bona fide

Will he write a letter to Xiao Yingzhu?

Before she had time to think about it, the content of the letter in her hand appeared in front of her and she read it.

There was not much content, just a brief message to inform Xiao Yingzhu that he would be visiting Pingzhou.

The characters on the letter paper are attractive, elegant and polite.

It seems that the writer has given emotion to this letter. From a few lines of words, one can feel how he writes slowly and stroke by stroke on the paper with a smile on his face.

“…”

After closing the letter, Jiang Nian suddenly felt a little uneasy as if he had been seen through.

The letter didn't reveal many clues, and even then it was mostly just polite language.

But the more Meng Jian remained expressionless, the colder Jiang Nian felt.

She lowered her eyes and flipped through the letter. It was indeed just a letter of notification. It proactively informed him of her visit to Pingzhou, nothing else.

But Jiang Nian felt that through this letter, a pair of eyes were staring at her firmly, and this letter was Meng Jian's eyes.

Feeling Jiang Nian frozen in place, Xiao Yingzhu raised her head and looked at her: "What's wrong?"

"No, nothing."

Jiang Nian suppressed the slight fear in his heart and returned the letter to Xiao Yingzhu.

"Why did he take the initiative to invite you to meet him?"

At a time when the situation is extremely tense, he is so bold as to reveal his whereabouts. Does this mean that he has already made a comprehensive plan?

"Just wanted to let me know that he's already started."

Xiao Yingzhu paused on the book in his hand for a moment, then raised his hand and turned it over.

"Next, you need to take good care of your insect repellent."

"Meng Jian is very likely to start with you."

Previously, they had been using Xu's pharmacy as a shield, but with Meng Jian's letter... just from looking at the letter paper, one can get a glimpse of his style of doing things. Jiang Nian didn't think he would be so easily fooled.

Xiao Yingzhu used Xu's pharmacy as a decoy, simply to add a little of his own interest into the cat-and-mouse game.

After all, rather than a straightforward chase between the two sides, it would be better to put some 'obstacles' in the middle that anyone with a discerning eye can see.

Jiang Nian smiled helplessly and said, "Really? Why do I feel like this letter is directed at me?"

"You're not wrong to think so."

There was a barely perceptible smile in Xiao Yingzhu's tone, and she took the letter that Jiang Nian returned without even looking up.

"Now it depends on who gets it first."

"...I hide and he finds me?"

Jiang Nian was a little tired of standing, so he pulled over a chair and sat down.

"The hiding place of the insect repellent formula still depends on Lord Xiao."

"Without Lord Xiao, my insect repellent recipe would have immediately fallen into the hands of the Second Prince."

“…”

Xiao Yingzhu raised his eyelids and glanced at her lightly without saying a word.

Jiang Nian laughed. She had found a way to tease Xiao Yingzhu, so of course she wouldn't let go.

"Then I will have to rely on Lord Xiao from now on."

"When the Second Prince sent people to search the pharmacy and the mansion, they came back empty-handed."

“…”

Xiao Yingzhu closed the book, and as if interested by her words, he turned his head to look at her.

"What are you going to do next?"

Jiang Nian was surprised: "You actually asked me?"

"I want to give the insect repellent directly to you, is that not possible?"

After throwing away the burden of hiding her identity as a time traveler, she felt more at ease. Before, she was worried that Xiao Yingzhu would guess her identity, and she was really on guard against this and that.

Xiao Yingzhu thought for a moment and said, "There will be a drugstore-related event in Pingzhou soon. Your anti-worm prescription will probably be used then."

"Meng Jian might choose that place to move."

Jiang Nian was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered that Pingzhou had such an event recently.

Xu's pharmacy was ready to take advantage of this opportunity to defeat her pharmacy and establish its reputation again.

It seems that if we want to expand the reputation of the pharmacy, we have to remove the obstacle of Xu's pharmacy.

Thinking of some unresolved issues in Pingzhou, Jiang Nian immediately pulled his thoughts back from the Cangjun mine.

"Then there is only one more thing..."

"Is the previous censor still in Pingzhou?"

Jiang Nian said seriously: "I always feel that he will have it both ways."

"Earlier on the way to the sect, I saw one of his inner servants go to the Xu's pharmacy."

Xiao Yingzhu was not surprised that the Censor would do such a thing. After all, it had not yet directly affected the deworming method, so he just put it aside for the time being. When he had evil intentions, he could just eradicate it directly.

"I'll send someone to check it out then."

"You should go prepare for the insect repellent at the event."

“It’s better to be more prepared.”

Xiao Yingzhu's reminder this time was obvious, and Jiang Nian naturally appreciated it: "Yes."

Glancing at the handwritten letter from Meng Jian on the table, she asked, "What do you think of what Meng Jian will do?"

To her, Meng Jian was just a familiar name among the enemy. She did not know Meng Jian's past, and naturally had never seen him in person. She only had a few brief encounters with his subordinates in Pingzhou.

Xiao Yingzhu lowered his eyes thoughtfully. The pale yellow letter was reflected in his pupils. In the bright refracted light, it was almost blinding.

"Since he sent the letter, he also wanted to let me know that he had arrived here in person."

