unique
As night fell, the flickering candlelight illuminated Jiang Jin's face. "Wei Shu, did you find anything there?"
Jiang Jin rubbed her eyes to relieve the soreness, then began to look at the account books again.
“I’ve noted down a few points.” Wei Shu handed the teacup on the table to Jiang Jin. “Have some tea. Your throat doesn’t sound too sore.”
"It's okay, but is it really possible for anyone to come so late?"
Jiang Jin had just taken a sip of tea and put down her teacup when she heard a noise coming from the courtyard outside. Suddenly, a small hole was poked in the window, and a puff of white smoke escaped from it.
Wei Shu immediately reached out and covered Jiang Jin's nose. Jiang Jin nodded and covered Wei Shu's hand with her own. The two slowly moved away from the table, and Wei Shu carefully took a bow and arrow from the wall and placed it in Jiang Jin's palm.
The effects of the sleeping potion hadn't worn off, so the two could only hold their breath and slowly move to the door. Wei Shu suddenly pushed the door open, and Zhou Cong was lying on the ground. Several men in black standing outside looked at Wei Shu with some surprise.
Wei Shu's eyes flashed with ruthlessness as he grabbed Zhou Cong's sword and charged into the crowd. Jiang Jin followed closely behind, swiftly drawing his bow and firing an arrow, eliminating the black-clad men who tried to pounce on him.
Soon, the body of the man in black lay on the ground, and a large number of people in the government office fainted. When the two men reached the morgue, they saw that the coroner inside had also been drugged.
The government office wasn't large. Jiang Jin followed Wei Shu, searching for any remaining suspects. When they reached Sima's room, they noticed two shadowy figures projected onto the window by candlelight.
Jiang Jin and Wei Shu exchanged a glance and cautiously moved to the shadows, staring intently at the two figures. Although they couldn't hear what the people inside were saying, they could tell from the reflections in the window that they were two men.
Jiang Jin gestured for Wei Shu to move to the right, then slowly moved to the right. Wei Shu gripped his sword and kicked open the door, while Jiang Jin seized the opportunity to fire arrows at the two people inside.
"Gentlemen, what are you talking about? Why don't General Wei and I listen in too?" Jiang Jin kicked the man in front of her aside and pressed a dagger she had drawn from her waist against his throat.
"Tell me, who exactly are you?" Seeing he couldn't escape, the man tried to commit suicide by poisoning himself, but Wei Shu dislocated his jaw.
"No one has ever successfully committed suicide by my hand." Wei Shu glanced at the limp Sima and snorted coldly.
"It seems news travels fast in the capital; everyone's getting impatient!"
Upon hearing this, Sima shook his head in fear and moved backward. Wei Shu unceremoniously stepped on his leg, and the sound of bones breaking echoed in their ears, followed by Sima's heart-wrenching cries.
"Don't be afraid, I'm not General Wei. I won't be that ruthless. Just answer me truthfully, and I'll let you go." Jiang Jin moved the dagger away. The man, thinking Jiang Jin was kind-hearted, nodded vigorously, but the next second he grabbed her throat.
He even put his dislocated jaw back into place himself. "Wei Shu, you want to arrest me? I'll have your wife act as my shield. Even if I die, I'll take someone down with me!"
Jiang Jin narrowed her eyes. She hated this feeling of being held hostage, as if she were back on that long street. Jiang Jin held her breath, gripped the dagger, and stabbed it fiercely into the man's abdomen.
The man cried out in pain, released Jiang Jin, and fell to the ground. Jiang Jin knelt down and dislocated his jaw.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you." Jiang Jin turned to look at Wei Shu. "Wei Shu, may I borrow your sword?"
Wei Shu glanced at Sima and placed the horizontal sword in Jiang Jin's hand. Jiang Jin grasped the sword and pointed it at the man, sliding it down to his fingers. "You just used this hand to choke me?"
"What are you going to do?" Jiang Jin didn't answer. The cold light of his sword flashed across their faces, and in an instant, all the fingers on the man's right hand fell to the ground. Seeing this, Sima silently moved behind Wei Shu.
Jiang Jin looked at the man curled up at her feet and snorted coldly, "General Wei, please find him a doctor so he doesn't die."
Jiang Jin squatted down and wiped the bloodstains on the sword with the man's sleeve. "I spared your life because I was kind-hearted, so give me more useful stuff, otherwise I wouldn't mind planting you in the ground."
As Jiang Jin stood up, she didn't forget to remind Wei Shu, "General Wei, remember to bring back my dagger; I treasure it very much." Jiang Jin put down her sword and hadn't gone far when she saw Song Zhimin running towards her.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the unharmed Jiang Jin, his eyes filled with worry.
"Why are you here?" Jiang Jin frowned at Song Zhimin. "Yi Yi, knock him out and throw him out!"
Jiang Jin breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Wei Shu diligently cleaning up the mess inside the room. "Madam Jiang, I only came in because I noticed something had happened at the government office. I won't cause you any trouble if I leave now."
Song Zhimin waved away Yi Yi's hand. Yi Yi looked at Jiang Jin with some hesitation, "You will leave Beizhou first thing tomorrow morning, otherwise I will let Yi Yi help you leave."
Upon hearing this, Song Zhimin staggered, her eyes slightly red. "You hate me that much?"
"Yi-yi, knock him out." Jiang Jin turned and left without saying anything more. It was better to let him go than to linger here and arouse suspicion.
"I'm sorry, Young Master Song." Yi Yi knocked Song Zhimin unconscious, carried him away from the government office.
