Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 50

Volume 3: Courtly Winds and Clouds, Each Finds Their Place

Let Us Never Forget Each Other

Having quietly circled the second floor, they didn’t see anything particularly special, just as Yang Wan had said; this area housed private rooms, places for people with a bit of money.

“Let’s go check out the fifth floor.”

            

Su Yi was puzzled. “How do we get there?”

Ji Qingchi cleared her throat. “Naturally, we use the old trick again.”

“Isn’t the floor above for receiving high officials and nobles? Your Highness, judging by your current attire, you clearly don’t look wealthy.” Su Yi suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and offered a kind reminder, “If we go up, we’ll likely be exposed, and we’ll all get caught.”

            

“Then what should we do?”

“Hmm…” Su Yi didn’t know either. Feeling a bit tired, she leaned against a pillar in the corridor to continue thinking. Ji Qingchi’s gaze followed hers to the pillar, and suddenly she had an idea. “Got it.”

“What plan did Your Highness think of?”

            

Ji Qingchi didn’t answer. Instead, she scooped Su Yi up and, clinging to the pillar like a gecko, slithered straight up to the fifth floor.

Looking at the height below, Su Yi nearly screamed aloud. Good heavens, what kind of skill was this? It scared a person to death.

Finding an empty room, Ji Qingchi pulled Su Yi inside. “Quick, come in. It’s dim here on the second floor, so they didn’t notice, but I’m afraid they’ll track us down soon. Let’s hide for a bit.”

            

“…Alright.” Su Yi said tremulously, her racing heart finally calming down. As her voice fell, she unexpectedly heard a familiar woman’s voice from behind them.

“Miss Su? Ninth Highness?”

The two turned around to see Feng Ruoqing tied up like a rice dumpling​¹, leaning against the bed, wriggling in an attempt to rub the ropes off herself.

            

It was a case of unintentional actions yielding results;​² the person they were looking for had been found right here. Su Yi happily stepped forward and quickly untied her. “Miss Feng, how did you end up in this tavern? Why did someone tell me to come ransom you?”

“Sigh, don’t mention it.” Feng Ruoqing wore a bitter melon face​³. “Earlier, I went to gather herbs and unexpectedly stumbled into the territory of the people from this tavern. They aren’t legitimate business people. No matter what I said, they didn’t believe me; instead, they thought I was some kind of spy sent from somewhere to ruin their affairs, so they captured me.”

It turned out that Feng Ruoqing had been gathering herbs in the outskirts that day. Walking along, she mistakenly entered a desolate area and saw a group of people dressed in black loading unconscious women and infants into horse carriages.

            

As a doctor who doesn’t even have the strength to truss a chicken, seeing this scene terrified her, and she immediately wanted to run, but she was discovered and captured.

“Originally, those people wanted to kill me, but a woman stopped them. She only tied me up and then brought me here.”

Listening, Ji Qingchi interrupted, “What did the woman who stopped them look like?”

            

Feng Ruoqing frowned. “I still haven’t seen her face. She kept her face covered from beginning to end, and later in the tavern, she also wore a mask. It’s just that she… refused to dress properly. On such a cold day, she only wore a red dress that exposed her chest and back. She didn’t look like she came from a respectable family.”

Hearing this description, Su Yi knew who it was. She cleared her throat and said, “You’re probably talking about the manager of this tavern. Perhaps it’s just her personal preference in clothing.”

Feng Ruoqing was from Changsheng Valley, from an orthodox background, so naturally, she looked down on Hua Ying’s attire.

            

Feng Ruoqing shook her head, feeling it wasn’t appropriate to comment further, and just continued, “The masked woman brought me here and asked where I was from. I refused to say, so she kept me tied up. During that time, she got injured once and enslaved me to treat her. After she recovered, she forced me to stay here as a doctor. I refused, so she kept me tied up. During that time, she got injured once and enslaved me to treat her. After she recovered, she forced me to stay here as a doctor. I was angry, so I acted unreasonably and said that since I was eating her food and living in her place here, costing a huge sum of money, the only way I could leave was if someone brought ransom money.”

Finishing her explanation, she looked apologetically at Su Yi. “I’m truly sorry, Miss Su. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have gotten involved.”

“We’re all friends, why say such distant things?” Su Yi quickly comforted her. “Alright, I’ve brought the silver. You can leave with us now. Get up and move around a bit, see if you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

            

Feng Ruoqing moved her wrists and body a little. “No, thank you very much, Miss Su. But how are we going to get back? Do we just give the silver to that woman and have her let us go?”

Ji Qingchi said, “I’m afraid even if you offered it, she wouldn’t accept. She’s currently leading people everywhere searching for us.”

