Chapter 46 Chapter 46 The second male lead is naughty
The next morning, at first light, Jiang Ci packed up and walked out of the inn.
The carriage was already ready at the door. Ji Yang stood nearby, draped in a black robe, his hands on his hips, his expression stern. Seeing her emerge, he said nothing but walked forward, took the bag from her hand, and neatly placed it in the carriage. He whispered, "Let's go."
Jiang Ci said nothing as he boarded the carriage. The wheels rolled, the horses' hooves clattered, and the dust flew all the way, yet there was also silence.
She didn't know what was wrong with Ji Yang. Since he went back last night, he spoke less and his eyes became colder, as if he had returned to the distant look he had when they first met.
He sat outside the carriage, she was inside, and the carriage swayed, just like the swaying distance between them.
When they arrived at the ferry, Ji Yang still didn't wait for her. He jumped off the carriage and walked quickly forward. Jiang Ci sighed softly and had no choice but to follow him.
After boarding the boat, Jiang Ci finally couldn't help but speak, his tone calm but with a hint of weariness: "I wonder what I did to displease the governor?"
Ji Yang was sitting at the stern of the cabin. Hearing this, he suddenly raised his eyes, his gaze was indifferent, without a trace of warmth: "You didn't do anything, it's just that I don't want to get too close to you."
The words were like a knife, scratching her cheek painfully.
Jiang Ci lowered his head, gathered the handkerchief on his knees, and didn't know how to respond.
She originally thought that his heart was being warmed by her little by little, but now it seems that she was just being too sentimental.
The boat docked and returned to Ningling Ferry. Ji Yang walked in front as usual, his steps as fast as the wind.
Jiang Ci followed with her skirt lifted, only a few steps away, yet she seemed a thousand miles away from him.
As they passed the military camp near the embankment, they found a large number of soldiers gathered in front of the tents. What had been an empty space was now filled with over twenty carriages, their hoofprints bearing heavy shaft marks, as if they had arrived not long ago.
Ji Yang paused, his eyes suddenly turned cold, and he took a few steps forward.
Yue Bai and Du Mengqiu were standing in front of the car. When they saw him coming, their expressions changed slightly and they bowed at the same time.
"Commander-in-Chief," Yue Bai whispered, "It's the looted grain."
Ji Yang frowned: "Did you find it?"
Yue Bai shook his head, his tone somewhat serious: "No, a few villagers brought a car here this morning with a letter."
"What does the letter say?" Ji Yang asked in a deep voice.
Yue Bai licked his lips and took a deep breath. He didn't know how to start, so he handed the letter to Ji Yang. Yue Bai added in a low voice, "The villagers said someone asked them to bring it. The person was dressed in ordinary clothes, so it's hard to tell who they were."
Ji Yang took the letter, unfolded it and his eyes suddenly froze.
That familiar handwriting, the pen tip is as sharp as a knife——
"I'm returning these for just one person. Jiang Ci, I hope you like this birthday gift."
Signature: Lou Qi.
Ji Yang's fingers trembled, and the letter paper was clenched in his hand with a rustling sound.
At this moment, Jiang Ci slowly approached. She seemed to have just heard the movement ahead and walked step by step to the front of the tent.
Before she could open her mouth, Ji Yang suddenly turned around, his eyes as cold as a frosty blade, the corners of his lips tightened, and his voice was low and cold:
"Very good." He spoke each word with great force, "You actually had a private relationship with Hanbei's Lou Qi... Jiang Ci, who do you think I am?"
Jiang Ci paused, frowning slightly: "What did you say?"
Ji Yang didn't explain. He just threw the letter out, and the paper ball fluttered in the wind. His voice was so suppressed that it almost trembled: "This batch of food and grass is his birthday gift to you. You should be very happy, right? He wrote it in his own handwriting - just for you."
Jiang Ci was stunned for a moment, then leaned over to pick up the letter and unfolded it. Her eyes swept over the unfamiliar handwriting, her brows furrowed slightly, and her throat seemed to be momentarily hesitant, but when she raised her head, her tone remained calm:
"I don't know this person at all. Ji Yang, don't make any assumptions."
"You don't know him?" Ji Yang sneered. "He will send twenty carts of food?" Ji Yang's eyes were cold and intimidating, and his voice was deep and cold. "This is not just a few bags of grain, this is enough to save the people of Ningling for two months!"
Jiang Ci looked at him quietly, his eyes showing no panic, his tone calm and almost cold:
"If you believe me, I don't need to explain. If you don't believe me, everything I say will sound like an excuse to you."
"Jiang Ci——"
"I've never had any personal relationship with him," she interrupted, her voice slightly cold but steady. "If you want to investigate, go ahead. If you think I'm responsible, that's fine too. The governor, please let me know how you want me to handle this."
