After my father was sent to marry into the princess's household, I became the darling of the en

Sure enough, the man followed them through the East Market and then to the alleyway leading to the Princess's residence.

After returning to his residence, Shen Jingque arranged for guards to escort the worried Xu Wanying back to General Dingyuan's residence, and then went straight to Yingzhu Garden.

When he entered, Xiao Changgeng was reading a secret memorial, and Ji Qianshang was standing next to him, holding a bowl of dark medicine and coaxing Xiao Changgeng to drink it.

"Big brother, someone's watching me."

Xiao Changgeng looked up, his brows furrowing.

Shen Jingque recounted the discovery of the gray-clad man in the East Market that day.

Xiao Changgeng put down the secret report, his voice deepening several degrees: "Starting tomorrow, no one is allowed to leave the manor. Let me find out who they are first."

"No." Shen Jingque shook her head.

"Sparrow!"

"Big brother, please let me finish." She sat down opposite him, her expression serious beyond her years.

"They're after me. If I stay home and don't go out, they won't find what they're looking for. They'll either send someone else to keep an eye on me or try a more aggressive approach to test me. We'll always be on the defensive."

Xiao Changgeng frowned: "What can a twelve-year-old girl like you do? Just wait for them to attack?"

Shen Jingque took out three palm-sized paper packets from her sleeve and slapped them onto the table one by one.

Each paper packet has a single character written on the outside in vermilion ink: laugh, cry, or diarrhea.

"What's this?" Xiao Changgeng asked, looking at the three small paper packets.

"It's a newly developed medicinal powder that penetrates and takes effect upon contact with the skin; once it gets on you, you can't escape it."

Shen Jingque pointed to the three paper packets and introduced them one by one, "This is the 'Laughing Powder,' which makes people laugh uncontrollably, and in severe cases, it can make them laugh until they choke. The 'Crying Powder,' which can make people cry uncontrollably and completely lose their fighting ability, and this one is the 'Clearing the Drain'... I don't need to explain it, right?"

Ji Qianshang leaned closer, his face full of doubt: "Impossible. There is no drug in the world that takes effect upon contact, not even a highly toxic poison like arsenic."

As he spoke, he reached out and opened the paper package labeled "cry".

Shen Jingque's pupils contracted sharply, and she reached out to stop him: "Master Ji, please don't..."

late.

Ji Qianshang pried open the paper package with his fingertips, and a small pinch of grayish-brown powder stuck to his index finger and thumb. He was about to bring it close to his nose to smell it.

next moment.

Ji Qianshang's eyes suddenly reddened, and tears streamed down her face like a burst dam, unstoppable.

He paused, opened his mouth to say "It's okay," but a sob came out first.

"Waaah... I... how could I... Waaah..."

Ji Qianshang raised his sleeve to wipe away his tears, but the more he wiped, the more tears he shed, and he cried so hard he could hardly breathe.

Xuan Qi stood by the door, dumbfounded. Even Xiao Changgeng's usually cold and stern face showed a hint of surprise.

Shen Jingque hurriedly pulled an antidote pill from her sleeve and stuffed it into Ji Qianshang's mouth. Then, through her handkerchief, she quickly put away the paper packet and squeezed it tightly, taking two steps back to let Ji Qianshang catch his breath.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ji Qianshang's tears finally stopped.

He raised his red, tear-filled eyes and glared at Shen Jingque: "This medicine of yours..."

"I told you not to touch it!" Shen Jingque spread her hands innocently.

Ji Qianshang wiped his face haphazardly with his sleeve, his voice still carrying the lingering nasal tone of a sob.

"What about the pharmacology? What are the components? Why can it bypass the mouth and nose and penetrate the skin directly? This doesn't make sense..."

"Master Ji, isn't it illogical of me to begin with?" Shen Jingque interrupted her with a smile.

Ji Qianshang paused for a moment, recalling the girl's so-called innate talent and the space where she could grow spiritual herbs.

In her case, what seems illogical is actually the most reasonable.

Xiao Changgeng stared at her, his gaze shifting between the several paper packages and Ji Qianshang's disheveled face.

The room remained quiet for a long time.

"What do you want to do?" he finally asked, his tone revealing a hint of compromise.

Shen Jingque had been waiting for these words, so she immediately took two steps forward: "I want to fish. I deliberately went out alone, so those people would think they had a chance to take advantage of me. They will definitely make their move when I turn into a less crowded place. Then we can trap them and interrogate them alive."

Xiao Changgeng immediately shook his head: "Too risky."

"So I need my older brother to lend me a few people."

Shen Jingque held up four fingers. "Four plainclothes Imperial Guards were lying in ambush in the alley beforehand. Tian Jiu followed me closely the whole time. Big brother, you can take care of the final interrogation."

Xiao Changgeng clenched his fists, as if making a difficult decision.

After a long time, he finally let out a breath through his nose.

"Tianjiu must not leave your side for more than three steps. If anything happens, retreat immediately and do not linger in battle."

"Yes, sir!"

……

However, the news of this reached Zhaohua Garden that very night.

Xiao Mingyue and Shen Yan appeared at the entrance of Yingzhu Garden at almost the same time, each with an even more unpleasant expression than the other.

"Using the little sparrow as bait? Chang Geng, did you agree to this?"

Xiao Changgeng remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Shen Yan frowned as he looked at his daughter, his tone unusually stern.

"Sparrow, we can investigate the thief slowly, but you can't use yourself as bait."

"How slow will it take?" Shen Jingque asked calmly.

"Today it's being followed, what about tomorrow? Will Dad be watched when he goes out, will Mom's car be followed, or will someone tamper with Second Brother's money shop?"

"If this tracking is just the beginning, and there are bigger moves to come, are we just going to passively wait like this forever?"

The room fell silent; no one responded.

Shen Jingque walked over and took Xiao Mingyue and Shen Yan's hands, pulling them close to her cheeks: "Mother, Father, I'm not just showing off, I'm really confident."

"Besides, Tianjiu is right next to me. If things go wrong, he can just carry me and run away without even having to fight."

Xiao Mingyue was startled when she heard Tian Jiu's name and looked up at Xiao Changgeng.

Heaven and earth were dark and yellow, with nine as the first.

Those were Xiao Changgeng's trump card bodyguards, whom he never sent out lightly.

Xiao Changgeng met her gaze and nodded silently.

Xiao Mingyue withdrew her gaze, her tone still unyielding: "What if we fail?"

"If it's not right, Tianjiu will take me away directly and won't stay any longer."

Shen Jingque shook Xiao Mingyue's hand, "The worst outcome is that I won't catch any fish. I won't lose a single hair."

Shen Yan sighed, reached out and ruffled his daughter's hair, his handsome brows furrowed with worry: "You child..."

"So, Father agrees?"

"I can't do anything with you."

Xiao Mingyue didn't speak again, but she didn't object either.

She knew perfectly well that Shen Jingque was telling the truth.

Now the enemy is in the dark while we are in the light, and we don't even know which side they are.

If there are multiple obstacles, the consequences could be disastrous.

She took Shen Yan's hand and patted it, "Chang Geng and I will send our most capable people to protect Que'er."

Ji Qianshang rubbed his still sore eyes, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Wait a minute, this powder takes effect immediately upon contact. When you splash it on someone's face, how can you guarantee you won't get it on yourself?"

All eyes in the room immediately fell on Shen Jingque.

Shen Jingque chuckled, revealing a confident smile.

"Delayed casting, I guess."