Feng Ruoqing worried, “Then what do we do?”

            

“Miss Feng, you said you saw them using carriages to transport unconscious children and women?”

“Yes, I saw it with my own eyes, just south of the desolate mountain on the outskirts of the city.”

However, this tavern, Yiyun Tower, was in the city center. The desolate mountain was so far from here. How did they avoid the city guards and secretly transport people out?

            

Unless there was someone on the inside coordinating.

Ji Qingchi’s expression quickly darkened. It seemed there were rats within the court of their Yanxue Kingdom.

Seeing her grim expression, Su Yi thought for a moment and also arrived at this point. However, with Ji Qingchi looking so displeased, she wasn’t foolish enough to bring it up.

            

Feng Ruoqing didn’t understand politics. She only said, “Does Your Highness want to find those people? I can accompany Your Highness to the desolate mountain; perhaps there are clues.”

But Ji Qingchi shook her head. “Regardless of who it is, we cannot investigate further for the time being.”

Feng Ruoqing asked strangely, “Why?”

            

“To avoid alerting the enemy.”​⁴ Su Yi quickly understood Ji Qingchi’s intention and explained, “Her Highness might be planning to catch a big fish.”

Ji Qingchi glanced at her appreciatively. “Correct, Miss Su is right.”

Su Yi frowned. “But what about those abducted people? How do we save them?”

            

“After the commotion we caused, I’m afraid they’re already on alert. I suspect they might have already moved the people. Let’s go back first. I will send people to investigate and then wait for an opportunity to rescue them.”

Su Yi thought of the Seventh Imperial Daughter who had gone back to fetch reinforcements. “Then what if the Seventh Highness brings troops to raid this place?”

Ji Qingchi frowned. “Good point. We need to get out quickly to stop Seventh Imperial Sister.”

            

While investigating things within this heavily guarded building was difficult, escaping was still relatively easy.

Considering that the backyard held a big secret and Su Yi and the others might have gone there to investigate, Yang Wan had directly taken all the guards to the backyard first, waiting to catch them. Hua Ying merely smiled when she heard her command and said nothing, so a crowd gathered in the backyard.

With the front floors undefended, it became convenient for Ji Qingchi. She used Qinggong to scout outside and found the guard presence much reduced. She then successively led Su Yi and Feng Ruoqing out of the tavern, having them hide in the carriage they arrived in.

            

Then, she herself secretly returned to where she had hidden her original clothes, changed back, woke up the woman she had knocked out, fobbed her off with a few casual remarks, and then swaggered back with that woman to the room she and the other Imperial Daughters had originally occupied, just as before.

When they arrived, the Second and Third Imperial Daughters were still unconscious. There were far fewer attendants serving them. Seeing her return, they all stood up, somewhat flustered.

“Ah, I was only out for a moment, how did my elder sisters get so drunk?” Ji Qingchi feigned surprise, then called out to the startled attendants, “Sisters, could you please help bring some sobering soup?”

            

Since they didn’t dare tie up the Imperial Daughters, they certainly couldn’t afford to offend them either. Soon, someone brought two bowls of soup. Ji Qingchi fed each of her sisters respectively, then secretly used True Qi​⁵ to force the alcohol out of their bodies. A moment later, the two woke up.

Seeing the reduced number of attendants and the missing Seventh Imperial Daughter, both their expressions changed. Before they could speak, Ji Qingchi spoke first, “Sister Yan must have already returned to our cousin’s house. It’s getting late, let’s go back too.”

Addressing the Seventh Imperial Daughter as “Sister Yan” instead of directly calling her “Seventh Sister” was a deliberate signal to the attendants present that they weren’t actually that close to the now “missing” Seventh Imperial Daughter, so even if she disappeared, they wouldn’t make a big fuss.

            

Sure enough, upon hearing this, the attendants breathed a sigh of relief, though they still made token efforts to detain them, “Won’t the young ladies have another drink?”

Ji Qingchi winked at her two sisters. The two Imperial Daughters exchanged glances, suppressed their questions, and nodded. “It’s getting late, we should head back, or the elders will punish us.”

After dealing with the attendants and just stepping outside, the Second Imperial Daughter dropped her smile, her face turning incredibly grim. “Where is Little Seven? Did they harm her? I’ll go find the Capital Guard right now and wipe out this wretched tavern!”

            

“Second Imperial Sister, rest assured, Seventh Imperial Sister is fine.” Ji Qingchi quickly placated her and briefly explained what had happened to them.

“So, there’s a spy in our court?” The Third Imperial Daughter thought for a moment but couldn’t pinpoint anyone suspicious. “This is the grave crime of collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country! Yanxue Kingdom has stood for a hundred years, how could someone be so muddle-headed?”

