67. Tangled

◎You are the only one in this life◎

Chapter 67

The next morning, when Jiang Qiuye woke up, Ji Ci was gone again. She sat up and looked at the clepsydra. It was already the end of the Chen hour, so he must still be in the palace.

To be honest, Jiang Qiuye didn't sleep well last night, his mind racing through the recent events. First, the bronze ghost survived and confessed under torture. Then, he had to kill Zhang Yi, faking it as a suicide after his identity was exposed. Finally, he was overheard by a servant who hadn't the slightest clue what was happening and had come to Guihong Courtyard.

He let out a deep breath, recalled everything carefully in his mind, and after confirming that there were no loopholes that would expose his identity, he finally got out of bed lazily.

She called Mingyue to help her wash and change clothes, and then drank some bamboo leaf porridge. The sweet bamboo leaves were finely chopped and had a light fragrance. They were mixed with corn. After drinking it, she felt much refreshed.

She put down the bowl, took the handkerchief and passed it across her lips, then asked, "Did the prince have breakfast before leaving this morning?"

"Princess, the prince has used the same bamboo leaf porridge before." Mingyue couldn't help but smile. "Princess, you prepare medicinal food for the prince every day. Now it seems that the prince's appetite has improved and he doesn't need medicinal food. He drank every last drop of the bamboo leaf porridge today and even asked the servants to give it to the princess to try."

Jiang Qiuye blushed, scratched his temples, and looked very happy.

Today was a leisurely day, with nothing important to do. Suddenly, he remembered Qingling, who had appeared last night. He wondered how she had gotten into this courtyard. With that maid's abilities, she certainly couldn't have climbed over the eaves and walls. There must be a loophole in the courtyard. With this in mind, he stood up and began to walk around Guihong Hall.

Fortunately, after a while, she found a dog hole at the base of the back wall of Guihongyuan. It was very small and was usually covered by bushes, so it was not easy to find.

She immediately ordered the servants to bring bricks and fill the dog hole. Last night's mistake was truly huge. She hadn't even noticed someone eavesdropping by the window. Luckily, it was a useless and stupid maid. If Ji Ci had suddenly returned, wouldn't she have been exposed if she hadn't noticed? The thought of it made her dreadful.

After the spring rain last night, the rain on the grass slightly wet her skirt.

She took a deep breath of the post-rain air, and after confirming that there were no other loopholes in Guihong Courtyard, she returned to the house. Jinhong was already waiting inside. Jiang Qiuye's eyes met hers, and she casually found an excuse to dismiss Mingyue. She sat down in front of the dressing table, fiddling with the jewelry inside.

"Where are the people?"

"Buried."

"That's good. Every failure is a lesson learned. Don't make such a stupid mistake again next time." Jiang Qiuye turned around and smiled at Jinhong, who had a slightly cold expression. "Otherwise, with your qualifications, you will always be just a tool."

Seeing that she didn't say anything, Jiang Qiuye knew that she was still unwilling to accept him in her heart.

Forget it, why bother with a tool.

After a while, someone came to report that they had found Guihongyuan.

As expected, Qingling was the person Susu had secretly sent to Guihong Court to monitor her, and she didn't know why. But she really couldn't understand why Chen Susu, who had kept a low profile for so long and usually didn't leave Wenlan Court, would suddenly want to monitor her.

Jiang Qiuye didn't think any more and immediately invited the person in.

When Susu came in, her eyes moved around, looking left and right, as if wondering whether Qingling had actually come to Guihong Courtyard. After a moment, she finally realized what was happening and bowed to Jiang Qiuye, "Princess."

Jiang Qiuye smiled sweetly, "Sister Susu, why are you becoming more polite? Just call me sister. After all, I am indeed younger than you."

Susu froze for a moment and said, "It's good that my sister doesn't mind. That's good."

"Sister, please sit down. Why are you standing?"

