That kind of stench was simply beyond words to describe!

Ji Yinshu endured the foul odor and silently retreated several steps, her mind utterly confused.

Here, she hadn’t found that suitable footprint at all!

Could it be that the marking meant nothing at all?

Was she simply overthinking everything?

Su Ziluo then gave the order for everyone to disperse, turning his head to ask Ji Yinshu, “Did you discover anything, sir?”

She shook her head.

“It seems sir has made a wasted trip.”

“Perhaps!” Her response was somewhat halfhearted. After taking a deep breath, she cupped her hands toward Su Ziluo, “I’ve troubled Master Su with this matter. I’ll take my leave first. If there’s any progress in the case, I’ll come again.”

She was about to leave when Su Ziluo suddenly called out to her.

“Master Ji? No, I should call you Miss Ji instead.”

Ji Yinshu’s steps halted!

That he knew she was a woman wasn’t surprising—with Li Shiyan’s mouth, naturally everything would have been told.

It was just that calling her “Miss Ji” in such a public setting—wasn’t this essentially handing her a knife and making her stab herself?

Fortunately, others couldn’t hear clearly!

Ji Yinshu pressed her lips together and said, “Does Master Su have something else?”

Forcing herself to remain calm!

Su Ziluo: “I just wanted to ask, are you wearing that tassel ornament?”

Uh!

Ji Yinshu’s heart jumped, and her eyes involuntarily contracted.

“How do you know about that tassel ornament?”

“Shiyan told me.”

“Oh!” She responded quietly.

It seemed Li Shiyan truly talked to him about everything!

Su Ziluo rolled his wheelchair over and slowly drew something from his wide sleeve, extending it toward Ji Yinshu.

That small tassel ornament swayed gently at his fingertips.

Yes, that tassel ornament was identical to the one Ji Pei had given her.

“Why do you have this?” Her voice was somewhat choked.

Su Ziluo said indifferently, “Are you very familiar with it?”

“This belongs to Ji Pei!”

“Yes, this is his.” Su Ziluo replied.

Uh!

At that moment, Ji Yinshu felt as if she’d been electrocuted—her brain first fell into chaos, then suddenly jolted.

Her eyes involuntarily reddened, completely disregarding the gaze of Jing Zhaoyin who had been at her side all along.

Her feet involuntarily moved forward, lifting her hand toward the tassel ornament in Su Ziluo’s hand. But the moment her fingertips touched that small tassel ornament, Su Ziluo instantly pulled it back.

Before she could even react, that tassel ornament had already been tucked back into Su Ziluo’s sleeve.

“Where exactly did you get this thing?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes!”

Su Ziluo smiled faintly.

He didn’t respond to Ji Yinshu’s words.

Instead, he glanced at the attendant beside him, who came over and pushed him around, preparing to leave.

Ji Yinshu quickened her pace by two steps, wanting to catch up, but was blocked by Su Ziluo’s men.

“Tell me, where exactly is Ji Pei? Where did you get that tassel ornament in your hand?”

At this moment, she appeared extremely agitated.

She was even somewhat frenzied!

She had lost her reason!

But no matter how much she pressed him, Su Ziluo never responded to her. Several soldiers carried Su Ziluo up into his carriage.

Jing Zhaoyin beside her was also stunned.

Was this the same Master Ji he knew?

So he carefully approached and asked, “Master Ji, are you alright?”

Alright?

How could she be alright?

Couldn’t he see how anxious she was right now?

Ji Yinshu’s eyes had already reddened. Watching Su Ziluo leave helplessly, that feeling was like someone had stabbed a knife into her chest—the pain pierced to her heart!

But at least, she had learned one thing.

That was that Su Ziluo and Ji Pei had a connection.

So were they the same person or not?

Questions surged up one after another in her heart, leaving her at a loss.

She couldn’t quite remember how long she stayed at that courier station, nor did she remember how she came out from there.

She was just like an empty shell, walking dejectedly through the streets.

By now, the sky had already darkened, and there weren’t many people on the streets anymore.

Suddenly, a sound came from behind her.

With a start, she turned around to see a black-clothed figure holding a sword thrusting toward her.

At that moment, she wasn’t even afraid of death!

She just felt somewhat depressed—why was she always attracting these black-clothed assassins? She wasn’t someone with any threatening power, so why did they repeatedly target her?

While her mind was occupied with these thoughts, that sword had already reached within a few millimeters of her face.

But in that very moment, that sword was deflected by someone.

Shi Zijin emerged from the darkness, her body seemingly carrying a kind of murderous aura and cold light!

That imposing manner was in no way inferior to the black-clothed assassin’s aura.

Ji Yinshu just watched as those two figures fought together. Shi Zijin’s skills were indeed excellent—even though her body was relatively small, she still forced that tall assassin to retreat sword strike by sword strike.

It wasn’t until Shi Zijin stabbed him with her sword that he finally left with his injury.

Shi Zijin sheathed the sword in her hand into its scabbard and walked indifferently to Ji Yinshu’s front, coldly asking, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, what about you?”

“I’m fine!”

Before these words were finished, Ji Yinshu suddenly noticed her arm.

Her clothing had been torn by the sword and was already bleeding. Her originally dark red garment seemed to have been dyed black.

Without a word, Ji Yinshu tore a strip of cloth from her own robe, intending to bandage her wound, but Shi Zijin retreated several steps backward.

“You’re bleeding!”

“I’m fine.”

“Your body is important, come here.”

Ji Yinshu’s tone became slightly heavy!

Not waiting for her to refuse, she had already pulled her to sit down nearby, forcefully tearing open her torn clothing a bit more to expose the flesh that had been cut open.

“It’ll hurt a bit, bear with it.”

Shi Zijin appeared indifferent, even with a somewhat forced feeling.

From childhood to now, she had countless wounds large and small on her body. This one was merely the tip of the iceberg.

After bandaging the wound, Ji Yinshu said, “Don’t tell Prince Rong about tonight’s incident.”

Hm?

Shi Zijin tilted her head and looked at her curiously.

“In any case, promise me not to let him know, alright?”

“You don’t want him to worry?”

This should be the most words Shi Zijin had spoken to her in these past few days.

It wasn’t that Ji Yinshu was afraid of Jingrong worrying, it was just—

She was truly too exhausted!

The people assassinating her were either Consort Xiao’s people or Jing Yi’s people.

Who else could it be!

But at this moment, she was too lazy to explain. She nodded, “Yes, so don’t tell him, alright?”

Shi Zijin nodded.

Only then did the two of them slowly return to Prince Rong’s manor.

Just as they reached the entrance, Shi Zijin immediately leaped onto the roof beams and disappeared without a trace.

Ji Yinshu didn’t mind, but in her heart, she was still thinking about that tassel ornament in Su Ziluo’s hand.