Purpose

After detaining the group of people who attempted to steal the manuscript on Meng Yao's orders, Yan went upstairs and knocked on Jiang Nian's door after finishing the interrogation.

"Miss, it's done. Please get off and take the bus."

After taking a short nap in the room, her cheeks were still a little hot as she had just woken up.

The cold wind coming in from the half-open door made her much more sober. After a moment, Jiang Nian nodded slightly.

"Excuse me, I'll just get ready and catch the bus right away."

There weren't many things to pack, except for the bottle of protective gear, the bag I usually carried, and the booklet I usually kept in the bag.

After tidying himself up in the mirror again, Jiang Nian put on his bag and went out.

Ai followed closely behind Jiang Nian, keeping a distance from Yan.

Since Yan was walking in front of them, all Jiang Nian could see was his back.

Jiang Nian was unable to judge from his expression what conclusion he had reached after the interrogation.

But no matter what, after tonight, Meng Yao should be able to give up the idea of ​​​​the manuscript.

—

Perhaps it was because Meng Yao sent someone to inquire about the manuscript, there was a group of people guarding below the State Guesthouse, not far from the restaurant they had visited before.

Noticing Jiang Nian's gaze, Ai followed her gaze and looked at the group of people.

They stood guard outside the restaurant, keeping the scene inside completely secret.

"It's so obvious... Isn't the Fifth Prince afraid of being noticed by others?"

Jiang Nian withdrew his gaze from the group of people and asked Ai in a low voice.

"No, ever since the Second Prince assigned him this mission, this place has been his second home."

"The state guesthouse here may have fallen into the hands of the Wumi people earlier than we thought."

Ai shook his head and reached out to pull Jiang Nian closer to him.

"Now is not the time to take down the Fifth Prince. Miss, you'd better be careful not to be discovered by them."

Jiang Nian lowered his head and found that half of his body was exposed in the moonlight.

"......Um."

Thinking that the people of the righteous side had to avoid these people living in the shadows, she couldn't help but feel a little complicated.

This indescribable thought only flashed through my mind for a moment before being lost in the next thought I noticed.

"You mean, Meng Yao isn't under our control? Then who is?"

For some reason, Jiang Nian didn't want Yan to hear this question, so he lowered his voice.

Ai looked up at her and paused subtly for a moment.

"Hmm. It should be Princess Qingping."

"Princess?" Jiang Nian was surprised for a moment, then glanced at Yan who was walking in front of him, shook his head and said softly, "It seems that we should talk about it later."

"Um."

Ai nodded and then fell silent.

The whispered discussions behind him stopped, and Yan led them to the carriage with a normal expression and stopped.

"We're here, you guys go up first."

After all, she was not Jiang Nian's maid, but was brought in to lead the way. Yan hesitated for a moment, but still did not lift the curtain and just watched them get on the car.

Later he had to escort the group of people who tried to steal the manuscript to Yu He, so he couldn't just follow Jiang Nian and the others.

Looking at the carriage traveling far away, Yan raised his hand and rubbed his nose lightly.

Yan, who was leaning against the wall, stood up and scanned his expression: "What's wrong?"

Yan, who was called back to his senses, calmly put his hand down.

I feel isolated by Miss Jiang. Is this something I can say?

—

After being punished for three days, Xuan Gui returns to the arena.

The recent classes have all been taken over by Yan and Yan, so apart from Xiao Yingzhu's punishment for his poor performance, there is nothing else.

If I have to say it, it was the spy that Ai met in the corridor when he went to help Qin Lan deliver the gift.

During the celebration that night, he was the only one interrogating the spy who was wrapped in mugwort like a twisted insect.

Although he lost the opportunity to relax, the cold-faced Xuan Gui had no complaints.

On the first evening of the Flower Festival, Qin Lan told him in advance to prepare the environment for the conversation.

The man who was tied up completely gave up the idea of ​​escaping after Xuan Gui monitored him for 24 hours without rest, and lay in the corner like a dead fish.

But unlike before, he no longer needs to cover his mouth and can speak freely.

Perhaps he was too exhausted to curse, and the first thing he said when he was able to speak was to ask for water.

The subsequent interrogation went smoothly. To put it bluntly, his mission was just to explore the way.

Meng Yao was afraid of missing any information about Xiao Yingzhu, so while he was on guard against the royal family in the capital, he was also on guard against this Duke whose background was difficult to uncover.

However, the Wu Mi people gave him a few shots of reassurance. Until his men were caught by Xiao Yingzhu tonight, Meng Yao was still feeling lucky, thinking that Xiao Yingzhu would not visit Cang County in person, and the people he sent were external staff who had no contact with the core.

Or maybe they were afraid of encountering the real him. If they sent out core members, they would be robbed without leaving anything behind.

The moon was high outside the window, and the covered door was pushed open again.

The spy was sitting there in a daze, doing nothing, until someone came and he looked up.

The visitor looked familiar, being the person he had come into contact with most frequently in recent days.

I heard that the person who was monitoring him was punished by his master and was reduced to monitoring spies.

When I have nothing to do, it's quite interesting to lean against the wooden wall and listen to the gossip of the servants cleaning the backyard.

The door was pushed open completely and the person who was watching him walked in.

This room is used to store miscellaneous items. It is said that Qin Lan wanted to be convenient and was too lazy to put some miscellaneous items that he often used and rarely used into the warehouse for sorting, so when Tao Yu came, he often piled them here.

The dust on the floor was blown up by the wind, and the spy squinted his eyes.