"Just trying to get me to let my guard down."

He picked up the letter and glanced at it casually, then said with a smile, "There is no such thing as a perfect match in this world."

Jiang Nian's gaze paused at Xiao Yingzhu's profile for a moment, then shifted slightly: "Isn't this letter a declaration that I will take action in Pingzhou?"

"Shouldn't it be to make us more vigilant?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Nian suddenly felt that the question he asked could make people laugh.

If Meng Jian had been so kind, they wouldn't have to deal with the mountains of official duties every day to deal with him.

Xiao Yingzhu naturally chuckled without any mercy.

"It's fine if you think so. It's a good attitude."

"It's okay, go to that event."

"Xu's Pharmacy must have made a lot of moves during the time we were here."

It was rare to see Xiao Yingzhu speak in such plain language. Jiang Nian stared at him for a while, until their leisurely gazes met, then he suddenly smiled.

"Nothing, indeed."

"I previously ordered Qing and Yu to investigate Sun Dun's whereabouts. I believe Sun Dun is almost in Pingzhou now."

"Didn't he want to steal the prescription?"

Recalling the plan he had laid out in Pingzhou, Jiang Nian nodded thoughtfully: "I plan to lead him to the mountain outside Liangdu City."

Feeling Xiao Yingzhu's slightly questioning gaze, she smiled and said, "When I was making the insect repellent formula earlier, I wanted to add Morinda officinalis."

"So Sun Dun might also know that I'm going to the mountains to pick Morinda officinalis and create a new insect repellent formula."

"After returning to Pingzhou, I plan to lure Sun Dun to the mountains and capture him."

As he looked at Xiao Yingzhu, Jiang Nian felt particularly calm.

"After all, letting him move freely outside is really a waste of energy, and we have to observe his every move."

"Meng Jian is targeting the insect repellent right now, and it takes a lot of energy to be on guard against both ends. It's better to get rid of this simple one first."

Xiao Yingzhu seemed to be thinking about something, and asked, "What are your plans?"

It was a bit awkward to directly say that he wanted to get rid of the person. Jiang Nian rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Just make him lose his ability to move."

"He is the right-hand man of the Xu family. If we want to get rid of the Xu family pharmacy, then we must first break his left and right arms."

I originally wanted to handle it myself, because I didn't know what Xiao Yingzhu was thinking at the time, and I felt that he was dangerous. If he knew too much, he would be seen through.

Now Jiang Nian doesn’t care about these things anymore.

During the trip to Cang County, Xiao Yingzhu knew everything he should and shouldn't know.

If she continued to hide it at this time, it would reduce Xiao Yingzhu's trust in her.

Jiang Nian didn't want the relationship and cooperation between them, which had finally stabilized, to be broken again because of such a trivial matter.

The room was silent for a while, and then Xiao Yingzhu asked, "Do you need my help?"

Jiang Nian had never done anything like this, and the fact that she had these thoughts now might be due to the influence of the atmosphere inside Zuihualou. She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then nodded and said,

"You can help better. Although... this is something I need to take responsibility for."

There are bound to be mistakes when doing something for the first time, and Xiao Yingzhu's help will save you a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Xiao Yingzhu was silent for a moment and nodded.

"Let Qing inform me then."

"I will return to Qishan Mansion."

"good."

The conversation suddenly stopped. Jiang Nian was not used to the sudden silence. He subconsciously folded the book in his hand, looked up and asked, "Aren't you going to ask why I want to do this?"

Xiao Yingzhu began to leisurely flip through the book on the table to pass the time, but when she turned the page at the end of reading, she answered lightly.

“Once you adapt to the environment, you will naturally make the same choices.”

"You were more or less resistant to this era before, but now..."

"You've already fit in here."

The rustling sound of turning pages overlapped with the rising and falling waves outside. Jiang Nian's pupils fell into the dazzling white light outside. For a moment, his thoughts were cleared by this sudden white light.

"Integrate here?"

"I was really obvious before."

Those who try hard to pretend to be locals of this era learn to speak like others and imitate their actions.

She feels that she has no autonomy to control her own actions, and she has to hide her thoughts, for fear that others will find that what she thinks in her heart is different from others, different, and a variable that needs to be eliminated.

Xiao Yingzhu did not answer.

He had been watching and observing Jiang Nian, and must have been able to sense much more than others.

Qin Lan, who only talked to Jiang Nian but never paid attention to her actions, would not doubt Jiang Nian's identity as the daughter of a drug store, and would not think too much - is this person really from this era?

Could it be that Shou Zan, like the one from more than ten years ago, is from somewhere else?

Jiang Nian raised his hand to press his sore eyes and whispered again, "Thank you."

After knowing the changes that Shouzan brought to the court - to this era, I can accommodate the possibility of changes to my plan.

Sometimes Jiang Nian would think that if Xiao Yingzhu knew the combination of anthelmintic prescriptions, found the pattern from the anthelmintic prescriptions she gave, and learned some medicine, he might be able to replace her position, eliminate her as a variable, and control the development of everything in his own hands.

but......

Sure enough, he still retains that tolerance towards others.