Chapter 270: The First Grand Secretary (32)
They hadn't seen anyone along the way, and finally arrived at a house. Gao Wei knocked on the door and said, "I've brought the person."
"Come in."
The door opened, and Wen Wan was pushed inside by Gao Wei, while he himself did not enter. Wen Wan walked in with weak legs.
"Take a seat."
A ghost-like maid suddenly appeared and handed Wen Wan a chair, startling her.
In front of them was a huge screen, and behind the screen was a man, a middle-aged man.
"Um, why did you go to all that trouble to send someone to bring me here from the neighboring county?"
"You're quite direct."
Wen Wan: "Since we don't know each other, it's better to be direct."
"Alright, I won't beat around the bush with you anymore. Stay here for a while, and I'll guarantee your safety. You're not my target."
Wen Yan: "???"
"Then who is your target? Could it be the Shen family? That doesn't make sense. With such a large house, you don't seem to be short of money. You must be of high status. I'm just a commoner from a small county town, and the Shen family is just an ordinary merchant family. How could we have offended you, sir?"
"You don't need to know so much. Someone, take Miss Chen away and settle her in properly."
Wen Wan was taken away. Before she was taken away, Wen Wan quickly said, "My lord, the person you hired poisoned me when I came here. Why don't you have him give me the antidote first? Otherwise, even if you don't let me die, I won't be able to live either."
"Poisoning? Let Gao Wei in."
Gao Wei entered and bowed.
"I didn't poison it."
Wen Yan: "???"
So, was it a lie? She's such a fool. She had countless chances to escape along the way, but she missed them all for the sake of her life. And now they're telling her she wasn't poisoned at all.
Wen Wan glared at Gao Wei, but Gao Wei showed no remorse. Wen Wan had made up her mind that if she could leave, she would absolutely not spend money to hire Gao Wei, this unscrupulous assassin, for an escort.
After realizing she wasn't poisoned, Wen Wan thought she could find a chance to escape. She was taken to a courtyard by her maid. The environment was neither bad nor good, just passable. However, as someone who had been kidnapped, Wen Wan felt lucky that she hadn't been locked up in a water dungeon, cellar, or dark room.
The maid's name was Caihua.
He was a mute who couldn't speak, which prevented Wen Wan from asking him anything she wanted, and there were people guarding outside the courtyard.
This can be considered as being placed under house arrest. Wen Wan held the last piece of jade in her hand, the one from the bracelet. Gu Sui should already know that she has been taken out, but she doesn't know if Gu Sui can find her.
Forget it, she can't rely on Gu Sui. Maybe this person is after the male lead. She still has to leave this place on her own and not become a burden to Gu Sui.
Wen Wan felt a strong odor emanating from her, almost making her stink. Before thinking about how to escape, she decided to take a shower first. Besides, there was one more condition for her to escape: the system had to come back quickly.
This system is just reporting a bug about the female lead's identity, yet it's taken so long. Is the Transmigration Bureau really that inefficient?
"I want to take a shower. Just find me a clean and comfortable set of clothes."
Caihua went to find clothes, then asked someone to bring hot water over. She even wanted to bathe Wen Wan herself, which terrified Wen Wan, who repeatedly refused, saying, "No need, I can do it myself."
Wen Wan took a comfortable hot bath, changed out of her dirty clothes, and then asked Caihua to throw them away.
Can you write?
Cauliflower shook her head.
"Do you think your master is a good person?"
Cauliflower nodded.
"Is he an official?"
Caihua hesitated, and Wen Wan continued to ask, "Is he good-looking?"
Caihua hesitated, and finally nodded hesitantly. Wen Wan took one look and thought that the person must not be good-looking. It must be so difficult for this maid.
"I'm hungry. Go get me something to eat, like braised fish, stir-fried pork with vinegar, etc. It has to have meat and be spicy."
Caihua went to prepare the meal.
Wen Wan stepped out of the courtyard, but was stopped by the guards as soon as she did. "Brother, I'm not running away. I just felt too stuffy inside, so I came out for some fresh air. Can I stay here?"
Wen Wan stood beside the guards, looked around, and found that the house was indeed very large.
"Big brother, you've worked hard. I promise I won't run away, and I promise I won't cause you any trouble. After all, you've had it tough too."
First, she tried to ingratiate herself with the guards, pretending to be harmless. Soon, she was able to exchange a few words with them. However, the guards kept their mouths shut, revealing nothing that shouldn't be revealed.
The novels and TV dramas are all lies. Those main characters can be easily fooled. She's been trying to talk herself hoarse, but she hasn't said a word about things she shouldn't have.
"Brother, are you locals from Beijing?"
"yes."
"How much do you get paid per month? My father has hired quite a few guards, and they pay two taels of silver a month. You're in the capital, so it must be more expensive, right?"
The guards: "???"
Two taels of silver?
How is that possible?
