Time Travel: Pampered by the Aloof Prince-Chapter 361: How did he know which ship we would board?
Chapter 361: Chapter 361: How did he know which ship we would board?
Qi Yu looked at him with satisfaction, straightened up, her gaze sweeping over the crowd, and said with conviction, "I have come to know Captain Jia’s secret."
Hearing her words, everyone’s expression turned to one of shock.
Cailin, ever direct and impulsive, was the first to ask, "What secret?"
Qi Yu glanced at him, "Naturally, it’s his identity."
Cailer’s confusion grew, and he asked with a puzzled face, "What identity? Isn’t he just a captain?"
The others nodded in agreement.
Zhou Hong furrowed his brows, unsure of what exactly she was hinting at.
Qi Yu’s gaze passed over them and landed straight on Li Mingjue. She slightly curved her lips, but the words that came out sent a chill down everyone’s spine, "The man who just escaped was not the real Captain Jia at all."
After she spoke, the air fell silent for several seconds before suddenly erupting into a noisy clamor.
"What? He’s not Captain Jia?"
"That’s impossible! We’ve worked with Captain Jia for years. How could we not recognize the real one?"
"Exactly, if he’s not Captain Jia, then where is the real Captain Jia?"
"..."
Qi Yu patiently waited for them to pour out all their doubts before saying firmly, "The real Captain Jia was killed by him a long time ago."
The crowd was stunned before voicing their disbelief, "But, he looks exactly like Captain Jia!"
Qi Yu’s mouth curved into a cold arc, her smile not reaching her eyes, and she spoke rather darkly, "He disguised himself as Captain Jia and deceived everyone on the ship."
As soon as her words ended, there was another round of gasps from below.
Thinking that they had been on a ship with an assassin for so long made everyone’s skin crawl.
But someone retorted, "What you’re saying is just speculation. There’s no evidence to prove he’s not the real Captain Jia!"
Qi Yu looked at this person and counter-asked, "If he’s the real Captain Jia, why would he flee?"
The person was at a loss for words.
Qi Yu continued, "If he’s the real Captain Jia, why would he bring an assassin onto the ship?"
The people fell into deep thought.
Cailin was amazed and did not expect Princess Qi to be so capable, uncovering the true nature of the whole affair so swiftly.
Then, someone suddenly spoke out, "No wonder the captain has been aloof lately, he used to always pick on us, but he hardly came to inspect our work anymore."
With this statement, the others quickly realized that Captain Jia indeed had been different from usual lately.
Seeing that they were finally catching on, Qi Yu asked, "When did you start noticing that something was off about him?"
Someone said, "Just a few days ago, Captain Jia went home to visit his family, and after that, he changed."
Others agreed with this statement.
Qi Yu pondered the timing in her mind. It seemed that someone had arranged everything long ago, waiting for them to board the ship to spring the trap.
It wasn’t hard to guess the identity of the person behind the scenes; other than Li Ming’an, no one else would want to harm them so badly.
Qingzhou was now under his control and after such a major outbreak like the plague, Li Tianze would undoubtedly be furious.
So, he would definitely look for ways to eliminate them before they arrived in Qingzhou.
In doing so, he could continue to keep the news from Qingzhou sealed, preventing the truth from leaking out.
But managing a disaster like this, what good would it do him?
Qi Yu shook her head silently, thinking to herself, Li Ming’an really hasn’t made any progress.
Meanwhile, on another boat, Song Ling was discussing medicine with Lou Qingming.
Lou Qingming was of an arrogant temperament and looked down upon common folk, but Song Ling was different. He carried within him a heart set on saving lives and didn’t hesitate to venture into Qingzhou despite the dangers, which was enough to make Lou Qingming respectfully admire him.
Moreover, not only did Song Ling have the compassion of a doctor, but he also possessed the talent and integrity of a scholar. The two enjoyed each other’s company immensely.
Lou Qingming didn’t show off and shared all of the insights and experiences he had gathered over the years with Song Ling.
The two discussed for a whole day, and even when the moonlight had thickened, their conversation was far from being over.
The very next morning, they resumed their discussion on how to resolve the plague in Qingzhou.
When Qi Yu heard about this, she felt a bit sentimental, "I didn’t expect Divine Doctor Lou to also have such heartfelt concern."
Her impression of Lou Qingming could be summed up in two words: cold and detached.
After all, Lou Qingming was never friendly towards anyone.
It was unexpected that he could become close friends with Song Ling.
Between the boats, there were people designated to deliver messages. After some thought, Qi Yu decided to put some of her insights on paper, planning to have someone deliver them.
Li Mingjue glanced at her sloppy handwriting and snorted lightly in mockery.
Hearing his ridicule, Qi Yu immediately put down her pen and said moodily, "My handwriting isn’t that ugly, is it?"
Li Mingjue insincerely responded, "It’s not that ugly either."
Qi Yu huffed and pushed the pen into his hand, "You have nice handwriting, so you write it!"
Li Mingjue smiled, took the pen, started with a fresh piece of paper, and copied what she had written previously.
Qi Yu could have brazenly lied when there was nothing to compare. But now, with two pieces of paper with starkly different handwriting put together, it was like comparing heaven and earth.
She felt somewhat sheepish and crumpled her version into a ball, intent on erasing all evidence of it.
Li Mingjue watched her actions with amusement. When the ink on the paper dried, he sent someone to deliver it to Lou Qingming.
Qi Yu felt defiant under his teasing gaze and said, "I haven’t learned how to write with a brush."
As a modern person, she had no business writing traditional characters.
Li Mingjue raised an eyebrow at her words, neither confirming nor denying her statement.
Qi Yu didn’t bother to argue further and took out a booklet she had pilfered from Yuan Huan before leaving, and started perusing it seriously.
Li Mingjue saw her engrossed in the booklet and his eyelid twitched suddenly.
He again felt somewhat guilty as he thought of those indescribable books hidden under the shelf in the study.
Qi Yu was so absorbed in the book that she didn’t notice his slightly uneasy expression. She turned several pages, clearly engrossed.
Only when someone came to urge them to have lunch did she reluctantly put down the booklet.
Because of yesterday’s incident, during the lunch, each dish was checked with a silver needle for poison, and only after ensuring there was no problem, everyone dared to pick up their chopsticks.
After the meal, Qi Yu suddenly remembered something.
She pulled Li Mingjue back to their room and asked, "Prince, have you ever considered why Li Ming’an, being in Qingzhou, knows everything about the capital city so well and responds so swiftly?"
Li Mingjue thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps some from Prince An’s Party in the court are helping him."
Qi Yu shook her head, "That’s not right either. Even with someone covertly supporting him, it would take a significant amount of time for a homing pigeon to travel from Qingzhou to the capital city. And Li Ming’an can’t foresee the future, so how could he know which boat we would board?"
She finally realized a problem she had overlooked: the assassin could disguise himself as Captain Jia, but he couldn’t have predicted which boat they would take.
The boats showed no difference in their exteriors.
Li Mingjue’s eyes darkened slightly, "Are you suggesting that someone is secretly manipulating everything?"
Qi Yu nodded and added, "What worries me even more is that it wouldn’t matter which boat we boarded because they must have arranged for people to be on every boat."
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