Chapter 45 The contract will expire in a while...
Reminded by him, Biezhi suddenly realized that Jiran was indeed unaware of this matter. Although she had mentioned it to him before, he was deaf and naturally could not hear what she said.
However, Biezhi felt that he would definitely not refuse her.
Having already kissed, Ji Ran had no reason to refuse.
After a moment's thought, Biezhi nodded matter-of-factly: "He is willing."
Upon hearing this, Fu Huaiqing raised an eyebrow imperceptibly, his voice neither hurried nor slow: "Did he say it himself?"
A subtle, almost imperceptible teasing rippled past Biezhi's ears. She frowned slightly, but the furrowed brow quickly returned to normal. No matter how she looked at it, Su Wang's words sounded rather harsh. He seemed certain that Ji Ran would reject her without hesitation.
Biezhi looked at the man quietly, not really wanting to talk to him.
Her almond-shaped eyes, blinking slightly, were filled with a faint deathly stillness. If she could, they would surely turn into a sharp blade and pierce him. Upon seeing this, Fu Huaiqing's eyes narrowed for a moment.
He slightly turned his eyes away, picked up the teacup, and sipped the tea.
The man's calm and unwavering expression caught Bie Zhi's eye. Perhaps it was because his gaze was too certain, or perhaps because she had just woken up and was still not fully conscious, but under the man's gaze, she also felt a little uneasy.
If Ji Ran really doesn't want to, and I force her, wouldn't life be anything but peaceful from now on... It's quite the opposite of the life she longs for.
Biezhi decided to go find Jiran later and explain things to him, but since Prince Su remained silent, she couldn't leave.
Just as she was thinking about her reasons for leaving, she heard a quick and steady footstep, and the person was moving rapidly in her direction.
Jiang Yue walked past the girl's back to his own prince's side, bent down and whispered.
After hearing his words, Fu Huaiqing gave a faint "hmm" and looked up at Biezhi, who was still standing there. He immediately saw through her intention to leave.
After a brief silence, he said to her, "If you have other matters to attend to, please feel free to do so."
Bie Zhi felt as if she were hearing celestial music, and without the slightest hesitation, she immediately cupped her hands and said, "Thank you, Your Highness." She bent down and took a few steps back, then stood under the eaves waiting for Cheng Jin to leave.
She came through the side door, and she left through the same side door.
Cheng Jin gave a wink to the guards waiting outside for Biezhi, and watched as the girl's figure disappeared under the carriage curtains and the carriage drove away from the streets of the Prince's Mansion before he turned around.
The moment he turned around, he saw Jiang Yue rushing over.
Jiang Yue rushed as fast as he could but still couldn't catch up. Slightly out of breath, he looked at the empty street and frowned, saying, "Go find Ling Feng quickly and ask him to stop Biezhi."
"What?" Cheng Jin asked, puzzled.
“Biezhi should go to find Jiran. Once she makes up her mind, even if others try to stop her, she will find a way to leave. The guards who left with her can’t stop her.” Jiang Yue spoke very quickly. He turned around and glanced at the quiet courtyard. “Lord Su came in a hurry because he had something important to report. The Prince can’t leave for the time being.”
Upon hearing this, Cheng Jin instantly understood.
If Biezhi were to go looking for Jiran at this moment, she would only encounter Jiran herself, so she had no choice but to stop her.
Without further hesitation, Cheng Jin summoned the palace guards and ordered them to stop the departing carriage. He then rushed to Ling Feng's location.
Just as the carriage was leaving the streets of the Prince's Mansion, before Biezhi could even figure out how to avoid the coachman and leave quietly, her thoughts were suddenly pulled back by the coachman's loud words.
"It seems someone is following us, young lady, hold on tight."
Upon hearing this, Biezhi frowned instantly.
She lifted the beaded curtain of the carriage window with her fingertips, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw two figures rushing towards her. With her sharp eyes, she recognized them and quickly said, "It's alright, they are people from the Prince's Mansion."
