Turn right
Did I see something wrong?
Jiang Nian looked at it carefully again and found that Xizhen's expression had returned to normal, and the subtle changes just now seemed to have never happened.
"Well, under normal circumstances, that haystack should have been dealt with yesterday."
"But because of the search outside the city, this matter has been suspended."
Yu He nodded and took over the conversation calmly.
"The timing of the assassin's death is truly too coincidental. This makes me increasingly believe that this incident is related to the goddess."
The three people who stand on opposite sides in Cang County are the goddess, Wu Mizhong and Meng Jian.
But according to the current intelligence, the goddess seems to have an extraordinary connection with the Wu Mi people, and this connection seems to be even deeper than that with Meng Jian.
"Corresponding?"
Qin Lan muttered a few words, blinked, and remembered that he was invited to a banquet by the prefect last night.
The goddess and the courtesan are the same person.
If this killer is the subordinate of the goddess - the courtesan, it would make sense.
But Qin Lan didn't understand why she did this.
"As we are in the open, even if we intend to test the waters, from the perspective of the goddess, there is no need for us to take the initiative."
Both sides are afraid of alerting the enemy, but at the point where they maintain a delicate balance, they will definitely find a breakthrough to break the peace that is about to break.
But this point, absolutely should not start from here.
The Wu Mi people can completely use the matter of the mine to cover up.
Why did the person behind the scenes take the initiative to provide clues and reveal his identity?
Such a straightforward clue is simply because they are afraid that they don't know that it is the goddess, not Meng Jian, who is in charge of Cang County this time.
If they don't proactively provide clues, it will take them some time to figure out who is the mastermind between Meng Jian and the goddess.
Since it was related to the goddess, could it be that the killer was killed by one of the goddess's subordinates? Was he killed because of something?
But no matter what, it seems that if Meng Jian does not take over as the host, the question of whether he should stay in Cang County or go to Pingzhou will become even more unclear.
Jiang Nian was thinking about what was happening in front of him thoughtfully, while he slightly adjusted the ink mark he had accidentally drawn just now. He put away the pen only after he was satisfied with the changes.
At least now it doesn't look messy.
The tip of the brush had barely left the paper when she felt a gaze falling on her face.
She didn't need to look up. Just by judging the direction of the gaze, Jiang Nian could guess that it must be Xiao Yingzhu.
His stable reasoning thoughts were slightly distracted by this sudden and substantial gaze. Realizing that he was about to be distracted, Jiang Nian calmed himself down and continued to record the conversation without changing his expression.
"—Since the goddess is involved, and Commander Yu is so certain, it must be related to what you discussed earlier."
Qin Lan reacted quickly. Perhaps he was the most curious among all the people here about what Xi Zhen and Yu He talked about when they met that day, and what could have allowed Commander Yu, who was a stranger-free commander and seemed unyielding, to show leniency. He perked up and glanced over inquiringly.
Knowing Qin Lan's thoughts, Xizhen slightly curved her eyes, and her gentle temperament suddenly became a little cold.
"This is also what I will talk about next."
"Although this matter is not confirmed, it has a certain degree of credibility."
"As for whether you want to believe it or not, it all depends on what you think in your heart."
—
Some time had passed since they arrived in Cang County by "ferry". They had never revealed a word about what they talked about with each other, but the people present had more or less guessed about it.
Therefore, as soon as Xizhen said this, he confirmed the answer he had guessed in his heart, and the subtle atmosphere in the living room returned to calm again.
Xizhen didn't care much about the changes around him. He seemed to ignore everything and was immersed in his own thoughts.
His dark pupils were focused on one point, but his gaze vaguely passed ahead and looked out the window, as if trying to grasp the nothingness that only he could see. He said slowly:
"The goddess is someone related to my hometown."
"Besides me, there were also my fellow countrymen who escaped from the Donglan Wumi main camp."
He glanced at Yu He mid-sentence and continued with interest, "That fellow villager was tied up here with me. We agreed to escape together in this camp."
"As everyone saw, I was the only one who returned safely to Huandu."
Qin Lan noticed Xi Zhen's expression for a moment, and a doubt flashed through his mind, but at this moment he couldn't tell what the speaker was thinking, so he opened his mouth to ask.
"So Commander Yu formed an alliance with you just because of this matter?"
Xizhen smiled gently, looking particularly happy. Her beautiful face was particularly dazzling in the bright light, yet cold and sharp.
He looked down nonchalantly at his nails, which had just been painted last night, and shook his head.
"Maybe, maybe not."
"It's just that I was lucky. I guessed what my fellow countryman might do. Commander Yu verified my prediction and it turned out to be true, so he will keep me for now."
"......"
Jiang Nian felt that these were not the words Xizhen originally wanted to say.
These words were shrouded in mist, separated from the crowd by a layer of semi-transparent gauze. Although people could see a little bit, when they looked carefully, there was nothing.
In terms of their confession, apart from what Xiao Yingzhu originally wanted to say, it seemed that everyone else had left some clues unsaid.
The tip of her pen paused on the page of the book, and she suddenly realized something.
In fact, Xiao Yingzhu did not confess everything.