The soldiers around were either surprised or avoiding, and there was complete silence in front of the tent for a while.
Ji Yang looked at her, his lips twitching slightly, but he didn't utter a single word. Emotions surged in his throat, his knuckles turning slightly white as he clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to draw his sword.
He slowly glanced at the soldiers around him, his face as gloomy as water, and finally said in a cold voice:
"You go back first."
Jiang Ci gathered her sleeves and turned away silently. She walked slowly, but with an indescribable sense of grievance.
She didn't understand why the man named Lou Qi did these things, nor did she understand why Ji Yang could completely deny her because of a single sentence. Now she has become the target of public criticism and has been pushed to the forefront by this inexplicable letter.
In the tent, Ji Yang stood with his hands behind his back, his brows and eyes as gloomy as the twilight, and the camp lights made him look even more lonely and cold.
He had just sent Jiang Ci away, and the anger was still lingering when the curtain suddenly lifted. Yue Bai strode in quickly and whispered, "Commander-in-Chief, we've captured someone."
Ji Yang's eyes turned cold, and he said in a cold voice: "Bring him in."
Soon, two soldiers came in, escorting a woman. The woman had iron chains wrapped around her wrists, and she was staggering, with blood still smeared at the corners of her mouth.
That's Su Yu.
She was taken to the center of the tent and fell to her knees with a thud. Her face was covered in dust and blood, but her eyes were still stubborn.
Ji Yang took two steps forward, drawing his sword but not unsheathing it. He lifted her chin with the scabbard and looked down at her. His voice was low and cold as ice: "It was you who spread rumors about the epidemic area and caused trouble for my wife?"
"Tell me." He took a half step closer, his voice lowered, "What is your purpose?"
Su Yu was forced to look up, his throat moved, but he sneered.
"If you want to kill me or cut me up, do it quickly and stop talking nonsense." Her eyes were still cold, as if she was not afraid of death.
Ji Yang's eyes darkened, he slowly retracted the scabbard, and said calmly: "I don't hit women."
He paused, then continued, "But you're a spy, pretending to be a Liangzhou citizen to sneak into Ningling, poisoning the epidemic area and spreading rumors. Are you trying to alienate me from Liangzhou?"
Su Yu sneered, but the sarcasm in his eyes gradually faded, replaced by a sadness that could not be hidden.
Her lips moved, as if she didn't want to say more, but the scene involuntarily appeared in front of her eyes——
It was a dark night that day. She and Lou Qi had just left Ningling, but before they had gone far, they felt someone was following them.
She wanted to escape, but Lou Qi didn't move.
With just one palm strike, she was knocked off her horse.
She was shocked and angry, and was about to question him, but Lou Qi looked down at her with a clear and calm look in his eyes: "She needs someone to clear her name."
"Su Yu, help me, for the last time."
His voice was not loud, but it was cold.
"You take the blame," he said. "Ji Yang won't kill you. Survive."
Without waiting for her response, he turned his horse and said in a deep voice, "You must survive."
The next moment, he urged his horse to gallop away, leaving Su Yu alone lying in the wilderness.
Not long after, Yue Bai brought people to capture her.
At that moment, she truly understood that from the beginning to the end, she had never escaped from the chess game that Lou Qi had set up for so long.
She once thought that during the years they drank and fought together, and went through life and death together, Lou Qi treated her somewhat differently.
But when he was about to abandon someone, he was still as decisive as ever, without any hesitation, not even refusing to spare a glance. His request for her to survive was just a nice-sounding, polite remark; that was what he was always good at.
Now that she was imprisoned and forced to kneel in this military tent, she suddenly felt that there was no point in talking about some things anymore.
Su Yu's eyes slowly dropped, her eyelashes covering the tiny glimmer in her eyes. The backbone she was so proud of was now slowly being eroded by the exhaustion and pain of the past few days.
After a moment of silence, she finally spoke in a low voice:
"It's me."
The voice was hoarse, but extremely clear.
She raised her head and looked at Ji Yang. Her eyes were no longer stubborn, but calm to the point of being numb. "I did it. But I never thought of harming your wife, because from the beginning to the end, I hated you."
She spoke each word, gritting her teeth as if to crush the emotions weighing on her heart: "I just want you to become a loser in the eyes of the people of Ningling."
Her tone was neither hurried nor slow, but it seemed as if every word she spoke carried a poisoned blade.
Ji Yang tilted his head slightly, his eyes fixed on her face with an icy expression, but his tone remained steady: "You are from Youzhou?"
He narrowed his eyes, "Did Lou Qi send you here?"
