Chapter Thirty-Nine

"What's wrong? Are you still angry because I didn't go horseback riding with you?" Si Yanmo was clearly unaware of what had happened.

Zhou Yanqing already felt that her anger came out of nowhere, and seeing her expression made her even angrier, but she had no reason to vent it.

He wanted to ask Si Yanmo who the man was today, and what their relationship was.

But I don’t seem to have any reason or right to ask that question.

They weren't a real couple to begin with, and even if the other person did have a lover, it wouldn't count as betrayal.

Zhou Yanqing became increasingly agitated, so she simply stopped thinking about it and changed the subject.

"Um... I have good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?"

Si Yanmo was even more confused, but she still replied, "Good news."

"The Third Prince is coming to Qin to visit merchants, and your sister will be coming with him."

Zhou Yanqing returned so late because he received this secret letter. It is said that the person has already passed Wufeng Pass and will arrive in Qin'an City in three or four days.

Si Yanmo frowned. "This is not good news."

She said that when Zhong Zihe talked to her about merchants' taxes during the day, she always felt like she had forgotten something.

That's it!

Zhou Yanqing didn't understand what she meant. "I thought you would be happy if your sister came."

“I am naturally happy that my sister is coming, but the Third Prince’s arrival in Qin is not good news for you.”

Si Yanmo told him about his fate, "Do you remember what I told you about your death calamity? I suspect it's related to the Third Prince."

When she looked at Zhou Yanqing's destiny, unlike the interpretations given by others, she truly saw his entire life, from birth to death.

As far as she knew, Zhou Yanqing died on the battlefield during the great battle with Qi Gu.

But his death was not a battle-scarred one; rather, it was a series of interconnected murders.

"What I saw when you were pierced through the body by a long spear, but you were bleeding from all seven orifices and your face was blue. This is definitely not how someone who has been stabbed to death should look."

Night had fallen, and all was quiet outside, save for the occasional whistling of the wind.

As Zhou Yanqing listened to her describe her death, he felt a chill run down his spine. "Well, you... you didn't have to describe it in such detail."

"……oh."

“Go on.”

“So I guessed it was poison,” Si Yanmo continued.

"What does that have to do with Zhou Junsong?"

"Let me finish!" Si Yanmo said, quite displeased at being interrupted. "Because that great battle was a trap set up by him and the Prince of Qi..."

Although she was driven crazy by Lin Jiao'er in her previous life, she wasn't completely ignorant.

After all, Zhou Junsong and the King of Qi owe their acquaintance to her...

In her previous life, Si Yanmo did not have a smooth life after being betrothed to Zhou Junsong.

Compared to being able to do whatever she wanted in the Qin Prince's mansion, under Zhou Junsong, even his concubines could ride roughshod over her.

She didn't want to compete for the emperor's favor, but unfortunately, once she married into the royal family, many things were no longer up to her.

Zhou Junsong's increase in taxes on merchants was a signal that he wanted the Si family to stand on his side.

Si Jianwen naturally did the same.

But the older sister saw through Zhou Junsong's other ambition—the throne of the Southern Emperor.

She told Si Yanmo that she would introduce her uncle, who was a shaman in Qigu, to Zhou Junsong.

Her sister was right. With the addition of Prince Qi as an ally, Zhou Junsong's attitude towards her softened considerably, and her days at the mansion became much easier.

She also inadvertently learned of Zhou Junsong's plan—to sacrifice the King of Qin.

At that time, Si Yanmo didn't quite understand what "killing two birds with one stone" meant. She only vaguely understood from their conversation that the King of Qi wanted the fat piece of Qin, while Zhou Junsong needed the fall of this "younger brother" to pave the way for his ascension to the throne of the Southern Emperor.

Of course, she wouldn't tell Zhou Yanqing that all of this was her past life experience, but rather described it as her original destiny.

"In summary, you're the villain who's destined to die in the comic book!"

Since her sister was able to tell her this method back then, she might very well recommend her uncle to Zhou Junsong now.

After hearing Si Yanmo's explanation, Zhou Yanqing rested her chin on her hand, twitched the corner of her mouth, and said, "Heh, thank you!"

"So...you believe that Zhou Junsong poisoned me?"

Si Yanmo nodded. "Perhaps they're working together from the inside. Don't forget, there might still be spies from Qi Valley in Qin."

After she finished speaking, the room remained silent for a long time, with only the occasional crackling of the candlelight.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Si Yanmo thought he couldn't accept the situation of being attacked from both sides, so she tugged at his sleeve to comfort him, "Well... at least we know who the enemy is now, right?"

Zhou Yanqing turned to stare at her, a hint of amusement in her eyes. "You're unhappy that your sister is coming? Is it because you're afraid your brother-in-law will poison me?"

?

Si Yanmo was stunned. What was this guy thinking?

Zhou Yanqing smiled, a strange sense of satisfaction welling up inside her. "Alright, it's a small matter! We'll deal with whatever comes our way. Besides..."

He reached out and pinched the girl's cheek; it was so soft.

"Don't worry, I still have you as my little strategist!"

Si Yanmo frowned as he pinched her, and slapped his hand away. "If you're not worried about me, what am I worried about?"

"And the bad news?"

The candlelight on the table dimmed for a moment at the mention of bad news.

Zhou Yanqing looked visibly worried and let out a deep breath. "My mother... she came along too."

