Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 66: It’s easy to hide from open guns, but hard to guard against hidden arrows

Anyone who heard this would be angry, but Chao Yue suddenly burst into laughter.

He laughed so hard that he fell backwards and laughed uncontrollably, as if he had gone mad.

Hua Niang, who was standing beside him, was so frightened that she became uneasy and wanted to escape but didn't dare to.

The expressions of the other people present also varied. From what Ning Ci said, it seemed that the death of Chao's original wife who joined the army was unusual.

Chao Yue laughed so hard that tears came out of his eyes. He pointed at himself and said breathlessly: "That's right, I'm a useless coward. Hahaha, curse me a few more times, I'd love to hear it!"

Yan Ciwan frowned and looked at him. This guy was really mentally abnormal.

Chao Yue wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and said, "If you don't want to scold me anymore, I'll leave. You're quite interesting. I hope we can meet again in the future."

Hua Niang helped him over the threshold with a nervous mood.

Then the others were about to leave, and Yan Ci Wan suddenly called out to one of the girls, who was wearing a pomegranate red skirt.

"Lady, please stay."

The flower girl had to stop.

It was this woman who sat next to Qi Ming just now, diligently pouring wine and serving him food. After Qi Ming was so angry at Yan Ciwan that he left in a huff, this woman was left here.

She saw that everyone around her had left and she was the only one still standing here, and she felt uneasy.

She clenched the embroidered handkerchief tightly, pretended to be relaxed, and asked with a smile.

"May I ask what you want, sir?"

Yan Ciwan smiled and said in a gentle voice: "What should I call you?"

"My name is Yunniang."

Yan Ciwan remembered seeing the sign of Yun Niang’s house on the way here, so she asked again: “Are you familiar with Qi Ming?”

"We're not particularly familiar with each other. We've only met two or three times." Yunniang answered cautiously.

Yan Ciwan noticed that she was very reserved and comforted her, "Don't be too nervous. There are no outsiders here. No matter what you say, no one else will know. Does Qi Ming often bring women here to drink?"

"I'm not very clear. I'm just a prostitute who makes a living by performing. I don't know what you're asking."

Yan Ciwan gritted his teeth and took out a silver ingot from his purse.

She placed the silver ingot on the table next to her, then pointed to the Inner Guard House token hanging around her waist and whispered.

"As long as you can answer my questions truthfully, this silver ingot will be yours. Don't worry, I am from the Inner Guard House. You should know where the Inner Guard House is. I can protect you."

A silver ingot is not a small sum of money, and Yun Niang was tempted.

She glanced at the door and saw that there was no one outside. After hesitating for a long time, she finally reached out her hand, picked up the silver ingot, and whispered.

"This Xueyue Tower is nominally owned by a businessman named He, but in fact, Master Qi is the real owner. Everyone here listens to Master Qi. I can't stay here for long, otherwise it will arouse suspicion. Come to my house later and we can talk slowly."

After saying that, she took out a small wooden plaque from her sleeve, with the words "Yun Niang" engraved on it.

"This is my name tag. Take it and knock on the door. The gatekeeper will let you in."

Yan Ciwan accepted the wooden sign and watched Yunniang leave.

Afterwards, Yan Ciwan and Xiao Wang also left Shuiyunjian.

On the way back, Yan Ciwan touched her empty purse and sighed deeply. She had just spent most of her fortune in one go, and the little money left was definitely not enough for her to pay for the trip to Chang'an.

This was the first time in her life that she tasted poverty.

Xiao Wang looked at her dejected appearance and asked, "Did you encounter any difficulties?"

Yan Ciwan shook his head: "Nothing."

The two returned to the lobby and had dinner with Li Chengge and others.

Li Chengge seemed to have drunk a lot. He picked up the empty wine jug and shouted to the waiter.

"Give me another pot of Yu Fuchun!"

"Okay!" The waiter took the empty wine jug, filled it with wine quickly, and returned it to Li Chengge.

"Please enjoy your meal."

Li Chengge picked up the wine pot and poured himself a full glass. He took a sip of the wine, his face showing an intoxicated look: "Yu Fuchun is indeed a unique wine here, it is mellow and rich, with endless aftertaste. It would be a pity for you not to try it, cousin."

Xiao Wang smiled faintly and didn't take it seriously.

Yan Ciwan suddenly said, "Give me a glass of wine."

Xiao Wang reminded him sternly: "You are injured, you should not drink."

"Oh, it's just a small drink, what's the big deal? Cousin, you are too rigid and don't know how to adapt at all!" Li Chengge said as he poured another glass of wine and pushed it in front of Yan Ciwan.

"Madam Ning, please try this wine. It's really good!"

Yan Ciwan picked up the wine glass and took a closer sniff. The rich aroma of wine penetrated into his nose, making him feel dizzy just by smelling it.

"It's really good wine." She sighed, then put the glass back on the table and continued eating her meal.

Li Chengge couldn't help but ask: "Since it's good wine, why don't you drink it?"

"The injured cannot drink alcohol. This is the doctor's advice." Yan Ciwan looked as if it was a matter of course.

Li Chengge was confused by her: "Since you can't drink, why did you ask me to pour you a glass of wine?"

"I just want to smell it."

"..."

Okay, Li Chengge couldn’t understand what the other party was thinking, so he simply stopped thinking about it and continued drinking happily.

Cha Bingliang asked: "Have you seen Chao Yue?"

"I saw it." Yan Ciwan recounted what had just happened while eating.

After hearing this, Cha Bingliang was quite worried: "Qi Ming is the local boss here. You have offended him too much. I am afraid he will retaliate. You need to be more careful and protect yourself from now on."

Yan Ciwan said nonchalantly: "I now have the Inner Guards as my backer, they dare not touch me at will."

Cha Bingliang kindly reminded: "It is easy to dodge an open attack, but it is difficult to guard against an arrow from the dark, so it is better to be careful."

"Well, I'll be careful."

Li Chengge finished his drink and squinted his eyes as he said, "Don't forget, our top priority right now is to find Chao Erniang's whereabouts."

Yan Ciwan responded: "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten."

Cha Bingliang suddenly had an idea: "Could Chao Erniang's disappearance be related to Qi Ming and Chao Yue?"

Xiao Wang said calmly, "Chao Erniang disappeared at about 15:00 last night. The banquet at the governor's mansion had just ended at 15:00. Chao Yue, Chao Canjun and I left the governor's mansion together. When we returned to the mansion, it was already 11:00. Chao Yue had no time to commit the crime."

"What about Qi Ming?"

"When I left the Governor's Mansion last night, I saw Qi Ming had drunk a lot of wine. He was quite drunk. Even if he was pretending to be drunk, he couldn't get from the Governor's Mansion to the Chao Mansion and kidnap Chao Erniang in less than a quarter of an hour."

Cha Bingliang sighed: "It seems that Chao Erniang's disappearance should have nothing to do with the two of them."

After eating and drinking their fill, the group left Xueyue Tower and went to Yun Niang's home nearby.

Yan Ciwan knocked on the gate and handed the wooden sign to the old woman who opened the door.

The old woman had obviously been instructed in advance, and after receiving the wooden sign, she did not ask any questions and silently led them to the backyard.

Soon Yan Ciwan met Yun Niang in the boudoir.

Yunniang had changed into a plain light green dress, with no makeup on her face, and looked very relaxed.

She said to Yan Ciwan.

"I will only talk to you, everyone else please leave."

　It's the weekend again, have fun everyone~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)