leave
At dusk, Jiang Jin lay on the couch, looking at Wei Shu standing beside it, then turned his face away. "General, has the physician arrived?"
"Hmm." Wei Shu didn't say anything more, just waved his hand, and the physician began to take Jiang Jin's pulse.
"Madam is in good health and there is nothing wrong with her." Wei Shu said calmly upon hearing this. "Someone just poisoned her, and my wife has just taken the antidote. I wonder if it has been neutralized?"
"My lord..." The physician took the pulse again, and finally replied with a lot of doubt, "There is no trace of Chinese medicine in the lady's body!"
"Impossible, how could there be no Chinese medicine if I can smell the medicine?" Jiang Jin's heart stirred. "I tried the medicine about twenty days ago, which caused me to be unconscious for a few days. I wonder if it's possible that this incident changed my body?"
"I don't know the specific reason, but there's nothing wrong with the lady's body. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave." Wei Shu glanced at Zhou Cong, who tactfully led the physician out and closed the door.
"Does the general have anything else? If not, I need to rest." Jiang Jin closed her eyes, not wanting to look at Wei Shu again.
"I'm sorry, I..." Wei Shu realized he had misunderstood Jiang Jin, but Jiang Jin interrupted him before he could finish his apology.
"General, I am truly exhausted. I must return to the capital tomorrow, so I will not speak with you further." Jiang Jin turned his back to Wei Shu, no longer looking at him.
"Alright, you should get some rest." Seeing Jiang Jin's exhausted appearance, Wei Shu didn't say anything more and gently closed the door. Jiang Jin sat up and looked at the birds flying by outside the window, a bittersweet feeling welling up inside her.
She couldn't help but recall the world's evaluation of Wei Shu: deep-thinking, treacherous, ruthless, and full of schemes. Why was she still sad when she had clearly foreseen this?
A tear fell onto her hand, and only then did she realize she was crying. The more she wiped, the more tears streamed down her face. Jiang Jin was a little scared. She didn't know what was wrong with her, why she was crying over this. Wei Shu had clearly softened, and her quick reaction and strategic retreat had worked well, so why couldn't she feel happy?
"General, are we really going to send the lady back to the capital tomorrow?" Zhou Cong asked, standing beside Wei Shu and looking at his gloomy profile.
"Tomorrow you will escort the lady to the capital by water." Wei Shu sighed, touching the dagger in his pocket. "How did it go?"
"The man was drugged and then his throat was slit by the madam, so he is already dead. The woman was identified by the steward as the mistress of the Wang family. She is still under the influence of drugs and has not yet woken up."
"Put her in the prison cart and take her away." Wei Shu glanced at the tightly closed door of the main house, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
The next day, Jiang Jin packed some clothes and gold and released the cat back into the wild before dawn, then left alone. Yi Yi, who was hiding in the shadows, didn't understand Jiang Jin's intentions but followed her nonetheless.
Jiang Jin walked into the woods, looked around to make sure no one was there, then stamped her foot. Yi Yi appeared before her.
"My lady, is there anything you need?" Yi knelt on the ground, remaining constantly alert.
"Has the note been sent to the capital?" Jiang Jin stood in the woods, the morning sun shining on her, but she felt no warmth.
"I've already sent someone to deliver it. Do you have any further instructions, Madam?" Yi Yi noticed that Jiang Jin was heading in a direction that didn't seem to be the way back to the capital.
"What are your chances of winning against Wei Shu?" Jiang Jin walked into the woods, with Yi Yi following behind her.
"Fifty percent, but I will hold off Wei Shu and do my best to buy time for my wife." Although Yi Yi didn't understand, he had already expressed his thoughts.
"It's nothing. If things get exposed, I'll just die anyway." Jiang Jin walked through the woods, looking at the snakes, insects, and rodents that appeared. He took out insect repellent powder from his pocket and sprinkled it on his feet.
"Yi-ichi, do you want it?" Jiang Jin asked Yi-ichi behind her.
