Chapter 40: Trying to cover up the obvious
Hu Jinghui rushed into the lobby with two pieces of dead snake in his hands and walked straight to Di Renjie's desk.

Di Renjie asked hurriedly, "What happened, Jinghui? Why are you so flustered?"

Hu Jinghui slapped the two pieces of the snake's body on the table in front of Di Renjie and said happily, "The venomous snake that killed the servant has been found."

Di Renjie looked at the snake corpse that was still twitching and asked, "Where did you find this venomous snake?"

Hu Jinghui wiped his hands with his clothes and said, "It was in the flowerbed in the garden next to the East Flower Hall. This guy was really powerful. He jumped out from the flowers and bit my throat. I chopped him in half with one knife."

Zhao Ji watched Hu Jinghui's performance from the side and shook his head secretly.

It must have been an unpleasant feeling to kill the poisonous snake that he had raised for many years with his own hands, but it was hard for Hu Jinghui to appear to be very happy.

However, Hu Jinghui's actions not only failed to dispel Di Renjie's suspicion, but had the opposite effect.

As expected, Di Renjie stared at the venomous snake for a long time, and he startled Hu Jinghui when he spoke: "My guess was right, this is not an ordinary venomous snake."

Hu Jinghui's heart skipped a beat, and he felt that he had overdosed his plan, but he didn't dare show any surprise on his face.

He pretended not to understand: "What your Excellency means is..."

Di Renjie's eyes flashed: "I have seen this snake before."

Hu Jinghui opened his eyes wide and asked, "Oh? Where have you seen this snake, sir?"

Di Renjie glanced at Zhao Ji and said, "It was on that stormy night in Daliushu Village."

"That night, Chengyuan brought the imperial edict back to Youzhou City. You, Yuanfang and I stayed in Daliushu Village together. I was awakened by thunder in the middle of the night and saw the snake in the room." Di Renjie seemed to be lost in memories.

Hu Jinghui's expression froze, his mouth slightly open, his eyes dull, as if he was recalling something, or as if he was surprised and frightened.

Di Renjie saw Hu Jinghui's reaction and reached into his arms to pull out a handkerchief.

It was a silk handkerchief embroidered with a viper, the symbol of the killer viper.

Hu Jinghui shuddered all over and woke up in shock: "You mean, it's a viper?"

Di Renjie nodded and smiled mysteriously: "It seems that the viper is not far away from us."
-
Hu Jinghui came out of the main hall of the Governor's Mansion, waited until midnight, changed into Viper's clothes, and came to the ancient temple where he met Jin Mulan again.

Di Renjie mentioned the viper tonight, which made Hu Jinghui uneasy and his steps became disordered, so that he was discovered by Jin Mulan as soon as he entered the hall.

"How's the situation?" Jin Mulan met Hu Jinghui and asked expectantly.

"What do you mean? Are you asking me or Liu Jin?"

When Hu Jinghui put on Viper's clothes, it was as if he had a different personality, and his tone was always cold.

Jin Mulan smiled when she heard Hu Jinghui's slightly jealous remarks: "You are a grown man, but you are so petty. You are standing in front of me, what else can you do? Of course, I am asking about Liu Jin."

Hu Jinghui took a deep breath and said, "Liu Jin has temporarily withstood Di Renjie's temptation and gained his trust."

Jin Mulan heaved a sigh of relief when she heard this and turned around: "That's good, it seems that everything is going well."

Hu Jinghui shook his head and sighed, "He's fine, but something went wrong here."

Jin Mulan frowned immediately and turned around again: "What's going on?"

"Last night I went to contact Liu Jin as you requested. There happened to be a servant eavesdropping outside the door. I released a poisonous snake to bite him to death, and then Di Renjie became suspicious."

"I had no choice but to kill the viper and send it to him. But it backfired and made him think of me instead."

Hu Jinghui kept shaking his head, feeling very annoyed: "I never thought that he would actually see the viper in Daliushu Village. Now he must have known that the viper was right next to him."

