Chapter 98: Raising an Army to Punish the Crime
The next morning, Ling Feng came to report a piece of news to Jiang Lan.
Ji Quan took people from the Imperial City Bureau to the General's Mansion. For some unknown reason, a conflict arose, and Cui Yan was taken away directly.
Jiang Lan was a little surprised and checked again, "Is it Mr. Cui, not Miss Cui?" After all, the rouge was given by Cui Jingshu, so if anyone was to be arrested for questioning, she should be the one. Could it be that Cui Yan stepped forward and shouted, "I'll go with you," and then was taken away...
Ling Feng nodded in confirmation. It was indeed Cui Yan who was taken away. He then reported another piece of news, "General Cui has already gone to the palace."
Jiang Lan didn't know if Ji Quan was deliberately looking for trouble or was just putting on a show for someone...
The General's Mansion has a close relationship with the Crown Prince, and Ji Quan was favored by King Rui, which is why he holds the position of Inspector General. It's not impossible that he's deliberately making things difficult for the General's Mansion in order to curry favor with King Rui...
While she was thinking, Butler Shi came over to report that Princess Pingyang had arrived.
Jiang Lan was a little surprised again, thinking that shouldn't the other party go to the Queen for support? Why did he come to her?
She had a feeling that someone was going to come and hold her accountable...
Sure enough, when she came to the hall to meet the guests, she saw Princess Pingyang with a cold face, and she knew that her premonition was right.
Princess Pingyang sat in the main seat, as if she was the owner of the mansion, and Jiang Lan was just a maid who came to talk to her.
Others had to answer whatever she asked, and no disobedience was tolerated.
When Jiang Lan saluted her, Princess Pingyang just glanced at her without any courtesy, with an arrogant and indifferent attitude.
Jiang Lan knew from whom Cui Yan inherited his cold and arrogant nature. Before she even sat down, Princess Pingyang questioned her, "Did you tell the people in the Imperial City Bureau that Shu'er had harmed the girls from the Zhou and Zhao families?"
"Princess, you misunderstood. I never said such a thing." Jiang Lan replied calmly, and then sat down on the chair.
Princess Pingyang asked back, "Didn't you say that the rouge was given by Shu'er, and that there was something tampered with in it?"
Jiang Lan knew that the other party was convinced that she was the one "spreading rumors" behind her back. No matter how much she explained, it would be a waste of words. She might as well take this opportunity to test her. "I heard from the Second Miss that the rouge needs to be ordered in advance from the store. They only make ten boxes a month, and even if you have money, you may not be able to buy it."
"I advise you to mind your own business and stop saying things you shouldn't say," Princess Pingyang narrowed her eyes and said in a sharp tone, "Then keep your mouth shut."
Leaving this warning behind, Princess Pingyang stood up and left. As she passed Jiang Lan, she paused and sneered, "Your master is a frivolous one. Don't learn to be as reckless as him."
Jiang Lan responded with a smile, showing a magnanimity of "I listen to whatever you say but I won't take it to heart."
Sometimes a smile is more effective than anger, making the other person feel powerless, as if they were punching cotton.
Seeing that she was smiling and seemed quite happy, Princess Pingyang rolled her eyes coldly and walked away without looking back, as if she was pretending to be stupid.
After sending the princess away, Jiang Lan cursed Ji Quan in a low voice, "bastard." This "bastard" was directed at Ji Quan. She knew that he must have sold her out at the General's Mansion and added some incendiary words, hoping to play the snipe and the clam into a quarrel so that Prince Rui, the fisherman, could benefit...
Although Qi Wuhan never said which side he stood on, she felt that he should support the prince. The General's Mansion had a close relationship with the prince, so they naturally stood on the prince's side. To the prince, both sides were his own people, and he certainly did not want a conflict between the two sides.
But it is impossible for her and Cui Jingshu to make peace. At most, they can keep out of each other's way for the sake of the overall situation. But this time the other party wants to ruin her face again. She must get to the bottom of the matter and will not give the other party a third chance to harm her.
Jiang Lan asked Ling Feng to keep a close eye on the movements at Ningzhi Pavilion. There was already a commotion at the General's Mansion. If Yanzhi had really tampered with the store, the person who did it should be thinking of retreating now. Otherwise, staying in the store would only mean waiting for death. Who would be found first by the people from the General's Mansion or the people from the Imperial City Bureau?
On the other side, Cui Hai entered the palace to meet the emperor, and then left the palace with the prince and went to the Imperial City Office.
When Ling Feng reported the news to Jiang Lan, she was teaching Yuanbao new words. She was not too surprised to learn that the prince had personally gone to the Imperial City to bring Cui Yan back.
She had thought of this possibility before, that the prince would come forward to rescue people, but in this possibility she imagined, King Rui would come forward to stop it, making the rescue more difficult.
Although King Rui did not show up, she felt that there must be some conspiracy behind this.
In the afternoon, Ji Quan came again, this time alone.
Jiang Lan asked someone to close the door and not let him in.
Ji Quan wandered around outside the door for a while, and left when he saw that the door was not opened.
After learning that the person had left, Jiang Lan continued to embroider in the house.
In winter, the days are short and the nights are long, so it gets dark early. Jiang Lan felt like she hadn't been embroidering for long when the lights in the room came on. Qing'er brought the lights over and told her to embroider again tomorrow, careful not to hurt her eyes. Jiang Lan said it was okay, as she was almost done with the wings. She continued embroidering for a while, and finally finished one wing.
