Chapter 228 Threat
The servants of the Ye Mansion killed the witnesses and reported the disappearance of the master to the authorities. The officials came quickly and were shocked to find Jiang Li was also there. They tactfully persuaded Jiang Li to go home and wait. This tragic case of exterminating the whole family was indeed bloody, but Jiang Li did not show much fear except for the expression of pity.

She knew that Jiang Yuanbo would soon know about this and would ask her to return home quickly. Jiang Li was about to say goodbye to Situ Jiuyue, but Situ Jiuyue suddenly said, "I'll go back with you."

Jiang Li asked, "Miss September?"

"Those people are coming for you, and Zhao Ke is not in Jiang's house now. If they want you to do something, maybe I'm here, so you can at least have someone to discuss it with." She added, "I'm going back to the Duke's House now. There's no one in the Duke's House, so it's useless."

Jiang Li knew that Situ Jiuyue was worried about Xue Zhao, and Situ Jiuyue was carrying a lot of poison, which might come in handy, so she said, "Okay, come back with me."

Situ Jiuyue followed Jiang Li back to Jiang Mansion. Jiang Li said that Situ Jiuyue was a maid in the Duke's Mansion and was good at combing hair, so she specially asked Situ Jiuyue to come to Jiang Mansion to comb hair for two days. When they heard that she was from the Duke's Mansion, the people of the Jiang family didn't ask any more questions. Who dared to control Ji Heng's people?
When Madam Jiang learned about the incident at the Ye family, she first called Jiang Li to Wanfeng Hall to ask about it, and then told Jiang Li that Jiang Yuanbo and Jiang Yuanping had intervened in the matter, and asked Jiang Li not to worry, as it was good news that no bodies were found. Jiang Li should not go out these days, as Yanjing City is really not peaceful.

Jiang Li was thinking about the Ye family's affairs, and she was absent-minded and perfunctory. Finally, when she returned to Fangfei Garden, Situ Jiuyue had already been taken back to the house by Bai Xue and was waiting. Jiang Li entered the house and closed the door, leaving only herself and Situ Jiuyue in the room.

Situ Jiuyue asked anxiously: "How is it?"

This girl always looked cold and indifferent. It was the first time that Jiang Li saw her so anxious. If it were usual, she would definitely feel happy for Xue Zhao. However, she couldn't be happy at this moment because she was as worried as Situ Jiuyue.

Jiang Li shook her head. "Don't expect the soldiers to find out anything. Since they dare to do this, I'm afraid they are well prepared. It's hard to catch them. Those who can confront Ji Heng are not ordinary people. I just suspect..." She looked at Situ Jiuyue, "Is the other party from the Yin family?"

"I don't know. I don't know what Ji Heng is going to do. However," Situ Jiuyue replied, "I know that Ji Heng's ultimate enemy is the Yin family. So I think maybe your guess is right."

Jiang Li's heart did not feel relieved after hearing Situ Jiuyue's words. She knew that if the other party was Yin Zhan, this matter would be even more difficult to handle. Yin Zhan was Ji Heng's biggest enemy. If the other party wanted to use her to threaten Ji Heng, Ji Heng would be in a very disadvantageous position. But if she ignored so many lives of the Ye family just for Ji Heng, it would be impossible.

"Now we can only wait for news from the other party." Jiang Li said: "I hope there is another way."

Situ Jiuyue nodded.

The two of them had a very tormenting day, almost like a year. Jiang Li had been holding the whistle in her palm. She even tried to blow it, but there was no response. It was obvious that Ji Heng had indeed left Yanjing City with his confidants. If it was not an important matter, Ji Heng would not have to bring so many people. Jiang Li had to worry about Ji Heng on the one hand and the relatives of the Ye family on the other. She was really on pins and needles.

Tong'er and Bai Xue both noticed Jiang Li's anxiety and didn't dare to say anything. At night, Situ Jiuyue and Jiang Li didn't sleep either. They waited until late at night, but there was no movement. In a daze, Jiang Li closed her eyes. But before she closed her eyes for a moment, she heard Situ Jiuyue shouting, "Who!"

Jiang Li suddenly opened her eyes. The lamp on the table had burned out. The room was dark and she could not see anything. Situ Jiuyue turned on a tinder. Under the flickering flame, she saw a red-headed dart nailed to the window, with a letter under it.

Here it comes! Jiang Li's heart trembled, and Situ Jiuyue followed closely behind, holding a round wax ball in her hand, which must be something like poison. She was afraid that there was a trick around her, so she looked around vigilantly. Jiang Li couldn't wait to open the envelope, but before she could look at it, something rolled out of the envelope.

Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue couldn't help but look at the ground, and Jiang Li cried out softly.

It was a human finger. Situ Jiuyue bent down and picked up the finger as if nothing had happened. She frowned and looked at it, then said, "A woman's finger. Do you know it?"

Jiang Li suppressed her fear and looked at the finger. It was indeed a woman's little finger. She was stunned at first glance and murmured, "It's Haitang's finger..."

There were three small red moles on Haitang's little finger. Xue Fangfei had laughed and said she was very special because of this. And on this bloody finger, the moles were still in the same position. Jiang Li couldn't have made a mistake.

She calmed herself down, unfolded the letter, read it quickly, and handed the letter to Situ Jiuyue.

The letter said that Jiang Li should find a way to leave the city tonight. After leaving the city, go 20 miles east of the city. There is a village and someone will come to pick her up at the entrance of the village. If Jiang Li does not go, she will get Haitang's body at dawn, Xue Zhao's body the next day, and so on, until everyone is killed. Jiang Li must not think of reporting to the police or taking people to the place where they leave the city to arrest people. There are spies in Yanjing City. If Jiang Li takes people there, the lives of the five members of the Ye family will disappear from the world in an instant.

The words on the letter were also bloody, as if they were written in human blood, and the madness of the person who wrote the letter could be seen through the words on the letter.

After reading the letter, Situ Jiuyue said angrily, "Asshole!"

Jiang Li looked at the finger on the table, which made her eyes hurt. This posed a problem for Jiang Li. If she left the city, she would become a bargaining chip for the other party to threaten Ji Heng. If she did not leave the city, the other party would be so crazy that they would only vent their anger on the Ye family.

She gritted her teeth and said, "I'm going out of town!"

"Jiang Li!" Situ Jiuyue whispered, "This is the other party's trick."

"We have no other choice, Jiu Yue, can you just watch Xue Zhao die?"

Situ Jiuyue was speechless. The other party cut off Haitang's finger as a warning. They believed that if Jiang Li did not do as the letter said, the other party would definitely kill her to silence her.

"After all, they were also implicated by me." Jiang Li replied, "I will first find a way to exchange myself for them. If they want to use me to coerce Ji Heng, tell Ji Heng not to worry about me and act according to his plan."

“What if they catch you and don’t release the Ye family?”

"I have a wax ball hidden in my mouth. If they can't do it, I will bite the wax ball and commit suicide. To threaten Ji Heng, they have to get me alive. A dead me is useless and will only ignite Ji Heng's anger. They can use the Ye family to threaten me, and I can also use myself to force them to release the Ye family."

Situ Jiuyue thought for a moment and said, "No, I have to go with you."

Jiang Li said: "September..."

"Don't forget, people don't call me the Poison Queen just for fun. I naturally have my own way. If I can escape unscathed, saving the Ye family without getting you killed, wouldn't that be great?"

She looked determined. Jiang Li looked at her for a long time before nodding and saying, "Okay. But if there is any danger, remember to escape first. Those people want to keep my life, but they may not be soft on you." She thought that if Situ Jiuyue didn't help her tonight, she might not be able to leave the city. The other party asked her not to report to the police or bring anyone with her, but it shouldn't be wrong to bring only Situ Jiuyue, a woman.

Situ Jiuyue took out several bottles of medicine from her body, as well as some hidden weapons hidden between her fingers, and the wax pills that Jiang Li wanted. She carefully taught Jiang Li how to use them, and then she stopped.

When Jiang Li left, she asked Situ Jiuyue to knock Bai Xue and Tong Er unconscious as well. The drug would not wear off until tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise, if the Jiang family found out that she was missing, they would probably blame the two maids. Jiang Li knocked the two maids unconscious to avoid angering them.

To Jiang Li's surprise, she thought that Situ Jiuyue had no martial arts skills and would have a hard time leaving the Jiang family, after all, she was not Zhao Ke. But unexpectedly, Situ Jiuyue left more smoothly than Zhao Ke because she knocked out all the gatekeepers. When Jiang Li left through the back door, it was less than an incense stick of time.

She suddenly felt that the reputation of "Poison Queen" was not bad.

Situ Jiuyue stole a carriage, and the two of them went out in the carriage. She put a mask on Jiang Li, which was thin and fit her face very well. When she looked in the mirror again, Jiang Li became an ordinary-looking woman, and she even coughed a little.

