Fish hunting (4)
Warm sunlight flooded a small area of the wooden floor, where crumpled scraps of scribbled paper lay here and there. A girl was sitting on a work table in the back of the room, in the dark, in the middle of spilled ink and garbage. She rested her head heavily on her hands and lightly massaged her temples.
Yang Yulan spent the whole night trying to figure out the person who committed the assassination attempt on Shin Zuzhou. However, the search was not successful. And it's not surprising. This attempt has no special motives, and therefore no evidence.
The only witness who could break the deadlock in the investigation was brutally stabbed by the Northern Princess, and the rest that could be useful now was most likely used by the Empress and the guards to find the culprit.
«I wonder how Shin Zuzhou is feeling right now?«
Yang Yulan couldn't help but think of the girl from Northern Bay again. Although Shin Zuzhou was a villain, the girl couldn't help but impress her.
«If my fiance had given his prize to his mistress in front of me, ignored me all evening, and then someone would have tried to kill me in a country that wants to sign a military agreement with me, I would have caused a big scandal.
In the book, this point was not particularly clear, because the plot focused only on the emotions and experiences of the main character. And according to the canon, she was the victim of the assassination attempt. However, now that it is obvious that the villain has every right to be angry, and did not say a bad word to Mei Baijie, I'm starting to think that Shin Zuzhou is a woman with great patience.»
«Obviously, if we take into account that the attack was completely on the northern princess, then the real killer does not have any valid motives. Who might need to set up a country's potential allies against them? Especially in the context of the brewing war with the remnants of the demonic race. It's suicide! »
«I don't understand anything»
Yang Yulan lightly slapped her cheeks a couple of times and returned a serious expression to her face.
«This is not the time to despair. I still have an ace up my sleeve.» – the girl cheered up just thinking about it – «I know the plot of the book, and I know many of the key characters of the story»
The girl glanced at the notes in front of her. Several names were printed on one of the sheets. These are potential killers. All of them were mentioned in the plot and all seemed very suspicious to the girl. There were black arrows in the corner from each name. It contained all the information known about these personalities from the plot of the book.
This list included the prince's entourage, who dreamed of his overthrow, various officials, public figures and those close to the palace. Even the Empress and the envoys from Northern Bay who came with the princess were on the list. They could have planned to get rid of the girl for some internal reasons of their own.
But only one of the candidates listed had sufficient motives and opportunities to pull off poisoning and not be caught.
Yang Yulan picked up the ink and especially emphasized the name of the first prince Yang Yusheng.
The girl remembered how the day before the prince had given her a bag with a strange red herb. The guy said that this herb would help her not reveal her identity.
– You just need to swallow it. The result will make itself felt within seconds – he said.
The girl did not know where the prince got this strange herb from, and whether it was really dangerous. But now she had proof in her hands that the prince could get a fast-acting poison from unknown sources.
Yang Yulan scratched her head.
Yang Yusheng also obviously has connections in the palace. He could intimidate the unfortunate maid and force her to slip poison into the princess's cup unnoticed.
As for the motives of his actions. Prince Yang Jinglong will obviously strengthen his power even more if he marries the northern princess. And this outcome is absolutely not beneficial for someone who also claims the imperial throne.
And if it is almost impossible to get close to the Crown Prince personally, then poisoning the invited princess will not be difficult. Especially in competition conditions, when there are half as many guards as there usually are in the palace.
Yang Yusheng might have known about Shin Zuzhou's ability to resist poisons. Many heirs and princes were forced to drink poisons from childhood to develop resistance to them.
And although, by causing such a commotion, he puts the agreement and the marriage in great danger, the benefits gained, in the eyes of the first prince, may outweigh the losses in the balance. After all, Yang Yusheng is not quite in his right mind. He doesn't care what kind of chaos happens after his reckless actions. The most important thing for him is to achieve his goal.
The only thing that still remained unclear to Yang Yulan was why in the original book it was Mei Baijie who was poisoned with poison, and not Shin Zuzhou. The prince's mistress does not interfere with Yang Yusheng in any way, and even on the contrary puts Yang Jinglong's position as the Crown Prince under threat.
