cycle
The carriage moved forward, gradually moving away from the Youguan Mansion behind it. When passing by the venue of the Flower Festival, he turned his head and took a look.
The three-day rally ended in absurdity. Unlike previous years, it did not cause chaos. The group of nobles who stared at Meng Yao and tried to suck blood and pick gold bars from him also scattered like birds and beasts and disappeared without a trace.
It was almost noon, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky, but there was a deadly coldness there.
Meng Zheng withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyes and rubbed his temples.
The matters that the attendants had been instructed to investigate previously have been handled properly, and the relationship between Xiao Yingzhu and the sect is also roughly known. The next step is to find out the affairs of the eldest princess, and then we can continue to complete the unfinished tasks.
As for Father...
Meng Zheng closed his eyes, but his face showed fatigue.
For the time being, help Xiao Yingzhu conceal Jiang Nian's affairs, and dispel some of his father's concerns and suspicions about Xiao Yingzhu.
Thinking back to the expression on his father's face when he mentioned Xiao Yingzhu during the task assigned to him by his father.
“…”
Meng Zheng opened his eyes tiredly, picked up the cup from the side and took a sip.
Their previous grudges were deeply rooted, and even if I intervened, I could only delay the situation for some time.
Since Xiao Yingzhu didn't want Emperor Changde to know about Jiang Nian, he had to worry about giving the deworming formula to Emperor Changde while hiding Jiang Nian himself.
The carriage stopped under the dark clouds, and the servant gently opened the door and spoke outside the carriage.
"Your Highness, please slow down."
—
meeting room
The three departments of the Intelligence Bureau were still arguing, but when they saw Xiao Yingzhu coming, they lowered their voices a little. It was not until Xiao Yingzhu sat on the table that they quieted down.
Qin Lan squinted his eyes and smiled at them, and asked in a friendly manner with the corners of his mouth curled up, "Did I give you too much face?"
Ai sat aside, swallowed the last dumpling, and raised his hand to drink tea.
Jiang Nian came back to his senses from the conversation with Meng Zheng just now, glanced at Xiao Yingzhu, and turned his face away naturally.
It would not do without someone to take on the role of host on the scene. Ever since Xiao Yingzhu and Jiang Nian had some conflicts, he rarely spoke. Qin Lan observed Xiao Yingzhu's expression, and then once again took on the role of host of this temporary meeting.
"Actually, there's not much to it, so I'll just get straight to the point."
"The Wing Division has received intelligence clues regarding the Second Prince and 'Lu'."
"The Second Prince's spies were lurking among Yu He's patrolmen. They planned to use a new recruit to investigate Yu He and obtain intelligence. However, the recruit did not follow their instructions and instead sold the information to the Wing Division."
"At the same time as the Wing Division obtained this clue, they also discovered the whereabouts of 'Lu' nearby."
"While 'Lu' appeared to be wandering around, he didn't clearly indicate his intended destination."
"But it happened to be the first night of the Flower Festival. The Wing Division had already confirmed that the Fifth Prince would be at the Flower Festival the next day, so they followed him."
"Whenever the master is in danger, a subordinate will go to his aid, no matter how desperately needed. But until the next day, when Princess Qingping and Meng Yao confronted each other and then disappeared together, he seemed unhurried, as if what happened there had nothing to do with him."
"Until the wing troops seized the opportunity to circle around Zuihua Tower and surrounded 'Lu' from all sides, his figure suddenly disappeared from the vicinity of Zuihua Tower."
"The wing tracking 'Lu' returned to the mansion as usual, and the remaining wings continued to lurk near Zuihua Tower."
"So, they saw 'Lu' entering the Zuihua Tower below it, and they also suspected they saw the Second Prince."
After all these words were spoken, the conference room became much quieter, with only the troops from the wing department still making small movements.
Jiang Nian ignored the energetic followers and asked directly, bypassing Xiao Yingzhu, "Seeing 'Lu' entering Zuihua Tower and the Second Prince being there, could it be possible that someone else was impersonating him?"
For example, after getting rid of the others, the replacement would come out and enter Zuihualou at the right time to divert the attention of the subordinates.
Qin Lan shook his finger and spread his hands towards the wings: "You guys speak."
The Wing Division's troops smiled at Jiang Nian and said, "No, the white powder that Miss Jiang gave us is very useful. After being improved by the Military Division, it has stronger adhesion and can even glow at night. As long as no one notices, nothing will go wrong."
"—Besides, in such a short time, 'Lu' is not a true god, so he doesn't have time to react to these things."
Yes, there are not many tracking-related items of this kind in this era.
No matter how bizarre and outrageous the inventions of the Wu Mi people are, they are only limited to this era.
Jiang Nian nodded and stopped asking about these things. What was more important at the moment was how she could disguise herself as a maid and successfully enter Zuihualou, and from there obtain information related to the "mineral grass" in the mine.
She was carefully considering her words and was about to ask, but Ai, who had been concentrating on eating, interrupted her before she could say anything.
"The Flower Dynasty Society has indeed had a fourth party appear."
