Chapter 48: I am willing to let Saburo search me.
The King of Jin explained his predicament to Congying: "On my way down the mountain, I met the One-Eyed Dragon. He had discovered the ambush to the south and, knowing I hadn't lied, had warned him out of kindness. So, he invited me to escape with him."
Cong Ying asked, "Then how did His Highness escape?"
Prince Jin: "I didn't get away. I followed him."
Cong Ying didn't know whether to praise him for his good luck or his courage. If he met someone from the imperial court on the way and recognized him, or if the one-eyed man came to his senses, either one would be enough to make him suffer.
Seeing her frown of worry, the Prince of Jin smiled and said, "If I hadn't followed him, how would I have known that he really had the Prince of Huai at his fingertips?"
Cong Ying suddenly became curious and leaned forward slightly: "What is it?"
Her eyes were extremely bright and soft, as if soaked in morning dew.
This attitude reminded Prince Jin of certain moments in his previous life. In order to divert her attention from books, he would often collect some strange stories or tricky and obscure riddles, and only reveal half of them, waiting for her to ask the rest actively.
Then he could take advantage of the situation.
Prince Jin's breathing became stagnant, and he sighed deeply. Cong Ying immediately asked with concern, "Does your wound hurt, Your Highness?"
Prince Jin also leaned closer to her and whispered something in her ear.
Cong Ying's eyes widened slightly. "Prince Huai is so bold, he even dared to hand over such evidence... No wonder he previously colluded with Wang Zhaoshen, and now he's turned against us and is working with the Third Young Master. He's afraid that the One-Eyed Dragon will fall into the Third Young Master's hands."
The King of Jin said, "When Xie San comes back, tell him to go look for him. Don't tell him it was me who told you, lest he become suspicious again."
Cong Ying sighed for a moment and said, "Your Highness is very lenient towards the Third Young Master, but he may not appreciate your kindness."
Prince Jin smiled. After all, it was his former self and the way he had come. He felt that Xie San was closer to him than a father or brother would be to his children. If he were to ask who he cared about in this short, dreamlike life, besides Aying, it would probably be Xie San.
As they spoke, there was another knock on the door. This time it was Senior Sister Yiyun. She said angrily, "Prince Huai didn't go and properly search the mountain bandits. Instead, he was rummaging around in this deserted mountain stronghold. I don't know what he was looking for. He scared the girls and even said he wanted to search us all. I almost got into a fight with him, but luckily the Third Young Master's men intervened, and I quickly ran away. I searched for a long time before finally finding you here."
Cong Ying turned back to look at King Jin: "He's looking for that handle, right?"
Prince Jin nodded.
Cong Ying said, "We must not let him find it first. Without further delay, I will go get it back now."
Prince Jin disagreed: "This matter is different from your search for your sister. To be frank, it only concerns Xie San. Don't take this risk for him."
Xie San's followers nodded desperately: "The Third Young Master has instructed us to take good care of the Fourth Lady."
"It's about looking after him, not keeping him in custody," Cong Ying had made up her mind and comforted her attendants, "You stay here to guard His Highness. Senior Sister Yiyun's martial arts skills are no less than yours. Ask her to accompany me, and you can all rest assured."
After saying that, he pushed the door open and left. King Jin regretted weakly behind him, "If I had known you would be so anxious about him, I shouldn't have told you."
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The one-eyed man's house had been searched thoroughly, even the wine jars smashed to pieces. Scattered among the rubble were strings of copper coins and small silver coins, clearly indicating the looters weren't after money, but something more important.
Seeing this, Yiyun scratched his head: "Could it have been searched and taken away?"
"No," Cong Ying said firmly, "Based on the way the Huai County King handles things, if he had found it, he would have set fire to the building and destroyed the evidence."
She was more careful and patient: "At least we know more accurately than the Huai Junwang. It's not the entire village, it's just in this building. Let's look carefully."
As he spoke, he really started to search from every corner, knocking on every table corner and every inch of wall, checking for any mechanism. He even took out the starched clothes of the one-eyed man and pinched his nose to feel each one. Yiyun jumped onto the beam and pulled out every movable joint to examine it.
No, none at all.
Standing in the middle of the room with his arms folded, Cong Ying looked around: "This place is hidden enough, but it's right under the nose of the one-eyed dragon. Otherwise, he would have to check frequently to see if I was there, and it would inevitably leave traces."