Jiang Qiuye immediately asked Jinhong to pull out the stool in front of the desk. Seeing this, Susu no longer thought of refusing and sat on the stool, looking at Jinhong again. Jiang Qiuye understood what Susu meant and asked Jinhong to leave the dormitory.

She watched him carefully, puzzled, worried, and apprehensive. Her face was filled with all sorts of emotions. What a talented woman from Shengjing, she was simply a fool.

"Sister Susu, why did you come to see me today?"

Susu paused, feeling a sense of foreboding. For some reason, the feeling this bitch gave her was so different from before. Could it be that her temperament had changed after she became a princess?

"I wonder if you have seen Qing Ling last night or today?"

"Qingling? Who is Qingling?" Jiang Qiuye asked with a smile and a innocent look on his face.

"It's my personal maid."

"My sister's personal maid...why have I seen her before?"

Susu was stunned, unsure how to explain. Last night, Qingling had said she'd gone to Guihong Court to investigate while Prince Qi was away. But she'd waited all night, and Qingling hadn't returned. Before dawn today, she'd gone to the gates of Guihong Court to look for her. She'd seen Prince Qi leave for court, but there was no sign of Qingling anywhere. It was truly bizarre.

How could such a living person disappear after coming here overnight?

Jiang Qiuye seemed anxious and asked, "So Qingling is missing? When did it happen? Could it be... that she stole the treasures from the mansion and escaped?"

She stood up, filled with anger and anxiety, and said, "Sister Susu, don't worry too much. I will definitely send people to look for her. I hope she didn't run away. But disappearing for a night isn't too long. Maybe she was busy somewhere else in the palace. After all, Prince Qi's palace is so big. Maybe she will return soon."

"Yes, Princess is right." Susu frowned. Seeing that Qingling was indeed not here and Jiang Qiuye's behavior was not suspicious, she stood up and prepared to leave.

The moment she turned around, her eyes suddenly fixed on the corner of the window, she took a deep breath and walked over. Jiang Qiuye's eyebrows jumped when she saw this, and she began to pull up her sleeves in annoyance.

Susu stopped by the window, squatted down, and picked up a silver earring from the ground. After carefully examining it, she found it was indeed Qingling's. She immediately turned to look at Jiang Qiuye, suspiciously saying, "Sister, this is Qingling's earring! You told me you haven't seen her before?"

Jiang Qiuye narrowed his eyes, still sitting there motionless. "How would I know her earrings were here? When my sister couldn't find Qingling today, she came running to me. Could it be that my sister had Qingling come to Guihong Courtyard to do some dirty work?"

Susu sneered, feeling she had no fear now that she had something on her. She slowly approached her, scanning her surroundings before saying coldly, "Qiu Ziye, Qingling has been here before. She must have known about your dirty deeds, and I wonder where you've hidden them. The evidence is all here, what else do you have to deny?"

The smile on Jiang Qiuye's face gradually disappeared. Judging from the tone of Susu's voice, he didn't know how much she knew, so why did she send Qingling to monitor him?

Seeing Jiang Qiuye remained silent, Susu thought she was frightened and said aggressively, "Qiu Ziye, don't think His Highness Prince Qi is a fool. It was me who asked Qingling to come quietly. It was Qingling who knew your secret from the beginning and told me. I only let her come for His Highness Prince Qi. I didn't expect you to be so vicious. I don't know how you hid her!"

Her secret...

Is the secret that Susu is talking about the exposure of her own identity, or the exposure of her murder?

I would rather kill a thousand people by mistake than let one go...

Jiang Qiuye's eyes darkened, his expression became calmer, he pondered in silence, his fists clenched tightly under his sleeves.

It's such a pity that everyone wants to force her, even though she clearly doesn't want to kill anyone.

Seeing this, Susu stopped talking nonsense with her. Now that Qingling was missing, she found Qingling's earrings in the room. This was evidence! As long as she took the evidence to King Qi and told him about the secret affair between this bitch and Ji Sang, he would definitely give her a severe blow.

Thinking of this, Susu was overjoyed and left in high spirits.