"Soon, once the master's business is done, you can leave."

Hyun-gyu turned around and closed the door, casting a cold glance at the spy.

"real?"

"They held me for so long, and apart from the day of interrogation and that trip, they haven't communicated with me much since then."

"Your master is just going to let me go so easily?"

Xuan Gui shifted his gaze and said coldly, "If you want to stay, I have no objection."

The spy moved his arms that were tied behind his back. The rope seemed to have life, and every time he moved, the binding became tighter.

But the idea that it had moved could fill his mind and make him pretend that the body had moved.

"No, no, then I'll just wait for the day when I can go out."

Xuan Gui listened to the noise outside, then confirmed again that the rope that tied the spy was loose, then stood up and grabbed the door handle.

The sound of footsteps on the wooden floor and the door closing faded away. The spy exhaled and leaned back against the wall.

The sound of the servants' conversation about what to cook for tonight could be heard again from behind the wooden wall, and one could smell a hint of the atmosphere of life in this quiet mansion.

He should be grateful that he has not looked directly into the sun since the moment he was knocked unconscious.

It is better not to think too much about the so-called master mentioned by the monitor.

That was his only life-saving talisman.

—

When we arrived at Qin Lan's secluded mansion, all the lights around had gone out.

Jiang Nian followed Ai's familiar footsteps and entered the gate of the mansion.

The buildings in Cang County are all similar. Whether it is the old site of the eldest princess or Qin Lan's residence, the dense forest is right in front of the door.

Those winding paths are hidden behind this dense forest.

Jiang Nian was held by Ai's hand and walked through the dense forest.

In such a remote place, the door could be pushed open without anyone noticing. Perhaps it was this dense forest that could stop those who came with bad intentions.

Although during the day, all you see is scattered green shades, which is extremely pleasing to the eye.

But at night, it looks even more eerie and spooky.

Ai was very familiar with this place and didn't need anyone's guidance. He walked directly through the seemingly identical dense forest, passed the courtyard in front, and pushed open a door to a lighted room.

Different conversation content, same conversation background.

From Pingzhou to Cang County, the places where they talked seemed to be the same, but in fact they were different. Jiang Nian was almost disgusted with the long table placed in the hall.

It’s like going back to those years of endless experiments.

Jiang Nian twirled his fingertips to hide the sudden disgust and fatigue in his heart, and chose his usual seat to sit down.

They were the first to arrive, so there was no one else in the room except them.

It's easy to let your mind wander in this cool, open space.

With his fingertips resting on the cool mahogany, Jiang Nian watched Ai sit down not far away, and suddenly thought of the spy who had been tied up because of the conversation.

"Ai, what will Master Qin and Xiao Yingzhu do with the helpers sent by Meng Yao?"

Before going to bed at night, Ai said that the conversation tonight would not be peaceful. Would they have disagreements on how to deal with those people?

Ai seemed to see through Jiang Nian's thoughts. After thinking about the past of these two people - or more precisely, Qin Lan's attitude towards these things, he said briefly:

"The Pavilion Master will directly hand it over to his subordinates. Duke Xiao, I'm not sure. But don't worry, young lady. They won't have too many disagreements on such matters."

Jiang Nian nodded, thinking of Yan and Yan who did not get on the carriage with them. They were now picked up by Xiao Yingzhu, and they must be doing things for Xiao Yingzhu.

"What about the secret guard?"

"Xuan Gui?" Ai thought for a moment, "Miss, do you still remember the spy? He has been guarding the spy recently."

Jiang Nian was speechless when he saw that the secret guard who went out to handle confidential matters had been reduced to a spy security guard.

"Did Xiao Yingzhu arrange this specifically?"

"Yeah." Ai remembered the incident clearly. "Duke Xiao said that if we can't even guard a map, we should start with the basics."

“…” It feels a bit like an overkill, but surprisingly reasonable.

Jiang Nian nodded and paused for a moment, still unable to hide his curiosity.

"So what did Ai mean by 'unrest' a while ago—?"

Ai blinked and was about to answer when she heard the door behind her being pushed open with a loud bang.

Qin Lan walked in with a wooden face, followed by Meng Zheng.

Meng Zheng was shaking the pendant in his hand. The moment he saw Jiang Nian, he grabbed the pendant that was swinging left and right with his backhand, then spread out his hands and smiled at Jiang Nian.

"Duke Xiao's most crucial step turned out to be in the hands of a female doctor. This prince is truly surprised."

Qin Lan paused as he walked forward, turned to Meng Zheng and said with a forced smile, "The Fourth Prince has been traveling all night. Why don't you get some sleep first and we can discuss this later."

Meng Zheng coughed, then stretched out his hands sickly towards Qin Lan, looking unmoved.

"If it's not too tedious, Mr. Qin, could you please arrange a room for me to rest for a while?"

“…”

Since Meng Zheng was the prince, Qin Lan didn't want to be too disrespectful. He pointed at the long table in the hall with a slight smile on his face.

"Well, the Fourth Prince has come a long way, so please take a seat."

"Don't make me sound like I'm dying."

Meng Zheng closed his eyes and stopped arguing with Qin Lan. He turned to Jiang Nian and continued to sigh:

"Duke Xiao has hidden you very well. If I hadn't accidentally seen that earring earlier, I'm afraid I wouldn't have realized your latter identity."

He shook the pendant in his hand, narrowed his eyes after a moment, and began to blatantly poach Qin Lan in front of him:

"What Duke Xiao can bestow, I can also give. Why don't you, Miss Jiang, come to me?"