sincere
Perhaps it was because she had studied in modern times for many years, even though Jiang Nian did not pay close attention to the discussions around her, when the scene suddenly paused and became quiet, she put down her pen with a premonition.
Qin Lan coughed and turned his head to look at Xiao Yingzhu.
Not noticing any dissent in the other person's expression, he nodded.
"That's all for today. Thank you all for your hard work. Please go to bed early. I hope you will take care of me in the future."
Everyone nodded in agreement, stood up, walked around the table, and walked out of the hall door.
Only after the surrounding noise died down did Jiang Nian stop his gloomy thoughts and stood up from the table with his hands.
The hall was brightly lit, and the candlelight cast long, pale shadows behind her.
The wind in Cang County was as cold as usual, and the wind blowing in my face blew straight into my neck.
The temperature difference between day and night is really big. Jiang Nian's clothes did not cover her neck, and she felt the cold, so she frowned.
She casually put the notebook into her bag, straightened the wrinkles on her skirt caused by sitting down, then put on her bag and walked out of the door in the hall.
There was little time to rest before the meeting, so Jiang Nian planned to take the luggage out of the State Guesthouse after the meeting.
Originally she wanted to go alone, but on the way there Ai spontaneously offered to help pick it up.
Therefore, Ai is not in the Youguan mansion now, and Qin Lan is not aware of this matter.
...What a mistake. Without Ai, who would lead the way for her?
The trees outside the mansion fence rustled in the wind, and the light in the hall was the only lit place in the mansion.
Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment, thinking about the dark road ahead. Just as she was about to go back to the hall, she saw a figure walking towards her.
The development of the story always seems familiar, and everything returns to the scene after the conversation ended in the princess's mansion.
At the beginning, Meng Zheng intended to poach Xiao Yingzhu's "girlfriend" and test Xiao Yingzhu's position.
What is it now?
Jiang Nian recalled what Meng Zheng said before the conversation began.
After not seeing her for a few days, the Fourth Prince has already found out everything about her.
Where did you find it?
When Xiao Yingzhu went back to get the diary, it was still——
His mind was in a mess, but Meng Zheng stopped in front of her. Without giving her a chance to react, he stretched out his hand to her and smiled.
"Miss Jiang, I believe you have some questions for me? Why not take advantage of this free time to chat with me?"
Seeing Jiang Nian showing some caution and hesitation, Meng Zheng slowed down his tone slightly.
"Don't worry, Miss Jiang. I've already obtained Duke Xiao's consent."
…
Xiao Yingzhu agreed to let her talk to Meng Zheng?
Did he anticipate that she would want to investigate the time travel, or was it that he was now completely bothered by others trying to discover her identity and no longer wanted to keep it a secret?
Jiang Nian lowered his eyes slightly, suppressing the fear surging in his heart.
She was overthinking it.
No matter what, Xiao Yingzhu is a person with moral standards and will not buy or sell secrets to others at will.
According to Xiao Yingzhu's "bird in a cage" thinking, Jiang Nian, who has now formed an alliance with him and become a part of his career plan, is the part he needs to cover up and protect so that outsiders cannot discover it.
How could he give up halfway and sell her when she needs to hide her identity?
This is too cheap for others.
“…”
Jiang Nian was just about to laugh at herself for this low evaluation of herself, wondering if she was being pua by Xiao Yingzhu, but Meng Zheng, who was parked not far away, noticed her hesitation and spoke up to dissuade her from getting entangled.
"Miss Jiang, don't worry. Duke Xiao has not revealed a single thing to me. I can guarantee this for him."
“!”
Before Jiang Nian could say anything, Meng Zheng raised his hand and pointed forward, making a gesture of 'inviting' her:
"Time waits for no one. The route to Youguan Mansion is complicated, but I remembered it when I came here. Miss Jiang, please don't worry about getting lost. Come with me to the place of 'reminiscing about the past.'"
"……good."
Catching the key words in the other party's words, Jiang Nian's eyes flashed.
Is this about discovering her identity... or about the time traveler named Shou Zan?
At present, Meng Zheng only knows that she is the one who developed the anthelmintic formula, and is Xiao Yingzhu's trump card to prevent Dong Lan and weaken Dong Lan's military strength. He should only be suspicious of her identity as a time traveler.
You can guess this after just less than a month of getting along.
If it's not mind reading, then there must be other more complex evidence to support it.
—
Not only was he the Fourth Prince, but he had also explicitly stated that he wanted to stay overnight.
As the owner of the Youguan Mansion, Qin Lan naturally left him a spacious yard for rest.
Walking in from the courtyard gate, the layout inside is quite unique.
Although it looks simple, the landscaping and architectural design are clearly carefully planned.
Jiang Nian really didn't have much interest in architectural design. She glanced around the Chinese-style courtyard, observed the entrances and exits, which were reference points outside that could be used to help her find her way back, and then followed Meng Zheng into the house.
There were two people standing at the main door of the house. They were Meng Zheng's personal guards.