Could the cups of tea have been mixed up during the celebration?
Yang Yulan shook her head.
«In any case, the question of whether Yang Yusheng is definitely a murderer remains open. He could have poisoned the tea and then give me the rest of the poison to get rid of the evidence against himself. The red grass in the gift bag was suspicious, but it was still not a strong proof of his guilt. Maybe it's not poisoned at all.»
«How could I know if it's poisonous or not?»
Yang Yulan thought deeply and shifted her gaze to the other side of the room. The sounds of munching distracted her from her hard mental work. The silvery animal, which she took with her during the hunt, was eating a fat rat caught in a dark dirty corner.
The animal seemed to suspect something was wrong from the girl's sudden gaze at him and howled in displeasure.
– I didn't mean you. Calm down, my friend
«I still need to pick up the remnants of the poisoned tea from the guards. And it needs to be done quickly, because right now I am the most suspicious participant in the competition.
No one knows the name of the masked man, no one knows his origin. All people know is that he is Yang Yusheng's friend. And the prince is clearly not a trustworthy person.»
Yang Yulan has very little time left before she will be followed for questioning. And she decided to devote every second of her time to an important cause.
«I urgently need proof. We need to get the leftover tea.»
The girl jumped up from her seat, grabbed a bow and arrows from the bed and ran to the exit.
Imperial guards were now walking everywhere in the forest. They watched each guest closely and, if possible, questioned them about what they knew.
«I can't get caught by them.»
As soon as the girl went out the door and hid behind the nearest tent, an unpleasant loud screech was heard next to her. This little spirit of the forest ran after his new friend, worried that the girl had left him alone.
«Darn it. I completely forgot about him.»
The silvery creature ran up to the place where the girl was hiding and began to cheerfully wag its tail and jump, making a loud noise. It still had it's half-eaten, bloody breakfast in the mouth.
– Scram, don't come here. And what hell is in your mouth?!
The girl winced at the unpleasant smell.
A pair of guards turned at the sound of breaking branches and headed straight for the princess, finding her hiding behind one of the tents.
They were told to catch the guy in the mask and interrogate him immediately.
They couldn't find this man all night. The masked man could be anywhere, and especially in the tent of the first prince, with whom he came hunting. However, the guards were strictly forbidden to break into the imperial domain. And since Yang Yusheng did not give them his permission to enter, they ended up with nothing.
– Hey, stop!
Yang Yulan grabbed the animal at her feet and rushed at full speed towards the forest.
The girl's regular workouts were not in vain. It was not so difficult to confuse these guards by hiding in the area she had already studied well.
The animal on her shoulder also played a role in the escape. From time to time, he was showing Yang Yulan the right way, so that the girl easily got rid of the tail and, after catching her breath a little after running, began to think about how to get to the protected territory of the imperial residence.
– System – Yang Yulan called out
A pink scoreboard lit up in front of her
– The plot has changed again. And this time it's not even my fault.
The system immediately hurried to respond to the girl's displeasure.
[We inform this participant that the plot of the story is strictly controlled by our employees and cannot change without targeted user intervention]
– So your company has made some kind of mistake. I try to do everything according to the canon. What's wrong? Is there any way you can help me? I will write a complaint.
The girl's bluff was so obvious that even she regretted what she had said. Who will she write to? She doesn't even know how to get out of this stupid book.
However, despite the girl's expectations, the system listened to her words.
[The system does not have the right to interfere with the course of the plot, but it can provide the user with access to the original book. This way you can remember some important details of the novel]
The girl was immediately cheered up by this news.
– That's something. All right, give me your book.
A small icon immediately appeared on the screen. Clicking on it, the girl saw the contents of the book, starting with the first chapter. She quickly found the right scene and reread it a couple of times.
Here's what she was able to learn for herself: after the poisoning, Yang Jinglong conducted a thorough search, interviewing all the guests at the event. But he never found the killer. In the book, the poisoner had not been found, as the villainess had skillfully hidden all traces of her crime. The main character was sure that she attacked her out of jealousy. She remembered the terrible look that the villain gave her during the tea party.
