Chapter 202 No one can replace my position in the Marquis's heart
Bai Xiuming brought A Chan into the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion. In Ji Chan's memory, the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion had always been very lively.
However, the Marquis's mansion now appears unusually deserted, with hardly any servants to be seen even in the main courtyard.
Marquis Jinyang was not in the main courtyard at the time. Bai Xiuming led Achan around the Marquis's mansion and finally found her in the garden.
He was drinking wine under the moon, looking very distressed, and muttering the words "seeking fragrance" to himself.
Xunfang is Xue's given name.
"The Marquis of Jinyang is truly deeply in love with the Xue family," Achan couldn't help but say.
At other times, it might be a pretense, but the emotions revealed when one is alone cannot be faked.
Bai Xiuming neither confirmed nor denied this, but simply reminded her, "The Green-Ploughing Bird isn't here."
"Let's go find that bird first."
As she left, Achan glanced back at the Marquis of Jinyang, who was still pouring wine for her. She really found it strange; where did these two get such a deep affection from?
Passing through the garden of the Marquis's mansion, one enters the backyard, where Ji Chan has lived for the past ten years or so.
However, the courtyard where Ji Chan used to live is now locked, and it has probably been a long time since anyone went in. Weeds have grown over the courtyard.
A blue-feathered bird perched on a tree, chirping towards the yard next to it, seemingly both eager and wary.
Of all the backyards, only this one was illuminated by lanterns, leading Achan to guess that the newly acquired concubine of the Marquis of Jinyang lived here.
Bai Xiuming and A Chan climbed onto the roof, lifted a tile, and looked down.
The room was brightly lit by many candles, and only a slender woman sat in front of the dressing table looking in the mirror; no servants attended to her.
The woman wasn't just looking in the mirror; she was talking to it, as if a person lived inside.
As they talked, the woman and the mirror seemed to be arguing. Achan could only hear what the woman was saying; she and the mirror seemed to be arguing about who should get more of the essence.
All things in heaven and earth possess their own essence, but the most easily obtained essence comes from humans. Cultivating by absorbing human essence is also a cultivation method for demons, but demons with even a little bit of background would not choose this method.
Firstly, they each have their own lineages; secondly, humans are not easy to deal with, and taking too much of their essence would be easily discovered, and even if all their essence were taken away, the person would die and it would be discovered.
I wonder where the woman's vital energy came from?
Then she heard the woman say angrily, "If I hadn't been cleaning up your messes, how could you have reaped the benefits without lifting a finger?"
The mirror seemed to say something, which angered the woman greatly. She opened her mouth and exhaled a cloud of gray smoke, which then disappeared into the mirror.
The woman's body went limp and she fell silent.
At this point, there's no suspense left.
It's highly likely that Ji Zhuang and his son were possessed by this demon, and it was definitely the one that cooperated with the Taoist priest at the Lin family's place before.
Unexpectedly, besides it, there was also a mirror demon.
Unfortunately, they were all inside the mirror, so no sound could be heard coming out.
After watching for a while, the demon still hadn't come out. Bai Xiu ordered the tiles to be put back in their original place and left the Jin Yang Marquis's mansion with A Chan.
The two appeared silently at the street corner. As Achan walked forward with Bai Xiuming, she said, "Do you think the Marquis of Jinyang knows that there are two demons living in his mansion?"
"Although the Marquis of Jinyang has never fought with anyone in recent years, he has still reached the third realm."
The implication was that he must have noticed something.
"That's interesting. The demons in the Marquis of Jinyang's mansion have colluded with the Taoist priests sent by Bai Zhanhuang to the Lin family. It seems the Marquis of Jinyang has quite a few secrets."
Sensing the person beside him stop, Bai Xiuming turned around: "Why did you stop?"
Achan stood still, looking at Bai Xiuming: "Do you think the Xue family knows his secret?"
“Perhaps we can ask her now.” Bai Xiuming reached out his hand to her.
Achan immediately placed her hand on his: "Before you question her, can I talk to her first?"
Bai Xiuming curled his lips and pulled the person to his side: "Of course you can, but after you finish talking to her, the curfew will be over, and I won't be able to take Achan home."
Ah Chan snorted softly, knowing he had ill intentions; he was clearly waiting for her here.
"In that case, I'll go home now." With that, she turned to leave.
Bai Xiuming swept the person back in his arms: "It's too late."
This was Achan's second visit to Zhenyu to see Xue Shi. Several months had passed, and Xue Shi had even gained some weight, but she hadn't seen the sun for a long time, so her face was pale.
She was huddled in the corner of the cell, dressed in prison clothes and wrapped in a tattered blanket. When she heard the cell door open, she looked up blankly.
When she saw that it was Achan, her gaze became focused and she stared intently at the person who walked in.
"Madam Xue, it's been a long time. How are you?" Achan didn't approach, but stood at the prison gate and spoke to Madam Xue.
"What are you doing here?" Her voice was a little hoarse because she hadn't spoken to anyone in a long time.
Ah Chan smiled and said, "I recently heard some good news, and I thought Madam Xue would like to know, so I came to tell you."
Madam Xue looked at her coldly, but unlike when she first came in, she did not react violently, nor did she shout and yell when provoked by Achan.
It seems that these past few months in prison have made her a bit wiser.
