5. Brother
◎Brother Jian Xi◎
Chapter 5
Jiang Qiuye's heart trembled at his cold gaze, but she quickly calmed down and said, "This is what happened. I recalled the tragic death of my husband that day. These past few days, I've been feeling unbearable and have been having nightmares. I even dreamed of countless men in black chasing me with knives and killing me. I was so scared that I fell into a pool of blood. The next thing I saw was my dead husband. Woo woo."
Jiang Qiuye described it sadly, as if he was trying to hold back his tears, but after a while he took out a silk handkerchief from his sleeve and tried to wipe the golden beans that had not yet brewed.
Ji Ci raised his teacup and took a sip, looking at her speechlessly and sarcastically, as if to say, is this the important thing about the case you were talking about?
Jiang Qiuye noticed Ji Ci's sarcasm and looked a little embarrassed. After thinking for a while, she continued, "When my husband was poisoned, he had unbearable abdominal pain and vomited blood. All this happened in less than half an incense stick of time after drinking the wedding wine. I suspect that the poison he was poisoned with was very likely poison."
Ji Ci put down the teacup, "You may not know yet, but the coroner just found poison on the rim of Xiong's teacup."
"Ah, so..."
Jiang Qiuye blinked and grinned awkwardly.
"Then we need to investigate the source of this poison. This poison is not available to ordinary civilians."
"Well, with the cooperation of the Dali Temple, we have already sent people to investigate the source of the poison and the source of the raw materials used. I believe there will be results soon. Madam Zhang, just wait patiently."
Also called Madam Zhang...
Jiang Qiuye's smile suddenly disappeared, and she was speechless. She touched her nose, not knowing what to do. Her eyes rolled around, and she reached out to pick up a piece of water chestnut cake from the small plate on the table and ate it.
While eating, he nodded and said, "Well, I didn't expect this horse chestnut cake to be so delicious. Your Highness, would you like to try it too?"
"No, Madam Zhang, please eat as much as you like."
Ji Ci saw the embarrassment of the young widow opposite him, but he did not feel embarrassed. He just thought that the young widow was looking for trouble and had never asked about anything. Now that she had finished eating the water chestnut cake, she started to peel the ginkgo nuts.
Looking for trouble... What is her real purpose?
Looking at the little widow with her mouth full of food, her cheeks bulging and squirming, the scene is more like observing a mower storing food for the winter.
After Jiang Qiuye ate all the edible food on the table, he wiped the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief, and seemed to suddenly realize that there was a silent giant Buddha sitting opposite him.
By the way, she did have something important to discuss with Ji Ci. However, the awkward conversation at the beginning made her want to eat something to break the tension, but as she ate, she seemed to have neglected the important matter.
Prince Qi was truly patient, sitting opposite her without saying a word. He looked nothing like the man who had threatened her in the prison of the Ministry of Justice.
After swallowing the last piece of fruit, Jiang Qiuye pinched her fingers, stole a glance at him, then lowered her eyes and "accidentally" bumped her arm against the corner of the table, "Ouch, that hurts."
She raised her head slowly, her eyes were already red, and then tears flooded her eyes. She raised her arms and rubbed them, and her large yellow sleeves fell with her movements, revealing deep red lines on her skin, which had broken through the flesh and had just stopped bleeding.
Ji Ci's eyes narrowed slightly when he saw this. He had often been in the Ministry of Justice and knew exactly what kind of wounds would be caused by the force and angle of the whip. He hadn't expected the Anguo family law to be so harsh, even punishing. If there were so many wounds on the arms, there would be even more on the body. When he first saw the young widow limping, he thought she was playing tricks again.
He looked at the wound on his arm calmly.
When Jiang Qiuye noticed his expression, she knew it was time to complain about her grievance. She quickly lowered her arm, covering the wound with her large sleeves, and bit her red lips with her white teeth: "I'm really sorry to make you laugh, Your Highness. This ugly appearance is really unbearable to watch."
"Why is it so unsightly?"
While the imperial court wouldn't interfere too much with the laws of each family, overly tyrannical laws had been explicitly prohibited since the Reform Movement. Even prisoners in prison were to be tortured sparingly, and confessions forced into them were not permitted. Now that they were acquitted, such torture should not be used again.
