She immediately went to Ming Heyuan and found her elder sister-in-law, who was in a flurry.
Seeing the couple arguing heatedly, they finally quieted down when they saw her arrive.
"It's this late, and you're still arguing. Can arguing bring anyone back?"
Fan Guangping and Wang Zhaodi glared at each other and then looked at Zhao Jiaqi.
He asked with a troubled face, "Sister-in-law, what should we do now that she's gone? Your elder sister-in-law and I searched everywhere but couldn't find her. Where do you think the child could have gone?"
Where could she have gone?
Zhao Jiaqi also wanted to know. The key was, she wasn't privy to Xueyao and Yanluo's thoughts.
Wang Zhaodi looked at them both, speechless, and said dejectedly, "Could she have gone to Yanluo's hometown?"
Thinking of this possibility, she immediately became restless. She put down the teacup in her hand, got up, and was about to walk out, "This won't do. Yanluo's hometown is not close to the inner city. I won't let Xueyao marry so far away."
Zhao Jiaqi watched her elder sister-in-law rush out and pondered the words her elder sister-in-law had unintentionally spoken!
Hometown?
Although Yanluo's hometown was in Yun Kingdom, what if he was an impostor?
Returning to her own courtyard, Zhao Jiaqi found Su Ya and whispered a few instructions in her ear. Seeing her nod, Su Ya left the room with a solemn expression.
She didn't idly stand by either. She went to Yanluo's courtyard and happened to meet the brothers Huangfu Xian and Huangfu Xu on the way.
Seeing her in a hurry, the two brothers were quite curious and stopped her.
"Sister-in-law, please accept our condolences for your and my elder brother's loss. The dead cannot be brought back to life. Don't exhaust yourselves, or the children will worry. We can't bear to see it either."
Huangfu Xian advised with sincerity, and Huangfu Xu nodded in agreement.
Zhao Jiaqi's eyes twitched a few times as she looked at the brothers. "If you truly can't bear it, why don't you two go to Dingbei Liao and investigate someone for my husband and me? My husband and I would be eternally grateful."
The two men clearly froze upon hearing this. Before they could speak, Zhao Jiaqi said, "Then thank you both in advance."
"This person is named Yanluo. He was originally the physician of our estate and Qi Xuan's disciple. Go ask Steward Wang for his portrait, investigate Dingbei Liao, and remember to be careful. This person is ruthless and wicked."
As she spoke rapidly, the brothers snapped back to reality. Their faces showed no grief, but they smiled happily.
Huangfu Xian patted his chest, which held no more than two taels of meat. "Leave this matter to me. It will definitely be investigated clearly within three days."
Zhao Jiaqi was shocked by his words.
She scrutinized the nonchalant Huangfu Xian, who was not good at handling serious matters but excellent at bragging.
"The wind is strong, don't let your tongue get twisted. Think carefully before you tell me." Zhao Jiaqi didn't believe he could provide an answer in three days.
This wasn't bragging. Special forces, as formidable as they were, wouldn't dare guarantee such a feat in three days.
Moreover, it took at least three days to ride a horse from their Yun Kingdom to the coast separating them from Dingbei Liao.
Huangfu Xian glanced at his younger brother, Huangfu Xu, feeling a bit awkward under his sister-in-law's disbelieving gaze.
The latter quickly smiled and added, "Sister-in-law, you really shouldn't doubt it. Xian Wang has the ability."
This statement piqued her interest. She was no longer in a hurry to go to Yanluo's residence and stopped to listen to the brothers' boasting.
Huangfu Xu said, "This matter is a long story, and it dates back to when our father was alive..."
Hearing about their father, she knew it was something from many years ago and she had no patience to listen to the process now. She wanted results.
As Huangfu Xu was about to launch into a lengthy story, Zhao Jiaqi immediately interrupted him, "Make it short."
Huangfu Xu...
His mood, which had just begun to rise, was completely extinguished by his sister-in-law's words.
As she said, make it short.
"When our father was alive, he had already dispatched a group of spies to Dingbei Liao. In the years of peace and prosperity, Dingbei Liao discovered our spies and captured some. Later, due to the war in our country, our father stopped caring about those dispatched spies."
He rambled on and on, only conveying one piece of information: there were Yun Kingdom spies in Dingbei Liao.
Seeing that he had finished speaking, Zhao Jiaqi pressed, "And then?"
Perhaps those spies had lost their love, or perhaps they had married and had children locally, or married into local families.
Seeing that his sister-in-law wasn't playing along, Huangfu Xu stopped teasing her. "Later, our father entrusted the matter of the spies to Xian Wang. In recent years, Xian Wang has maintained contact with the spies. As for what happened next, Sister-in-law should ask Xian Wang."
After much going back and forth, the topic finally shifted back to Huangfu Xian.
Now, it was her turn to feel awkward.
But who was she? As long as she wasn't awkward, others would be.
"Xian Wang, can you truly ascertain within three days whether Yanluo is from Dingbei Liao? This matter is of great importance, concerning lives and the fate of our nation."
Lives and the fate of the nation?
With these words, and seeing the solemn expression on her face, Huangfu Xian dared not lie. He put away his nonchalant demeanor.
He replied very seriously, "Sister-in-law, I am absolutely not exaggerating. Every word I speak is the truth."
He didn't swear, but his cautious appearance suggested he wasn't lying. She merely sighed, wondering how careful Huangfu Jintao had been back then.
He had focused his attention on another country across the sea. Caution is the parent of safety. The helmsman should be like the late emperor.
"Good, I'll leave this matter to you. Get the portrait from the steward as soon as possible."
After instructing him, Zhao Jiaqi then walked towards Yanluo's room. However, after only a couple of steps, she was blocked by the brothers again.
They both stared at her, their eyes filled with confusion.
Huangfu Xu: "Isn't Yanluo Qi Xuan's favorite disciple?"
Huangfu Xian: "Then how could he be related to Dingbei Liao?"
Zhao Jiaqi: "That's why I'm asking you to investigate. How would I know the answer if you don't investigate?"
One after another, they usually seemed sharp, but as they got older, their brains stopped working.
They were already like this at thirty. Would they even remember who they were at forty?
She left after saying that.
The brothers watched her retreating back, a little bewildered.
"Brother Xian, do you know what's going on?"
Huangfu Xian glanced at him as if he were an idiot. "If I knew, would I need to ask Sister-in-law?"
Not only did he not get the answer he wanted, but he also got himself into trouble. He felt like a complete fool.
Although Huangfu Xian was puzzled by his sister-in-law's inquiry about Yanluo, he didn't stop. He pulled Huangfu Xu out of the prince's estate.
Not long after, an eagle flew across the sky of the inner city, spread its wings, and soared high, disappearing into the end of the sky in a short while.
At this time, in Yanluo's courtyard, Zhao Jiaqi meticulously searched from the inside out, finding no flaws at all.
A man's room was cleaner than a woman's. Zhao Jiaqi gave Yanluo a two-word evaluation.
Obsessive-compulsive.
It wasn't just his cleanliness that was extreme; even the way things were arranged was meticulous. His clothes were always neatly folded, his teacup was placed upside down on the tea tray, and there were no extra decorations in the room—no vases or ornaments.
It was difficult to imagine such a disciplined person being a good person.
It wasn't that she was biased, but such people were extremely rare, even disturbingly abnormal.