" Ling An raised his hand and lifted Qiao Qixin's chin.
Qiao Qixin tilted her head to avoid it, while Ling An narrowed his eyes slightly.
Liu Zhan was silent for a moment, "This has nothing to do with City Lord Ling. If City Lord Ling touches you again, I will chop off your fingers."
Qiao Qixin was slightly shocked in her heart.
I didn't expect Liu Zhan to be so bold. Oh, no, he has killed before without blinking an eye.
Tsk, you can’t forget the essence just because you’ve been getting along well with him these past few days.
Qiao Qixin secretly clenched her fists in her heart.
"Haha, Mr. Liu is indeed still young and vigorous." Although he said so, Ling An still took his hands away.
Qiao Qixin hurriedly came behind Liu Zhan.
Liu Zhan calmly protected Qiao Qixin behind him, his eyes still staring at Ling An warily.
"Why are Mr. Liu so nervous? Is it because he is not confident in himself?" Ling An narrowed his eyes with a smile.
"Don't Lord Ling want to invite us to the mansion? Why don't you leave yet?" Liu Zhan replied.
"Haha, let's go, please." Ling An raised his eyes slightly and walked towards his mansion.
Qiao Qixin pulled Liu Zhan's sleeve from behind.
"It's okay, just follow me." Liu Zhan.
Qiao Qixin felt as if her heartbeat had skipped a beat.
Damn it, what's going on with this kind of lustful rush?
The temptation came so suddenly, Qiao Qixin wished she could slap herself twice on the spot to wake herself up.
The two of them followed Ling An through twists and turns in Lin'an City and entered an alley.
You're not going to do an assassination, right?
Qiao Qixin was a little worried, but seeing Liu Zhan follow him in without any scruples, she had no choice but to follow suit.
Ling An stopped at the end of the alley, turned around and looked at Qiao Qixin and Liu Zhan with a smile on her face.
"You two, welcome to the real Lin'an City. I hope you have a good time there."
After saying that, Ling An turned around and pressed the button somewhere in the alley.
Rumble——
There was a noise, and bursts of dust dispersed in the air.
Qiao Qixin was so smoked that she sneezed several times in succession.
After she calmed down, she raised her head and saw a hole as big as a person on the wall at the end of the alley.
Behind that opening are bustling scenes and streets like a capital city.
A city within a city?
Qiao Qixin looked at Liu Zhan in surprise.
Liu Zhan frowned slightly, obviously not expecting such a situation.
"Are you two so frightened that you can't move?" Ling An held a folding fan in his hand and stood looking at the two of them with a smile.
The black mole at the corner of the eye coupled with the fox eyes makes her look even more charming and cunning.
Liu Zhan stepped forward, and Qiao Qixin followed closely behind.
"City Master Ling is really a good city master." Liu Zhan said, "But why did you enclose this single piece of land and abandon the outside?"
Qiao Qixin also looked at Ling An, observing his reaction.
Ling An winked at Qiao Qixin, and then said, "Young Master Liu and Painter Qiao don't know something."
"This Lin'an City, a plague broke out a few days ago."
"I spent a lot of energy to rescue some people and led them to build new homes in this unpolluted place." Ling An looked at the bustling streets in front of him, his eyes filled with pride and relief.
Liu Zhan's eyes dimmed, "I don't know what kind of plague it is. Why have I never heard of such an incident happening in Lin'an City?"
Hearing this, Ling An said calmly, "I just discovered a few days ago that you are not allowed to ride a horse or jump after being infected by this plague, otherwise you will die."
"The officials who came to Lin'an City to inspect the city estimated that the plague was probably caused while riding on horseback, so they died on the way home."
"Have officials been here before?" Liu Zhan asked.
"Yes," Ling An held up the folding fan and looked at Liu Zhan, "More than a dozen officials came one after another. They swore to me that they would find a doctor to save my life as a commoner in Lin'an City, but they failed.
None of them were fulfilled.”
Ling An sighed, with a look of pity on his face.
"Now that I think about it, I guess those officials are no longer here, otherwise why would they break their promise?"
Liu Zhan frowned and looked at Ling An, feeling that something was wrong.
"How long have you been building here?" Qiao Qixin suddenly said.
Ling An was stunned for a moment, then his eyes dropped and he looked at Qiao Qixin.
"What's wrong?" Qiao Qixin boldly looked back at Ling An.
"Nothing." Ling An rolled his eyes, regained his previous expression, and explained in a gentle manner, "This is a renovation of the original building, so the construction time is faster, about a month or two from now."
