Chapter 54: Assassination "The enemy is coming towards you, and you are still rushing forward...
Chapter 54
Yicai Library.
Lin Zhishu and Lin Zhihua both dressed as men, but because they were relatively petite and thin, with pretty faces, and their behavior occasionally revealed some feminine qualities, the bookstore owner and the book readers who came and went guessed that they were women disguised as men.
Lin Zhihua is talkative and loves to laugh, and she had a very pleasant conversation with the owner of Yicai Bookstore.
Lin Zhishushe was afraid and reserved, so he sat behind the fourth sister and listened quietly.
If they talked about something unreasonable, she would secretly pull Lin Zhihua's sleeve to remind her.
Lin Zhihua was quick-witted. Usually, even if her third sister reminded her, she would quickly understand what was happening and change her words to continue negotiating with the other party.
The owner of Yicai Bookstore is an old man in his fifties named Jiang Yicai. He looks very knowledgeable and wise, with narrow eyes that reveal his shrewdness.
He loves books and money.
Running a library is his hobby.
The two daughters of the Lin family were actually his regular customers, so when he learned that "The Guest in the Book" had a new work, he wanted to make this deal.
He didn't care who the "guest in the book" was. After hearing the general content of the story and reading part of the manuscript, he felt that the content was unique and could be printed into a book and sold on the market. He wanted to have the exclusive sales rights, and the price he offered was fair - among booksellers, it was a medium price.
I didn't expect the other party to be such a good negotiator, and he was very familiar with the book's sales channels and sales figures. He wanted a very high price, and also wanted a time limit.
Jiang Yicai had to concentrate on negotiating with the two ladies.
Lin Zhihua: "Boss Jiang, if 'The Book Guest' hadn't published the previous few works, your price would indeed be appropriate. But you also know that The Book Guest's stories sell very well, and the stories are unique. You will definitely be able to recoup your investment quickly and make a lot of money. It takes The Book Guest several months to write a storybook. Only after earning the fee can they start working on the next one with peace of mind. Don't you agree? With our cooperation this time, you will definitely be given priority for the next one."
Lin Zhihua used the rhetoric she learned from her elder sister to the fullest extent.
Jiang Yicai was gradually persuaded.
"Then it's up to you. I'll add a little more. Another hundred taels, that's all."
"Two hundred taels."
"One hundred and fifty taels."
"Two hundred taels. I'm already giving in quite a bit by not asking for three hundred taels."
"One hundred and eighty taels."
"……make a deal."
Lin Zhishu earned a total of six hundred and eighty taels this time.
Lin Zhihua was ecstatic and admired her third sister immensely!
Oh my God, she never imagined that her third sister's words could be sold for so much silver!
This makes more money than the older sister!
Boss Jiang had someone specially write the contract. In addition to the provisions on the commission, sales period, etc., the contract also specifically stated that the identity of the customer in the book must be kept confidential. If the contract violated, the customer would have to pay a compensation of five thousand taels.
Jiang Yicai only wanted to make money and did not want to offend the author. Besides, he knew that these two were the daughters of noble men, so how could he bring trouble upon himself?
Six silver notes of one hundred taels and eighty-eight taels of silver of good quality were obtained.
After checking, Lin Zhihua stuffed everything into Lin Zhishu's hands.
Lin Zhishu wanted to give her three silver notes on the spot.
Lin Zhihua hurriedly shook her head and waved her hands, stepping back: "You worked so hard to get all this, you should use it to buy supplements to keep healthy. Look at you, you've lost weight again!"
Lin Zhishu was so weak that she couldn't resist her fourth sister. Besides, Jiang Yicai was smiling and drinking tea beside her, watching the fun. She blushed and stopped resisting for a while.
I’ll give it to my fourth sister when we get on the carriage later.
For the time being, Lin Zhihua had to help carry the purse containing the silver - it was too heavy, and the third sister was not strong enough to hold it steady.
When they came out of the private room, the four guards were cheered up and followed them, two in front and two behind.
Lin Zhishu and Lin Zhihua selected a few more books from the bookshelf in the lobby.
Jiang Yi was a man of character. He saw that those books were storybooks written by other authors and were relatively unpopular. Few people bought them and they would just gather dust and take up space on the bookshelf. After Shu Zhongke's storybooks came on the market, they would have to be taken away to make room for the new ones, so he generously gave them away.
Giveaway?!
Lin Zhihua's eyes lit up, and she wanted to pick two more books, but was stopped by Lin Zhishu. She shook her head embarrassedly to signal her not to do that. Then Lin Zhishu thanked Boss Jiang softly and pulled Lin Zhihua towards the door of the library.
