Frost shines on Qingcheng

The candles had already been burned out, leaving only a wisp of smoke lingering in the dark library pavilion.

Shen Shuangzhao woke up in a daze, the numbness in her arms made her sleep extremely uneasy.She closed her eyes and shook her arms, only to realize that the person in her arms was gone.The drowsiness disappeared, and she stood up from the ground in a panic.

"Are you awake?" A deep and magnetic voice came from behind her without warning.Shen Shuang turned around and saw that Lu Qingrong hadn't left yet, her flustered heart gradually calmed down.

Shen Shuangzhao walked quickly to her side and hugged her: "I thought you were gone."

Lu Qingrong stroked her back, and held her face with his hands: "I am indeed leaving. I saw you were still asleep just now, and I couldn't bear to wake you up."

"You come and go in a hurry, what are you doing in Qingcheng?" Shen Shuangzhao frowned lightly, with a hint of disappointment and displeasure between her brows, "Is it related to Ling Yan?"

Lu Qingrong smiled, got out from between her arms, and turned her back to fiddle with her sword: "To be precise, it has nothing to do with Ling Yan. I told you that she was ill. Recently, I was in Qingcheng to recuperate her body." Besides——” She seemed to hesitate at this point, but soon she said, “Didn’t Shuang’er care about her all the time? So what if I stay in Qingcheng for her?”

Shen Shuangzhao poked the tip of her index finger heavily with her thumbnail, and she said: "You should know the relationship between me and Zhao Yueyao, my master and Zhao Yueyao, if you get too close to her..."

The following words stuck in Shen Shuang's throat, and she felt that something was wrong halfway through the words, but she didn't know how to round them up.

"If I get too close to her, what will happen to Shuang'er? Cut off ties with me? Or rush to Qingcheng to assassinate Zhao Yueyao again?"

Shen Shuangzhao shook her head, but couldn't give Lu Qingrong a definite answer.

"No, I'm not close to her." Lu Qingrong sighed silently, "Actually, if we talk about confrontation, you and I have been enemies since birth. Shuang'er, although Zhao Yueyao and I won't get involved too much, But don’t forget—sooner or later you will have to make a choice. Now, you still have time to think about it.”

The more you talk, the more sad you are, and the more you talk, the more upset you become.Shen Shuangzhao's thoughts that she had been unwilling to think about were revealed by Lu Qingrong without warning, and she closed her eyes in sadness.

Lu Qingrong put down his sword and hugged her again: "I always choose what I want most."

Shen Shuangzhao raised her head and stared at her intently.

Lu Qingrong suddenly smiled, her smile was as charming and gorgeous as ever.She clung to Shen Shuangzhao's ear and kissed her earlobe, her voice was alluring and creepy: "If you dare to abandon me, I will gouge out your heart and send it to your master."

Hearing this, the blood in Shen Shuangzhao's whole body boiled, and he stared at Lu Qingrong with wide eyes.

"Don't believe me?" Lu Qingrong stretched out his finger and slowly moved along her lips like a snake.

Shen Shuangzhao bit her finger and let go: "If that's the case, I hope you will do what you say."

Lu Qingrong withdrew her finger from between her lips, and found that there were two more tooth marks on it, she pursed her lips and raised a smile: "Cruel-hearted ghost, the slap is really hard."

Shen Shuangzhao turned her head, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable: "You are the one who bites."

"That's all. I don't want you to care about this matter today. I'll see you in three days." Lu Qingrong picked up the sword, "It's almost dawn, you should be careful when you return to Qingshuang Palace. Especially—" She narrowed her peach blossom eyes, It was icy cold, "Especially when someone else is sleeping on your bed."

For a long passage, Shen Shuangzhao only heard "See you in three days", and she asked: "Will you come back in three days? When?"

"I'll see you here when I'm still a kid." Lu Qingrong put on her veil, opened the window, carefully looked at the situation outside, and then jumped down nimbly.

Shen Shuang watched her figure gradually disappear into the still dark sky, and was full of joy in her heart when she saw her again three days later.She also jumped down from the window, and cautiously walked back to Qingshuang Palace from the side of Jingfeng Garden.

