The matter of the Ye manor’s servants being silenced and the masters going missing was quickly reported to the authorities. Officials arrived promptly. When they discovered Jiang Li was also present, they were startled and tactfully advised her to return home first and wait there. Such a horrific massacre was naturally a bloody scene, but aside from looking distressed, Jiang Li showed remarkably little fear.
She knew Jiang Yuanbai would soon learn of this matter and would tell her to hurry back to the manor. Just as Jiang Li was about to bid farewell to Situ Jiuyue, Situ Jiuyue suddenly said, “I’ll return with you.”
Jiang Li said, “Miss Jiuyue?”
“Since those people are coming for you, and Zhao Ke isn’t at the Jiang manor right now, if the other party wants you to do something, perhaps having me nearby means you’ll at least have someone to discuss things with.” She added, “If I return to the Duke’s manor now, there’s no one there—it wouldn’t serve any purpose.”
Jiang Li knew Situ Jiuyue was worried about Xue Zhao. Moreover, Situ Jiuyue carried many poisons on her person—perhaps they could come in handy. She said, “Alright, come back with me.”
Situ Jiuyue thus followed Jiang Li back to the Jiang manor. Jiang Li simply said Situ Jiuyue was a maid from the Duke’s manor who was skilled at arranging hair, and had specially asked Situ Jiuyue to come to the Jiang manor to do her hair for a couple of days. Hearing she was from the Duke’s manor, the Jiang family asked no further questions. Who would dare meddle with Ji Heng’s people?
When Old Madam Jiang learned of the incident at the Ye family, she first summoned Jiang Li to Wanfeng Hall to ask about it, then told Jiang Li that Jiang Yuanbai and Jiang Yuanping had already intervened in the matter. She told Jiang Li not to worry yet—not finding bodies was good news. During these days, Jiang Li shouldn’t go out. Yanjing was truly not peaceful.
Jiang Li’s mind was on the Ye family matter, and she perfunctorily agreed while distracted. Finally returning to Fangfei Courtyard, Situ Jiuyue had already been brought back to the room by Bai Xue to wait. Jiang Li entered the room and closed the door. Only she and Situ Jiuyue remained inside.
Situ Jiuyue asked anxiously, “How is it?”
This young lady always maintained a cold and indifferent appearance. This was the first time Jiang Li had seen her so anxious. If it were normally, she would certainly feel happy for Xue Zhao in her heart. However, at this moment she truly couldn’t feel happy, because she was just as worried as Situ Jiuyue.
Jiang Li shook her head. “Don’t count on the authorities being able to investigate anything. Since they dared to do this, they must have come well-prepared. They won’t leave any traces for people to catch. Anyone who can confront Ji Heng is no ordinary person. I’m only suspicious…” She looked at Situ Jiuyue. “Are the other party members of the Yin family?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what Ji Heng went to do. However,” Situ Jiuyue answered, “as far as I know, Ji Heng’s ultimate enemy is the Yin family. So I think perhaps your guess is correct.”
Jiang Li’s heart didn’t feel any lighter hearing Situ Jiuyue’s words. She understood that if the other party was Yin Zhan, this matter would only be harder to handle. Yin Zhan was Ji Heng’s greatest enemy. If they used her to threaten Ji Heng, Ji Heng would be in a very disadvantageous position. But if she only cared about Ji Heng and disregarded so many lives from the Ye family, that was impossible.
“Right now we can only wait for news from the other party,” Jiang Li said. “Hopefully there will be another way.”
Situ Jiuyue nodded.
Both of them spent this day in great torment—it could truly be said that days felt like years. Jiang Li kept the whistle clutched in her palm. She had even tried blowing the whistle, but there was no response. It was clear Ji Heng had indeed left Yanjing with his trusted subordinates. If it weren’t an important matter, Ji Heng wouldn’t need to bring so many people. Jiang Li had to worry about Ji Heng on one hand and worry about the Ye family relatives on the other—she was truly on pins and needles.
