Who in the world does not know you?

Chapter 79 Whose Young Man

Li Zigui ignored Li Hongyi's increasingly ashen face, and then belatedly realized the purpose of his visit to find his daughter.

"The manager of NaCai Pawnshop just delivered your pawn ticket."

Upon hearing Li Zigui's words, Leng Honglou placed the silver note in front of Li Hongyi.

Li Zigui looked down at the silver notes on his desk, his eyes casually glancing at Li Hongyi's paintings.

Li Hongyi felt a chill run down her spine. She knew all too well that her unreliable father was always meticulous and insightful.

Could it be that he's going to ask her who the man in the painting is?

How should she answer?

Just as Li Hongyi was lost in thought, unsure how to answer Li Zigui's question, Li Zigui spoke earnestly.

"Red Robe, the manager of Na Cai Pawnshop is an honest man. An honest man certainly doesn't have that much silver as capital. Next time, go to Da Ji Pawnshop in the west of the city. The manager there has some shady business going on. Whatever you want to pawn, he'll give you a silver note on the same day."

"..."

"Alright, your mother and I don't have anything else to do. You go ahead with your work, we won't bother you anymore. You know what, forging is a skill, I believe in you, you'll definitely succeed."

After Li Zigui finished speaking, he put his arm around Leng Honglou's shoulder, and the couple turned to leave.

Just then, Li Hongyi finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"Wait...aren't you all going to ask who this person I drew is?"

Li Zigui turned around, then exchanged a glance with Leng Honglou beside him, revealing a sly smile.

"Oh? Tsk tsk tsk, so it wasn't a fake after all..."

Leng Honglou smiled slightly, without saying a word.

In terms of their level of understanding, the couple can convey their thoughts to each other with just a glance.

Li Hongyi then realized that the couple had done it on purpose.

"You...you...humph!"

Li Hongyi was so angry that she stood there stamping her feet.

In that instant of stomping her foot, she remembered that she had had the same experience when she was pretending to be Ye Zi.

She then recalled the handsome young man who knew her true identity from beginning to end, yet pretended to be kept in the dark as if watching a play, until she finally revealed her identity, and he only responded with a faint "I knew she wasn't Ye Zi the first time I saw her."

"Alright, tell me, whose young man is this?"

Li Zigui's fingers tapped lightly on the corner of Li Hongyi's painting.

He didn't tap the boy's body in the painting with his fingers, because he was worried that his fingers would dirty the white paper.

He didn't want to do anything that might make his daughter hate him.

He knew that Li Hongyi wouldn't paint a boy for no reason; this person must be extraordinary in her heart.

Leng Honglou walked closer and bent down to examine the appearance of the boy in the painting, but couldn't make out anything.

"What does he do?"

Caught off guard by Leng Honglou's sudden question, Li Hongyi stammered, unsure how to answer.

She still considers Yun Luobai to be a swindler and fraudster. Logically speaking, even if she says this, it won't affect her much. Yun Luobai isn't anyone to her, probably not even a friend.

But she just didn't really want to tell her parents that Yun Luobai was a conman. This feeling was strange, and she couldn't explain why.

"He...he's a fortune teller who runs a street stall..."

"I see. Shouldn't there be a banner here, and a set of tables and chairs? I know this, your father and I used to set up a similar stall, what was it called again... Oh right, diagnosis by sight."

"My wife, I'm so glad you still remember..."

I remember all the times we adventured together.

Li Hongyi looked at her parents, who were gazing at each other affectionately, with a complex expression. There was a reason why she didn't like staying at home...

"A fortune teller at a street stall? So your connection with him must be because of that 'Heavenly Mandate Mirror,' right? He's someone you met in Ningzhou Prefecture, isn't he?"

"Yes. My relationship with him is because..."

"Wait a moment, I'll go make some tea. Your mother and I will sit down and listen to your story."

"..."

"I'll go check on your dad, make sure he doesn't burn his hand again."

"..."

After quite some time, the couple returned carrying a tea tray.

After pouring three cups of hot tea, the family of three finally had a chance to talk about Li Hongyi's experiences on her recent trip.

"The girl Ye Zi you sent back earlier, the person who escorted her should have been someone Hu Youxuan sent to protect you, right? Given his personality, he wouldn't let you run wild. If something happened to you, he wouldn't be able to explain it to me."

"Yes. They contacted me in Ningzhou Prefecture, saying that my master instructed them to protect me secretly. I just wanted Ye Zi to escape from this hellhole, so I asked them to send some people to escort Ye Zi back to He Gui Lou."

"I knew those guys looked shifty and didn't seem like good people."

Li Zigui sipped his tea while pouting, but when he saw Li Hongyi starting to sulk again, he put down his teacup and forced a smile.

"Good daughter, please continue, please continue, your father will never interrupt you..."

This time, Li Hongyi didn't hold back and told her parents everything she had done in Ningzhou Prefecture, as well as her shared experiences with Yun Luobai in her guise as Ye Zi.

It wouldn't have mattered if she hadn't said anything, but after she recounted everything she had seen and heard on the trip, even she herself felt that this was no ordinary journey.

The courtesan in Rouge Pavilion died, Yunping is a wanted criminal of the court accused of treason, and Ma Ben has no reason to compete with Yunping for the position of prison warden. The origin of the monk on the wanted poster is also a mystery.

Li Hongyi went to the prison without finding out what the Heavenly Mandate Mirror was, so she followed the clue of fortune telling and transformed into Ye Zi, which led to her encounter with Yun Luobai.

However, she found nothing when she sneaked into Yun Luobai's room late at night. In addition, she no longer cared about the so-called Destiny Mirror, so she naturally didn't pay any attention to it.

Li Hongyi didn't stay in Ningzhou Prefecture for long, but a lot happened during that time.

Li Zigui and Leng Honglou listened quietly while drinking tea, without interrupting Li Hongyi's narration until she mentioned leaving Ningzhou Prefecture and embarking on her journey home, at which point the story came to an end.

Li Hongyi had imagined what her parents would ask her after hearing about her experiences in Ningzhou Prefecture, but the question Li Zigui asked after a moment's thought surprised her.

"Red Robe, are you saying that when Yun Luobai was investigating the surrounding environment of the murder scene, he was very concerned about whether the murderer who killed Mu Li knew martial arts?"

"Yes, I remember he said that this way he could use ordinary people's psychology to understand the killer's thoughts..."

Li Hongyi rested her chin on her long, slender white index finger, pondering Yun Luobai's answer from that time.

"Husband, is there a problem?"

Sitting next to Li Zigui, Leng Honglou asked softly.

"There's nothing wrong with it, but when I used to travel the world with you under the alias Li Xuanhe, my first reaction to many unexpected events was to be very concerned about whether the other party knew martial arts."

Why?

"Because I need to know how strong the opponent is if they know martial arts, and whether you can defeat them. If you can't defeat them, then you can only..."

Li Zigui suddenly smiled and shook his head at this point.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it."