Situ Jiuyue drove the carriage, and she also changed her appearance to a hunchbacked girl. The young general guarding the city was surprised to see someone leaving the city at night, but Situ Jiuyue took out a warrant, saying that her wife was ill late at night and had to go out of the city to find a miracle doctor. The young general opened the carriage and saw Jiang Li on the carriage. Because it was night, he could not see clearly, but he saw that Jiang Li was indeed a sick woman, so he did not doubt it, and the warrant was true, so he let her go.

Only after leaving the city gate did Jiang Li feel relieved.

It takes about half an hour to go east for 20 miles out of the city gate. Jiang Li sat in the carriage and did not immediately take off the mask that changed her appearance. She just carefully recalled the usage of the poisons and hidden weapons that Situ Jiuyue taught her. In any case, they are just two women now. Not to mention whether they can safely reach the village mentioned by the other party, it would not be a good thing if they encountered bandits on the road.

Fortunately, this time, they were lucky and did not encounter any bandits along the way. When Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue arrived at the entrance of the village, they did not see anyone.

Situ Jiuyue frowned and asked, "Why is there no one here? Could it be that those people don't dare to come? Or is the letter simply fake?"

"It shouldn't be fake." Jiang Li said, "They may have already arrived. The reason they didn't show up is to see if we are cheating or if we really came alone."

Situ Jiuyue felt relieved after hearing this, and then sneered, "You are really cautious."

"Anyway, we're already here, so let's just wait here quietly. I think they will show up soon."

Situ Jiuyue said: "Okay, I'll be outside, if there's any movement, you can be prepared."

Jiang Li nodded. It was late at night and it was dark outside. Even the carriage was dark. I wonder if this village is deserted. There is no trace of people or sound from animals. It sounds scary and quiet. It seems that there are only Jiang Li and Situ Jiuyue in the world. Jiang Li can clearly hear the sound of her heartbeat, one by one, strong and steady, but she doesn't know what might happen next. At least in this matter, they are passive and have no choice.

I don't know how long it took. Jiang Li felt that a long time had passed, but there was still no sound outside. She asked Situ Jiuyue: "Jiuyue, did you find anything wrong?"

It was so quiet that even if the other party wanted to observe, they wouldn't have to wait so long.

Jiang Li was answered by silence. There was no sound from Situ Jiuyue outside. Jiang Li's heart skipped a beat and slowly sank. She nervously clenched the edict filled with poison powder in her hand, took a deep breath, and opened the carriage curtain.

Then, she saw fires of different sizes. The desolate wilderness was already filled with people. Situ Jiuyue, who was sitting in the coachman's seat, was nowhere to be found. The others were staring at her, and the swords on her waist were very conspicuous.

Jiang Li jumped off the carriage, and suddenly someone patted her on the shoulder from behind, as if it was an old friend. Jiang Li turned around and felt a black screen in front of her eyes.

Then she was put into a sack, lifted up, and thrown back onto the carriage. Someone took the driver's seat and drove the carriage away.

Everything returns to silence.

...The next day was a sunny day.

The sun shone on the snow-covered ground, emitting some sparkling brilliance, and even the snow was illuminated into a light golden color. The weather was still unusually cold.

Mingyue and Qingfeng came out early in the morning to clear the ice on the ground. When they finished, it was already bright. At this time on weekdays, Baixue and Tong'er would have gotten up early to serve breakfast to Jiang Li, but today they were nowhere to be seen. Mingyue said, "Are Sister Baixue and Sister Tong'er too lazy to get up? Why haven't I seen them yet?"

"Probably. They were busy for a long time last night, but we should wake them up first. The young lady can't miss breakfast." Qingfeng also said. They live in a different place from Tong'er Baixue. Tong'er Baixue is Jiang Li's personal maid and usually lives next to Jiang Li. Qingfeng knocked on the door, but no one answered for a long time. Mingyue came over and muttered, "Could it be that she went out a long time ago and I just didn't see her?"

Qingfeng tried to push the door, but it was not locked and it opened immediately. Qingfeng walked in. As soon as he entered the door, he almost tripped over something on the ground. When he looked carefully, he saw Baixue and Tong'er lying on the ground.

The two maids were startled. Mingyue quickly squatted down, pushed Baixue and shouted, "Sister Baixue! Sister Baixue!"

Bai Xue didn't respond for a long time. Qingfeng thought of something and hurried to Jiang Li's boudoir opposite. He knocked on the door first, then broke in, and saw that the room was empty and there was no one.

"Oh no, oh no!" Qingfeng ran towards Wanfengtang.