Yiyun jumped down, having lost interest: "How boring, why don't I go out and keep watch for you."
She pushed it open and walked out, and the door creaked.
Cong Ying's attention was momentarily drawn to the door panel, her eyes settling on the brand-new round door knocker. Attached to the door knocker was a pair of lion-head knockers, typically placed on the main entrance of a mansion for public viewing. Judging from her search, the One-Eyed Dragon didn't even have a matching table and chairs in his house. He certainly wasn't the meticulous type to go out of his way to install a pair of lion-head knockers.
If someone is looking for something, they will just push the door open and walk in without paying attention to the door itself.
The more Cong Ying looked at the round door knocker, the stranger it seemed. He walked over, picked up the door knocker and knocked on it. Listening carefully, he found that the sounds on both sides were slightly different.
She pulled out the hairpin on her head, and with some effort, she untied the door knocker on the side that made the unusual sound, took off the bottom door knocker, and sure enough, she saw a letter stuffed inside.
She hurriedly opened the letter, and found it was an alliance written by Prince Huai to One-Eyed Dragon. Prince Huai promised that after the success, he would arrange a new identity for One-Eyed Dragon and let him serve as a deputy general under Wang Zhaoshen. In the future, when he ascended to the throne, "he would reward him with a king or a prince."
"Prince Huai is taking such a risk. A letter like this is tantamount to treason."
Cong Ying sighed, "But if it weren't for this, One-Eyed Dragon wouldn't be so devoted to serving the Prince of Huai. A letter of alliance in exchange for a loyal follower can hardly be considered a bad deal."
She carefully put the letter away and was about to call her senior sister to leave together when Yiyun hurriedly jumped down from the tree: "Oh no, the Prince of Huai is coming this way again!"
It was too late to escape now. Cong Ying hurriedly pulled Yiyun into the house and, as they ran down the secret passage to the dungeon, they stuffed a few bottles of pills and ginseng they had found into their arms. After all, it was impossible to hide in this building, and if the Prince of Huai discovered them later, they would have an excuse.
The Prince of Huai County burst in with his entourage. He didn't even bother to examine the door panel, let alone the round door knocker. As soon as he entered, he shouted anxiously, "Search carefully again! Even if you have to burn it to ashes, you must find it!"
The followers split up and gradually moved towards the secret passage. Yiyun wanted to draw her sword, but Congying shook her head slightly to stop her.
The Prince of Huai is not a bandit, so there is still room for maneuver with him. Cong Ying does not want to resort to soft tactics unless it is absolutely necessary.
As the Huai County Prince's followers went down the secret passage to search again, another voice came in: "Cousin, what treasure did you lose that you are looking for so anxiously?"
It turned out to be Xie Xuanlan who came back.
The Prince of Huai said angrily, "It's not a treasure, it's a purse embroidered by my cousin Azhu herself. If she knew that I lost it in the bandit's lair, she would definitely cry and make a fuss again."
Xie Xuanlan snorted and laughed, clearly not believing it but just too lazy to expose it.
The Prince of Huai asked him, "I heard there was a fight down the mountain. What's the situation outside now?"
Xie Xuanlan said, "Prince Consort Xuan is still as sharp as ever. He has already captured a group of private soldiers and is bringing them back to the city for trial. Wang Zhaoshen is getting a little impatient and wants to leave the princess behind and search the mountains for the One-Eyed Dragon. After all, they only have private soldiers. He can still argue that they were planning to suppress the bandits in advance. But if the princess finds the One-Eyed Dragon first and makes him confess some shameful plot, Wang Zhaoshen will be in big trouble."
When he spoke of the "shameful conspiracy", his tone was meaningful. He saw that Prince Huai's expression was getting uglier and uglier, and gradually turned into horror.
Prince Huai said to his followers, "What are you all standing there for? Keep looking!"
The cellar door of the secret passage was opened again, and an attendant walked down the dirt steps. Suddenly, he shouted alertly, "Who is it? Come out!"
Cong Ying handed Yi Yun the covenant that Prince Huai had been searching for so hard, and pushed her to a corner, motioning her to hide. He then walked shakily into the light, holding a bunch of medicine bottles and old ginseng. "I... I'm just here to find some medicine for my injuries."
The moment they saw her, the expressions on the faces of Prince Huai and Xie Xuanlan were truly wonderful.