"When did the plague start?" Qiao Qixin asked again.
"About four months ago." Ling An said.
Qiao Qixin nodded, "What does it look like if you get the plague?"
"My whole body is weak, I have abscesses on my body, and I'm coughing." Ling An answered fluently.
"Did you just say you have medicine?" Qiao Qixin asked.
Ling An nodded, "Yes, I was born in a family of medicine. Although I have no family inheritance, I have been exposed to it since I was a child. My medical skills are not very good. But if I devote myself to it, I can still get this prescription."
Qiao Qixin looked at Liu Zhan and asked with her eyes the authenticity of Ling An's words.
Liu Zhan shook his head slightly.
He didn't know any medical family named Ling, so naturally he couldn't tell whether Ling An's words were true or false.
Qiao Qixin gritted her teeth.
This is difficult to do.
"Do Mr. Liu and Master Qiao have any questions? If not, can you come to my house for some lunch first?" Ling An suggested with a smile.
Qiao Qixin looked at Liu Zhan silently.
There was no way, as a little painter with no status, she could only follow Liu Zhan.
"City Lord Ling! When will you come to my place for dinner again!" On the roadside, a hotel manager stood at the door to get some air. When he saw Ling An, he greeted Ling An excitedly.
Qiao Qixin subconsciously looked at Ling An.
The latter seemed to be used to it, waving his hands and saying, "No, there are two guests here today. I will come to eat at your place another day!"
"City Lord Ling! The slave family has just received a few new batches of fine fabrics! Can they be delivered to you?" A cloth shop owner walked out of the shop.
"No, no, no! I haven't used up what you gave me last time!" Ling An said quickly, "Save it for yourself and buy two more clothes!"
Ling An seems to be quite popular among the people?
Qiao Qixin followed the two of them, looking around the street.
There is no problem with the furnishings on the street, but there are also debris and fresh stains in the corners...
Could it be that what Ling An said is right?
So what happened to Jiang Ai?
Qiao Qixin was very confused.
Under the leadership of Ling An, the three of them arrived in front of a mansion.
Although it is called a mansion, it is actually a larger family residence. From the outside, it does not look like a place where the lord of the city lives.
The door opened and Qiao Qixin took a look inside. Oh, sure enough, it looked nothing like it.
Inside the door, there are no decorations of plants or landscapes. It can be said that the house is just bare walls.
Qiao Qixin was silent, but she still held on to a faint hope.
What if he hid the gold in his home? The wealth should not be exposed...
"You two, do you want to go inside or just chat here?" Ling An said with a smile, no trace of embarrassment on his face.
Liu Zhan lowered his eyes and said, "Let's go inside and chat."
"Okay, but there is some clutter in my house, so don't worry about it." After Ling An said that, he stepped forward and pushed the door open.
After entering the house, Qiao Qixin became even more silent.
Ah...this...
It’s really shabbier than the small room in Li’s Mansion…
Qiao Qixin silently looked at the crude paint in the room and what could barely be called a bed. It was actually made of bricks and then covered with a lot of tattered cotton and something unknown.
Liu Zhan was also obviously very silent.
He organized his words for a long time before he said, "You...is this really yours, the City Lord's Mansion?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Ling An was confused.
He went to the corner of the room, fetched a few wooden stakes and placed them in the center of the room. Then he went to the bed and pulled some cotton flowers and threw them on the wooden stakes.
After finishing it, Ling An pointed at the wooden pile and said, "Sit down."
Qiao Qixin was silent.
She looked around the room again, and then sat down with Liu Zhan.
Even if it is covered with cotton, the wooden pile is still very tight.
Liu Zhan didn't know what to say, "...How are you living here?"
Ling An said "Huh?" as if wondering why Liu Zhan would ask such a question.
"Is it okay? This cotton was picked and dried by the people of Lin'an City as a gift to me. It's very comfortable and warm." Ling An replied with a smile.
Qiao Qixin and Liu Zhan looked at each other.
"What's going on with Jiang Ai? Why do you want to arrest him?" Qiao Qixin asked the first key question first.
Ling An was stunned for a moment, then his eyes darkened, "This... you may not believe it... I did it to save him."
"What?" Qiao Qixin was confused.
"You may have noticed that Jiang Ai has abscesses on his body."
Qiao Qixin was stunned for a moment, and then looked at Liu Zhan again.
Obviously, neither of them noticed whether Jiang Ai had abscesses on his body.
But this can't be blamed on them. After all, Jiang Ai was completely covered from head to toe in a beggar's costume, so he couldn't be seen at all.