After she left, Sang Yu came out from behind the rockery.Sang Yu quarreled with Tang Mengxuan, she stayed up all night, and habitually went to this quiet place to calm down, but she didn't want to see the sneaky Shen Shuangzhao.

Sang Yu rolled her eyes, and recalled the words from the maids in the main hall these days, and after thinking for a while, she had an idea in her mind.

……

Back at Qingshuang Palace, the maid who woke up early was already preparing breakfast, Shen Shuang took a lot of effort to slip back to her bedroom.

Just as she took off her coat and was about to lie down on the bed, she was startled by Cai Er's voice.

"Sister Shuang'er, where have you been?" Cai'er sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"I..." Shen Shuangzhao calmed down and said, "I just forgot to close the window, the wind blows in and it's cold, so I'll close the window. Also, why are your hands so cold?"

Cai'er threw herself into her arms, still looking sleepy: "My body is weak and cold, and when it's cold, my hands and feet are cold at night. It's good that you're back, I thought you were gone..." She murmured intermittently Then, soon there was no sound and fell asleep again.

Shen Shuangzhao breathed a sigh of relief, touched Cai'er's cold hands, and looked at her sleeping face, feeling distressed in his heart.She used her palm to warm Cai'er's hand, but she was thinking of another person.Lu Qingrong is dressed so thinly, will she catch the cold on the way back?She regretted a little, she should have put on an extra dress for Lu Qingrong just now.

Cai'er moved and frowned in her sleep, curling up in Shen Shuangzhao's arms like a cat afraid of the cold.Shen Shuangzhao looked down at her, only sighed.

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"Is there anything unusual about Shuang'er in private recently?" Shen Wanrong asked.

Ruodie said: "In the past few days, apart from handling government affairs with the city lord in the main hall, Shuang'er has taken Cai'er with her to teach her to read and write. If it is abnormal, my subordinates think it is not."

"Shuang'er has indeed behaved much better. Cai'er follows her wherever she goes. This may not be a bad thing. A few days ago, my subordinates heard that Cai'er still slept with her. With Cai'er around, she might be Take it easy." Xue Qing accepted the words.

Shen Wanrong sneered, and her words were full of helplessness: "Her, it would be best if she could calm down. But..." She hesitated to speak, she had been by her side for so many years, and she was her own child. Do you not understand?

Shen Shuangzhao appeared to be well-behaved on the surface, but if she really became stubborn, her obsession in her heart was deeper than anyone else.Shen Wanrong was afraid that Shen Shuangzhao's obedience in the past few days was just a temporary appearance, and she didn't know what she was thinking.

"City Lord, don't worry..." Xue Qing felt extremely powerless when she said this. According to the results of her investigation, Shuang'er and Lu Qingrong were inextricably linked.Now for Shen Wanrong, there is only one thing left to do.

"Report to the city lord, Miss Sang, please see me." The guard suddenly came in to report.

Shen Wanrong was suffering from a headache, she didn't have the heart to see Sang Yu, she shied away and said: "You let her go back, I don't feel well today, if there is anything else, we can talk about it another day."

The guard was a little bit embarrassed, but after thinking about it, he dared to say it: "To the city lord, Miss Sang said that she has something about Miss Shen that she would like to report to you..."

Upon hearing that it was related to Shen Shuangzhao, Shen Wanrong raised her head and thought for a while: "Let her in."

Sang Yu came in to salute, and then told the story of meeting Shen Shuangzhao in Jingfeng Garden that morning.

Shen Wanrong said: "Really? But how did I hear that Ye Shuang'er slept with Cai'er? It's all right, what is Shuang'er going to Jingfeng Garden for?"

Sang Yu said: "I saw everything with my own eyes. It was still early at that time, and my junior sister came out of Jingfeng Garden furtively. I think...the junior junior sister must be weird, maybe she slipped out of the city. I heard , Master is investigating something recently, so..."

"Hmph," Shen Wanrong snorted coldly, "Your news is well-informed, you even know what I'm looking for. As for whether Shuang'er went to Jingfeng Garden that day, I'll just ask Cai'er." She said coldly Not to mention whether what Sang Yu said was true or not, the fact of making small reports made her feel that Sang Yu was not a person capable of taking on great responsibilities.