He only talked about what was likely to happen in Cang County in the future, but he did not confess the basis for his speculation or how he got the information behind it.
Even the evidence to verify his conclusions, except for the plant that Miss Tao brought from the sect, the rest were information obtained only in Cang County.
None of the speculated clues were mentioned.
If there is one person who is more obvious, it is herself.
Her real identity was a drug store merchant girl, but after I told her that she was from a sect, she actually believed it.
Did Meng Zheng really believe it, or did he have other concerns?
In fact, after spending a long time with these people, the person who gave out the most clues and information in every conversation was Xiao Yingzhu, who seemed the least likely to speak frankly or take the initiative to speak out.
Neither Yu He nor Meng Zheng provided any clues of their own.
Although Xizhen was standing next to Xiao Yingzhu, the perspective he spoke at this moment was from the perspective of himself and Yu He.
Apart from her identity that is concealed in her speech and conversation, there is also Xi Zhen who holds a delicate position in the court, the unknown Qin Lan, Xiao Yingzhu whose political situation is unclear and even tainted to outsiders, and the third prince who seldom appears in the palace.
As for Commander Yu, she didn't know much so far.
In this way, can they really trust each other, form an alliance, and trust each other with their backs?
"ha."
A light laugh interrupted Jiang Nian's thoughts. She turned her head and saw that Qin Lan next to her had something like a time-keeping funnel in his hand. He was holding it in his hand and tossing it in the air slightly for fun.
He always likes to collect things that he finds interesting.
Meng Zheng was thinking about something. The "Fifth Prince" that Xiao Yingzhu had just mentioned made him feel uneasy and irritated.
It was as if he was hurrying along on his way, and suddenly a huge meteorite fell from the sky on the smooth road ahead, blocking what he was about to get.
His well-planned plan was interrupted, and he had to devote extra energy to dealing with this sudden trouble, and he was full of dissatisfaction in his heart.
At this point, although Qin Lan's laughter seemed impolite, no one present cared.
"So, Commander Yu—what do you think of Chief Xi's words?"
Yu He remained indifferent and did not comment on Xi Zhen's words.
He had no interest in Qin Lan and Jiang Nian's identities and had no intention of asking about them. He didn't even have half the interest that Meng Zheng had shown when he first met them.
Maybe someone was investigating behind the scenes, or maybe Xiao Yingzhu was good at this. In short, when Qin Lan called on her by name, she didn't react at all, and just nodded slightly:
"Yes, that's correct. Xi Changshi is indeed useful to Cang County."
He did not give a direct answer to Qin Lan's words. He briefly skipped over them and turned to look at the person beside him who was leaning his head to look at the warm sunlight coming through the window with a dull look.
Perhaps it was because the room was too well-lit, but from the moment they entered until now, the window had been so bright that they couldn't see the scenery outside.
"Duke Xiao, I have something to ask of you."
Yu He watched Xiao Yingzhu move her eyes away from the beam of light, leaning against Canlan, and looking at him from afar.
Their eyes met, and both sides anticipated what the other was thinking.
Under the gaze of others, Yu He spoke slowly, his words respectful but his tone brooking no decisiveness.
"Duke Xiao, I would like to ask you to come down from the riverbed and temporarily lend a helping hand to me during the crisis in Cang County."
“…”
Xiao Yingzhu seemed to be smiling.
From Jiang Nian's perspective, the tilt of his head happened to be in the refraction area of Canyang, and the expression on his face was not clear.
She couldn't guess what was going on in his mind at that moment.
The living room fell silent for a moment because of Yu He's words. Qin Lan, who was casually swinging the funnel, stopped, raised his eyelids, and his vision became dim.
A second passed, or maybe a few minutes.
When Jiang Nian's wrist felt a little sore from picking up the pen, she finally heard Xiao Yingzhu's casual answer.
He spoke in a casual tone, as if giving gifts to each other, as if he was not afraid that Xi Zhen, who had been by his side for many years and knew too many secrets, would reveal his secrets.
"Don't worry too much. Although Xizhen knows my strengths and weaknesses, I trust you without a doubt. As you wish, Xizhen will obey your orders for the time being."
"...Thank you for your permission. I will be diligent and respectful from beginning to end, and live up to your expectations."
—
The conversation came to a temporary halt, and the rest of the chat was about talking about the scattered clues that each of them had obtained. If they were sorted out, perhaps they could piece together a map.
But according to these clues, once all the information is gathered, Huandu will probably be as cold as the northwest wind.
After going out, Yu He and Xi Zhen left first because they had urgent matters.
Qin Lan had some questions he wanted to ask Xiao Yingzhu, but since he had noticed the subtle changes in the relationship between Jiang Nian and Xiao Yingzhu, he hesitated and told her to look for them at the gate of the mansion.
The diary placed by the eldest princess was still lying quietly in its original place, waiting for someone who passed by here and accidentally discovered it to read it. It looked like it had been worn down by time but would never change.
Jiang Nian circled the potentially useful information from this conversation and just put it back into her handbag when Meng Zheng, who had just left, came back again, his purpose extremely obvious.
I came here to find her.
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