008

The days passed peacefully and Song Jin did not go to see Cui Huaiji again.

The Song family's business is huge, and Song Qin alone cannot handle it, so she stepped forward on her own initiative to take on the job, thinking that since Xu Nanheng had left Meng Shu to her, she might as well let him come and help.

It was not easy to check the accounts in the shop, so she asked Meng Shu to bring a low table to the yard and check the accounts under the shade of a tree.

After a whole morning, Song Jin's waist and eyes were sore, so he thought about taking a break before watching again.

"Madam." Meng Shu came in with a letter, "Here is a letter from His Highness."

Qing Wu, who was checking accounts at the side, narrowed his eyes and leaned over, "Seventh Prince?"

"A letter from His Highness?" Song Jin opened the letter and found only a simple sentence inside.

Seen at the bamboo pavilion outside the city at the hour of You.

She looked through it carefully and indeed only saw one sentence, "Meng Shu, are you sure this is a letter from His Highness?"

Judging from the handwriting, it is Xu Nanheng's, but why did he ask to meet outside the city, and at the hour of You, when it would be almost dark outside the city?

Meng Shu couldn't explain it. No one else knew the way Xu Nanheng sent him the message, and the handwriting also matched. The only thing was the content of the message, which was not something a guard like him could question.

"It's a letter from His Highness." He was certain.

Song Jin was still puzzled, "Do you know where the prince went?"

Meng Shu was silent and looked at her, "Your Highness never told me."

She didn't believe this. As Xu Nanheng's confidant, why wouldn't she tell him her whereabouts?

It seems that he is deliberately guarding against her.

"Okay." She folded the letter and put it in the bag without touching it. She handed it to Qing Wu with a serious expression. "Qing Wu, take it and burn it."

Meng Shu moved his lips but didn't ask anything. His eyes were fixed on the letter in Qing Wu's hand.

*

At the hour of You, Song Jin got on a carriage and headed out of the city. Cui Huaiji, who had just returned from outside, happened to see this scene. Seeing Meng Shu beside her, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"What's going on with the Seventh Prince recently?"

Shi An: "No, I've been pretty well behaved lately."

Back at Song Jin's side, the carriage arrived at the agreed bamboo pavilion.

Dusk was setting in the west, a dark color gently suppressed the sunset glow, and the light in the sky was slowly being swallowed up.

Song Jin stood in the bamboo pavilion, looking around, and finally looked at Meng Shu, "Where is His Highness?"

Meng Shu was silent, and Qing Wu on the side spoke first in dissatisfaction: "Didn't the Seventh Prince make an appointment with my wife? Now it's almost past the hour of You and there's no sign of him. Is he teasing my wife?"

He didn't know what the situation was now, and Xu Nanheng didn't convey any other message.

Suddenly, there was a movement in the bamboo forest, and soon a large number of men in black rushed out.

Qing Wu immediately protected her.

She looked at the imposing man in black, a barely perceptible curve appeared at the corner of her lips, and then she panicked and ran away in panic under Meng Shu's protection.

The man in black had a clear goal. He sent someone to restrain him and then immediately rushed over to arrest him.

Song Jin had already noticed that there was something wrong with the letter and had made sufficient preparations in advance. The guards lurking in the dark were waiting to rush out and capture them as soon as she spoke.

Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, another group of people suddenly appeared and surrounded the men in black, and the leader was none other than Shi An.

[What's the matter? Why is he here? If he is here, then the Marquis is here too? ]

The next second, Cui Huaiji's voice appeared in my ears.

"Miss Song."

She was startled, and immediately concealed her doubts, and said excitedly: "Mr. Hou!"

[It’s good to have them here. The show can only go on if more people are present. ]

Drama?

Cui Huaiji glanced at her from the side, and noticed her calmness despite her panic, and raised the corners of his eyebrows slightly.

[Today's performance was directed and performed by the little fox slave himself?]