She put down her hands covered with crumbs and spoke in the suddenly quiet meeting room.
"The young lady asked me to track down the thief, and I found him."
A hint of contemplation flashed across Ai's eyes, but soon disappeared into a faint emotion.
"He died in an alley."
"The alley wasn't far from the Huachao meeting place, and the thief got his hands on some powder left on the ground by some ladies who were trying out perfume."
Omitting the unnecessary information, Ai shook his head, recalled the thief's appearance, and said accurately:
"Anyway, I found the body in that alleyway, cleanly disposed of... The cuts were neat and tidy, and they looked just like the cuts left on the killer's body."
"The goddess fears Meng Yao's appeal."
The meeting room was not immersed in the atmosphere for long before the sound of tea broke the stagnant atmosphere.
As the smoke curled up, Xiao Yingzhu's eyebrows and eyes became increasingly hazy and gentle. He glanced casually at the newly added green leaves floating on the teacup and continued:
"She fears that people will become divided after the Huachao Conference. She wants to concentrate power in Cang County and do the task at hand to achieve other goals."
"Those invaders were her work."
Xiao Yingzhu's words were rare and clear. Qin Lan was stunned at first, then he complained, "Weren't you there? How come you know more than me, a mere clue?"
You wouldn't be concerned about how Jiang Nian is doing in Huachao without my knowledge again, and then secretly investigate on your own, right?
Qin Lan's expression was self-evident. Xiao Yingzhu could guess what he was thinking without even looking. Without arguing with Qin Lan, he lowered his eyes and tapped the table lightly, then looked at Jiang Nian again.
"Why do you want to check him out?"
thief.
Sure enough, no matter how the topic shifts, what is coming will come.
On the topic of that "soldier".
Everyone should have some idea, but they are just waiting for her to speak frankly.
Since the "soldiers" and others have placed the right to speak in her hands, how should she respond to be worthy of this trust?
Jiang Nian wanted to look away from Xiao Yingzhu's cold gaze, but when she thought of the intricate relationships and emotions behind it, she couldn't move away.
She has been blaming Xiao Yingzhu for deceiving her so much and forging a "cage from which she cannot escape", but she herself seems to be the same.
Although he didn't explicitly say that he wanted to find a way to return to the original era, Xiao Yingzhu must have known about it.
That's why she can work with Meng Zheng.
Apart from the complex chain of interests behind it, it is also based on the original intention of trust.
After all, even if Meng Zheng didn't cooperate with her, with his own abilities, it would only take him a little longer to find out the truth.
[Since she met Xiao Yingzhu, she couldn't tell whether these thoughts were a rational view of this relationship or a pua for herself.]
"Miss?"
"......Um."
Jiang Nian came back to her senses, indifferently turned away the gaze that made her feel a little uncomfortable, clenched her fingers, and finally let go.
"I am also a soldier."
She took a breath and smiled a relaxed expression.
Whenever anything related to time travel was mentioned, she would feel sad for no reason.
It is really helpless. There are so few things I can do and change. From the moment I got here, all the development directions seem to be forced to move forward, and there is no moment to stop.
But these choices were all made by her.
"The soldier you're talking about and the soldier I'm talking about... should be the same person."
In the silent conference room, Jiang Nian put aside the confusion in his heart and just wanted to say what he wanted to say based on his intuition.
"He and I have some connection, but so far, I don't really know who he is."
"I only know that he has some connection with the matter that Meng Zheng wants to investigate."
"But I can guarantee that ... before the showdown, he was on our side."
There are too many uncertainties, and Jiang Nian cannot just reveal the name of "Soldier" without any thought.
When it comes to time travel, her judgment becomes impaired.
After all, I care too much.
No one could empathize with her about the pain of being stuck in an era that didn't belong to her for so long.
Even if there are a lot of people standing around, there is still a room behind for rest.
She still had a strong feeling that she couldn't fit in here. She would always be alone here. She had no home and no place where she could confess her feelings.
She really needs a pillar of support to rely on spiritually.
At the beginning, she regarded Xiao Yingzhu as the pillar who seemed to be able to provide her spiritual support.
But now I have discovered another side of him.
“…”
Jiang Nian breathed a sigh of relief and smiled again.
"Is it too late for me to say this?"
This quiet scene made her feel a little uncomfortable.
“——How could that be?”
Qin Lan came back to his senses and continued with a smile.
"If it weren't for Miss Jiang, we wouldn't have been able to get the soldier's help."
"I was just startled and couldn't respond in time. I hope you can forgive me."
Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment, then smiled and shook his head.
"That's good. I thought I told you too late."
——I didn’t get the answer I wanted.
After he finished speaking, Jiang Nian glanced towards Xiao Yingzhu, but could not discern any thoughts from his eyes.
He only raised his eyes the moment she looked at him and nodded slightly at her.
A very familiar action.
When Qin Lan looked over at him, Jiang Nian withdrew his gaze from Xiao Yingzhu.
This meant that Xiao Yingzhu wanted to find him herself later.
Is there something you want to tell her privately?
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