Chapter 74 "Pigsty"

If we could be certain that the object is in the pigsty, Xiao Qian would definitely go in. But now we are uncertain, what if it's somewhere else? Xiao Qian decides to search in other places first and only enter the pigsty as a last resort.

于是两人又去了主屋，也就是孟家老两口住的房间。

还是没找到，然后是西厢，西厢房是厨房和杂物间。

萧潜把整个灶台都摸了一遍，林晏晏则检查锅碗瓢盆。

“萧潜，看来你只能进猪圈了。”林晏晏累了，坐在长凳上歇会儿。

"No, I haven't checked the storeroom yet. I'll go and have a look."

Lin Yannan sighed, resting her chin on her hands. Maybe she was overthinking things.

"Yan Yan, my matchstick is about to go out, bring the candle in," Xiao Qian called her from the storage room.

"Oh!" Lin Yannan went to fetch the candle holder but maybe the candle was not secured properly, Lin Yannan's hand trembled and the candle fell on the ground, extinguishing it.

屋子里陷入一片漆黑，林晏晏顿时觉得脊背发凉，赶紧摸出火折子点亮，只见蜡烛滚到了桌角旁。

林晏晏蹲下身捡蜡烛，看到一只桌腿下面垫着几张折叠起来的草纸，草纸看起来已经很旧了。

Lin Yannan, by a twist of fate, lifted the Eight Immortals table and took out a piece of grass paper.

Opening the grass paper, she was astonished to find a corner of a torn and burnt letter, with the image of a flying eagle on its edges and the two characters "Yang Si" written on top. Translation is complete.

Lin Yannan's heart suddenly skipped a beat. She was very familiar with the eagle totem. There was a map hanging in her father's study, and the symbol for the northern barbarians was an eagle.

"Yannan, the candle," Xiao Qian urged. Please note that the translated content may not include the exact same number of '@' symbols as the original text.

"Here." Lin Yannan stuffed the torn paper into her pocket, placed the scrap paper under the table leg, and then took a candle into the utility room.

"I think you better not search here, go to the pigsty!"

“不能错过任何地方。”萧潜擦了擦额头的汗，继续扒拉一堆杂物。

“别负隅顽抗拖延时间，你我都知道猪圈是最有可能藏东西的地方。”林晏晏存心捉弄萧潜。

"Ah... The whole Meng family's death is inexplicable, especially those children. The youngest one was not even two years old. What did they do wrong? They were killed with their throats slit, it's so brutal... If we can't solve the case and catch the murderer, how can we face their family..."

Xiao Qian stopped what she was doing and squatted down, trying to convince herself.

In fact, there was no need for her verbal encouragement, as she knew he would definitely go there on his own. However, it was his first time entering a pigsty, so he inevitably had some psychological obstacles.

A moment later, Xiao Qian got up and walked out.

The corners of Lin Yanyan's mouth lifted as she followed.

"Be careful, it's slippery inside," Lin Yanyan kindly reminded him when they reached the pigsty. She also handed him the candle to light his way.

Xiao Qian glanced at her expressionlessly, is this a slippery question? Is it disgusting, okay?

"You don't have to be afraid, there are no pigs inside," Lin Yanyan said.

Xiao Qian thought in her heart: My eyes are not blind, and those two pigs were sent to the slaughterhouse by him to exchange for money, to be used for Meng's family's funeral expenses.

Xiao Qian took a deep breath, but accidentally inhaled a big gulp of foul smell, almost causing him to vomit.

Forget it, everything is for solving the case and seeking justice for the tragic deaths of the Meng family.

Xiao Qian clenched his teeth, made up his mind, rolled up the hem of his clothes and tucked it into his belt, and pushed open the fence of the pigsty, walking inside.

The straw on the ground was sticky and slippery, soaked with pig dung, giving people goosebumps.

"Where should we look?" Xiao Qian had no idea where to start.

Lin Yannan smiled and said, "Come out."

"What?" Xiao Qian looked at Lin Yannan in surprise.

"I found it?"

Xiao Qian paused for a moment. "Found it? Where did you find it?"

"Just... under the Eight Immortals table in the kitchen."

萧潜看看自己脚底下的猪粪，再看看林晏晏，一股被戏弄的愤怒从心头直蹿脑门，他大步走向林晏晏。

Lin Yannan quickly stepped back and said, "Wait, wait, don't get angry first."

“林晏晏，你竟然诓我进猪圈……”萧潜咬牙切齿，还让他不要动怒，他现在恨不得把这个女人扔到猪圈里去。

“那个……我主要是为了考验你一下，查案嘛，什么情况都会遇到的对不对？你今天这一脚意义重大你知不知道？你脚踩着肮脏，但突显了你品格的高尚，我算看明白了，萧潜，你是一个胸中装着大义，肩上能担责任的人，我对你佩服之至……”林晏晏狂拍马屁。

萧潜嘴角抽搐：“你别以为你说几句好听的我就原谅你，来，你也突显一下你高尚的品格。”

萧潜作势将她往猪圈推，吓她一下，出口恶气。

“萧潜……殿下……我错了我错了……”林晏晏连声认错。

“现在认错，晚了。”萧潜眼底划过一抹戏谑的笑，看吓不死你。

"I...I made a major discovery, the Falcon symbol." Lin Yanyan exclaimed.

Xiao Qian's heart skipped a beat and he let go.

Lin Yanyan was desperately resisting the force pushing from behind, but when Xiao Qian suddenly let go, Lin Yanyan could not maintain balance and fell backward.

I thought I was about to fall flat on my back, but unexpectedly, I landed in a solid embrace.

Our eyes locked, our breaths intertwined, and the flickering light of a match danced in his deep, luminous eyes, dazzling me.

“你……可以放开我了。”林晏晏觉得自己的声音有点飘忽。

“哦！”萧潜条件反射的松手，心里慌乱，为什么每次碰到她就心跳失控？

"Ah..." Lin Yannan fell on her butt and squatted, instantly furious from the bottom of her heart. "Xiao Qian, I misjudged you. You're just a petty and vengeful person..."

Xiao Qian was at a loss: "I didn't do it on purpose."

"I don't believe you." Lin Yannan got up, dusted off her bottom, and then realized that she had picked up pig dung with her hand. Looking again, she saw that the spot where she fell was the same spot where he had stepped on, and his shoe soles were smeared with pig dung.

林晏晏那叫一个气，往他胸口一通乱擦。

Xiao Qian knew what it was as soon as he smelled it, and his whole demeanor changed: "Lin Yannan, you've gone too far..."

"It's all your fault. If I don't clean it off of you, do you expect me to clean it off of myself?" Lin Yannan argued confidently. However, this person's chest is so stubborn, as hard as a rock.

Xiao Qian felt frustrated. He said he would retaliate, but she herself was truly the one who would retaliate.

"Forget it, hurry up and show me what you found." Xiao Qian told himself, the important thing is to focus on business.

Lin Yanni felt much better after taking advantage: "You'd better send a few people to keep watch here tonight. I guess the killer will come again."

萧潜想想也对，不过这一身猪屎味，得赶紧回去洗个澡。

“不如去我家吧，换身衣裳，你总不能这么脏兮兮地回侯府，今晚我让我的侍卫过来盯守。”