Cypress Boat Floating

At midnight, the streets were empty, with no one in sight. Ye Jianqing stood quietly in front of the window, staring at the dark street. Suddenly, a small hexagonal ice crystal fell without warning and landed in front of her eyes. Sure enough, snow began to fall. More and more crystals were swept by the strong wind and passed in front of her, hitting the window sill, and some quietly fell into her hands, bringing a chill.

"It's snowing." Lu Ci Qiu walked to her side, reached out and closed the window, as if to isolate all the cold and noise from the outside world.

"If they intend to take action, now is indeed the best time. The heavy snow will cover their tracks." Ye Jianqing gently wiped his hands clean, lowered his eyes, and said softly: "Will our Commander Liang take action?"

Ye Jianqing couldn't fully trust Liang Kai and everyone he led. Even though Zhou Hao had been transferred away, it didn't mean they were safe.

"I always feel that he is not the one who took action. Along the way, he seemed quite respectful to General Ye." Lu Ci Qiu handed her a cup of steaming hot tea to warm her hands.

"You can know a person's face but not his heart. I don't trust anyone." Ye Jianqing's tone was firm and resolute. In this world full of deception and betrayal, the first thing she learned was not to trust others easily. Only by staying vigilant can she protect herself and the people around her.

"Rest first." Lu Ciqiu said softly. He really couldn't bear to let Ye Jianqing continue to struggle with this issue. Protecting Ye Honghai was important, but in his heart, nothing was more important than Ye Jianqing's health. After all, Ye Jianqing had just woken up not long ago and was gradually recovering. He was really worried whether she could bear it after all the hard work.

Ye Jianqing silently drank the hot tea in the cup and nodded. She slowly stood up, walked to the bed, bent down, took off her shoes, and carefully got into the bed. It was the same familiar position as last night, the same movements as last night, exactly the same. It seemed that everything was so natural, as if they had spent countless nights like this.

Lu Ci Qiu smiled slightly, and a warm feeling welled up in his heart as he watched the scene in front of him. He blew out the candle gently, then lay down on the outside with his clothes on, covered with a quilt, and felt the rare warmth. Surrounded by the warmth of the quilt, Ye Jianqing soon fell into a deep sleep and entered the dreamland. However, Lu Ci Qiu, who had slept enough during the day, was not sleepy at all at this moment. His eyes were clear, his ears were erect, and he listened carefully to the movement outside. The wind blew through the crack of the door, bringing a whistling sound. The sound entered his ears and turned into bursts of miserable crying. Even the originally silent streets seemed to gradually emit wailing sounds in this gust of wind.

Everything in the dark night becomes so strange and mysterious.

Lu Ci Qiu originally thought that he would still be unable to sleep like yesterday, but he did not expect that when he lay here today, what wafted into his nose was the faint fragrance of Ye Jianqing's body, the scent of gardenia that still lingered even though he had left the palace for many days. As he smelled it, he gradually fell asleep.

The next day.

The heavy snow has not stopped yet, but the whole city has been covered with thick white snow. The houses are dressed in white, the willow trees have turned into bloated silver bars, and the city walls are like a giant snake with a white back, stretching into the distant gray twilight haze. Everything is white, and the streets are still empty. Everyone is hiding in their houses to avoid the heavy snow.

Ye Jianqing had a good night's sleep. When she opened the door, a fresh breeze blew in. She took a deep breath, feeling the tranquility and beauty of the morning.

The inn's waiter had been waiting for a long time. When he saw Ye Jianqing coming out, he immediately went to her and handed her a bowl of hot soup with a warm smile on his face: "Madam, the weather is cold, and the innkeeper specially asked me to prepare hot soup for you to warm you up."

Ye Jianqing took the tray from the waiter with a smile, and looked at the two bowls of hot soup on the tray, and a warm feeling surged in her heart. She said gratefully: "Thank you for my kindness, boss, and thank you for your hard work, brother." After that, she deliberately showed a distressed expression and sighed: "It's a pity that the snow keeps falling, and we have to hurry. I really don't know when the snow will stop."

Xiao Er received a lot of rewards from Ye Jianqing these past two days, and was more enthusiastic towards her than towards his own mother. Seeing her sad face, he couldn't wait to help her solve her problems: "It's hard to say, Madam. But in my opinion, the snow will probably stop tomorrow night."

