After traveling through time, she just wanted to eat, drink and have fun

After Zhu Yu explained her purpose, she asked Xiaoying to tell Prince Jing the news she had found out again. Xiaoying followed her master and spoke to Prince Jing in a crisp and clear voice without any stage fright, which made Zhang Ling, the lackey beside Prince Jing, couldn't help but look at her several times. Xiaoying finished speaking in one breath and did not forget to glare at the lackey who was peeking at her. Humph, don't think she will endure it just because the prince is backing her up. No, no one can bully her. What are you looking at!

After listening to this, Prince Jing saw Xiaoying glaring at Zhang Ling, so he turned his head to glance at Zhang Ling. Zhang Ling smiled awkwardly. He really didn't mean anything else. He just thought that this little maid was really cool, and her voice was so crisp and refreshing. If he was with such a person every day, he would definitely feel very happy. Unlike him, he was almost depressed following the prince every day.

Prince Jing turned his gaze to Zhu Yu and said, "I have some new news. Someone just said that the sister of a guard in the palace also disappeared a few days ago. The family searched for her for a few days but couldn't find her. I'm afraid she is also related to this case."

Ai Yun, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but ask, "Is this guard's surname Zhang?"

Prince Jing looked at Ai Yun with a questioning look in his eyes: "Why him?"

Ai Yun didn't know how to answer his question: "How should I put it? It's just my feeling."

Prince Jing nodded: "It's him. His sister is a very well-behaved and sensible girl. She has never had any conflicts with people around her. She obeys her parents' words and has never caused any worries to the family."

Ai Yun felt something was wrong. She glanced at the book that Prince Jing had just put down, and suddenly an idea came to her mind: "Could it be related to the book that Guard Zhang brought back?"

Prince Jing: "Feelings again?"

Facing Prince Jing's questioning, Ai Yun nodded, because she really just had a feeling and couldn't produce any substantial evidence, but she felt it necessary to tell him what happened to her yesterday.

After hearing Ai Yun recount what happened yesterday, Prince Jing also felt that it might be related to the book. He picked up the book on the table and handed it to Ai Yun: "Look, is this the book?"

Ai Yun and Zhu Yu put their heads together and flipped through the book quickly. It was indeed exactly the same as Ai Yun's book.

After receiving a positive answer, Prince Jing called in a guard and ordered him to immediately investigate whether the missing woman had been to Tianqiao to listen to storytelling, whether she had received a picture book, and all circumstances related to it. He must investigate all details. After the guard left, Zhu Yu also took Ai Yun away.

However, the investigation did not go smoothly. The guards came back with a reply in the afternoon. The other girls had no clues about the book, and there was no news of them having been to any bookstore. Especially since some girls did not even know how to read, how could they read? If they all asked others to read like the maids in the mansion, it would be impossible to do it quietly.

Zhu Yu and Ai Yun thought about it for a night and decided to discuss with Prince Jing. Since Ai Yun received the book, could she try her luck in the bookstore? With no other options, Prince Jing agreed, but did not allow Zhu Yu to follow, because the two of them were too conspicuous, and people would think that they were new nobles who had come recently, which would make things difficult. Zhu Yu originally disagreed, but Prince Jing promised to assign a few close guards to protect Ai Yun, and Ai Yun also agreed, so she did not insist in the end.

After they discussed the things that needed attention, Ai Yun went to the bookstore alone.

The bookstore is located in a narrow alley. The high walls on both sides of the alley are covered with ivy, which makes the already narrow alley only wide enough for one person to enter and exit. I don’t know what kind of flowers and plants the people inside the wall have planted. Ai Yun can smell a strange fragrance as she walks. With her years of experience in poison detection, she can’t tell whether it is poisonous, but she is not too worried. Because if the poison is used in the alley, there will be too many people around and it is impossible not to attract attention. But she has to be careful of the incense or snacks in the store when she goes in.

