22. Bait

◎Don't move, it's me!◎

Chapter 22

"Ci'er, it's your mother who has wronged you, but you must find them, find them at all costs. Promise your mother that you will do your utmost to help your brother in the future. Promise your mother now. I want you to swear, swear now!"

After saying this, the woman lying on the bed died. Her face was pale, her cheekbones prominent, her eye sockets sunken, and she looked frail and sick. The black rat emerged from behind her and then disappeared under the straw mat.

The strong wind outside brought snow into his eyes, and he swore a poisonous oath in front of the woman's body.

In the end, the woman was wrapped in a simple straw mat and before she could be buried, she was dragged away and disappeared.

Maybe it was thrown into a mass grave, who knows.

A gust of cold wind blew through the window frame and into the house.

Ji Ci woke up instantly. He sat up, breathing deeply, and held his temples, knowing that he was having another nightmare.

I turned around and looked at the clepsydra. It was already three quarters past three in the morning.

I got up in my moon-white pajamas and walked out of the room. It was freezing cold outside and the moonlight was like water.

Not far away, Tian, ​​who had been busy all night, saw Ji Ci coming out and stepped forward to put the white fox cloak in his hand on Ji Ci. Then he said, "Your Highness, why are you not sleeping so late?"

"I can't sleep." Ji Ci pressed his forehead and walked towards the small pond in the courtyard.

Tian went to catch up, and after a moment's thought, he reported, "We recently uncovered a hidden agent of the Feiyan Pavilion of the Li Kingdom. It was a medicine shop called Jishuntang, and they captured an old man codenamed Snow Owl."

Ji Ci looked indifferent and asked, "Is there any interrogation?"

Tian Qu shook his head and continued, "Not yet. Due to sufficient evidence, he was directly imprisoned. It seems that they are waiting for you to personally conduct the trial. I wonder if this is your Majesty's intention."

"knew."

After Tian Qu retreated, Ji Ci tugged at the cloak covering his body and felt an unbearable headache.

Jishun Hall......

How could he remember that this was the pharmacy where the young widow usually liked to buy goods.

…

The next morning, the morning breeze was chilly, and Qiu Ying came to Guihong Hall in a carriage from the Duke's Mansion to pick up Jiang Qiuye.

In order to avoid exposing the poison in his body, Jiang Qiuye put on winter clothes and a thick lotus root powder cloak.

She seemed to be particularly fond of pink, and after dressing up, she looked even a year younger than her sister Qiu Ying.

The two of them first chartered a pleasure boat to listen to the music, then went to the market to browse the shops, and finally went to Jinpin Pavilion.

"My second sister's birthday party is at the end of the month. Why don't you order a set of noodles?" Jiang Qiuye didn't take her to the second floor, but just dragged Qiu Ying to hang around on the first floor.

Originally, Qiu Ying had no interest in visiting Jinpin Pavilion. The last time they parted ways here, she felt a little scared.

Xu and Sun were clearly his close friends, but after that incident, he gradually stopped associating with her.

But when it came to the birthday party, Qiu Ying became interested and said, "Of course, but what's so special about the jewelry on this floor? Sister, why don't you come with me to the second floor?"

As he was speaking, Manager Wang suddenly saw two guests approaching. He hurriedly came forward, made a female bow, and said, "Miss Qiu, Miss Qiu, what would you like to see today?"

"Birthday party at the end of the month." Qiu Ying didn't say much.

The two were led by Manager Wang to the second floor to see each other.

When they reached the second floor, Manager Wang thought of a ring that Jiang Qiuye had ordered. It had been made long ago, but no one had come to pick it up.

Jiang Qiuye seemed to have suddenly remembered something and said, "Really? I've been so busy lately that I even forgot about it. I'll just pick it up today."

Manager Wang put the ring in a brocade box and brought it to Jiang Qiuye.

She took the brocade box and opened it. Inside was a white jade ring, emitting a translucent white light and with some patterns carved on it.

At first glance, I thought it was some kind of flower, but when I took it and looked closely, it was just leaves.

Qiu Ying found it strange, as only men would wear a ring. She glanced at Jiang Qiuye and asked curiously, "Ring? Why would you order one? You're not going to give it to someone privately, are you?"

Jiang Qiuye closed the brocade box and put it into her sleeve, seeming to cherish it with particular care. Her peach blossom eyes flickered as she asked, "Secretly giving it away? Are you talking about you and your unmarried cousin?"

