Chapter 103 Escape
Just then.
In the silent night, there was an extremely slight but unusually clear knocking sound outside the door.
"Knock, knock."
Jiang Qingning's heart skipped a beat without warning.
She slowly put down the teacup, stood up and walked to the wall.
From the other side of the wall came Qin Xiu's low and slightly hoarse voice.
The lies he told through the hazy eyes seemed a little blurry, but they reached her ears clearly:
"It's settled now. Lin Heng is in prison, his confession has been recorded, Wen Ziyi's identity has been confirmed, and she has implicated Wei Zhai and Fu Boqian. The arrest warrant has been issued. Your Majesty has appointed me to handle this case."
Qin Xiu spoke concisely and explained the results and changes in the situation.
Jiang Qingning was silent for a moment, raised his hand, touched his fingertips on the cold wall, and responded: "Okay, I understand."
There was silence on the other side of the wall for a moment, and then the deep voice came again: "Ning Pavilion, please pay attention these days."
Jiang Qingning lowered her eyes, knowing that he was reminding her.
Wei Zhai and Fu Boqian were like stray dogs, being bitten by Wen Ziyi.
She was afraid that the dog would become desperate and develop crazy thoughts of revenge against Ning Ge, especially her as the one who took him in.
"Don't worry, I understand." Jiang Qingning nodded and answered softly.
"I'm bothering you so late at night. Go to bed early."
After Qin Xiu said this, the figure reflected in the window disappeared.
Jiang Qingning paused. No more sound came from the other side of the wall, as if the conversation just now was just an illusion caused by a nightmare in the middle of the night.
Jiang Qingning still stood by the wall, his fingertips resting on the cold surface.
The moonlight filtered through the window lattice, casting flickering shadows on her cold profile.
She knew that the real storm had just begun.
And just now, the secret between her and Qin Xiu bound them together for the rest of their lives.
The next day, the atmosphere in the capital was like a taut bowstring.
The news that Lin Heng was imprisoned, the Duke of Fengguo's mansion closed its doors to visitors, and the crown prince claimed to be ill and did not attend court, rolled like silent thunder in the undercurrent.
The discussions on the streets and alleys were suppressed by an invisible force, revealing a sense of impending storm.
Room No. 1 at Yuelai Inn.
Wei Zhai stood by the window, watching the street below vigilantly through a tiny crack.
His face was pale, with dark circles under his eyes and his lips were bloodless. He seemed to have lost a lot of weight in just a few days.
Fu Boqian sat at the table, seemingly resting with his eyes closed, but his wrinkled face was pale.
"gentlemen……"
Wei Zhai's voice was dry and hoarse, filled with a sense of despair and despair. "Did Ziyi really confess and give us all away?"
He still couldn't believe that the gentle and lovely Wen Ziyi who had been with him for many years would actually be the eldest princess of Beidi.
Fu Boqian slowly opened his eyes, and in his cloudy old eyes was a bottomless fatigue.
"Zhai'er, at this point, does it really matter whether she recruits or not?"
His voice was old and hoarse. "Since Qin Xiu dared to name us in public and has already issued arrest warrants, it means he already knows, or has already determined, our identities."
"Wen Ziyi's identity only gave him a more legitimate excuse to make the emperor make up his mind. It's only a matter of time before she falls into Qin Xiu's hands and is tortured into confessing."
He paused, his tone carrying a barely perceptible sadness. "Perhaps she was in extreme pain, and Qin Xiu tricked her into revealing something. But regardless, Qin Xiu's goal has been achieved."
"What you should be more concerned about is why Wen Ziyi knows so much about us?"
Fu Boqian's eyes were cold. "Wen Ziyi is the eldest princess of Beidi after all. She has been lurking beside you for many years, pretending to be a peasant girl. That's because she discovered your identity and wanted to take the opportunity to come to the capital to complete her mission and return to Beidi."
"It seems that Wen Ziyi has been taking advantage of you from the beginning to the end."
Wei Zhai slammed his fist on the window frame, not even noticing the wood chips piercing his skin. His eyes were filled with crazy hatred.
"It's all Qin Xiu and Jiang Qingning's fault. They set this up. It must have been that bitch Jiang Qingning. She knew our identities a long time ago and deliberately led Ziyi into the trap. She's the one who harmed Ziyi, and she's the one who harmed us!"
"Saying this now won't help!"
Fu Boqian's voice suddenly became stern, filled with a kind of cruelty that was forced out by being on the verge of despair.
"The most urgent thing is to survive! Qin Xiu's net has been spread, and the capital must be full of spies inside and outside. We must leave as soon as possible!"
"Leave? Where can I go?" Wei Zhai leaned against the wall dejectedly.
"The world is so vast, where is there any place for us to stay? The previous dynasty has long since vanished into thin air, and Qin Xiu has forced his former subordinates to scatter like monkeys when the tree falls in just a few days."
The huge sense of failure and despair almost swallowed Wei Zhai.
Fu Boqian opened the lid of the box in front of him with trembling fingers. Inside was a piece of old yellowed silk cloth and a small bronze token carved with strange cloud patterns.
"There is always a way out."
Fu Boqian's voice was extremely low, filled with desperate madness, "This was the last escape route your father left behind. Although his old subordinates have dispersed, the centipede is still alive."
"Let's go to Jiangnan. There are still your father's old party there. It was a force that Your Highness secretly supported. They were nominally pirates, but in reality, they were a nail we had planted."
"The village chief owes your father a huge favor, and many of the people in the village are survivors who still cherish the memory of the previous dynasty. This token and secret letter are tokens of trust.
As long as we can reach Jiangnan alive and sneak into Yunze, there is still a glimmer of hope. As long as we don't die, there will always be a day when we can make a comeback! "
He solemnly stuffed the old silk cloth and bronze token into Wei Zhai's hands.
Wei Zhai looked down at the thing in his hand, as if grabbing the last straw. The despair in his eyes was replaced by the desire to survive and the flames of revenge.
"Okay, let's go to Jiangnan!"
Wei Zhai gritted his teeth and clenched the token and silk cloth tightly in his palm, his knuckles turning white. "But sir, before you leave..."
He suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot and boiling with murderous intent, "Jiang Qingning! I, Wei Zhai, will not be a human being until I have avenged this. If she hadn't taken me in and spied on me, if she hadn't colluded with Qin Xiu to set up this trap, Ziyi wouldn't have fallen into Qin Xiu's hands, and we wouldn't have ended up in this situation. I want her dead!"
Fu Boqian looked at the madness in his eyes that almost made him lose his mind, and sighed in his heart that hatred had clouded his mind.
Assassinating Jiang Qingning at this moment is like a moth flying into a flame and walking into a trap.
But if Wei Zhai was not allowed to vent this overwhelming hatred, he might not be able to survive until he reached Jiangnan.
A hint of sinister calculation flashed across the old fox's turbid eyes.
He pondered for a moment and said slowly, "Zhai'er, Jiang Qingning must have Qin Xiu's secret guards around her. Attacking Ning Pavilion by force is tantamount to committing suicide. But isn't her cousin Jiang Yuerou living in Ning Pavilion now?"
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