C43

This voice... His eyes moved slightly, and he saw a pair of black satin boots on the floor under the bed. Slowly lifting his eyes, a piece of green stone fell into the curtain, and above it was a plain and unadorned face. The corners of his brows slightly raised, and his pitch-black eyes seemed to carry a hint of ridicule.

Suddenly, a sudden burst of strength came from somewhere. She suddenly reached out and pushed away the palm covering her mouth. "Men and women shouldn't be so intimate with each other. I hope young master can be more respectful."

His eyes sparkled in the dim light, his gaze locked on her small, embarrassed face, his thin lips pressed into a cold line.

Jin Lan felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. He couldn't help but shiver, and his brain immediately came to its senses.

How did he get in? The people staying in the East Branch were all women. At night, there would be a little Sha Mi to release dog and Wan Ju had obviously locked the door from the inside.

Wan Ju? Jin Lan suddenly remembered that Wan Ju was lying on the bamboo bed in the hall on night duty. With that thought in mind, she got up from the bed in a hurry, "What did you do to Wan Ju?"

When she came out from the screen blocking his bed, Jin Lan saw Wan Ju sleeping soundly on the bamboo bed. She was lying on her side on the bed with her legs slightly bent and a thin blanket covering her body.

A sliver of astonishment appeared in Jin Lan's eyes, but his heart was at ease.

He looked at her and said in a low voice: "The acupuncture point will be unlocked when the time is right."

Jin Lan stared at him, his gaze filled with fear. He chuckled dryly, then quickly lowered his head. He could actually enter the house without making any sound. If he had any evil intentions, who could stop him? She suddenly felt apprehensive.

He sat on the edge of the bed without moving, gazing at her small face hidden in the darkness, as silent as the night.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became strange, and even the air was suffused with a faintly discernable chill. Jin Lan felt that he was like a cheetah staring at his prey, and it was unknown when he would reveal his sharp teeth and pounce on her, tearing her to pieces.

She couldn't help but take a small step away.

Glancing at the pair of light green cotton embroidered shoes, something flashed in his eyes, "I know where there are Snow Twig s."

"Huh?" Jin Lan didn't react for a moment, he merely raised his head and looked at him blankly.

"I say, I know where the Snow Twig are." His tone was neither fast nor slow, but a strange look appeared in his eyes.

Jin Lan's dull eyes gradually lit up. She stared at him in wild joy, but she did not dare reveal it too much, afraid that she would anger this capricious man. At that time, it would not be worth it if he was unwilling to tell her the whereabouts of the Snow Twig.

She took a deep breath and asked softly, "What are your conditions?"

On the contrary, she was a clever one. If the other party really had a good heart, she would have brought it up on the spot when she heard Buddhist Abbot Hui Wu say so in the Stainless Pavilion at noon. Why would she wait till the dead of night to sneak into her room secretly? If he did so, it would only prove that he had some shady request.

She was in a daze, but he suddenly stood up. The rustling sound of his clothes in the quiet night was especially clear and loud.

Jin Lan was greatly startled. He unconsciously took two steps back, but there wasn't much distance between the two of them in the first place. With a single step, he was already standing in front of her. Jin Lan immediately felt the surrounding air become stagnant, and the pressure rise steeply.

He lowered his head and condescendingly looked down at the young girl who had not even reached his shoulder. He intentionally lowered his voice and said with a hint of a smile, "You seem to be able to see through me."

An almost imperceptible chuckle escaped as Jin Lan raised his head in surprise. If he hadn't caught the curve of his lips, he would have thought that something was wrong with his ears.

"I can find the Snow Twig for you, but you have to do one thing for me."

Jin Lan's heart skipped a beat. Her hope for the Snow Twig had already surpassed a faint uneasiness. She gritted her teeth as she saw his indifferent face return to normal. Without even asking what it was about, she immediately replied back, "Sure."

Unexpectedly, he lowered his voice and said, "Don't be in such a hurry to agree. My matter isn't that simple." After a pause, a cold glint appeared in his eyes as he continued, "If you find out who poisoned your mother, then hand that person over to me." The words were spoken with a decisive tone. There was no room for discussion.

Jin Lan's eyelids jumped. Even if he hadn't said it, she would have done the same if he had found out who poisoned Madame SHen. But why did he want the person who poisoned him? Could it be that he had something to do with the person who poisoned him?

She raised her eyes, but met his eyes fiercely. In that moment, she remembered the poison in his body and understood what was going on.

"Alright, I promise you!" Jin Lan nodded in agreement.

One of the poisons must be from Concubine Shao. With her personality, she shouldn't waste too much time searching for poison in other places. However, there was currently no evidence. She had to slowly find it out, and especially since there was another invisible hand hiding in the Ye Mansion, this person was the scariest!

However, she couldn't figure it out. Her mother was just an inner chamber wife, who else would try to harm her other than Concubine Shao?

