Chapter 335: Her Final Card
Si Jin could not help but ask, “Sister, what are you talking about?”
“Nothing, it’s just a coincidence.” Qi Qingyao did not want to think too deep about it because she had no proof. She could not just rely on the timing of Jiang Yeqian’s visit to the Qi Residence to guess that he had something to do with Na Lanjie and the covert organization. This was a bit of a sn.o.bbish way to look at a man of virtue! Besides, she could not really consider herself friends with Jiang Yeqian back then, but neither did they have a deep-seated hatred for one another. There was no way he would send someone to kill her.
So, pa.s.s!
Despite that, Qi Qingyao could not help but think that something was off somewhere.
…
…
Early morning the next day, an inconspicuous convoy arrived at the entrance of the city before the city gates were even open. The carriages were black without any patterns or flags, and looked quite normal. However, the attendants surrounding the convoy were all riding tall horses and dressed in dark blue robes with no emotions on their faces. It was best to just watch them and not provoke them.
The black carriage was queued among the crowd as they waited for the gates to open. The pedestrians to their front and back of it, however, had spontaneously moved away a little.
After the city gates opened, the black carriage drifted along with the people surrounding it as they slowly entered the city…
When the black carriage entered the city, it attracted the attention of the various gangs and spies.
When the carriage drove to the entrance of a courtyard on Third Street in the Upper East Side, a man clad in black stepped out of the carriage. From a distance, he spotted another man standing under the eaves. The man had his arms folded, his expression lazy.
Jiang Yeqian raised his brows faintly as he looked at the man clad in black. “I thought you would only be arriving tomorrow morning. I didn’t think you would arrive in Qingzhou City tonight. You’re fast.”
The young man was dressed entirely in black but was not wearing his official robes. He looked clean and refined. He was not exceptionally good looking but there was a definite calmness between his brows and his eyes were cold.
Li Ruoxuan looked at Jiang Yeqian with a sneer and said, “Head Grand Secretariat, I see you’re still alive.”
His subordinates quickly opened the door and with a stern air of self-importance, Li Ruoxuan stepped through the door.
Jiang Yeqian followed him inside and said, “You’re not dead either. How can I have the nerve to die before you?”
After the two went in, Zhu Shen hurriedly closed the door, with the remaining subordinates and the carriage entering through the side gate.
The servants of the house had taken proper care of everything ages ago. Li Ruoxuan walked into the side hall with his hands behind his back. The tea was already ready when he took a seat and a maid hurriedly poured him a cup. Seeing that another person had also entered, she poured two cups.
After she was done, the maid hastily retreated.
Only Li Ruoxuan and Jiang Yeqian were left in the side hall.
Li Ruoxuan raised his brows as he swept a glance at the handsome man sitting opposite him. Picking up the tea bowl, he took a light sip. “If you’re not dead, then how goes the investigation into the Lingyun Restaurant ma.s.sacre?”
Jiang Yeqian crossed his arms as he paced the side hall. He said slowly, “Does the State Preceptor suspect that I’m hiding the matter?”
“You have the means to do so,” Li Ruoxuan said with a superficial smile.
Jiang Yeqian sneered. “The incident at Lingyun Restaurant was handled by the government with the integration of the relevant information from the Zhaixing Administration. Besides, what capability do you think I have to be able to suppress this matter if the a.s.sa.s.sin really is a grand master?”
This was indeed the situation.
Li Ruoxuan looked at the man opposite him. After thinking for a long time, he then said, “Let’s have a truce for now.”
“Agreed,” said Jiang Yeqian.
He could not kill Li Ruoxuan.
Li Ruoxuan could not kill him either.
There would be no point for them to go against each other right now either.
Li Ruoxuan continued drinking his tea. Looking at the tea bowl in his hand, he said in a low voice, “Although I despise you, the matter in Northern Liang is ma.s.sive. This fight between you and I has no benefit in the grand scheme of things. There are armies of various nations in several directions. They intend to surround Northern Liang and divide the land. Now, another grand master has appeared and his whereabouts are still unknown. As for the plan for the current situation, we must work together to locate this mysterious grand master and make him a pillar of Northern Liang. That’s our first priority.”
