Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Jiang Mo knew the drug was kicking in, so she quickly helped Chen Yingchou back to their room. "Let's hurry back."

Once inside, Chen Yingchou couldn't hold on any longer. As soon as Jiang Mo helped him into bed, he fell into a deep sleep.

Jiang Mo covered him with a brocade quilt, then picked up a candle and went to the study.

The study door was unlocked, as she had ordered, saying Prince Yu might return to the mansion with urgent matters to handle. She had had the study cleaned and the door left unlocked.

Moreover, she had Lanqiu pretend to pass on Prince Yu's orders that no one was needed to serve or stay on night watch in the main courtyard tonight.

Although the eunuchs and maidservants in the main courtyard were puzzled, none dared to question the order; they all complied.

She had originally thought Qiao Yun would accompany Prince Yu, and had even prepared wine for him. But since Qiao Yun didn't come, it spared her some trouble.

Jiang Mo stood before the bookshelf, candle in hand, examining each book one by one. She searched very carefully, afraid of missing a book whose cover didn't match its contents.

She didn't know how long she had been searching, but she had gone through the entire bookshelf without finding any roster.

She then turned to the books and scrolls on the desk, again searching with great care, but still found nothing.

Where could it be? Was it not in the study?

Frustrated, she sat down in the armchair, pondering where the roster might be hidden, and finally decided to look for it in the bedroom.

The room was too dark. As Jiang Mo stood up and took a step, she hit her foot against the table leg. The pain made her drop the candle and crouch down, rubbing her toes.

Once the pain eased a bit, she picked up the candle and relit it. Turning her head, she spotted something.

Huh? What's that?

There was a lump under the desk, too dim to see clearly.

She crawled over and illuminated it with the candle. It turned out to be a square wooden block slightly thicker and wider than an inkstone. She knocked on it—hollow.

After looking closely, she found the surface smooth, with no visible mechanisms or way to open it. She immediately realized the mechanism must be on the desk itself.

Crawling out from under the desk, she lit another candle and placed it on the desk. After about the time it takes to sip a cup of tea, she memorized the positions of all the items on the desk. To restore everything to its original state, she moved all items one by one onto the armchair behind her, in order. But when she reached for the brush holder, she found it immovable.

Instantly, she knew this was the mechanism. Not daring to use brute force for fear of damaging it, she grasped the brush holder with both hands and tried turning it left and right. It didn't budge, and there was no sound of any mechanism activating.

Jiang Mo bent down to examine the brush holder closely. The brush holder's peak, shaped like a little hill, was more polished than the rest, as if it had been frequently handled.

She pressed down on it. With a click, a compartment opened in the middle of the desk, exactly where the lump had been underneath. She looked inside—there lay a booklet.

Jiang Mo's heartbeat quickened. Carefully, she took out the booklet.

As names appeared before her eyes, Jiang Mo's eyes reddened.

These were not simple names. Behind each name were annotations: their birth dates, native places, where they were hiding, how many family members they had, their achievements, and even their hobbies, with a blank line left afterward.

So detailed that each page held only three or four names. The roster was thick—half again as thick as an ordinary book.

She flipped through page by page. Some names were circled in red ink, with the year and month of their death written after.

For some reason, she did not pick up a pen to copy the names. Instead, she carefully read through each page.

Each name seemed to transform into a vivid person: men and women, some as young as teenagers, others elderly. Some had been planted as informants for ten years, their achievements densely written. Others had just become informants and had no achievements yet.

Those circled in red had varying numbers of achievements.

Jiang Mo saw a name, just fifteen years old, with no achievements after it, yet circled in red.

She couldn't help feeling a stab of sorrow. How could she bear to give such a roster to Duke Qingguo? Was she going to let all the names be circled in red?

Eyes moist, Jiang Mo found a piece of paper and hastily began to write. Following the format of the roster, she made up names and their life stories.

She had only written two pages when the door was suddenly kicked open!

Jiang Mo shuddered and looked up. She saw Qiao Yun supporting Chen Yingchou as they walked in. Instinctively, she stuffed the two written pages into her sleeve.

Qiao Yun's voice came first: "Princess, what is this?"

Seeing the empty desk, the items piled on the armchair, and the roster in Jiang Mo's hand, Qiao Yun felt a strange panic.

He had been hiding in the garden all night, directing the black-clad men to light the lanterns. After the fireworks ended and the master and the princess left the garden, he stayed to make sure no fire started, putting out all the candles before he left.

After handling everything, he returned to the main courtyard. He Ji had also returned after setting off the fireworks.

The two were shocked to find no servants at all in the main courtyard. He Ji ran to the side rooms to find someone, while Qiao Yun went to the main courtyard chambers. At a glance, he saw the master lying on the bed.

Fearing something had happened to Chen Yingchou, he rushed over and called to him, but couldn't wake him up.

Just then, He Ji arrived with the eunuchs and maidservants, saying that Lanqiu had ordered them not to attend the prince tonight.

It was then that Qiao Yun noticed the princess was missing. He didn't have time to think further and said to He Ji, "Hurry and get Divine Doctor Bai."

He also ordered the eunuchs and maidservants of the main courtyard to check for any abnormalities in the mansion.

He Ji galloped to the small compound, yanked Bai Si out of bed, threw him onto the horse's back, and sped back to the prince's mansion.

The whole trip took less than the time to burn an incense stick.

Bai Si, ignoring his dizziness from the rough ride, first took Chen Yingchou's pulse and diagnosed that he had been drugged with a sleeping agent. He then pulled a pill bottle from his pocket, poured out a pill, and placed it in Chen Yingchou's mouth.

