Ji Huaian looked up and saw Jiang Rou's almond-shaped eyes filled with his reflection. Her expression and tone of voice told how powerful he was in her eyes.

Her straightforward gaze made Ji Huaian feel uncomfortable at first. Ji Huaian coughed lightly and said slowly, "If you don't understand anything, just ask me."

Sure enough, the next second Ji Huaian heard Jiang Rou's surprised voice, "Really? Can I ask the prince?" Before Ji Huaian could answer, she lowered her voice and asked in a trembling voice, "Will the prince dislike me for being stupid?"

Ji Huaian was a little confused about her question but after seeing the expression on her face, he patiently explained, "Didn't you just say that I was the smartest person you had ever met? Did you lie?" His voice was indifferent and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.

When Jiang Rou heard him say this, she quickly waved her hands to explain, "No, I don't think so. The prince is powerful, but he is afraid of me." Before she finished her words, she was interrupted by Ji Huaian, "In this case, what is there to be afraid of?" She frowned as she fell asleep.

Jiang Rou always knew when to stop, and she nodded obediently. Seeing her like this, Ji Huaian turned his gaze back to the book and continued reading.

Jiang Rou had achieved her goal, so she left the room and returned to the house. After washing up, she sat on the edge of the bed and started to read the Book of Rites that was mixed in with the travel notes.

She lightly touched the marginal note made by Ji Huaian on it. This book was not taken by Fuyun by mistake, but was taken back by Jiang Rou herself, just for the promise made by Ji Huaian today.

Although Ji Huaian said so, Jiang Rou did not ask immediately, because she knew very well that if she asked too difficult questions, she would appear to be overestimating her own abilities, and if she asked shallow questions, she would appear to be stupid, which would annoy people either way.

If you keep asking him questions all day long, he will inevitably feel annoyed and doubt your intentions. After all, Ji Huaian is not a fool. Jiang Rou knows very well that a man's words only count in specific situations and at specific times, so the degree is very important.

Ever since Fang Yuan was sent away, Qi Yan seemed to have returned to the time when she and Fang Xuchuan had just fallen in love. At that time, Fang Xuchuan would bring her flowers and bring her her favorite cakes every day. When she was angry, he would personally make a golden hairpin to apologize for her.

At that time, Fang Yuan was still a cute little boy. Qi Yan felt that it was the happiest time of her life. However, as her superiors gave her more and more tasks to do, the love and affection between her and Fang Xuchuan faded, and Fang Yuan grew crooked. But now she seemed to have returned to that time.

The little maidservant next to her saw Qi Yan smiling and said a few complimenting words, "Madam is so beautiful. When you smile, no flowers in the yard can compare to you."

The maidservant's compliment was intended to show that Qi Yan was in a good mood and to ask for a reward. However, when Qi Yan heard her words, the corner of her mouth drooped and she slapped the maidservant.

The little maid was stunned after being beaten, but she didn't dare to resist. She just knelt on the ground and said, "Madam, please forgive me." She kept knelt on the ground and kowtowed. Qi Yan became even more annoyed when she heard her crying and waved her hand to let her take her away.

Everyone lowered their heads even more. Qi Yan had the image of a virtuous woman in the outside world, but only those who served her closely knew how moody she was. Those who were punished by her would never have a good ending.

Qi Yan has always hated people praising her face, because this face was fabricated based on Fang Xuchuan's first wife Cui Wan. Over the years, in order to maintain this face, she had to drink bitter medicine every day, and endure the pain of thousands of ants eating her heart at the beginning of the month.

What she could not tolerate the most was that the owner of this face was married to Fang Xuchuan, and when outsiders praised him, they would only say how much Fang Xuchuan doted on Cui Wan instead of her, Qi Yan.

But what does it matter? She, Cui Wan, is still dead. She was just an abandoned child from beginning to end. Her husband and she, Qi Yan, have been together for more than 20 years. Her useless son is also completely useless. It is she, Qi Yan, who wins.

Qi Yan said this to herself in her heart, when she suddenly heard a familiar voice. She turned to the servants behind her and said, "Everyone, go back. I want to be alone for a while."

After the others walked away, Qi Yan walked towards a secluded place. A man in a black cloak walked out from the darkness. When Qi Yan saw him, he asked directly, "Why are you here?"

The man in the black cloak sneered and said, "You are really too immersed in the role. If Fang Xuchuan knew that it was you who personally killed his wife and put a curse on his son, what do you think he would do?"

Qi Yan's expression suddenly turned cold, and her voice became angry, "What do you want to do?" The cloaked man laughed when he saw that she was angry, and patted her shoulder gently with his hand, and said in a slightly casual voice, "Nothing, just a message for the master, in case you two losers fail to complete the task."

