The neck?
Lan Jinqin unconsciously raised her hand to touch the scratch on her neck. Then she said coldly, "There are rats in the jail. They climbed onto my head and bit me in the middle of the night."
Xiao Rencheng's fingers trembled slightly. His heart ached sourly, and he looked at Lan Jinqin with a complicated look in his eyes.
How much suffering must the once noble and spotless woman have endured before she could remain indifferent when bitten by a rat?
Xiao Rencheng couldn't bear Lan Jinqin's indifferent attitude towards her own life.
He reached out and took the oil lamp out of the niche, then slowly walked towards Lan Jinqin.
Sensing the approaching and overpowering aura of the man, Lan Jinqin backed away warily and disgustedly.
She knew that Xiao Rencheng might be a good official, but she could also see that this man had dangerous desires for her.
However, the jail cell was only so wide. After taking a few steps back, Lan Jinqin's back hit the wall.
Xiao Rencheng stopped in front of her and looked at her leisurely. "You're on guard against me today? You were quite proactive in the carriage that day."
Since Xiao Rencheng had voluntarily surrendered himself, his disguise as a bandit that night had already been revealed to Lan Jinqin. So he didn't shy away from talking about that night.
Since the topic had come to this, Lan Jinqin naturally couldn't pretend not to know.
She turned her face away, avoiding Xiao Rencheng's condescending gaze, and still said coldly, "I had no choice but to do that that night for the silver. Now that I've got the silver, I have nothing to do with Lord Xiao anymore."
Nothing to do with each other anymore!
Xiao Rencheng smiled, which made the wounds on his chest and shoulder that were bitten by Lan Jinqin throb faintly.
His eyes darkened. He twitched his lips self - deprecatingly, tilted the lamp in his hand slightly, and all the light shone on her slender neck.
The wound on her neck, without any makeup, was clearly visible.
The light shone on Lan Jinqin's bare - faced cheeks, making her squint her eyes. She felt uncomfortable being sized up.
Lan Jinqin raised her hand to cover the wound and pushed him with her hand. "What are you looking at?"
The man suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him.
Lan Jinqin let out a scream and was thrown onto the straw pile.
"Xiao Rencheng! What are you doing?" Lan Jinqin looked up in fear and questioned him.
Xiao Rencheng gritted his teeth, pushed his tongue against his cheek, propped the oil lamp aside, then took out some wound medicine and pinched her chin to hold her still.
Lan Jinqin struggled a few times in panic. Suddenly, she felt a coolness on her neck and immediately stopped struggling. She looked at him suspiciously.
She saw the man half - lowering his eyes. His long eyelashes cast a row of silhouettes under the lamp light. He was looking at her wound intently.
There was hostility in his eyes, but his fingertips were extremely gentle.
When he applied the medicine to her neck, it was like a feather brushing across.
Lan Jinqin's heart trembled, feeling a tingling and itchy sensation.
What on earth was Xiao Rencheng trying to do?
She thought this man was just lusting after her.
All men in this world were just feigning tenderness.
Just like Wen Zilong.
"Lord Xiao, are you trying to make me repay you for that night?" Lan Jinqin asked sarcastically. "But it was Lord Xiao who drove me away that night, not that I didn't want to."
Xiao Rencheng's hand paused as he was applying the medicine. He stared straight into her eyes, and the force on her neck suddenly increased, as if he wanted to strangle her.
He knew that if he had really taken her that night and the matter was exposed, he would never have a chance again.
Did she think he was really as chaste as Liu Xiahui?
Lan Jinqin suddenly felt short of breath. She reflexively grabbed Xiao Rencheng's hand on her neck tightly. "Xiao... Xiao Ren... cheng!"
Xiao Rencheng came to his senses, withdrew his hand as if electrocuted, and hid the hostility in his eyes. "Sorry, I was distracted for a moment."
He put the medicine bottle beside Lan Jinqin and said, "Keep this medicine. Rats carry a lot of plagues. You need to apply the medicine in time, or you may get infected..."
He wanted to tell Lan Jinqin to wait a little longer. Sheng Jiangli had already solved the matter of the two hundred thousand taels of silver, and then he would have a way to solve the case of Peilan's murder.
But in the end, he didn't say it.