When Madam Jiang heard the news, she fainted in anger. Jiang Yuanbo and Jiang Yuanping sent people to look for them, but they found out that the guards who were guarding the back door of the Jiang residence last night had been knocked unconscious and were now staggering on the ground, and had not woken up yet. Bai Xue and Tong'er were also knocked unconscious and fell to the ground.

Jiang Li disappeared.

Jiang Yuanping immediately thought of what happened to the Ye family in Yanjing City yesterday, and asked, "Xiao Li is missing. Is it related to the silencing of the Ye family members?"

"I heard that a maid in the second young lady's room is also missing?" Jiang Yuanbai caught Mingyue and asked, "Is that maid from the Duke's Mansion?"

"Yes." Mingyue answered carefully, "The young lady said that Jiuyue combed her hair well, so she brought her back. I didn't see Jiuyue this morning, so I don't know if she is with the young lady."

The matter is not simple when it is involved with the Duke's Mansion. Especially the guards of the Jiang Mansion, how could ordinary drugs knock them out? But this matter is very serious, Jiang Yuanping said: "Brother, why don't you ask someone to go to the Duke's Mansion to ask what the identity of this maid named Jiu Yue is, and whether this matter has anything to do with the Duke of Su? The most worrying thing is that our Jiang family is also involved in something inexplicably, and we don't even know it ourselves."

Jiang Yuanbai nodded with a cold expression. He did not let anyone know about Jiang Li's disappearance for the time being. The quilt in Jiang Li's room was neatly folded, which showed that she did not sleep here last night. There were no signs of fighting in the room, so it was impossible for someone to come in and kidnap Jiang Li. It looked more like Jiang Li left on her own initiative. In addition, there was a maid from the Duke's Mansion, so Jiang Yuanbai always felt that things were not that simple.

The people who went to the Duke's Mansion soon came back to report that Duke Su Ji Heng was not in Yanjing City, and General Ji was also not in Yanjing City. There was no one in the Duke's Mansion who could make the decision, and no one could answer Jiang Yuanbai's question.

"Brother, this is a serious problem." Jiang Yuanping said.

Jiang Yuanbai's heart suddenly ignited with a nameless fire. Almost at this moment, he was certain that whether it was the silencing of the Ye family's servants or the disappearance of Jiang Li, they were all closely related to the Duke's Mansion. He didn't know why, because the Duke's Mansion had no intention of telling him the answer from the beginning.

"Send someone to find the whereabouts of the Second Miss." Jiang Yuanbai said, "No matter what, we can't just sit there and wait for death."

Jiang Yuanping looked at his eldest brother and sighed in his heart. Everyone knew that Jiang Yuanbo's order might not have any results. The role played by the Jiang family in this matter was really minimal.

But where exactly is Jiang Li?

……

When Jiang Li woke up, it was already the next night.

The first thing she did when she woke up was to feel her heart sink. The wax pill she had been biting in her mouth was gone. She touched her arms again. The hidden weapons and poisons that Situ Jiuyue had given her for self-defense were all gone. To be exact, her clothes had been changed inside and out. She had nothing. And it was probably not her illusion. She felt weak all over. Having been abducted by King Cheng's men, Jiang Li was not unfamiliar with it. This time was exactly the same as last time. She must have been drugged.

Her memory was still the moment before she completely fainted. She got off the carriage and did not see Situ Jiuyue. But looking at the appearance of the men in black surrounding the carriage, Jiang Li knew in an instant that her guess was correct. The other party was indeed Yin Zhan's men. The people in the army and the people in the market are absolutely different. Those were soldiers, and it was more than enough to capture her and Situ Jiuyue.

Thinking of Situ Jiuyue, Jiang Li got out of bed and stood up. There was no one in the room. A lantern was placed on the stool beside the bed, emitting a faint light. There was no sound outside, but she knew that there would definitely be no one. She wanted to walk to the door, but after taking a few steps, she heard footsteps outside and the door of the room was opened.

The other party probably didn't expect Jiang Li to have woken up. Both of them were a little stunned. After a moment, Jiang Li said, "Pingyang County Princess."

Yin Zhiqing was standing at the door with a food basket in her hand. When she saw Jiang Li, her expression was a little complicated, but she said nothing. She turned around, closed the door, put the food basket on the table, and said, "You must be hungry. I brought you some food."

Jiang Li watched her take out the food from the food basket, but did not walk over. She just said, "There must be drugs in the food."

Yin Zhiqing paused and said, "I'm sorry."

There was a guilty look on her face, not pretending. Jiang Li said, "I really can't eat it." She knew that if she ate it, she would be manipulated by others. If it was normal, it would be fine, but if it really became Ji Heng's weak spot, how could it be?