After passing through layers of bookshelves, the two guards who led the way, one standing in front of the door while the other went to drive the carriage, and the two of them stood inside the door waiting.
Ye Changning was riding past here and saw the Marquis' Mansion - no, he saw the Duke's carriage - he subconsciously tightened the reins, the horse stopped, and he dismounted.
The guards at the Lin Mansion knew Ye Changning, and when they saw him stop there, they greeted him, "Master Ye."
"Hmm. Didn't the Prince Consort study at the Imperial College?"
"No, the prince consort is in the Imperial College. It's the other two 'young masters' who are using the carriage." The guard motioned him to look behind him.
Ye Changning turned around and saw Lin Zhishu and Lin Zhihua dressed in men's clothes. He was stunned for a moment, then bowed slightly and turned around again.
He thought that Lin Zhiyi was better at pretending to be a man, and her two sisters could be seen at a glance as women disguised as men.
Just as he was thinking about it, he saw Lin Zhiyi and Zhou Mingyan walking side by side not far away.
When Jing Yue saw Ye Changning's figure, her heart tightened. She took a few quick steps and found that her two sisters were standing at the door of the library safely. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
It was because Ye Changning was too famous that major cases often occurred wherever he was.
At that moment, Jing Yue's usually calm heart almost jumped out, and the stable emotions that she usually prided herself on almost collapsed.
Zhou Mingyan could hear his rapid breathing.
"Yuanyuan, why are you here?" Lin Zhihua waved to his brother.
Jing Yue didn't want to scare them, so she just smiled softly: "Ming Yan and I came out to eat and happened to wander here."
After answering her, Jing Yue greeted Ye Changning, "Master Ye, what a coincidence."
Ye Changning was a thoughtful person, and he could figure out the whole thing just by listening to their casual conversation - Lin Zhiyi was also worried about her two sisters, so she ran out of the Imperial College in the middle of the day to check on their safety.
"Unfortunately, I thought it was the prince consort who was nearby." Ye Changning explained calmly.
Jing Yue was indeed surprised. After a moment of surprise, he thanked her sincerely, "Master Ye, that's so thoughtful. I wonder if you're free? I'd like to buy you a drink."
Ye Changning declined: "I have something else to do, so I won't bother you anymore."
"Well, Master Ye, please."
Ye Changning led the horse away. After walking a few steps, he suddenly heard the sound of breaking wind and a sharp arrow shot towards Lin Zhiyi!
Three figures flashed at the same time and rushed towards Jingyue.
Xie Junxing who had just arrived, Zhou Mingyan who was just three steps behind Jing Yue, and Ye Changning who had just taken a few steps.
Jing Yue reacted even faster, dodging the arrow by spinning around and kicking it right in the middle, reducing its direction and force to avoid accidentally hurting anyone nearby.
The hidden arrow missed its target and changed direction, shooting towards Lin Zhishu and Lin Zhihua at the door.
Xie Junxing almost used all his life's learning to the fullest. The folding fan in his hand arrived faster than him. He first shot down the arrow flying towards Lin Zhihua, and then grabbed the one flying towards Lin Zhishu with his bare hands.
Although Lin Zhishu was frightened, he reacted quickly and stepped back in the crisis, almost tripping himself. Fortunately, Lin Zhihua helped him.
You Qi appeared out of nowhere, holding Lin Zhishu's hand with his scabbard, just enough to shield the five books she was holding in front of her.
The arrow just hit the middle of the first book, but the tail feather had been caught by Xie Junxing, reducing the force.
Lin Zhihua glanced at Youqi and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was one of her own. She then hurriedly dragged Lin Zhishu back to the library and watched the battle. She happened to meet Xie Junxing's gaze.
Xie Junxing gave her a reassuring smile.
The three guards closest to them also rushed forward and protected the two of them tightly.
Lin Zhihua only saw that Xie Junxing's left hand, which was holding the arrow feather, was bleeding.
Over there, Ye Changning protected Jing Yue, drew out his sword, cut off the arrow feathers, and rushed towards the archer.
Zhou Mingyan never left Jingyue's side.
The guard driving the carriage also stood in front of Jing Yue, alert to possible arrows coming from the surroundings.
This incident happened too suddenly, and the pedestrians around were frightened and ran away in all directions. Fortunately, no one was hurt by the arrows. Only one person stumbled and sprained his ankle, and hid behind the door of a shop, gasping in pain.
Jingyue's anger level is rising rapidly.
