Chapter 66 The Evil of the Gentleman

The snow gave the eaves a rabbit fur hat, and festive red lanterns hung under the eaves, looking quite cute from a distance.

In the mountain village behind the gold mine.

There was no festive atmosphere in the study. Qin Sihai frowned as he looked at the repeated messages seeking him. He was already dead in Wu Kingdom, so who would still be looking for him? Did the aristocratic families not believe in the corpse?

He had to find some time to go out and investigate. He glanced outside and realized with a start that it was already dark. He quickly put the things he had finished organizing under the paperweight, stretched out his arms, and prepared to go to the kitchen to find something to eat.

Before he even reached the kitchen, a cheerful maid grabbed his arm and said, "Miss is back! She brought so many things! Sir, please come to the front hall to celebrate the New Year together."

Staying up all night? It's already New Year's Eve? Qin Sihai looked up at the sky; he had completely forgotten the time.

When Zuo Qinghou left, it was the last blooming season, and now it's already New Year's Eve.

The front hall was brightly decorated, and all the people in the villa who hadn't gone home were gathered around a large table.

He knew that most of the servants in the manor were people whose families had been ruined by snuff bottles; they were hardworking, enthusiastic, and friendly to him.

Qin Sihai had been living alone for the past few years, but this year, being with others in a foreign land, he felt somewhat unaccustomed to it.

Zuo Qinghou sat in a rather inconspicuous spot to the side. Although he was still dressed in plain clothes, the robes were embroidered with deep red plum blossoms, giving him a rare festive air. Upon seeing him arrive, Zuo Qinghou quickly patted the seat next to him and warmly invited, "Sit here! Here!"

Qin Sihai took his seat, and everyone was present.

Zuo Qinghou cleared his throat and said, "It's New Year's Eve, so let me say a few words. Everyone, eat and play as much as you like, don't be shy."

Upon hearing this, the mountain resort, which already had little regard for hierarchy, went even crazier, cutting meat with knives, dividing chicken with their hands, and drinking wine from bowls.

Qin Sihai was an extremely reserved person who maintained a polite and distant relationship with everyone, referring to himself only as "this humble one," and constantly using terms like "bothering" and "troubling" in his daily life. He couldn't quite fit into this enthusiastic and unrestrained atmosphere, so he just silently ate the two dishes in front of him to avoid being stuffed with mountains of meat when he picked up other food.

As the crowd was making a ruckus, Zuo Qinghou tilted his head and said softly, "Mr. Qin, are you not used to living here?"

Qin Sihai smiled and shook his head, "The people here are warm and welcoming, and the environment is wonderful. Compared to where I used to live, it's like a paradise."

"But this is a foreign land, and I am an outsider."

Qin Sihai silently recited this sentence in his heart.

Someone suggested playing pitch-pot, and Zuo Qinghou took out a bag of gems as a prize. Everyone was eager to try their skills.

Led by Zuo Qinghou, surrounded by a crowd, he played the pitch-pot game with impeccable form.

However, the final result wasn't very good; it was 7 out of 10.

A maid joked, "Miss has had too much wine; her hands are shaking!"

Zuo Qinghou stubbornly insisted, "It's cold!" Everyone burst into laughter, creating a joyful atmosphere.

Qin Sihai was drinking alone at the back of the crowd when suddenly his sleeve twitched. He turned around and saw Zuo Qinghou, who should have been in the crowd, crawling up behind him. She put her index finger to her lips and shushed him, signaling Qin Sihai to grab a bottle of wine and slip away to the backyard.

Once they were alone, Qin Sihai joked, "Looks like you used to skip school quite a bit."

Zuo Qinghou walked ahead humming a little tune, quite pleased with himself. "That's right! When the teacher's lectures are boring, I skip them. When my classmates are boring, I skip them too."

The two arrived at an inconspicuous treehouse. Zuo Qinghou jumped up, found the key on the flowerpot next to the door, opened the door, and led Qin Sihai inside.

It was pitch black.

Just as Qin Sihai was about to take out a tinderbox, the room suddenly brightened up, and the source of the light was a flame that appeared out of thin air on Zuo Qinghou's finger.

