The window-side table was laden with dishes when Yu Jin welcomed them: “I figured you’d be back about now. The food just arrived, still hot.”
Jiang Zhan’s eyes lit up seeing the braised pork: “Seventh Brother Yu truly knows my taste.”
Yu Jin smiled, handing them chopsticks: “Everyone’s tired today. Let’s rest early after eating and explore more tomorrow.”
He then placed some white-cut chicken in Jiang Si’s dish: “Try this, Miss Jiang.”
Jiang Si looked up to see him wink.
She ate the chicken slowly, wondering: was there some meaning in him serving her chicken?
After dinner, everyone returned to their rooms. When A-Man wanted to prepare bath items, Jiang Si stopped her: “Not yet.”
She pondered that Yu Jin serving her chicken must have had some significance, probably indicating when he would come.
The Hour of the Rooster – he should arrive soon.
Just as she thought this, there was a gentle knock at the door.
A-Man looked at Jiang Si.
“Open the door and let him in.”
“Yes.” A-Man quickly opened the door.
Yu Jin slipped in smoothly.
“You—”
Before A-Man could speak, Jiang Si called out: “A-Man, please close the door.”
A-Man had no choice but to comply, watching Yu Jin’s every move.
Yu Jin strode to sit beside Jiang Si and shared his findings: “I know where Master Chi lives now, and something is interesting that might help our plan.”
“What is it?” Jiang Si had given up commenting on his familiarity.
“Master Chi usually travels for business this time of year, returning no earlier than late summer. He didn’t come back early because servants informed him of his daughter’s disappearance, but because he had recurring nightmares of his daughter crying for help. Master Chi grew so worried that he ended his business early to rush back, only to find his daughter truly missing. This strange occurrence has spread through his household servants’ gossip.”
Jiang Si listened quietly, suddenly thinking of her father.
Before she left, her father had pulled Second Brother’s ear while giving many instructions, and those dried peaches and apricots she used to bribe the novice monk at Lingwu Temple were all prepared by her father.
“Perhaps it’s the connection between father and daughter,” Jiang Si felt a lump in her throat.
Yu Jin smiled slightly: “If Master Chi would rush back just from nightmares about his daughter, our plan has an even better chance. When do you want to act?”
“At the Hour of the Rat.”
“Good, I’ll come for you then.”
As Yu Jin prepared to leave, Jiang Si asked to confirm her suspicion: “During dinner, you gave me chicken. Were you suggesting a meeting at the Hour of the Rooster?”
Yu Jin paused, then smiled: “I just thought the white-cut chicken was tasty.”
Jiang Si: “…”