As the innkeeper spoke, he couldn’t help but slap his own thigh furiously.

So frustrated!

Ji Yunshu understood his difficulties and looked toward Zhao Qing standing below.

Her slender finger pointed. “Who is he?”

“That’s the Second Chief of Gaoshan Stronghold.”

“Gaoshan Stronghold?”

“That’s right!”

The innkeeper then told her everything about Gaoshan Stronghold, briefly explaining everything he knew.

Ji Yunshu listened simply.

“So you’re saying the First Chief and Second Chief’s relationship has always been bad?”

“Yes, very bad. A year ago the two were fighting to the death.”

She nodded.

Understood!

She also had an estimate in her mind.

Actually, she wasn’t interested in Zhao Qing himself. She just wanted to know the details to make handling matters much more convenient.

After all, if Jingrong and those people below continued like this, they would certainly have to fight, resulting in a life-and-death struggle with bloodshed.

Her eyes cleverly turned. “Innkeeper, would you like your inn to return to its former state in the future?”

Return to its former state?

“Young master, do you mean those people won’t come here anymore?”

“Mm?”

The innkeeper was excited and quickly said, “If that could really happen, young master, my whole family would thank you.”

“However, you must help me do something.”

“Please speak, young master.”

Ji Yunshu then whispered a few words in his ear.

The innkeeper looked shocked but quickly nodded and immediately went to prepare.

Afterward, Ji Yunshu entered her room to get some things and was about to go downstairs.

But then—

Muruo suddenly appeared before her, still holding a wine pot, his body leaning against the second-floor railing. He drunkenly glanced at the situation below, then poured some wine into his mouth.

He said to Ji Yunshu, “Going down now won’t solve the problem. With Jingrong here, don’t worry.”

“Let him go on a killing spree?” Ji Yunshu questioned.

Muruo smiled. “Sometimes, there’s no choice.”

“But he’s not Prince Yi!”

Therefore, he couldn’t solve problems by killing like Prince Yi did.

Muruo’s heart trembled. His action of pouring wine into his mouth also stopped, but only for a moment. He laughed and said, “Yes, Jingrong is not Prince Yi. That path is not one he should walk.”

Having said this, Muruo stepped aside, allowing Ji Yunshu to go down.

Today Jingrong’s people had killed so many from Gaoshan Stronghold. Such behavior was completely Jing Yi’s method, yet Jingrong had given the kill order today. Invisibly, this made Ji Yunshu somewhat worried.

Worried that Jingrong would become Jing Yi!

As soon as Ji Yunshu went down, Lang Bo noticed him.

“Master Ji?”

Jingrong immediately turned around. Seeing her come down, he immediately rebuked, “Go back up.”

But she didn’t listen. Instead, she walked over.

Zhao Qing looked at her curiously.

This young scholar, with delicate skin and tender flesh!

Like a woman.

As Ji Yunshu walked over, Jingrong forcefully grabbed her wrist.

Warning, “I’ll say it one more time, go up.”

Ji Yunshu’s clear, calm eyes looked at him. “Suppressing bandits is not your job to do. Don’t dirty your hands.”

“…”

Having said this, Ji Yunshu had already walked around him and stood before Zhao Qing.

Her fearless eyes met Zhao Qing’s curious gaze. She smiled faintly and said.

“A small inn in the mountain forest—for passing travelers, there is still a place to rest their feet. Everyone having a roof tile and brick over their heads is everyone’s fortune. When the Second Chief brings people here, cutting off others’ roof tiles and bricks, having water but not daring to drink, having shelter but not daring to enter, having a resting place but not daring to rest—this is everyone’s fear. Why doesn’t the Second Chief show mercy, considering it an extravagant request for travelers to have one night’s peaceful sleep so they may continue their journey tomorrow?”

These words, Ji Yunshu spoke word by word, without a single pause.

Scholarly words spoken to mountain bandits were naturally nonsense!

But Zhao Qing understood and patiently listened to her finish.

“So among you there’s not only a warrior and lapdogs, but also a young scholar. The words you speak sound so scholarly and pleasant to hear. This lord quite likes it. However, this lord just won’t leave today. What roof tiles and bricks, what one night’s peaceful sleep—it’s all nonsense. Here, I, Zhao Qing, make the decisions. I am the law.”

Ji Yunshu smiled. “Great Lin—north to Northern Liang, west to Yicheng, east to Saiguan, south to Wanjiang—all fall within the jurisdiction of Great Lin’s legal code. Everything must be calculated according to the legal code.”

“Legal code, don’t talk to me about any legal code. If the court had the ability, they would have sent people long ago.”

“So the Second Chief truly refuses to leave?”

“Do you have that capability?”

Provocation!

Ji Yunshu was extremely calm.

However, compared to Ji Yunshu, Jingrong’s temperament couldn’t be restrained. He was about to step forward.

Suddenly—

Someone in the crowd shouted, “It’s so itchy!”

“Yes, so itchy, my whole body itches!”

“My hands are red, covered in red dots.”

…

Various chaotic voices began to sound.

Soon, even Zhao Qing’s body began to itch. Frowning tightly, he began scratching at his own arm. Rolling up his sleeve, he discovered his body was also covered in many small red dots.

“How can this be?” Zhao Qing questioned.

Except for Ji Yunshu, Jingrong, and those guards, all the bandits’ bodies began to itch.

All scratching quite severely!

Jingrong moved to Ji Yunshu’s side and asked, “Why is this happening?”

“I had the innkeeper pour taro powder into warehouse grass soaked in white wine, then light it and disperse it throughout the first floor. Once contaminated, the whole body will swell red and itch.”

“Why didn’t I notice?”

“Because warehouse grass soaked in white wine, when burned, is odorless and formless.”

“Then why don’t we have these symptoms?”

“Because when I came down, I scattered ginger water on you, Lang Bo, and those guards, so there’s no problem.”

This woman was simply amazing!

Jingrong had to admire her!

The two asked and answered, talking quite happily, but Zhao Qing became temperamentally irritable due to the unbearable itching all over his body.

He questioned Ji Yunshu and Jingrong, “What exactly did you do?”

Ji Yunshu replied, “This is a type of poison. Once contaminated, it penetrates to the bones. At the lightest, there will be unbearable itching. At the worst, the skin will ulcerate and you’ll become a walking corpse.”

“You…”

“However, this condition is not incurable.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qing said, “Give me the antidote.”

Extending his hand!

But Ji Yunshu paid no attention.

Instead she said, “Of course you can have the antidote, but you must agree to one thing for me.”

Hm?

Zhao Qing was shocked.

While scratching his own body, he said, “What thing?”

“From now on, you’re not allowed to come to this inn anymore.”

“What if I don’t agree?”

“Then you and your subordinates will itch unbearably. In the end, unable to bear it, you’ll probably die.”

Naked threat!

Zhao Qing wasn’t Zhao Huai. Seeing his brothers suffering so much, he naturally couldn’t bear to compete with Ji Yunshu for the sake of face and pride.

As the saying goes, a great man can bend and stretch.

So he said, “Fine, bring the antidote.”

Very straightforward!