66. Eavesdropping
◎Beautiful and kind-hearted?◎
Chapter 66
When Jiang Qiuye woke up, Ji Ci had already gone to the palace for the morning court session. After getting up, washing, and tidying herself up, she went into the small kitchen to make some new dragon beard candy. Ji Ci's condition had improved significantly in recent days, so she tried to improve the recipe a little bit and prepared it for him to try when he returned.
When she finished preparing everything and returned to the bedroom from the kitchenette, she suddenly realized that something was missing. She looked at the table beside the bed and found that the peach blossom cake that Ji Sang had given her was missing.
Normally, the maid would certainly not take things from her room at will. Could it be that Ji Ci had an appetite and ate the peach blossom cake?
Seeing Mingyue entering the room, she casually asked, "Mingyue, have you seen the peach blossom cake I placed on the table?"
"Ah, is this the princess' peach blossom cake?" Mingyue seemed to react belatedly, "Princess, this morning I saw the peach blossom cake spilled on the ground outside, and Jianjian ate it all. I thought Jianjian stole it from the kitchen, but I didn't expect it to be stolen from the bedroom."
When Jiang Qiuye heard it was Jianjian, she understood. Fortunately, peach blossoms are not poisonous to cats, otherwise she would have lost her life because of her greed. It was a pity that the peach blossom cake was so delicious, she had never tasted it before.
At lunchtime, Ji Ci sent someone to tell her that he had important matters to attend to at the Ministry of Justice and would not be able to come back to eat with her. Since she had nothing to do, she took a bowl of black chicken soup and went to find him.
The Ministry of Justice was located in East City, not too far from Prince Qi's residence, but not too close either. Due to the lack of funds in the treasury, the building had fallen into disrepair, and the wood of the porch was somewhat worn.
This place wasn't as heavily guarded as the Imperial Prison, and given her status as a princess, the guards took her to a dining hall to wait. When some of the clerks serving meals saw Jiang Qiuye, they all stopped eating, a bit curious, and then stood up to greet her.
Jiang Qiuye smiled and waved her hand, saying, "You all should enjoy your meal and don't be polite. We are all doing important things for the court and have made great contributions to the Jin Dynasty. I am a woman of noble birth, so there is no need for you to be so reserved."
No one had expected that the legendary Princess Qi was not only as beautiful as a fairy and sweet, but also so approachable and humble. Everyone couldn't help but relax.
When Ji Ci hurried to the dining hall, this was the scene he saw.
Twenty or so timid clerks stood at the dining hall door, peeking through it. Some, unable to find a gap, even squatted on the windowsill, completely lacking manners. These people hadn't done their work at the moment, but had come here.
He stood behind the crowd at the door and no one noticed him. When he looked inside, he saw seven or eight bold clerks surrounding his beautiful princess and talking nonsense.
The clerks in front of him also began to whisper, "The princess is so beautiful! This is the first time in my life that I have witnessed with my own eyes what it means to be so stunning that fish sink to the bottom of their waters, geese drop to the ground, and the moon hide in shame."
"The princess has a beautiful voice. I want to talk to her too."
A small official beside her, with a fierce and arrogant face, was saying something like, "Princess, you know that the Ministry of Justice cannot function without me, Wang Qi."
Jiang Qiuye's peach blossom eyes were curved with admiration, and she looked at Wang Qi with a charming smile, "Really? My Lord, are you so powerful?"
Ji Ci's face was gloomy outside, and he felt very sad.
Fortunately, his little princess no longer calls people "brother" casually, which is a great progress in this regard.
Should... be praised?
Wang Qi's heart was stirred by the sight, and he slammed the table with all his might, then planted a leg on the bench and said, "Back then, there was a case of wife murder in Shengjing. The murderer was extremely vicious and immediately fled Shengjing after committing the crime. I immediately followed a few rare clues and chased the murderer on horseback for 700 miles, capturing the vicious murderer. Because of that incident, I was nicknamed "Little Thousand-Li Horse" in the Ministry of Justice."
Jiang Qiuye immediately applauded and praised after hearing this, which made everyone else feel disappointed.
Ji Ci looked at the lustful eyes of this group of people and felt even more depressed.
What little Thousand-Li Horse? He remembered that time, he had used clues to deduce the murderer's escape route, which led to Wang Qi's pursuit of the murderer. Besides, it was seven hundred miles, not a thousand, right?
This young wife had never seen the world, and she was captivated by this simple case.
The clerk standing in front of Ji Ci couldn't help but say, "The princess is really beautiful and kind-hearted. I didn't expect her to be so kind to me. I really envy His Royal Highness Prince Qi."