The coachman was taken aback. He naturally knew they were colleagues from the Prince's mansion, and he was only acting on orders. He never expected the girl inside the carriage to recognize them so quickly.
Biezhi had seen them before, when she first stepped into the Prince's mansion. Although she hadn't seen them since, she hadn't forgotten them.
The carriage stopped and waited for them to come forward.
When asked if the prince had any other instructions, the two shook their heads in unison.
Aside from Prince Su having other business, Biezhi couldn't guess their purpose in coming. Fortunately, one of them noticed her confusion and explained, "Today is the day of the Qin family's funeral. If you go back to the hot spring resort now, you'll run into them. Miss, you can wait here for about half an hour before leaving."
The Qin family is holding a funeral.
Upon hearing this, Biezhi was stunned.
The elaborate announcement banquet followed by the grand funeral arrangements, from the Qin family's perspective, are logically reasonable, but perhaps a bit too extravagant.
For most people in the capital, he was currently a 'dead man'. If he were to suddenly appear in the sight of others, as if he had risen from the dead, he would surely scare them out of their wits.
After thinking it over, Biezhi decided not to rush to find Jiran anymore, and felt that she should avoid her.
The carriage drove towards the side of the wooded street where few people came and went. The surrounding tranquility made her slowly fall into deep thought, thinking about the assassins who had broken out a few days ago, and she couldn't figure it out.
I haven't offended anyone, so why would I encounter assassins?
If we're talking about those targeting the Qin family, the Qin family isn't just comprised of the 'Second Young Lady,' yet nearly seven days have passed since her murder, and there's been no news of anyone secretly seeking revenge against other members of the Qin family.
Besides the Qin family, there is only Xu Wenche.
The moment Xu Wenche's name flashed through her mind, Biezhi immediately rejected it.
She had only been by Xu Wenche's side for a short time, but about a month, and she could see that the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital were eyeing him covetously. They knew that if he made a move, it would affect the whole situation, and no one would be so foolish as to make a move against him now.
Biezhi slowly straightened her back, which was leaning against the carriage window, and lost in thought.
It wasn't the Qin family, it wasn't Xu Wenche...
She was all alone now.
As her thoughts calmed, the blood flowing through Biezhi's body suddenly froze. She couldn't help but recall the assassins she had encountered outside the city. They had come for money, but the assassins were different; they wanted lives.
Biezhi couldn't understand who would want to take her life.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of her master approaching unhurriedly. She frowned slightly, suppressed her thoughts, and went to meet him, wondering, "How did Master know I was here?"
"I asked them about your orientation after I heard you left the manor. I didn't expect you to be faster than me. I only arrived at the Prince's Mansion when I heard you had just left." Ling Feng said without changing his expression, without mentioning that he had heard from Cheng Jin that Biezhi seemed to be in a bad mood and asked him to come and see for himself. "Fortunately, the guards told me the direction you left in, and I searched several streets before I found you."
Biezhi had no doubts. "I'm afraid of running into the Qin family's funeral procession, so I'll wait here for a while."
“That’s true, it’s inevitable that something will go wrong after a collision.” Ling Feng walked to the shade of a tree, his gaze sweeping over the girl who seemed a little downcast. He rarely saw her like this. “What are you thinking about? Why are you so unhappy?”
"It's nothing." Biezhi glanced sideways at her master and shook her head.
She would naturally inform ordinary assassins who were pursuing her, and with her master's character, he would definitely take care of her without hesitation. However, the ones who came now were assassins, and their target was her. It would be unacceptable for her master or her colleagues to be hunted down because of her.
"Why the long face? Nothing's wrong." Ling Feng didn't believe it and sighed in a deep voice, "The child is all grown up and doesn't want to tell the truth to his master anymore."