“There are plenty of muddle-headed people in this world.” The Second Imperial Daughter sneered. “A mere hundred taels of silver can make someone contemplate murder, let alone greater temptations.”

            

The Third Imperial Daughter said shamefully, “Second Imperial Sister speaks truly. I’m usually engrossed in painting and calligraphy and haven’t paid attention to these things. Do you have any leads?”

“Not yet. Let’s go back first. I’m worried Seventh Imperial Sister might bring troops over later and alert the enemy.” Ji Qingchi said.

So, the group boarded the carriage carrying Su Yi and Feng Ruoqing and headed back. They hadn’t gone far when they encountered the Seventh Imperial Daughter on horseback, followed by many city patrol soldiers.

            

The Seventh Imperial Daughter was surprised. “How come you’re back?”

The Second Imperial Daughter shook her head. “Too many eyes and ears here, it’s inconvenient to talk. Little Seven, just come back with us.”

“Alright.” The Seventh Imperial Daughter always listened to her. She led the soldiers and returned with them.

            

After dropping Su Yi and Feng Ruoqing back at the Marquis Manor, the Imperial Daughters gathered at Ji Qingchi’s residence and secretly discussed the matter of the spy.

The Seventh Imperial Daughter was furious, slamming the table and cursing, “If I catch that person, I’ll definitely tear them limb from limb!”​⁶

“Seventh Imperial Sister, calm down.” Ji Qingchi pulled her down to sit, paused, then said, “I wonder if Mother Emperor knows about this.”

            

The Second Imperial Daughter smiled. “If it’s something we can find out, Mother Emperor certainly knows. Don’t forget, all the Shadow Guards around you and me combined can’t compare to the Phoenix Guard under Mother Emperor’s command.”

That unit was an ancestral secret guard passed down through the Emperors of Yanxue Kingdom; how could it not be better than the Shadow Guards cultivated by the Imperial Daughters themselves?

The Third Imperial Daughter asked, “If Mother Emperor knows, why hasn’t she acted to root that person out?”

            

Ji Qingchi replied, “Either that person is hidden very deep, or it’s difficult to make a move against them.”

As they were contemplating, a guard knocked and entered, handing Ji Qingchi a secret letter.

After the guard withdrew, Ji Qingchi unfolded the letter, and her expression immediately darkened.

            

Seeing her younger sister’s troubled look, the Seventh Imperial Daughter quickly asked, “Little Nine, what’s wrong?”

Ji Qingchi handed her the letter, sneering, “Fifth Imperial Sister is truly formidable. While we were discussing, she has already rescued all the people abducted by that Yiyun Tower.”

Not only that, but she had also found out that the Yiyun Tower manager was forced into abducting people because she was being threatened. And the one threatening her turned out to be the Eighth Princess Regent​⁷, who never attended court.

            

And even more coincidentally, the Eighth Princess Regent had indulged in sensual pleasures the previous night and died.

—After passing the secret letter around, the Second Imperial Daughter smiled. “Well now, it’s a case of death leaving no proof.​⁸ The Yiyun Tower manager provided ample evidence; she and the people in the tower are completely innocent, and all the blame has been shifted onto our deceased Aunt.”

Collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country was a major crime. The news brought by the Fifth Imperial Daughter shocked the entire court, high and low. After all, the Eighth Princess Regent never interfered in court politics, only doted on her favored concubines, loved poetry and songs, and truly didn’t seem like someone who would commit treason.

            

The Emperor ordered a search. The Capital Guard searched the Princess Regent’s residence and found a Dragon Robe​⁹ and dozens of letters exchanged between the Eighth Princess Regent, Ji Sheng​¹⁰, and the emperor of Huachen Kingdom.

In the letters, the Huachen Kingdom emperor mentioned their current population shortage, the lack of child-bearing women, and the urgent need for women to reproduce. The Eighth Princess Regent stated she could help send a batch of Yanxue Kingdom women and male infants over to Huachen Kingdom, in exchange for their help in securing her ascension to the throne.

The Eighth Princess Regent’s seal and handprint on the letters were authentic, and the handwriting was verified as genuine.

            

The Emperor was instantly enraged and ordered the confiscation of the estate​¹¹.

For the task of confiscating the estate, she didn’t choose the Fifth Imperial Daughter who had uncovered all this, but instead chose Ji Qingchi and the Second Imperial Daughter.

The Eighth Princess Regent was only thirty-two this year. She had a gentle and kind appearance and disliked extravagance, so the decorations in her residence were extremely simple and plain.

            

When they arrived, funeral rites​¹² were being conducted in the residence. The Eighth Princess Regent’s coffin rested in the main hall, with a large character “奠” (Diàn – Libation/Mourning)​¹³ placed before it. On both sides knelt people burning paper money​¹⁴, crying with heart-wrenching sobs.