Seeing a strange woman, they subconsciously stood up and wanted to speak out to stop her, but when they saw that the person in front of the woman was their master, they hesitated and stopped what they were about to say.
Meng Zheng raised his hand, as if signaling to the secret guard hiding in the darkness, and the main door of the room opened immediately.
…
It's just like his own home.
Jiang Nian subconsciously stroked the perfume bottle in his sleeve pocket.
The cold bottle touched her skin tightly, and Jiang Nian's warm hands were chilled by the ice. She was startled for a moment, but then she came to her senses, calmed down, and followed Meng Zheng into the room.
—
This courtyard building is no different from the room where the meeting was held just now, the only difference is that the space is smaller.
It looks warmer and more cozy.
However, judging from the same arrangement, the first feeling Jiang Nian got was that of holding meetings one after another.
Compared to the meeting where she had just slacked off, this one was more rigorous and left less room for her to daydream.
After a day of intensive work, even if I took a short nap on the bed in the State Guest House at night, I couldn’t resist the continuous meetings that required efficient brain use.
Now I'm sitting at a table that's pretty much the same as the one I was at the meeting with. There's some white paper on the table, probably the information I'm going to use...
Visionarily finding himself back in the modern R&D lab, Jiang Nian felt even more exhausted.
Those who were able to finish work and go home early, such as Qin Lan who had already gone to rest, or Ai who went to the State Guest House to help her with her luggage, were all colleagues who left the R&D room normally.
She was the one whose boss took special care of her and asked her why the experiment had not made any progress, and then asked her to stay and work overtime.
Jiang Nian closed her eyes tiredly, and while Meng Zheng was giving other instructions to the servants, she took out a small mirror from her bag and took a look.
Due to excessive overtime work, her face was even paler than Meng Zheng, who was already ill.
...You really can't escape the fate of working no matter where you go.
As if sensing Jiang Nian's vague resentment, Meng Zheng glanced at her after he finished explaining things to the attendant, his eyebrows slightly curved.
"If Miss Jiang has other things to do, just ask first. We can arrange the rest when we have free time."
Jiang Nian put away his tired look, adjusted his mentality, and his face immediately returned to its usual gentle appearance.
"Today's work will be done today. There is no need to delay. Your Highness, please rest assured."
Neither of them had any intention of continuing the greeting. After the servant quietly closed the outer door, Meng Zheng placed the list of names in front of Jiang Nian under the screen that blocked the moonlight from the window eaves.
"Before you ask me, please take a look at the contents above."
Noticing the change in Meng Zheng's wording, Jiang Nian paused slightly as he picked up the page, a complex look flashed in his eyes, and then he began to read quickly.
—
There are not many names on the page. The person who compiled the list was very careful and drew each person's interpersonal relationships concisely and clearly into lines. Several lines are intertwined with each other, and the name that must be interspersed in the middle is the focus of this page.
Jiang Nian was not surprised to see this person's name.
Did he really start to doubt his own identity?
She turned her eyes away from the word "Shou Zan" and looked up at Meng Zheng frankly.
"The Fourth Prince is saying... do I have any similarities with the core figure here?"
Meng Zheng put away the airs he put on in front of others. Under the warm yellow candlelight, his unruly face seemed slightly softer.
"Miss Jiang is really perceptive. Could you please tell me where this idea came from?"
"……name."
Jiang Nian recalled the diary that Meng Zheng had specifically asked her to read. In order to let her read the diary, he even deliberately led everyone else away.
With a compulsive and firm attitude that does not allow anyone to interrupt him, he is allowed to complete what he wants to do.
The most important and frequently mentioned person in that diary is Princess Meng Zhiye's beloved lover, Shou Zan.
"If you want to investigate the eldest princess's illness, no matter what method you use, you can't avoid this person."
“Everything is related to him.”
"I'm probably the only one who has similarities with His Highness..."
Jiang Nian closed his eyes, let go of the heavy vigilance and doubts in his heart, and smiled with pretended ease.
It was still too difficult for her to give up the foundation of her survival in this era - the "time traveler".
Even if Meng Zheng had no intention of hurting her, Jiang Nian would still feel scared.
When Xiao Yingzhu guessed her identity, she felt temporarily relieved because of the shield of the alliance.
And Meng Zheng...
She has no connection with Meng Zheng.
The connection between them is blank.
It's a piece of paper, anyone can scribble on it.
If you are not careful, the paper will be smeared and become extremely ugly, or it will be shattered beyond recognition.
Because in this era, there is no real home, and no real spiritual support that can stay with her forever.
Even though I have lived in this era for some time, I am familiar with the local customs and have people I can talk to freely.
It was still difficult for Jiang Nian to let down his guard.
She always reminded herself that she came from a thousand years later and did not belong here.
Jiang Nian suppressed the crazy beating of his heart that was about to burst out of his chest, and slightly pulled the corner of his mouth towards Meng Zheng.
She didn't know if it was a smile.
"Your Highness, please don't expect too much from me... After all, from what I can see right now, Shouzan and I only have similarities, not a clear connection."
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