Sang Yu was shocked, and hurriedly knelt down. Seeing Master's reaction, she seemed to have backfired.

"Master, I'm just worried about my junior sister, I'm afraid that she will..."

"Xueqing, bring Cai'er here." Shen Wanrong interrupted her, "Sang Yu, if you have any doubts, we will ask Cai'er for verification."

Sang Yu pursed her lips tightly, without saying a word, and immediately regretted wading in this muddy water.

Today, Shen Shuangzhao had to go to the outer city to do business for a long time, so Cai'er had to stay in the room alone.She was reading a book when Xue Qing brought someone in and took her to the main hall.

Cai'er stood in the main hall, looking at Shen Wanrong who was sitting on top, she was startled and panicked, her legs softened and she knelt on the ground.

Shen Wanrong: "Cai'er, let me ask you, I heard that you slept with Shuang'er three nights ago."

"Yes..." Cai'er replied tremblingly, not even daring to look at Shen Wanrong.

"Then let me ask you, did Ye Shuang'er ever leave the bedroom door?" Shen Wanrong asked, "You must answer truthfully."

Cai'er shivered and said, "I'm afraid of the cold, so I slept with Sister Shuang'er all night, and the only time Sister Shuang'er got up at night was to close the window."

"The implication is that Shuang'er has never left the dormitory?" Shen Wanrong relaxed her expression, she did not want Shen Shuangzhao to be grabbed by her pigtails, especially if that person was Sang Yu.

"Yes."

Sang Yu shook her head: "Master, Cai'er's origin is unknown, and she was brought into the city by Junior Sister. If Junior Sister did something outrageous, she must have helped Junior Sister hide it. The truth of what she said, Master You should think twice!"

Shen Wanrong supported her forehead with one hand: "Forget it, I have a severe headache. As for what Shuang'er did and whether she went out of line, I have my own judgment and will investigate it thoroughly. This matter will stop here. Both you and Cai'er will retire." Let's go." She said to Xue Qing again, "Xue Qing, if Shuang'er wants to go out of the city, you should secretly send more people to follow." In the inner city, Shen Wanrong felt more at ease, after all, she was under her nose.

Sang Yu wanted to say something more, but Shen Wanrong was obviously partial to Shen Shuangzhao. She knew that it was useless to say more, so she could only retreat with hatred.

Cai'er went out with her, so she only dared to look at her carefully now.Sang Yu felt her gaze, and the knife flew over immediately, and Cai'er hurriedly avoided her sight.Sang Yu sized her up and left.

Cai'er felt that she had been wronged, so she turned her head and ran back to her residence, closing the door and intending to cry.

As the evening approached, Shen Shuang came back after finishing her official business. When she didn't see Cai'er, she asked the maid, who said that Cai'er hadn't left the room all afternoon.

Shen Shuangzhao felt something was wrong, put down her sword and knocked on the door.

"Cai'er, what's the matter with you? I heard from the maid that you didn't go out all afternoon, what happened?" Shen Shuangzhao stuck to the door and advised, "It's time for dinner, can you come out? "

Caier said: "I'm fine, I just feel a little uncomfortable, I want to rest earlier."

Shen Shuangzhao frowned: "What's uncomfortable? I'll ask the doctor to come over and show you."

Cai Er declined, and only said that she wanted to sleep alone for a while.

Shen Shuang said that she had nothing to do with her, so she asked someone to put the dinner at the door, and after a few instructions, she went to attend to her own affairs.She still has something to do, but she has to meet Lu Qingrong again, so she has to hurry up.

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"My lord..." It was still the man from a few days ago, but the woman who was sitting in the carriage that night stood in front of him.

The woman was wearing a large black cloak, which almost blended into the night, and the moonlight shone from one side of her, only illuminating her side face.However, judging from the curvy profile, the woman must have a beautiful face.

"Is it done?"

The man replied: "Yes. The subordinates have finished all the tasks assigned by the master."

"Very good." The woman's voice sounded very light and soft, but she was actually older than Lu Qingrong, "I have one more thing for you to do."

"My lord, please tell me."

The woman put on the cape and turned to leave, leaving only a cold order: "Tonight...go to the inner city and kill Shen Shuangzhao."