It wasn't until Xu Yanxing returned to his own room and closed the door that he gasped for air in big gulps.
His pageboy looked puzzled. "Second Master, what's going on? Is the Marquis's study really that scary?"
Xu Yanxing patted his chest, still in a state of lingering fear. He took two big bowls of tea in one go before he managed to calm down. "You don't know. I was scared out of my wits!"
"What could be so scary? Scarier than the other day?"
Xu Yanxing's face changed. He flicked the pageboy on the forehead.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How can these be compared?"
The pageboy covered his forehead and dared not say a word.
Little did they know that their conversation had been overheard by someone in a corner.
After taking a nap, Xu Yanxing suddenly realized that he seemed to have forgotten to send a message to Shen Qing.
Well, since he didn't find anything anyway, he'd just wait until next time.
...
On the other side, Xu Yanchi listened to the report from his subordinate with a frown.
"Second Master has been acting normally these days. Every time he goes out, he only goes to restaurants or brothels and meets the same few people."
Xu Yanchi waved his hand to dismiss the subordinate. Soon, someone brought him a piece of information. As he looked at the paper, a look of hostility appeared on his face.
Xu Yanxing had seen something.
Only the dead could keep secrets. Xu Yanxing couldn't be spared any longer.
...
Shen Qing also learned what had happened before. She really didn't expect Xu Yanxing to be so reckless. He just swaggered in like that. But as night fell, she didn't see him send any message. Instead, she waited for an unfamiliar secret guard.
"My master is in the small courtyard. This subordinate is Hong Ling. I'm here to invite the young lady over."
The person who came was a cold - faced female secret guard. She was unfamiliar to Shen Qing because Shen Qing had only seen her once, and that was in her past life. Shen Qing said, "You go back first. Zhuxing will take me there later."
Zhuxing had gone out in the afternoon and hadn't come back yet.
"Zhuxing is already with the master. Please come with me, young lady."
Hong Ling's voice was as cold as her personality. Shen Qing couldn't tell what was going on, so she had no choice but to say, "Then wait a moment. I'll tidy up and come right away."
Yingxiu asked, "Is the young lady going out again?"
"Yes." As Shen Qing spoke, she stuffed a pill into her clothes.
She had asked Yingxiu to make a small secret pocket in her clothes. The pill was small enough to fit in it.
"Sigh."
Yingxiu pretended to sigh.
"What's wrong?"
Yingxiu blinked and covered her mouth, giggling. "This servant thinks the young lady is just like the girl in the storybooks. She sneaks out at night to meet her lover and is afraid of being discovered by her mistress, so she asks this servant to pretend to be the young lady and cover for her. This servant just doesn't know when such days will end so that the young lady won't have to run around so much."
Shen Qing blushed. "What lover? Don't talk nonsense!"
She pretended to be angry and said, "You even dare to make fun of me now!"
Yingxiu quickly begged for mercy, and only then did Shen Qing let her go. Yingxiu was very skillful now, and Shen Qing trusted her very much. So she climbed onto Hong Ling's back.
It was the familiar small courtyard, but the atmosphere was a bit different today.
Ji Junye didn't come to greet her. Only Zhuiyun said dryly, "The master invites the young lady in."
Shen Qing stopped in her tracks. "Why have you all changed your way of addressing me?"
Weren't they all calling her "madam" before?
Zhuiyun replied seriously, "The master said that from now on, we can only call you 'young lady', not'madam'."
Shen Qing: "..."
Who had touched a nerve with him?
It wasn't that Shen Qing didn't like this address, but it just felt a bit strange.
Zhuxing was guarding the door. Her lips were a bit pale. When she saw Shen Qing, she reached out to open the door for her and said with a smile, "The master has been waiting inside. Please go in quickly, young lady."
"What's wrong with you?"
Zhuxing shook her head. "This servant is fine."
Shen Qing was about to say something else when Ji Junye's voice came from inside. It was soft, and it was hard to tell whether he was angry or not.
"Come here."
"Please go in quickly, young lady."
Shen Qing knew it wasn't the right time to say more, so she nodded and went in.
There was not only Ji Junye in the room but also a young man who was fanning himself. When he saw Shen Qing coming, he gave her a charming smile. His peach - blossom eyes seemed to be full of affection, and this smile was even more captivating.
While Shen Qing was sizing him up, he was also sizing her up.
"Is she good - looking?" Ji Junye's voice suddenly rang out.
The young man quickly restrained his smile and shook his head like a rattle. "Not good - looking at all."
Ji Junye snorted coldly. "You're so blind. You might as well poke out your own eyes."
The young man: "..."
If Shen Qing still couldn't tell that he was angry now, she might as well poke out her own eyes too.
Ji Junye waved at her. "Come here. Let him feel your pulse."
"Feel my pulse?"
Shen Qing was shocked. An involuntary look of resistance appeared on her face. Why did Ji Junye suddenly want someone to feel her pulse?
Did he suspect something?
"Why do you want to feel my pulse?"
Ji Junye looked at her. "Aren't you poisoned?"
Shen Qing frowned and looked up at him. "So you beat Zhuxing?"
"She failed to report. Can't I punish her?"
"I told her not to say anything," Shen Qing whispered. "I can handle it."
Beating someone and not even letting them rest, and still making Zhuxing stand outside. What a tyrant!
Shen Qing felt a slight sense of relief in her heart. It was good that he didn't suspect her.
But she couldn't help feeling nervous. It was almost ten days since the last acupuncture treatment. What if it was detected?
Ji Junye glanced at her, seemingly disapproving of her answer, but he still softened his tone. "Qin Ye knows a lot about poisons. Let him take a look at you."
Shen Qing really wanted to refuse, but under Ji Junye's gaze, she had no choice but to sit down reluctantly and reached out her hand, smiling politely at Qin Ye.
"Thank you."
Qin Ye looked at the atmosphere between Shen Qing and Ji Junye and clicked his tongue softly. He really didn't expect that Ji Junye, that ice - cold person, could actually show such emotions.
"You're welcome." Qin Ye said with a smile. He liked beautiful women. He didn't have any strange fetishes; he was just a simple face - control person. When a beauty smiled at him, he naturally wanted to respond warmly.
But his smile didn't last long because...
"What's so funny? You look so ugly." Ji Junye had never found Qin Ye's smile so annoying.
It was okay for him to look so ugly when he smiled on normal days, but now he was smiling like that in front of Shen Qing. Did he think Ji Junye was dead?
Qin Ye rolled his eyes secretly. Having followed Ji Junye for so long, he was already used to Ji Junye's occasional venomous tongue. Ugly? He just didn't know how to appreciate!
He was really convinced. How could a guy like Ji Junye have a woman?
Look, he even scared the girl.
Yes, Ji Junye had intended to target Qin Ye, but Qin Ye wasn't affected much, while Shen Qing couldn't help but tremble slightly.
There was no other reason. It was the fear from her past life that was still lingering.
Once some fears were engraved in one's heart, they were very difficult to erase. It was just like the saying "Once bitten by a snake, one is afraid of a rope for ten years." So Shen Qing's reaction was really involuntary.
But soon she was distracted by Qin Ye's eye - roll.
Rolling his eyes at Ji Junye right in front of him, he was really brave.
From Qin Ye's casual words and actions, it could be seen that their relationship must be very good.
Ji Junye frowned and impatiently urged, "Hurry up!"
Shen Qing: "..." Forget what she had just thought.
"All done." Qin Ye withdrew his hand and gave Shen Qing a meaningful look.
Shen Qing felt nervous. Her breathing even slowed down a bit. This look made her feel that he seemed to have figured something out.