Beautiful and kind-hearted?
Ji Ci couldn't help but sneer. He was afraid that only he knew how scheming his little princess was. These people didn't know that she could do such things as drug him and trick him into rebelling.
But for some reason, he felt a little honored when he thought that she had only drugged him.
All of them, having just thrown away that stinky Ji Sang's peach blossom cake this morning, she had come to the Ministry of Justice and unexpectedly attracted so many ugly bees and butterflies. Could it be that these people had forgotten that this was his little princess?
Ji Ci took a few steps forward and tried to push the crowd aside to get in. The clerk felt really annoyed by the pushing and shoving and was about to turn around and curse, but when he saw that it was King Qi, he immediately shut his mouth and was glad that he didn't blurt out anything.
"Ah, the prince is here!"
As soon as the voice came out, everyone turned around immediately. The person squatting on the windowsill knew that his image had been ruined. He was at a loss for a moment. His feet slipped and he fell down with a "bang", and the black hat on his head fell off.
Ji Ci ignored everyone and walked into the dining hall. Jiang Qiuye actually noticed him the moment he arrived, but for some reason she didn't come in. Instead, she stood there for a long time. She didn't say anything, but stood up immediately, smiled sweetly and said in surprise: "My husband is here——"
Seeing her eyes full of joy, her lotus-pink silk skirt, her translucent red lips, and her soft voice, the depression in my heart instantly disappeared.
Everyone hurriedly saluted Ji Ci. He glanced around and said sternly, "If you don't do anything, do you think this Ministry of Justice is just for free? How can you all gather here? Get down now!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
They were startled, not daring to look up. They had only heard of Prince Qi's stunning beauty, and upon hearing someone was coming, they had rushed over. But now that Prince Qi had appeared, they all fled the dining hall, not a single one daring to stay.
The dining hall was empty, and Ji Ci sat down in front of a food table. He watched Jiang Qiuye open the food box, set out the bowls and chopsticks, lift up the bowl of fragrant black chicken soup and share some, and suddenly he felt hungry.
"I heard that my husband is busy and can't come home for dinner, but how can I not eat? My husband, please don't forget what you promised Ye'er."
Ji Ci touched his nose, remembering that in the small room outside the imperial prison, he had promised to give his body to her to cure his anorexia.
"Well, I neglected it. I haven't been in Shengjing for a long time, and there is really too much backlog of official business."
Jiang Qiuye pushed the bowl of chicken soup in front of him and snorted softly, "There are so many people in the Ministry of Justice. My husband should ask them to help you do more things. Only when you recuperate well can your body be healthy."
Ji Ci felt warm in his heart and nodded, then began to drink the black chicken soup, and suddenly felt extremely comfortable in his stomach.
After they finished lunch together, Ji Ci was about to send Jiang Qiuye back to the carriage when Tian Qu immediately stepped forward to report, "Your Highness, the bronze ghost captured in the Zhuo Jun case seems to be dying. Fortunately, he did reveal some information about the secret agents in Shengjing."
With a "bang", the food box hanging on Jiang Qiuye's arm fell to the ground. Ji Ci looked at her, then helped her pick up the food box and put it into the carriage. Jiang Qiuye smiled at him.
What! ! !
The bronze ghost in the Zhuojun King case is not dead?
Did Jinhong disobey his orders again?
Jiang Qiuye's heart skipped a beat, and he tensed up. He lowered his head and listened to their conversation secretly, but didn't dare to look up.
After Ji Ci put the food box away, he said coldly, "Send him to the doctor for treatment. It's best to save his life."
"Yes! Your Highness!" Tian Qu nodded and left.
Jiang Qiuye calmed herself down and, seeing that no one was around, she stepped forward, hugged Ji Ci's waist, and said delicately, "When will my husband be back today? I've missed you so much since I left."
Ji Ci couldn't help but curl up the corners of his lips, and raised his hand to rub the top of her head. "Be good, I've been quite busy recently. I'll try to go back before 10 p.m. tonight. I'll spend more time with you after I'm done with this busy period."
"Well, Brother Jian Xi is the best." She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek, then immediately turned around and got on the carriage.
Ji Ci stood there for a long time, watching the carriage gradually disappear in the distance. He raised his hand and touched the side of his face, and confirmed again that there was no one around before he finally smiled.
…
It was getting dark, and there was a rare strong wind in early spring, followed by a heavy spring rain.
The rain had stopped, but Ji Ci had not returned yet. Jiang Qiuye was combing her long hair with a comb, looking at herself in the bronze mirror with a ruthless and pale face.
