Qing Qianxue, That Sick Pervert?

I'm done for!

My little sister has been out for almost four hours and still hasn't come back. Could she really have been caught?

The moment that thought arose.

Jiang Wanrong raced toward Elegant Beauty Courtyard.

"Father, Mother! Something's happened! Ningning is missing!"

That shout from Jiang Wanrong ensured that the Jiang Residence stayed ablaze with lights all night.

As for the culprit, Jiang Yourning.

She waited and waited in Qing Qianxue's room, until she finally fell fast asleep.

Early the next morning.

Something happened at court that shook the capital.

Overnight, Duke Zhen Wude seemed to have had his vital essence sucked out by a spirit, visibly aging more than a decade.

He petitioned the emperor for permission to send men to search the Minister's Residence, claiming he suspected it was connected to his wife's disappearance.

Meanwhile, Jiang Huai'an, the Minister of Personnel, looked as though he were mourning both his parents, utterly haggard and dispirited.

He petitioned the emperor for permission to send men to search the Duke's Estate. His reason was that after the duke's wife slandered his daughter and left yesterday, his daughter had gone missing that very night. He suspected Duke Zhen had lashed out at his daughter in humiliated fury over what had happened to his wife.

Both men were pillars of the Yu Kingdom. No one had expected them to clash today.

The emperor, already worried about Qing Qianxue, felt as though his one head had swollen to the size of ten.

In the end, the matter was handed straight over to the Minister of Judicial Review.

Both residences would be investigated together.

After investigating back and forth, everyone helplessly discovered that the two incidents had not the slightest connection.

As for this result.

Duke Zhen did not care. He had only intended to make a public fuss on his wife's behalf anyway.

The Jiang Family, however, was frantic over Jiang Yourning's disappearance, like ants on a hot pan.

And Jiang Yourning.

Jiang Yourning had just woken up and was looking at the cloak she wore, which had lost its invisibility effect.

Then she looked at the man before her, breathing evenly, and wanted to off him.

Her thousand points had actually been wasted on this man.

At last, reason returned to Jiang Yourning. She quietly climbed over Qing Qianxue, got out of bed, and slipped away.

This time, no one was at the door.

Hunching over, she sneaked out of the room. Recalling the direction Qing Qianxue had carried her from yesterday, she cautiously made her way out.

When she saw a servant approaching ahead, Jiang Yourning hurried behind an artificial rockery and hid.

Once he had passed, Jiang Yourning breathed a sigh of relief and was about to continue her escape when a hand suddenly clamped over her mouth and dragged her a good distance backward.

"Who... mmph, mmph..."

Even as she struggled, Jiang Yourning did not forget to kick the person behind her.

Caught off guard, he grunted, then spoke. "Sixth Miss Jiang, it's me, Xie Ciyan."

The instant Xie Ciyan spoke, Jiang Yourning quieted down.

"Sixth Miss Jiang, it isn't safe here. I'll let you go, but don't shout. Come with me first."

Xie Ciyan spoke slowly.

Jiang Yourning nodded lightly.

He nearly scared my soul out of my body! I thought my little life was over!

Is Xie Ciyan a cat? He doesn't make a sound when he walks. Still, thank goodness it was him. He should be able to get me out of this lousy place, right?

Xie Ciyan led Jiang Yourning into a side room.

"Sixth Miss Jiang, why are you at the National Preceptor's Residence? Do you know the world outside has already been turned upside down?

"The entire Court of Judicial Review was mobilized first thing this morning. They're all looking for you."

Xie Ciyan stared at his future sister-in-law, his expression complicated.

"Well... I don't really know how to explain it. Can you take me out of here?"

Jiang Yourning gave an awkward smile.

It's not like I wanted this. I can't exactly tell you that sick pervert Qing Qianxue insisted on carrying me back here last night, kept me tied up all night until I couldn't escape, and I finally fell dead asleep in his bed, can I?

"Cough, cough, cough!!!"

Xie Ciyan's eyes instantly widened, and he nearly coughed his lungs out.

What the hell?

That sentence, packed with an enormous amount of information, circled endlessly through Xie Ciyan's mind.

"Sick pervert," "insisted on carrying me back," "kept me tied up all night," "fell dead asleep"...

Was this Qing Qianxue? That cool, aloof Qing Qianxue, pure as a disciple of the Buddha, never touched by worldly dust?

If Jiang Yourning had said this aloud, he would never have believed it.

But these were her inner thoughts. Jiang Yourning had no idea he could hear them, so she had no reason to deceive him.

His little sister-in-law still had another year before she reached marriageable age. Granted, it was not unheard of in Great Yu for fourteen-year-old girls to marry and do that sort of thing.

But... when it came to his little sister-in-law, wasn't Qing Qianxue being rather beastly?

"Young Marquis, are you all right? What's wrong?"

Seeing Xie Ciyan suddenly coughing so violently that his face turned red, Jiang Yourning could not help frowning.

Seriously? Don't tell me you've got some secret ailment?

Xie Ciyan immediately reined in his thoughts.

"It's nothing. I probably caught a chill while drowning my sorrows in wine last night. I'll be fine in a couple of days."

"That's good, then."

Oh, so that's it. You scared me to death. I thought there was something wrong with you.

Jiang Yourning continued, her eyes full of sincerity, "You can get me out of the National Preceptor's Residence, right?"

"Of course. It'll be a breeze!"

Hearing that Jiang Yourning wanted to lend him a hand along the way, Xie Ciyan answered very quickly.

This little sister-in-law seemed to have some wits about her. Otherwise, yesterday, when he was digging himself into a hole, she would not have kicked him straight to the bottom of it.

"Excellent! Bring your ear closer."

An hour later.

A servant suddenly rushed into the Jiang Family's main hall, where gloom hung heavy.

"Master! Madam! They've found Sixth Miss!!!"

"What?"

Everyone seated immediately rose, each staring anxiously at the servant.

"Where is Ningning?"

If not for the strict propriety between men and women, Lin Xiangyin and Jiang Wanrong probably would have grabbed the servant outright.

"Master, Madam, word came from the gatehouse that Young Marquis Xie found her. But Sixth Miss isn't doing very well, so he took her to the Hall of Rejuvenation."

"Prepare a carriage. We're going to the Hall of Rejuvenation right now!"

Everyone's attention was fixed on the news that Jiang Yourning was at the Hall of Rejuvenation. Young Marquis or otherwise, none of them gave him a second thought.

At that moment, Jiang Yourning was sitting in an inner room, happily eating a bowl of plain broth noodles.

The noodles already tasted good, but after Jiang Yourning added a little modern chili oil, they became even more fragrant.

Her clothes had been replaced with ragged, coarse hemp garments, and her hair was a tangled bird's nest, though her face and hands were now perfectly clean.

Xie Ciyan sat across from Jiang Yourning with three large bowls stacked in front of him, still eating with his head down.

He had already eaten breakfast, but after ordering a bowl of noodles, Jiang Yourning had taken a jar of something strange from her sleeve and mixed a little into them. The red oil mingling with the bright green vegetables and snowy white noodles looked rather tempting.

Unable to resist, he had also sent a guard to buy him a bowl of noodles and mixed some in. Then came a second bowl, and a third.

"Shuo Feng!"

"At your service!"