When Qiu Ying heard this, she became angry and her face flushed. She glanced at the crowd around her. There were also a lot of guests bustling downstairs in the attic. She always felt that her sister had bad intentions along the way.

The two of them were clearly enemies, so why did they suddenly make an appointment to hang out together today?

"Don't talk nonsense."

Jiang Qiuye walked to the railing on the second floor, glanced down, and said with an innocent look: "Second sister, I am really worried about you. This young master Huo is obviously not a good man, why do you have to hang yourself on him?"

"You're talking nonsense. My cousin has promised me since last time." Qiu Ying followed.

Jiang Qiuye rolled her eyes, taking the opportunity to make this silly sister face reality.

"If you don't believe me, just wait here. I heard that my cousin will come to Jinpin Pavilion today."

"...Impossible. My cousin said he's going to Anguo Temple to worship Buddha and chant sutras these days."

"Then why don't we just wait a while?" Jiang Qiuye walked directly to the chair in front of the railing and sat down, looking at the crowd below.

She knew about this matter when she overheard a woman talking about it while doing business at Guihongtang several days ago.

Manager Wang served tea to the two of them and introduced the latest noodles and clothing to Qiu Ying.

Qiu Ying had long lost the desire to buy anything and was just waiting for Huo Heng, whom Jiang Qiuye had mentioned, to show up.

Manager Wang did not urge them. Seeing that the two were obviously distracted, he left some cakes and cakes and left.

White steam rose from Pinghuai's hot tea, but after waiting for a long time, the tea gradually cooled down.

Qiu Ying's originally anxious heart gradually relaxed. "See, my cousin is not the kind of person you said he was. I think you are just jealous of me and trying to sow discord between my cousin and me."

Jiang Qiuye adjusted the brocade box in her hand and said with a smile, "Why should I stir up trouble? My sister wants to know who I'm giving this ring to?"

"Who is it for?"

Her cheeks flushed slightly, her eyes were filled with spring water, she bit her lip lightly, and said shyly, "It's for His Royal Highness Prince Qi."

"Your Highness Prince Qi?" Qiu Ying looked at her incredulously. "Are you out of your mind?"

The noble ladies around didn't care about the conversation between the two at first, but when they heard the words "Prince Qi", they all gathered around to listen intentionally or unintentionally.

"Are you suffering from paranoia? There were rumors about you and Prince Qi before, but they were later debunked. You're just a widow, and you have a family murder case on your shoulders. How could Prince Qi be interested in you?"

Jiang Qiuye didn't seem to care at all about Qiu Ying's words. He simply said, "His Royal Highness Prince Qi and I are indeed innocent. It's just that these days, we've been working together day and night to solve the Zhang family case. Who would have known... I now have an important clue to the Zhang family tragedy. I'll wait and tell him this clue the next time I give him the ring."

Qiu Ying raised her eyelids and asked, "What clue?"

Jiang Qiuye glanced at the eavesdroppers around him, raised the corner of his lips, and said, "The murderer of the Zhang family tragedy was one of Zhang Liang's mistresses, and on that mistress's arm..."

She paused and continued, "...with a plum blossom tattoo."

"That's it? How did you get this clue?"

"There's a servant in the Zhang family who slipped through the net. He's called Ayuan. He's seen the man in black and the mistress. He told me all this."

Qiu Ying drank the remaining tea and said, "Then why didn't he just tell Prince Qi, tell the Dali Temple, or tell you?"

"Because he was really afraid of being silenced by the murderer, and I was a member of the Zhang family, he naturally told me. After he told me, I gave him a lot of silver and let him leave Shengjing City."

Just as he finished saying this, Huo Heng's figure actually appeared on the first floor. Jiang Qiuye noticed it with his sharp eyes and immediately asked Qiu Ying to look over.

Huo Heng led a young lady into the Jinpin Pavilion, pulling her around and seemingly holding her in his arms. The young lady looked shy and immediately started looking at the jewelry, asking for this and that.

Huo Heng only took her to the first floor to watch, and he would buy whatever the young lady pointed at for her.

Qiu Ying knew the young lady, who was a lowly maid in the Huo Mansion. She never expected that she would dream of becoming a phoenix.

