Luo Jiang looked up at the Duke of Dai with some bewilderment and suspicion, only to meet Su Ziji's gaze. His clear, limpid eyes seemed capable of seeing through every thought in her heart. She immediately lowered her head again and answered, "Yes!"
Only after watching Luo Jiang obediently go outside to stand guard did Su Ziji say to Bi Xin, "Now you can speak."
Bi Xin did not know who the Duke of Dai's confidants were within the Duke of Dai's Residence. Seeing that the duke seemed to trust this young woman quite a bit, he had assumed she must be one of them. With no outsiders present now, the words came more readily.
"Commanding Officer, I wish to ask a favor of you. If you can grant it, I swear to follow you and gladly serve as a pawn before your horse!"
"Bi Xin, those are rather weighty words." Su Ziji did not agree immediately, but tried to reason with him. "You are a son of the Earl's Residence. What could you need my help with?"
Bi Xin gave a bitter laugh. "A son of the Earl's Residence? To tell you the truth, my lord, in the Kangle Earl's Residence, I am worth less than an ordinary concubine-born son. No, less than even an ordinary steward. I could live with that. I bore no resentment and only hoped to rely on my own efforts to give those around me a good life."
"But my mother... she... she passed away last year. The explanation I was given was that she had fallen suddenly and gravely ill, and died before they could summon a physician."
"I believed it. I always believed it. After all, my father was the one who told me... but what if he deliberately deceived me to