good season

Chapter 3: That Female Devil
Halfway through the journey, a group of night birds flew through the sky, screaming as if they were frightened.

Zhao Shiqing pulled the reins and listened attentively. The civet cat in his arms cried twice in dissatisfaction. Zhao Shiqing patted its head and said, "The direction the flock of birds is flying from seems to be Wisteria Villa. Someone has died there. Let's go over and take a look."

The raccoon cat cried again, its voice full of resentment. It was as if someone had died. The cat didn’t want to go. It was afraid.

Zhao Shiqing said: "Prince Consort Xiao and the Princess are imprisoned in Wisteria Villa, and there can't be any mistakes. If you don't dare to go, just wait for me here."

Upon hearing this, the raccoon cat crawled into the cloth bag on Zhao Shiqing's chest and buried its head in it. As long as no one could see, the cat was not afraid.

Zhao Shiqing was no longer surprised by the cowardly look of the raccoon cat. This cat was born by a female cat in a villager's home in Baihe Mountain. In the local mountains, there is a saying that a cat giving birth to a cub is a demon. When the female cat learned that her owner was going to throw away the cub, she brought the cub to Zhao Shiqing for help. Zhao Shiqing kept the cub and simply named it Little Demon.

Wisteria Villa is less than an hour's journey from the palace. The scenery in the villa is pleasant. Zhao Yunnuan and Zhao Tingxuan often entertain guests here. Zhao Shiqing has been here once. Usually, the villa is not guarded by the royal guard camp, but today, two guards standing in front of the villa gate can be seen from a distance.

Zhao Shiqing didn't go in. She sniffed and there was a faint smell of blood in the air.

She followed the smell and found a body in a patch of half-human-high grass not far away. The body had been stabbed to death and dragged here, with blood dripping all the way.

The corpse was only wearing inner clothes, and the outer clothes had obviously been taken away. However, the murderer was a careless person and only changed his outer clothes but not his shoes.

There was a circle of sturdy leather sewn on the edge of the shoes. Zhao Shiqing recognized that these were the shoes worn by the Royal Guards.

The Royal Guards were all tall and strong, but the deceased was short, and there were no calluses on his hands from practicing martial arts. He should be a servant. The servants in the Royal Guards usually wore military uniforms to prevent outsiders from pretending to be servants and sneaking into the barracks.

Apparently, someone killed the servant tonight, put on his clothes and sneaked into the villa!

Zhao Shiqing walked out of the place where the corpses were hidden and came to the main gate of the villa. She showed her palace badge and the guard let her in.

"Have any servants come in from outside tonight?"

The guard said hurriedly, "More than an hour ago, a servant sent by the guard camp just went in."

Zhao Shiqing said, "I am the second young lady of the palace. Please go and ask the chief officer here to come and see me."

As soon as he finished speaking, a rough-looking officer came over and asked, "What's going on?"

He was none other than Meng Hu, the officer in charge here. He was ordered to come here to look after Princess Jiayi and Prince Consort Xiao. The responsibility was heavy and he dared not neglect it. Unable to sleep in the middle of the night, he came out for inspection and happened to see the guard talking to a girl.

Zhao Shiqing introduced herself and told her identity. Meng Hu was half-believing and half-doubting. He knew that the prince had two sons and two daughters, but he had only seen the eldest princess and the second son, and had never seen the second young lady. But looking at Liang, he thought that no one would dare to pretend to be the daughter of Prince Liang, not to mention that the badge in her hand was indeed the prince's palace.

Meng Hu bowed and saluted: "General Meng Hu greets the Second Miss. I wonder why the Second Miss came here so late at night?"

Zhao Shiqing said, "Send someone to search the villa immediately. I suspect someone has sneaked in by pretending to be a servant. Also, there is a body in the bushes outside the villa. It should be the dead servant."

Meng Hu was so shocked that he didn't even bother to think about whether he had disturbed the princess and her husband. He immediately led people to search everywhere. Zhao Shiqing stopped him and said, "The shoes that man is wearing are not those of the imperial guards."

A moment later, a sneaky servant was caught outside the kitchen. The servant shouted that he was innocent and looked innocent. Zhao Shiqing walked over and saw that the man was wearing a military uniform, but on his feet were a pair of ordinary cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles.

More importantly, Zhao Shiqing smelled blood. The man was wearing the military uniform of the servant who was stabbed to death. There were traces of his blood on the uniform. Zhao Shiqing pointed at the man and said to Meng Hu, "That's him! He's the murderer! There's blood on his body!"

The man's face changed drastically, and he suddenly frowned, with a look of pain on his face. Meng Hu was shocked and rushed forward to check, but it was too late. Blood was flowing from the corner of the man's mouth. Meng Hu opened his mouth and smelled it, then turned around and shook his head at Zhao Shiqing: "He bit through the poison hidden in his mouth, and he can't be saved."

As soon as his hands loosened, the man fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and died.

Meng Hu used a bamboo stick to pick out a paper bag the size of a fingernail from the man's mouth. The man died of poisoning after biting through the paper bag.

At this time, there was a basin of kneaded dough that was rising in the kitchen. It was used to make breakfast for the Princess and Prince Consort Xiao. It is conceivable that if the poison in the paper bag was put into the dough by him, the Princess and Prince Consort Xiao would die silently in the heavily guarded Zither Villa.

Meng Hu was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. The Princess and Prince Consort Xiao almost died right under his nose. He could not bear such a huge responsibility even if he died ten times.

Meng Hu fell to his knees with a thud: "I thank you for saving my life, Miss. I am at fault for what happened tonight, and I beg you to punish me."

Zhao Shiqing said calmly, "The relationship between the Princess and Prince Consort Xiao is very important, and we cannot take it lightly. If something like this happens again, Meng Hu, I will dig up your ancestral grave."

Meng Hu shuddered, as if he saw his ancestors glaring at him. You unfilial son, we will not have peace even after we die.

"Don't dare, I guarantee that not even a fly can get in!"

Zhao Shiqing glanced at him, turned around and walked out of the villa, heading towards Qingquan County.

In the Xiao family's old house in Qingquan County, Xiao Su thought he was having a nightmare. He would rather dream of a vixen that sucked people's vital energy than see that female devil in his dream.

"Wake up, wake up, the female devil, get out of here! Wuliang Tianzun Taishang Laojun Dasheng Qitian, slay the demons and monsters immediately as ordered, Namo Amitabha!"

Zhao Shiqing looked at Xiao Su coldly, as he closed his eyes and shook his head like a fool, and said coldly: "Open your eyes and see clearly before looking for help."

Xiao Su was startled, thinking of something, and opened one eye. Oh, it was that female devil again. He quickly closed his eyes. However, Xiao Su already understood. Damn it, he was not dreaming. That female devil really came and was sitting in front of his bed!
Seeing that he was silent, Zhao Shiqing coughed lightly: "Are you not looking for help?"

Xiao Su gritted his teeth and opened both eyes: "Sit further away, I, I, I am in a bad mood when I wake up!"

Zhao Shiqing would not indulge him and remained motionless: "Get up and take me to see your grandfather!"

"To see my grandfather? Are you worthy?"

As soon as he said that, Xiao Su regretted it because he saw the knife against his throat.

"Hey, I'm just kidding. I'll take you there right now, but you have to listen carefully. Don't touch me when you see my grandfather. Otherwise, my grandfather will mistakenly think that you like me and force me to marry you. Then my life will be over!"

"Stop talking nonsense and get up!" Zhao Shiqing shouted.

(End of this chapter)