Qi Nuan turned around, and the boy stood in the light, his voice as warm as the sun in the cold day.
"Ah Yu, you're back."
"Mmm." The boy responded to her, then walked over and sat down next to her.
"I've been quite busy lately. Is there anything I can help you with today?"
"It's nothing." Qi Nuan shook her head. She might have had something to say earlier, but now she had nothing to say.
"Are you done with your work?"
As the setting sun gradually disappeared from sight, Qi Nuan and Jiang Yu arrived at the courtyard.
At this moment, Ahua is inspecting the down feathers that have been completely dried.
"Brother Yu, it was a great success."
Qi Nuan was very happy as she touched the down feathers, which were as light as willow catkins and as warm as cotton. She was surprised that they had succeeded on their first try.
The snow-white down feathers, after being washed repeatedly, no longer had any odor; instead, they smelled of sunshine.
Seeing that Ahua was still busy, Qi Nuan said, "Sister Ahua, you can do it tomorrow, there's no rush."
They didn't collect much down, enough to make about two or three garments.
However, we should first produce some finished products so that we can hand them over to Jiang Yu. Having finished products will make us more convincing, and Jiang Yu will be able to send people to collect down feathers.
Ahua nodded, smiled, and led the embroiderer away.
Jiang Yu led Qi Nuan out of the county government.
Qi Nuan was a little curious about where Jiang Yu was going to take her.
"Wait!" Qi Nuan called out to Jiang Yu, as she saw a furtive figure.
"This is……"
The two looked at each other. Wasn't this Zhang Nongshi?
The two followed silently behind him.
The sky was filled with stars, and two people on the mountaintop were plotting something. Jiang Yu gestured for Qi Nuan to be quiet.
Qi Nuan understood and immediately shut up.
The faint sound of voices could be heard.
This is Zhang Nongshi's voice.
"I've brought what I brought. Where's what you brought?"
"No rush, how do I know if you're not lying to me? I'll give you the things next spring."
A rough voice rang out, his tone somewhat awkward. Qi Nuan glanced at Jiang Yu, who nodded.
This person was not from the Central Plains. It was unclear what kind of deal Zhang Nongshi had made with him. Qi Nuan thought of Zhang Nongshi's strange behavior yesterday and wondered if these were potatoes they were using for experiments.
But on second thought, it probably isn't.
Judging from their practiced manner, this was clearly not their first time.
The two listened quietly to their conversation.
Soon after, Zhang Nongshi was seen leaving with the messenger, and Jiang Yu quickly followed with Qi Nuan.
What happened?
They lost track of the person and came to a grove of trees, but saw no one there.
"Young friends, are you looking for me?"
The voice came from behind them. The two turned around and saw a strong man standing behind them, his green eyes flashing with a malicious glint.
There was no sign of Zhang Nongshi.
Who are you?
Jiang Yu asked in a cold voice.
"I should ask you both that question."
The man glanced at Jiang Yu and smiled, "You must be Song Jingning's son."
Jiang Yu did not answer, but instead protected Qi Nuan behind her.
The man was holding a crescent-shaped dagger and was closing in on them step by step.
Jiang Yu made the first move, and the two were instantly entangled in a fight.
It was only then that Qi Nuan noticed Zhang Nongshi's figure.
Zhang Nongshi lay on the ground, blood gushing from his mouth, his hand outstretched towards Qi Nuan's direction, his eyes fixed on her.
"Zhang Nongshi... what's wrong? What happened?"
Qi Nuan ran to Zhang Nongshi's side.
Nai Kan Zhang Nongshi was speechless, and at this moment, he was only making "ya ya... ah ah" sounds that Qi Nuan could not understand at all.
With great difficulty, he finally managed to utter a single word, "Rou...Wang...Wang..." He pointed at the person fighting with Jiang Yu, and then reached into his robes.
“Hidden…hidden…TuTu…jade…”
He died before he could finish speaking.
Jiang Yu kicked the man away, and at the same time, a box fell out of the man's arms. The man was about to reach for it, but was stopped by Jiang Yu's long sword.
The two fought for several more rounds. Jiang Yu stabbed the man in the chest with a sword, but the man ignored the wound and reached out to grab the box that had fallen to the ground.
Seeing this, Jiang Yu slashed at the box with his sword, splitting it in two and spilling the contents out.
Jiang Yu immediately recognized the potatoes they had grown, along with a split blueprint.
The man ignored the potatoes on the ground, snatched the blueprints from the ground, and flew away.
Watching the man flee, Jiang Yu did not chase after him, but picked up the half-sheet of blueprint left on the ground.
Are you alright?
Qi Nuan stepped forward and put the potatoes on the ground back into her spatial storage.
The two approached Zhang Nongshi, and Qi Nuan shook her head, handing the things in her hand to Jiang Yu.
"The man was already dead; this was found on his body."
Qi Nuan had seen it; it was a letter and a map, but she hadn't had time to read the contents of the letter yet.
However, upon seeing the potatoes, Qi Nuan guessed that Zhang Nongshi and that person must have made some kind of deal in secret.
However, judging from the man's appearance, he must have gotten what he wanted, which is why he killed Zhang Nongshi to silence him.
However, it's also possible that the man killed them because he discovered they were being followed.
Jiang Yu's expression was not good. The tattered map he found was a defense map of the border of Shangjun, and the person he was looking at looked like a foreigner.
I'm afraid this matter is not that simple.
"Return to the manor first and inform the prefect of this matter."
Qi Nuan nodded and asked, "What should we do with the body?"
"Take it with you."
The two men took the body back to the county government.
Song Jingning's complexion was not good.
Seeing the worry on Jiang Yu's and the others' faces, he comforted them, "It's alright, this border defense map is not the latest version."
However, once is never enough; a traitor has emerged within the household, which is not good news.
The matter of how Zhang Nongshi got involved with outsiders needs to be thoroughly investigated.
Based on Jiang Yu and the others' description of that person and Zhang Nongshi's words before his death, that person should be the king of the Rouran tribe.
Many years ago, Song Jingning had met him once.
As for the meaning behind Zhang Nong's silence in the latter half of the incident, Song Jingning was also completely baffled.
At this moment, Zhang Liao, who was examining the corpse, hesitated for a moment before speaking up: "Zhang Nongshi should be a person from the previous dynasty, and the map in his hand should also be a treasure map from the previous dynasty."
"What?"
Zhang Liao's words undoubtedly struck everyone like a thunderbolt.
Qi Nuan was puzzled as to why they were reacting so strongly. Even if they were from the previous dynasty, wasn't that perfectly normal?
Song Jingning looked at Zhang Liao and said, "The jade you're referring to, sir, is..."
Zhang Liao nodded.
He had already seen that Zhang Nongshi had a black snake totem on his back, and that Zhang Nongshi was a man from the previous dynasty, and of a high status.
The important thing is the information contained in the letter he left behind.
Although there were only eight characters above, Zhang Liao recalled the news he had heard at the Prince Yu's residence.
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