Chapter 5 Leaving the Capital

Shang Yuji was digging so intently that she didn't notice someone standing in front of the courtyard gate.

When she finally realized what was happening, she was like a cat startled by a long object that suddenly appeared. After realizing that there was a person standing outside the door, she barely managed to suppress the soprano voice in her throat.

She quickly bowed, and Jiang Xi stopped digging and imitated her bowing.

Cui Shuxin frowned and asked, "Why are you two here? And what are you doing?"

Shang Yuji felt no guilt at being discovered; in fact, she was glad that someone had come to help them, but first she needed to confirm which side the other party belonged to.

"I am Shang Yuji, a commoner, and I entered your residence yesterday. May I ask your name, Miss?"

The woman said calmly, "My name is Cui Shuxin, and Cui Shu in this household is my elder brother."

Cui Shuxin was the biggest victim of this witchcraft incident, and it was unexpected that she was the one who passed by the west wing today.

Shang Yuji pondered for a moment and then explained, "Just now I saw a man enter the west wing with something in his hand, but when he came out, he was in a hurry and his hands were empty. When I asked the people around, they all said that the west wing was temporarily unoccupied. If it was unoccupied, then where did the thing in his hand go?"

She didn't mention that she was worried the person was framing the princess, because as she had just said, if they really checked the accounts, they would find that there was no such thing.

Even if the reason given for something fabricated out of thin air is logically sound, it will still have loopholes. The most urgent task is to find the hidden witchcraft doll.

Cui Shuxin pointed to the pit under the tree: "Then why did you only dig this spot?"

Shang Yuji said with a serious and righteous expression, "We haven't been here long. If we really can't find it under the tree, we plan to look in other places!"

Jiang Xi also kept a straight face. Even though Aji had clearly said that he would only dig under the tree, he had now changed his mind and nodded in agreement.

Cui Shuxin's initial doubts were quickly dispelled by their upright demeanor.

She whispered to the maid beside her, "Go and help look for it."

The maid responded and was about to step forward when she saw Jiang Xi trip over something, his left foot slipping from his right and his body tilting to the side. Fortunately, Shang Yuji was close by and reacted quickly to stop him from falling.

Her gaze swept over the spot where Jiang Xi had tripped and found a patch of soil that was slightly darker in color than the surrounding area and showed signs of being disturbed.

She must have thoroughly examined the land before digging.

It was only when Jiangxi got too close that it revealed its tracks.

The protagonist is terrifyingly powerful.

After confirming that Jiang Xi was alright, she picked up the merciless shovel in her hand and dug up the patch of mud that had been raised at one corner.

Digging down two inches, the shovel struck a wooden box. Following the shape of the box, Shang Yuji dug towards its edge and finally unearthed a dark brown locust wood box, one foot long and half a foot wide.

The locust wood box was covered in slightly damp mud. Shang Yuji patted the box clean, and Cui Shuxin's maid was already standing beside her. She seemed to have no curiosity and casually handed the locust wood box to the maid.

Seeing this, the maid took it and respectfully handed it to her mistress.

The locust wood box was locked and couldn't be opened immediately.

Now that the buried item had indeed been found, Cui Shuxin understood that what the two had said was not a lie, and she couldn't help but ponder the meaning behind the locust wood box.

She didn't believe the servants were hiding money. What servant would use a high-quality, old locust tree heartwood box to store their meager wages and jewels?

If the other party was someone of high status in the household, why would they bury a not-so-small locust wood box in the rarely occupied west wing?

Cui Shuxin concealed the many thoughts in her eyes and said gently, "Leave this matter to me. You should go back first."

Shang Yuji's original intention was to be a hands-off manager; even if Cui Shuxin hadn't passed by today, she could have simply passed the buck to Cui Shu.

As long as Cui Shu is told that the matter of the locust wood box involves his sister, even if he has doubts, he will investigate the origin of the locust wood box for his sister's sake.

This method is much more troublesome than directly handing it over to Cui Shuxin. Now that Cui Shuxin has taken over the matter herself, Shang Yuji is happy to save herself the trouble.

Before leaving, Shang Yuji suggested to Cui Shuxin, "I will take my leave now. Please arrange for someone to fill in the pit."

Whether it's to prevent the false accuser from returning to investigate, or to lure the culprit out later, keeping things as they are is the best way to lower people's guard.

Cui Shuxin nodded, and after the two left, she ordered the maid to fill in the pit: "Remember to restore it to its original state, and don't let anyone discover the mistake."

The fewer people who know about this, the better.

The maid picked up the shovel that Shang Yuji had placed under the tree and carefully filled the holes. It would take quite a while to fill all the holes, so Cui Shuxin decided to go find her brother first.

They need to know what's in the box before they can deduce who the other person is and what their purpose is.

With a food box containing pastries in one hand and a locust wood box tucked between her other hand, disregarding the stains on her clothes, Cui Shuxin hurried towards the study.

.

Whether the eldest princess can find the mastermind behind it all, and how to deal with the perpetrator, is none of Shang Yuji's concern.

She dug out the locust wood box only to annoy Zhou Ao. If possible, she also wanted to cut off his connection with the Jiang family, preventing him from learning from the Jiang family that the third young master, Jiang Xi, was exceptionally talented and could be used for shady dealings to build connections with various people.