She gave a strong, yet forced, smile, her two shallow dimples barely visible as she spoke, "Your Highness, you don't know my family's circumstances. Although I'm the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Anguo, I've never been favored since childhood. Your Highness also knows that I grew up in Wuzhou. Growing up, I had no parents to look after me, and even the servants didn't care about me. I usually did the laundry and cooking by myself, and was self-sufficient. It was only a month ago that my father brought me to the capital for this marriage."
Her hands couldn't help but tremble, but her face was filled with a sunny smile. "But it doesn't matter. I don't blame anyone along the way. Father and Auntie have been very good to me, and my sister has been very kind to me too. When I returned to the Duke's Mansion, Auntie bought me a lot of clothes and jewelry, like this one I'm wearing. My sister can't wear them anymore, so she gave them all to me. I'm very grateful. After all, I've never seen such fabrics in Wuzhou before."
Ji Ci looked at the brocade on Jiang Qiuye, which was the most common type in Shengjing. In a high-ranking family like the Duke's Mansion, the ladies would not even consider the young widow's dress.
Looking up, I saw that even on her bun there was only a simple silver hairpin with no pattern.
While Jiang Qiuye was speaking, she kept paying attention to Ji Ci's eyes. Although it was faint, she could see the slight hesitation in his eyes.
Thinking back to yesterday, although she had deliberately used threats and inducements, and finally provoked the Duke of Anguo to use family rules against her and beat her to death, now she was once again discrediting that family in front of Prince Qi.
She is not a good person, but her cheap father is not a good person either. She did help Qiu Ziye who was lying on the ground.
"Now that my husband's family has been tragically wiped out, I'm penniless and have nowhere to go, so I can only return to the Anguo Mansion. I know I shouldn't go back and disturb their family of three, but I really have no choice. Father is convinced that I was born with a bad luck to marry and bring bad luck to my family, and that I was the one who killed the general's family. Perhaps I really am a bad luck to marry and bring bad luck to my family, otherwise why would I be sent away at a young age, and why would my entire family die just after I got married."
Jiang Qiuye's voice trembled more and more, and she twisted the handkerchief in her hand, "Your Highness, I am the one...who was abandoned by my father..."
Jiang Qiuye was stunned with moist eyes. She didn't know what words had irritated Ji Ci. She only saw a hint of indescribable meaning flash in his eyes, and his fingers shrank slightly.
That person...abandoned by his father...
Ji Ci frowned, and that scene flashed through his mind, but he quickly regained his composure.
He closed his eyes and looked at Jiang Qiuye again, indifferent again, as if the previous moment was just an illusion.
"What is your purpose in looking for me today?"
Jiang Qiuye swallowed and stammered, "Your Majesty, I, I actually don't want to go back to the Anguo Mansion."
"Although I certainly don't resent my father and his family, I'm truly terrified. It's bad enough that I've been haunted by the night the Zhang family was exterminated, but now I have to endure the family punishment. I was in so much pain last night that I couldn't sleep. I was terrified."
"I, I, I'm really afraid of pain."
Jiang Qiuye's voice is soft and sticky, and her face is as white as orchid, which makes her more likely to arouse sympathy.
"I understand that the family affairs of court officials are sometimes considered state affairs. I will not tolerate those who disregard the New Laws of the Great Jin."
To him, the young widow's strangeness was one thing, and Duke Anguo's violation of the law was another, and the distinctions were very clear.
Ji Ci's promise was unbreakable. Jiang Qiuye knew that the Duke of Anguo would be in trouble for a while, but she didn't want him to be punished.
"Your Majesty, there is one more thing."
"What is it?"
It seemed that after Jiang Qiuye opened his heart to Ji Ci, this man became much easier to talk to.
"I want to move out of the Anguo Mansion, but... I don't have any money."
Ji Ci looked back and drained the remaining tea in his cup. "This matter was indeed my oversight. So, your dowry in the Zhang Mansion was sealed because of this case. How about I have the Dali Temple conduct a quick review and return it to you if there is nothing suspicious? That way, you will have the capital to settle down in Shengjing."
The marriage between the Duke of Anguo's Mansion and the General of the Cavalry was a grand one. Although Qiu Ziye was not favored, for the benefit and reputation of the Duke's Mansion, the dowry was naturally generous.
Jiang Qiuye smiled comfortably after hearing this, and her sweet voice rushed into Ji Ci's mind: "Thank you, Brother Jian Xi!"
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