Tong’er and Bai Xue both noticed Jiang Li’s anxiety and didn’t dare say anything. By nightfall, neither Situ Jiuyue nor Jiang Li slept. They waited until deep into the night, but there was no movement at all. In a drowsy state, Jiang Li closed her eyes. But less than a moment after closing them, she heard Situ Jiuyue call out sharply, “Who!”
Jiang Li’s eyes snapped open. The lamp on the table had burned out and the room was pitch black—nothing could be seen. Situ Jiuyue struck a flint. In the wavering firelight, a red-headed dart was pinned to the window with a letter pressed beneath it.
It’s here! Jiang Li’s heart tightened. Situ Jiuyue followed close behind, clutching a round wax pill in her hand—it must be some kind of poison. She feared there might be a trap nearby and watched the surroundings vigilantly. Jiang Li eagerly opened the envelope. Before she could look at it, something rolled out from inside.
Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue couldn’t help looking at the floor. Jiang Li cried out softly.
It was a severed human finger. Situ Jiuyue bent down nonchalantly to pick up the finger, furrowed her brow to examine it, and said, “A woman’s finger. Do you recognize it?”
Jiang Li forcibly suppressed her shock and looked at the severed finger. It was indeed a woman’s little finger. At first glance she was stunned, murmuring, “It’s Haitang’s finger…”
On Haitang’s little finger grew three small red moles in a row. Back then, because of this, Xue Fangfei had laughingly called her very special. On this bloody finger, the moles were still in exactly the same position. Jiang Li couldn’t be mistaken.
She steadied herself and unfolded the letter to read. After scanning it quickly, she handed the letter to Situ Jiuyue.
The letter said Jiang Li should find a way to leave the city tonight on her own. After leaving the city, she should go twenty li east. There was a village, and someone would be waiting to receive her at the village entrance. If Jiang Li didn’t go, by dawn she would receive Haitang’s corpse, and on the second day it would be Xue Zhao’s corpse, and so on, until all the people were killed. Jiang Li absolutely must not think of reporting to the authorities or bringing people to the designated meeting place. There were eyes throughout Yanjing—if Jiang Li brought people, the lives of all five members of the Ye household could vanish from this world in an instant.
The words in the letter were also blood-red, as if written with human blood. Through the characters one could see the writer’s madness.
After reading the letter, Situ Jiuyue said hatefully, “Bastards!”
Jiang Li looked at the severed finger on the table—it made her eyes hurt to look at it. This presented Jiang Li with a dilemma. If she left the city, she would inevitably become a bargaining chip for the other party to threaten Ji Heng. If she didn’t leave the city, the other party was deranged and would only vent their anger on the Ye family.
She bit her teeth. “I’ll leave the city!”
“Jiang Li!” Situ Jiuyue said in a low voice. “This is the other party’s scheme.”
“We have no other choice. Jiuyue, could you just watch Xue Zhao die?”
Situ Jiuyue was at a loss for words. The other party had cut off Haitang’s finger as a warning. They believed that if Jiang Li didn’t do as the letter said, the other party would absolutely kill to silence witnesses.
“When it comes down to it, they’re also implicated because of me,” Jiang Li answered. “I’ll first find a way to exchange myself for them. If they want to use me to coerce Ji Heng, you tell Ji Heng he needn’t worry about me and should proceed according to his plan.”
“What if they capture you but don’t release the Ye family?”
“I’ll hide a wax pill in my mouth. If they can’t do it, I’ll bite through the wax pill and kill myself. To threaten Ji Heng, they need a living me. A dead me has no use and would only ignite Ji Heng’s fury. They can use the Ye family to coerce me, and I can use myself to coerce them into releasing the Ye family.”
Situ Jiuyue thought for a moment. “No, I have to go with you.”
Jiang Li said, “Jiuyue…”
“Don’t forget, others call me the Poison Princess—not just for fun. I naturally have my own methods. If we can escape unscathed, saving the Ye family without sacrificing you, wouldn’t that be ideal?”
Her expression was resolute. Jiang Li looked at her for a long time before finally nodding and saying, “Alright. But if there’s danger, remember to escape first. Those people need to keep me alive, but they may not show you mercy.” She thought that leaving the city tonight—if Situ Jiuyue didn’t help, it probably wouldn’t work. The other party told her not to report to authorities or bring people, but bringing just Situ Jiuyue, one woman, shouldn’t count as wrong.
