The snow in Qingzhou had been falling for three days. Jiang Li was in a strange room, and wherever she went, there was soone following her, even to the restroom, where a maid skilled in martial arts watched her.
She couldn’t escape, it was just a modest courtyard, but it was heavily guarded by layers of soldiers. She had beco the most important bargaining chip, and there could be no slip-ups. Since her last eting with Yin Zhiqing, Jiang Li hadn’t seen her again. Counting the days, Jiang Li had no idea what the situation outside was like, nor whether the Ye Family and Situ Jiuyue’s people were still safe, and even less of where Jih Heng was or whether she had encountered any trouble. She could only sit hopelessly; these days, she even abandoned her usual calm and composed deanor, resorting to a hunger strike, argunts, or threats, but to no avail. Apart from these silent guards, she couldn’t see anyone else.
This night was no different.
Deep into the night, only the sound of the wind and the snow could be heard outside. Jiang Li sat at the table, unable to sleep, her mind solely focused on how to escape. The oil lamp cast a dim light in the room, also projecting shadows on the floor. It was the middle of winter, all the leaves had fallen, leaving bare tree trunks outside. Therefore, the flickering human shadow seed particularly noticeable.
The shadow lay still on the ground, as if it were just a fignt of Jiang Li’s imagination. She stared at the shadow for a long ti before she said, "Young Master Yin, since you’ve co, why not enter?"
The figure outside moved slightly, followed by a sigh, and then a "creak" as the door opened and soone entered.
It was Yin Zhili.
Jiang Li hadn’t seen Yin Zhili for a while either. Under the lamplight, his face looked extrely haggard, as if he were a completely different person. His gaze no longer had the clarity and gentleness of their first eting, replaced instead by a myriad of complicated and unwilling expressions. He stood in front of Jiang Li and said, "Miss Jiang."
The gentle and handso young master of the past was gone, and the Yin Zhili before her seed like a stranger. Jiang Li stared at him and said, "Please have a seat, Young Master Yin."
Yin Zhili sat down.
Jiang Li said, "Would you like a cup of tea?" She picked up the teapot on the table, poured a cup for Yin Zhili, and passed it to him. Yin Zhili looked at the teacup in front of him but didn’t reach out to take it, nor did he show any intention of drinking.
Jiang Li smiled wistfully and said, "You’re not taking the bait, huh."
All the tea here was laced with drugs, leaving one without the strength to do much or commit to other actions. Presumably, those guarding her knew of her cunning and feared she would devise an escape, hence they ca up with this thod. It seed Yin Zhili had long been aware, as he didn’t even touch it.
Indeed, he looked at Jiang Li and said in a low voice, "I’m sorry."
A hint of guilt appeared on Yin Zhili’s face, making him finally resemble soone Jiang Li recognized. She sighed and said, "I only ask you, where is the girl who left with that day? And the people from the Ye Family, Mr. Xue, how did you deal with them? Hai Tang’s little finger..."
"Rest assured," Yin Zhili replied, "they are all right now. Now that you’re here, those people are of no use kept here and have been sent back. As for Hai Tang’s finger... I’m sorry..."
"It was your father’s doing, wasn’t it?" Jiang Li stared into his eyes.
Yin Zhili stayed silent, which was as good as an admission. Jiang Li had long guessed this. Yin Zhili was not naturally cruel; such brutal thods could only have been devised by Yin Zhan. It was likely that all of this was to lay the groundwork for Yin Zhili, ensuring that regardless of the outco of the power struggle between Yin Zhan and Jih Heng, Yin Zhili could use her to make a clean exit.
"Where is your father now?" Jiang Li asked.
"I don’t know," Yin Zhan answered, "he did not tell ."
Yin Zhili had locked himself in here; the more guilt he felt, the more Jiang Li knew he couldn’t possibly let her go. Or to put it another way, Yin Zhili simply didn’t have the ans to let her go—this was Yin Zhan’s arrangent, and Yin Zhan’s arrangents were not likely to be altered. Yin Zhili himself was just a pawn of Yin Zhan, a ga entirely manipulated by his own hand.
"Where is this place?" Jiang Li asked.
"A hundred miles from Qingzhou," he replied.
"How long do you plan to keep locked up?" Jiang Li asked.
Yin Zhili looked up; Jiang Li’s gaze was calm, devoid of any resentnt or bla towards him. The more she was like this, the less he knew how to respond, and he ended up avoiding Jiang Li’s gaze.
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