Jinhong stepped forward and said, "Princess, dinner is ready. Would you like to eat first?"
She didn't answer, but instead examined Jinhong's appearance in the bronze mirror and said softly, "Didn't you receive the code I left for you before I left Shengjing?"
Jinhong's face darkened as she met Jiang Qiuye's cold eyes in the mirror. It seemed that she knew everything. She felt a little discouraged and finally avoided her sight and admitted, "Got it."
“But you didn’t do it.”
"I..." Jinhong raised her head and bit her lip again, "...I don't want to kill my companions."
Jiang Qiuye was silent for a long time, and couldn't help but burst out laughing. She couldn't stop laughing and shed some tears, which made Jinhong feel scared.
Jiang Qiuye laughed for a long time, and finally controlled herself. She gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. After a moment, she threw the horn comb in her hand to the ground, and the comb broke into two pieces.
She slowly stood up and turned around, looking at Jinhong and tauntingly saying, "You don't want to kill your own companions? Haven't you killed enough companions? Have you ever counted how many companions you've killed since the first day you entered Feiyan Pavilion?"
She lowered her head and took a deep breath, then looked at her again and said grimly, "Zhang Yi is dead."
"What?" Jinhong looked up in surprise.
"You guessed right. I went back to the palace today to kill him." Jiang Qiuye said with a smile, "If I hadn't gone to the Ministry of Justice today and learned that the bronze ghost finally confessed under torture, you and I would have been exposed by now."
Jinhong staggered back two steps, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead, unable to utter a word.
"You're so kind, not wanting to kill your companions," Jiang Qiuye sighed. "But do you know what kind of torture that companion who failed to commit suicide will endure in prison? He'll be unable to live, and unable to die. Jinhong, are you kind? Or are you a hypocrite?"
Jinhong suddenly felt difficulty breathing. Jiang Qiuye was right. Her momentary weakness had caused the bronze ghost's current tragic situation and killed Zhang Yi.
Her body relaxed and she sat down on the ground. Her heart felt heavy and she couldn't open her mouth.
"Jinhong, now that you've entered Feiyan Pavilion, don't pretend to be kind. The ghosts there aren't even human. They're the most disgusting maggots in the world, feeding on poison." Jiang Qiuye squatted in front of her and gently lifted her chin. "If you were devoted to Feiyan Pavilion, you shouldn't have killed King Zhuo Jun. But since you helped me kill King Zhuo Jun, you shouldn't be so optimistic. People like you can be said to be playing both sides. There's always a time when things will capsize, Jinhong."
A strong wind blew in through the window lattice, and Jiang Qiuye's long hair fluttered like a ghost. Jinhong looked back at her, and finally said unwillingly, "We are not you. We don't have your talent for martial arts or completing tasks. We worked hard and struggled all the way to become bronze ghosts. Only I understand their difficulties. I can't go up, and I can't go down..."
"Have you forgotten that I also came from Tonggui?" Jiang Qiuye interrupted her with a smile.
After being scolded, Jinhong was unable to speak. She lowered her head in annoyance, and finally said, "I'm sorry... I won't do that next time."
"That's good..." Jiang Qiuye had just finished speaking when his ears suddenly moved and his smile disappeared.
She immediately looked up at the window, stood up, and walked over quickly. She raised her hand and pushed the window open with all her strength. The window creaked and shook violently back and forth. The strong wind rushed in, blowing her black hair into the air.
The person at the window had her eyes wide open, as if she'd been caught red-handed before she could even escape. She was trembling like a sieve. She felt a sense of familiarity with this person. Recalling the past, she realized it was Susu's maid, whose name seemed to be... Qingling.
She has always been vigilant. She didn't know whether it was because she was too angry today, or because the spring rain covered up the sound and smell. She also didn't know how much this clear spirit heard, or where it came from, that she missed such a big loophole.
Seeing that Qingling seemed to be about to open her mouth to scream and run away, she quickly climbed out of the window and, with lightning speed, knocked Qingling unconscious with a single slash of her hand before she could even move.
She pressed her solar plexus firmly against her head, trying to control her trembling hands as she looked at Qingling, who had fainted on the ground. It was clear that when she was at Man'er Hill, just after returning from Huaixi, when she saw Zhao Wan'er that day, she had wished she could get closer to Ji Ci, not to mention being a good person, but at least letting him kill fewer people.
But why not give her a chance? Today there was Zhang Yi, and now there is Qing Ling.
It's not that she doesn't want to let go, it's that there are always people who don't know how to live or die and force her to take action...
The author has something to say:
Ji Ci: My wife drugged me, I am honored
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