13. Act like a spoiled child
◎Holding his sleeve tightly◎
Chapter 13
Jiang Qiuye pursed her lips and looked at the man opposite her.
What kind of man was Ji Ci? I first heard of him four years ago, in a brothel in Li State. Through a pale yellow screen, I watched a few burly men trading arms. They were talking about how King Ji Ci of Qi, leading 5,000 Jin soldiers, had defeated 30,000 Li cavalrymen in a single battle, earning him fame and a terrifying reputation.
She remembered that it was after that mission that she assassinated two forces, seized the weapons, and became a Silver Ghost.
When she heard their conversation at that time, she thought that such a hero must be a burly man with broad shoulders and a long body, with immense strength, and the ability to twist heads with his bare hands.
But what is the reality?
The person in my imagination is completely opposite to the gentle and elegant person opposite me. He eats slowly and carefully. Although he seems extremely indifferent, he is actually friendly and polite.
"Don't look at me."
Jiang Qiuye stopped thinking, "Why?"
Ji Ci drank the last mouthful of soup, put down the spoon, and glanced at her pair of affectionate peach blossom eyes, "Don't look at me, it will affect your appetite."
Well, what she thought of as friendliness and courtesy just now was wrong. This person was extremely cold, nothing but indifference.
It also affects appetite.
If it really has an effect, why would you eat all the medicinal food?
Jiang Qiuye looked troubled, but he didn't give up and said, "Look a little bit? Let's discuss it?"
"...What's negotiable about this?"
Ji Ci felt a little depressed. The young widow's eyes were too charming and made people feel uneasy.
This restlessness made it impossible for him to eat.
As for why?
Ji Ci could only classify it as a disaster that needed to be avoided in time, similar to the "five colors that blind people."
Jiang Qiuye was in a good mood today and smiled sweetly, "Life needs interest and beauty. Everyone loves to see beauty. When scholars look at paintings, they understand the world's landscapes and feel joy in their hearts. The same is true. Your Highness is so handsome. When I look at your heroic and elegant appearance, I naturally feel joy in my heart."
A sweet-talking and flattering young widow.
Ji Ci lowered his eyes and ignored it, but he didn't say anything like "don't look" anymore.
For some reason, the young widow was becoming less and less afraid of him. Thinking back to the first time they met, she was so frightened that she burst into tears and trembled, even having to think twice before speaking.
What happened to him that caused him to lose his former dignity?
Jiang Qiuye chuckled, "Your Highness, if you look at yourself in the bronze mirror every day, you might find joy in your heart and forget the pressure brought by the complicated official duties."
“…”
Ji Ci suddenly felt a little embarrassed, but couldn't help but curl his lips.
Everyone praised his achievements, and beauty was used to praise women. The young widow used this to praise him, and somehow, she always felt itchy in her heart.
Jiang Qiuye noticed Ji Ci's expression. She had played the role of a sweet and gentle girl for so many years. Unlike Ji Ci, who was clean and polite, she could say these words with ease. It was so easy to make a man happy.
Now even an icy person like Ji Ci could be made to laugh by her several times.
Had this person ever smiled in front of other people before? It was hard to imagine.
Suddenly thinking of Doctor Xue whom she had met on the porch at noon, Jiang Qiuye said, "Oh, right, today I saw a man covered in wounds passing through Guihong Hall. I just learned that he was my late husband's physician, and that there was a dispute between them. Do you think he could be the murderer?"
Ji Ci's expression returned to its initial indifference, and he said, "This possibility cannot be ruled out. Doctor Xue has a motive. Since he runs a clinic, he must know the source of the poison. I have already sent Tian to secretly investigate."
Jiang Qiuye thought that with Ji Ci's ability, he must know all the suspects and would not let them go.
But she still pretended to be surprised and exclaimed, "Wow, the prince actually knew about this a long time ago. How amazing! I only found out about this person's identity today. I never thought that everything was already under the prince's control."
A smooth-talking young widow.
Ji Ci didn't respond, nor did he show any expression.
At this time, Ji Ci stood up and prepared to leave. Tian Qu, who was standing outside the door in the wind, immediately ran behind him.
Thinking of Doctor Xue, whom the young widow had just mentioned, he asked, "How was the examination of Doctor Xue Zong today?"
Tian glanced at Jiang Qiuye who was still standing in front of them, then looked back at Ji Ci and said, "Xue Zong was not present on the day of the incident, nor for the five days before and after."
Jiang Qiuye raised her hand to cover her mouth in surprise and said, "So Doctor Xue is not the murderer."
After a moment of silence, Ji Ci asked, "Do you have any evidence?"
"There's a witness. Xue Zong owed a lot of gambling debts, and he couldn't pay them back. During that time, the gambling house owner had someone tie him up and lock him up in a small room behind the house for five days. We only learned yesterday that the gambling house owner had once again come to Xue Zong's house and beat him up, and our people caught him red-handed."
"I see." Jiang Qiuye pondered, "It's been so long, and the murderer hasn't made any move at all? He's really patient."
Seeing this, Tian Qu continued to report, "Another suspicious individual is A Yuan, the servant who escaped from the Zhang residence. He's a habitual thief, and this time he stole quite a bit of property and escaped, making him a rare escape. After leaving the Zhang residence, he's been staying at Yinxiang Tower every day, including today. As a servant from the Zhang residence, he might know something, but he's hiding out of fear of being silenced."
