Jiang Ning looked at the two drunk men in the room, sighed, and prepared to clean up the mess.
She first poured a cup of spirit spring water into Liu Ming'an's mouth to wake him up. Then, pointing at Zhou Yi, Jiang Ning said, "Put Brother Zhou on that couch to sleep. Let the inn's servant know, and we'll head back for tonight."
Hearing "head back," Liu Ming'an thought Jiang Ning hadn't gotten any information either. He nodded and did as she said.
Moments later, the two of them left the inn with a lantern, slowly walking towards the courtyard on Late Winter Road.
"Ning'er, today is the ninth. I'll be taking the imperial examination in two days, and then we'll be apart for nine days..."
Jiang Ning heard the reluctance in Liu Ming'an's voice. She had originally planned to go ask Nangong Muyan about Zhou Yi's situation tomorrow, but now she thought it wouldn't matter if she delayed it by a day. She decided to accompany Liu Ming'an tomorrow instead.
Back in the small courtyard, after washing up and lying down on the bed, Liu Ming'an reached out and held Jiang Ning tightly in his arms.
After so long with just a thin quilt and lonely pillow, he could finally sleep while holding the person he loved. Liu Ming'an was overjoyed and said with a smile, "Ning'er, tell me about what happened when you went to Qushui City."
"Alright," Jiang Ning replied with a smile, and then recounted in detail everything that had happened during their time apart.
Of course, she saw no need to mention casually killing a lecher in Jinzhi City.
After listening, Liu Ming'an sighed softly. He lowered his head to kiss the center of her brow, his voice in the darkness more gentle than a spring breeze: "If it weren't improper for a man to enter Fuling Temple, I'd really like to thank each of those nuns one by one for bringing 'Little Ling'er' into this world."
The words "Little Ling'er" were whispered right next to Jiang Ning's ear, the warm breath tickling her skin, making her ear feel hot.
"Don't call me that!" Jiang Ning punched Liu Ming'an's shoulder lightly. "They're my elders, so they can call me Little Ling'er, but you can't."
It was too mushy; Jiang Ning felt uncomfortable at the thought of Liu Ming'an calling her that.
"Alright," Liu Ming'an was very obedient and immediately changed his form of address: "Mrs. Liu."
"You—mmph!"
A passionate kiss fell upon her lips, silencing any words she hadn't yet spoken.
After the kiss, Liu Ming'an felt his longing from the past days had finally been compensated.
"Now you tell me about what happened in the Capital City," Jiang Ning said, nestling obediently in Liu Ming'an's arms.
"Of course!" Liu Ming'an readily agreed.
There wasn't much to say about Liu Ming'an's own experiences, as his days were quite routine. During the day, he attended classes at the Imperial Academy. In the afternoon after school, he went to the Lou Family's house for private tutoring sessions with the three top scholars. In the evening, he returned to the courtyard to drink with Zhou Yi. Every day was like this, with hardly any variation.
"Oh, right. After you left, the Prime Minister came looking for you. When he found out you weren't here, he asked me. I only told him you had left the Capital City on business, nothing else," Liu Ming'an remembered and reported this to Jiang Ning.
"Mm, good," Jiang Ning responded absent-mindedly, then asked about what she was more concerned with: "Do you know the inside story about the crown prince's appointment? And Prince of Rui, I heard he died. Are these two events related?"
"His Majesty values his power, so he has been delaying the appointment of a crown prince. He deliberately created a situation where Prince of Lin, Prince of Rui, and Prince of Xiang were in a three-way balance, keeping each other in check..."
Although Liu Ming'an was surprised that Jiang Ning was curious about such matters, he still shared all the information he had.
"Previously, Prince of Xiang was assassinated in Jinzhi City. It was done by Prince of Lin, and the Emperor found out. Since Prince of Lin has the strongest backing among the three princes, the Emperor pinned the death of Minister Zhu's son on the father of one of Prince of Lin's concubines. This move served two purposes: it weakened Prince of Lin by cutting off one of his arms, so to speak, and it turned Minister Zhu against Prince of Lin, further diminishing his power."
"Grandfather told me that the Emperor's actions essentially eliminated Prince of Lin's chances of ascending to the throne. So from that point on, only Prince of Xiang and Prince of Rui were left competing."
"But recently, Prince of Rui died. Although Prince of Rui's birth mother, Consort Jing, was of low status, she was the Emperor's favorite. Prince of Rui was also the Emperor's most beloved son, and he even arranged for the Prime Minister's daughter to be his princess to help him consolidate power."
"When news of Prince of Rui's death came, Consort Jing went to see the body and was frightened out of her wits. The Emperor also collapsed on the spot and was unconscious for a day and a night. After he woke up, he probably felt disheartened. A couple of days later, he issued an edict appointing the crown prince."
Jiang Ning's focus was on another matter: "I heard Prince of Rui died horribly? How horrible was it?"
She intended to analyze Nangong Muyan's state of mind based on the degree of Prince of Rui's torture.
From what Jiang Ning knew of Nangong Muyan, if she simply didn't want to marry, she would have given Prince of Rui a quick death. She definitely wouldn't have tortured him.
Prince of Rui must have done something to enrage her!
"Ning'er, it's too inhumanly cruel. Maybe it's better if you don't know," Liu Ming'an said, shuddering at the memory of those descriptions.
"Tell me, tell me..." Jiang Ning wrapped her arms around Liu Ming'an's neck, gently rubbing her cheek against his chin.
The coquettish act was very effective; at least Liu Ming'an had no resistance to it.
"Prince of Rui's eyes were gouged out, his ears, nose, and tongue were cut off, his ten fingers were chopped off one by one, and over five hundred pieces of flesh were cut from his body. The killer even stuffed some of the flesh pieces into his mouth, perhaps forcing him to eat himself... It was horrifyingly cruel. Even the coroner didn't know where to start with the autopsy."
"Where did Prince of Rui die?" Jiang Ning asked again.
"He died in his own bedchamber. One of his concubines died with him, but she was killed with a single slash to the throat and wasn't tortured."
This was the correct way to kill, Jiang Ning thought.
Nangong Muyan, like Jiang Ning, was a person who disliked troublesome things. If something could be resolved with one cut, she would never make two.
From what she knew so far, the time of Prince of Rui's death was very close to when Zhou Yi first came to drink with Liu Ming'an, and both of these events were connected to Nangong Muyan.
Jiang Ning knew there was a secret hidden behind all this, but frustratingly, she knew too little. No matter how hard she racked her brains, she couldn't figure out what was really going on.
She had to ask Nangong Muyan in person!
Jiang Ning didn't care whether Prince of Rui was dead or alive, but she cared very much about Zhou Yi.
"Ning'er, it's late. Let's sleep," Liu Ming'an said softly, stroking Jiang Ning's hair.
Jiang Ning murmured in agreement, pushing aside her chaotic thoughts and falling asleep peacefully in Liu Ming'an's arms.
On the tenth day of the third month, the last day before the imperial examination.
Liu Ming'an and Jiang Ning didn't go anywhere that day, just staying in the small courtyard to enjoy their quiet time together.
The peaceful and warm day passed quickly. Early on the morning of the eleventh day of the third month, Liu Ming'an left with the official document proving his status as an examination candidate.
"Ning'er, wait for me to come back," Liu Ming'an said as he was leaving.
Jiang Ning nodded, grabbed Liu Ming'an's collar, and kissed him on the cheek. Then she smiled and said, "Go on, I'll be waiting for you."
After Liu Ming'an's figure disappeared from sight, Jiang Ning locked the door and also left the courtyard, heading towards the Prime Minister's Mansion.