After the room was empty, Jiang Qiuye bit her lip hard, her face pale. It turned out that she would never get the chance to be a good person.

…

At night, Jiang Qiuye came to the gate of the palace and stood there waiting for Ji Ci to return. She noticed that Susu seemed to want to find Ji Ci alone, but how could she give her this opportunity.

She would always cling to him.

Although spring nights are a time of renewal, they are still a little chilly. After standing for a while, my arms began to feel cold. When Ji Ci's carriage stopped at the palace gate, Jiang Qiuye smiled happily, rubbed his arms, and rushed forward.

Ji Ci had just stepped off the carriage and before he could react, his wife rushed into his arms, hugged his waist tightly, raised her head, and her peach blossom eyes were filled with grievance, "Husband, you are finally back! Ye'er has been waiting for you for a long time."

His heart was pounding, and he really missed her all day long. Sometimes during the day, he would start to daydream while looking at official documents, thinking of her lovely appearance, which was really unbearable.

He couldn't help but smile, raising his hand to rub the top of her head. She seemed to have just showered, still smelling of perfume, and her hair was loose and soft to the touch. She was only wearing thin pajamas, and the red mole was very obvious.

He only noticed that her arms were cold, so he half-hugged Jiang Qiuye and went straight to Guihong Courtyard. His steps were a bit big, and he walked faster and faster. Later, Jiang Qiuye began to stumble to keep up.

She returned to the room, lit the heater, and instantly felt much warmer. However, she felt unhappy and angrily patted his hard chest and said, "Husband, why are you running so fast? I'm about to fall."

Ji Ci didn't say anything, but just grabbed her non-aggressive little hand, gently put it to his mouth, blew on it, and rubbed it to warm her up.

"Are you going to hit me again? Keep hitting me."

His little wife, how many times, has she stood outside in the cold wind with only her tiny clothes, without even wearing a cloak? How many times has he told her that she has not learned her lesson? He can neither scold her nor beat her.

Jiang Qiuye felt an itch in his heart, and a nerve in his brain seemed to be stimulated. His cheeks couldn't help but feel hot. "He needs to be beaten! He deserves it!"

"Then you can beat her as much as you want. If you accidentally kill her, you won't have a husband anymore. Then you'll be the one who suffers."

What the hell is he talking about?

He grabbed her and held her tightly in his arms, taking a deep breath of the fragrance of her freshly bathed head. Jiang Qiuye pretended to struggle for a while, then obeyed and listened to her heartbeat.

Her husband's return home calmed her troubled and anxious heart.

After holding him for a long time, Jiang Qiuye finally ordered dinner. She watched him finish eating, then ordered hot water and helped him wipe his back and wash his hair with a towel. It was inevitable that he would feel hot all over after receiving such care from the beautiful princess.

After the two of them had been making a fuss for a long time, and had ordered water twice, Ji Ci finally let out a sigh of satisfaction when the lights were turned off. Jiang Qiuye looked at his profile in the darkness, pondered for a moment, and then propped herself up and kissed the tip of his nose.

Ji Ci stroked her slender waist and chuckled, "Why, you're not satisfied yet?"

Does this young wife really want to try the seven acts of lovemaking described in the storybook?

"No." Jiang Qiuye couldn't see clearly in the dark. After gradually getting used to the night and her eyes became clearer, she said coquettishly, "Ye'er misses Brother Jian Xi so much, but Brother Jian Xi doesn't care about Ye'er at all."

"What nonsense are you talking about? When did I not care about you?" Ji Ci heard that his little wife was suddenly looking for trouble, so he reached out and pinched her cheek hard.

Jiang Qiuye didn't expect him to pinch her so hard, causing her to cry out in pain, "Ji Ci!"

She hit his chest coquettishly, then glared at him with her round peach blossom eyes and pressed herself against him again, hugging him tightly.

"Tell me quickly, what's wrong?" The night was dark, but Ji Ci could see clearly. She was so adorable that he felt no amount of love could satisfy him, so he held her tightly.

