Shangguan Hongye's heart rang with alarm bells: "I can tell you, I will not do anything that is not within the scope of my ability!"
Ming Lanruo smiled as if coaxing a child and said: "Don't worry, Your Highness, this is definitely something you are familiar with!
Shangguan Hongye looked at her kind and bright smiling face and was suddenly stunned for a moment. He hadn't seen her smile so relaxedly at him in a long time.
On weekdays, they are either tit-for-tat or indifferent to the end.
His mood was a little complicated, but Ming Lanruo didn't tell him the truth.
She left with the black-clad Tiqi guard named Qiao Yan.
"His Royal Highness the King of Qin has been looking at the little empress." Qiao Yan followed Ming Lanruo, like a perfect personal bodyguard.
Ming Lanruo's starry eyes squinted and looked at him: "Oh, what next?"
The phoenix eyes behind Qiao Yan's mask are cold and gloomy, but his smile is gentle and honest: "I suspect that he may not be willing to act according to your wishes."
Ming Lanruo looked at him, her eyes narrowed slightly: "Oh, you know what I want to ask of him."
You obviously didn't want to say this to me, right?
It's really interesting to see the Lord Governor who is limited to his role, so he can't say bad things.
Is this because you are too dedicated, or are you trapped in a cocoon?
"You can probably guess it." He suddenly took a step forward, leaned into her ear, and softly uttered two words: "Seduction?"
Ming Lanruo subconsciously took a step back. His hot breath was too sultry, and he understood too well the weakness and sensitivity of her body.
She snorted softly: "Well, Captain Qiao is really a smart man, but now, you, a smart man like you, please go to the soup kitchen for me and inspect the soup kitchen. I want to go to the kitchen to take a look."
He should stay away from her!
This person probably saw that she was irresistible to his interpretation of "Qiao Yan" and always tried to use Qiao Yan's methods to seduce her.
If she really took the bait, he would seem a little unhappy and would be jealous of himself.
If she doesn't take the bait, he will be silently unhappy.
I don’t know what kind of awkward and evil temper this person has, so he is so idle!
Watching Ming Lanruo go downstairs, Qiao Yan curled up his thin scarlet lips and turned back to his room.
"Master, this is the mountain investigation report on the disappearance of the Duke and the King of Qin's elite. There is something wrong with the yellow skins that ate the corpses. By the way, there are also confidential records of the exchanges between the Jinyi Guards in Northeast Xinjiang and the Hei Liao Prefecture over the years. They have been sorted out.
complete."
Xiao Qizi had been waiting for him in the room early and presented all the documents to him.
Qiao Yan sat down and took off his mask.
However, in an instant, his aura and demeanor changed. The gentleness, simplicity and low-keyness were gone. The aura between his brows was sharp and cold, and his whole body was under heavy pressure.
Years of experience in reviewing memorials and handling political affairs allowed him to read through all reports and confidential information very quickly.
He slightly narrowed his gloomy and cold phoenix eyes, suddenly having some guesses in his mind, and then whispered something to Xiao Qizi.
Downstairs, Ming Lanruo was in the kitchen, watching everyone busy for a while.
She suddenly spoke——
"By the way, tomorrow is the birthday of the prefect of Hei Liao. I need someone who is good at cooking to come with me to the prefect's mansion and serve some dishes from the capital to the prefect. Is there anyone willing to accompany me?"
There were probably seven or eight newly hired helpers in the kitchen, both male and female. At this moment, they suddenly heard Ming Lanruo's words.
Everyone looked at each other in shock.
Although they are good at cooking, and some of their cooking skills are actually quite good, but entering the magistrate's mansion? For the poor, it is like a dragon's pit and a tiger's den!
How dare they enter casually! What's more, this Ming Concubine stabbed the prefect's beloved second lady. What if the prefect held a Hongmen Banquet and sought revenge like the storybook said?!
If they go, they might be buried with them!
Ming Lanruo didn't look anxious and smiled: "It's okay, don't be anxious. Think about it carefully. I'll come back in the evening and you can give me the news."
