Beneath the nine-story building, the sound of the pipa gradually became more intense.
The melody played was like the clash of silver spears and curved swords, breaking through the enemy's formation with cavalry and soldiers, creating an increasingly tense atmosphere.
The excitement was all from the spectators below, while the silence belonged to Xiao Jin.
Although she was in a spacious and quiet area separated by several floors and a veil covering her face, Xiao Jin still felt like she had nowhere to hide.
Some people are alive but have already died socially.
If it was just a second of social death, Xiao Jin could console herself and think of it as a small setback in her journey through the novel.
However, she did not forget that damn system, which had added 12 hours of benefits to her.
Silence, a long silence.
Bai Zheng looked at the woman in the wheelchair, her emotions fluctuating, feeling complex.
She originally thought that this person had nothing to do with Xiao Jin, but then remembered what she had said to her a few days ago and decided to probe further.
Although she knew that the woman's eyes were covered with white cloth and probably couldn't see, Bai Zheng inexplicably saw Xiao Jin's shadow on her.
Therefore, she smiled and her voice became gentle as she greeted her, "From your accent, it's hard to tell where you're from. But when I saw you today, I felt very close to you, like we've known each other for a long time. I just don't know where you came from and how you ended up in this Yanyu Building."
Xiao Jin knew that the classic scene of checking one's identity was coming.
Because she had anticipated this scene, she wasn't very panicked at the moment and planned to just say a few words to get it over with.
After all, whether she and Bai Zheng would have another chance to meet was still unknown. As long as she could get through this current situation, everything would be fine.
However, as she was about to speak, Xiao Jin suddenly realized that the system had given her a speech impediment.
Her calm and composed expression froze on her face. She hesitated and hesitated again, but she couldn't come up with a plausible backstory.
After a moment, Xiao Jin realized that she really couldn't speak and gave up altogether because she didn't have the courage to die twice.
As Xiao Jin was quietly pondering where to find a black hole to hide in, the mechanical voice sounded again: "Su Tan's favorability towards the host is ≥15, satisfying the conditions for triggering the 'release' plot."
Xiao Jin was surprised that Su Tan could help her out.
As it turned out, there really was such a good thing.
Su Tan stood by, silently observing Xiao Jin with a cold gaze, struggling to hold back her laughter.
As a doctor, she naturally knew that certain medicines could change one's voice, but she didn't know what kind of medicine Xiao Jin had taken to achieve her current tone.
"Congratulations, player! Su Tan's favorability +10."
Thinking about the indescribable voice that Xiao Jin had just made, Su Tan inexplicably felt some sympathy towards her.
So Su Tan forced down the corners of her mouth that had been raised, bowed to Bai Zheng with a polite gesture, and explained for Xiao Jin: "Miss Bai, my young miss is reserved by nature and not good at talking with others, so I have come to answer for her."
When she heard this, Xiao Jin was even more shocked.
Su Tan had helped her out of pity, which she could still understand. But the fact that her favorability was skyrocketing, she really couldn't quite figure it out.
After all, Su Tan was from the Yao Country, and the original owner was the mastermind behind leading an army to destroy Yao Country. According to reason, Su Tan and Chu Shao should hate her guts.
However, these two not only didn't plan to assassinate her, but they were also helping her investigate the mastermind behind the assassination.
Indeed, characters in the ancient world all had their own ideas.
Bai Zheng was also a little surprised and couldn't help but look at Su Tan.
She had not noticed Su Tan before, only because this person had been following the two of them and almost made her unaware of her existence.
Now she narrowed her eyes and looked at the maid in blue clothes. The other party was just an ordinary maid, but her demeanor was quite elegant, making Bai Zheng feel that Su Tan was not simple.
After finishing the courtesy, Su Tan stood in front of Bai Zheng and calmly talked about where their group came from.
After resigning from her official position, Su Tan began to travel around.
Because she had been to many places over the years, she was naturally familiar with the customs of various countries. Therefore, when she made up lies now, she did not even stumble.
She maintained a calm smile on her face, and her words to Bai Zheng seemed truly genuine.
Fortunately, Xiao Jin had her eyes covered with white silk, otherwise, with the degree of twitching in the corners of her eyes, she might have sold out Su Tan.
Su Tan said that their group was from Yunqin, a family of merchants who had been trading in cloth for generations.
Since Yunqin became a vassal state of Qi country, they followed their master to move to Fengyang City. They came today to have a look at the scenery of the capital and to find a fragrance for their own young lady.
