"Made up her mind?" Mengqi was a little confused. He didn't understand what decision could make Jiang Zhiwei feel melancholy. But since she said she would talk about it after the task was over and was honest with him, there was no need for him to ask now. He didn't want to spoil her mood and cause the main force of the team to be unable to exert their full strength, which would lead to failure and the whole team being wiped out.
"Okay. If there's any difficulty, we'll go through fire and water without hesitation." Mengqi nodded and went back to Governor's Mansion with Jiang Zhiwei. As the person in charge of patrolling outside the mansion, no one would notice him missing for a moment. They might even think that he was inspecting somewhere else.
The next night, Mengqi took Ruan Yushu on a tour and helped them familiarize themselves with the terrain of Governor's Mansion.
Zuo Hanfeng's mansion was very large. There were many winding corridors, lotus ponds reflecting the moon, and rockeries. Walking in the mansion was like strolling in the mountains and rivers.
The cool breeze was blowing. Mengqi looked at Ruan Yushu, who looked like an ordinary girl. Her cheeks were moving slightly as if she was chewing something.
"Have you noticed that Zhiwei has something on her mind recently?" He knew that after the trip to River East, the two women had become good friends. They almost felt like best friends.
Ruan Yushu's mouth stopped moving. She swallowed and said, "She didn't mention it, and I didn't ask."
She had always followed the principle of respecting others' wishes. No matter how good their relationship was, she would never pry into others' privacy. If she was willing to say it, she would say it.
"She said she would tell us after the task is over. It shouldn't be anything too serious." Mengqi comforted himself. "She's about to achieve Oneness of Heaven and Men. Is she struggling with her own choice?"
"Or maybe it's something in Sword Washing Pavilion. For example, she gave up some worldly rights and focused on practicing swordsmanship."
Ruan Yushu didn't say anything. She tilted her head and looked at Mengqi. Among the "ordinary" facial features, her eyes were dark and bright. They were cold, deep, and captivating.
When Mengqi felt a little uncomfortable, she said lightly, "Anything is possible."
"Alright, there's no point in making wild guesses," Mengqi understood what Ruan Yushu meant. He took two deep breaths to calm himself down.
At this moment, the sound of the zither came faintly. It was sorrowful and lingering, almost like the sound of a flute.
Mengqi looked in the direction of the voice and saw the three-story building in the Inner Mansion. Outside the building, there seemed to be a phoenix descending.
"Hehe, it sounds like Miss Zuo has something on her mind." Mengqi didn't use the derogatory term in front of Ruan Yushu.
Ruan Yushu stopped in his tracks and listened attentively. After a while, he said, "The sound of the zither is sincere and it seems to come from the heart. It doesn't seem fake."
"Uh, does she really have someone she likes?" Mengqi just said it casually. He didn't expect that Ruan Yushu, the zither expert, would agree with him.
Ruan Yushu looked at the lotus pond that was reflecting the bright moon. She thought and said, "The sound of the zither is sweet and sad at the same time. There's a lot of hesitation and struggle. Maybe she has fallen in love with someone she shouldn't …"
"You can tell?" Mengqi was surprised.
"Words may be lies, but music when you're alone won't lie to your heart." Ruan Yushu was as cold as the moon.
"I see …" Mengqi chose to believe in the "expert". At the same time, he muttered to himself, "I wonder what kind of music you play when you're alone."
He had always been a quick-witted person, so he started to make up stories behind Zuo Yiqian's back. "Maybe she has fallen in love with a poor scholar or an ordinary soldier, but was rejected by the Garrison Guard? She wants to elope with him, but is afraid of the chaotic world outside? "
…
"Or maybe she has fallen in love with her enemy?"
Thanks to the television dramas he watched in his previous life, he knew too many tragic and melodramatic plots. Ruan Yushu, who had always been quiet, couldn't help but twitch his eyes.
"Enemy …" Mengqi suddenly paused and repeated what he said. He looked into Ruan Yushu's eyes and saw the surprise in each other's eyes.