Everyone's eyes were focused on her, and they were so surprised that they neglected to look behind her.
Prince Huai turned to Xie Xuanlan in confusion: "You haven't killed her yet?"
Xie Xuanlan's face was as gloomy as water. He said to Cong Ying, "I told you not to run around. Come here."
Cong Ying quickly hid behind him.
Xie Xuanlan said to the Prince of Huai: "My cousin, please take your time to look for me. I will take my leave now."
"Wait." The Huai Jun Wang's tone was a little cold: "You can go, but Jiang Si Niang must stay."
Xie Xuanlan asked, "Why?"
Prince Huai: "Search her. I suspect she picked up something I lost."
Cong Ying defended herself fearfully and innocently, "I didn't pick up anything. I just took some medicine and hid when I heard someone coming... I really didn't pick anything up."
Xie Xuanlan sneered directly and forcefully, "How dare you say you want to search my wife in front of me?"
From Ying: "..."
Prince Huai: "...your wife?"
Xie Xuanlan: "I'm engaged to her, cousin, you already knew that, why are you surprised?"
The Prince of Huai had a ridiculous expression on his face: "She has been abused by bandits, maybe she is pregnant with a bastard, she is not worth having as a maid or concubine——"
Before he could finish his words, he was punched on the left cheek and then someone grabbed his collar.
Xie Xuanlan's fury didn't seem fake. His face was as gloomy as frost, and his eyes were like ice frozen for thousands of years. He spoke to the Prince of Huai with every word, "I'll say it again. She is my fiancée, the future Third Young Master of the Xie family. You'd better be careful with your words. If I hear any more dirty rumors about her, whether they come from you or not, the rumors of your collusion with bandits will spread as far as her dirty words spread."
“You…you dare!”
Prince Huai was also furious, but unfortunately he didn't have the ability to be as reckless as Xie Xuanlan. He had to bite his teeth until they were broken before he could swallow his anger.
He said in a gentle voice, "I won't say anything more, just let me go!"
Xie Xuanlan let him go. Prince Huai frantically straightened his clothes, clutching his red and swollen face as he began to reason with him. "Her coming here is too strange. What if she really picked up my things?"
Xie Xuanlan said, "She is my future wife. She must be loyal to the Xie family, and also to you. If she picked up something from you, why wouldn't I return it to you?"
Prince Huai thought to himself, that’s not necessarily true.
He was still unwilling to let Congying go, and there was a momentary stalemate between the two. Congying took the opportunity to intervene and said, "We're all family. Let's not let these trivial matters cause us to quarrel. I'd like to find another clean room and have someone search me."
She led everyone away from the earth building, giving Yiyun a chance to escape.
The current problem is that all the girls in the village are under the protection of Cong Ying, and Prince Huai does not trust their words. However, Prince Huai's left cheek is still hurting, so he dare not ask his men to search them.
Cong Ying was understanding and took the initiative to say, "I am willing to ask Sanlang to search, but I wonder if His Royal Highness the Prince of Huai County trusts Sanlang?"
Of course, Prince Huai couldn't say that he didn't trust it. After thinking it over, he felt that this was the only option and agreed with a sharp toothache.
He ordered the only screen in the entire village to be brought in. Judging by its new and beautiful design and the precious materials, it must have been picked out from the shipment of goods he had robbed Ji Caibing of. Through it, like a thick shadow play curtain, he could vaguely make out the movements and figures within.
Cong Ying opened her arms towards Xie Xuanlan who walked in, but saw that Xie Xuanlan was just looking at her with an expression that was hard to tell whether he was angry or what, and he did not move for a long time.
She had no choice but to take a step closer to him and winked in the direction of Prince Huai.
Xie Xuanlan finally raised his hand to untie the fragrant silk belt tied around her waist, covered his eyes with it, and then took off her outer skirt, leaving only her inner garment.
His palm moved up from Ying's forearm to her shoulder, and then from her shoulder to her waist.
Always release it immediately, move gently and observe the etiquette of a gentleman.
Even so, Zong Ying's cheeks were a little hot, and her heart was in turmoil. When her mind was wandering, she heard Xie Xuanlan's question in a very low voice, almost like a breath, beside her ear:
"Isn't it enough that you risked your life to get medicine for him? Can you even endure such humiliation?"
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