Mentioning Consort Qin would have been better left unmentioned, but the mere mention of her brought back memories of that early morning when the covers were pulled off, leaving Si Yanmo bewildered, and... Ning Qingzi.

"She's not coming again..."

"It's difficult, isn't it?"

Zhou Yanqing knew his mother too well. How could she possibly bear to leave that man and return to Qin? It must be for that reason—taking a concubine and urging her to have a child.

Si Yanmo looked at the roof beam in despair, "We'll never have a peaceful life again, right?"

Congratulations, you got it right.

A chicken ran out from somewhere outside, causing the yellow and black dogs guarding each yard to bark in unison.

It's likely their days will be filled with just the same chaos and turmoil.

——

The day was bright and sunny.

Zhong Zihe's carriage stopped at the entrance of the Prince of Qin's mansion early in the morning.

Yesterday, after seeing Si Yanmo off, he returned to his newly opened silver shop in Qin. As soon as he entered, he saw the shopkeeper excitedly approaching him.

“Master, a big customer came today. He bought a lot of our items upstairs and deposited five hundred taels of silver.”

"Yeah!"

Zhong Zihe closed his fan, realizing that coming to Qin was indeed the right decision.

The shopkeeper said that the man mostly bought hairpins and the like, probably as gifts for the young ladies he admired.

Upon hearing the word "hairpin," Zhong Zihe recalled seeing Si Yanmo yesterday. She only had a plain hairpin on her head, looking incredibly shabby. He wondered what kind of life Si Yanmo and the King of Qin were living.

Sigh, it's still him, the older brother, who has to keep an eye on things!

"Old Li, pick out two velvet flower hairpins for me, wrap them up, I'll give them away tomorrow."

Perhaps it was because Si Yanmo's name contained the character for "flower" that she had loved flowers since she was a child.

Especially in spring when flowers are in full bloom, Si Yunyun and he would always take her to the countryside to pick flowers and make flower wreaths, which she always loved.

He wondered where in Qin there were places to admire flowers; he would have to take Xiao Mo'er there another day when he had time.

Sure enough, he came to find Si Yanmo early this morning with the hairpin.

The carriage stopped, and as soon as Zhong Zihe got off, he saw Chen Wu leading a group of people pulling a cart full of jewelry inside.

He stepped forward and said, "Excuse me, buddy, could you please inform them?"

When Chen Wu turned around, he saw a "peacock" standing in front of him, its colors almost dazzling his eyes.

"Who are you……"

"Oh, my name is Zhong Zihe, a friend of the Princess of Qin."

He was too embarrassed to mention his elder brother; if Xiao Mo'er was still angry yesterday and refused to acknowledge him, he would have his legs broken and be thrown out.

Chen Wu looked the person in front of him up and down, thinking to himself: When did the princess have such a flashy friend?

However, he still told the other party to wait a moment while he went in to report.

At this moment, Si Yanmo was having breakfast with Zhou Yanqing and Sano.

Upon hearing Chen Wu's report, she didn't react much, but then she saw Zhou Yanqing next to her slam down her chopsticks with a "bang".

"What's wrong?" she asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing, I'm full." Zhou Yanqing stood up irritably, straightened her clothes, and said, "Let's go, let's meet your friends."

Si Yanmo didn't know where his anger came from, but she still walked outside with him. Before she even saw Zhong Zihe, her attention was drawn to the cart full of colorful boxes in the yard.

"What's this?"

Before Zhou Yanqing could reply, Chen Wu quickly chimed in, "Your Highness, you probably don't know this! These are all pieces of jewelry that His Highness personally picked out for you; they're all very fashionable right now."

As he spoke, his eyes kept glancing at his master. Although his master didn't say anything, the slowly rising curve of his lips told him that he had done a good job!

Si Yanmo's eyes widened. "So much? That must be a lot of money!"

Zhou Yanqing didn't speak, but Chen Wu immediately chimed in, "Money doesn't matter, what's most important is that you like it. Do you... like it?"

Upon hearing this, Si Yanmo casually opened a box, inside which was a silver hairpin inlaid with red agate, clearly a very fine item.

She was, after all, the daughter of a merchant; at a glance, one could tell that this cartload cost at least two hundred taels.

Although she doesn't usually like wearing gold and silver, her parents taught her that she shouldn't refuse other people's good intentions.

She quickly put on a sincere smile. "I like it, thank you, Your Highness. Oh no, thank you, Master!"

When the girl smiled, her dimples appeared and disappeared, making Zhou Yanqing's heart skip a beat.

He hurriedly looked away, raised his hand and coughed lightly, "It was just something I bought casually, you... can just switch them out and play with them."

As the two chatted and laughed, they seemed to have forgotten that someone was waiting outside, until Chen Wu reminded them that there were still guests outside.

Upon arriving at the entrance, Zhou Yanqing was almost blinded by Zhong Zihe's brocade robes.

He immediately realized that this was the guy who was with Si Yanmo yesterday, and the image of Si Yanmo telling him how trustworthy Brother Zihe was unconsciously flashed through his mind.

Ha, judging from his appearance, he doesn't seem reliable at all!

What makes it so trustworthy!

Zhou Yanqing found the person in front of him extremely displeasing, so much so that he didn't even acknowledge the other person's greeting.