"Thank you, madam, but I am not afraid of these things. Where are you going, madam?" Yi asked expressionlessly, stepping over the flickering snake and following closely behind Jiang Jin.
"If you cross this mountain and head west, you'll reach Jiufang City, the most prosperous town in Bianzhou. I have business to attend to there." Sunlight filtering through the trees dispelled some of the mist.
"I can send a message to help you, madam; there's no need to actually cross mountains and valleys," Yi Yi advised, looking at Jiang Jin's blood-stained shoes.
"I think this is quite good. We don't need to rack our brains trying to please Wei Shu and guess his thoughts. We can just let Yi Er stay by Wei Shu's side to monitor his every move." Jiang Jin walked in the forest for five days, and on the morning of the sixth day, he finally saw smoke rising in the distance.
"My lady, this is a message from Yi Er." Yi Yi removed the note tied to the pigeon's leg and handed it to Jiang Jin.
The note was short, but the words on it carried immense weight: "Jiang Shiwei's urgent investigation yielded no results."
"Let's go." Jiang Jin burned the note with a tinderbox and then walked towards Jiufang City.
"Yi-yi, you don't need to follow me anymore." As soon as Jiang Jin finished speaking, Yi-yi disappeared from the spot. She then knocked on the farmer's gate alone.
"Hello, is anyone home?" Farmers were heading to the fields to work in the early morning, and someone quickly answered.
"Who is it?" A woman opened the door. "Madam, do you know if there are any oxcarts in the village that go to the township?"
"This..." The woman could tell from Jiang Jin's clothes that the woman in front of her was of extraordinary status.
"Don't worry, Madam, I have a document with my records." Jiang Jin took out the document from her bundle and showed it to the woman.
"Please come in and have a seat, madam. I'll send my maid to the village head to ask if anyone went to the township to buy things today." The woman warmly pulled Jiang Jin inside.
More than ten people were sitting at the wooden table inside, looking at Jiang Jin with curiosity. "Er Ya, go to the village chief and ask if anyone is going to the township today. Tell them to take this lady with them."
"Alright!" The little girl on the table grabbed a flatbread and ran out. "Isn't this child afraid of falling?"
The old woman at the table said, and then everyone's attention returned to Jiang Jin, "Sister, your shoes are broken!"
The boy's clear, crisp voice on the table drew everyone's attention to Jiang Jin's shoes.
"Alright, eat your flatbread." The woman in front of Jiang Jin waved her hand and pulled Jiang Jin to sit down.
"Young lady, wait a moment." The woman turned and went back into the house, where she brought out a brand new pair of shoes.
"These were made at home. They're certainly not as good as the shoes you're wearing, but they're still wearable." The woman placed the shoes in Jiang Jin's hands. "You can change them inside or in the village."
"I can't accept this," Jiang Jin quickly declined. "These shoes are still wearable. The dense stitching shows that a lot of effort was put into making them. I can't take them."
"You're about the same age as my sister, so consider this a gift for her." Unable to refuse, Jiang Jin accepted it.
"Mom, the village chief said Brother Da Niu is going to the township to sell goods today, so he can take this lady with him." Er Ya came skipping back. "Wife, I'll take you!"
"Thank you all." Jiang Jin handed a gold bean to the woman. "Consider this a thank you gift for the shoes."
“My shoes aren’t worth that much money,” the woman hurriedly declined. Jiang Jin smiled and placed the beans on the table. “I think they’re worth that much.”
"Er Ya, let's go." Jiang Jin took Er Ya's hand, and the two walked on the dirt road. "Wife, there are so many fun things in the countryside, and there's also malt candy. Brother Da Niu often brings us malt candy back to eat."
Er Ya kept telling interesting stories along the way, "Brother Da Niu, this is the wife who wants to go to the countryside."
Da Niu turned around and saw Jiang Jin. Although she looked tired, she couldn't hide her exhaustion.
"Why is this woman here alone?" The village chief asked Jiang Jin warily.
