"No! You..." Concubine Yao stared blankly at Song Yinghuai's back as he walked away without looking back. She was almost fuming with anger.
After a while, covering her chest, she complained to Jiang Jinyue, "Look at him! Look at him! It's the Little New Year's Eve today! Instead of staying with his mother, he says he's going to suppress bandits?"
"He... He hasn't led troops to suppress bandits or go to war in person for six or seven years, but now he's going out?" Concubine Yao's vision went dark in waves, and she gasped for breath continuously. "I think he's not going to suppress bandits at all. He clearly wants to be with that vixen!"
"Auntie, calm down." Jiang Jinyue quickly patted Concubine Yao on the chest to soothe her. "Cousin is not that kind of person. Caiyu isn't in the Lianyin Pavilion either. He should really be going to suppress bandits... Right, General Zhu?"
Jiang Jinyue looked at Zhu Xiao uncertainly.
She always felt that Song Yinghuai's look just now seemed to have guessed something.
Zhu Xiao let out a hearty laugh and subtly hinted,
"Miss Jiang is quite concerned about Caiyu. You know when she goes out and when she's in the pavilion."
Jiang Jinyue was suddenly startled, and her face changed drastically. "General Zhu is overthinking. I just happened to hear your conversation when I came in... Auntie heard it too, right?"
She tightened her grip on Concubine Yao's arm.
Concubine Yao squinted her eyes slightly and quickly sized up Jiang Jinyue and Zhu Xiao without a trace. Then she slowly replied with an "mm":
"I did hear a bit."
"See, Auntie heard it too." Jiang Jinyue looked at Zhu Xiao. "General Zhu is overthinking."
Zhu Xiao laughed heartily. "Miss Jiang is right. It was indeed my overthinking. Since that's the case, I'll go and help the prince suppress the bandits too!"
"General Zhu, be careful not to get hurt by the bandits." Jiang Jinyue shouted after his back.
Suddenly turning around, she met Concubine Yao's thoughtful eyes.
Jiang Jinyue's eyes flickered, her heart raced, and she forced a smile. "Auntie... Do you have any questions?"
Concubine Yao watched her put on an innocent smile. She hesitated for a moment, her heart filled with mixed feelings.
Since entering the door, Jiang Jinyue had been holding her arm from time to time, which was a sign of nervousness.
Combined with the previous conversation, she faintly sensed that this Little New Year's Eve might not be peaceful.
However...
The woman that Jiang Jinyue was dealing with was also the one she wanted to get rid of. So she didn't expose Jiang Jinyue's lie. Instead, she even covered for her.
The reason for her mixed feelings was that she had always thought Jiang Jinyue was a simple girl.
Even though she had the common flaws of noble girls such as being willful, arrogant, competitive, and petty - minded, she wouldn't have wanted someone's life at such a young age.
But Jiang Jinyue's behavior today made Concubine Yao a little scared.
Facing Concubine Yao's deep scrutiny, Jiang Jinyue's palms began to sweat, and a trace of panic flashed in her eyes. "Auntie, don't look at Yue'er like this! Yue'er doesn't know anything. General Zhu is just talking nonsense..."
Oh well!
Concubine Yao sighed silently in her heart.
After all, it was because that Caiyu was too troublesome, so this girl had taken a desperate risk.
Concubine Yao withdrew her gaze and said calmly, "It's nothing. Go back. In the future, those dirty things... are not suitable for a girl like you who hasn't gotten married yet... It's more appropriate for your aunt to do them."
---
Fucheng Street.
It was already late at night. After a busy year, the common people had a happy Little New Year's Eve and then turned off the lights to go to sleep. The capital city of Yanjing was completely silent.
Suddenly.
Rows of officers and soldiers emerged from the street and joined the soldiers in armor. The torches instantly illuminated the dark street.
The rumbling footsteps were like thunder, making a "crunch - crunch" sound on the snow.
The leading man galloped through the snow on his horse. When he got closer, he reined in his horse and dismounted.
Guan Baishan, the magistrate of Yanjing, quickly stepped forward and said with a flattering smile to Song Yinghuai who had just dismounted:
"Your subordinate pays respects to the prince."