Song Jin looked at him suddenly, her palms clenched and unclenched, she took a deep breath, "Thank you again for saving my life today. I originally came to see His Highness, but I don't know how I rushed out to see these men in black."

Cui Huaiji looked at her leisurely and patiently accompanied her in the performance. "Really? Why don't you see the Seventh Prince?"

All the men in black have been captured. Meng Fan fell silent after hearing this.

The letter was not false, and the assassin was not false either. Could it be that His Highness really wanted to kill Miss Song?

Cui Huaiji glanced at him with a puzzled look, and his gloomy face lightened up a little, "Shi An, take everyone back."

"yes."

*

Song Qin was still outside taking care of the shop's affairs when a servant from the mansion suddenly came over in a panic and told him what had happened in the bamboo pavilion. He immediately dropped the work in his hands and ran back.

In the courtyard, Shi An escorted a man in black and winked at the servants beside him to bring a chair over for Cui Huaiji. He was not polite and sat down in front of everyone. He raised his eyelids and glanced at Song Jin, who looked sad, with a smile on his face.

As soon as Song Tan stepped into the yard, he noticed that the atmosphere was not right. "What's going on?"

Cui Huaiji raised his chin towards the black-clothed man in front of him and said, "Mr. Song, someone wanted to kill Miss Song. I happened to see them and captured them."

Song Tan became nervous when he heard about the assassination. He was relieved when he confirmed that his daughter was not injured. He frowned and asked, "Jinjin, tell me, what happened?"

Song Jin seemed to have suffered a great injustice, and his eyes were red from crying. "Father, His Highness asked me to meet him at the bamboo pavilion outside the city at twilight hour. I went there happily, but I met an assassin. The Marquis just interrogated them, and they said it was His Highness's will."

"Father, I don't know why His Highness treats me like this. I was fine before he left..."

She sobbed softly, her red eyes looking adorable.

Song Qin quickly sorted out the incident and looked at the silent Meng Shu. He knew that Meng Shu was Xu Nanheng's man.

"Lord Meng, I just want to ask, is the letter written by the Seventh Prince?"

Meng Fu looked at him and nodded slowly.

"The letter is true. What happened today was either the Seventh Prince's intention, or someone framed the Seventh Prince. No matter which one it is, I hope the Seventh Prince will give me an explanation. If he can't protect Jin Jin, I will cancel the marriage even if I risk my life!"

Song Qin had already thought about canceling the engagement. Sheng An was a mixed bag of people, and he was really worried about marrying Song Jin into the royal family. After this incident, he became even more determined to cancel the engagement.

Meng Shu opened his mouth. He was right after all. He naturally trusted His Highness, but now all the evidence pointed to His Highness. He was speechless and wanted to interrogate the man in black again, but the man in black would not do as he wished.

"Well!"

The man in black showed a look of pain on his face, and suddenly spat out a mouthful of dirty blood, and completely stopped breathing.

Shi An reached out his hand to smell his breath and shook his head.

This person must have taken poison in advance.

This time Meng Shu really couldn't explain it clearly. His gloomy personality also made it impossible for him to say anything. He could only deny dryly that it was not Xu Nanheng who did it.

Song Jin hid behind Song Tan and shed tears. He glanced at the person in the armchair without leaving a trace and rolled his eyes.

[Without evidence, it is convenient for me to act, but it is not enough, I need something more drastic. ]

Cui Huaiji turned his gaze nonchalantly, raised his eyebrows slightly, and looked at her, "Miss Song, do you have anything else to say?"

Song Jin concealed the gleam in his eyes, wiped his eyes, walked forward, and knelt in front of him.

"Please make the decision for me, Lord. Regardless of whether the assassination today was ordered by Your Highness, my life has been threatened. The emperor has granted me a marriage, and everyone in the world knows that I am the fiancée of the seventh prince, but I have been assassinated repeatedly."