As she walked slowly inside, she was wary of the mysteries on the road. Suddenly, a bird flew out from the dense ivy, and she shuddered with fright. Then someone suddenly patted her shoulder from behind, which frightened her again. But Ai Yun quickly calmed down. There were secret guards following her, and she had poison and powder that would leave traces in her pocket, so it should be foolproof. She slowly turned sideways and saw a short man with red lips and white teeth standing behind her. Her years of medical experience allowed her to tell at a glance that it was a woman in disguise.

The visitor saw her frightened expression and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I scared you."

Ai Yun nodded at her and asked for conversation, "Excuse me, is there a shop selling picture books inside?"

The "man" smiled at her, with a hint of curiosity on his fair face: "There is one, but this place is so remote, how did you know about it, young lady?"

Ai Yun curled her lips in her heart. How did she know? She didn’t want to know. Someone had lured her here.

"Some time ago, a little girl gave me a picture book. It was pretty nice. I couldn't get enough of it, so I followed the address above and came here."

The "man" understood, "I see. Indeed, a few girls have come to this store recently. I don't know if their wishes have been fulfilled."

Ai Yun suddenly had an ominous premonition in her heart. She didn't know whether the girls' wishes had been fulfilled, but the bad guy's wish should be almost fulfilled.

It is estimated that she will be arrested this time.

She laughed dryly: "Haha, I hope it has been achieved."

The two of them walked in while chatting casually. The "man" accompanied Ai Yun to the door of the store and watched her go in before turning around and leaving.

The interior of the store actually looked no different from any other place selling picture books, and was also full of antique charm. But for some reason, after entering the store, Ai Yun's tense mind became even more tense, and she inexplicably felt like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth.

The shop is not big. As soon as she entered the shop, Ai Yun was surrounded by the faint scent of ink and the calm atmosphere of wooden bookshelves. Several rows of bookshelves were neatly arranged with various ancient books, from classic history books and poetry collections to folk legends and miscellaneous notes.

In the middle of the room, there was a long wooden table for people to sit and read. There was also an oil lamp next to the table, which gave off a soft glow, illuminating the books on the table that no one knew who had read them but had not put them back, creating a quiet and warm atmosphere.

From a place where Ai Yun couldn't see, there were a few soft sounds of turning pages and whispering of reading. As if because of the sound of Ai Yun's footsteps, the sounds of reading and turning pages stopped abruptly, and the sound of light footsteps was heard instead.

"Miss, I'm the owner of this store. If you need anything, just tell me."

Ai Yun looked in the direction of the voice and saw a beautiful woman in simple clothes slowly walking down from the attic. Unlike Zhu Yu, who was dressed like a beautiful woman, this woman was only wearing a light yellow cotton dress, and her hair was loosely tied up on top of her head with a wooden hairpin. She had no other accessories, but she gave Ai Yun a feeling that her life was quiet but her spiritual world was rich.

Ai Yun nodded to the shopkeeper and asked, "Do you have any of Mr. Xiaoyao's books?"

"Yes, Mr. Xiaoyao is the exclusive contracted writer of our store, and her works are only sold in our store." The woman said while observing Ai Yun's reaction.

"What is an exclusively contracted writer?" Ai Yun asked curiously, pretending that she had heard of it for the first time. She could not take any risk of exposing her identity.

The woman smiled lightly, "To answer your question, young lady, this exclusive contract means that the author has signed a contract with our shop. Anything she wrote can only be sold in our shop. If it is sold in other bookstores, she will have to pay the compensation agreed in the contract to our shop. So, if you want to find Mr. Xiaoyao's books, you can only come to our shop."

Ai Yun pretended to be surprised: "There is such a contract."

"Yes, please come this way." The woman didn't want to discuss this topic any further, so she extended her hand and made a gesture of invitation, leading Ai Yun to a bookshelf. "Miss, may I ask, how did you know Mr. Xiaoyao?"