The Eighth Princess Regent had one Official Spouse, six Attendant Lords, and four Favored Concubines, yet only three children, two of whom had died young. Only a five-year-old daughter remained, designated as the Heir Apparent. She knelt before her mother’s coffin, muddled and ignorant of everything. When people beside her told her to kowtow, she kowtowed; when told to burn paper money, she burned paper money. Perhaps she was sleepy, because after kowtowing, she rubbed her eyes and leaned against a woman wearing mourning clothes, clearly one of the Eighth Princess Regent’s favored concubines. “Mother, I’m sleepy. I want to go back and sleep.”

Only the Princess Regent herself was qualified to be called ‘Mother’ by the Heir Apparent. As for the Princess Regent’s favored concubines, although also women, they held no such qualification.

            

Ji Qingchi heard her little cousin’s words the moment she entered. She frowned, looking at the woman her cousin was leaning against – gentle and delicate, she didn’t quite seem like someone from Yanxue Kingdom.

“That seems to be Eighth Aunt’s most beloved favored concubine.” The Second Imperial Daughter had also heard. She leaned closer, speaking to Ji Qingchi with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile. “I heard that ever since she entered the residence, Eighth Aunt never favored anyone else. Not only that, she even let our little cousin acknowledge her as a mother, treating her better than the Official Spouse. Tsk tsk, she truly loved her.”

Ji Qingchi said nothing. After reading out the Imperial Edict, she ordered her people to arrest everyone in the Princess Regent’s residence.

            

The others were terrified that their lives were about to end, crying and begging for mercy. The favored concubine, who had been kneeling woodenly before the coffin, went completely mad after hearing the edict, grabbing the little Heir Apparent and refusing to let go. “Don’t you touch her! She’s the Princess Regent’s only child left, don’t you touch her!”

The little Heir Apparent didn’t know what was happening, hiding fearfully in her arms, eyes brimming with tears she didn’t dare let fall.

“Seize her.”

            

Ji Qingchi spoke coldly. Guards quickly subdued the woman. Ji Qingchi herself stepped forward and picked up her little cousin. “Be good, Mian’er​¹⁵, don’t be afraid.”

During palace banquets, the little Heir Apparent, Ji Qingmian​¹⁶, had seen her many times and recognized her cousins. Seeing Ji Qingchi and the Second Imperial Daughter, her tears receded, and she happily reached out to hug Ji Qingchi’s neck. “Ninth Sister, Second Sister, are you here to play with Mian’er? Lots of people say Mother is dead. What is dead? Yesterday she said she’d take me to the palace to play with Eleventh Sister. This morning Mian’er went to find her, but she wouldn’t answer Mian’er. Did I do something wrong to make her angry?”

“No, your mother is just tired and needs to rest.” Ji Qingchi gently rubbed her small face. “Come, go back to the palace with Ninth Sister, play with your Eleventh Sister, okay?”

            

“Okay!” The child didn’t understand things and was easily cheered up with a little coaxing. Ji Qingchi looked coldly at the woman who was restrained, gagged, and nearly hysterical. “Watch her closely.”

After confiscating the estate, aside from the little Heir Apparent Ji Qingmian, who received a special pardon from the Emperor due to her young age and being the Eighth Princess Regent’s sole bloodline, everyone else was imprisoned.

Before any interrogation could happen, that very night, the woman deeply favored by the Eighth Princess Regent took her own life.

            

Hearing this news, Ji Qingchi laughed bitterly out of anger. Now it truly was completely a case of death leaving no proof.

The guard reporting the news saw the Ninth Highness’s reaction and said fearfully, “That woman seemed to go mad during the night, constantly calling the Eighth Princess Regent’s name, crying and laughing. We thought she was just overwrought from the shock of the estate being confiscated and didn’t pay much attention. Who knew that during the night, when the guards weren’t looking, she killed herself with a golden hairpin.”

Saying this, the guard took out a small silver belt hook​¹⁷. “This was the only thing we found on her body.”

            

Ji Qingchi took it and saw that the belt hook had a convex and a concave part, designed to fit together. The convex side was engraved with: “Ji Sheng Xiyun”. The concave side was engraved with: “Let us never forget each other.”

Ji Sheng, Xiyun​¹⁸. Let us never forget each other.

Ji Sheng was the Eighth Princess Regent’s name; Xiyun was likely the name of that woman.

            

Ji Qingchi pinched the silver belt hook. After a long moment, she sighed. “Forget it. Arrange for the woman’s body to be properly handled, and bury her… together with Eighth Aunt.”

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