Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 382: Jiang Wen: I Really Don’t Know

The guards in front of the carriage finally surrounded them now and were about to raise their knives when they saw their master suddenly drop dead on the spot, staring in shock at the masked figure. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The cold eyes swept over them, making the guards’ hearts tremble in unison, and they didn’t dare to move forward.

Qin Yao quickly took an ornament from Guo Lin’s waist as evidence and charged out like a bull. Any guard standing in her way was knocked aside by this immense force, with no one able to stop her progress at all.

In less than three breaths, Guo Lin was dead, the guards injured, and the murderer had vanished without a trace.

Possessing both strength and speed, and acting decisively, encountering such an assassin was a matter of life and death.

"Knock, knock!" Two knocks.

It was a knock on the door.

Mu Ling, a light sleeper, sat up in an instant, thinking of someone, and incredulously got out of bed to open the door. A Double Phoenix Ring appeared before her eyes.

In the middle of the ring was Qin Yao, hiding her face tightly, revealing only her eyes.

"Your task is done, when will you do mine?"

Mu Ling incredulously took the ring, the Double Phoenix Ring, indeed the one given to Guo Lin by the Princess herself, the only one in the world.

"So fast?" Mu Ling marveled as she put away the jade pendant, scrutinizing Qin Yao from head to toe. She had no weapons on her, and not a single drop of blood had splashed on her. How had she managed this?

Qin Yao motioned with her chin toward the room. Mu Ling nodded, and she then stepped inside, found a teapot, poured herself a cup of water, and said:

"The fewer things you carry, the fewer traces you leave. So I didn’t bring any weapons. I arrived on time as you said, saw the target, confirmed his identity, and broke his neck, sending him to King Yama."

"Altogether..." Qin Yao counted on her fingers, "From when I left the door to coming here, a little over half an hour."

On the way, she even bought a bowl of supper by the roadside, eating as she came.

The vendor put a bit too much salt, making it unbearable for her. Now, after a cup of water, she felt better.

Of course, Qin Yao didn’t tell Mu Ling about this; otherwise, she’d definitely get an earful, like: How could you walk over so openly, what if someone saw you!

What if they did?

She only took care of the killing, not the burying. Cleaning up the aftermath would cost extra.

However, without surveillance, the incident occurred in the south of the city, while she was having supper in the east of the city, so there was basically no suspicion.

Overall, Qin Yao was still quite satisfied with her efficiency.

Mu Ling stood in front of her, wanting to laugh but holding it back, finally offering another olive branch to Qin Yao.

"I offer you the position of a seventh-rank soldier, join the Guard, and become a vice-captain. How about it?"

Qin Yao put down her cup and stood up, waving her hand, "No thanks, I’m a family person, can’t risk it all, won’t delay your great endeavors."

Mu Ling tilted her head, giving a self-deprecating "Tch," "Well then, I’ve already instructed my men to handle your matter, results should be out tonight, go back and wait for the news, it’s late, I need to sleep."

This was a polite way of sending her off. Qin Yao shrugged, thought for a moment, and cupped her hands in thanks, "Thank you!"

Mu Ling patted the Double Phoenix Ring in her bosom, "No need to be polite, it’s only right."

The two nodded amicably, concluding their transaction.

Qin Yao withdrew, departing via the rooftops. She nonchalantly returned to the inn, watching the chaos unfold in the south of the city.

Liu Ji was still sleeping like a dead pig. Qin Yao stepped over him, dove into the bed, where there seemed to be a residual warmth from when she left, and quickly fell asleep.

Meanwhile.

The door of Jiang Wen’s house was heavily knocked, waking the whole family from their sleep.

Jiang Wen hurriedly threw on his clothes and came to the door, warily asking, "Who is it?" The sudden knocking at such a late hour startled him.

"Open up!"

The voice outside was that of a woman, colder than the winter night: "I’ve come to deliver something to you."

Jiang Wen’s heart tightened, he dared not open the door, but pressed against the gap to see. In the dim light outside stood a woman in red.

Seeing that no one else was around, Jiang Wen cautiously opened the door a crack.

The woman let out a disdainful snort, pulled out a Release Order from her sleeve, and handed it to him, "Your trading company’s ships are docked at the pier, better hurry to take them."

With that, she turned, mounted her horse, and left.

The city’s residents weren’t allowed to gallop through the city at night, but she dared to disregard the rules, filling Jiang Wen with both joy and fright.

Joyful because the detained ships that had troubled him for months were finally released.

Frightened because he was puzzled about who had helped them.

The woman was clearly not with the government, yet her attire and demeanor were far from ordinary.

But there was no time for Jiang Wen to think further. The ships couldn’t be delayed for a moment, so he hurried back to dress, reassured his family, grabbed the Release Order, and rushed out.

First, he woke the trading company’s people, then hurried to the docks overnight to retrieve the goods.

When dawn broke, all the detained ships were accounted for, only missing a few crates of fine tea, worth about three to four hundred taels of silver, a surprisingly low loss.

While taking stock, Jiang Wen also found several boxes of exquisite porcelain messily arranged. At first, he thought it was due to inspections by the Cao Yun Bureau.

But when reminded by an assistant, seeing marks of use inside the porcelain cups, he realized they had been taken and then returned.

The urgency of the return left no time for cleaning, leaving stains. It was easy to imagine the fear and panic of those involved.

Confused, Jiang Wen prepared to leave with the goods when Lord of Transport from the Cao Yun Bureau arrived.

Unseen before, the lord personally came to ask about any missing items. If so, he promised to help find them.

Surprised at the attention, Jiang Wen wondered how he could trouble Lord of Transport over "just a few hundred taels of silver," hastily saying there was nothing missing.

The lord expressed his relief, indirectly suggesting that it would have been better if he’d known someone important was backing them up.

Returning to the trading company, Jiang Wen remained perplexed.

Everything became clear when news arrived that shopkeeper Guo Lin of Jingyun Trading Company had been murdered the night before.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the woman he’d seen in red military uniform commanding Zijing Mansion officers to investigate Guo Lin’s case on behalf of their Princess, must have been the one who delivered the message to him at night.

Guo Lin’s sudden death and the Princess Guard sending him a message deeply shook Jiang Wen’s already fragile nerves from a sleepless night.

Even the boss of Fulong Trading Company was shocked, unsure of how Jiang Wen had connected with such influential people, graciously asking how he had kept it all secret.

Jiang Wen rubbed his throbbing temple, feeling anxious. He truly knew nothing!