Unsolved

After finishing the meal, Jiang Niantong watched him return to the windlass with a You Suixin smile.

The windlass went all the way up and stopped at the third floor.

In the long and quiet corridor, other personal maids were already moving around.

They walked through the corridor chatting and laughing, and then returned to their rooms.

However, rather than calling it a room, it would be more accurate to say that it is a collective compartment.

Jiang Nian turned his head and glanced inside through a door that had not been opened. Although there were many doors outside, there were no walls inside. They were all separated by gilded screens.

There must have been other things placed on this floor originally, and then it was changed by the goddess.

As soon as the word "goddess" appeared in his mind, Jiang Nian immediately recalled the young man he had just met, You.

The relationship between You and the goddess is really close.

Not only was the dining area separated from the others, so no one could disturb him, but the servants around him treated him like a goddess...

There is a feeling of being under the severe pressure of thunder and not daring to look up, for fear of disturbing or touching something scary.

This young man has so many secrets.

While Jiang Nian was thinking about what position You held between them, the goddess, and the Wu Mi people, she passed by the personal maids who were accompanying her.

Those personal maids seemed to know her and were hostile to her. They didn't even glance at her, as if they treated her as air.

Jiang Nian didn't care about how she was treated among these maids.

Anyway, she just needed to finish her work here and then leave. She didn't have the time to spend time on these maids who cost a lot but didn't give much in return.

If no one came looking for her, she could save herself the trouble of playing the role of Cui's daughter, and it would be more convenient for her to act.

All she had to do was avoid being discovered by them as she was communicating with the secret guards in the room and cooperating with You on other floors.

Jiang Nian collected his thoughts, pretended to be timid, lowered his eyes and walked quickly through the group of personal maids.

—

After returning to the room, she turned around and locked the door. She picked up the paper Ling gave her and looked at it for a while, estimating the time, then gently turned her head and called out.

Different from the secret guard who came just now, the one who came this time was the unpleasant maid secret guard.

But maybe it was time to rest, her resentment was not as strong as before.

"What's going on?"

Jiang Nian turned his head and met the maid's raised eyebrow gaze, and asked directly: "Do you have any information about the extraditionist?"

In just two hours, Jiang Nian shifted his target from the goddess to the extraditionist. The maid was surprised for a moment, then replied:

"Ah, this, I do know a little bit."

"The goddess values ​​him very much because he possesses some...skills. Those skills are very powerful and rare."

"Besides that, he's the only one the goddess brought from Donglan."

The maid looked at her fingernails for a while, then spread out her hands and stood under the window, looking at the sunlight outside.

Jiang Nian naturally also caught a glimpse of the bright red on her fingertips. His eyes fell on them for a moment and then moved away.

Although the maid was looking at her nails, she didn't miss Jiang Nian's sudden startled gaze from the corner of her eyes, and raised the corners of her lips playfully.

"Why? You think a lowly maid wouldn't make jewelry for you or something?"

...Not really, I'm just curious where these pigments come from.

Zuihualou doesn't look like a place that would provide these things to maids.

The maid saw through Jiang Nian's indescribable and hesitant expression at a glance, turned over her hand, and the eye-catching red color flashed across Jiang Nian's eyes.

"What do you think this is, human blood?"

“…No.”

Although for a moment, Jiang Nian imagined a dark and eerie scene in his mind of a maid grinning and piercing the enemy's heart with the handle of a broom, and then reaching in and inserting her hand, but he quickly dismissed it.

It must be dyed with the color of some flower.

The maid admired her nails and slowly withdrew her hand: "These are flowers I picked from the corridor courtyard."

Thinking back that apart from the corridor she had just visited, there were three other corridors on the first floor that she had not seen, Jiang Nian immediately nodded in understanding.

"There, we pick them away from people, right?"

The maid stood up from the wall indifferently: "Yeah, they can't catch me anyway, it doesn't matter."

"Miss, do you have any further questions? My break is almost over."

Thinking of what the maid had said that morning, Jiang Nian asked directly, "What did you mean by 'the goddess treats me specially'?"

The maid tilted her head questioningly and stared at Jiang Nian for a while before she remembered what she had said casually that morning:

"Oh, that one."

"Don't you notice that the other maids treat you badly?"

"It's because the goddess directly bypassed the others and gave you the position of personal maid. Yet, you still act like a poor, cowardly young lady, seemingly without any ability."

"That's why I said the goddess treats you specially."

Jiang Nian shifted his gaze slightly, and pondered the maid's answer for a moment: "Is there anything else you want to screen for the personal maid?"

"have."

The maid stretched out her fingers and cracked them a few times. "When selecting a personal maid, we need to comprehensively evaluate three aspects of the duties: Is the task important to the goddess? Is it complicated? And the corresponding salary standard."

