Chapter 37: Evil Thoughts handed the other end of the chain to her hand, letting...
After Yuan Qingjun applied medicine to the male servant's wound, she led the two of them into an empty room next door.
Fang Yilan looked at the person following behind her and said coldly, "Why are you following me? Sister Qingjun and I have something important to discuss. Please step aside for now."
Yuan Qingjun interrupted Fang Yilan, "Yilan, I'm afraid this matter really requires the Seventh Prince's help."
Fang Yilan said no more, but just crossed her arms, turned her head to the side, and deliberately avoided that gaze.
Seeing her like this, Yuan Qingjun sighed: "Are you here to investigate He Huaijiu?"
"Sister Qingjun, how could you..." Fang Yilan's expression froze.
Yuan Qingjun knew what she was thinking. "Don't overthink it. I'm here to investigate because someone asked me to. I'm still young and I don't want to wait around for a dead person."
She paused, then continued in a serious tone, "Right now, we still need to check Yixianglou's accounts. I'm sure we'll find some clues there."
Fang Yilan: "Is the account book kept in the building?"
Yuan Qingjun's eyes narrowed slightly. "I've inquired around, and the account books must have been kept by the shopkeeper in a back room at the end of the long corridor on the top floor. That room is never shown to the public, and it's said to be where He Huaijiu holds private meetings."
Fang Yilan frowned. "I do have a way to sneak in, but if I run into He Huaijiu while searching, it will be troublesome."
Yuan Qingjun raised the corners of her lips. "That's why I said I needed the Seventh Prince's help." She turned to look at Zhao Huaixu and said meaningfully, "Since the Seventh Prince is here, I'm sure he won't just stand by and watch, right?"
"Huaixu will do my best." Zhao Huaixu responded with a bow.
Yuan Qingjun nodded and continued, "The first step is to get into the private room on the top floor."
Fang Yilan finally turned her gaze towards Zhao Huaixu and gave him a cold glance: "Why don't you go out and find a singing girl?"
Zhao Huaixu looked embarrassed. He was reluctant, but afraid of upsetting her again. He said, "I'm afraid this isn't appropriate."
Yuan Qingjun looked at the two of them with a hint of amusement in his voice, "He went up alone, what are you going to do? He Huaijiu is sending people on patrol right now. If you make any noise and alert them, it will only ruin everything."
She paused, her eyes wandering between the two of them, and said with a smile: "I do have a way..."
Fang Yilan groaned bitterly: "What kind of dirty trick is this?"
…
Yuan Qingjun looked at Fang Yilan who had changed her clothes and nodded with satisfaction: "This is the only way to sneak into the private room without attracting suspicion."
Fang Yilan's high ponytail was untied, and her long black hair flowed down like a waterfall. Yuan Qingjun found her a set of gorgeous clothes, decorated with peony embroidery, interwoven with gold and silver threads, and with layers of skirt and sparkling gold powder.
Zhao Huaixu picked up Fang Yilan by the waist. Fang Yilan was startled and put her arms around his neck. Zhao Huaixu followed her movements and moved closer to her neck. A light and clear woody fragrance came to his face and lingered around his nose.
Over the past few days, the dull pain that felt like cramps and bones being torn apart was instantly relieved by the wood fragrance, allowing him to find a moment of peace.
Fang Yilan placed her hands on his chest, forcibly widening the delicate distance between them, and warned him coldly, "If you dare to come even an inch closer to me, I will not let you go."
Zhao Huaixu cleared his throat and said no more, just obeying obediently.
…
With a "bang", the carved wooden door of a private room in Yixianglou was kicked open.
Zhao Huaixu's face was as cold as frost, and he was holding a woman in gorgeous clothes in his arms. Her long black hair fell like silk. Most of her face was buried in Zhao Huaixu's chest, and a few strands of hair were scattered outside, just covering her face and making it difficult to see her true appearance.
When the madam heard the noise, she rushed over in a hurry. She saw the tense scene at a glance and suddenly realized what was going on. No wonder someone rushed to the south wing to arrest someone in such a rage just now.
