Xue Lin bluntly spilled the bean. "Just say you are afraid of me. I won"t eat you alive if you speak the truth."
"…" Mu Feng didn"t know what to say. She just humiliated him in front of everyone.
"Ah! Ah!" Rice ball number one wanted to say something. He raised his hands toward Xue Lin.
Xue Lin saw him and realized that he wanted her to carry him. She froze. She wasn"t good with children. As she didn"t move, Mu Lan carried him and gave him to her friend. "He wants to be friends with you. Strange! Rice ball number one isn"t friendly to strangers. He didn"t even look at brother Feng."
Xue Lin"s stiff body started to relax. She said, "Maybe he realized that he should better be with intelligent people."
Mu Feng asked, "Are you telling me that I"m an idiot?"
Xue Lin blinked. "I believe that you are the one who said that you are an idiot just now. Everyone can give their testimony on that."
"Ah! Ah!" Rice ball number one vigorously nodded his head. Even if others didn"t give their testimonies, he would. His idiot uncle woke him from his sleep. He was very annoyed.
"Look, he just nodded." Xue Lin smirked at Mu Feng.
Mu Feng clenched the left side of his chest. He felt that his heart was pierced with something sharp. His nephew thought of him as an idiot. He wanted to die.
Only then Xue Lin noticed that there were several men she didn"t know. Her body instantly turned stiff again. She felt uncomfortable.
Rice ball number one raised his hand to touch her face. Only then she looked at him and forced a smile. "h.e.l.lo there! I"m Xue Lin. Call me Lin." She grabbed her small left hand with her right hand.
"Lin! Lin!" Rice ball said in a serious expression.
Xue Lin was stunned. "I already like him. Give him to me when he is five years old. I"ll raise him."
Mu Lan immediately took her firstborn from her friend. "Not in a million years!"
In the corner, Mu Liang watched and pondered deeply, "It"s not a bad idea."
-----
In the evening, Juan called out for Mu Lan in his room. Mu Lan brought Mu Liang with her. She saw her parents were also there. "What"s going on?"
Zhuan Zhen said, "I told them that the house you were in for months has some kind of similarities with this castle. Especially the secret prison behind the fireplace."
Mu Lan said, "Oh that, it"s nothing special. Any architecture can think of it, especially if they study historical architecture. This castle is four hundred years old. Anyone can try this castle"s design."
"Both Ru boy and Li boy"s parents were connected to The Mongoose. We can"t take the risk." Juan said. "s.h.i.+n, did you find anything?"
s.h.i.+ntaro was looking at his laptop. "I did, the castle is indeed four hundred years old and the one who designed Li boys house… wait, Li boy didn"t build it. It"s an old house which he bought and did some redo. The secret pa.s.sage was there from the beginning. When Li boy was remodeling it, he discovered it and used it as a prison."
Juan pondered about it. "Too much of a coincidence. He could make it a secret room to save food or hiding place but he kept it as a prison. Hmm… s.h.i.+n, find the previous owner of that house and look for the architecture."
"I"ve already checked the prison. It"s old. Nothing new was added. I wish I could visit the boy"s house." Professor Ryuren said while putting his hands under his chin. He was sitting beside s.h.i.+ntaro.
"I can give you some pictures." s.h.i.+ntaro downloaded a few files and showed it to Professor Ryuren. "Here you go."
"Hmm…" Professor Ryuren zoomed the pictures one by one. "Strange! The iron rods are just as old as the castle prison rod."
Zhuan Zhen looked over her husband"s shoulder and asked, "Are you sure about it? You can"t be mistaking."
Professor Ryuren rechecked the pictures again and again. "I"m not. Though I"ve been sleeping for so long, my a.n.a.lysis skill hasn"t rusted. My brain is sharp just like before."
"I know you are the best." Zhuan Zhen kissed his head.
Mu Lan coughed and said, "So, does it mean that the iron rods were taken from here? It cannot be that the house is also four hundred years old." She felt a bit embarra.s.sed seeing her parents being lovey-dovey in front of her.
"It seems to be the case." Professor Ryuren nodded.
Zhuan Zhen said, "If I remember correctly, I think this castle belongs to the late Mrs. Ru. Since shew as late Major General Ru"s wife, I checked her background. His family was very wealthy. She was the only child. They owned this castle. After Major General married her, he obtained all her properties. He took control over everything. After that, he made this castle a base."
"Was it a political marriage?" Professor Ryuren asked.
Zhuan Zhen shook her head. "No. Major General seemed to be in love with her and proposed to her. Because of his t.i.tle, he was approved."
Mu Lan bit down her lower lip. "He didn"t love his wife at all. He was having an affair with auntie Lei behind his wife"s back. His wife died pitifully."
Zhuan Zhen looked surprised. "Is this true?"
"I"m a hundred percent sure." Mu Lan firmly said. She would never forget Doctor Jia"s help.
Juan frowned. "So, he married her to get her property. Everything he got from her was contributed to the Chinese Army. It must be a plan of The Mongoose."
s.h.i.+ntaro declared, "I found it. The house belonged to late Mrs. Ru"s father. After getting the house, Major General wanted to sell this and Li boy bought it. Too much of a coincidence." His fingers flew over the keyboard. "I"ll try to find the details."
Juan said, "You can try but if The Mongoose is behind this, you won"t get anything. They won"t leave any trace for us. They are many things but not idiots."