Su Tan spoke very convincingly, and if Xiao Jin didn't know the truth, she would have almost believed her.
"Oh, it turns out that the three honored guests are from Yunqin, what a coincidence," Bai Zheng smiled gracefully and her tone was also quite gentle.
However, when her eyes scanned the three people one by one, she calmly said, "To be frank, I also often do business with Yunqin cloth merchants. Spring is coming soon, and I'm thinking of introducing a batch of new fabrics. Since your father is also in the cloth business, it couldn't be better. Yunqin has more than a hundred cloth shops, I wonder which one your father's store is? I'd love to take a look."
After hearing Bai Zheng's words, Su Tan was a little embarrassed.
Indeed, she had traveled to Yunqin and knew some of the names of cloth merchants. But if Bai Zheng often did business with Yunqin cloth merchants and she casually mentioned a store name, if they continued to talk later, it would be difficult for her not to expose herself.
Just as Su Tan was in a dilemma, a voice came from beside her, "My father's store is called Ruichang."
Although the tone of this voice was inherently a bit cold, Xiao Jin deliberately lowered her voice, but the meaning was still unmistakable, making it hard for Su Tan not to laugh.
However, for Chu Shao, Xiao Jin's current voice made her feel very pleased.
It was like being at a grand banquet, filled with sweet and gentle voices. Xiao Jin was reclining on a lavishly decorated chair, with white peonies tucked in her hair, casually chatting and laughing with her guests like a courtesan.
This metaphor was full of offense, but when Chu Shao saw Xiao Jin's tightly bound eyes with white silk, her gaze was extremely gentle and sincere.
At this moment, Xiao Jin was busy dealing with Bai Zheng and didn't notice Chu Shao's ambiguous gaze.
Because the words she just spoke were actually made up on the spot.
She was gambling on one possibility, that is, Bai Zheng had never done business with Yun Qin merchants.
After all, in the original novel, Bai Zheng, as the third daughter, was always a shrewd person who was dedicated to paving the way for the Crown Prince.
If Xiao Jin remembered correctly, Yun Qin was famous for its "treasure country" status, with mining and jewelry industries being extremely developed.
As for the silk weaving industry, such as cloth and brocade, it was never mentioned in the novel and was probably inferior in quality.
The Yanyu Building was the largest brothel in the capital, and there were often dignitaries and celebrities coming and going.
Therefore, both the decoration and furnishings were all meticulously selected by Bai Zheng.
Even the lanterns in the pool had to be carefully selected by Bai Zheng. How could she do business with silk merchants whose craftsmanship was inferior to that of Yun Qin?
Moreover, Yunqin and Qi country were separated by several mountains and rivers, so the cost of transportation loss alone would not be worth it for Bai Zheng to do business with Yunqin cloth merchants.
Therefore, Xiao Jin was gambling that Bai Zheng had never done business with Yunqin's cloth merchants, and just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to trap them with her words.
Xiao Jin's eyes were covered with silk, and she was sitting calmly in her wheelchair, "looking" at Bai Zheng, who had fallen silent.
After looking at Xiao Jin for a while, Bai Zheng looked away and smiled: "So it's Ruichang, I only heard of it before, I didn't know it was under your father's name."
Xiao Jin understood that she was right, and that Bai Zheng had indeed never done business with Yunqin's cloth merchants.
She remained expressionless, thinking to herself that it was strange that you only found out about this name now.
She tried hard to restrain the urge to ridicule Bai Zheng, and also tried to ignore the clipped tone of her own speech, calmly saying to Bai Zheng: "My father only does small businesses, he doesn't have such a big name yet."
Yes, the original owner's father was just an emperor, so it was normal that you hadn't done business with him at the Yanyu Building.
Xiao Jin's words brought the conversation to a dead end, leaving Bai Zheng unsure of what to say.
Having probed Bai Zheng's background and business connections, there was nothing more to discuss.
But Bai Zheng still wanted to investigate the suspicious leg condition of the blind girl and the fragrant spice that the three of them were looking for.
Bai Zheng had always been very persistent, and would not give up until she achieved her goal.
So she smiled and said, "I feel like we've hit it off, and I really want to go see the scenery of Yunqin, so let's go to Yunqin another day and discuss buying and selling fabrics with your father."
"..."
Xiao Jin was a little headache, wondering how the third daughter could casually use words like "hitting it off" without any sense of boundaries.