Wen Wan feigned shock and said, "You really don't have two taels? My family's ordinary gatekeepers get two taels, personal guards get five taels, and even the maids get three taels a month. I had heard that land in the capital is incredibly expensive, and the monthly salary of one guard is enough to buy a small house in the capital."
Looking at the guards' clothes, he asked, "Your clothes look old too, why haven't you changed them?"
"Two ounces? Really? You're not kidding me, are you?" a young guard couldn't help but ask.
Wen Wan: "Liar? The whole neighboring county knows about this. Besides, in our family, we use gold melon seeds to reward our servants. Don't you have any?"
Guard: "..."
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to show off. I didn't know that life was so tough for you guards in the capital. Here's what we'll do: if you're not going to work here anymore, go to the neighboring county, give me my name, Shen Jiao, and go to the largest mansion. That's the Shen family's. I'll definitely pay you two taels of silver. No, for someone as capable as you, it'll be at least five taels."
The guards: "..."
They were tempted, but dared not act, after all, they still had their duties to fulfill.
But five taels a month! That's enough for them for almost half a year.
The housing prices in the capital are so high that if you can't buy a house, you can't even find a wife. Was the Shen family in the neighboring county really that wealthy?
"I don't know if my Shen family has any shops in the capital, otherwise I could give you something. I was brought here without any of my belongings, and the conditions here are really too poor."
“Brother, you are familiar with the capital, have you heard of the Shen family's shop? The sign should look like this,” Wen Wan said, drawing the sign.
"this……"
"Don't worry, you don't need to feel guilty. I won't run away. I just want some money."
"The adults said you shouldn't have any contact with the outside world."
"I haven't been in contact with him. Since it's difficult for you, fine, I won't force you. Is the master very strict?"
"The master is indeed very strict, so I'm sorry, we really cannot help Miss Shen."
"What are your surnames?"
"Forest."
Surname Lin? And an official? Are there any important figures with the surname Lin in the original work? Wen Wan thought for a moment, searched carefully, and finally remembered a trivial matter.
After Gu Sui passed the imperial examination, he became the top scholar and was granted a minor official position. He then exposed a case of corruption and bribery, which caught the emperor's attention. As a result, he was promoted several ranks and eventually became the Grand Secretary.
The mastermind behind that case was Lin Weiquan, the current Minister of Rites.
If she brought Lin Weiquan instead, why? After all, Gu Sui hasn't taken the imperial examination yet, and Lin Weiquan and Gu Sui shouldn't have any connection. How could that be?
Why is this? Wen Wan really found it very strange.
Fortunately, after two days, the sluggish system finally returned. However, as soon as the system returned, it saw its host chatting with several guards.
[Host, what are you doing here?]
Wen Yan: "..."
Gritting his teeth, he said, "You've finally decided to come back. If you hadn't, you could have been collecting my corpse."
Wen Wan bid farewell to the guards and returned to her room, angrily confronting the system, "You were just going to give a report, why did it take so long? Do you know what I went through? This period of time has been absolutely terrifying and miserable."
system:【? ? ? 】
[This isn't my fault. There are just too many daily reports from the Transmigration Bureau system. Tell me what happened and how you got here.]
Wen Wan recounted what had happened during this time, which greatly shocked the system. After all, before it left, its host and the male lead were very affectionate, and although the mission was progressing slowly, it was still going smoothly.
Who would have thought that as soon as he left, his host was not only kidnapped, but also taken to the capital, to the place where a key figure involved in an important plot point of the male protagonist was located.
Wen Wan asked, "Analyze this for me, why does Lin Weiquan want to arrest me? We have no connection, and he shouldn't have any connection with the male lead either, right? Or is there some hidden plot I don't know about?"
System: [Hidden plot points are possible. Let me check the information about Lin Weiquan first.]
The system quickly retrieved Lin Weiquan's information: where he was born, when he became an official, and his current power. It was discovered that he was indeed a high-ranking official, highly regarded by the current emperor.
"Does he have a relationship with Gu Sui?"
We haven't found any connection yet, but we need to investigate further. We should escape first.
"You're right. So how do we escape? Do you have some kind of cheat code? After all, if I try to escape on my own, I'll be caught before I can even get out. And who knows if there are any assassins in this mansion?"
System: [Fortunately, I had the foresight. This bug regarding the female lead, Qin Yuege, has greatly increased the difficulty of our mission. Therefore, I requested some helpful cheat codes from above. This is an invisibility potion. If you use it, you will be invisible for half an hour, enough for you to leave.]
The next second, a medicine bottle appeared in Wen Wan's hand. Wen Wan was shocked, "This is the legendary invisibility potion? It really exists? Then let's run away quickly!"
I suggest you don't rush to run.
"Why?"
We still don't know Lin Weiquan's purpose, or whether he intends to cause harm.
Wen Wan nodded. "You're right. I have to stay and find out what happened to Lin Weiquan. I can't let him have a chance to hurt Gu Sui."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