Situ Jiuyue took out several bottles of medicine from her person, along with some hidden weapons concealed between her fingers, and the wax pill Jiang Li needed. She carefully taught Jiang Li how to use them before stopping.
When Jiang Li left, she had Situ Jiuyue drug Bai Xue and Tong’er unconscious as well. The sleeping drug wouldn’t wear off until tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise, if the Jiang family discovered she was missing, they would likely blame the two maids. By drugging them, Jiang Li spared them from being implicated.
What surprised Jiang Li was that she had thought Situ Jiuyue had no martial arts skills, and leaving the Jiang manor would require great effort—after all, she wasn’t Zhao Ke. But unexpectedly, Situ Jiuyue left even more smoothly than Zhao Ke, because she simply drugged all the guards unconscious. When Jiang Li left through the back gate, less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense had passed.
She suddenly felt the reputation of “Poison Princess” seemed quite fitting.
Situ Jiuyue stole a carriage and the two boarded it to travel. She also put a mask on Jiang Li. The mask was thin and fit perfectly to one’s face. Looking in the mirror, Jiang Li had become an ordinary-looking woman who coughed a bit.
Situ Jiuyue drove the carriage. She had also disguised herself as a hunchbacked young woman. When the young general guarding the city saw people leaving at night, he was naturally suspicious. But Situ Jiuyue produced a travel permit, saying her mistress had fallen ill deep in the night and they needed to leave the city to find a divine physician. The young general opened the carriage and saw Jiang Li inside. Because it was nighttime, he could only see dimly. Seeing Jiang Li was indeed a sickly-looking woman, he didn’t suspect otherwise. Moreover, the travel permit was genuine, so he let them pass.
Having passed through the city gate, only then did Jiang Li relax.
Twenty li east from the city gate would take about half an hour. Jiang Li sat in the carriage but didn’t immediately remove the disguising mask from her face. She only carefully recalled once more how to use those poisons and hidden weapons Situ Jiuyue had taught her. No matter what, they were currently just two women. Forget about whether they could safely reach the village the other party mentioned—if they encountered mountain bandits or thieves along the way, that wouldn’t be good either.
Fortunately, their luck was good this time. They didn’t encounter any bandits along the way. When Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue arrived at the agreed-upon village entrance, they didn’t see a single person.
Situ Jiuyue furrowed her brow and asked, “Why is no one here? Could it be those people didn’t dare come? Or was that letter completely fake?”
“It shouldn’t be fake,” Jiang Li said. “Perhaps they’ve already arrived. The reason they haven’t appeared is because they’re watching whether we’re playing tricks, whether we really came alone.”
Hearing this, Situ Jiuyue felt relieved, then mocked, “How very cautious.”
“No matter what, we’ve already arrived. Let’s wait here quietly. I expect it won’t be long before they appear.”
Situ Jiuyue said, “Good. I’ll stay outside so if there’s any movement, you’ll have warning.”
Jiang Li nodded in agreement. Because it was late at night, outside was pitch black, and even inside the carriage was dark. She didn’t know if this village was abandoned—there wasn’t a trace of human presence, nor any sounds from animals. It sounded terrifyingly quiet. As if in all heaven and earth, there were only Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue. Jiang Li could clearly hear the sound of her own heartbeat—one beat after another, strong and steady. But she didn’t know what might happen next. At least in this matter, they were passive, with no room for choice.
She didn’t know how much time passed. Jiang Li only felt a very long time had gone by, but outside there was still no sound at all. She asked Situ Jiuyue, “Jiuyue, have you noticed anything wrong?”
It was truly too quiet. Even if the other party wanted to observe, they wouldn’t need to wait this long.
What answered Jiang Li was complete silence. There was no sound from Situ Jiuyue outside. Jiang Li’s heart sank with a thud, slowly dropping. She nervously gripped the container full of poison powder in her hand, took a deep breath, and lifted the carriage curtain.