Before she could figure out what Bai Zheng was up to, she saw her approaching and taking her hand with a smile, "There are too many fragrances at Yanyu Building, I don't know which one you prefer, so I'll go to the attic and find it for you."
Bai Zheng was beautiful and her smile was very sincere. However, when she took Xiao Jin's hand, she secretly glanced at the shape of her hand.
Xiao Jin frowned, still not used to Bai Zheng's sudden enthusiasm, and was about to remove her hand, but found that Bai Zheng had already let go.
She was just wondering why Bai Zheng had suddenly changed her mind, when she looked at her through the white silk and saw that Chu Shao had stepped forward and was holding Bai Zheng's wrist.
"Ah..."
Hearing Bai Zheng's muffled groan of pain, Xiao Jin immediately thought of the scene where Chu Shao smiled and broke the assassin's neck.
She knew something was wrong, and the female lead was probably going crazy again. In a hurry, she reached out and grabbed Chu Shao's sleeve, saying, "Brother, don't be rude to Miss Bai."
Chu Shao's expression was still gentle, and the way she grabbed Bai Zheng's wrist was like holding a flying flower petal.
The movement looked light, but it was not.
The slender wrist was already turning red. Chu Shao had not intended to show mercy, and if it wasn't for Xiao Jin's voice making her heart skip a beat, Bai Zheng would have suffered the consequences of her recklessness.
She didn't want to see the flower she had carefully cultivated held so easily by others.
But when Chu Shao lowered her eyes and saw Xiao Jin pulling on her sleeve, she became happy again.
Staring at that pale and slender hand, she suddenly remembered that from the angle and distance of Xiao Jin sitting in a wheelchair, she could only hold onto her sleeve.
After realizing this, Chu Shao raised her head and looked at the layer of white silk covering Xiao Jin's eyes.
She smiled first, and then deliberately changed her voice to a different tone, saying softly, "Don't worry, sister, I will listen to you."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jin couldn't help but be stunned.
The reason for her daze was not because of Chu Shao's words, but because... the other person's voice sounded completely different.
The female lead can also fake her voice???
Why didn't she pretend earlier when they were under the Yanyu Building?
Chu Shao didn't think she had done anything wrong.
When facing Lan Qing and Wan Jun earlier, she didn't think it was necessary to disguise herself. Now that she met Bai Zheng, she was happy to play some tricks on this person.
Thinking of this, Chu Shao smiled slightly and let go of Bai Zheng's hand.
Seeing the red mark on Bai Zheng's wrist, she seemed surprised and widened her eyes apologetically, saying, "Miss Bai, I'm sorry for my rudeness earlier."
Looking into Chu Shao's apologetic eyes, Bai Zheng was still terrified and instinctively took a step back.
After all, she couldn't forget the almost painful sensation when Chu Shao grabbed her wrist just now.
She was the daughter of the Minister of Personnel and the ostensible person in charge of the Yanyu Building, but looking at Chu Shao's smile, she inexplicably felt that this person was dangerous.
Unlike dealing with politicians or enemies, she vaguely sensed that Chu Shao was the type of person who would stop at nothing.
These kinds of people are the most insane because they have nothing to consider or fear, so they are often capable of doing anything.
At this moment, Bai Zheng suddenly remembered the shocking case that had rocked the entire capital a few days ago.
It was a rainy night, and the Godly Machine Corps' cavalry carried dozens of corpses and sent them to the Dali Temple.
One of the bodies had both hands chopped off, and the death was quite miserable.
The bodies were placed at the gate of the Dali Temple. After the rain, the fresh blood on their skin was washed away, revealing small wounds on their necks.
What surprised Bai Zheng the most was not that these Jianghu (martial world) assassins dared to assassinate the Yan Prince of North Qi, but another incredible incident.
At that time, she secretly used her influence to obtain a confidential report from the Dali Temple.
After the forensic examiners at the Dali Temple examined the bodies, they came to a conclusion: they could not determine the identities of these dozens of Jianghu swordsmen, but they could confirm that they all died by the same person's hand.
Thinking of this incident, Bai Zheng looked down at her wrists, which were gradually showing bruises, then looked up at Chu Shao and calmly asked, "Who are you?"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's note: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution between 2022-02-06 23:45:23~2022-02-07 23:37:32.
Translator's note: She's the lunatic that you can never defeat, in terms of craziness~ Hahahaha ~~~. Lalala~~~ I love shura field!.
TO BE CONTINUE...