"For example, some seemingly simple but core confidential matters—such as food management and the matching of crowns and clothing—are directly related to the safety of the goddess. These tasks are simple, but require the maids to possess extremely high loyalty and adaptability. Therefore, the selection standards and salary levels for these tasks have been raised accordingly."

“…”

If she saw it correctly, the task she saw on the paper Ling gave her was - clothing matching.

Jiang Nian pondered for a moment: "Under what circumstances would the goddess suddenly assign such a task to someone who seems insignificant and has no ability?"

The maid gave her a meaningful look and said, "Perhaps the goddess also thinks it's a pet worth raising."

"Anything else you want to ask? If not, I'm leaving."

Jiang Nian immediately gave her the last task: "Can you find the secret guard who just came? Help me convey a message. I want him to pass on a message to Youguan."

"I already have a choice for the fourth party."

Recalling the marks on the thief's body that Ai Tong described to her, it would become clear at a glance as long as she found a chance to see what You's weapon looked like.

The maid turned around, responded casually, then walked out of the room and disappeared.

—

If the goddess realized that something was wrong with her from the beginning, how did she figure it out?

Was it the list of maids - or was it that he had an impression of her as early as when he heard her singing and playing in Zhuyu Pavilion?

Jiang Nian sat back in front of the dressing mirror, picked up the paper and took a look.

The task statement above is ordinary and insignificant.

If the maid had not pointed it out to her, Jiang Nian would not have immediately thought of matching the goddess's clothes and tampering with them.

If the goddess is allergic to something, or adds some chronic poison to it, then taking someone's life would be a legitimate act.

What's more, outsiders are not familiar with each other and can come and go freely, making it difficult to catch them.

Once the goddess died and the plague did not spread, the Wu Mi people's plan would be stillborn.

So, the question comes back again, what exactly does the goddess want to do by placing this hidden danger next to her?

Jiang Nian sighed and glanced at the hourglass on the table.

It was almost time for her to meet up with You.

Although they followed the rule of not talking while eating during the meal, when they parted, Jiang Nian specifically asked You about his plans for the afternoon and got a more accurate time.

Now, she is about to set off again.

However, there were still footsteps in the corridor outside the door. She had to wait until most people outside had left before taking the winch down to the first floor.

Now, let’s take out the blueprint and outline the first position of the talisman array.

—

Top Pavilion

After finishing his meal with Jiang Nian, You returned to the attic with a normal expression.

The goddess was in a daze in front of the window. Her profile, which was not obscured by her falling hair, seemed a little confused.

It's like I can't grasp the focus when it comes to the future, and I feel empty, weightless and drifting.

You paused, and walked a little more slowly, raising his hand to lift the bead curtain.

The blanket on the wooden floor was taken away by the maid to be washed, so the goddess did not sit directly on the floor today. Instead, she found a chair, put her hands on her knees, and stared out the window in a daze.

Over the years, You had seen many expressions on the goddess's face, but this was the first time she was so absorbed in it that she didn't even notice him approaching her.

It was not until the faint fragrance from his body seemed to reach the goddess's nostrils that the goddess's eyelashes moved and she turned her head to look at the smiling You.

"You're here."

“…”

There was a slight rubbing sound of fabric, and You leaned down slightly, his lips lingering beside the goddess' ear as he whispered softly, "What are you thinking about, sister?"

The goddess raised her eyes to meet You's lowered gaze, raised her hand and touched You's shoulder, with a cool smile on her face.

"Who did you meet today?"

"I sensed a hint of...unusual aura."

You calmly raised his hand and grasped the goddess' wrist, smiling and saying, "It's the hamster that my sister indulged."

"You wants to see...why does her sister treat her so specially?"

When Jiang Nian was mentioned, the goddess's expression turned cold, her eyes lowered, and she let Youyou place her hand on her knees.

"I won't hide anything from you."

"But, there is one thing I can't figure out..."

The words stopped here, the goddess's expression turned cold, she turned around, looked out the window, and said no more.

You followed her gaze and saw "Lu" who was leaving Zuihualou and preparing to go somewhere else.

Seeing his figure, You curled her lips and sneered: "What a well-behaved animal. After years of being a slave, this is all you can do."

"Sister, wait until this matter is over, and then your wish will be fulfilled, right?"

Feeling You's slightly probing gaze, the goddess lowered her eyes, and the dazzling light from the window blocked the desolation in her eyes.

“…”

The beam of light made her skin warm. The goddess was silent for a while. When she felt the temperature outside, she realized that she was still in this world.

Glancing at the faintly glowing talisman array in the corner, the goddess rarely answered You's words.

"I'm tired, please go out first and let me stay for a while."

You put down his hand, and his gaze was dim and unclear behind the goddess. After a while, he responded in a low voice.

"If you need help, please feel free to call me."

"You went out first."