Seeing the mess on the ground, with his and her shoes, socks, and clothes all soaked by a basin of hot water, Yuan Xingzhou called the person guarding the door to prepare new ones.
"Have you been spying on me all this time?"
"If you think so, then so be it." He agreed, following her reasoning. In fact, he didn't need to do this at all, but if he denied it, she probably wouldn't believe him and would find something amiss.
"You had the chief eunuch Li Gang and Fu Rong contact the Julu army to take away the coffin, but you didn't inform me or let me handle my late husband's funeral. You planned to take it away and bury it in a hurry. Was it because you were worried about my grief, or is there another reason?" she asked again.
Li Gang had already reported this matter to him, and Yuan Xingzhou didn't expect things to happen so coincidentally, that she would just happen to stumble upon this incident.
The use of the word "hidden story" is worth considering.
Did she guess something, or did she find something out from that corpse?
Seeing that her hands were still wet and the handkerchief on the ground had already cooled down, Yuan Xingzhou stepped forward and used the sleeve of a robe made of the most expensive fabric in the palace as a cloth to wrap her hands and dry them: "You're overthinking it."
But she was unwilling to accept his kindness. When she realized his movement, she pulled out her hand first: "Your Highness, please have some self-respect."
His hand froze in mid-air after grasping at empty air. The cold aura emanating from him grew stronger, the gauze curtains hung low and swayed gently in the breeze, and his pale skin seemed to emanate a chill as well.
"Since arriving in Shengjing, I feel like everything has been arranged. There's always a thread pulling me forward, but various things keep me busy, so I haven't had time to think about the doubts."
She spoke slowly, as if sorting out recent events: "No, it wasn't about coming to Shengjing. Perhaps we can start from when he went to the Jichun Craftsmen's Guild in Julu Kingdom. Yuwen Sheng went to Yongchun City with a purpose, but he was clearly there to steal secrets. So why did he go with the craftsmen from Changxunpo who were also attending the Jichun Craftsmen's Guild? Julu Kingdom was already eyeing him covetously, yet he brought along a few distinctive people with him—Wang Zebang, Wei Yao, and the others. This undoubtedly exposed him to the public."
After listening, Yuan Xingzhou remained noncommittal, only coldly saying, "He may have his own ideas."
"What was he thinking? Was he deliberately walking into the enemy's trap, or knowingly venturing into danger, or was he going to great lengths to send you, the failed assassin, back to Changxunpo in Ye Kingdom and imprison you there..."
Some things cannot be revisited; once you unravel them in detail, they become terrifying to think about.
"Does he really not know your true identity? General Yuwen Sheng, a peerless master feared by all, yet they sent an assassin like you to deal with him. Is this walking into a trap, or are you just a lure to deliberately create conflict and sow discord between the Prince of Ye and Yuwen Sheng?"
"Very good analysis, continue." Yuan Xingzhou smiled and did not refute anything.
Zheng Quchi did not stop: "Yuwen Sheng is not stupid. Even if he didn't realize it on the spot, he would definitely have some suspicions afterward. Your identity cannot be hidden at all, but he didn't tell the Prince of Ye about you, nor did he kill you. Instead, he kept you locked in the dungeon of the camp. What is he planning or scheming?"
Yuan Xingzhou lowered his eyelashes lazily, his world-weary face carrying an air of detachment from the world, the smile on his lips so unreal: "Could it be that I'm just being stubborn and haven't revealed any useful information, which is why he hasn't dealt with me yet?"
Zheng Quchi fixed his gaze on his face: "Impossible. If you didn't have anything that he would value, given his personality, he would execute any assassin and never give them a place in the dungeon. Every year, countless people try to assassinate him, but look at the entire dungeon. Apart from you, which other assassin has been imprisoned alive?"
Yuan Xingzhou looked up and agreed, "That makes sense."
rational?
Do you think you can just dismiss her with a simple "that makes sense"?
Zheng Quchi had some things brewing in her mind, and her brows were furrowed with doubt. She had been busy with work all day and was a little tired from standing and talking, so she walked over to the table and sat down.
At this moment, Qiu and Dong brought a brand new pair of men's and women's shoes and socks, along with a dry towel. After asking outside the door, they were allowed to enter. They lowered their eyes, bowed, and squatted down to serve, but Zheng Quchi stopped them.
She wasn't used to having others do these private things for her: "I can do it myself, you can all go down."
"Yes, madam."
Autumn and Winter obeyed her orders without hesitation, completely ignoring the other person in the room.
Zheng Quchi sat down, deftly took off his shoes and socks, dried his feet with a handkerchief, and then put on new ones.
After everything was done, she saw Yuan Xingzhou standing there without moving: "Not changing?"
"You're concerned about me?"
"Take it or leave it," she said irritably.
Yuan Xingzhou sat down beside her and took off his shoes and socks without asking. Zheng Quchi, who was still thinking, paused for a moment when her gaze inadvertently fell on his feet: "Your feet..."
"My foot?" Yuan Xingzhou asked, puzzled.
Several images flashed through her mind, then she scratched her palm with her fingernail, trying not to let her expression show any more abnormality, only twitching the corner of her mouth: "You're quite fair-skinned, but too thin. Don't you eat properly?"
"No."
“Sometimes you have to eat even if you don’t feel like it. Yuwen Sheng is also a picky eater. Every time I have to coax him to eat, I have to cook a variety of appetizing dishes myself before he will deign to eat a few more bites. You and he are not only both thin, but you also have the same picky eating and small appetite…”
She paused at this point.
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