General, you should rest now; the lady is even more ruthless.

Jiang Qiqi and Shiliu ran all the way, but when they arrived at the crime scene, there were already many people there. They weaved through the streets and alleys and managed to piece together a secondhand glimpse of the crime.

"According to onlookers, this was done by the Third Prince."

"Think about it, if the Second Prince's wife gives birth to the child, then the Second Prince will have one more person to compete with."

“I don’t think so. The Third Prince is the Empress’s child, and in terms of both reason and law, he is of much higher birth than the Second Prince. Even if the Third Prince is gone, there is the Seventh Prince, and at the very least, there is the First Prince born to the late Empress. The legitimate succession should not fall to a prince with foreign blood.”

“Our Nanyue has always chosen the virtuous over the eldest, so I think the Second Prince still has a good chance. The Second Prince is always refined and gentle, unlike the Third Prince who is so impulsive.”

Indeed, gossiping is human nature, and even in the capital, people can't shake their habit of talking about gossip.

Jiang Qiqi and Shiliu listened for a while, then disguised themselves as guards and entered the Second Prince's residence.

At this moment, the Second Prince's residence was in a mess, with everything ransacked and the maids still searching.

Jiang Qiqi stared at the jewelry box that had rolled to her feet and fell into deep thought: Are they really looking for the Second Prince's Consort?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In the dimly lit and cramped little room, two men in black looked down at the person who was tied up in the chair.

These two were the two people Jiang Qiqi and her group sent to Jiang Qianzhong's side, disguised as experts from the Northern Ming Dynasty.

"What...what should we do? We've caught her, but we...we...we don't dare touch her," a stuttering man said.

"I don't know either. Let's wait and see what instructions General Nineteen has," another person replied.

He crouched down and carefully observed from left to right: "Hey, Lao Zhao, look how hard it is for the princess consort. She's so pregnant and still gets dragged around like this."

"Be careful!" The man called Old Zhao pulled him back. "You're...you're pregnant, you're very vulnerable. You...don't look around, what if you hurt the baby!"

The man shrank back slightly as he was pulled: "Then I'll back off. The child is more important, the child is more important."

The two of them drew circles and crosses on the ground for a while, but when they got bored, they turned their attention to the stomachs next to them.

Old Zhao asked, "Old Li, guess... guess how many months pregnant she is?"

"Are you stupid? Everyone says pregnancy lasts ten months. Jiang Qianzhong said the princess consort was about to give birth, so this must be the tenth month! Probably nine months and... twenty-odd days?"

Old Zhao nodded after listening, but then a new question came to mind.

"Hey... then what if the babies are pregnant for ten months and happen to have a baby with a 'little Jin'?"

As everyone knows, the Chinese lunar calendar is divided into two periods: the Greater Jin and the Lesser Jin, which each lasts for 30 days.

"If... it's all Xiao Jin for the next few months, wouldn't he have to stay in the womb for a lot fewer days than other babies?"

When the Second Prince's Consort slowly woke up, she heard two men in black in front of her whispering something, seemingly about the child in her womb.

Old Zhao squatted down, rested his chin on his hand, and looked at the belly opposite him, gesturing with his hands.

Old Li thought for a moment, then slapped his thigh: "That's why some kids are big and some kids are small!"

One of them dared to speak, and the other dared to believe.

"Oh!" Old Zhao exclaimed, "Wow, Old Li, you really know a lot."

"That's not the case!"

"No, but you said the child would be born at a certain hour on the first day of the tenth month."

Is it midnight or noon?

“I heard my mother say that I was born at midnight.”

"I think any time of day is fine, right?"

The Second Prince's wife listened for a long time before finally speaking up.

"Although it is said that a child is conceived for ten months, the baby is not born in the tenth month. Usually, the baby is born in September."

She suddenly spoke, startling the two people in front of her who were engrossed in their conversation.

"My God, when did you wake up?!"

The Second Prince's wife shrugged.

"When you first started talking."

Man in black:"……"

"Ahem," the two men in black quickly composed themselves and adopted the posture of kidnappers.

"Princess Consort, we can kidnap you from the Prince's residence, and we can kill you without a sound. If you know what's good for you, confess now!"

“That’s…that’s it!” Old Zhao drew his sword and brandished it near her face.

Second Prince's Consort: "Go ahead and ask. I didn't say I wouldn't."

The two men in black looked at each other and asked, "What do you want?"

"I don't know," the other person said, shrugging.

Jiang Qianzhong just told them to keep an eye on things, but didn't say what they were supposed to do.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Outside the secret room, Jiang Qianzhong and a mysterious man dressed in black robes were discussing something with their heads down.

There are some things that can't be mentioned, because they make me furious.

Jiang Qianzhong had finally managed to persuade two experts from Beiming to come and help him. He originally wanted to take this opportunity to make a big splash, and even if he couldn't achieve everything at once, he wanted to at least make some progress. He was all set and ready to go every day, but before he could even take action, the pause button was pressed.

Jiang Qianzhong received a threatening letter!

“Lord Jiang, I am aware of your secret contact with the Northern Ming people. Do me a favor and I will keep it a secret; otherwise, I will expose it to the public.”

The letter had already been placed on the table by Jiang Qianzhong when he returned from court.

But when he asked the servant in his household, the servant firmly swore that no one had ever entered his room.

Jiang Qianzhong looked at the letter in his hand, then at the servant who held up two fingers like lightning rods, and paced around outside several times in a fit of impotent rage.

But no trace was found.

Jiang Qianzhong returned to the room, slamming his fist on the table in a fit of impotent rage:

"Who is it? If you have the guts, step forward. What kind of hero are you, sneaking around like this?"

"Okay, fine." A voice suddenly came from behind, startling Jiang Qianzhong.