“I am from Bocheng. I went to Yuezhou with my husband, but unfortunately, he fell in love with someone else and listened to slander, leaving me by the roadside. I want to go back to Jiufang City to ask my father to intervene and get a divorce.” As Jiang Jin spoke, she handed the document to the village chief.
“There are indeed traces of Bocheng and Yuezhou. You are also a pitiful person. Come with my son to the countryside. We will hire a donkey cart to go to Jiufang City.”
"Thank you." Jiang Jin bowed and then got into the oxcart. Along the way, Da Zhuang kept glancing at Jiang Jin.
"You don't need to be sad. You'll definitely find a good husband after the divorce." Jiang Jin smiled and thanked her.
Seeing this, Da Niu dared not say anything more, but quickened his pace. When they arrived at the village, Jiang Jin handed Da Niu the last copper coin he had at his waist.
"Thank you for bringing me to the village. I don't have many copper coins, so I hope you won't mind."
"No, no, no need. You still have plenty of places to spend money on the way to Jiufang City. Keep it for yourself. I'm going to the market!" Da Niu hurriedly drove the oxcart away.
Jiang Jin then bought a fine horse and rode towards Jiufang City day and night until the third day when he finally arrived at the woods outside the city.
Jiang Jin restrained his horse in the woods and stood at a corner of the city gate waiting for the clothing workshop staff. Just after 9:00 AM, a woman in a pink dress walked out of the city gate, and Jiang Jin followed her.
As soon as they entered the woods, the woman quickly looked Jiang Jin up and down. "I heard that you were injured and lost two of your three souls. How come you suddenly came to Jiufang City alone?"
"It's a long story, Ah Sui, do you have any way to let me enter the city without going through the checkpoint?" Jiang Jin asked, glancing at the soldiers checking people at the city gate.
"Let me think." Tian Sui looked at Jiang Jin's face and had an idea. "Private slaves don't have a place to stay. Wait for me while I go get the clothes." Tian Sui looked around and then ran towards the city gate.
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, she came towards Jiang Jin carrying a package. There's a cave in the forest; let's go inside and change our clothes.
"Tell me how you got yourself into such a sorry state! That madman abused you!" Tian Sui almost burst into tears looking at the wounds on Jiang Jin's body.
"No, I hurt myself." Jiang Jin changed into a maid's dress and tied her hair up with a wooden hairpin.
"Are you crazy?" Tian Sui said harshly, but still placed the pastries in Jiang Jin's palm. "Look at your face, it's scarier than a ghost."
"Wei Shu and the others are traveling a bit slower because they have Lady Wang with them. I need to get into the city before him because I'm afraid he'll be monitoring the people coming and going at the city gate."
"Alright, I'll take you in when the guards change shifts at noon." Tian Sui wiped Jiang Jin's face with a handkerchief. "Jin, you must be tired. Take a rest for a while."
"Ah Sui, I'm really a little tired." Jiang Jin leaned on Tian Sui's shoulder, her eyes glistening with tears.
"Madam Jiang, Yi Er has sent a letter!" Yi Yi appeared and handed the letter to Jiang Jin. This time, unlike before, the small piece of paper was covered with densely packed writing.
"Shu entered Jiufang City but could not find Jiang. He was furious and the king put him in a prison cart without letting him out. He made a huge fuss and injured the steward. He and Liao searched outside but did not return."
"Tian Sui, I don't have time to stay here. I need to get into the city right away." Jiang Jin straightened her clothes and looked at Tian Sui.
"Alright, follow me." The two walked out of the forest and arrived at the city gate, where they happened to encounter the soldiers changing shifts.
"Wait, where is your address?" the soldier stopped Jiang Jin and asked.
"She's my personal slave, what wrong have I done? You idiot, why aren't you helping me up? You're so stupid, I'll sell you off in a while." Tian Sui even kicked Jiang Jin.
"Alright, what kind of behavior is this, making a scene at the city gate? Hurry up and go inside." The soldier waved his hand, letting the two of them in.
Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from behind. Jiang Jin knew something was wrong and quickly pulled Tian Sui into the alley.
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