episode

What is going on.

Jiang Nian paused for a moment and looked behind Meng Zheng.

Xiao Yingzhu was walking behind them and had just stepped into the door.

Perhaps it was because her gaze was too obvious, but Xiao Yingzhu, who was looking casually in other directions, moved his gaze and met hers the next second.

When Jiang Nian met the other person's eyes, he felt as if he was burned. He slightly shifted his gaze and looked back at Meng Zheng.

At this moment, Meng Zheng was looking at her with his head tilted upwards, a string of ornaments dangling from his hand.

The porcelain jade-like pendant emitted a clean, bright light under the bright candlestick. As it slowly settled under Meng Zheng's fingers, Jiang Nian finally saw the front of the pendant clearly.

Thinking of the meaning behind this jade, Jiang Nian pursed her lips and said with a serious expression, "Fourth Prince, please don't joke. This gift is not something I can bear."

Such a valuable thing.

Even though she had only been in Huandu for half a year, she knew that this jade not only served to prove identity, but also had the function of warding off evil spirits and ensuring peace.

Meng Zheng never leaves his side.

How could I give it to her so easily?

Not understanding what had happened between them, Jiang Nian subconsciously glanced at Ai.

At this time, Ai also looked a little confused. Feeling her gaze, he just glanced at Qin Lan, shook his head slightly, and did not convey any message to her.

Jiang Nian twisted his fingertips under the table and looked away. He could only come to one conclusion at this time.

Meng Zheng was not originally in this meeting, but interrupted it midway.

And this middle seems to be really "middle".

Thinking of the previous irreconcilable scene between Xiao Yingzhu and Meng Zheng, she really couldn't imagine that Xiao Yingzhu would personally invite Meng Zheng, and even if Qin Lan loved watching shows, he would not make himself bored.

Several people took their seats. Before the owner of the mansion could speak, Meng Zheng put away the ornaments as if nothing had happened. He took the initiative to explain to Jiang Nian:

"Young lady, you may not know that the identities of everyone at the Flower Festival were bestowed by this king."

"After all, the Cui family is closely connected to the bishop, and in addition to some previous relationships... the matter I privately wish to investigate is also related to 'the unfortunate person.' Therefore, today I have taken the initiative to propose cooperation with you."

It was rare to see Meng Zheng speaking to her with such a serious expression. Jiang Nian responded subconsciously, but her gaze paused on his face for a moment.

His lips were a little pale, as if they had been hit by the cold wind of Cang County.

He was willing to go out despite the bad memories of their previous relationship and the bad weather, so that must have been something very important to him.

Simple greetings were all exchanged, because usually Qin Lan was the one who livened up the atmosphere. Tonight, Qin Lan was in a bad mood, and the slight greetings seemed a little uncomfortable.

The conversation quickly got to the point. After listening to the reports from all parties at the Flower Festival, everyone's attention returned to Jiang Nian.

There were too many clues. After she jumped and wrote down all the key words in the notebook, she looked up and met the gazes of the people around her, and her pen stopped for a moment.

"What's wrong?"

Qin Lan calmed down and put on a smiling face again.

"Since Miss Jiang is the host next, please ask us directly the questions you want to know. This will speed up the process a little."

“…”

Jiang Nian blinked, cast a slight glance at Xiao Yingzhu's face, and said bluntly, "Okay, then let's sync the news that I don't know first."

"—Like, what just happened?"

Thinking about what had just happened, Qin Lan was speechless for a moment.

He tapped the table with his fingertips, then looked at Meng Zheng and Xiao Yingzhu.

Seeing that the two men looked as if it had nothing to do with him, Qin Lan hesitated for a moment and finally chose to confess in the shortest way possible.

"Xiao wanted to get the diary that the Fourth Prince gave you earlier, so he went straight back to the Princess's residence."

"But I didn't expect that on my way back with the diary—that is, in the afternoon, I would meet the Fourth Prince who wanted to go to the Princess's residence."

"The Fourth Prince is well-informed. Your identity was not concealed, so he immediately discovered...some connections."

"Then we reached an agreement and worked together."

Jiang Nian blinked slowly and wanted to raise his hand to touch the pendant on his earlobe, but after a moment, he forced himself to suppress this sudden thought.

What Qin Lan said, translated into Chinese -

That was when Xiao Yingzhu and Meng Zheng's ideas collided, and then both of them refused to give in to the diary and made sarcastic remarks to each other.

Although she couldn't imagine how Xiao Yingzhu would be rude, she could only recall the few scattered conversations when they were taking the boat to Cang County.

But no matter how Meng Zheng responded, Qin Lan said it very directly.

First, Meng Zheng sent his men to find out her identity, and then he noticed the changes in Xiao Yingzhu's earrings. After a little association, the two were connected.

And then - it should be that Qin Lan, the gossip leader, discovered that the emotional clues that he had not discovered were discovered by Meng Zheng, because Qin Lan had previously smoothed things over between Xiao Yingzhu and Meng Zheng.

Although Meng Zheng was sickly but vengeful, he chose to poke at his soft spot and brought up the matter of the pendant again.

All three of them were people who cared a lot about their reputation, so the noble trio kept bickering with each other all the way.

Although there were no sharp swords or swords in the open, there were undercurrents surging behind the scenes. Until the current meeting, the atmosphere between the three of them was very subtle.

“…”

Jiang Nian recalled the behavior of the three of them and felt that it was not unreasonable for them to do such a thing.