"My husband, how long do you want Sisi to stay in the palace?"

Ji Ci was stunned, not understanding why she suddenly mentioned that person, "What's wrong?"

"Husband, Brother Jian Xi, can you please ask Sisi to move out of the palace? Ye'er doesn't want to see her." She shook her body artificially, which made him feel agitated.

"Why don't you want to see her?"

"As soon as she saw my husband, she was like a hungry wolf. I'm a woman, I can see what she's thinking. Besides, she doesn't like Ye'er either, and Ye'er sees it clearly in her heart."

Ji Ci chuckled, "Why are you suddenly jealous? I never say a word to her normally."

"Brother Jian Xi." Jiang Qiuye kept complaining coquettishly. Although she was extremely tired, she still wanted to try to drive Chen Susu away directly. It would be more convenient for her to do it outside.

However, Ji Ci just said "be good", then stood up, lit the candle with a tinder, put on a middle coat, walked to a cabinet, took out a brocade box from it, and returned to the bed.

"have a look."

Jiang Qiuye took it without knowing why.

Aren't we talking about the rustling thing? What does it have to do with this?

She opened the brocade box despite her sleepiness, and saw a small hibiscus jade pendant inside, which looked like Hetian jade.

"Is it for me?" Jiang Qiuye looked up in surprise. This was the first time Ji Ci gave her something.

"Yes." Ji Ci nodded, took out the jade pendant and placed it in her palm, "This is... a relic of my mother."

Jiang Qiuye was startled and her hand almost slipped. She looked at Ji Ci in shock, her heart in a mess: "Husband, this, this is too expensive."

"I think this jade pendant suits you very well." Ji Ci took the jade pendant in his hand and rubbed it for a while, then looked at her seriously, "Ye'er."

He looked at her in silence for a long time, as if he found it difficult to speak. After taking a deep breath, he looked at her seriously and said, "Ye'er, I am deeply attracted to you. You are the only one in my life, and I am happy to treat you this way. Marrying you is my great honor."

"So, you don't have to be jealous. When she finds a good husband in the future, you can let her marry him, okay?"

Jiang Qiuye's heart trembled, as if a slender hand was stroking a string of guitars in his heart, beating out a joyful melody.

She could always feel that Ji Ci cared about her, but hearing it from his mouth now was another matter. After all, he used to be half-mute, a weird and face-conscious saint.

She lowered her head and murmured softly, "But, but, maybe I'm not worthy of you at all."

She knew he was trying to give her a sense of security, and he thought she was jealous, so he gave her all his mother's belongings. The more he treated her, the more afraid she became. If he ever discovered his deception, he would definitely take back his kindness.

Ji Ci didn't hear clearly and moved closer to her, "What did you say?"

"Nothing, Brother Jian Xi treats Ye'er very well."

She raised her head and kissed his prominent Adam's apple. He didn't move at all. After a moment, he suddenly turned over and pressed her under him, kissing her again. The kiss, which was originally gentle and tender, gradually turned into a passionate one, as if he wanted to swallow her whole.

"Ye'er, Ye'er, Ye'er." She listened to him whispering in her ear, and suddenly she couldn't control her tears. She tried hard to hold them back, lowered her eyes and relaxed her gaze, then looked into his tender and loving eyes again, and once again raised her hands to hug his broad shoulders.

When they were done again, Jiang Qiuye, despite his sleepiness, opened his eyes, stood up, and carefully placed the hibiscus jade pendant in his dressing box. Ji Ci followed him forward and took a peek inside. Finally, the two of them returned to bed and fell into a deep sleep. On such a night, with his little wife sleeping tightly in his arms, his heart was filled with warmth and peace.

But when Jiang Qiuye woke up the next day, he had overslept again. Thinking about how ridiculous he had been the night before, he began to feel annoyed. He had clearly wanted to persuade Susu to leave the palace, but in the end he had forgotten about it and let it go.

Having missed the opportunity, it seems that although there are risks, even in the palace, we have to take action...