Because he still had some other things to do.
Xiao Rencheng was silent for a moment, then spoke again. "Miss Lan, do you know how much effort and what price His Highness the Prince of Yan has paid to transfer you from the Court of Judicial Review to the Ministry of Justice?"
The sudden change of topic made Lan Jinqin a little dazed. She stared straight at him with a confused look in her eyes.
Xiao Rencheng's Adam's apple rolled. Although Song Yinghuai had taken risks to offend Xu Ziyi, decline the arranged marriage, and even fought with Sheng Jiangli and got himself all bruised for this matter.
In fact, it was still within Song Yinghuai's calculation.
But Xiao Rencheng would never tell Lan Jinqin the truth.
As the saying goes, attacking the heart is the best strategy. Xiao Rencheng was also an expert in interrogation. Naturally, he knew what could make Lan Jinqin lower her guard.
Xiao Rencheng continued, "His Highness the Prince of Yan designed Second Master Xu, used the Princess of Nan'an, offended the Commander of the Hu Cavalry Sheng Jiangli... What's more, he had a big argument with Miss Lan San. Miss Lan, the mastermind behind all this is the Crown Prince and Wen Zilong."
He stared at Lan Jinqin intently. "Although I have no evidence to prove that Wen Zilong was the one who killed Peilan, I think we can all guess who the real murderer is... Your husband, the man beside your pillow, wants you dead now. I believe you can feel it too."
Lan Jinqin's heart sank.
As soon as Peilan died, she had guessed.
It must be because of the flower note. Wen Zilong also sensed the danger, so he decided to get rid of her and Peilan at once.
Xiao Rencheng squatted in front of her. His slender fingers brushed through her slightly messy hairpin. "Madam Wen, even if you are released from prison this time, it will be difficult for you to return to the Wen family. You know that."
She knew.
If she managed to get acquitted this time, Wen Zilong would surely find another way to get rid of her.
And she, a weak woman, was no match for a court official like Wen Zilong and the powerful Crown Prince behind him.
She might not even be able to survive for a moment.
Lan Jinqin's eyes fell on the medicine bottle beside her. Her mind was in a whirl.
In her current situation, the only person who could save her out of prison seemed to be Xiao Rencheng.
The case of the Lan family hadn't been reversed yet. She couldn't die easily.
Lan Jinqin slightly raised her eyes, hiding all her anxiety behind her charming eyes. She parted her red lips slightly and said, "Lord Xiao, you've analyzed all these to me. What do you want me to do?"
A gentle smile suddenly appeared in the man's cold and black pupils. "Do I have to say it so clearly?"
Hearing this, Lan Jinqin looked at him pretending to be puzzled and said softly, "I really don't understand what Lord Xiao means."
In fact, she knew very well that Xiao Rencheng just wanted to have an intimate relationship with her but was afraid that she would turn against him. Now it was just right. Her life was threatened. If he took advantage of this, she would have to obey him obediently.
Xiao Rencheng gave a soft laugh and reached out to blow out the oil lamp.
The jail cell was immediately plunged into darkness.
Lan Jinqin's heart trembled where Xiao Rencheng couldn't see.
He didn't want to touch her in the carriage, but now he wanted to...
All men were perverts.
The man's hot breath suddenly approached in the darkness, brushing past her ear. His clear - toned voice rang in her ear:
"Miss Lan, I can protect you and even get you out of prison, but you must agree to divorce Wen Zilong and stop getting entangled with him. Otherwise, even I won't be able to help you."
Understood!
A contemptuous smile flashed across Lan Jinqin's eyes.
It turned out that he didn't just want a one - night fling.
It turned out that he also wanted a woman kept outside.
In the darkness, Lan Jinqin's eyes suddenly focused. "Assessing the situation, taking advantage of the situation, intimidating and enticing... Lord Xiao has mastered the essence of these idioms. I can't play against you."
The dark environment could magnify the senses infinitely.
Just like now, she could clearly feel that the man's thin lips were only a hair's breadth away from hers.
Lan Jinqin quickly caught the man's thin lips and pressed her hot lips on them. She felt the man's momentary shock, then she let go and said with a soft laugh:
"I agree, Lord Xiao. Save me out, and I'll be yours."