"If you don't want to eat it, we can also make you eat it. For example, we can mix it with water and let you drink it." At this point, she seemed to feel that she had gone too far. After a moment of silence, she said softly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this to you."

Jiang Li knew that Yin Zhiqing was not the mastermind behind the incident, and she did not have the ability to do so. She was eager to find out about Situ Jiuyue's situation, so she asked, "Where is the girl who was with me at the time now? Do you know if she is okay?"

Jiang Li's heart sank at Yin Zhiqing's reaction. She looked at Jiang Li in astonishment and said, "Is there another person? No, when I came here, I only knew you were there."

Jiang Li was silent. It seemed that she could not get any useful information from Yin Zhiqing. Yin Zhiqing looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "You don't have to worry. Your friend...should not be in danger."

"Do you know why I am here?" Jiang Li asked back.

Yin Zhiqing shook his head: "They said it would be better for you to stay here."

Jiang Li sneered.

She had always been gentle to others, so Yin Zhiqing was a little surprised by her harsh attitude. She stared at Jiang Li as if she didn't know him. Jiang Li said, "It seems that you don't know anything. The person who arrested me must be Yin Zhan, right?"

"How could that be?" Yin Zhiqing frowned, "My father is not here at all."

She has a smart and beautiful face, but her temperament is really simple. Jiang Li doesn't know why. Yin Zhan himself doesn't look like an ordinary person, but his two children, Yin Zhili, can be considered gentle and upright, while Yin Zhiqing is too simple and straightforward, completely different from Yin Zhan. If he wants to cultivate his two children into upright people, why does he use such unpresentable means and why does he have such great ambitions? Don't you think these practices are contradictory?
"If it's not your father, then who is it? You don't even know where September is, so it must be Yin Zhili."

Jiang Li's tone was very calm, but it rarely carried a hint of aggression. Yin Zhiqing couldn't stand her attitude and said, "Brother may have done this because the marriage between Duke Su and you was not satisfactory. Maybe he has other considerations, maybe he is helping you."

"Help me?" Jiang Li laughed. "They killed all the servants in my uncle's house, kidnapped my uncle, cousin, and the Xue family father and son, threatened me with five lives, and forced me to surrender. They hurt my friends and took away everything I could use to protect myself. This seems to be a way to prevent thieves. Princess Pingyang, I never knew that hurting other people's friends and family was a good intention."

Yin Zhiqing opened her mouth wide. She said, "What did you say? Who threatened you? Don't talk nonsense!"

"Isn't he your good brother?" Jiang Li said.

"My brother is not that kind of person!" Yin Zhiqing stood up angrily and said, "I thought you were a straightforward person, and the daughter of the Prime Minister, so you must be well-educated and well-mannered. I never thought you would throw dirty water on others. How unreasonable!" Her eyebrows were raised, her eyes were wide open, and she was still charming even when she was angry. Unfortunately, Jiang Li was not in the mood to appreciate her at the moment.

It seems that Yin Zhili didn't tell Yin Zhiqing anything. Jiang Li said coldly: "If you don't believe it, you can ask your brother if it's true. But since he can do such a despicable thing, it's nothing for him to lie."

"You!" Yin Zhiqing was furious and turned to leave. Jiang Li stopped her and asked, "Princess Pingyang, this is not Yanjing City, right?"

Yin Zhiqing paused, still angry: "No!"

Jiang Li became more and more certain of one thing. This might have been done by Yin Zhan long ago. With Yin Zhili's means, he would not be able to do such a thing. That person was too indecisive, which seemed to be Yin Zhan's work. Yin Zhan was dealing with Ji Heng on the one hand, and on the other hand, he let Yin Zhili kidnap him in order to threaten Ji Heng. He made two preparations to be prepared for any eventuality.

It's really a calculated plan.

"Pingyang County Lady, do you know why your father and your brother kidnapped me and imprisoned me here?"

Yin Zhiqing said impatiently: "I have already said that I don't know what false charges you are making up!"

"Because of Duke Su."

When Ji Heng's name was mentioned, Yin Zhiqing turned around and stared at Jiang Li with burning eyes. She asked, "What did you say?"

"You also know that Ji Heng and I are engaged, and I will be the Duke's wife in the future. If you catch me, you will catch Ji Heng as well. With my life as a threat, your father can make any demands on Ji Heng, even his life."

"What a joke," Yin Zhiqing said, "Why would my father threaten Duke Su?"

"Because he is Ji Heng's enemy, the fight is doomed to end."

(End of this chapter)