After reaching an agreement, the two began planning to sneak into the Wu residence at night.
Night falls.
After finishing their dinner, Lu Qiqi and Song Yanqing rode out of the military camp.
It was already curfew time, and the streets of the border town were deserted.
Only a few dim candlelight shone through the windows.
Lu Qiqi and Song Yanqing rode their horses along the street, but did not gallop forward, so as not to cause panic among the people of the border town.
The horses' hooves clattered on the street, making a rhythmic, uneven sound.
Looking at the tightly closed gates on the street, Lu Qiqi said calmly, "My family and I fled the famine and settled down in Luzhou Prefecture."
Qingshui Town is just a small town, and there are merchants doing business every night. The curfew is at 9 PM.
But in this vast border town, one cannot move around while the sun is still setting.
When will this end?
Song Yanqing stood tall and looked straight ahead, gazing at the streets he had run through as a child.
When the late emperor was still alive, this street was the most bustling place. At that time, the prosperity of trade between the three kingdoms could not even be compared with the capital city of Xinjing.
Back then, the city gates were locked every night.
Merchants from the Three Kingdoms period gathered here to discuss business.
Head镖师 Hang has a large number of goods to escort every day.
The nearby shops, inns, restaurants, and even gambling dens were all open until dawn, and it was once called "Little Night City" by merchants during the Three Kingdoms period.
But a year ago, the city fell, and many people died in that war.
The former glory is long gone, resulting in the current desolate state of the streets.
Lu Qiqi sighed casually, which was also what Song Yanqing was looking forward to. He said, "That day will come soon."
He firmly believed it.
Turning her head to look at Song Yanqing's profile, Lu Qiqi thought to herself, 'I also believe that day will come soon.'
I believe you.
Not far from the Wu residence, the two dismounted, and Lu Qiqi immediately stored the two horses in her spatial storage.
The Wu residence is a general's mansion, and the servants in the mansion were all personally selected by Wu Guangping, and they all possessed martial arts skills.
In order not to disturb the servants of the Wu family, Lu Qiqi took Song Yanqing directly to the walled courtyard closest to Lu Xiangxiang's.
Song Yanqing was highly skilled in martial arts, so it was no problem for him to help Lu Qiqi scale the wall and enter the courtyard.
The two landed together inside the Wu residence.
Following the direction she remembered, Lu Qiqi passed through the west courtyard and arrived at Lu Xiangxiang's courtyard.
It is now the hour of Hai (9-11 PM), and Lu Xiangxiang's courtyard is still brightly lit.
When Lu Qiqi was treating Lu Xiangxiang's illness, she asked about her diet and daily routine.
Although Lu Xiangxiang grew up in the north, she was taken to the water towns of Jiangnan by a merchant and lived there for a while. However, she could no longer bear the cold of the north.
Moreover, the border town is the northernmost and coldest place in the Great Jin Dynasty.
Lu Xiangxiang's health also deteriorated significantly. She could no longer sit still at the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), not to mention that the courtyard was still brightly lit at the hour of Hai (9-11 PM).
Such an unusual occurrence must be strange.
Thinking of this, Lu Qiqi whispered, "Let's go to the roof to check the situation."
The two leaped onto the roof and fell into the sights of the Shadow Guards.
Upon learning of their arrival, the Shadow Guards sent men to approach them.
The three of them lay on the roof of Lu Xiangxiang's courtyard, and the Shadow Guard reported to Song Yanqing, "Reporting to the Prince, everything in the courtyard is normal, and we have not found anything unusual."
Lu Qiqi thought that since she had a spatial ability and had now entered the Wu family mansion, it wouldn't be difficult for her to infiltrate Lu Xiangxiang's courtyard.
When she thought of Aunt Ning beating Madam Wu in the west courtyard today, the entire Wu household acted as if nothing had happened.
The mystery surrounding it is self-evident.
She said, "We still need to investigate Ning's identity. I am enough here. You can come and help me after you have finished dealing with your important matters."
Song Yanqing hadn't planned to stay here for long. He met Lu Qiqi's gaze and said softly, "This matter is complicated. I'll leave two Shadow Guards for you."
Lu Qiqi instinctively wanted to refuse, but then she thought that if they were to take Lu Xiangxiang and her child away tonight, leaving two Shadow Guards behind would provide an extra layer of protection.
Therefore, they did not refuse.
Before leaving, Song Yanqing overheard Lu Qiqi's words of advice: "Be careful in everything you do."
"good."
After Song Yanqing left with the other Shadow Guards, Lu Qiqi waited on the roof for half an hour until the candlelight in the courtyard went out.
After the candlelight went out, Lu Qiqi decided not to wait any longer.
She went alone to the roof of Lu Xiangxiang's bedroom.
They tiptoed and lifted a tile from the roof, extinguishing the candlelight and plunging the room into darkness.
From the angle from which Lu Qiqi lay on the roof, she could see the couch where Xiangling was sleeping.
A tall woman lay under the thin blanket. Since she couldn't stretch her legs out on the couch, she moved a round stool over her feet.
Lu Qiqi didn't even need to see the woman's face under the thin quilt to know that the person sleeping on the couch was not Lu Xiangxiang's maid, Xiangling.
Judging from this, something must have happened to Lu Xiangxiang.
Otherwise, given her cautious nature, she would never have sent her trusted confidante, Xiangling, away.
Instead, a person with an unseemly sleeping posture, who didn't even notice that most of the blanket had fallen to the ground, was left on night watch.
Thinking of this, Lu Qiqi directly used a sleeping incense to knock out the person sleeping on the bed.
Quickly entering the room from the roof, Lu Qiqi lifted the gauze curtain beside the bed and placed the handkerchief under Lu Xiangxiang's nose.
A moment later, Lu Xiangxiang regained consciousness.
She had been quite frightened by Aunt Ning these past few days, and now that she suddenly saw someone sitting by the bed, she feared that Aunt Ning had sent someone to snatch the child, so she instinctively wanted to protect Xiao Lingyue beside her.
Seeing that she was awake, Lu Qiqi whispered, "It's me, Auntie, Qiqi."
After saying that, she asked again, "Who is the person on the bed outside? Why isn't it Xiangling keeping watch?"
What exactly happened to my aunt?
Hearing Lu Qiqi's voice, Lu Xiangxiang felt a little more at ease.
But the fear and grievances that had been building up in my heart for days suddenly surged forth like a raging storm when I saw my family.
It was as if I had developed tear incontinence; tears kept falling uncontrollably.
Lu Qiqi wanted to take a handkerchief to wipe away her tears, but her hand, which she had just raised, was suddenly grabbed.
In the darkness, Lu Xiangxiang cried with tears streaming down her face, but she still pinched her thumb hard to suppress her fear and stand up to tell Lu Qiqi what she had discovered.
She grasped Lu Qiqi's hands with both of hers, her voice trembling with sobs, "Qiqi, save Yue'er. Aunt Ning is trying to take her away from me."
"And... Aunt Ning bought me and took me to Jiangnan. She also ordered people to send the women in the brothel to the border town and into the homes of local gentry, wealthy people, and high-ranking officials."
"And...and another thing, Aunt Ning took wealthy ladies from the border town to do business, swindled a lot of money, and gave it all away from the mansion."
Every single thing Lu Xiangxiang revealed was a bombshell.
Although her speech was incoherent, she made no ambiguity about the important points.
Finally, Lu Xiangxiang tightly grasped Lu Qiqi's hand and said, word by word, "Aunt Ning is not of our kind, she is..."
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