"Could it be Du Huaishang?" Mengqi's voice subconsciously became low.
Ruan Yushu replied with a "hmm". She seemed to think it was a possibility.
"The city has been sealed and all the local gangsters are under control. But they still can't find Du Huaishang, who is seriously injured and affected by Voodoo. This is unbelievable. Could it be that Du Huaishang is hiding in the Garrison Guard like us …" The more Mengqi thought about it, the closer he was to the truth.
"But this is the enemy who killed her father …" As the daughter of the legal wife of an aristocratic family, Ruan Yushu, who had just turned 18, couldn't understand. She showed a rare look of confusion.
Mengqi said thoughtfully, "Maybe she didn't know who she was when she fell in love with her. Plus, it was her father who attacked the Red Coat Army. Du Huaishang wasn't there. He didn't command and attack …"
"I have to go and find out." Mengqi had always been a man of action. Since he felt that there was something wrong with Zuo Yiqian, he immediately prepared to sneak into the Inner Mansion and climb into the embroidery building.
Ruan Yushu nodded slightly. "I'll wait for you outside."
Over the past few days, Meng Qi had familiarized himself with the layout of the mansion. After roughly determining his current location, he turned into a phantom and stepped on the lotus leaves. He traveled across the water and then quietly climbed over the courtyard wall.
"In the middle of the night, in a girl's boudoir …" Ruan Yushu murmured as if she had thought of a special "profession".
Following the sound of the zither, Mengqi sneaked through the guards and soon arrived at the embroidery building.
He knew that Zuo Yiqian must have a master at the level of Wet Nurse. Any movement here would attract Zuo Hanfeng's attention. Therefore, he carefully went to a shadowy corner, stuck to the wall, and climbed up silently like a gecko.
The small building was shrouded in darkness. Only one room had a dim light, mixed with the sound of the zither. It was like a pool of spring water flowing eastward.
Meng Qi stopped by the window like a piece of paper stuck to it. His heart was as clear as a mirror, reflecting every detail of the situation in the room.
Zuo Yiqian sat behind the desk and played the zither. Just as Ruan Yushu had said, she felt sweet and sad at the same time.
She drove the Wet Nurse to the warm room to rest. She didn't want to show her thoughts to others and stayed alone in the spacious room.
Mengqi didn't make a move because he sensed that Zuo Yiqian had a good secret treasure, which was a threat to him. He could make a big noise and attract Zuo Hanfeng and Yin Lenghui.
He stuck to the outside and waited patiently to see if Zuo Yiqian would do anything unusual.
After playing the zither for a long time, Zuo Yiqian sighed and stood up. She called the maids in to help her undress.
Mengqi didn't look at her and withdrew his senses. After a while, he found that Zuo Yiqian had gone to bed and the two maids were sleeping in the outer room. In this way, she couldn't do anything secretive. So Mengqi quietly went back.
"Nothing unusual …" He frowned and looked at Ruan Yushu.
"How is she feeling?" Ruan Yushu asked directly.
Mengqi described in detail, "… She must have emotional troubles. But if we focus on her and find it has nothing to do with Du Huaishang, isn't it a waste of time?"
"Anyway, this is the only clue we have." Ruan Yushu said coldly.
"That's true." Mengqi nodded.
Ruan Yushu was telling the truth. Mengqi and others had planned to find a chance to assassinate Zuo Hanfeng. But Zuo Hanfeng stayed in the Inner Yard and no one knew what he was doing. Only Yin Lenghui could get close to him. Even Jiang Shenghong could only report from outside the room. So Mengqi and others couldn't find a good chance to kill Zuo Hanfeng since they couldn't enter the Inner Yard openly.
Another day passed. Mengqi and Zhao Heng were patrolling the Outer Yard when they saw Jiang Shenghong passing by in a hurry. He looked gloomy and angry.
"Commander, what happened?" Mengqi greeted him with "concern".
Jiang Shenghong exhaled slowly and said, "Yin Lenghui led his Hierarch into the mansion. His Excellency was very happy and welcomed him."