Jiang Qiuye's eyes turned red as she looked at her adopted sister, and she felt a little soft in her heart. She couldn't help but say, "This cousin of the Huo family is really not a good man. I'm worried about you and I'm trying to persuade you out of good intentions. Besides..."

She was a little conflicted about whether to tell Qiu Ying that the Huo family was about to get into trouble.

After some thought, I decided to give up.

First of all, I didn't want to cause trouble and ruin Ji Ci's plan.

Secondly, this cheap sister needs to think this matter through clearly on her own. After all, it is a love affair between the two of them, and she shouldn't interfere too much.

Qiu Ying bit her lip and clenched her fists. The nail polish dug into her flesh, but it didn't hurt as much as the pain in her heart. She said nothing, watching the two adulterers buy something and leave, without the courage to rush over and question them.

Finally, when everyone left, the tears that had been held back in my eyes finally fell.

Seeing Jiang Qiuye handing her a white silk handkerchief, she finally couldn't help but lie on the table and sob.

Qiu Ying cried for an hour and left in a carriage with red and swollen eyes.

Jinpin Pavilion was very close to Guihong Hall, so Jiang Qiuye walked back alone and bought a few bottles of wine. Passing by Jishuntang Pharmacy, he saw that the shop was closed and sealed. He was a little surprised, but he didn't dare show it.

It was not until he returned to Guihong Hall that his body, which had been supporting himself for a whole day, finally gave up. He returned to the small bed in the dormitory and fell down, lying there motionless.

Two more days...

Now that everything that needs to be done has been done, all that is left is to wait.

…

In the dim room, there was only a faint candlelight, which flickered and reflected on everyone's face, which was particularly strange.

"Are you telling the truth? Did you really hear the girl from the Qiu family reveal the clue about the tattoo?"

"It's absolutely true, how could I have heard it wrong?"

“…”Everyone was silent.

After a while, someone finally said, "This woman cannot live in this world. Firstly, she is the new bride of the Zhang family. She slipped through the net and should die with the hundred or so people of the Zhang family."

"Secondly, this woman has been getting closer to Prince Qi these days, and she holds clues to the tattoo. Prince Qi is a hidden danger that we cannot shake off right now. We cannot expose our identities at this critical moment and hinder future rebellions."

…

Jiang Qiuye drank a lot of heat-removing medicine and finally had a good sleep after a sleepless night. The next day, he got up and stayed in Guihong Hall for the whole day.

He sent Xiaopang away on the pretext of needing to go to another town to buy some medicine.

This wait lasted until nightfall, when the rabbit light fell off.

Before curfew, she finally got up from the bed and walked out of Guihong Hall.

The pedestrians on the street had already gone home, and only two or three vendors were packing up their stalls. Jiang Qiuye casually walked up to a vendor who was packing up his stall and bought a bag of dragon beard candy.

She wandered around aimlessly, tearing and eating the dragon's beard candy in her hand.

She didn't know if Ji Ci had finished eating the dragon beard candy she gave him, so she could prepare some more for him.

Gradually, there was no one left on the street, only the empty sound of Jiang Qiuye's footsteps.

Gradually, she heard the sounds of people coming from two or three behind her. She curled her lips and gradually quickened her pace.

The people behind him also ran up quickly.

Running to a dark alley, she quickly turned around and saw several men she had never met before, holding bows and crossbows, shooting arrows at her at high speed.

With Jiang Qiuye's abilities in the past, she could easily dodge it.

But now the poison has taken effect in his body, and he has taken a lot of drugs to calm the poison. He has lost all his internal strength in the past few days, and his reactions are not as quick as before.

She quickly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the crossbow arrow, but still grazed her arm.

My legs felt a little weak due to the residual heat emanating from my bones.

After a moment's thought, she decided not to fight with them and turned around to run away.

The silver hairpin on her head fell to the ground due to the intense running, and her hair was scattered. The people behind her were still chasing her closely in the dark alley.

This time she was taking a risky move, and if she was not careful, she would lose her life.

Logically speaking, all her actions were under Ji Ci's supervision. Now that she was in danger, why didn't his people come out to rescue her?

The constant running made her sweat, and the sticky sweat stuck to her back, making her feel very uncomfortable.

Just as she turned to a fork in the road, a hand suddenly reached out, covered her mouth and pulled her over.

Jiang Qiuye's eyes widened, and she grabbed the hand covering her mouth and was about to use force.

"Don't move, it's me!"

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