Su Yu did not avoid it, but just sneered: "You really think highly of him."
Then he retorted, "I don't have any accomplices. For such a small matter, do I need accomplices? Do you think all of us in Hanbei are useless?"
A little light rekindled in her eyes, like mockery, like pride, as if she would hold on to her last breath even if she was trapped in a cage.
Ji Yang glanced at her coldly, clearly tired of tangling with her. He turned around and ordered:
"Keep it going and find a way to make her talk."
The soldier stepped forward, held Su Yu down, and dragged him out of the tent swiftly.
The next morning, the fog had just dissipated.
Jiang Ci took Wanniang and Yinshuang to the epidemic area. The carriage was loaded with rice cakes, medicinal porridge, and dry food that she had prepared personally.
Just after passing North Street and before reaching the epidemic area, I saw a person hanging on the north city gate from afar.
The morning breeze blew by, and the man's clothes were tattered. His hands were hanging high on the city wall, his head was lowered, his black hair was hanging down, and his whole body was tanned pale.
Jiang Ci was shocked and looked carefully. The person was Su Yu.
She frowned and quickly stepped forward. The soldier guarding the gate recognized Jiang Ci and immediately bowed. Jiang Ci stopped and pointed to a high place and asked, "What's going on?"
The guard replied, "Madam, this is the Hanbei spy captured by the governor yesterday."
"She was the one who poisoned the people's medicine. The governor ordered her to be hanged here to give the people of Ningling an explanation and atone for her sins. It also serves as a warning to those in the city not to have any evil intentions."
Jiang Ci looked up.
Su Yu's wrists were left with deep bloody marks, and the blood had dried up and stained the torn sleeves.
She gasped, her fingers trembling slightly.
And the person on the high wall seemed to notice that someone was watching him.
Su Yu slowly raised her head and her eyes fell on Jiang Ci.
There was no pleading or shame in his eyes, but instead the same sneer and disdain as always. It was as if he was saying, "Are you satisfied with what I've become?"
Jiang Ci stood there, his face solemn. After a moment, he said, "She killed many people, so she deserves to pay with her life."
His tone was cold and he couldn't tell any emotion.
After saying that, she retracted her gaze and stepped into the epidemic area side by side with Wanniang.
The epidemic area is now much more orderly. As soon as Jiang Ci entered, people came up to him with shame and hesitation in their eyes.
An elder's eyes reddened, and he cupped his hands and whispered, "Madam, we wronged you a few days ago. We are truly sorry..."
Some young people pursed their lips, unable to utter a single word for a long time. They just lowered their heads and stood silently by.
Jiang Ci looked at these people, his tone gentle but not weak: "I won't blame you."
She glanced at everyone and spoke calmly, "After this incident, if you encounter any problems in the future, I hope you will think before getting angry, and don't let others take advantage of your kindness and anger so easily."
Everyone nodded repeatedly, looking ashamed.
Wanniang and Yinshuang have started distributing food. Children are running over, and the long-lost human voices are finally floating in the air.
Jiang Ci looked at all this, but suddenly a hint of coldness appeared in the corner of his eyes, and he sneered softly.
"Yan Du...right." She murmured, "That makes sense."
The chivalrous knight who calls himself Young Master Yan, although his origins are unknown, is able to move swiftly and give precise instructions.
She thought about it, suddenly looked up and called Yinshuang.
"Do you remember the day I tore off his token?"
Yin Shuang nodded: "It's on the girl's dressing table. I helped you get it."
Jiang Ci's expression turned serious. "You need to go back now and take the token away. Hide it with you. Don't let the governor see it. Do you understand?"
Yin Shuang's eyes trembled: "The girl is afraid..."
Jiang Ci interrupted her, his tone slightly anxious: "Don't ask so many questions, just go."
Yin Shuang quickly agreed and turned away in a hurry.
Jiang Ci stood there, his heart tightening slightly.
Ji Yang's misunderstanding that she was involved with Lou Qi was already giving her a headache. If the token fell into his hands, things would probably get even more out of control.
Yin Shuang hurried back to Jiang Ci's room. She walked quickly to the dressing table and opened the top drawer, but it was empty.
She frowned and turned to the carved box beside her. She carefully opened the lid and found a handkerchief, a hairpin, and a scroll of letters, but there was no sign of the token.
She panicked a little and turned around to look around the room——
Suddenly, a deep male voice sounded slowly from behind her. The voice was steady, yet like a sharp blade cutting through the wind:
"You're looking for this?"
Yin Shuang's heart trembled and she turned around suddenly.
Ji Yang was standing at the door, tall, with his black robe still on, casually playing with an ebony token in his hand.
The air in the room seemed to freeze in an instant.
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