Soon, Chen Yingchou woke up.

Chen Yingchou, rubbing his forehead, had just sat up when a young eunuch came to report that the main courtyard was pitch black, with only a faint light visible in the study.

The eunuch's words made Qiao Yun uneasy. With the study disturbed and the princess missing, there were only two possibilities: either an attacker had drugged the master and taken the princess, and an accomplice was searching through the study. If they found what they wanted, fine; otherwise, they would use the princess as a bargaining chip for what they wanted.

The second possibility was that the princess had drugged the master and gone to the study to find something she wanted.

Qiao Yun had a very bad feeling about it. He said to Chen Yingchou, "Master, there's someone in the study."

Chen Yingchou asked casually, "And the princess?"

Qiao Yun evaded the question: "She must have gone back to the Chaomu Courtyard to rest."

He helped Chen Yingchou to the study, and this was the scene they saw. Clearly, it was the second possibility.

Smelling jasmine and noticing Qiao Yun's unease, Chen Yingchou tensed up. "Lan'er, is that you? What are you doing in my study?"

Jiang Mo looked at Chen Yingchou, who was at the door. Her heart sank. At this moment, she made a last-ditch decision.

Qiao Yun wanted to sweep things under the rug. He understood in his heart that if the master knew the princess had gone through his study behind his back, it would be hard for him to accept.

But He Ji barged in boldly, walked up to Jiang Mo, and saw the roster in her hand. Rage flared up in him instantly. Losing his cool, he shouted, "Master, the princess is stealing the roster of hidden agents!"

Chen Yingchou felt as if he had been struck by a club, his head spinning and unable to recover for a long time.

Qiao Yun shot He Ji a glare. This brute, did he forget what mattered most now? The princess hadn’t taken the roster; they could find a way to get it back. The prince’s eyes were still being treated, and he mustn’t get upset.

“Your Highness, He Ji was mistaken…”

Before he could finish, He Ji drew his sword, glaring furiously, and roared, “Give me the roster.”

Jiang Mo looked at the book in her left hand, then at the candle in her right. Steeling herself, she tore the roster in half, clutched one half in her hand, and threw the candle onto the other half.

He Ji lunged to grab it, but Jiang Mo boldly seized his sword-wielding hand and pushed him back, ignoring the blade aimed at her. He Ji’s sword was sharp; it cut the skin on her waist, drawing blood.

Naturally, Jiang Mo was no match for He Ji in strength, but when he saw the blood on her waist, he came to his senses instantly. He realized he had been blinded by panic and rage.

Even if Wei Yalan had done something terribly wrong, she was still the Princess. He was just a guard—how dare he wound her!

He Ji withdrew his sword and looked at the burning roster. “Someone! Hurry and pick up the roster!”

Jiang Mo shouted, “Who dares?”

The eunuchs who had approached stopped in their tracks, not daring to move forward. Fearing He Ji would act again, Jiang Mo stretched out her left arm, pressing her palm firmly against his chest, and held the other half of the roster over the candle flame. She glanced at the corner of the table. “If you try to take it, I’ll burn this half too and smash my head against the table corner and die on the spot.”

For a moment, He Ji couldn’t decide which was more important—the roster or the princess.

He couldn’t help but look at that half of the roster. It was almost burnt to ashes. Even if it had been important, it no longer mattered.

Jiang Mo watched the half-roster turn to ash, as if seeing her own fate. Tears streamed down her face. She turned to look at Chen Yingchou. “Your Highness, I have memorized the half I burned. If you let me go, I can write it down for you.”

Chen Yingchou’s heart felt as if it were being cut. This was the first sentence Lan’er had spoken to him since he entered the study, yet those words cut deep.

He stepped forward toward the sound.

“Don’t come closer!” Jiang Mo clutched the remaining half in her hand and shouted sharply, “Chen Yingchou, if you dare come closer, I’ll burn this half too.”

He Ji moved swiftly, snatching the half from Jiang Mo’s hand. He let out a long breath, then carefully tucked the roster into his robe as if it were a treasure.

Chen Yingchou had been listening to the commotion in the study. His heart grew colder and colder, more and more painful. Though he couldn’t see, everything was now clear.

“Lan’er, what’s wrong with you? Didn’t we just celebrate your birthday together? You cooked for me yourself. We admired the lanterns and watched the fireworks. Weren’t you happy?”

Jiang Mo remained silent. What birthday, what cooking, what red lanterns and fireworks—those were all prepared for Wei Yalan. Her birthday was not on the sixth day of the third month.

“Clang—clang, clang, clang.” One slow, three quick—the night watchman struck the clapper four times. “The fourth watch, the hour of chou. It’s bitterly cold and frozen.”

It was the fourth watch. Today was actually Jiang Mo’s birthday. She was born only one day after Wei Yalan.

The room was silent. Everyone waited for Jiang Mo’s answer, but she did not utter a single word.

Chen Yingchou broke the silence. “All of you, leave.”

Qiao Yun: “Your Highness!”

He Ji: “Your Highness!”

Both were deeply worried. It was undeniable that the princess had stolen the roster. They feared she might do something desperate to harm the prince.

“Leave!” Chen Yingchou said sharply.

Qiao Yun and He Ji exchanged a glance. He Ji tightened his grip on his sword, while Qiao Yun clutched his command token. If anything happened, one planned to charge into the study, and the other planned to charge straight into the palace.