Outside the city, soldiers were training intensely, their shouts and roars filling the air.
As Ji Mohan was reviewing official documents from various regions in his tent, Li Shang strode in from outside. "Your Highness, a report has come in that clues about Aunt Fang have indeed been found in Anping County, Yanzhou."
Ji Mohan paused in his writing, but asked calmly, "Did you find it?"
"No, we've just found it, but it might take some time before we can locate it and bring it back to the capital," Li Shang said, shaking his head with some disappointment.
"Okay, I understand," Ji Mohan said coldly.
“But your little princess is really amazing. She knows about the clues that we’ve been searching for for so many years without success. Don’t you find that strange?” Li Shang finally voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind.
Ji Mohan paused for a moment, then continued writing the official document. "What's so strange about that? There are always people more capable than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding. Everyone has their own secrets, doesn't they?"
"But how could a young lady from a respectable family know these secrets?" Li Shang was completely baffled.
"If she knew, she must have had a way of finding out," Ji Mohan said calmly.
"Aren't you afraid she'll deliberately investigate you or get close to you?" Li Shang said with a hint of exasperation. How come she hadn't noticed before that he was such a love-struck fool?
"Heh, didn't you say before that what if she genuinely likes me? How come you now think she has ulterior motives?" Ji Mohan asked, amused by his friend's rapid change of heart.
“The past is the past, but now I feel that everyone has ulterior motives. This group of people who have appeared in the capital recently are too annoying,” Li Shang said with distress.
"It's alright. If she really did approach me with malicious intent, I will kill her myself." Ji Mohan said ruthlessly, snapping the brush in his hand.
Yan Wan, you better not disappoint me!
"What did she do today?" Ji Mohan asked abruptly.
But Li Shang, by a stroke of inspiration, knew that he was asking about Yan Wan, "She left the manor today."
"Is she alone? Did she bring anyone with her?"
"She took her personal maid, Lixia, to her restaurant, Yanji Hot Pot."
"Nonsense. Send two people to follow her after we get back to the manor." Ji Mohan pinched the corner of his eyebrow in annoyance.
"What? Are you feeling sorry for him?" Li Shang asked cheekily.
Ji Mohan ignored his madness and said in a deep voice, "The capital has been quite turbulent lately. I always feel that the capital is calm on the surface, but there are undercurrents surging beneath." It seems that I need to arrange for two bodyguards to follow her. After Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu were punished last time, their injuries should have almost healed. I will arrange for the two of them to follow her when we get back. Anyway, Yan Wan has already met them.
"Yes, things are getting more and more interesting," Li Shang said excitedly. The more muddy the waters of the capital were stirred up, the better.
"Oh, by the way, an interesting person has appeared in the capital. Your little princess met him today. Don't you want to know?" Li Shang was even more excited. He hadn't expected that the Princess Han would also take the opportunity to get involved in this mess.
"Who?" Ji Mohan was too lazy to pay attention to him, but since he mentioned Yan Wan, he had to take it seriously.
As you know, if Yan Wan has any bad intentions, he must be on guard.
"Jiang Bai, the son of the richest man in Jiangnan, is now in the capital. Isn't that interesting?" Li Shang teased, looking at Ji Mohan.
"What does she want to see him for?" Ji Mohan pondered.
"Ever since the Jiang family moved from the capital to Jiangnan eighty years ago, they have been lying low there. Now they have come to the capital, only because they see an opportunity to return." Li Shang said with a sneer. It seems that the Jiang family is still up to no good. Not just anyone can interfere in the capital. A mere merchant is truly laughable.
“I know you harbor resentment towards the Jiang family, but so many years have passed, Li Shang, look to the future,” Ji Mohan said.
"My aunt's life is so worthless in the Jiang family. Besides, the Jiang family has appeared in the capital. I have to have a good meeting with them." Li Shang laughed somewhat maniacally.
Ji Mohan knew that Li Shang had a very close relationship with his aunt Li Ge since childhood. In fact, Li Shang was raised by Li Ge since he was a child. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Li Ge was Li Shang's biological mother. When Li Shang was seven years old, his aunt Li Ge married into the Jiang family in Jiangnan. She passed away in just five years. Li Shang always harbored resentment towards the Jiang family and hated them for killing his aunt Li Ge.
"Then go ahead, but don't kill anyone." Ji Mohan still granted his request.
"I know," Li Shang said, trying to calm himself down. He couldn't control his emotions whenever his aunt was mentioned. Those damned bastards from the Jiang family, especially that hypocritical old man Jiang Ting.
"Go and find out what Yan Wan wanted to see him for. Check if they knew each other before." Ji Mohan's doubts deepened. What could two people who had nothing in common possibly have to talk about?
"Hmm, I'll go down and investigate more carefully. Perhaps she's hiding it too well, and we haven't found anything or have overlooked something." Since this was a matter of great importance, Li Shang dared not be careless and hurriedly left to investigate.
Ji Mohan watched Li Shang leave in a hurry, sighed, and continued to review official documents.
He always felt uneasy, as if something big was about to happen. His intuition was usually right, and he needed to be extra careful lately.
Yan Wan was also acting strangely; she seemed to know something. Ji Mohan's mind was in turmoil, and he had no interest in continuing to read the official documents in front of him. He got up and left the tent, intending to come back to look at them after patrolling the camp.
——
After parting ways with Jing Xi, Yan Wan leisurely returned to the Han Prince's Mansion. Looking at the bracelet on her wrist, her heart was filled with mixed emotions.
She didn't know whether she should tell Jing Xi the secret of the bracelet.
Now that Jiang Bai has gotten involved, and Li Guang's men are about to get involved as well, things are becoming increasingly uncontrollable.
The weather in the capital can change in an instant. Just a moment ago, the sky was clear and blue, but now it was covered with dark clouds. Yan Wan sat blankly by the window, watching the raging wind and rain outside, lost in thought.
Yan Wan didn't know if what she was doing was right, and she couldn't see the future clearly. It seemed that with her arrival, everything had changed from what was described in the original book.
The more entangled Yan Wan became with the Yan family, Jing Xi, the Crown Prince, the Emperor, Li Guang, Jiang Bai, Ji Mo Han, and some people hidden in the shadows, the more she felt as if she were trapped in a book. Sometimes she even thought that she was the Yan Wan in the book, and the modern Yan Wan was just a dream or fantasy of hers.
Yan Wan, oh Yan Wan, who are you really? Which version of you is the real you?
Was your arrival in this unfamiliar world within the book truly accidental? Or was someone calling you?
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