He turned around abruptly, and a man in black was standing behind him.

Even though it was daytime, the man was dressed in all black, so ostentatious, yet he was also very confident that no one could spot him.

He wore a huge black cloak and a huge black straw hat, with a black veil hanging down from the hat, covering his head and neck.

The mysterious man leisurely walked past Jiang Qianzhong to his back, as if he were the master of the house, and sat down calmly.

"Since you want to talk to me in person, then let's talk. So, what do you want to ask?"

Jiang Qianzhong recovered from his shock.

Having spent many years navigating the treacherous waters of officialdom, he quickly made up his mind.

He asked in a deep voice, "May I ask who you are?"

The mysterious man did not answer his question directly, but said, "Lord Jiang doesn't need to know. Knowing my identity will not do you any good."

Jiang Qianzhong believes that your coming here will not benefit me at all.

"Don't worry, we have no grudges against each other, and I don't want to harm you. Just do as I say," the mysterious man said.

Jiang Qianzhong felt that his heart was a spiritual meadow, and when the wind blew, the meadow would make a sound.

"Grass!"

The grass in Jiangqian is now swaying wildly and shouting:

"Damn it!" "Damn it!" "Damn it!"

We have no grudge against each other, so why are you coming to see me? And you're even threatening me!

But he didn't say anything, he just asked, "Your Excellency is all-powerful and knows everything. I'm afraid I, a lowly official, can't be of much help with this instruction."

“Lord Jiang is too modest,” the mysterious man said, seemingly unwilling to engage in such bureaucratic pleasantries. “I only need to instruct you on one thing: have your two Northern Darkness experts impersonate someone for me.”

Someone who requires two top experts from the Northern Ming Dynasty to capture?

Jiang Qianzhong wasn't stupid; he didn't agree immediately but instead kept a watchful eye on things.

"Then who should we arrest?"

"Second Prince's Consort!"

"What?!" Jiang Qianzhong almost thought he had misheard.

He guessed that the other party's identity was not up to par, but he did not expect it to be the Second Prince's wife.

“That’s impossible,” Jiang Qianzhong replied outright.

"Putting aside their royal status, the Second Prince's wife is pregnant, making her the most important person in the royal family. Countless people come and go every day to protect her. Even if you had ten experts, let alone these two from Bei Ming, you would never come back."

Jiang Qianzhong knew in his heart that the guards of the Second Prince's residence were not the same as the rabble under their command.

Although they appear to be a hundred men each, the Second Prince and the Third Prince actually have quite a few private soldiers; otherwise, the Third Prince wouldn't need to go to such lengths to amass wealth.

He hadn't even had a chance to properly engage with these two experts from the Northern Ming Dynasty; he couldn't just send them to their deaths like this.

Moreover, it would be difficult to explain to the Beiming side at that time.

The mysterious man seemed unsurprised by Jiang Qianzhong's excuses.

Moreover, he also has a solution.

He acted as if he didn't understand what the other person meant: "Lord Jiang, there's no need to worry about any of this. All you have to do is relay my words to the two experts, and I'll take care of the rest."

"When the time is right, we'll have the two experts intercept them."

The mysterious man seemed to have planned ahead and had prepared his response.

Jiang Qianzhong knew he couldn't refuse.

"I'm willing to cooperate with you, but there's still one problem."

The mysterious man raised his hand, gesturing for him to continue asking questions.

"Why does it have to be me?" Jiang Qianzhong said.

“Because I only have you,” the mysterious man said in a deep voice, his voice magnetic and subtly seductive.

Jiang Qianzhong blushed.

......

Wait, why is he blushing like a teapot?!

Jiang Qianzhong shook his head and coughed lightly: "What do you mean?"

The mysterious man snorted: "Because I only have dirt on you. What else do you want?"

Jiang Qianzhong: "......"

"Alright, that's enough. I'm leaving now."

The mysterious man got up and left.

"Lord Jiang, you should think carefully about whether you want to make your secret public. If you don't want to announce it, remember to pass on the message that we will take action after dark three days from now."

Just as that person said, Jiang Qianzhong had no choice.

He couldn't just stand by and watch the other party accuse him of colluding with the enemy.

However, he was unwilling to do as the mysterious man suggested.

Firstly, he had no grudge against the Second Prince's wife, and secondly, the Second Prince was indeed keeping a close eye on her.

Secondly, if the Third Prince really intends to marry Prime Minister Lü's daughter as his principal wife, then his family will have no hope of even becoming empress, so it would be better to choose another path.

The only one who can currently rival the Third Prince is the Second Prince.

Therefore, he doesn't want to clash with the Second Prince for the time being.

With this in mind, before the morning court session the next day, he secretly sent someone to take a detour to the gate of the Second Prince's residence and leave a letter in his name as a reminder to the Second Prince.

If the Second Prince strengthens the guards, that person won't be able to catch the Second Prince's wife, so he shouldn't be blamed.

Jiang Qian was secretly pleased with himself.

As he expected, his letter really worked. The Second Prince went to Shen Luo to borrow Qing troops, and the already heavily guarded Second Prince's residence instantly doubled in number of soldiers.

However......

Jiang Qianzhong is now standing face to face with the mysterious man.

All he wanted to say was: A bunch of useless bastards!

Hundreds of people couldn't even protect the Second Prince's wife, and they just got their hands on her like that?

Jiang Qianzhong was truly disappointed in him.

"I've done as you said and brought the person here. What's next?"

Jiang Qian was cursing inwardly, but his expression remained completely unchanged.

The mysterious person was dressed the same way as a few days ago, seemingly without even changing his clothes.

"Hmm? What?"

The mysterious man chuckled softly: "Does Lord Jiang not know what to do? Of course, it's to kill her."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.