Chapter 255

Qin Jiu made a gesture, which meant that she would come right away.

After thinking for a moment, Qin Jiu said to Du Ruo, “If someone asks for me, just say I went out to buy a lantern.”

She didn’t wait for Du Ruo to answer and went “deng, deng” down the stairs.

Putting on a bright red cloak with a rabbit fur hood, Qin Jiu happily walked toward Gu Zezhi.

She wore a pair of red gold dotted emerald butterfly buttons on her hair that were tied in buns, making the butterfly wings flutter slightly with her brisk steps, as her dark almond-like eyes shine brightly.

Gu Zezhi pointed in a direction and said with a smile: “Go, look at the lanterns.”

Qin Jiu rolled her eyes and deliberately lowered her voice: “… did you sneak out?”

Gu Zezhi smiled and said nothing, his beautiful eyebrows, and fair skin glowed under the light from the lantern, looking like a fine jade.

After returning to the palace just now, Duan Wang Fei urged him to go back quickly, saying that today was the lantern festival and there was no need to spoil his interest because of some people.

And since the emperor and his delegates would still stay here for more than one hour before returning to the palace, Gu Zezhi sneaks out quietly.

This Lantern Festival only happens once a year, so of course, Qin Jiu wanted to see the lanterns hang up in establishments, in fact, she has been itching to sightsee but the problem was…

“Brother, it’s not good if we’re discovered, right?”

Duan Wang Fei was still “sick”, and yet Gu Zezhi came out to enjoy the lantern festival, definitely not good!

While talking, she swept around and her eyes lit up as she grabbed Gu Zezhi’s hand. “Follow me!”

Qin Jiu hurriedly dragged Gu Zezhi to a stall selling masks. Before she could speak, the stall owner greeted them warmly, “Young master and Young Miss, are you two going to buy masks? I have the most types of masks here. As you see, there are twelve Chinese zodiac signs, as well as cats, ghost faces, foxes… You can pick any of them!”

Qin Jiu looked halfway around, grab a white fox mask with long eyeliner, and beckoned to Gu Zezhi, signaling him to lower his face.

Gu Zezhi bowed slightly and let her put on the white fox mask for him.

On the mask, the pair of fox eyes with eyeliner were particularly striking, and the upturned corners of the eyes looked evil and mysterious.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Not bad.” Qin Jiu looked at him and smiled with a brow arched cunningly.

Sure enough, this fox mask really suits him!

Gu Zezhi faithfully took off a mask from the stall as well, and also put it on for Qin Jiu, his fingers inadvertently brushing between her ears.

Qin Jiu stiffened, feeling an itch between her ears, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, as she let the young man’s slender fingers fiddle gently with her soft hair, adjusting the tie of the mask for her.

The stall owner took the bronze mirror to Qin Jiu.

In the mirror, the brightly colored red fox mask matched her big red cloak perfectly.

The stall owner smiled and flatteringly said, “Young Miss, you see, this fox mask is very suitable for you. This young man has discerning eyes!”

The white fox mask blocked Gu Zezhi’s face, but could not block his light laughter.

The sound was like a feather gently scratching her heart making Qin Jiu’s heart beat unusually faster.

She fished out a few coins from her sleeve and dropped them on the stall, “These two, we’ll buy them!”

Gu Zezhi smiled again, pointed to the lamphouse in front, and said, “Let’s go take a stroll there!”

“Mmm!”

Qin Jiu responded happily and walked forward with Gu Zezhi.

Since it was a lantern festival, there were people who sell lanterns. And since Qin Jiu and Gu Zezhi didn’t have lanterns, they naturally become the targets of the vendors who sells those lanterns wanting them to buy one. Those lanterns were much more exquisite than the rabbit lanterns made by Qin Zeyu. Qin Jiu picked out a cat lantern for her and a mouse lantern and Gu Zezhi respectively.

Qin Jiu gently bumped Gu Zezhi’s mouse lantern with the cat lantern in her hand and suddenly asked, “Is it really the heir’s consort?”

On both sides of the street were lanterns, and the orange light softly sprinkled on her red fox mask.

Qin Jiu remembered the last time Duan Wang Fei told her that the Jiuhe Incense was obtained by meeting a monk from the State of Bogo by chance when she was offering incense, but just now, in front of Zhou Xin and Duan Wangye, Wang momo directly mentioned the heir’s consort.

Then it must have been Gu Zezhi who found out that the Jiuhe Incense was given by the heir’s consort, and that’s why Wang momo said this in front of them.

Gu Zezhi nodded and said, “After confirming that the Jiuhe incense was poisonous, I asked Wang momo to find out where the Jiuhe incense came from and then sent a letter back to Xijiang and ask someone to check the Buddhist monk.”

“Finally, it was found that the heir’s consort had contacted the monk in the name of offering incense and asked him to give the incense to mother.”

His voice was as gentle as the spring breeze in March, and he added: “Before mother got married, she liked to collect all kinds of spices and incense, which many people know.”

The descendants of the Xiao family in Jiangnan were the most elegant, Duan Wang Fei was not only good at tea ceremonies, but she was also very passionate about incense and incense with fragrance. This was no secret in Xijiang.

That’s why “people with aspirations” take advantage of this.

After finding out all this, it was already the tenth day of the first lunar month when Gu Zezhi received the pigeon carrying the letter from the border.

Gu Zezhi was most aware of Duan Wangye’s temper. If he takes this evidence and puts them directly in front of Duan Wangye and tells him that the heir and the heir’s consort poisoned the incense used by Duan Wang Fei. Duan Wangye would not believe it.

In the heart of Duan Wangye, his eldest son was honest and was his best successor.

Therefore, Gu Zezhi never thought of mentioning it to Duan Wangye at all. Instead, he took advantage of today’s Lantern Festival to expose it directly to him.

A smile bloomed at the corner of Gu Zezhi’s lips as a sharp light flashed across his eyes.

Qin Jiu waved the cat lantern in her hand and asked again, “Is Chifeng grass in the Jiuhe Incense that poisonous?”

Gu Zezhi: “The Chifeng grass comes from the Western Regions. As the imperial physician said, it is extremely poisonous, and since its smell is like mint if a person intentionally added it to the Jiuhe incense, the smell will be covered.”

“Originally, the poison in the Chifeng Grass should not flare up that quickly. Its biggest feature is that it can erode people’s bodies little by little. But last October, my mother suddenly learned that I was hunted down by the heir’s men so this made her extremely agitated and fell ill.”

“This illness gave the Chifeng Grass an opportunity to attack faster, and instead revealed clues.”

“Otherwise, mother is afraid she dies without knowing the cause….”

Between the words, Gu Zezhi’s tone inevitably revealed a bit of fear.

***