The excavation was not originally part of their plan to leave the capital. By the time they finished packing and got into the carriage, it was already half an hour later than planned.

Old Chen cracked his whip, and the sound of horses' hooves clattered as a simple carriage slowly began its journey away from the capital.

Inside the carriage, Shang Yuji held a yellowed, simplified map, which Wang Si had bought from a traveling merchant to guide her on this journey south.

Maps are important military resources, especially those with detailed depictions of mountains, forests, streams, salt fields, and mines. Maps showing the location of military camps and troop deployments are of paramount importance.

Although maps are not widely available in the market, people will always have to travel. Before setting out, ordinary people often choose to ask those with travel experience for information about the places they have been, and then draw a simple map based on their knowledge.

For example, when you go out, mark the mountains, houses, trees, or even boundary markers and stones you encounter along the way with their unique characteristics, and record which road to take, how to get there, and how far to go after encountering them.

They were heading to the Yangzhou area in Jiangnan, passing through Cangzhou, Jining, and Huai'an. They traveled along the official road, occasionally encountering forks in the road, and could continue by referring to the map.

Shang Yuji thought that Cangzhou was a hub for merchants, and that once she arrived in Cangzhou, she would rest in the city for a few days and replenish the supplies she had consumed on the way. She did not notice the complex emotions in Wang Si's eyes as he sat next to her.

Old Chen was driving the car from outside, and the curtains that had fallen down obscured the view inside.

Dressed in indigo blue, with a belt embroidered with water patterns cinching his slender waist, the handsome and refined young man's gaze fell on the map, but his unfocused eyes revealed that he was lost in thought, his mind no longer in the carriage.

Beside the young man sat a slender woman in a dark green dress and a veil that reached her knees. She sat quietly in the center of the carriage, her fair hands, like mutton-fat jade, resting gracefully on her lap. She did not say a word, yet she was impossible to ignore.

Wang Si couldn't understand why Miss Shang was dressed as a man and Young Master Jiang was dressed as a woman. He suppressed his curiosity and quietly leaned against the car wall, on guard.

There was a slight mishap when they left the city. The soldiers guarding the city stopped their carriage for a routine inspection and found that Jiang Xi was wearing a veil that concealed her face, so they asked Jiang Xi to lift it up to check.

Shang Yuji smiled with youthful vigor and cupped his hands, saying, "I apologize, gentlemen, but my elder sister was burned on the face when she was young. To frighten others, she has always worn a veil to cover it up. We will take it off now so that you gentlemen can examine it!"

"Sister, lift the veil."

A hand as white as frost lifted a corner of the veil, revealing most of a face that had been "regenerated from the fire." The woman's eyes were moist, filled with a pitiful trembling, and they seemed to be able to glimpse her former stunning beauty in those eyes.

The tall soldier spoke first: "Alright, you can leave the city now."

The wheels started rolling again, leaving behind the idle chatter of the soldiers guarding the city.

"That's terrifying! Such a figure paired with such a frightening face! I don't know how she dares to go out in public. Isn't she afraid of scaring everyone who sees her to death?"

An older person replied: "Based on my years of experience judging people, she was definitely a beauty, but unfortunately, she's ruined it all."

The tall, imposing soldier said in a deep voice, "Whether she's beautiful or not, you're not worthy of her! Get to work!"

Even the exchange of clothes between men and women couldn't put Shang Yuji at ease. Jiang Xi, dressed as a woman, with a face as beautiful as a lotus flower, was still stunningly beautiful.

Just to be safe, she used the rouge she had bought to give Jiang Xi a stunningly beautiful burn makeup look.

She wanted to avoid being discovered by anyone in the capital who knew them, and to take Jiang Xi away safely from the main setting of the story, the capital, which was a veritable den of iniquity and depravity.

They left for Yangzhou, a place unknown to anyone, to begin a new and carefree life.

The carriage finally left the capital successfully. Shang Yuji resisted the urge to lift the bamboo curtain of the carriage and look back to confirm that they were safe. Only after finding that they had landed safely did the huge weight in her heart quietly fall to the ground.

At this moment, she had the leisure to notice Wang Si's hesitant expression. She carefully rolled up the map and put it into a small bundle containing a bunch of important items.

Shang Yuji slightly raised her chin: "Ask whatever you want."

Wang Si immediately grinned, his smile instantly dispelling the fierce look on his face: "Why did Miss Shang have to transform Young Master Jiang like this?"

Shang Yuji turned her head to look at the river stream hidden by the veil and found that the veil was tilted in her direction, as if the person behind the veil was also curious.

She smiled, paused for a few seconds, and seeing that they unconsciously slowed their breathing and waited earnestly for her answer, she slowly spoke: "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed."

She couldn't very well say it was to prevent some "hero among men" or "chosen protagonist" from suddenly popping out of some nook and cranny and seeing Jiang Xi's stunningly beautiful appearance in the carriage.

Then it was love at first sight, my heart fluttered, and desire spread from my heart downwards. In an instant, my lower head took over my upper head, and I took Jiang Xi away to have some fun.

Then all her plans these past few days would have been for nothing!

How is this any different from losing everything at the last minute due to negligence?

A note from the author:

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