His first reaction was that Cheng Lunian was unwilling to give up and wanted to continue assassinating Lin Zhiyi!
He even wanted to assassinate other people in the Lin Mansion!
How audacious! He deserves death!
He also wanted to rush over and catch people, and this time he must find evidence no matter what!
So what if they are on the prince’s side!
So what if he is the prime minister’s legitimate son!
If anyone dares to touch him three times, he will never forgive him!
A broken leg is too easy for him!
But just as Jing Yue took a step forward, Zhou Mingyan stopped her: "They're coming right at you, and you're still charging forward? Are you trying to save your life?!"
Zhou Mingyan is actually stronger than him!
Jing Yue was trapped in Lin Zhiyi's female body and couldn't break free, so she had to endure it for the time being.
Fortunately, Ye Changning's martial arts skills were the best among these people, so it was easy for him to capture him.
The people from the patrol camp also heard the noise and rushed over. When they saw the people present, they were almost scared to death.
There was the Prince Consort, the Second Young Master Xie, the Young Master Zhou, and even Lord Ye...
This is terrible. I’m afraid I’m going to lose my job…
Ye Changning cut off the hands, feet and jaws of the three masked men one by one to prevent them from committing suicide.
The leader of the patrol on this street was called Han Yong. He and his brothers ran to Ye Changning and said, "Master Ye."
Ye Changning said succinctly: "Tie up the three of them and send them to the Dali Temple."
"yes."
After arranging all this, he finally found time to go see Jing Yue: "Prince Consort, are you okay?"
Jing Yue suppressed her anger and looked back at Ye Changning firmly: "I want to go to the trial."
Ye Changning hesitated for a moment: "...Okay."
Jing Yue walked quickly towards Lin Zhishu and Lin Zhihua: "Are you okay?"
Lin Zhishu shook his head.
Lin Zhihua: "It's okay." She turned her head to look at Xie Junxing, wanting to see how his hand injury was, but Xie Junxing stood with his hands behind his back, tall and straight, as if he was not affected by the injury at all, so she swallowed her words for the time being.
Jing Yue looked at Xie Junxing with a complicated expression: "Thank you."
Xie Junxing: "You're welcome."
Jing Yue naturally saw that his hand behind his back was bleeding, so she asked, "Is your hand okay?"
Xie Junxing clenched his hands and hid his palms: "It's just a minor injury, it will probably heal soon, don't worry."
Jing Yue thought for a moment and asked, "Could you please ask Brother Xie to help escort them back home?"
"……no problem."
In addition to Xie Junxing, Zhou Mingyan was also asked to do the task.
Zhou Mingyan: "What about you?"
"You Qi, Lord Ye, and several brothers from the patrol camp are enough."
Jing Yue comforted Lin Zhishu and Lin Zhihua with a few more words, and personally sent them to the carriage. Four guards followed in front, behind, and on both sides. Xie Junxing and Zhou Mingyan temporarily served as coachmen, and the carriage moved forward.
Lin Zhihua lifted the car window curtain and warned Jingyue: "Yuanyuan, you should be careful too."
"good."
The carriage drove for a while, and the curtain in front of the door was lifted. A white hand handed a clean handkerchief to Xie Junxing: "Second Master Xie, please wrap your hands first."
Xie Junxing's breathing slowed for a moment, and he didn't dare look around. He only stared at the small wooden bird embroidered on the handkerchief. He first thought the act of embroidering a wooden bird on the handkerchief was cute, and then he came to his senses and solemnly took it. "Thank you."
He held the handkerchief and hesitated for a moment before wrapping it around the palm of his left hand and tying a knot.
Zhou Mingyan's radar for men and women was too weak to notice anything. Only after Xie Junxing had bandaged his hand did he say something shocking: "You were following me and Xiuyuan?"
Xie Junxing: “…”
Is Zhou Mingyan so perceptive?
"I wanted to congratulate you, but I didn't expect you weren't dining at the Imperial College. Ji Wuyou said you were out, so I chased you out."
"Then why didn't you call out?"
"...It's too late." Xie Junxing felt a little guilty.
In fact, he had heard them mention the fourth young lady of the Lin family, so he had selfish motives and wanted to follow them, create a chance encounter, and then invite them to have lunch together...
The separation of men and women in Dayan was not as strict as in the previous dynasty.
Accompanied by brothers, friends, sisters, family members, etc., men and women who are interested in each other can meet and talk openly to get to know each other.
——The princess and Lin Zhiyi did the same thing during the spring hunt that day.
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