In any case. Now the girl knew that Yang Jinglong kept poisoned tea in his office during the search. And if nothing had changed, he could still keep it there.
– We need to find him and persuade him to help.
So the girl faced another problem.
Getting into the residence where the prince currently resides is not so easy. Due to the recent assassination attempt, twice as many guards were placed outside the imperial residence as usual.
She could no longer ask for help from a potential murderer – Yang Yusheng. Now she didn't trust him.
The girl racked her brains, trying to think of someone else who could help her. She counted all the characters she knew personally and finally, remembering someone, squinted in embarrassment
— No. Was he the only one left ?
– Apparently I have no other choice.
***
It was the middle of the day. Qing Zixiao calmly hunted in the forest, trying to distract himself from his oppressive thoughts. The hunt was not going well. He could not catch someone worthy. Just like yesterday at the competition, he caught only a couple of small animals. It was as if the foxes and wolves didn't even want to show up in front of him. And is he a great hero? A mighty general?
Another attack of self-flagellation was interrupted by a sudden sound. The bush in front of him stirred and a small gray animal jumped out
– It can't be the forest spirit – Qing Zixiao was delighted
The man reached for his bow and pulled the string. At the same moment, his horse neighed restlessly and reared up. The animal jumped into place right in front of him and howled menacingly. Qing Zixiao could not hold the reins in his hands and fell to the ground with a crash.
– Sorry, the little Bell was just kidding !
The girl ran up to the fallen guy, but did not help him up, but only picked up the disgruntled animal.
– You've been in the tent for so long. I thought you wouldn't go hunting anymore.
The guy got up from the ground and dusted off his clothes. A man with a very familiar voice and a bow stood in front of him.
– The princess?!
The guy couldn't believe his eyes. He seemed to be delirious.
– Is it really you? What are you doing here?!
It seemed that this girl had surprised him enough lately.
– I came to hunt. And now I need to get to the imperial residence to get the remains of the poisoned tea in order to catch the murderer.
– Wait, wait – From so much information at once, Qing Zixiao felt dizzy – let's slow down. I'm confused.
– I have already explained everything. What is unclear?
The general looked at the girl warily and asked his question.
– How did you even find me?
– The Little Bell has a good sense. I just told him what you looked like, and he found you right away.
– Bell? Are you talking about the forest spirit?
– No time to explain – the girl snapped
– OK.. Fine.. The killer? Are you talking about the poisoner of Her Highness Princess Shin Zuzhou?
– Yes, that's what I said.
Qing Zixiao snorted skeptically.
– Let's say you've completely lost your mind and decided that you need to catch the poisoner.
– The future of the country depends on it – the girl interrupted him.
– Yeah. Sure. The future of the country. But in that case, why do you need me?
– I already have a suspect. – Yang Yulan replied, ignoring the reproachful tone of her interlocutor – The evidence will help me find out for sure
– And I need you so that I can easily get through security to the imperial residence, where this very evidence is located. The guards won't touch you. You're their authority.
The guy chuckled.
– And why would I help you, Your Highness? As far as I remember, quite recently you rejected my marriage proposal in a veeery rude way.
Yang Yulan got a little angry after his words.
– Well, about that. Why did you even do it? It caught me off guard. Of course I refused. – She was really ashamed to bring up this issue. That incident had already become a stigma on her pride.
Qixiao raised an eyebrow eloquently
– Do you really like women? I've never heard about anything like this. Is that the only reason you rejected me?
– Maybe – Yang Yulan rattled and looked away. She clearly wasn't going to continue this topic.
–Well.. You know.. Sorry
– Ha..? – Yang Yulan was surprised after these unexpected words.
– It was my fault. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. And I was.. just a little upset.
Yang Yulan looked at him and smiled.
– Then, I'm sorry that I humiliated you in the whole hall.
General Qing sighed humbly, taking his horse by the reins again.
– Okay. Where should we go?
– Really? – the girl was delighted. She was sure that her request would be ignored.
– But you will owe me
– Of course! – Yang Yulan nodded quickly and ran after the general to the palace.