"Does Di Renjie suspect you?" Jin Mulan asked nervously.

"I don't think so yet." Hu Jinghui said uncertainly.

"Then what are you worried about?" Jin Mulan said indifferently.

"You don't know Di Renjie. His mind is simply terrifying. Although he hasn't shown any signs of doubting me, after this incident, if I dare to make another move, it's only a matter of time before I'm exposed." Jin Mulan showed disdain: "I don't believe he's as amazing as you say. You're just worrying for nothing."

Hu Jinghui shook his head: "No, he is more terrible than you think. If you underestimate him, you will suffer a great loss."

Jin Mulan hesitated for a moment after hearing this and asked, "Then what are you going to do?"

"What else can we do? Of course we have to go back to Di Renjie." Hu Jinghui said helplessly.

"How about this, you don't contact Fang Qian for the time being, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble and make Di Renjie suspicious of him." Jin Mulan said.

Hu Jinghui looked at Jin Mulan with a slightly cold gaze: "Are you still concerned about your plan?"

Jin Mulan took the initiative to hug Hu Jinghui: "Of course I care about you."

Hu Jinghui felt the cold armor on Jin Mulan's body and looked a little lonely.

"I can't disappear for too long. In case something unexpected happens at the Governor's Mansion, I have to go back." Hu Jinghui gently pushed Jin Mulan away and left without looking back.

Jin Mulan was reluctant to leave and reached out to ask him to stay, but in the end she was speechless...
-
Hu Jinghui went out late at night to have a secret meeting with Jin Mulan, while Zhao Ji, with his steward and two guards, sneaked into the East Flower Hall.

Zhao Ji asked the steward: "Is there anyone else in the East Flower Hall?"

The steward said, "There is no one else except Lord Fang."

Zhao Ji nodded and ordered the two guards: "Remember this, the two of you. When the side room catches fire and the smoke starts to rise, you will immediately carry Lord Fang to the outside of the East Flower Hall. No matter what he says, you are not allowed to stop. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" the guard replied.

Everything was ready, and Zhao Ji came to a side room in a corner of the East Flower Hall. A lot of hay and wood were already piled in the house.

Zhao Ji took out a fire starter and set the hay on fire.

It was autumn, the weather was dry and windy, and the fire soon spread to the roof.

Zhao Ji walked to the center of the East Flower Hall courtyard and shouted, "The fire is coming! Hurry up and put it out!!!"

Then Zhao Ji jumped away, and there was a commotion outside the East Flower Hall, with shouts of "Fire" and "Fire!" Servants and guards rushed in to put out the fire.

Fang Qian was sleeping soundly in the room at this time, and was suddenly awakened by a shout.

There was a blaze outside and Fang Qian could only hear the sound of people trying to put out the fire. He put on his coat and opened the door to check.

Two guards immediately stepped forward and held Fang Qian without saying anything: "The side room is on fire, please move."

Fang Qian was very anxious: "Hey, hey, my door is not closed yet."

"My door...my door!"

The guards ignored Fang Qian and carried him all the way out of the East Flower Hall.

Zhao Ji passionately commanded outside the East Flower Hall: "Quick, quick, quick, put out the fire!"

"Oh, Lord Fang, are you okay?" Zhao Ji and Fang Qian were carried out and hurried to greet him.

Fang Qian was finally released by the guards. He hurried back: "My things are still in the room."

Zhao Ji grabbed Fang Qian and said, "Master Fang, Master Fang, listen to me. The fire is too big and the smoke is too thick. You just came out of prison. You can't stand it."

Fang Qian's face was filled with grievance, he wanted to cry but had no tears: "This... this..."

"The fire won't be put out in a short time. The East Flower Hall is uninhabitable. Lord Fang should stay somewhere else for the night. Come on, quickly escort Lord Fang to a safe place."

"Hey... Hey..." Fang Qian struggled to say something but was taken away by the guards.

(End of this chapter)