"Yi Er, send a letter to His Highness and have him thoroughly investigate Song Zhimin. I have a feeling something's off about him, and he's been disobedient, acting on his own. We need to teach him a lesson." Yi Er appeared behind Jiang Jin and replied, "My lady, should we send someone to help Song Langjun leave?"
"No need, this is just a warning to him. Keep an eye on him and don't let him appear in front of Wei Shu again." Jiang Jin squinted at the direction Song Zhimin left in.
"Yes, my lady." As Yi Er disappeared, a commotion erupted throughout the government office. Jiang Jin knew those people had woken up. Turning around, she saw Zhou Cong and Zhou Liao rushing over.
"Madam, are you and the General alright?" Zhou Cong, seeing the bloodstains on Jiang Jin, had already decided how he would die.
“It’s alright, your general is inside.” Jiang Jin comforted Zhou Cong, seeing his guilty expression. “Don’t worry, your general and I are both people who can survive against assassins. These men in black are no pushovers.”
"It was my dereliction of duty!" Zhou Cong knelt before Jiang Jin. "If I had been more vigilant, the General and his wife wouldn't have been left to fight alone!"
"This isn't your fault. The enemy is cunning; no matter how cautious you are, it's useless. Your most important task now is to help your general clean up the mess. I'm going back to the accounting office." Jiang Jin waved to indicate that Zhou Cong didn't need to follow.
Jiang Jin walked along the bluestone path of the government office, watching the people around her go from panic to calm. When she returned to the courtyard, she saw that the men in black on the ground had long been dealt with by the Imperial Guards, leaving not even a trace of blood.
Jiang Jin relit the candle and began to look at the ledger as if nothing had happened, but the strong smell of blood still lingered around her. She coughed lightly and then returned to the ledger.
As the rooster crowed, Jiang Jin slowly raised her head from the account books. Opening the door and gazing at the distant sunlight, she wondered why Wei Shu hadn't returned for so long. Lifting her skirt, she walked along the bluestone path back to Sima's room.
"Madam." Zhou Cong covered his right hand and looked at Jiang Jin. Jiang Jin then suddenly realized that there seemed to be another fight taking place here.
"Is Wei Shu alright?" Jiang Jin looked around but couldn't see him, and a bad feeling rose in her heart.
"The general and Zhou Liao went after them. I'll stay here to guard the lady and the government office." Zhou Cong silently retreated, watching Jiang Jin's face gradually darken.
"Where did it go?" Jiang Jin asked Zhou Cong, suppressing her anger. "It went east. The general knows that the lady wants to end things as soon as possible, so he was a little anxious."
"Give me the horse and the bow and arrows!" Jiang Jin took a deep breath, picked up the bow and arrows, mounted the horse, and rode eastward in pursuit.
Before long they arrived at the city gate. "This lady is passing by!"
The soldiers guarding the city dutifully stopped Jiang Jin. "Have you seen General Wei Shu leave the city?" Jiang Jin jumped off his horse and asked the soldiers.
"No, I haven't changed shifts yet and haven't seen anyone leave the city?" The city guard flinched slightly upon hearing Wei Shu's name but still answered truthfully.
"Thank you." Jiang Jin left his horse behind and continued searching for Wei Shu in the town.
"Yi Yi, Yi Er, you two split up and go find Wei Shu!" Jiang Jin was somewhat flustered, the image of Wei Shu injured at the cliff kept flashing before her eyes.
"My lady, I'll have Yi Er and Yi San stay behind to protect you." Yi Yi darted away, and Jiang Jin took a few deep breaths to calm herself before continuing her search for Wei Shu.
"Wei Shu!" Jiang Jin paced back and forth in the alley, her unease growing stronger. Her fingers trembled as she gripped the arrow, her hand tightening its hold on it.
"Madam!" Zhou Liao clutched his lower back and called out to Jiang Jin softly.
"Zhou Liao!" Jiang Jin looked at Zhou Liao, whose face had turned pale, and his gaze fell on the wound on his waist that was bleeding continuously.
"The general is in the alley ahead! Madam, please go back and get reinforcements!" Zhou Liao collapsed weakly to the ground.
"Yi San, take Zhou Liao back to report the news. Yi Er, contact Yi Yi!" Jiang Jin lifted her skirt and rushed into the dimly lit alley ahead.
"Wei Shu!" Jiang Jin drew his bow and shot an arrow, successfully saving Wei Shu from a sneak attack.
"What happened to you? Come on, let's go!" Wei Shu saw that he hadn't brought anyone with him and hurriedly tried to get him to leave.
"I told you I wouldn't let you die!" Jiang Jin drew his bow and shot an arrow, successfully killing one of the men.
"I didn't expect the rumors about General Wei and his wife's deep love to be true. In that case, we'll see you two off." The man in black waved his hand, and another group of people appeared from behind.
"You think your prince will survive if you kill us?!" Jiang Jin laughed, gripping the bow and arrow in his hand.
"Wei Shu is a unique minister whom His Majesty has painstakingly cultivated, but His Majesty has many princes. Do you think His Majesty will spare your princes' lives after a thorough investigation since he died here today?"
"Enough nonsense! We dare to kill you, but we have ways to prevent the emperor from finding us!" Seeing that this method was useless, Jiang Jin could only draw his bow to stop the surging crowd.
"Ah Jin, let's go!" Wei Shu drew his sword and charged towards the alleyway, followed by a relentless stream of men in black. The two fought fiercely in the morning light, their eyes bloodshot.
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