CHAPTER 121: CHAPTER 121: PROBING THE HUMAN HEART

The sky gradually darkened and a cool breeze blew gently. Long Yue suddenly asked, "How’s the investigation about that young man going?"

"He very likely is the missing young princely heir of the Qin Family! I returned and asked Uncle Qin for a portrait of Mr. Qin when he was young, and there’s a seventy to eighty percent resemblance with that young man. I’m afraid I’m not wrong."

He looked at Long Yue with a slight glimmer in his eyes, "Your intuition is spot on!"

Being praised by the man she had chosen for life always brought delight. Long Yue’s heart skipped a beat, "So, shall we go back and rest? There are important matters to attend to tomorrow!"

"Alright!"

That night, Long Yue, feeling quite pleased, let Li Qingmu indulge again. The next morning, Li Qingmu woke up full of energy.

Long Yue opened her eyes, and feeling the soreness in her lower back, glared resentfully at the lively man beside her, wondering why she felt like hitting him.

"Wife, you’re up early, come, have some steamed buns!"

Li Qingmu seemed to have been awake for a while, there was a box of steaming steamed buns beside him. Long Yue was dumbfounded, "Where did they come from?"

"Sun Erniang gave them!"

"Sun Erniang isn’t too bad!"

"Hmm!"

Things must not be rushed. Moreover, they were here to stir things up, so they needed to first figure out the situation, even some people’s temperaments and preferences had to be pondered.

This process wouldn’t be completed in less than two months. After all, they were still newcomers, and there were many things in the village they couldn’t interfere with.

"What exactly does the Young Prince want you to do? Li Qingmu, are we still husband and wife?"

After finishing her morning chores, Long Yue bit down on a thin-skinned, meaty steamed bun and said fiercely.

The last time the Young Prince saw him alone, and sometimes this fellow would secretly do things behind her back, Long Yue could understand this. After all, men didn’t need to share everything with women, that would be too effeminate. But now that they were in this mountain bandit den, she only knew he wanted to dismantle this mountain bandit hideout, everything else was unknown.

Li Qingmu was silent for a moment, then said, "This isn’t just an ordinary mountain bandit hideout!"

"Hmm? Here..." Long Yue suddenly realized something, somewhat surprised, "Is there more hidden beneath?"

"Hmm, think about it, we’ve been here for ten days, they plunder day in and day out, where do all those treasures go?"

Long Yue nodded, "I’ve noticed that too. Logically, the treasures from one round of plundering would be enough to live abundantly for a long time, yet looking at their ragged appearance, they don’t seem to be living well-fed lives..."

"Therefore, we need to find where Heifeng Village stores its treasures and see whether the plundered wealth is being stockpiled or used for other purposes!"

"I understand now, this is why you needed to come in personally!"

"Hmm!"

"But it will be difficult for us to infiltrate them, though we can start with that young man."

"Let’s go see him in a bit!"

...

In the afternoon, Long Yue and her husband went to the kitchen. The boy who was tending the fire was as usual, sitting on the steps, gazing into the distance, not knowing what he was looking at.

Today he seemed very quiet, his expression also very serene, maybe they could have a good conversation this time.

"Hey!"

Long Yue approached and waved gently in front of him, but the young man merely glanced at her expressionlessly, then continued to stare into the distance.

Li Qingmu walked over and sat next to him on the steps, looking into the distance with him: "What’s your name?"

The young man instinctively turned his head, just as Li Qingmu turned to face him, their eyes met.

The young man, possibly unaccustomed to such close contact with others, seemed a bit nervous, hurriedly turned away, and said somewhat unhappily, "They all call me ’hey’!"

"..."

So he had no name!

"Have you ever thought about giving yourself a name?"

The young man was stunned, then lowered his head in silence, after a long while, he mumbled, "I haven’t studied, can’t read or write, don’t know what to call myself..."

Li Qingmu picked up a slender piece of firewood from nearby and scratched a few lines on the dusty ground.

"How about this?"

"Looks good, but I don’t recognize it."

"Wuyou, meaning carefree, easy to remember, right?"

"Wuyou... Wuyou..." the young man muttered the name to himself, suddenly a spark seemed to light up in his eyes, "Good, this name is good! Haha, I have a name now!"

He smiled broadly at Li Qingmu, a smile that was pure and joyful.

Long Yue watched in astonishment, she had frequently greeted this young man recently, but he always kept an indifferent attitude, sometimes Long Yue even doubted he rejected interaction with people? Yet Li Qingmu approached, and they started conversing just like that?

How did he do it? Did this fellow have the power to charm people?

Li Qingmu chatted with the young man a bit more, then found an excuse to prepare to leave, but before he left, he said again, "I’ll come see you again tomorrow!"

"Alright!"

The young man looked at Li Qingmu, his eyes filled with anticipation.

On the way back, Long Yue couldn’t understand, and when they were a bit farther away, she couldn’t help but ask, "That young man always seemed cold towards others, how did you manage to chat with him so cheerfully?"

Li Qingmu paused, his gaze slightly focused, smiled faintly, and said, "Empathy!"

Long Yue was taken aback, empathy? Did she not have it?

Li Qingmu shook his head and said, "Not ordinary empathy! This child is constantly ordered around, and no one ever cares for him, so he’s always closed off, as a way to reduce harm. Just now, I sat with him at the same level, allowing him to feel someone being close to him for the first time, which is why he showed such closeness to me."

Ah, that’s why!

Long Yue understood, earlier when she spoke to him, she was always standing over there, which made the young man feel he was always looking up at others, that suffocating feeling was uncomfortable, making him feel everyone carried malice towards him.

But Li Qingmu was different. He sat with him on the steps, two young men of similar age staring at each other, the scene seemed strange but very genuine!

"I was wrong!"

Long Yue sighed, feeling her understanding of human nature couldn’t compare to her husband’s; this man... how to put it, comparing herself to him could drive her crazy with frustration.

"It’s not wife’s fault!" Li Qingmu chuckled lightly, wrapped his arm around the little woman’s waist, and whispered, "Wife comes from a noble family, these trivial matters shouldn’t burden wife, let your husband handle them."

"This isn’t a trivial matter!"

Long Yue had a serious expression, that young man was indeed a true descendant of the Qin Family, they needed to take him back.

But Li Qingmu’s face turned cold, he said indifferently, "I will take care of his matters, you as a woman, it’s inconvenient!"

Huh?

So straightforward? Long Yue was flabbergasted, was her husband jealous? I mean, she was just talking to him, was it so necessary...

Long Yue always thought only women got jealous, but it turned out when men got jealous, it was as terrifying as a beast from primordial times.