Qi Yan was a little confused when she heard him say that. She asked, "What mission?" But the cloaked man did not answer him. He just said, "It seems that Fang Xuchuan didn't do anything to you. He didn't even tell you what the master said." Then he left.

Qi Yan looked at his back with some annoyance. Naturally, she did not believe his words of sowing discord, but she wondered why Fang Xuchuan did not tell her.

When Fang Xuchuan just returned to the mansion after finishing his evening shift, he heard the servants say that Qi Yan was looking for him. Fang Xuchuan pondered for a moment and thought of his plan, then walked towards the yard.

Fang Xuchuan walked into the house and dismissed the servants. He saw Qi Yan sitting alone in front of the dressing table looking at her face in the mirror. The maid's words in the afternoon finally bothered her.

Fang Xuchuan walked behind her, held her shoulders with both hands, looked at the face in the mirror and said with some regret, "The only thing I regret in this life is that I didn't see what Yan'er looked like."

Qi Yan was a little shocked when she heard his words. She looked at Fang Xuchuan through the mirror. Fang Xuchuan was handsome when he was young. It was that handsome face and the gentle voice of Yan'er that made Qi Yan fall in love with him. Although he is no longer as good-looking as before, he is still the best in Qi Yan's eyes.

Hearing his words, Qi Yan's concerns disappeared, leaving only sweetness, but she still asked, "What if I was ugly?" Before she finished her words, Fang Xuchuan held her shoulders and said, "I love you, no matter what you look like, I like you."

Qi Yan was immediately very moved. She hugged Fang Xuchuan's body and did not notice the tenderness in Fang Xuchuan's eyes.

After a while of tenderness, Qi Yan asked Fang Xuchuan, "The master sent someone here this afternoon, asking for a mission. Why didn't you tell me?" Then he lowered his head to straighten the wrinkles on Fang Xuchuan's clothes.

Fang Xuchuan's eyes flashed but he didn't say anything. Seeing that he didn't speak, Qi Yan asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

The next moment, Qi Yan saw that Fang Xuchuan's eyes were red. Qi Yan became more certain that something had happened and hurriedly asked, "What happened?" Fang Xuchuan told her the truth with difficulty under her questioning.

Fang Xuchuan said in a hoarse voice, "I wanted to keep it a secret from you and accompany you for the last time, but I didn't expect you would find out about it."

When Qi Yan heard her say this, her heart skipped a beat. She grabbed Fang Xuchuan's arm and heard Fang Xuchuan say, "The master sent a letter asking us to kill Ji Huaian."

Fang Xuchuan looked at Qi Yan with tears in his eyes and said, "Ji Huaian is the nephew of the current emperor. He is surrounded by many experts. If something happens to him in the mansion, the two of us will certainly not be able to escape blame."

When Qi Yan heard him say this, she said, "So you hid it from me and wanted to go by yourself." Fang Xuchuan held back his tears and said, "If I come back alive, I will take you and Yuaner away from here. If anything happens to me, you must leave and don't stay."

After listening to Fang Xu's words which were full of consideration for her, she complained for the first time towards the Third Prince who had given them the task.

She grabbed Fang Xuchuan's hand with a look of disapproval on her face, "Why didn't you tell me, what's the point of my living without you?" Qi Yan said as she burst into tears.

Fang Xuchuan hugged her in his arms and comforted her, "It's okay, Yan'er, we will leave here after this is over." Qi Yan just nodded while crying.

But she knew she could not leave. The third prince's mother was a foreigner, and Qi Yan was the assassin she trained. In order to make her obedient, Qi Yan had already been fed a secret medicine, which caused attacks every month. Once she left the antidote, Qi Yan knew she would definitely not survive more than three months.

The more she thought about it, the more determined her eyes became. She couldn't let Fang Xuchuan take risks. But if she saw Fang Xuchuan with a cold face, would she still think so?

That secret letter was of great help to Ji Huaian. Following the clues, he actually found an iron mine. However, the dynasty stipulated that iron mining was only allowed with explicit regulations.

Such a large iron mine was guarded by someone, but the imperial court had no idea about it. Ji Huaian's eyes darkened when he thought of a possible situation: someone wanted to make weapons.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts, and Jiang Rou's voice came from outside the door, "Is the prince asleep? " Hearing her voice reminded him of what Jiang Rou said this afternoon when she had a question to ask him.

Ji Huaian said towards the door, "Not yet." "Come in," Jiang Rou walked in with a book in her arms. When Ji Huaian saw her coming, he asked, "What don't you understand?"

Jiang Rou spread the book on the table and pointed to the parts she didn't understand. She whispered, "The prince has marked these parts, but I still don't quite understand." Her voice seemed a little shy.

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