Then she saw torches of all sizes. In the barren wilderness, the area had filled with people at some unknown time. Situ Jiuyue, who had been sitting in the driver’s position, was nowhere to be seen. All the other people stared at her, the sabers at their waists very conspicuous.
Jiang Li jumped down from the carriage. Suddenly someone patted her shoulder from behind, as if an old friend. Jiang Li turned her head and felt darkness before her eyes.
Immediately after, she was stuffed into a burlap sack, carried up, and thrown back onto the carriage. Someone took the driver’s position and drove the carriage away.
Everything returned to silence.
…
The next day was clear.
The sun shone on the ground covered with white snow, reflecting sparkling light. Even the snow was illuminated to a pale golden color. The weather remained exceptionally cold.
Early in the morning, Mingyue and Qingfeng came out to clear the accumulated ice on the ground. By the time they finished cleaning, the day had brightened considerably. Usually at this time, Bai Xue and Tong’er would already be up bringing breakfast to Jiang Li, but today there was no trace of them. Mingyue said, “Could it be Sister Bai Xue and Sister Tong’er are sleeping in? How come we haven’t seen them at this hour?”
“Probably. They were busy late into the night yesterday too, but we should still wake them. The young miss can’t skip breakfast.” Qingfeng also said. They lived in a different place from Tong’er and Bai Xue. As Jiang Li’s personal maids, Tong’er and Bai Xue usually lived close to Jiang Li. Qingfeng knocked on the door. After a long while no one answered. Mingyue walked over and muttered, “Could it be they already went out but we just didn’t see them?”
Qingfeng tried pushing the door. Unexpectedly it wasn’t locked and opened immediately. Qingfeng walked in. Just as she entered, she nearly tripped over something on the floor. Looking carefully, she saw Bai Xue and Tong’er lying on the ground.
The two maids were startled. Mingyue quickly crouched down, pushing Bai Xue and calling, “Sister Bai Xue! Sister Bai Xue!”
Bai Xue showed no reaction for a long while. Qingfeng thought of something and quickly ran to Jiang Li’s bedchamber across the way. She first knocked on the door, then burst through it, only to find the room completely empty with no one inside.
“This is bad! This is bad!” Qingfeng ran toward Wanfeng Hall.
When Old Madam Jiang learned this news, she immediately fainted from the shock and anger. Jiang Yuanbai and Jiang Yuanping sent people to search. This search was no small matter—they discovered that the guards watching the Jiang manor’s back gate last night had all been drugged unconscious and were currently sprawled on the ground in disarray, still not awake. Bai Xue and Tong’er had also been drugged unconscious, which was why they lay on the floor.
Jiang Li had vanished without a trace.
Jiang Yuanping immediately thought of yesterday’s incident with the Ye family in Yanjing and said, “Xiao Li is missing. Could it be related to the Ye family being silenced?”
“I heard there was also a maid in Second Miss’s room who disappeared?” However, Jiang Yuanbai caught Mingyue and asked, “That maid was from the Duke’s manor?”
“Yes,” Mingyue answered carefully. “The young miss said Jiuyue was skilled at arranging hair, so she brought Jiuyue back. This morning this servant didn’t see any trace of Jiuyue. I don’t know if she’s with the young miss.”
Being connected to the Duke’s manor meant this matter wasn’t simple. Especially since the Jiang manor’s guards—how could ordinary sleeping drugs knock them unconscious? But this matter was of grave importance. Jiang Yuanping said, “Elder Brother, why don’t we send someone to the Duke’s manor to ask what status this maid called Jiuyue has, and whether this matter is related to the Duke? What’s most frightening is if our Jiang family has somehow gotten involved in something without even knowing it ourselves.”
Jiang Yuanbai’s expression was cold and grim. He nodded. For now, he didn’t spread news of Jiang Li’s disappearance. The bedding in Jiang Li’s room was folded neatly—clearly she hadn’t slept there last night. There were also no signs of struggle in the room, so it was impossible someone had come in and abducted Jiang Li. It looked more like Jiang Li had left voluntarily. Adding the maid from the Duke’s manor, Jiang Yuanbai felt things weren’t so simple.