Before Qin Sihai could even express his surprise, Zuo Qinghou pulled him upstairs. The stairs were narrow, barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The bamboo house must have been deserted for a long time, as there were cobwebs on the stairs.

Zuo Qinghou comforted him as if he were a child, "Don't be afraid, this isn't a haunted house. I built this house myself, bit by bit."

A house? Apart from this straight staircase, there's only a chair on the first floor. Is this really a place for people to live?

As Qin Sihai pondered this, he felt the wind and moonlight. They stepped out through a small door about waist-high, and he was amazed that the treehouse had such a spacious platform high up. The view suddenly opened up, and looking around, the land stretched out in the distance, and the mountains stretched into the distance, surrounded by stars. It was quiet and peaceful, and one couldn't help but calm down.

Zuo Qinghou took out the roasted meat he had taken from the banquet from his cloak, placed it on the ground, sat down on the ground, let out a heavy breath, and laughed: "If you stay at the banquet any longer, I'm really afraid you'll quit tomorrow."

Qin Sihai took a breath of the cold air at the top, sat cross-legged, and said, "I am not good at socializing."

Zuo Qinghou hummed in agreement, sucking on the marrow in her bones, and said, "A person who can confide in you must be a person with extraordinary perseverance. Only the Foolish Old Man who moved mountains could move a path to talk to you about everything under the sun."

Qin Sihai remained silent and took a sip of wine.

Zuo Qinghou brought him here not to chat with him about anything and everything. "The poison you were poisoned by is from the lineage of the Poison Lord. There are very few people in this lineage now. There is a noblewoman in Wu, and a female inspector under the regent of Sui."

"Thank you, but it's my own business, no need for you to worry about it, young lady." Qin Sihai already knew who it was.

Seeing that he was still so polite and wary, Zuo Qinghou shook his head and smiled, "You don't need to be wary of me. Since I dared to save you and put you in the Guest House to work, I will never go back on my word." Zuo Qinghou looked into Qin Sihai's deep eyes, "Qin Sihai."

Like a thunderclap from a clear sky, Qin Sihai was filled with turbulent emotions, but his face remained calm.

A man defected from the state of Wu, and a poisoned stranger suddenly appeared in the state of Sui. Qin Sihai knew he couldn't keep it a secret for long, but he still held onto a sliver of hope.

Now that she's discovered him, he can't just sit idly by and wait to die. Who would believe that a foreign official like him would genuinely work for a secret organization that maintains stability in another country? He himself doesn't believe it.

Here, dozens of feet above the ground, with no one around, Qin Sihai remained calm, his left hand already poised to grab Zuo Qinghou's neck and break it at any moment.

He fell while drunk and broke his neck.

That makes perfect sense.

Qin Sihai awoke with a start from his dream. All around him was darkness, and a cold wind howled outside the military tent. The autumn in the north was just like the winter in the south, just like his heart. He wiped the cold sweat from his brow, put on his coat, and sat up.

Zhu Qingyan, who was sleeping in the inner room, was a light sleeper. Hearing the noise, she put on her clothes and got up. She lit a candle, walked around the screen, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Don't light the candle." As the candle went out, a figure huddled in the cloak flashed by, and Zhu Qingyan subconsciously extinguished the candle, saying, "Sorry."

Her feet seemed frozen in place, unable to move an inch. After a moment of silence, Zhu Qingyan asked, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Should I call the army doctor?"

"No need, go to sleep." A cold voice came, making Zhu Qingyan's hands and feet feel icy cold.

"real……"

"I said no!" Even though he knew that Zhu Qingyan was one of the accomplices who poisoned him and was framed, he had never used a fierce tone. But now, under the cover of night, he unleashed the evil in his heart.

Not content with just one sentence, he continued, "Don't you know why I brought you here? The enemy is Zhu Huantang, and he's not one to be merciful. I need to ensure my own safety."

The words had already been spoken to this extent, without even caring about saving face. Zhu Qingyan didn't react for a moment and was still trying to make amends for him, awkwardly laughing, "You're having a nightmare, go to sleep first, I'll make some soup tomorrow, you can drink some to feel better."

"No need, you should think about how to survive first." Qin Sihai lay down again and closed his eyes.