Ye Wanmian waved at the yellow dog standing there. "Dahuang, come here."
Xiao Jingcheng turned around and walked up to her. She whispered in his ear in a barely audible voice, "Dahuang, I'd like to ask your dog friends to help me one more time. Later..."
After hearing her plan clearly, Xiao Jingcheng suddenly looked up at her. The night shrouded the girl's figure, making it hard to see her face, but her eyes were especially bright.
No matter when or in what situation, she always managed to surprise him.
But...
He absolutely couldn't agree to this plan.
Although they'd confirmed from the black mud in the handkerchief that the case of the corpse on the riverbank was related to员外 Chen, since the other party could make the corpse appear silently, they must have other tricks up their sleeves.
He couldn't let a weak woman like her take risks.
Moreover, the imperial uncle would be leaving with the fake corpse tomorrow. The person behind all this would surely make a move tomorrow or after the imperial uncle left. By then, he wouldn't just sit back and do nothing.
Xiao Jingcheng took a step back, exhaled through his nose, and turned his head away from her.
Ye Wanmian was worried that the guards of the Chen family might notice her presence, so she didn't dare to speak loudly. Seeing that the yellow dog wasn't cooperating, she got a bit anxious. She patiently coaxed in a soft voice,
"Dahuang, if you agree to me, I'll buy roast chicken for you every day from now on. How about that?"
After thinking for a while, she sweetened the deal. "I'll also make a nice little bed just for you, sew new bedding, and get you a pure silver dog bowl."
The yellow dog inside Xiao Jingcheng couldn't hold back anymore.
[Hello, mother. Agree to mother!]
Xiao Jingcheng roared angrily. [Shut up. I know what I'm doing.]
Ye Wanmian quietly shuffled over to the yellow dog, hugged it, and gently rubbed its ears. Her voice was soft. "Dahuang, okay?"
Xiao Jingcheng felt so ticklish that the top of his head seemed to fly off. His tail wagged wildly behind him.
He shyly and angrily broke free from her embrace and let out a growl from his throat.
He'd never met such a persistent woman!
At the same time, a strange feeling of joy welled up in his heart.
She clearly hated him, but she still couldn't help investigating the case related to him. It seemed that the conflict between them wasn't irreconcilable. Once he got back into his own body, he'd definitely find out the truth about the love letter incident back then and severely punish that lecherous old man in Xuanzhou!
By then, maybe she wouldn't mention him with such hatred in her voice anymore.
The late night in Dongli Town was as quiet as ever. Zhou Wang had been working diligently as a guard in员外 Chen's mansion for the monthly salary of five taels of silver since he started. But good times didn't last long. Recently,员外 Chen's youngest son had suddenly passed away, which coincided with the appearance of the crown prince's body.员外 Chen didn't dare to make a fuss, so he had to suppress the news for the time being and store the body of the young master of the Chen family in the mourning hall.
With the death of the young master, there was no point for him to guard the courtyard anymore. He was transferred to the outer courtyard by the steward. Fortunately, the promised salary of five taels of silver remained the same, so he readily accepted it.
Although he knew there were many soldiers from the capital in the town and nothing bad would happen, he still vigilantly surveyed the surroundings.
Suddenly, there was a strange noise in the distance. It sounded like a woman's cry.
Zhou Wang suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked in the direction of the sound. Another guard was also attracted and walked towards him. He said in a low voice, "Did you hear anything?"
Zhou Wang nodded. "It seems to be a woman's cry."
The guard trembled slightly. "A-a woman's cry?!"
Zhou Wang made a shushing sound. "The sound is coming this way."
"Z-Zhou ge, don't scare me!" The other guard sounded like he was about to cry.
In the middle of the night, hearing a woman's cry, it couldn't be a wandering ghost, could it?! Don't blame him for thinking this way. Who asked the youngest son of the员外 to go crazy every night before? They all said the youngest son was possessed by evil spirits, and they even invited a Taoist priest to exorcise the ghosts!
The woman's cry did become more and more distinct. Along with it came the barking of dogs, breaking the silence of the night.
Zhou Wang instinctively placed his hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist and looked at the front warily.
The next moment, they saw a woman running towards them. In the moonlight, they saw that there were many dogs chasing after the woman. The dogs were barking fiercely, as if they would pounce on the woman's calves the next moment.
"Help! Who, who will save me? Wuwuwu..."
Hearing this cry, Zhou Wang widened his eyes and immediately took a few steps forward. He said, "Madam Jiang? Why are you here?"
The figure being chased by the dogs paused and rushed straight towards him. "Brother Zhou, save me quickly! Drive these fierce dogs away for me!"
Ye Wanmian hid behind Zhou Wang. Her voice was trembling with fear, and there was a hint of crying in it. It immediately aroused the man's protective instinct.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
The group of dogs surrounded them. The fierce barking and the posture of about to pounce interrupted Zhou Wang's train of thought. He immediately drew the knife from his waist and slashed at the barking dogs. "Get out of here! All of you!"
The one chasing Ye Wanmian was naturally Sang Biao and its little dog minions.
As a stray dog without an owner, Sang Biao was so fierce that even people were afraid of it. So Zhou Wang didn't suspect anything at all. Sang Biao and its minions nimbly avoided the slashes from Zhou Wang and the other person. Seeing that they couldn't get close to Ye Wanmian, it bared its teeth and let out a low growl, then led the little dog minions behind it to quickly retreat.
The group of dogs gradually disappeared into the distance. The surroundings became quiet again. The only thing left was the sobbing sound of the woman behind them.
Zhou Wang turned around and looked at Ye Wanmian, who was sobbing behind him. He asked, "Madam Jiang, what exactly happened? Why were you being chased by these fierce dogs so late at night?"
After all, she was the woman he'd sincerely proposed to marry. Zhou Wang's voice involuntarily softened, and he kindly handed over a handkerchief.
Ye Wanmian ignored the other person and took the handkerchief from Zhou Wang. She wiped the corners of her eyes in a state of shock and said, "My Dahuang is missing. I came out to look for it. Who knew that I didn't find Dahuang but instead met those fierce dogs. As soon as they saw me, they rushed up and tried to bite me. I was so scared..."
Zhou Wang knew that Ye Wanmian had a yellow dog by her side, so he didn't doubt her words. Instead, he said, "Those are fierce dogs that have been wandering around the town all year. They often attack passers-by. Maybe you accidentally walked into their territory."
Ye Wanmian sobbed, "If Brother Zhou hadn't been here, I would surely have been bitten to death by them tonight."
The other person looked at them in surprise. "You two know each other?"
Only then did Ye Wanmian seem to remember that Zhou Wang had once proposed to marry her. She shyly turned around. Zhou Wang scratched his head, and his ears turned red.
"Uh, I, I know her."
Not far away, Xiao Jingcheng, who was hiding in the shadows and staring at them, was so angry that he could grind his teeth to pieces.
He shouldn't have agreed to her in the first place!