Chapter 104 Framed
Wei Zhai was startled: "Jiang Yuerou? The young lady from the third room?"
"Exactly."
Fu Boqian sneered, "Shang divorced her and remarried, and it must be hard for her to live under someone else's roof."
He lowered his voice, making malicious speculations: "And when the Xiefang Garden incident happened a few days ago, she seemed unusually panicked. I'm afraid she knew something, something she shouldn't have known."
"What do you mean, sir?" Wei Zhai's eyes flashed with a fierce light.
"We still have a few hidden agents lurking in the capital who have not yet been exposed."
Fu Boqian's voice was icy. "Tell them to do something to Jiang Yuerou, create some accidents, such as letting her overhear some rumors about Jiang Qingning being scheming and using her to pass on information to harm Wen Ziyi..."
"For example, let her discover some clues that prove Jiang Qingning and Qin Xiu have been colluding for a long time, or even that they are fully aware of Wen Ziyi's identity. We can sow discord between them and make them quarrel with each other."
Fu Boqian sneered, "If we can make Jiang Yuerou feel resentful towards Jiang Qingning, causing chaos within Ning Pavilion, or even making her do something irrational, then that would be a good opportunity for us to fish in troubled waters and deal a fatal blow to Jiang Qingning."
"Killing someone with a borrowed knife?"
Wei Zhai's eyes flashed with satisfaction, "Teacher, what a good plan! Even if I can't kill Jiang Qingning, I will make her suffer from a fire in her backyard and make her unable to sleep or eat. Let her taste the feeling of being betrayed by her loved ones!"
"This matter needs to be done quickly and in secret."
Fu Boqian warned, "We will leave the city through the secret passage at midnight tonight. The road to the south of the Yangtze River is extremely dangerous. Whether we can reach it depends on God's will."
That night, it was just after midnight.
In the backyard of Yuelai Inn, in a cramped corner where miscellaneous items were piled up, a seemingly ordinary bluestone slab was silently moved away.
Wei Zhai and Fu Boqian appeared one after another and went in. The cave entrance closed quietly behind them, as if it had never been opened.
Shortly after they disappeared, several ghostly black shadows landed silently on the roof of the inn.
The leader's eyes swept across the quiet backyard of the inn, finally landing on the pile of debris, his brows furrowed tightly.
"Sir," one of the men whispered, "the breath completely stops here, as if it vanished into thin air."
The young man squatted down, brushing his fingertips over the tiny marks on the ground. He then moved closer to the pile of debris and sniffed carefully. His face was solemn. "There's a smell of earth and a very faint smell of saltpeter. It's a secret passage. They've escaped!"
He stood up suddenly and said, "Send a message to the Lord immediately. The target has escaped through a secret passage and his direction is unknown. Please order the closure of all water and land checkpoints out of the capital, especially those leading to Jiangnan."
There was a cold light flashing in his eyes. The lord was indeed as foresighted as a god. Fu Boqian really had an unknown escape route.
The news spread back to Duke Qin's mansion as fast as wings.
Qin Xiu did not rest. The lights in the study were on brightly. After receiving the secret report, there was no surprise on his face, but the coldness in his eyes deepened.
He walked to the huge map and pointed his finger heavily at the vast waters of Jiangnan Road.
"Yunze Water Village."
He whispered to himself, his voice filled with murderous intent.
It seems that the old fox Fu Boqian wants to lie dormant in Yunze Water Fort, which is densely covered with water networks and easy to defend but difficult to attack.
"Send an order."
Qin Xiu turned around and said in a firm voice, "Send a pigeon to the Jiangnan Province Censorate and the Navy Commander-in-Chief's Office to strictly seal off all passages in and out of Yunze waters."
"Order our spies in Jiangnan to investigate Yunze Water Stronghold at all costs, especially any possible connection between it and Fu Boqian and Wei Zhai. Anyone who shows any signs of aggression will be killed without mercy."
"Additional personnel will be dispatched to closely monitor all possible contacts in the capital, especially those left behind by the previous dynasty. It is better to kill the innocent than to let them go."
"Yes!" Qing Ming looked serious.
Orders were issued one after another in the darkness of the night, and the invisible net enveloped the fleeing prey at an even faster speed.
Qin Xiu's gaze turned towards the next door.
The house was silent in the night.
Qin Xiu walked to the door of Jiang Qingning's room, raised his knuckles, but stopped at the moment of knocking, staring silently at the window frame.
Ning Pavilion, the west wing courtyard.
"…Have you heard about that incident at Xiefang Garden? It was really weird."
"That's right. They say that the captured female assassin is a spy from the enemy country. Tsk tsk, you can only judge a person by his appearance."
"Alas, if you ask me, the most pitiful one is Miss Wen from our mansion. She disappeared without a trace for no apparent reason."
"Shh, keep your voice down. I'm telling you, this might be related to our eldest daughter!"
"Ah? No way?"
"Why not? Think about it, Miss Wen was taken in by the eldest lady out of kindness, but she has to live in our Ning Pavilion!"
"Why did that enemy spy come here not earlier or later, but right after Miss Wen moved in? He stole such an important map, and in Xiefang Garden? I heard that Lord Qin is very close to our eldest lady. The news about Xiefang Garden might be..."
The old woman's remaining words were blown away by the wind, but Jiang Yuerou only felt a chill rushing from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.
They are hinting at something.
This implies that Jiang Qingning may have known Wen Ziyi's identity for a long time.
At this moment, the cautious voice of the maid came from outside the door: "Miss, are you asleep? I just found something at the bottom of your makeup box."
Jiang Yuerou's heart was pounding. She threw off the quilt and got out of bed, then ran to the door and opened it.
The maid's face turned pale, and she held a folded piece of plain paper in her hand.
"What is this?" Jiang Yuerou unfolded it.
There were a few lines of unfamiliar handwriting on it, but the content was like a bolt of lightning to her.
Jiang Yuerou's hands began to tremble violently, and she could hardly hold the paper. Who on earth had sent this thing to her?
She let out a suppressed scream, crumpled the paper in her hand into a ball, and a cruel look appeared in her eyes.
The person behind this was so vicious that he even wanted to sow discord between her and her elder sister.
"How can this be? Come on, follow me to find my big sister!"
Jiang Yuerou's knuckles turned slightly white as she pinched the paper. She quickly put on her shoes, opened the door, and ran towards Jiang Qingning's main courtyard, her anxiety evident in her eyes.
"Miss, please put on a cloak before you go, Miss!"
The maid quickly picked up the cloak from the hanger and quickly chased after him.
Main courtyard.
As soon as Jiang Qingning opened the door of the study, he saw a white figure appear in front of him. In a trance, he thought that it was Wen Ziyi who came to claim his life after his death.
"Big sister, someone is trying to frame you and me!"
Jiang Qingning's heart sank back to reality the moment he saw that it was Jiang Yuerou, but was immediately lifted up again by her words and the ball of paper tightly clenched in her hand.
Her face remained calm, with just the right amount of surprise and concern.
"It's late at night and the dew is heavy. Why are you rushing here in such a hurry? Come in quickly. What kind of frame-up are you talking about?"
Jiang Qingning spoke in a soft voice. He took two steps forward and naturally raised his hand to brush away her hair that was messed up from running.
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