Song Yinghuai didn't answer him but only asked, "What clues have you found?"
Facing Song Yinghuai's gloomy expression and cold question, Guan Baishan trembled with fear. He hurriedly led him forward while answering:
"Last night, the people living nearby heard some unusual noises around Fucheng Street. Your subordinate immediately came to check. There was nothing special here, but I picked up a silver hairpin. I don't know if it belongs to that jade - picking girl."
Guan Baishan had seen Caiyu at the plum - viewing banquet. Originally, he wouldn't have paid attention to a maid, but Caiyu was so beautiful that as a man, he couldn't help but take a few more glances and thus remembered her.
Song Yinghuai took the hairpin. The silver butterfly on it was vivid and quite familiar.
Caiyu was just a maid and had very few ornaments. This silver - butterfly hairpin was what she had worn on her head when she tried to seduce him with food supplements that day.
There was only gloom in Song Yinghuai's eyes. He tightened his grip on the silver - butterfly hairpin. "Is this all the clues you've found?"
Guan Baishan was bent over by the sudden pressure released by Song Yinghuai. "It snowed too heavily last night. Many clues were covered by the snow. For now, your subordinate has only found this much..."
Song Yinghuai's dark eyes slowly swept around. Suddenly, he let out a cold snort and walked towards the depths of the alley ahead.
Guan Baishan quickly followed.
Song Yinghuai stopped three feet away from the alley. Looking at the dark bloodstains on the blue bricks, he remained silent.
Guan Baishan suddenly felt a chill down his spine. "This... This must be the jade - picking girl's blood... She... She might have met her end..."
"Shut up!"
Song Yinghuai roared, interrupting his rambling. His deep eyes were filled with raging anger and were as dangerous as an abyss.
Pointing at the snow on the ground, he ordered, "Dig!"
Guan Baishan was so frightened that he shivered and immediately ordered his men to start digging in the alley.
Since this place was sheltered by the eaves, a lot of the falling snow was blocked. The snow in the alley was not as thick as that on the street.
Less than half a foot deep, they dug out the red snow below.
Looking at the red snow stained with blood, Guan Baishan's legs went weak. "The jade - picking girl... She... She can't be under there, can she?"
There was a look of annoyance in Song Yinghuai's eyes. "Are you out of your mind? Fucheng Street is paved with bluestones. How could a body be buried here?"
Sure enough, there was no body under the red snow. Instead, they found some fuzzy fragments of flesh and clothing.
Those fragments seemed to be pieces of flesh and skin cut off from a human body by some sharp weapon. Because they were covered by the cold snow, they didn't rot or stink but were just frozen white.
Seeing this, Guan Baishan quickly covered his mouth and ran to one side to vomit.
Zhu Xiao also rushed over.
Seeing the red snow and the fragments of flesh and cloth on the ground, Zhu Xiao said in surprise, "Could this have been done by the jade - picking girl?"
Song Yinghuai stared at the crime scene on the ground for a moment. His eyes were cold, and his lips were pursed into a straight line.
What exactly had happened last night to make that girl go crazy like this?
Where had the coachman, Old Zheng, gone?
At this time, Han Fen led a group of people over. He had just transferred a group of soldiers from the Wu - jun Camp stationed at the Shanhaiguan Pass in the suburbs to search on their way back from the suburbs. Before they even entered the city, they found Old Zheng and a man's body with a completely unrecognizable face and not a single intact piece of flesh on his body in the mass grave outside the city.
Zhu Xiao walked around the nameless body twice, then pieced together a broken thumb on the ground. "That's right. It's this guy."
"Only Old Zheng's body was found, not Caiyu's?"
Han Fen shook his head. "We didn't find the jade - picking girl's body."
Guan Baishan was numb seeing them piece together the body as if it were a toy.
Song Yinghuai lifted his robe and squatted down. He reached out and tore off all the ragged clothes on the body.
The body was naked and exposed to the air.
Song Yinghuai stood up and kicked the body over. There was a dark plum tattoo on the lower back near the buttocks.
"A secret guard of the Dong family!" Han Fen blurted out. "Was the jade - picking girl really captured by the remaining evils of the Dong family?"