"Are you also in Yinxiang Tower today?" Jiang Qiuye's eyes lit up and he suggested, "Then, Your Majesty, how about we go to Yinxiang Tower tonight and see what A Yuan knows."
Jiang Qiuye had read many storybooks in which two young, inexperienced men and women would visit a brothel at night. Often, they would hide in a dark place, perhaps in a wardrobe or a bathtub, to eavesdrop on the conversations between the lovers in order to gather intelligence.
Private space, physical contact, intoxicating fragrance, and the sounds of young girls humming all around.
It is really a treasure land where it is easy to be moved and sparks fly.
"Go, go and capture A Yuan and take him to the Ministry of Justice tonight..."
???
After Ji Ci finished his instructions, he turned around and glanced at Jiang Qiuye, who was being drenched in a basin of cold water, and continued, "...Visiting the Ministry of Justice at night."
Don’t understand romance!
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After Tian Qu finished speaking, he left at the speed of an arrow.
This Ji Jianxi doesn't give anyone any chance at all.
Seeing him step out of the porch and about to leave, Jiang Qiuye immediately stepped forward and said, "Prince, please take me with you."
“…”
Ji Ci stopped and looked at her suspiciously. Isn't that the little widow most afraid of that place? How dare you go back?
"Your Highness, since A Yuan is from the Zhang family, maybe after I go there, he will be able to say something that he dare not say."
Let the servant Ayuan speak. He has a hundred ways and he doesn't need this young widow at all.
Looking at Jiang Qiuye, whose face was filled with anxiety, Ji Ci suppressed the corners of his lips that were about to curl up and said, "Okay, as long as you're not afraid."
Seeing Ji Ci relent, she immediately replied that she was not afraid, fearing that he would go back on his word.
It was half an hour later when they arrived at the Ministry of Justice Prison. Unexpectedly, Tian Qu acted so quickly that the man had been tied up in the torture room before their carriage arrived.
The Ministry of Justice Prison was still gloomy and the deeper one went, the faint stench spread in the air.
Along the way, many prisoners passed by, and when they saw Jiang Qiuye suddenly appear in the prison, their eyes were a little dirty.
Jiang Qiuye followed Ji Ci and peeked in, as if recalling the painful experience she had here, and she grabbed Ji Ci's sleeve with some fear.
Ji Ci was stunned. He had always disliked people getting too close to him. Even the slightest touch would cause him to go numb. It was a kind of self-protective and defensive consciousness. It had been like this for more than ten years, like the disaster of anorexia, starting from the heart and spreading to the body.
But when he looked down at the pair of tender white hands and the protruding head, the little face was pale, tightly grasping his sleeves, but carefully not touching him.
It is a distance that will not make him too disgusted and angry.
But it makes her feel safe, as if she is protected under its wings.
The young widow was too weak and too powerless.
This feeling of being depended on is very strange.
But I don't want to get rid of it.
Forget it. Anyway, this young widow doesn't know the difference between men and women. Considering the daily medicinal food, since she is so scared, I'll just sacrifice myself and endure it.
In silence, the two men had already reached the torture chamber.
A Yuan was tied to the rack, his face was full of panic, his legs were shaking, and his face was wrinkled into knots.
As soon as he saw Ji Ci enter, he cried out, "Sir, please spare my life! I know nothing! I know nothing!"
Jiang Qiuye loosened Ji Ci's sleeve, her two dimples slightly appearing. She said softly, "I haven't asked anything yet, and you're saying you don't know. So it seems you do know something."
She turned her head and said coquettishly, "I'm right, my lord."
Ji Ci was originally staring at his empty and slightly wrinkled sleeves.
After hearing Jiang Qiuye's voice, he looked at her dimples again and said, "Yeah."
"Your Majesty, would you like me to ask him?"
Seeing that the young widow looked eager to try, Ji Ci suddenly felt a little funny. His expression remained cold, but he nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Jiang Qiuye walked towards Ayuan and rolled his eyes.
The main reason she came here was to get closer to Ji Ci, while not showing her vicious side.
As for whether Ayuan said it or not, she didn't care.
She said gently, "Ah Yuan, I'm Qiu Ziye, Zhang Liang's widow. You must have seen me on our wedding night."
Ah Yuan couldn't help but shake his head. Seeing that it was such a little girl who came to interrogate him, he was not so scared anymore. "I have never seen you before. You were always covered with a red scarf."
“…Oh, that’s it.”
Not far away, Tian Qu seemed to be digging his toes into the ground in embarrassment.
That’s it?
Jiang Qiuye continued to smile and said, "You were so scared just now, you must have some clues about the real culprit of the Zhang family tragedy, right? Can you tell me?"
A Yuan didn't quite understand why Jiang Qiuye was interrogating him like that. He had never seen anyone interrogate a prisoner so gently. The trembling tone in his voice had long since dissipated, replaced by his usual rough voice. "I don't know. I'm telling you, I didn't kill anyone. If you keep arresting people indiscriminately like this, tomorrow I'll let the whole world..."
"Ah——" Before A Yuan finished speaking, Jiang Qiuye suddenly screamed with a look of horror.
Then, like a rabbit, he hopped behind Ji Ci, grabbed his sleeve, and shook it gently. "Your Highness, he just scared me. He was so scary and cruel."
A Yuan: “”
Tian Qu: “…”
The jailers: "......"
Ji Ci: "..."
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