Upon hearing the news, Ye Jianqing's eyes flashed with joy, but then he asked worriedly: "Then is the road outside still passable now?" It is too difficult to trek in the snow, and safety must be ensured before setting off.

The waiter shook his head and tried to dissuade her, "That won't work. It's snowing so heavily now. It's too dangerous to go outside the city. The snow is so heavy and dense. If you're not careful outside, you'll fall into the traps set by the hunters. You must not be familiar with the road conditions outside the city, right? So, it's best not to take risks easily."

"Oh...I see. Then I understand. Thanks for the reminder, young man." Ye Jianqing smiled at him gratefully, then picked up the tray and returned to the room.

In the room, Lu Ci Qiu had already woken up and was sitting quietly at the table. Ye Jianqing walked in and saw him just shook his head slightly, indicating that the current situation outside was not suitable for traveling. Lu Ci Qiu was not surprised by this. After all, this sudden heavy snow did disrupt their plans. It seemed that they might have to stay here for two more days.

Not knowing what was happening with Ye Honghai, the two decided to go to Ye Honghai's room after drinking the hot soup and told him that they would wait until the snow stopped before leaving. However, before they could raise their hands to knock on the door, it seemed as if they had known they were coming. As soon as Ye Jianqing raised his hand, the door opened automatically.

"I'm here!" Ye Honghai appeared at the door slowly, yawning and saying. His face was expressionless, as if he had just woken up from a long sleep. Ye Jianqing looked at him with doubts in her heart. However, before she could ask, she noticed something unusual in the room from the corner of her eye.

Ye Honghai did not stop them, but opened the door directly to let them in. After they entered the room, he closed the door.

"Who are these?" Ye Jianqing stared with wide eyes, looking at the black-clad people tied up on the ground in shock. Their bodies were twisted, and it was obvious that they were tied there in a rough way.

"I came here last night." Ye Honghai yawned, slowly walked back to the table, poured himself a cup of steaming hot tea, trying to refresh himself.

"Why didn't you call us?" Ye Jianqing frowned tightly, with a hint of dissatisfaction and worry in his tone.

"I can still handle these minions." Ye Honghai answered lightly, pinching his forehead with his hand, as if those cups of hot tea did not bring him much help.

Ye Jianqing did not argue with Ye Honghai about whether to wake them up, but walked forward to observe the people in front of him. They opened their mouths to the extreme, with painful expressions on their faces, and their jaws seemed to be dislocated. There was no doubt that this must have been done by Ye Honghai, and his purpose was probably to prevent them from committing suicide by taking poison.

"Aren't you going to do something about their jaws? If they stay like this for a long time, they might not be able to speak." Looking at the big mouth that couldn't be closed, Ye Jianqing felt his cheekbones begin to ache slightly.

“What if they become depressed and commit suicide after the surgery?” Ye Honghai did not agree to reattach their jaws.

At this time, Lu Ci Qiu, who had been standing silently by the side, finally spoke and asked Ye Honghai whether he had interrogated them.

"It's too late yet." Ye Honghai shook his head. It was already very late when these people were brought in last night. After controlling them, he was so sleepy that he simply fell asleep and didn't even think about interrogating them.

Ye Jianqing couldn't help but fall silent: "How on earth did you manage to sleep peacefully with so many pursuers staring at you?"

"Gifted?" Ye Honghai seemed particularly proud to say this, as if he thought it was something worthy of praise, and he almost made Ye Jianqing laugh! Ye Jianqing really couldn't stand it anymore, so he said, "Okay, let's quickly interrogate these people first! Let's see who sent them here."

Hearing this, the other two did not object, but if they wanted to interrogate them, they had to go to the room where Lu Ci Qiu and the others were. After all, they needed to interrogate these people one by one, and the others could only stay where they were for the time being.

At this time, Ye Jianqing had an idea. She thought that Lu Ciqiu could practice interrogating prisoners with Ye Honghai, which would also help him improve his ability. So, she took the initiative to suggest that she stay here to guard everyone, while Lu Ciqiu and Ye Honghai led people to another room to start the interrogation.