The person sent to the Duke’s manor quickly returned with their report: Duke Ji Heng was not in Yanjing, Old General Ji was also not in Yanjing, and there wasn’t a single person in the Duke’s manor who could make decisions. No one could answer Jiang Yuanbai’s questions.
“Elder Brother, this is terrible,” Jiang Yuanping said.
In Jiang Yuanbai’s heart, nameless fury suddenly rose. Almost in that instant, he could determine that whether it was the Ye family’s servants being silenced or Jiang Li’s disappearance, both had an indispensable connection to the Duke’s manor. He didn’t know why, because from the start, the Duke’s manor never intended to give him answers.
“Send people to search for Second Miss’s whereabouts,” Jiang Yuanbai said. “No matter what, we cannot sit idle waiting for disaster.”
Jiang Yuanping looked at his elder brother and sighed inwardly. Everyone knew Jiang Yuanbai’s orders probably wouldn’t yield results. The Jiang family’s role in this matter was truly negligible.
But where exactly was Jiang Li?
…
When Jiang Li woke, it was already the evening of the second day.
The first thing she felt upon waking was her heart sinking—the wax pill she’d been holding in her mouth was gone. She reached to feel in her clothes. The hidden weapons and poisons Situ Jiuyue had given her for self-defense had all vanished without a trace. More precisely, her clothes inside and out had been changed by someone. She had nothing. Moreover, it probably wasn’t her imagination—her entire body felt weak and powerless. Having experienced being abducted by Prince Cheng’s subordinates, Jiang Li wasn’t unfamiliar with this. This time was exactly the same as last time—she must have been drugged.
Her memory remained at the moment before she completely lost consciousness. She had gotten down from the carriage and hadn’t seen Situ Jiuyue’s figure. But seeing those black-clothed men surrounding the carriage, Jiang Li instantly knew her guess was correct—the other party was indeed Yin Zhan’s people. People from the military and people from the streets were absolutely different. Those were all soldiers. Capturing her and Situ Jiuyue was more than sufficient for them.
Thinking of Situ Jiuyue, Jiang Li got off the bed and stood up. There wasn’t a single person in the room. A lantern sat on a stool beside the bed, emitting a ghostly glow. There was no sound outside, but she knew there absolutely weren’t zero people around. She wanted to walk to the door. After just a few steps, footsteps sounded outside, and the room’s door was opened.
The other party probably didn’t expect Jiang Li had already awakened. Both were somewhat stunned. After a moment, Jiang Li finally said, “Princess Pingyang.”
Yin Zhiqing held a food basket in her hands and stood at the door. Seeing Jiang Li, her expression was somewhat complex, but she said nothing. She simply turned to close the door, placed the food basket on the table, and said, “You must be hungry. I brought you some food.”
Jiang Li watched her take the dishes from the food basket but didn’t walk over. She only said, “These dishes are drugged, aren’t they?”
Yin Zhiqing’s movements paused. “I’m sorry.”
Her face showed some guilty expression—it didn’t seem fake. Jiang Li said, “I really can’t eat it.” Knowing that eating it would leave her at others’ mercy—if it were normally, that would be one thing, but if she truly became Ji Heng’s weakness, how could that be acceptable?
“If you don’t eat, we have ways to make you eat. For instance, mixing it in water and forcing it down.” Speaking of this, she also seemed to feel she was going too far. After a moment of silence, she said softly, “I’m sorry. I don’t deliberately want to treat you this way.”
Jiang Li knew Yin Zhiqing wasn’t the mastermind. She didn’t have that capability. She urgently wanted to ask clearly about Situ Jiuyue’s situation, so she asked, “Where is the young lady who was with me at the time? Do you know if she’s alright?”
Yin Zhiqing’s reaction made Jiang Li’s heart sink. She looked at Jiang Li with astonishment and said, “There was another person? No, when I came over, I only knew about you.”
Jiang Li fell silent. It seemed she couldn’t get any useful information from Yin Zhiqing. Yin Zhiqing looked at her and hesitated before saying, “You needn’t worry. Your friend… should not be in danger.”