Gui'er and Lu'er brought dinner over, and the two maids, Cui'er and Xiaohong, went home.
Before getting married, Jiang Lan asked the three of them what they thought. If they wanted to go home, she would return their deeds and give them some money to support themselves. Cui'er said that she didn't remember where her home was. She was sold when she was very young and even forgot what her parents looked like. So Jiang Lan kept her.
Cui'er and Xiaohong were hesitant, wanting to go home but also wanting to stay. After a night of whispering, they still wanted to go home. Jiang Lan then returned the indentures to them and told them to let her know if they got married in the future. She would also give them red envelopes to share in the good fortune.
After dinner, Jiang Lan began embroidering another wing. Qing'er came over to trim the wick a little. With a hissing sound, Jiang Lan put her index finger to her lips and sipped it. Qing'er hurriedly asked if she was okay. Gui'er also rushed over. She said she was fine, but then sighed that embroidery was really difficult...
"I've been embroidering these wings for almost a month. I don't know how the embroiderer can create such beautiful flowers, birds, fish and insects. They look just like the real thing~"
Jiang Lan sighed, and Qing'er and Gui'er both praised her embroidery, saying it was beautiful and looked just like the real thing.
"Is it really beautiful?" Jiang Lan held up the embroidery frame and looked at the wings she had embroidered from a distance and up close, but she always felt that something was wrong.
Qing'er and Gui'er both nodded and said it was beautiful. She stopped questioning her embroidery skills and looked at the wings with even more appreciation. The more she looked at them, the more she found them to be worthwhile.
"Yeah, not bad~"
Qing'er and Gui'er looked at each other, their eyes seemed to say, "It's not easy for Miss to embroider like this, she deserves encouragement."
As the night deepened, the cold air gathered and the air was so cold that it seemed frozen like ice. There was no one on the street and all the shops were closed.
The lights were still on in the innermost room on the second floor of Ningzhi Pavilion. After a while, the lights went out, and with a slight creaking sound, the door opened and a figure walked out.
After going downstairs, the figure did not go out through the main door, but went around to the backyard and quietly went out through the back door.
The two black-armored guards lurking nearby quietly followed him all the way to the intersection.
Suddenly a figure jumped out from the front and blocked the other person's way.
The cold and bright moonlight illuminated those knife-like narrow eyes, and the smile was as cold and fierce as a vicious dog.
"It's freezing cold, why don't you come with me back to the Imperial City to have a cup of tea." Ji Quan slowly drew out the sword from his waist. The cold and bright moonlight shone on the slender blade, making it look sharp and intimidating.
The opponent retreated vigilantly, and just as he took a step back, the sharp knife light came at him with lightning speed. The opponent could not dodge in time, and the knife flipped and knocked the person to the ground. Then a sleeve arrow shot out from the opponent's sleeve. Ji Quan dodged to the side, and the sleeve arrow flew past his ear with a whizzing sound.
He raised his hand and touched his face, his fingertips were stained with some bright red blood, "You dare to use a hidden weapon to hurt me, I think you don't want to live." A cold light flashed in his eyes, and he rushed forward to end the other person's life. With a clang, the swords collided. A black-armored guard blocked him, and the other black-armored guard quickly subdued the man on the ground and tied his hands behind his back to prevent him from using hidden weapons again.
"Thank you both for your help. Leave the person to me." Ji Quan put the knife back into the sheath and was about to go over to take the person away, but was stopped by the black-armored guards.
At this time, the sound of horse hooves was heard. Ji Quan looked in that direction, cursed something, turned around and left.
The leader was dressed in armor, and his jet-black hair shone like silver in the moonlight, as if he had returned home under the stars.
It was Qi Wuhan.
After the sound of horse hooves stopped, he glanced at the person on the ground from his horse and gave a simple order of two words, "Take him away."
Two black-armored guards escorted the man and followed the team away.
Ji Quan came to Prince Rui's Mansion alone.
Prince Rui was still awake, feeding the fish by the pond.
After the butler brought the man over, Prince Rui casually asked, "Did the fish take the bait?" Ji Quan replied, "I had already caught the man, but the Marquis returned and took him away."
Prince Rui slowly sprinkled the last bit of fish food into the water. Looking at the brightly colored koi scrambling for the food, he raised a sinister smile and said, "That saves us from having to judge them ourselves. Let's have someone keep a close eye on them." Ji Quan replied yes.
…
Jiang Lan felt someone beside her in her dream. This feeling of being held in someone's arms was very familiar, warm and reassuring...
The next morning when she opened her eyes, she was shocked to find that there was someone next to her pillow. When she was about to kick the person away, she found that it was Qi Wuhan!
At first she thought it was an illusion, that she hadn't woken up yet and was still dreaming. She slapped her face hard, and then she saw that he was still there. She reached out to poke his face again, and the next moment he reached out and hugged her. Only then did she realize that it was not an illusion, that he was really back.
"When did you come back last night? How come I didn't know anything about it?" Jiang Lan looked up at him and asked.
"Sleep a little longer..." Qi Wuhan gently pressed her head back into his arms and hugged her a little tighter.
Jiang Lan tilted her head back and kissed him on the cheek, then buried her head in his arms, closed her eyes, and prepared to sleep for a while. The next moment, he turned over and pressed her down. A sly smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said in a lazy and low voice, "You have to be responsible if you kiss me~"
......
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