"It's nothing serious." Biezhi couldn't help but smile, and fearing he wouldn't believe her, she made up an excuse. "I just haven't had any missions lately, so I was planning to put my marriage with Jiran on the agenda."
As the words flowed, a slowly rising joy surged forth, gradually taking over and dispelling the gloom in her mind.
"Master said earlier that you would ask Master's opinion, but you didn't tell me whether Master agreed or not." The girl's light tone carried a hint of coquetry: "If he doesn't agree, Master will help me persuade him, right?"
Ling Feng remained silent upon hearing this.
If I had known that was what she was thinking, I wouldn't have asked.
Prince Su did not explicitly refuse, but Ling Feng was not foolish enough to think that his silence meant agreement. Moreover, he had never seen anyone push the girl they loved into the arms of another man.
Seeing Biezhi's sparkling eyes, as if she were eagerly anticipating the marriage, Lingfeng was at a loss for words.
He thought for a moment, his gaze sweeping over her arm: "Right now you're injured, so you shouldn't overexert yourself. It's not too late to talk about it after you've recovered."
Upon hearing this, Biezhi understood.
As expected, the older man still disagreed.
Biezhi couldn't understand why he had any reason to disagree with the marriage, since she wasn't marrying him!
Why should he disagree?
The more she thought about it, the more upset she felt. A lump of anger was stuck in her throat, and she couldn't get it out. If she wasn't worried that he would make things difficult for her in the future, she would definitely go to him for an answer.
She pouted and muttered, "I don't care about him."
"Even if the King of Heaven himself came today, I would still marry Ji Ran," Bie Zhi said firmly.
The guard on the side who knew the inside story twitched his eye and silently prayed for Ji Ran.
Ling Feng couldn't help but chuckle: "Aren't you afraid he won't assign you other tasks in the future?"
"If you don't want to make arrangements, then don't make arrangements," Biezhi said firmly.
The contract will expire in a while; what can he do about it?
not to mention--
After a brief silence, she decided to leave ahead of schedule.
If I stay in the capital for another day, I might encounter other assassins. Leaving sooner will give me peace of mind, and it will take them a lot of effort to find me.
I just don't know if Ji Ran wants to leave with her.
If he's willing, they can go together, find a place where birds sing and flowers bloom, and live a carefree life like hermits.
If you don't want to...
I won't force it on other branches.
After all, leaving with her meant facing lurking dangers. Even if one was unwilling, being forced to go with her would slowly turn even the best of feelings into hatred.
Why bother?
Seeing that half an hour had passed, Biezhi decided to go find Jiran and ask him if he was willing to leave with her.
She looked up at her thoughtful master, then glanced at the people behind her, and deliberately lowered her voice: "Master, I'm going to find Jiran."
"Fine, I'll go!"
Before Ling Feng could finish speaking, his mouth was covered.
Biezhi glanced discreetly at the guards behind her, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that their attention was elsewhere. She then put her knuckles to her lips and shushed them, saying, "They won't let me see any other people."
Ling Feng frowned, not understanding.
"It's a long story, but they really won't let me move around freely." Biezhi withdrew her gaze, smiled ingratiatingly when her eyes met her master's, and said succinctly, "I need Master to stop them for me, is that alright?"
Ling Feng: "..."
He glanced at the royal guards following behind him, thought for a moment, and suddenly understood.
It must be because Prince Su refused to let her see any man other than himself.
So petty?
Having known each other for many years, this was the first time Ling Feng had seen Fu Huaiqing like this. He would have to sit down and have a good talk with him another day.
Fair competition is the only way to win. If you can't win, you should just politely withdraw. Why resort to underhanded tactics?
Ling Feng hummed in agreement: "I'll handle the aftermath."
Biezhi's eyes crinkled into a smile as she found her direction and ran off without hesitation.
The guards hurriedly followed, but were stopped before they could catch up even half a step. The two men looked at Ling Feng, who was blocking their way, and then split up.
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