Xue's indifference had no effect on Achan, who continued, "A few days ago, the Marquis of Jinyang took a concubine."
Madam Xue showed no reaction on her face, but her hands gripped the tattered quilt tightly.
"I've heard that the young lady is very much favored by the Marquis of Jinyang. On the day she entered the manor, the Marquis even hosted a banquet for his guests. The Marquis is not young anymore, and he has no children. Madam Xue, how long do you think it will take for this young lady to replace you in the Marquis's heart?"
As soon as Achan finished speaking, Xue sneered and said decisively, "No one can replace my position in the Marquis's heart."
Her tone was so certain that it surprised Achan, but she didn't show it, only saying, "Is Madam Xue really that confident?"
She gazed into Madam Xue's eyes: "The Marquis of Jinyang is the kind of person who is most prone to fickleness and aversion to the old. Madam Xue should know this, otherwise how did you become the Marquis's wife?"
Xue seemed to be provoked by Achan's contemptuous tone and blurted out: "Because I saved the Marquis's life, he has never been a fickle person, he only loves me."
"Did Madam Xue develop hysteria from being in prison for so long? When did you save his life?"
“When you were little,” Madam Xue looked at Achan, “I’ve known the Marquis since I was a child. Your mother was the one who came later. The Marquis marrying her was just for show. After you were born, he never even touched that woman.”
Xue looked at the stunned Achan, a gleam of pleasure flashing in her eyes.
She had never told this secret to anyone else, but now she could tell Ji Chan in person.
"When you were a child, in Jiaozhou?"
“Otherwise?” Madam Xue smiled. “The Marquis promised to marry me, and he has never broken his promise.”
"He was only a few years old at the time. Madam Xue actually took his words seriously and thought he would always abide by them. She was so naive that I was amazed."
“I know you can’t accept that the Marquis has never cared about you and your daughter, but that’s the truth.”
Achan clapped her hands: "It's a good story. I hope you can hold onto this story and get through the next few months."
As she turned around, a strange light flashed in Achan's eyes.
Not far from Xue's prison, just around the corner, she saw Bai Xiuming standing there waiting for her.
Achan walked over and said, "Lord Bai, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
"You're done talking so quickly?"
"We've only just started; we haven't continued talking yet."
"Then how did you get out?" Bai Xiuming asked.
You heard what we just said, right?
"Hmm, is there a problem?"
Achan's eyes flickered slightly, her gaze shifting: "There are indeed some problems. Ji Chan's mother and the Marquis of Jinyang actually had a very good relationship for a period of time after their marriage."
Bai Xiuming listened quietly as she continued.
"Later, when their relationship changed, Lin Shi continued to raise Ji Chan with great care and concern. She was worried that Ji Chan would become estranged from the Marquis of Jinyang, and often talked about the Marquis of Jinyang."
"What did you say?"
"When Ji Chan found studying tiring, Lin told her many stories about the Marquis of Jinyang's youth to encourage her."
According to Lin Shi, the Marquis of Jinyang was exceptionally intelligent from a young age, and was quite famous among the sons of noble families in the capital. Later, his talent for cultivation became even more apparent, and few of his peers could compare to him. Even so, he remained extremely diligent, cultivating with the old Marquis of Jinyang every day without ever slacking off, until he was sixteen and about to break through to the second realm before joining the army.
"I remember, the old Marquis of Jinyang was Ji Heng's grandfather?"
“Yes, the Marquis of Jinyang’s biological father died early, so the title was passed directly from the old Marquis of Jinyang to him, bypassing his father,” Achan said.
Bai Xiuming pondered: "I heard that the old Marquis of Jinyang was seriously injured in battle many years ago. After returning to the capital, his health was poor. He passed away the year after his marriage."
Yes, that's true.
Ji Chan wasn't even born yet at that time, so she didn't have any memory of her great-grandfather.
However, the elders in the Marquis's mansion all knew that the Marquis of Jinyang had a very deep relationship with his grandfather.
"Then how did the Marquis of Jinyang, who diligently cultivates every day, end up in Jiaozhou and fall so low that he needs a little girl to save him?" Bai Xiuming easily discerned the flaw in A Chan's words.
Achan's lips curved into a smile.
"Not only that, the fallen Marquis of Jinyang also had to get rid of the people the old Marquis had arranged to protect him, after all, they were the heirs of the Marquis's mansion."
The past of the Marquis of Jinyang and the past as told by Lady Xue both sound reasonable, but when listened to together, a major flaw is revealed.
When Xue was a child, the Marquis of Jinyang should never have appeared in Jiaozhou and had the opportunity to be saved by her.
If she wasn't lying, then there's only one possibility: the person she saved wasn't the Marquis of Jinyang.
But if the person she saved wasn't the Marquis of Jinyang, why was she taken away from Jiaozhou, became the Marquis of Jinyang's mistress, and eventually became the Marquis of Jinyang's wife in that capacity?
Xue's experiences are enough to prove that she was not lying, and that the Marquis of Jinyang was indeed deeply in love with her.
Achan had an absurd guess in her mind.
She looked up at Bai Xiuming: "I bet your people can find out whether the Marquis of Jinyang was injured in Jiaozhou before?"
Bai Xiuming nodded: "That's not difficult."
"In addition, I would like to re-examine whether I am related to the Marquis of Jinyang by blood."
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