Chapter 371: Changed Meng Clan

Chapter 371: Meng Has Changed

"I don't mind you doing business with Tang'er. Tell me how much starting capital you need, and I'll head back and get it for you now. As long as you're doing well, I'll support whatever you do."

Xie Liuzheng shook his head, his eyes serious. "Mother, I'm learning how to do business from Sister Yuntang, but I don't want to use the family's money. I still have some savings in the money shop. I'll just withdraw them when the time comes, and that should be enough!"

Xie Jinrong gave him a dirty look and said crossly, "You won this at the gambling den again, didn't you?"

"How many times have I told you already—you can't go to places like that, I tell you, you can't! You just love hanging out with those shady friends of yours. Make too much money from shady sources, and aren't you afraid of getting burned?"

Xie Liuzheng scratched his nose and said awkwardly, "Father, I promise you, I'll never set foot in a gambling den again!"

"If your promises meant anything, pigs would fly. I think we should find you a wife soon. That way—"

He was only halfway through his sentence when Xie Liuzheng jumped off the carriage and dashed off, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

He just left one line behind: "Father, Mother, I'm off to the money shop to withdraw silver. You two head home first!"

Madam Cai shook her head with a helpless sigh. "Oh, this kid. The moment we mention marriage, he runs off. I really don't know what to do about him."

Xie Jinrong let out a sigh. "Forget it, let him do what he wants. Maybe one day he'll figure it out on his own!"

On a different road, the carriage of Marquis Yongning's estate was also slowly making its way forward.

Ji Nanchuan leaned back against the carriage seat, and the more he thought about it, the more suspicious he found Master Yuqing's death today to be fishy. His gaze unconsciously drifted to Meng, who was sipping tea.

"Madam, does Yuqing's death have anything to do with you?"

He just asked offhandedly—Ji Nanchuan hadn't expected Meng to give him any answer at all.

After all, at home she wouldn't even dare kill a chicken, let alone kill a living person!

And this was done right in front of Emperor Jingyang and the Empress, with so many people present, and the timing of the death perfectly timed.

Ji Nanchuan hadn't even thought of Meng. He just felt that he had narrowly escaped danger today. Little did he expect that Meng would suddenly set down her teacup, look calmly at Ji Nanchuan, and say three words.

"I killed him."

Ji Nanchuan: "..."

Ji Nanchuan: "!!!"

His eyes went wide. "Y-You... what did you say?"

Meng was silent for a moment, then a cold, aloof smile curled at the corner of her lips.

"When Master Yuqing came down the mountain today to demand the banknotes from me, I put a gu worm on him to prevent anything from going wrong."

"If he didn't confess anything about Marquis Yongning's estate, the worm wouldn't activate. But the moment he tried to speak keywords related to the estate or to you and me, the worm would bite his heart to pieces and kill him."

Meng's words startled Ji Nanchuan. He sat up straight and demanded, "Where did you get a gu worm?"

"I had someone buy it for me."

Ji Nanchuan: "..."

Ji Nanchuan: "!!!"

He never imagined that Meng, who had always been obedient and law-abiding in the estate, could calmly utter such words.

Ji Nanchuan looked at Meng with a scrutinizing gaze, his heart filled with a swirl of complex emotions.

It was as if he was meeting Meng for the first time all over again.

He saw a side of her that no one knew about.

And this person was the one who shared his bed.

Ji Nanchuan would be lying if he said he wasn't scared. Gu worms were something he considered deeply sinister.

They could control people and kill them without leaving a trace.

Most importantly, very few people in the world could cure a gu worm, and many imperial physicians couldn't even detect one by taking a pulse.

Ji Nanchuan swallowed nervously and asked with some tension, "Madam, do you have any extra gu worms on hand?"

What he really wanted to ask was whether Meng had planted one on him, but he couldn't bring himself to say it, afraid of arousing her suspicion.

Having been married to Ji Nanchuan for so many years, Meng could tell at a glance what he was thinking.

She curled her lips slightly and said, "Don't be afraid, Marquis. I am your wife. I love you—how could I ever harm you?"

"Gu worms from the Miao frontier are rare to begin with. I only managed to buy this one by chance from someone."

She let out a light laugh and continued, "Has the Marquis forgotten? Back at home, I told you that Master Yuqing was asking for an exorbitant sum of one hundred fifty thousand taels. At the time, you didn't take it seriously and told me to just give him the money."

Ji Nanchuan's breath caught. "So... that's when you decided to plant the gu worm on him?"

Meng picked up her teacup and took a sip. "Yes. I had originally planned to find an opportunity to use it on Ji Yuntang, but it ended up being wasted on Master Yuqing instead."

Cold sweat broke out all over Ji Nanchuan's body.

He felt that Meng had changed!

She was no longer the Meng he knew. She had become ruthless, vicious, and calculating.

The woman who once wouldn't dare kill a chicken could now orchestrate a murder step by step, with terrifyingly meticulous planning.

Ji Nanchuan's gaze toward Meng was now filled with fear.

He decided that when they returned home, he would sleep in a separate room from her.

Meng was still unaware of Ji Nanchuan's thoughts. She believed her move had been flawless.

Though she hadn't managed to kill Ji Yuntang, she had killed Master Yuqing and saved the entire Marquis Yongning's estate.

Most importantly, no one present suspected her.

She felt that she had accomplished a great feat this time, and that Ji Nanchuan would treat her better from now on, wouldn't he?

The couple sat in the same carriage, but their thoughts were worlds apart.

Meanwhile, Ji Yuntang had also returned to Prince Ye's estate.

As she walked in, she saw Luo Junhe sitting in his wheelchair, his slender, elegant fingers holding a pair of silver scissors as he trimmed the camellias she had planted in the courtyard.

A smile crept into her eyes. She reached out and pulled a camellia branch that needed trimming toward Luo Junhe, striking up a conversation.

"A He, guess what your father the Emperor rewarded me with today?"

Luo Junhe snipped off the branch with a "crack," his deep, captivating eyes gazing at the woman beside him.

"I'd guess Father will give you some official position."

"It won't be a high one—at most a minor sixth or seventh-rank post, and you'll just be doing grunt work."

Ji Yuntang gave him a thumbs up. "You really do know your father well."

"But what he granted me isn't a sixth or seventh-rank post—it's a clerk position that doesn't even rank as ninth-grade. I can tell he really wants me to serve in the Ministry of Revenue, probably wanting someone to spy on me."

"Oh, and he also said he'd arrange two people to look after your daily needs—isn't that just a way to keep tabs on Prince Ye's mansion too?"

Luo Junhe's gaze darkened as he turned to look at Ji Yuntang. "A Tang didn't agree, did she?"

"Do I look that foolish?" Ji Yuntang pushed his wheelchair forward. "It's obvious he had no good intentions. Today he even thought about selling the woodwork designs from us examinees to the other three kingdoms for money, and Director Mei gave him a piece of his mind."

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