Jiang Yeqian said mockingly, “I always thought that filthy mouth of yours is unable to utter anything decent. Who would’ve thought that you can actually speak sense.”
Li Ruoxuan raised his gaze and a cold chill flashed through his eyes like the frost-stained plum blossoms of December. “I don’t want to quarrel with you.”
Jiang Yeqian did not argue and said, “I’m certain the State Preceptor has already obtained information specific to Lingyun Restaurant. So let’s cut the gossip and get straight to the point, shall we?”
Li Ruoxuan contemplated deeply for a moment and said, “Lu Yan was injured by an arrow from a rank nine archer, done by the hands of Xuanwu Administration’s Na Lanjie.”
Jiang Yeqian was not the slightest bit surprised. He said, “As expected, the State Preceptor is well-informed.”
Li Ruoxuan watched him quietly, the corners of his lips hooked with interest. “The one the covert organization wants to kill is not Lu Yan but someone named Qi Qingyao.”
After a pause, Li Ruoxuan observed Jiang Yeqian’s expression for an instant before continuing, “The Head Grand Secretariat paid a visit to the Qi Residence yesterday morning. I wonder if his purpose was Qi Qingyao or Lu Yan.”
Jiang Yeqian felt no surprise at Li Ruoxuan’s intricate knowledge of his whereabouts. He replied nonchalantly, “I wanted to see how serious Lu Yan’s injury was, but I didn’t manage to. So I had a chat with the little lady named Qi Qingyao for a bit before I was driven out.” The fact that he was testing him meant that the State Preceptor also only had superficial information.
The phrase ‘driven out’ had been used very subtly.
Li Ruoxuan said casually, “This person named Qi Qingyao, I’m also very interested in her.”
“I presume the State Preceptor has also collected all intelligence on Qi Qingyao.” Jiang Yeqian smiled enigmatically.
Li Ruoxuan replied solemnly.
“For such a big thing to have occurred in Qingzhou City, it’s only part of my job to collect information from the relevant people. What’s more, this little lady is also very close to Heir Pei, Lu Yan, and… the Head Grand Secretariat. You have had plenty of contact with her, and I, of course, can’t be s.h.i.+rking my duties.
“Don’t you agree, Head Grand Secretariat?”
Jiang Yeqian said nothing. He only smiled as he looked at the State Preceptor.
Li Ruoxuan continued.
“The ox-head and horse-head who used to guard Qi Qingyao, no outside people know their ident.i.ties. Recently, the ox-head has also gone missing. Only the horse-head youth is left and he doesn’t wear his mask anymore.”
“I wonder if the Head Grand Secretariat has any clue about the ox-head’s ident.i.ty.”
Jiang Yeqian took exception to that and switched the topic. “Could the State Preceptor be suspecting that the ox-head is also a grand master?”
Li Ruoxuan poured himself another bowl of tea. Without lifting his head, he said, “When the Lingyun Restaurant Ma.s.sacre started becoming the talk of the town, the ox-head disappeared from Qi Qingyao’s side. It’s not crossing the line for me to suspect that now, isn’t it?”
“It’s not far-fetched,” Jiang Yeqian replied.
Li Ruoxuan continued, “But when Na Lanjie attacked Qi Qingyao, only the young man named Si Jin was left by Qi Qingyao’s side. The person Na Lanjie wanted to stake out was Si Jin. It seems like the covert organization has some clues but no evidence, and is now doing an investigation.”
Jiang Yeqian, “…” It was his fault for forgetting the meticulousness of this guy!
However, it was not yet known whether Si Jin was that strong or not.
He did not know.
No one in the world knew.
Li Ruoxuan pondered for a moment before saying, “While I don’t think it’s possible that a seventeen to eighteen year old youth is a grand master, the covert organization is interested in him. So naturally, I’m also bursting with curiosity now.”
“Then, I hope the State Preceptor will accomplish what he wishes as soon as possible, that is finding out the truth.”
With these words, Jiang Yeqian left the courtyard.
