Chapter 282: No Zuo, No Die[1] (I)

“Wait a second––why would something have happened to the eldest prince of the Count of Zhenbei?”

As she sat in the carriage, Jiang Pengji watched the streaming room’s bullet screens wearily to pass the time and occasionally chatted with the audience. Her sensitive ears could hear some people talking in a low voice outside the carriage. She became energized all of a sudden, then lifted the curtain of the carriage and hopped down.

Her series of actions almost scared the other people in the carriage and the groom. The groom hurriedly pulled the reins to stop the horse.

“Lanting, how could you be so reckless? What if you accidentally hurt yourself?” Liu She was so terrified by Jiang Pengji’s actions that the rhythm of his heartbeat was disordered. When he regained his senses, he realized that there was cold sweat on his back.

Jiang Pengji turned her head and said that she was fine. At the same time, she grabbed the people who were gossiping and asked her previous question again, “Why would something have happened to the eldest prince of the Count of Zhenbei?”

The commoner was so frightened that he almost forgot how to speak. He knew that Jiang Pengji’s identity was extraordinary when he saw her clothes. He could not help but secretly murmur that he was unlucky. Noble people were difficult to please. If he accidentally angered her, he might not be able to keep his head.

With a palpitating heart, the commoner smiled uneasily at Jiang Pengji. His smile was very forced and he only spoke after quite some time, “This… this matter has been circulated in the middle of the night… They said that the eldest prince of the Court of Zhenbei was fighting over the most popular courtesan with someone and they had a conflict. A few people were beaten to death. The eldest prince had a weak body so he could not withstand the blow… Hence… hence he died on top of the most popular courtesan…”

Jiang Pengji did not say a word.

Yuan Jing and the others, as well as Liu She, had regained their senses from Jiang Pengji’s actions. Their faces became grave after hearing her reason for losing her composure.

Wei Ci sighed and said, “Feng Huaiyu had good intentions, but the eldest prince of the Count of Zhenbei made them go to waste.”

In order to control the situation, Feng Jin clearly knew that the people from the Northern Borderline wanted to harm the eldest prince of the Count of Zhenbei, but he grasped the nettle. Not to mention that he was beaten up, his right arm was even injured. He could not participate in the upcoming assessment and he missed the golden opportunity of rising to the top.

The eldest prince of the Count of Zhenbei was not aware of the danger. He should have gone to bed at night, but instead he competed with others over the most popular courtesan instead.

Lu Zheng glanced at Wei Ci, who was in the same carriage. There was a look of confusion in his eyes and he asked curiously, “From what you said, is the eldest prince of the Count of Zhenbei to be blamed for this? Did the Northern Borderline not do anything fishy?”

Wei Ci smiled and replied, “You have no idea. The eldest prince of the Count of Zhenbei was initially just a son of a concubine and he wasn’t favored. However, the descendants of the Count of Zhenbei were getting lesser and lesser. Most of the young and strong descendants died on the battlefield. The eldest prince, who had been appointed previously, passed away at a young age and he did not have any children. Without having any other choice, the position of the eldest prince of the Count of Zhenbei was given to the son born of the concubine…”

People petitioned for the son of the concubine to become the eldest prince. That scenario would be impossible in an ordinary family. However, the son of the concubine was the only child left, so the residence of the Count of Zhenbei did not have a choice.

In addition to that, the son of the concubine was innately deficient. He had some deformities ever since he was born and he would fall ill easily. The people in the residence of the Count of Zhenbei treated him as a fragile, porcelain doll. They did not dare raise their voices at him and they spoiled him a lot. He slowly became very arrogant and good for nothing.

“The people from the Northern Borderline might be involved in it, but the eldest prince courted death. That is indisputable. If he was smart, he would have known to behave himself when Feng Huaiyu helped him avoid the disaster. Why would he fight over the most popular courtesan?” Wei Ci said with an icy look on his face. He did not care the slightest bit about what crisis the death of the eldest prince would bring to Dongqing.

On the other side, Jiang Pengji asked about the details carefully. The commoner did not know all the details and he pulled a long face. “Langjun, I’m just an onlooker. I’ve heard about all these from the others. Why would a commoner like me know what the important figures said or did? If you ask me about it, I can’t give you an answer.”

Jiang Pengji scrutinized the person from head to toe. In the end, she sighed, disappointed, then turned around and returned to the carriage.

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Liu She looked at Jiang Pengji and said in a low voice, “You don’t have to be anxious. When we arrive at the Feng residence, I’ll get someone to inquire about this carefully. This matter has become so big that even the people in the marketplace are talking about it. It seems like this is a big deal, so it shouldn’t be hard to inquire about it.”

Jiang Pengji nodded, but she was still somewhat absent-minded.

Liu She and his son temporarily stayed in the Feng residence, whereas Master Yuan Jing and his disciples stayed in the other side of Shangjing.

The two parties were not going in the same destination. They naturally had to part when they entered the city.

Liu She asked about the place where Yuan Jing and his disciples were staying. He politely said a few words and expressed that he would take his “son” to pay Master Yuan Jing an official visit after everything had come to an end. After all, he would be his daughter’s teacher in the future. The basic respect was necessary.

On the other hand, Master Yuan Jing did not care about the traditions and said to Wei Ci, “The current political situation is tense and people in Shangjing are on tenterhooks. No one knows what the ruthless bandits from the Northern Borderline will do. Accompany County Chief Liu on my behalf so that I can be at ease.”

The look on Wei Ci’s face did not change. He agreed to it, but he still somewhat disapproved of it in his heart.

As long as “Liu Xi” was still with Liu She, anyone who came to look for trouble would be seeking death. There was no need for him to escort them.

They went in the direction of the Feng residence in a low-key manner and did not encounter any unexpected incidents.

Xu Ke received the news that Jiang Pengji was coming back in advance, so he was waiting at the door. Seeing the familiar carriage coming towards him from afar, he heaved a long sigh of relief… He did not know why, but he felt that he could not let his Langjun leave his sight, otherwise he would cause trouble for sure!

However, as he went forward, the person who got out of the carriage first was a stranger.

Wei Ci did not say a word.

Xu Ke was puzzled and a look of surprise flashed across his face.

If Wei Ci did not wear a scholar’s costume and did not dress in male clothing, just by looking at his face, Xu Ke would have thought that he was a girl!

Jiang Pengji got off the carriage as well after Wei Ci. Xu Ke could still smell the faint smell of alcohol on her body.

“Xiaoyu, you weren’t willing to go to Ji Shan, but a lot of things happened last night. You missed a lot of interesting events.” Xu Ke showed a face that implied he did not want to live.

He knew that his Langjun would definitely encounter something chaotic when he was let to roam about. Before he was done feeling glum, he heard the sound of a jade bead falling onto a plate. The sound made him feel like he was being stabbed with pins and needles.

“Xu… Xiao… Yu?” Wei Ci’s gaze fell on Xu Ke. He mumbled softly with some doubt in his voice. The voice which was neither soft nor heavy, but like a bunch of feathers gently scratching one’s sensitive earlobes. It gave people goosebumps and people could not help but blush…

Xu Ke blushed. Jiang Pengji was speechless. She really did not expect Xu Ke to have an obsession with voices.

“Do you know me?” Xu Ke questioned. He was very sure that he had never seen Wei Ci before.