Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 2184: Chapter 2182: Zhou Jue’s Thank-You Gift

Zhou Shibin saw this scene, with some ink stains on the paper on the ground still wet, and did not suspect much.

”What are you drawing? Talismans?” he asked.

Bai Ruozhu frowned and said, ”What talismans, I have a toy store under my name that sells this kind of picture book, and business is good.”

”So you drew these yourself?” Zhou Shibin asked in surprise.

”Some were drawn by people below me. If I didn’t train some professionals, I’d be exhausted,” Bai Ruozhu said casually.

Zhou Shibin walked over to take a closer look at the drawings and found that they were unique line drawings of small animals with human-like actions, adorably clumsy.

Bai Ruozhu saw he was completely absorbed by the drawings and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

If Zhou Shibin discovered Zhou Jue, the consequences would be unimaginable. Although she was both a friend and foe to Zhou Jue, at this moment, she was helping Ji Ziyan.

Actually, the paintings spread out on the ground for drying were not just drawn; she didn’t have the skill to complete them in one go. These were completed earlier but not yet bound, just now coming in handy. As for the wet ink, she quickly added touches of ink on the existing lines, and some required no touch-up, as the earlier paintings should have dried by now.

Sure enough, Zhou Shibin didn’t suspect anything.

”Why didn’t you come to see me when you arrived in the Capital City?” Zhou Shibin asked, ”I thought we were already allies.”

Bai Ruozhu set down her brush unhurriedly and said, ”Since we’re allies, I should have something to show for it, right? I need to probe first, to gain more confidence when partnering with you.”

”What have you found out?” Zhou Shibin raised an eyebrow.

”I went to see Princess Fu’an’s maid and found she was an old acquaintance,” Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.

”Oh? Tell me more,” Zhou Shibin showed interest.

Bai Ruozhu deliberately didn’t rush to speak, instead pouring herself some tea and taking a leisurely sip before speaking.

”Once when I went west to the Barbarian Tribe, I encountered a large sandstorm, and in the storm, I came across a pair of siblings. I intended to save them, but my abilities were limited. After the storm, the brother survived, but the sister had already passed away.”

Zhou Shibin was a bit anxious, ”What does this have to do with Fu’an’s maid?”

”She is the sister who had passed away,” Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.

”Fake death?”

”To explain, at the time the siblings were buried in the sand for so long. The brother survived, saying he practiced the family’s Holding Breath Skill, but the sister didn’t practice well, so she didn’t survive. Later, the brother buried the sister and traveled with us to Danliang, taking advantage of our guilt for not saving his sister, eventually becoming a guard by my husband’s side.”

Bai Ruozhu laughed as she spoke, ”Later, you can guess, right? He found an opportunity to attack me, I barely survived. Then recently, I saw his supposedly dead sister, which shows that it was all a plan by the siblings from the start.”

Zhou Shibin listened with a deep frown, ”These siblings are not simple, what’s their background?”

Bai Ruozhu shook her head, ”The situation was too sudden at the time, I didn’t have a chance to interrogate before killing him, only knew they seemed to have the surname Jian.”

”I’ll have someone investigate this Jian Family and get back to you with any news,” Zhou Shibin said and was about to leave.

Bai Ruozhu breathed a sigh of relief, ”Try to come less often, I don’t want my whereabouts exposed, and Princess Fu’an is no easy opponent.”

Zhou Shibin looked at Bai Ruozhu’s middle-aged male disguise and said, ”Next time, I’ll come in disguise.”

”Suit yourself,” Bai Ruozhu said lazily, then stood up to pack up the drawings on the ground. Zhou Shibin strode out, quickly going downstairs.

Bai Ruozhu breathed a huge sigh of relief, not daring to go over to check on Zhou Jue and the others immediately, but luckily after half a day, there were no signs of Zhou Shibin’s men around.

The next day, Bai Ruozhu administered needles to Zhou Jue, wrote a prescription afterwards, and handed it to Zhou Jue saying, ”As you’ve seen, Zhou Shibin wants me to join in dealing with Princess Fu’an. He’s cunning, you can’t stay here, but fortunately, you only need to drink the medicine soup from now on, you should leave the City as soon as possible.”

”How did you know him?” Zhou Jue asked, glancing at the prescription in his hand.

”You don’t know he infiltrated the Commerce Association in Danliang? He was once my rival. After recognizing me, we negotiated this deal,” Bai Ruozhu said.

Zhou Jue was silent for a long while, ”Turns out everyone isn’t simple, leaving early is also good.”

Ji Ziyan, beside him, was apprehensive, worried that Zhou Jue would not give up on fighting for power. Upon hearing the last sentence, he immediately looked into Zhou Jue’s eyes, seeing a sense of relief, finally calming his heart.

At this moment, Zhou Jue suddenly looked at him and smiled, as if saying ”rest assured.”

Bai Ruozhu saw the two of them exchanging affectionate glances, instantly being fed a bunch of dog food, but the scene of two handsome men exchanging glances was truly pleasing to the eye.

As a fujoshi, Bai Ruozhu pondered again, who between them is the top and who is the bottom?

It seemed Zhou Jue had the characteristics of an overbearing, scheming top, but he often dressed as a woman to seduce Ji Ziyan, making him seem more like a bottom.

Or perhaps their roles switch?

Bai Ruozhu was exceptionally happy in her crooked thoughts, while Jianqi glanced at her with disdain, wondering what was with his master’s expression, how could she watch those two men with shining eyes?

When Bai Ruozhu realized, she smiled at Jianqi. Oh well, a fujoshi’s world isn’t something you would understand.

That afternoon, Zhou Jue and Ji Ziyan left, but Zhou Jue said he would help Bai Ruozhu gather information and deliver it to the Inn within three days.

In the following three days, Bai Ruozhu made no moves, either spending time in the Inn playing with Dengdeng or taking Dengdeng and Yizi out to the street to shop and eat, avoiding Jian Dan and Fu’an’s territory.

Here, it’s someone else’s domain, and she had no military forces or connections at her disposal, so she treaded carefully.

Although Zhou Shibin would deploy troops to cooperate, how could she fully trust him? What if he intended to use her as cannon fodder?

On the other hand, she wandered around hoping to find Achun’s whereabouts, but unfortunately, there was not a single clue.

Searching for a person in a vast sea of people is like looking for a needle in a haystack, especially if the person is deliberately hiding, making it even harder. But one thing was certain, there was no sign of Crown Prince Xuwang returning to the Xuwang Residence in Chengshui.

Or maybe Achun was hiding, guarding against Princess Fu’an?

Nothing had an answer, Bai Ruozhu could only calm her heart and take it slow, hoping Achun was safe and sound, at least until she could find and question him thoroughly.

When the third day as mentioned by Zhou Jue arrived, someone came with a message. Inside the envelope, besides a thin sheet of letter paper, there was also a waist token. Seeing the function of the waist token, Bai Ruozhu was taken aback; what was Zhou Jue planning, weren’t they enemies?

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Today’s update will be later, but I guarantee a base of four updates. Tomorrow, updates return to the usual times of 12:00 and 19:00~