Her porcelain bottle contained a deadly poison that could kill anyone who dared to act recklessly; she would kill him instantly, regardless of whether he was an old acquaintance or not.
Zhou Jing'an hesitated for a moment, then ultimately chose to back down.
Knowing Jian Yang's expertise in using poison, he dared not gamble.
So he left.
Jian Yang watched Zhou Jing'an's departing figure before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
Although she desperately wanted to ask Jian Hong for help, he was too far away to be of any use, so she had to rely on herself.
For the next two days, she carried the deadly poison with her, whether she was sleeping or visiting the emperor.
Two days later, the emperor returned to the restaurant as promised, and brought back two guards with him.
This must be the bodyguard who has been protecting him in the shadows.
Seeing that he was completely intact, with no missing limbs, Jian Yang's heart finally settled back into her stomach.
As for how the emperor escaped, Jian Yang had already asked the emperor about it in the past few days.
It turned out that the secret guard had taken the emperor's token to the county magistrate that day.
However, this place was far from the emperor's reach, and the county magistrate had accepted bribes from Zhou Jing'an. Moreover, he did not recognize the emperor's token, so he insisted that the secret guard was a fraud and that he must be severely punished.
The guards had no choice but to hurry to the prefectural capital.
Ultimately, the secret guards, armed with the emperor's token, ordered the prefect to put pressure on the county magistrate.
As the saying goes, "a higher-ranking official can crush a lower one." Although the county magistrate still didn't believe that the murderer was the emperor, he had no choice but to release him under pressure from his superiors.
"Ayang, this place has been exposed, we must leave." The emperor said in a heavy tone, "I'm sorry, I've dragged you into this."
Jian Yang had long been mentally prepared, but she did not blame the emperor.
Although the other party was after the emperor, she felt, perhaps it was just her imagination, that the person was also quite interested in her.
It's too early to say for sure who dragged whom down.
"Your Majesty," Jian Yang asked, "Have you sent people to investigate that blue figure?"
The emperor nodded: "But he has long since left, and that house is now vacant."
Very cunning.
After a moment's thought, Jian Yang asked, "Your Majesty, could you give me one more day?"
Why wouldn't that be allowed? Of course the emperor would agree.
So that day, Jian Yang found Sister Mei and entrusted the restaurant to her.
Sister Mei was shocked and said repeatedly, "Master, this is unacceptable!"
“Sure,” Jian Yang said with a smile. “When I first taught you my skills, I knew this day would come, but I have one request.”
Sister Mei asked, "What is your request? Please tell me, boss."
Jian Yang said, "I will give you a subsidy of one hundred taels every year, but you cannot raise the prices of the dishes in the restaurant. Everyone must be able to afford them."
Ten taels of silver is enough for an ordinary family's expenses for a year, while one hundred taels is a huge sum of money.
Sister Mei was moved to tears and promised to run the restaurant well.
The next day, before dawn, Jian Yang and the emperor arrived at the dock accompanied by their guards.
They changed their appearance again and embarked on their journey with a completely new image.
This time, instead of continuing south, the two chose to head north.
One reason was to make it easier for the emperor to return to the capital at any time, and the other was because Jian Yang had lost faith in the southern barbarian lands.
Good weather is one thing, but when something goes wrong and you're left with no one to turn to, that's when you feel utterly hopeless.
Because of its distance from the capital, the officials here were largely unregulated, and if they really wanted to commit murder for money, she would be completely helpless.
Three days after the passenger ship departed, the two arrived in Huzhou.
Once you cross Huzhou, you'll be in the northern territory.
However, a sudden downpour occurred that day, and the river was swept by strong winds and waves.
Fearing an accident, the captain had no choice but to let the passengers disembark to avoid the rain, otherwise the passenger ship could capsize at any time.
The two had no choice but to find a relatively large inn nearby.
Due to the extremely bad weather, all the guesthouses near the pier were full, but this particular guesthouse had two rooms left because of its high prices.
Jian Yang accepted them all without hesitation.
She and the emperor each had their own room, and the secret guards usually hid in the shadows; even if they were given beds, they wouldn't sleep there.
Just as she was about to pay, a richly dressed, slick-haired young man swaggered in, surrounded by servants.
Jian Yang immediately urged the hotel to check her in.
At the same time, the young master learned that all the rooms in the inn were sold out, and a huge uproar broke out in the area.
"Why do they get rooms while I don't?" the young master roared. "Innkeeper, are you looking down on people?"
The shopkeeper quickly put on a smiling face and said, "Young master, it's not that I look down on you, but we really don't have any rooms available. Please try looking at other places."
"What the hell are you looking at!" the young master cursed. "All the inns around here are dilapidated. Only your place looks slightly upscale. I wouldn't stay in those run-down inns even if they begged me to!"
The innkeeper smiled and said, "Thank you for your kind offer, young master. However, the last two rooms in our inn have been booked by these two guests. We are truly sorry."
Now the young master turned his attention to Jian Yang and the emperor.
Since the two of them were dressed as ordinary passersby and looked like average people, the young master did not linger his gaze on them for long. Instead, he took out a silver ingot and threw it in front of them.
"You two, give me a room. This money is a reward for you."
Jian Yang glanced at him indifferently, then turned and left with the emperor.
"I'm talking to you, are you deaf?" The young master's servant immediately rushed forward to stop them.
Suddenly, a hidden weapon flew out from nowhere and pierced straight into the servant's thigh, causing him to fall to the ground and wail in pain.
"You, you, you! How dare you hurt people!" The young master pointed at them, his eyes filled with anger.
Jian Yang spread her hands. "What proof do you have that we injured you?"
Moreover, they were clearly facing away from the servant, so they couldn't have launched any hidden weapons.
Knowing he was in the wrong and that he had met his match, the young master could only threaten, "You just wait!"
Jian Yang and the emperor were too lazy to pay him any more attention and went back to their respective rooms.
At this moment, another servant of the young master rushed in from outside, excitedly saying, "Young master, I've booked a room for you at the inn across the street. You'd better hurry over, or someone will take it!"
"Let's go!" The young master led his servant to the other side.
The shopkeeper wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. These days have been really tough.
It was getting dark, but the rain showed no signs of letting up.
Jian Yang and the emperor ate something casually and then prepared to take a hot bath and go to bed.
The further north they go, the cooler the weather gets. They got caught in the rain today, and if they don't get a good night's sleep, they're likely to catch a cold.
After Jian Yang finished showering, the torrential rain miraculously stopped, and the moon, which had been hiding behind the dark clouds, peeked out.
The bright moonlight shone down on the earth, illuminating the streets.
Since her hair was still wet, Jian Yang opened the window, intending to dry it before going to sleep.
Just then, the young master who was staying at the inn across the street also opened his window.
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