The Dissimilated Men were getting more and more trusted. They came one after another, which made him feel a great sense of crisis.
"Hierarch?" Mengqi said with a half-truth.
"The Hierarch with closed eyes who can communicate with the" Ancestor "has also entered the mansion?"
Not to mention that there might be other secrets, just the increase in the number of masters would make their plan more difficult!
Yin Lenghui was a good helper in the Half-step Exterior Scenery. Even if he was not as good as the Matriarch of the West, he might be able to defeat Jiang Zhiwei in a one-on-one fight. Coupled with his strange Voodoo, he could at least entangle Meng Qi and Meng Qi. However, the strength of Hierarch with closed eyes was similar to his, so it was not easy to deal with him. Moreover, as a Samsara traveler, he might have hidden secret treasures. It would be difficult to deal with them and Lan Die, not to mention Zuo Hanfeng, a master of the Exterior level.
Even if they lured the tiger away from the mountain, it was possible that only one of them would be lured away.
"Yes, I didn't expect Yin Lenghui's Hierarch to also be in Daning. He is so mysterious and sneaky!" Jiang Shenghong said, gnashing his teeth.
Mengqi did not wrap himself with the white cloth. His face was full of scars. He said ferociously, "This kind of sect must have ulterior motives. We can't let His Excellency suffer losses. We have to figure out what they want to do."
"Okay." Jiang Shenghong nodded gloomily, tacitly allowing Mengqi to secretly investigate Yin Lenghui and the others.
After Jiang Shenghong left, Mengqi paced with his hands clasped behind his back. He used Secret Voice-sending to say, "We can't wait any longer. The longer we delay, the more changes will happen to Zuo Hanfeng."
"Two of them lured the tiger away from the mountain, and three of them assassinated Zuo Hanfeng?" Zhao Heng was calm and had the feeling of a superior.
"Let's' coerce 'Zuo Yiqian first and see if we can find Du Huaishang. After all, he is an Exterior master. As long as we can find a way to cure him, things will be much smoother." Mengqi did not act recklessly because of the tense situation.
"How?" Zhao Heng was quite puzzled.
Mengqi pondered and said, "When Zuo Yiqian goes out for a stroll …"
The next day, Zuo Yiqian, who had been bored for a long time, left the mansion with the Wet Nurse and the maids.
Mengqi said to Qi Zhengyan beside him, "Senior Brother Qi, please take advantage of the fact that the embroidered building is empty to hide inside and check if there is a secret door. When Zuo Yiqian comes back, you can spy on her."
"Okay." Qi Zhengyan did not refuse.
Looking at his serious and expressionless face, Mengqi suddenly laughed and said, "You can't enter the boudoir of a noble lady just because you want to. Senior Brother Qi, you have to control yourself."
The corner of Qi Zhengyan's eye twitched, and he turned around and left.
Mengqi turned around with a smile and quickly sneaked out of the mansion. He changed his clothes and put the ointment on his face to cover the scars.
Zuo Yiqian wandered aimlessly on the busiest street in Daning. From time to time, she picked up small ornaments and put them down blankly. The maids knew that the Miss was in a bad mood, so they dared not make a sound and could only follow her closely with the Wet Nurse.
Suddenly, Zuo Yiqian's vision blurred. She saw a "middle-aged man" with a dog-skin ointment on his face appear in front of her. He held a bamboo pole in his hand with a white cloth hanging on it. On both sides of the cloth were written:
"Calculate life and death, but not oneself. An iron mouth is straight."
"Determine marriage and fate, but not the heart. A prophecy becomes a prophecy."
Zuo Yiqian was about to ask the Wet Nurse to drive the charlatan away when she suddenly saw him glancing at her and shaking his head. "Poor, poor. You are so clever that you should not trust the wrong person."
Zuo Yiqian was stunned as if struck by lightning. When she recovered, she saw the middle-aged man shaking his head and leaving.
"Sir, sir, wait!" She blurted out.
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