“Do you know why I’m here?” Jiang Li asked in return.
Yin Zhiqing shook her head. “They said it’s better for you to stay here.”
Jiang Li laughed coldly.
She had always maintained a gentle attitude toward others. This kind of harsh appearance surprised Yin Zhiqing, who stared at Jiang Li as if not recognizing her. Jiang Li said, “It seems you know nothing. The one who captured me was Yin Zhan, wasn’t it?”
“How could that be?” Yin Zhiqing furrowed her brow. “My father isn’t even here.”
She had a shrewd and beautiful face, yet her temperament was truly simple. Jiang Li didn’t know why this was. Yin Zhan himself absolutely didn’t seem like an ordinary person, yet his pair of children—Yin Zhili could be considered gentle and upright, while Yin Zhiqing was too simple and forthright, completely different from Yin Zhan. If he wanted to raise his pair of children to have upright and honorable characters, why would he use such underhanded methods? Why would he have such ambitious designs? Didn’t he feel these actions were contradictory?
“If not your father, then who? You don’t even know Jiuyue’s whereabouts, so it’s Yin Zhili then.”
Jiang Li’s tone was very calm, yet rarely carried a trace of aggressiveness. Yin Zhiqing couldn’t stand her attitude and only said, “Elder Brother perhaps feels somewhat unhappy about the Duke marrying you, which is why he did this. Perhaps he has other considerations. Maybe he’s helping you.”
“Helping me?” Jiang Li laughed once. “Silencing all the servants in my uncle’s manor, abducting my uncle, cousin, and the Xue father and son, using five lives to threaten me into walking into a trap, harming my friend, stripping away everything I had to protect myself—this seems like the method for guarding against thieves, doesn’t it? Princess Pingyang, I never knew that harming someone’s friends and family constituted goodwill.”
Yin Zhiqing’s mouth fell open. She said, “You… what are you saying? Who threatened you? Don’t speak nonsense!”
“Isn’t it your good elder brother?” Jiang Li said.
“My brother isn’t that kind of person!” Yin Zhiqing angrily stood up and said, “I originally thought you were at least a straightforward person, and as the eldest daughter of the Chief Minister’s family, you would naturally know propriety. I didn’t expect you to recklessly throw dirty water on people. How outrageous!” Her willow-leaf eyebrows rose and her apricot eyes widened round—even in anger she was charming, but unfortunately Jiang Li had no mood to appreciate it at this moment.
It seemed Yin Zhili had told Yin Zhiqing nothing. Jiang Li said coldly, “If you don’t believe it, you can go ask your brother whether this is what happened. Though someone who can do such despicable things wouldn’t hesitate to lie either.”
“You!” Yin Zhiqing was furious and turned to leave. Jiang Li called out to stop her and asked, “Princess Pingyang, this isn’t Yanjing, is it?”
Yin Zhiqing’s footsteps halted. Her tone was still angry. “It isn’t!”
Jiang Li became even more certain of one thing—this matter was likely Yin Zhan’s doing long ago. With Yin Zhili’s methods, he couldn’t accomplish something like this. That person was too indecisive. This was more like Yin Zhan’s handiwork. While Yin Zhan dealt with Ji Heng on one front, he had Yin Zhili abduct her on another, in order to threaten Ji Heng—making two preparations, being prepared for any contingency.
How very calculating indeed.
“Princess Pingyang, do you know why your father and brother abducted me and are holding me here under house arrest?”
Yin Zhiqing said impatiently, “I already said I don’t know. What trumped-up charges are you going to fabricate now!”
“Because of the Duke.”
At the mention of Ji Heng’s name, Yin Zhiqing turned around, staring at Jiang Li with burning eyes. She asked, “What did you say?”
“As you know, I’m betrothed to Ji Heng, and will be the Duchess in the future. Having captured me means having captured Ji Heng. Using my life as a threat, your father can make any demand of Ji Heng, even his life.”
“Ridiculous,” Yin Zhiqing said. “Why would my father want to threaten the Duke?”
“Because he is Ji Heng’s enemy—they’re destined to fight to the death.”