"This is not only harmful to me, but also to the reputation of the royal family. Song Jin knows that she is not worthy of the Seventh Prince, and she does not want to live on thin ice in the future. Please bring Song Jin into the palace and cancel this marriage!"

[With the Marquis as a witness, even if the assassination was not done by Xu Nanheng, it is a fact that my life was in danger, and there should be no flaws in these words.]

She spoke with genuine emotion, as if she had really been traumatized by the multiple assassination attempts and was extremely disappointed with this marriage.

But Cui Huaiji listened to her thoughts and said, "What a wonderful play, she even included him in the plot."

His eyes became deep and indifferent. He pinched her chin and looked carefully at this tearful face. It was really pitiful to see her.

He brushed away the loose hair in front of his forehead. Shul chuckled and pulled his hand back. "I have agreed to this matter."

[Little fox slave, this time you jumped into my palm yourself, you can’t blame me.]

What does it mean?

Song Jin didn't understand, and then he heard him speak softly above him: "This Marquis can take you into the palace, but there is one condition. When you arrive in Sheng'an, Miss Song must live in the Marquis's mansion and obey my orders. How is that?"

[There is a price to pay for plotting against me, little fox slave.]

Everyone present was shocked. Song Tan stood up and tried to refuse: "Mr. Hou——"

Cui Huaiji's eyes suddenly turned cold and he glanced away, interrupting him abruptly.

"I'm asking about Miss Song."

Song Jin glanced at Song Qin who was hesitant to speak, and grasped the corner of his clothes.

[Ah, I've brought disaster upon myself, haven't I? ]

Things had come to this point, and she couldn't give up halfway, so she closed her eyes and said, "Okay."

[It's just being obedient, and living with the Marquis. There's nothing wrong with that.]

She tried to convince herself.

"Okay!" Cui Huaiji helped her up, ignoring the surprised and puzzled looks of others, "Then I will return to Sheng'an in a few days after I finish the things on hand."

[Very good, I finally have a reason to bring the little fox slave back in a legitimate way.]

[It seems that the Marquis's Mansion does not have the things needed for the young lady's living. Ask someone to prepare them in advance on a chosen day. We cannot let the little fox slave live in discomfort.]

[Oh, and also, the butler has to keep an eye on the snipe slaves in the mansion. Don’t scare the little snipe slaves away as soon as you get here. And…]

She listened to his mumbling plans, the corners of her mouth twitched, not knowing how to feel.

Well, it seems that it is not as bad as she thought.

*

That night, Qingwu cut the candle wicks in the outer room and turned around and walked into the inner room.

Song Jin was wearing a light pink nightgown, leaning against a low table, staring at the scene outside the window.

"Madam, do you really want to live with the Marquis?"

She turned her head to see Qing Wu's expression of sympathy for her, and couldn't help but laugh, "What's wrong? You look unhappy."

"How can I be happy?" Qing Wu sat down opposite the low table. "My wife told me earlier that she wanted to use this incident to cancel the engagement, but she didn't say she wanted to get herself involved!"

The separation between men and women is still a taboo. If a young lady like Song Jin were to live with a strange man, it would be very bad for her reputation if the news got out.

Qing Wu was worried about her reputation.

At first, Song Jin felt that it was not a good idea to suddenly live with Cui Huaiji, but after listening to his thoughts, she inexplicably relaxed a little. At least, Cui Huaiji was sincere about her moving in and cared about her and would not let her down.

She was the one who plotted against him first, so she only lost some reputation, which was much better than borrowing the title of Marquis Quling.

After all, the title of Marquis of Quling cannot be borrowed just by saying so.

"Okay, we're asking for help. We're going to Sheng'an in a few days, so we have to make some plans."

Qing Wu suddenly thought of something and frowned, "Lord Meng said that the Seventh Prince will be back in the next few days. I guess he wants to explain this matter to my wife."

Song Jin's eyebrows did not move. "When he comes back, I will not be in Qingzhou anymore."