It turned out that the young lover was secretly meeting her lover here and was caught red-handed.
The madam came forward at a trot and said, "Hey, Seventh Prince, please follow me." Then she led the way and led people upstairs.
The madam leaned closer to Zhao Huaixu as she walked, but he avoided her without leaving a trace.
The madam was used to it and simply lowered her voice and said, "Seventh Prince, do you need some wine to cheer you up? I'll make sure the young lady is completely obedient to you."
Fang Yilan, who was burying her head, immediately grabbed his collar. Zhao Huaixu's arm trembled and his fingers tightened unconsciously. He was afraid of hurting her, so he had to shake the person in his arms up.
"No need." Zhao Huaixu's eyes darkened and he refused indifferently.
The two followed the madam smoothly to the private room on the top floor. When the door was locked, Fang Yilan withdrew from Zhao Huaixu without any delay, as if to ward off evil spirits.
Seeing Zhao Huaixu's slightly dejected expression, Fang Yilan raised her eyebrows and said rudely, "Are you still feeling wronged?"
"What? Are you the only one allowed to use me?"
Zhao Huaixu's eyelashes trembled slightly, and he was choked by this blunt retort and was speechless for a moment. After a while, he recovered and smiled: "I have always been willing to give whatever I want to A Lan. If you need it, feel free to use it."
Fang Yilan just treated his sincere confession as wind blowing in her ears. Without even looking at Zhao Huaixu, she turned around and pushed the door open to leave.
What's the point of saying this? To apologize after you've already hurt someone is insulting and only adds to the rift.
Zhao Huaixu was once again left in this corner, and evil thoughts arose in his heart. If she was unwilling to accept him and abandoned him again and again, it would be better to cast a pair of shackles on her ankles, imprison her in a cage, and make her unable to escape his sight again.
But his thoughts turned a little, and he hesitated again. If such a passionate person was forbidden to chase the wind and the moon, would she still be herself?
It would be better to make a pair of shackles for myself, hand the other end of the chain to her hand, let her pull it, and become her prisoner forever.
…
Because He Huaijiu was beaten up by Fang Yilan but Fang Yilan couldn't catch him, he sent a large number of thugs downstairs to search.
The corridor was empty, with no one on duty.
Fang Yilan took this opportunity to grope towards the inner room at the end of the corridor.
The furnishings in the room were quite exquisite. In the center sat a sandalwood table, on which stood a row of goat-hair brushes and a few albums of paintings of ladies scattered around.
Fang Yilan scanned every corner and did not find any objects similar to account books in plain sight.
She quickly approached the table and began to search. Just then, a flurry of footsteps suddenly sounded in the corridor outside the door, and the sound of voices, some loud and some low, could be heard faintly.
Fang Yilan's heart tightened, and he quickly hid behind a rosewood and crabapple-shaped screen to conceal his presence.
"Who did you say is coming?"
The madam hunched over and whispered, "In reply to the master, it's the Seventh Prince."
The seventh prince?
He Huaijiu frowned, but did not stop walking. He strode straight into the inner room. Suddenly, the sound of porcelain breaking came from the private room beside him.
The wooden door of the private room swung open. Zhao Huaixu placed his slender fingers on the door, gently opening it a narrow gap. His clothes were slightly disheveled, his collar open, and his neck was covered with several striking red marks, which looked like scratches from fingernails, revealing a hint of ambiguity and charm.
"Send a new set of wine cups."
After saying that, without waiting for the person outside to respond, he slammed the door shut with a "bang".
He Huaijiu was scolded by Zhao Huaixu for no reason, but his face did not show anger. Instead, he said to the madam with great understanding: "Hehe, men, in this world, everyone has times when they feel depressed. I guess he has been subservient to Fang Yilan for too long. Now that he has finally found an opportunity, he wants to release his wild nature."
He Huaijiu waved his hand, turned around, and walked downstairs: "Alright, go and do your own thing. I'll take care of the wine cups myself."
