The Double-Chapter 638 - 193: His Arrival

"Don’t even think about laying a hand on her," the woman warned. "She is the one His Highness wants."

"Both you and I know that His Highness doesn’t actually like her; he wants her to torture her. Since that’s the case, the more miserable the better. Why do you care what I do? His Highness isn’t here yet, is he?"

Jiang Li was stunned. Prince Cheng hadn’t arrived in Huangzhou?

The woman spat at him, "In any case, I’ve told you. Don’t even think about it. If something goes wrong, I’m not going to speak up for you."

The man said impatiently, "I got it, I got it, I won’t do anything."

Though he said this, Jiang Li could feel his gaze on her like a cold, damp snake, slowly slithering over her body. It was viscous and thoroughly disgusting. She became wary, yet there was nothing she could do. Hearing the tone of the two people next to her, it seemed they intended to stay in Huangzhou.

Now that the journey had ended, they would likely settle down somewhere permanent. If so, it would only take a moment’s thought for this man to do as he wished to her. She couldn’t guarantee when that would happen, but at least she had to first avoid eating the drug that immobilized her body. However, the woman was very cautious, personally coming to administer the medicine every evening.

Sweat began to seep from Jiang Li’s palms.

There wasn’t much time left.

...

In Yanjing City, Jiang Yuanbai still hadn’t given up the search for Jiang Li. Even later on, he disregarded the potential impact on Jiang Li’s reputation, directly ordering the Official’s Residence to post missing person notices. A tarnished reputation was better than a lost life, as Jiang Youyao was a case in point. Every day when Jiang Yuanbai returned home, he would visit Jiang Youyao, and just the thought of Jiang Li possibly ending up in the same state as Jiang Youyao made it too painful for him to speak.

He couldn’t understand why this was happening. If he had committed some great wrongdoing, punishment on himself alone would suffice. Why make his children suffer? Yet the mystery remained unsolved. The officials said it was likely that Jiang Li was not in Yanjing City. Because of the precedent set by Princess Yongning, this search left no stone unturned, not even people’s private residences, yet nothing was found.

These past few days at Fangfei Garden, the maids had all been dispirited. Bai Xue went into the city to search every day. With Tonger’s wounds not yet healed, he was upset looking at the whistle on Jiang Li’s table. What a coincidence that Jih Heng was not in Yanjing at the time; if Duke Su had been around, could Jiang Li have been found sooner?

However, what they wished in their hearts was just that, wishes. The citizens of Yanjing City were shocked by the scandal of Prince Cheng and Consort Li’s secret affair and the disappearance of Miss Jiang the Second. Other matters were of little concern to them, even the death of Xiao Deyin.

Xiao Deyin was dead.

Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong had been beheaded and displayed to the public, exposing their past crimes for all to see. Naturally, Xiao Deyin could not escape punishment either. Although she was not sentenced to death, she was severely beaten with fifty strikes. Xiao Deyin barely clung to life after dragging herself back home. When the maids called for a doctor to see her, she managed to hang on to life. But it was said that one day, hearing the maids outside her room discussing how people in Yanjing City were gossiping about her, calling her pretentious, cruel, and hypocritical, Xiao Deyin suffered a fit of rage, vomited blood, and was ultimately infuriated to death.

Xiao Deyin had lived her whole life loving the admiration and respect in people’s gaze, wanting her zither skills to be unmatched, never willing to be looked down upon by anyone. Now, anyone could look down on her, and naturally, Xiao Deyin could not bear it. Even if she weren’t angered to death, she would have eventually been unable to withstand the strange looks from the public and would have taken her own life.

If it were in the past, the death of the first zither master of Yanjing would have definitely drawn attention, perhaps even caused widespread regret. But with so many troubles happening, no one had the capacity to care about Xiao Deyin. Even if someone happened to hear about it, they would just say, "She had it coming," and leave it at that.

And so Xiao Deyin’s life came to an end.

Inside Yaoguang Mansion, Jiang Yuanbai sat with Jiang Youyao; another round of searches by the officials during the day had yielded no results. Yet, Jiang Yuanbai also didn’t wish to return to his own quarters. He didn’t know when it had started, but his room felt cold and desolate. He wasn’t a man who sought bustle, but this chill was now unbearable even to him. When alone, he always thought of Ye Zhenzhen, Ji Shuran, Maternal Aunt Hu, and his deceased daughter, Jiang Yueer.