Chapter 3: That Female Devil
Halfway through the journey, a group of night birds flew by in the sky, screaming as if they were frightened.
Zhao Shiqing pulled the reins in and listened intently. The civet cat in his arms barked twice in dissatisfaction. Zhao Shiqing patted its head and said, "The direction those birds are flying from seems to be Wisteria Villa. Someone has died there. Let's go and take a look."
The raccoon cat cried again, its voice mournful, "Someone's dead! The cat doesn't want to go! The cat is scared."
Zhao Shiqing said, "Prince Consort Xiao and the Princess are imprisoned in Wisteria Villa. We can't afford any mishaps. If you don't dare to go, just wait for me here."
Upon hearing this, the civet cat crawled into the cloth bag on Zhao Shiqing's chest and buried its head in it. As long as no one could see it, the cat would not be afraid.
Zhao Shiqing was no longer surprised by the cowardly look of the civet cat. This cat was born by a female cat in a villager's home in Baihe Mountain. In the local mountains, there is a saying that a cat giving birth to one cub is a demon. When the female cat learned that the owner was going to throw away the cub, she took the cub to Zhao Shiqing for help. Zhao Shiqing kept the cub and simply named it Little Demon.
Wisteria Villa is less than an hour's journey from the palace. The scenery inside the villa is pleasant. Zhao Yunnuan and Zhao Tingxuan often entertain guests here. Zhao Shiqing has been here once. Usually, the villa is not guarded by the royal guard camp, but today, two guards standing in front of the villa gate can be seen from a distance.
Zhao Shiqing didn't go in. She sniffed and there was a faint smell of blood in the air.
She followed the smell and found a body in a patch of half-human-high grass not far away. The body had been stabbed to death and dragged here, with blood dripping all the way.
The body was only wearing inner clothes, and the outer clothes had obviously been taken away. However, the murderer was a careless person and only changed his outer clothes but did not change his shoes.
There was a circle of sturdy leather sewn on the edge of the shoes. Zhao Shiqing recognized them as the shoes worn by the Royal Guards.
The Royal Guards were all tall and strong, but the deceased was short, and there were no calluses on his hands from martial arts training. He should be a servant. The servants in the Royal Guards usually wore military uniforms to prevent outsiders from pretending to be servants and sneaking into the barracks.
Apparently, someone killed the servant tonight, changed into his clothes and sneaked into the villa!
Zhao Shiqing walked out of the place where the corpses were hidden and came to the main gate of the villa. She showed her royal badge and the guard let her in.
"Have any servants come in from outside tonight?"
The guard said hurriedly, "A servant sent by the guard camp just went in more than an hour ago."
Zhao Shiqing said, "I am the second young lady of the palace. Please quickly ask the chief officer here to come see me."
As soon as he finished speaking, a rough-looking officer came over and asked, "What's going on?"
He was none other than Meng Hu, the officer in charge here. He was ordered to come here to look after Princess Jiayi and Prince Consort Xiao. The responsibility was heavy and he dared not neglect it. Unable to sleep in the middle of the night, he came out for inspection and happened to see a guard talking to a girl.
Zhao Shiqing introduced herself and told Meng Hu her identity. Meng Hu was half-believing and half-doubting. He knew that the prince had two sons and two daughters, but he had only seen the eldest princess and the second son, and had never seen the second young lady. But looking at the land of Liang, he thought that no one would dare to pretend to be the daughter of the King of Liang, not to mention that the badge in her hand was indeed the prince's palace.
Meng Hu bowed and saluted. "General Meng Hu greets the Second Young Lady. I wonder what brings you here so late at night?"
Zhao Shiqing said, "Send someone to search the villa immediately. I suspect someone has sneaked in disguised as a servant. Also, there's a body in the bushes outside the villa. It must be the deceased servant."
Meng Hu was so shocked that he didn't even bother to think about whether he had disturbed the princess and her husband. He immediately led his men to search everywhere. Zhao Shiqing stopped him and said, "The shoes that man is wearing are not those of the imperial guards."
A moment later, a sneaky servant was caught outside the kitchen. The servant shouted that he was innocent and looked innocent. Zhao Shiqing walked over and saw that the man was wearing a military uniform, but a pair of ordinary cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles on his feet.
More importantly, Zhao Shiqing smelled blood. The man was wearing the military uniform of the servant. The servant had been stabbed to death, and his blood was left on the uniform.
Zhao Shiqing pointed at the man and said to Meng Hu, "That's him! He's the murderer! There's blood on him!"
The man's face changed drastically, his brows suddenly furrowed, and a look of pain appeared on his face. Meng Hu was startled and hurried forward to check, but it was too late. Blood was flowing from the corner of the man's mouth. Meng Hu opened his mouth and smelled it, then turned to Zhao Shiqing and shook his head: "He bit through the poison hidden in his mouth, and there's no saving him."
As soon as his hands loosened, the man fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and died.
Meng Hu used a bamboo stick to pick out a paper bag the size of a fingernail from the man's mouth. The man died of poisoning after biting through the paper bag.
At this time, there was a basin of kneaded dough that was rising in the kitchen. It was used to make breakfast for the eldest princess and Prince Consort Xiao. It is conceivable that if he put the poison in the paper bag into the dough, the eldest princess and Prince Consort Xiao would die silently in the heavily guarded Zither Villa.
Meng Hu broke out in a cold sweat. The eldest princess and Prince Consort Xiao almost died right under his nose. He couldn't bear such a huge responsibility even if he died ten times.
Meng Hu fell to his knees with a thud. "I thank you, Miss, for saving my life. I am at fault for what happened tonight. I beg you to punish me."
Zhao Shiqing said calmly, "The relationship between the Princess and Prince Consort Xiao is of great importance and cannot be taken lightly. If something like this happens again, Meng Hu, I will dig up your ancestral grave."
Meng Hu shuddered, as if he saw his ancestors glaring at him. You unfilial son, we will not rest in peace even after we die.
"Don't dare, don't dare, I guarantee that not even a fly can fly in!"
Zhao Shiqing glanced at him, turned around and walked out of the villa, heading towards Qingquan County.
In the old house of the Xiao family in Qingquan County, Xiao Su thought he was having a nightmare. He would rather dream of a vixen that sucked people's vital energy than see that female devil in his dream.
"Wake up, wake up, you female devil, get out of here! Wuliang Tianzun Taishang Laojun Great Sage Equaling Heaven, slay the demons and monsters immediately as ordered, Namo Amitabha!"
Zhao Shiqing looked at Xiao Su coldly as he closed his eyes and shook his head like a fool, and said coldly: "Open your eyes and see clearly before looking for help."
Xiao Su was stunned, thinking of something, and opened one eye. Oh, it was that female devil again. He quickly closed his eyes. However, Xiao Su already understood. Damn it, he was not dreaming. That female devil really came and was sitting in front of his bed!
Seeing that he was silent, Zhao Shiqing coughed lightly: "Not looking for help?"
Xiao Su gritted his teeth and opened his eyes wide: "Sit further away, I, I, I am in a bad mood when I wake up!"
Zhao Shiqing didn't want to spoil him and remained motionless: "Get up and take me to see your grandfather!"
"To see my grandfather? Are you worthy?"
As soon as he said that, Xiao Su regretted it. He saw the knife against his throat.
"Hey, I was just kidding. I'll take you there right now, but listen carefully. Don't touch me when you see my grandfather. Otherwise, he'll mistakenly think you're attracted to me and force me to marry you. Then my life will be over!"
"Stop talking nonsense and get up!" Zhao Shiqing shouted.
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