Fang Yilan held her breath until she heard the footsteps fade away, then she breathed a sigh of relief. She searched the antique shelves in the room again, but still found nothing.
Suddenly I remembered that in those scripts, aren’t there mechanisms that can open secret compartments?
Her eyes lit up, and she began to rummage through the exquisite ornaments in the room one by one. Inadvertently, as she raised her hand to touch an ornament on the wooden shelf, she stumbled and accidentally kicked the blue and white porcelain placed on both sides of the bookshelf. Fang Yilan subconsciously stretched out her foot to catch it, but the porcelain did not fall to the ground. Instead, it stood there, motionless.
She held the bottle mouth with both hands and tried to turn it left and right. With a click, a wooden board on the bookshelf slowly rose up, revealing a book with an ancient cover.
Fang Yilan flipped through two pages and found the account book she was looking for.
After getting the things, she didn't dare to delay any longer and hurried back to the private room before He Huaijiu turned back.
"I've got the things. I'm leaving first." After saying that, Fang Yilan rushed out without waiting for Zhao Huaixu to respond.
Zhao Huaixu grabbed her arm and whispered, "You haven't changed your clothes yet. It would be inappropriate to leave rashly."
Suddenly there was a knock on the door: "Seventh Prince, I have brought you the wine cup you requested."
Fang Yilan was shocked, but it was too late to leave, so she had to rush to the bed, tear apart the brocade quilt, and then lower the curtain.
He Huaijiu looked at the crack in the door, which was almost completely covered by Zhao Huaixu's figure, but he could still see a faint figure behind the curtain in the inner room.
Humph, you pretend to be a gentleman, but you are still a drunkard and a womanizer.
After seeing He Huaijiu off, Zhao Huaixu raised his hand and called the madam, and whispered to her to quickly call a female doctor.
The madam agreed and looked at the Seventh Prince who was as elegant as the green pines and bamboos in front of her, but she didn't expect that he was not a man who knew how to be gentle with women.
I guess Xi Ling has been tortured for a long time, and his temperament has probably become cruel and perverse.
Yuan Qingjun hurried over, carrying a medicine box. By chance, she bumped into the madam. Their eyes met, and Yuan Qingjun almost couldn't hold back her laughter. Fortunately, she reacted quickly, lowered her head, and walked into the private room.
Yuan Qingjun opened the medicine box, took out Fang Yilan's clothes from the bottom of the box, and handed them back to her.
Seeing Fang Yilan's expression was obviously not good, he added fuel to the fire and asked, "Do you think the Seventh Prince needs some medicine on his hand?"
Fang Yilan just said coldly: "Don't worry about him, he won't die." Then she went to the inner room to change her clothes.
She straightened her black clothes and strode away with a swagger.
But it just happened that just as she was about to step out of the door of Yixianglou, she bumped into He Huaijiu.
A hint of surprise flashed across He Huaijiu's eyes, and then he smiled. "Hey, General Fang, what brings you to my Yixiang Tower today? Why didn't you tell me you were here so I could entertain you?"
Fang Yilan stood with his hands behind his back. "This Yixianglou is a well-known den of illicit entertainment in Shangjing City. I happened to have some free time today, so I wanted to come and see it, so I didn't have time to tell you in advance."
As if she had accidentally noticed the wound on the corner of He Huaijiu's mouth, she asked with concern, "What's wrong with Lord He's face?"
He Huaijiu naturally refused to reveal the slightest bit of his embarrassing experience. His expression froze, and he found an excuse, laughing dryly: "Well, I just accidentally fell on the road and bumped into something."
Fang Yilan opened her lips slightly, nodded in understanding, and said, "Then Lord He must be more careful when walking in the future. Although the roads in the capital are flat, you can't be sure if you fall into a deep ditch one day. That would be more than just a few wounds."
After saying that, he passed by He Huaijiu and left gracefully.
He Huaijiu looked at Fang Yilan's back and felt a dull pain in the wound on his body. With a gloomy face, he called his men and said, "Find out when Fang Yilan arrived at Yixianglou today!"
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