Naturally, Li Ruoxuan would not personally send him off.
After he left.
The corners of Li Ruoxuan’s lips curled into a smile. ‘Oh, Head Grand Secretariat, what the h.e.l.l are you playing at? And that little lady Qi Qingyao… I wonder how many secrets she is actually hiding.’
…
…
When Jiang Yeqian exited via the large gates of the attached mansion, there was a carriage already waiting for him nearby on the opposite side of the road. Jiang Yeqian got into the carriage and Zhao Xin hurriedly drove the carriage away.
Sitting inside the carriage, Jiang Yeqian’s brows were furrowed tightly.
He had deliberately come here today to wait for Li Ruoxuan and see how much the man knew. The outcome was no surprise—he knew everything that he ought to know.
It seemed that Li Ruoxuan would be making his move soon.
The objective is Si Jin.
Also her.
Jiang Yeqian took out an inkstone, brush, and paper from the drawer next to the seat and quickly wrote a note. He then asked Zhao Xin to deliver it secretly to the Qi Residence.
Qi Qingyao was having breakfast with the three kids when Steward Zhang entered and said in a small voice.
“Mistress, the Head Grand Secretariat’s people delivered a paper slip through the back gate.”
“Hm?”
Qi Qingyao accepted the paper slip. She opened it and took a look.
Only one sentence was written on it.
[The State Preceptor has arrived in Qingzhou City, his objective is you. Be careful when you’re out.]
Qi Qingyao’s heart skipped a beat unexpectedly.
This was indeed Jiang Yeqian’s handwriting.
It did not make any sense though. The State Preceptor and her shared no enmity with one another, so why would he target her? Qi Qingyao was confused.
“Sister, what’s wrong?” Si Jin asked with a tilt of his head.
Qi Qingyao scrunched the note tightly, smiling and saying that it was nothing. After finis.h.i.+ng her meal in two to three mouthfuls, she ran to Lu Yan’s compound, where Lu Yan was lying down on the bed and resting.
Qi Qingyao thought that since he was someone from the Capital City, he would definitely know a thing or two about the State Preceptor’s temperament. It was better to ask than remain in the dark.
“Why have you come looking for me?”
“Jiang Yeqian gave me a paper slip saying that the State Preceptor has arrived in Qingzhou City and that his objective is me. He asked me to be careful when I go out.”
“Oh.”
“What do you mean ‘oh’!!” Seeing how calm he was, Qi Qingyao was about to burst. “Shouldn’t you be asking something like ‘What’s he got to do with you?’ or why is his objective me? Could it be that he wants me dead?”
Lu Yan sat up from the bed, pondering seriously.
He said, “Let’s first a.s.sume that it is true that the covert organization did send Na Lanjie to test Si Jin but failed, and injured me in collateral! If that’s the case, while I could hide the fact that I’m injured from the upper circles of Qingzhou City, I can’t hide it from the Head Grand Secretariat nor the State Preceptor or people their level. They have more spies than I thought. They are literally everywhere! So, Li Ruoxuan must know about how the covert organization had sent Na Lanjie on a mission to a.s.sa.s.sinate or stake out. In that case, think about it—the State Preceptor’s intentions are, first and foremost, to suspect Si Jin and you. ”
Qi Qingyao, “…”
Lu Yan’s words made a whole lot of sense
She did not want to admit to it, however.
She did not want to admit that she had become a thorn in the flesh of others out of nowhere.
Who did she provoke?
“You don’t need to worry. In my opinion, even if the State Preceptor has arrived in Qingzhou City and that his target is you, he definitely will not kill you.” Lu Yan laid down again as he spoke calmly.
“Why not?” Qi Qingyao asked curiously.
“As long as everyone remains unclear about your connection with Su Hexiao and Master Architect Li Qinglian, your life is valuable.” Lu Yan answered the practical question while smiling superficially. “But if you have served your purpose, there would be many people happy to eradicate you.”
Qi Qingyao, “…” ‘Do you have to be so realistic?’
It seemed that, as long as she retained her final trump card…
She would be able to live a long time!