Chapter 61: Volume 1, Chapter 61: Enemies on a Narrow Road

This couldn't be. She looked at one of the more clever children, handed him a handful of sweets, and with a somewhat sorrowful expression said, "Sister wants to find her little sister, but there's no one left in their household, and I can't find them, which makes me very sad. If you tell me where their family moved to, I'll buy you another bag of sweets, alright?"

"Really?" The child was clearly tempted and immediately said, "I don't know if they moved or not, but last night when I went out with my grandmother, I saw a man dressed all in black come out of that door and head west. So their family might have moved to the west."

Rong Luoge's heart skipped a beat. "A man dressed all in black? Did you see what he looked like? Or was he carrying anything in his hands?"

"I didn't see clearly. He had his back to me." The child looked at Rong Luoge eagerly, clearly wanting her to go buy the sweets.

Rong Luoge immediately went and bought him a large bag of sweets. "Think again — did he have any noticeable marks on him? It would help sister find the person, wouldn't it?"

The child took the sweets, extremely happy — he had never had this many sweets before. He genuinely thought hard, then said, "Sister, I remember he seemed to have something on his left hand, sparkling and shining even in the dark night. That's all I know."

A thought flashed through Rong Luoge's mind. That's right — last night the assassin who blocked her way was wearing a wrist guard on his left hand, which did reflect a bit of light under the night sky.

She hadn't expected that the person trying to kill her was actually one of Di Yue Nu's people. Could Di Yue Nu already know that she was the one who delivered the letter?

That was impossible.

But why would she want to kill her?

Could it be because of the seal?

That wasn't possible either. Di Yue Nu didn't even know that the seal had been picked up by Rong Ling Shan, much less that the seal had ended up in her own hands. So why would she want to kill her?

For Rong Dai's sake?

Thinking it over, that was the only reason. But she had already divorced Prince Qi and wouldn't stand in the way of Rong Dai's future — she had no reason to kill her.

Rong Luoge truly couldn't figure it out, but at this moment she suddenly felt that her decision to agree to Han Xinglan and go to the Dong Gong was the rightest choice she could have made.

Not to mention having Consort Ming kicking her while she was down, now Di Yue Nu wanted to silence her for good — she couldn't fight that many enemies with just two fists.

Rong Luoge got up and left, watching the child skip happily home, then walked back herself with a dark expression.

Di Yue Nu now had people making a move against her, which inevitably led her to connect this with those Qiongchuan merchant caravans.

If that were the case, then it meant Di Yue Nu had likely made contact with people from Qingxuan — this was truly not good news.

Rong Luoge increasingly felt that her situation was dangerous. The original owner of this body had been truly unlucky — clearly a poor little thing, yet these dangerous people insisted on seeing her as a thorn in their side.

Rong Luoge immediately hurried back to Xi Cheng, and upon seeing He Huai and Jing Chu, asked them about the recent situation with the Qiongchuan merchant caravans.

He Huai saw that the eldest young lady's expression was not quite right and immediately replied, "The Qiongchuan merchant caravans have been especially active lately, doing quite a bit of business with merchants in the capital. This subordinate has sent people to keep watch, but we're short-handed and can't watch all of them — we can only pick a few."

Jing Chu added from the side, "Mostly we're watching the people who rented residences near Liu Yuniang's place. Their behavior is somewhat strange — leaving early and returning late, selling goods everywhere, as if conducting legitimate business. We haven't found any evidence against them yet."

Rong Luoge looked at the two of them. "Split off a team to keep watch on Di Yue Nu. Right now Di Yue Nu's whereabouts are unknown. First, investigate this matter clearly before anything else."

Jing Chu and He Huai actually did know a little about Di Yue Nu — after all, she was the Protector Duke's mistress, and due to the divorce matter, this person's reputation had also risen considerably.

Jing Chu immediately said, "Then this subordinate will go find people. This side will still be watched by He Huai."

Rong Luoge nodded, then looked at them and added, "Last night Di Yue Nu sent people to ambush and kill me on the way, so you must be careful."

Jing Chu and He Huai turned pale with fright. Even knowing that the young lady was perfectly fine right before their eyes, they still felt a lingering fear.

"From now on, when the young lady goes out, one of us brothers will follow," He Huai said in a low voice. "Since it happened once, there will surely be a second time. The young lady's safety is what matters most."

Rong Luoge certainly couldn't say that she was about to enter the Dong Gong. After a moment's thought, she said, "I won't be going out for now. Leave things to you two. Only when Di Yue Nu's whereabouts are clearly investigated can I be at ease."

"I'm going right now." Jing Chu cupped his fists and turned to leave, his dark face carrying a murderous intent.

He Huai thought for a moment and said, "Is the young lady suspecting this matter is connected to the Qiongchuan merchant caravans?"

Rong Luoge couldn't explain the root of this matter clearly, so she could only say vaguely, "I've inquired that a Qiongchuan merchant caravan has been in secret contact with Di Yue Nu, and I've also learned that Di Yue Nu has some connection to Qingxuan. So this matter is very complicated. When you act outside, both of you must pay attention to safety."

He Huai nodded. "Rest assured, eldest young lady. This subordinate will go take a round outside now. If, as you say, the Qiongchuan merchant caravans are connected to Di Yue Nu, then the fact that some of them have settled around Liu Yuniang's area means Liu Yuniang might know them too."

Rong Luoge had the same suspicion, so she nodded. "Go ahead."

He Huai left as well. Rong Luoge took a deep breath — for now, all she could do was wait for news.

No matter what, this incident had made her realize one thing: Di Yue Nu's hostility toward her seemed to run deep. Rong Dai alone wouldn't account for this — there must be reasons she didn't know about.

Should she tell Han Xinglan about this matter?

But it didn't seem to have much to do with him. With that thought, Rong Luoge decided not to say anything for now. She couldn't always have Han Xinglan help solve her problems — favors were not so easily repaid.

Investigating information wasn't a matter of one or two days. Rong Luoge began preparing for her trip to the Dong Gong, only to suddenly realize there didn't seem to be much to prepare.

Bringing silver would be enough. As for clothes, her current garments' specifications weren't suited to the standards of a Good Lady of the Dong Gong — she'd bring some changes of clothes, but the rest would probably have to be newly made after arriving at the Dong Gong.

As for jewelry, her cosmetics box was touchingly simple. The original owner hadn't had much silver to spend on it, while she couldn't even remember to buy any — in short, rather shabby.

After much deliberation, she brought Chun Yu and the others to the Treasure Pavilion, spending a full several thousand taels of silver to purchase two sets of jewelry.

Yes, only two sets.

Because one set of hairpins and ornaments, plus matching earrings and bracelets, came to over a dozen pieces. She had never known that purchasing jewelry meant accounting for everything from head to toe.

It was far too expensive.

She had some money, but there were even more places to spend it — better to be frugal.

Speaking of which, she had really taken a loss by not charging much for the things she gave the Crown Prince.

Just as she was about to leave, she unexpectedly ran into Yun Shizhuang and Fu Shuangshu — truly enemies on a narrow road.

She recalled Ming Yuhua once gossiping with her that Yun Shizhuang seemed to be quite fixated on the position of Crown Princess.