It's amazing that his character didn't collapse.

It's hard for Meng Zheng, who has such a fragile body, to hold on until now.

He was not angered to death by others, nor did he die from his illness, and he could even jump around occasionally.

It’s really not easy.

Jiang Nian closed the notebook and skipped the topic according to the mood.

"In short, the Fourth Prince is now on the same side as us?"

Meng Zheng supported his head and nodded slightly, then raised his hand to make a gesture of invitation.

Not long after, Jiang Nian asked the first question that concerned him.

"Xi Changshi previously encountered a child who was a family member of someone who was captured by the Wu Mi people for human experiments. Using that clue, we were able to track down the base where the Wu Mi people were conducting human experiments."

"And that child—is he related to the matter that the Fourth Prince is privately investigating?"

Meng Zheng raised his eyelids and stared at Jiang Nian meaningfully: "Miss Jiang, you are really ruthless in your words."

Jiang Nian smiled slightly and looked back at him frankly: "After all, we are allies, so we still need to understand the details of not crossing the line."

Meng Zheng stood up straight and lowered his eyes to think for a moment.

"My father ordered me to clear out the bishop's men. I got some information from among them."

"That information is a list of people associated with Shouzan."

"Because Shouzan and the eldest princess had an extremely close relationship, and after Shouzan severed contact with the eldest princess, the eldest princess lived in seclusion in the mountains, yet she still maintained contact with those who were opposed to the imperial court, I wanted to investigate."

I remember that the eldest princess died of illness. Is there any hidden story behind this?

Xiao Yingzhu looked indifferent and did not comment on Meng Zheng's remarks.

Jiang Nian glanced at the faces of the two people and stopped talking about this topic at the right time.

After their conversation, they must have something else to talk about.

And the past of the same 'relatives'.

—

"Then, apart from that, there is the matter of Meng Yao."

"Since Princess Qingping has come to Cang County in person, will she not leave until she takes Meng Yao with her? Will this hinder the plan?"

Rather than caring about the past relationship between Shuanghua and Xiao Yingzhu, Jiang Nian was more concerned about what needed to be accomplished on the way back to Pingzhou from Cangjun.

"No, Shuanghua is not clear about the twists and turns involved."

"She just wanted her 'good' brother to stay out of trouble and return to his mother's arms as soon as possible."

Qin Lan raised his hand and shook it, then looked at Xiao Yingzhu with a smile.

"She shares our stance on opposing Meng Yao's joining the Wumi Clan."

As long as Princess Qingping successfully pulls Meng Yao away from this dangerous place, the result will be killing two birds with one stone.

One was to clear the obstacles for them, and the other was to poke a hole in Meng Jian's plan.

Although Meng Yao is not of much use in this conspiracy, it would be a pity to throw him away if he is useless, so he should be used if he can be used.

"In other words, Shuanghua's appearance here must be because Concubine Shu, who is eager to have a son, is worried. She went to find her without telling Emperor Changde and asked her to go to Cang County and bring the fifth prince back."

Jiang Nian nodded and wanted to ask another question following Qin Lan's words, but just as he opened his mouth, he found that the question was not polite, so he was ready to give up.

There was a brief silence, but someone saw through her thoughts and gave her the answer.

"The eldest princess's illness was initially treated by Concubine Shu's family. Therefore, the Shu family is indebted to Emperor Changde, and Emperor Changde also takes good care of them."

That is why the fifth prince is more favored than other princes.

Jiang Nian followed the voice and met Xiao Yingzhu's relaxed eyes. He was still worried about the emotional dispute between the two of them. He didn't know how to respond for a moment, so he could only lower his eyes and nod slightly.

"I see."

So that's how it is. No wonder Meng Zheng was anxious when he heard that the fifth prince was deliberately placed here by Xiao Yingzhu.

If Emperor Changde knew about this, he would naturally feel resentful and would reshuffle the plans issued to everyone.

By then, not only Xiao Yingzhu will be implicated, but also everyone around who is related to this matter.

He, who often travels on the border, will not be spared.

Not to mention if Meng Yao did something irreparable.

When Emperor Changde found out about that, he couldn't wash himself clean even by jumping into the Yellow River.

Xiao Yingzhu's parents are also somewhat related to the eldest princess, and Meng Zheng's past is also somewhat related to the eldest princess. The eldest princess and Emperor Changde used to have a seamless sister-brother relationship. The sect was founded by someone the eldest princess loved, and there were also people in the deep palace who had been grateful to the eldest princess for saving her life.

There are so many intertwined relationships between them.

In the face of this impending war, the best option is to leave this unclear matter as it is.

In this way, the reason why Xiao Yingzhu and Meng Zheng were able to achieve a delicate balance in their relationship and avoid a direct falling out was not only because of the impending war, but also because they both had similar feelings towards the eldest princess.

That kind of warm yet rare feeling that is better than family affection.

For this reason, I want to cherish, maintain and protect the good things that once happened.

For example, the mansion that has weathered more than ten years of wind and rain but still looks brand new, and the snow lotus in the flower garden that is fragile but looks as new as new.

Noticing the gaze on his face, Jiang Nian raised his eyes and looked back.

Xiao Yingzhu's elusive expression revealed a hint of complexity that she could not understand.

“…”

A knowing glance.

Realizing what the other person was thinking, Jiang Nian looked away.

It was during this period of distrust between them that they reached some kind of unspoken consensus.