A light flashed through Jin Lan's eyes. It didn't matter who that person was, she wouldn't let him off so easily. Since there was someone willing to do it for her, why was she so stubborn? She believed that if that person fell into his hands, he would definitely be in a miserable state. It wouldn't be a loss to exchange them for his mother's life.

"In the future, if you have any problems, go to Zhou Ji Rice Shop in East Gate Market and find a shopkeeper with the surname Shi. He will help you." With that, he turned and left.

Jin Lan stared at his broad back as he frowned. What did this count as? Was he trying to tell her that his people were in Yangzhou City? Help her? Or watch her?

"Hmm?" Seeing that she didn't answer him for a long time, he turned around again and stared fixedly at the woman who had lowered her head in contemplation.

Just as Jin Lan was considering how she should decline, she happened to meet his gaze as he turned towards her. Looking at the unyielding coldness in his eyes, she opened her mouth, lowered her head again, and replied in a low voice, "I, understand." Before obtaining the Snow Twig, it was best not to anger him. Furthermore, he only said that if there was something he wanted her to report to the shopkeeper with the surname Shi every day, he didn't want her to report it.

He seemed to be satisfied and lightly snorted. He silently walked to the door and opened it after a slight movement. He stepped out of the door, but stopped, and without turning his head, he muttered: "Yan Ye." As soon as he finished speaking, his upright posture had already disappeared into the thick night.

Yan Ye? Is that his name? Jin Lan was slightly startled as an inexplicable feeling slipped through his heart.

The night wind on the mountain was cold, the door was open, and with the wind blowing, Wan Ju shivered, then froze awake. She rubbed her drowsy eyes, only to find that the door had unknowingly opened. Jin Lan was staring blankly at the door, not knowing what else to look for.

"Miss, why don't you wake up and call me a servant?"

Jin Lan came back to his senses, closing the door and locking it. "I can't fall asleep, so I stood up to admire the moon. "You go to sleep, I'm going to rest too."

Wan Ju did not know what happened, seeing Jin Lan on the bed, she did not think anymore, so she got up and poured Jin Lan a cup of hot tea. She stayed by the side of the bed, and only went back to the bamboo bed after she had deeply fallen asleep.

In the early morning of the next day, after Jin Lan woke up, his eyelids were suffused with a faint cyan color, and her Madame SHen was naturally normal as well. After the fast food, she accompanied Madame SHen to various halls to burn some incense and just as she was leaving the Great Hall to the round hall, Bi He, who had specifically stayed behind to guard the door, ran over from afar and reported: "Madam, Miss, there's someone from the house. They say it's to report to Madam on important matters, and they're waiting for you in the east courtyard."

Jin Lan looked at the sky. The people who had just announced the news had arrived. Most of them were probably still dreaming when he said this. Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be that something big had happened in the manor?

Returning to the east yard's wing, Madame SHen asked Hui Xiu to call the people over. The person sent by the house was a wife, and seeing how tense she was, Jin Lan decided to sit down quietly and listen to what was going on.

Jin Lan didn't recognize the wife, but Madame SHen knew about her. She was the manager of the Second Gate, a woman with the surname Qian, a person from Concubine Shao. She took a sip of the tea cup that Hui Xiu had brought before asking calmly: "Speak, did something happen in the mansion?"

Old woman Qian quickly kowtowed to Madame SHen, raised her eyes and smiled obsequiously: "Greetings to Madam and Second Miss. This servant has received orders from Master to come and invite Madam and Second Miss back to the house."

When she went out with her mother, she had told her father that she came to Lingji Temple this time for the peace talisman and to pray for blessings in the palace. Thus, she had decided to stay in the temple for a period of time. It had only been three or four days, how could her father suddenly send someone to send them back?

Madame SHen looked at the kneeling Old Woman Qian, and a cold smile appeared on his face, "Could it be that Mama is old? You can't hear me? "

Mrs. Qian was chilled by Madame SHen's words and quickly replied: "Reporting to Madam, Master received a letter last night saying that the Old Granny would be back soon. That's why I was able to catch up to the mountain early in the morning and asked Madam and Second Miss to return home."

"The old lady is coming back soon?" This time, it was not only the Madame SHen, even Jin Lan was stunned. The old lady brought the Yu Ge'er to the capital in the beginning of spring, calculating the time, it was indeed time to return, just that he did not know where they were.

"Yes." Seeing Jin Lan's response, the smile on old woman Qian's face widened as she replied with a smile, "I heard from the lord that it was the old lady who returned to report that she would be able to enter the city tomorrow."

"That's right. Go back to the manor and tell the old master that I'll be leaving shortly." Madame SHen's expression did not change, but her voice became more solemn.

Old woman Qian kowtowed and left with Bi He.

The Madame SHen had Hui Xiu and Wan Ju to guard outside, and now, only the mother and daughter remained in the room. She did not hide anything, and her face immediately became cold, "Lan Er, looks like someone has made a good plan!"