She was about to leave when someone suddenly raised their hand: "Ming Fei, that..."
"What's wrong?" She looked at the middle-aged woman behind her who raised her hand.
"I want to ask...are there any extra rewards for going to the prefect's mansion?"
The woman looked tired, with a shrinking feeling between her eyebrows, and an unsightly scar, as if she had exhausted all her courage by raising her hand to ask the question.
But she also asked the thoughts of all the helpers, and everyone pricked up their ears.
Ming Lanruo looked at her and smiled gently: "Yes, there will be a reward, an extra ten taels of silver and two kilograms of meat."
The reward of ten taels of silver and two kilograms of meat sounds not too much, but if you just go to an ordinary person's house to help cook for one day, it is really a good deal, equivalent to one month's salary of working in a wealthy family.
But that was to go to the Dragon Pond and Tiger's Den of the prefecture, which was a bit useless, and everyone was hesitant.
Ming Lanruo didn't force them, just smiled and turned to leave.
She returned upstairs and turned around to tell Jinghe: "Keep an eye on those people to see who goes out to deliver the news."
Jinghe nodded: "Yes."
In the evening, two people came to see Ming Lanruo, a young man and a middle-aged woman with scars on her face.
They all came to express their willingness to help in the kitchen tomorrow.
When Ming Lanruo told the young man that he had chosen someone, the young man felt uneasy and a little frustrated and left.
Chen Ning held his sword and sneered: "Prefect Tang's people bribed him to drug him last time, but he didn't dare in the end. This time, I don't know what the purpose of Prefect Tang was to bribe him to follow us into the prefect's mansion to cook."
Ming Lanruo said calmly: "No matter what the purpose is, he can't achieve it."
Because her purpose this time is not to select someone to accompany her to the palace to cook, but... another person to sign up.
She looked at the thin and hunched middle-aged woman who walked through the door, and smiled slightly, her eyes like stars, with a dim light of intelligence.
"Ming Fei." The woman bowed humbly and said in a low voice: "The folk woman is quite good at craftsmanship. I am willing to accompany you to the magistrate's mansion to prepare dishes."
Minglanruo's soft white fingertips played with the jade beads in her hand: "Your name is Sister Hong, right?"
The woman nodded respectfully. She was dressed in shabby and shabby clothes, like any ordinary homeless peasant woman on the streets: "Yes, your Majesty."
Ming Lanruo smiled: "Sister Hong wants to follow me into the prefect's mansion. Does she want to help me prepare dishes for the prefect, or does she plan to poison or directly assassinate the prefect?"
Sister Hong froze almost visibly, and took two trembling steps back, at a loss: "Empress...what are you talking about? The husband of a commoner woman is seriously ill and needs money, so she wants to follow you into the prefect's mansion..."
Before he finished speaking, Chen Ning suddenly raised his hand, and the sharp darts flew directly towards Sister Hong with strong murderous intent.
Sister Hong instinctively dodges and dodges the dart straight into the wooden door!
"Dang!" A sharp metallic sound made Sister Hong freeze up.
She shouldn't have dodged a hidden weapon! She was exposed!
She suddenly pulled out the darts with her right hand and threw them hard at Chen Ning, forcing Chen Ning to fight back.
At the same time, he whipped the soft whip around his waist with his left hand and whipped it fiercely towards Ming Lanruo's face!
Although the unrivaled beauty Ming Fei is smart and ruthless, she obviously has no martial arts skills!
But Ming Lanruo only narrowed her starry eyes and chuckled, "Wow, really, she looks so weak and easy to bully."
She suddenly turned slightly, and like a mermaid with slippery hands, she nimbly avoided the fierce whip.
However, the opportunity was lost in one move. Sister Hong knew that it was not good and was about to grab the window and escape.
But Jinghe suddenly jumped up, his fierce swords had blocked her escape route, and he even kicked her hard in the chest.
Sister Hong was kicked to the ground with a bang, and she spat out a mouthful of blood in embarrassment: "Chi!"
When she sat up again, two daggers had quietly stretched out from behind her neck and bit her throat with murderous intent.
Sister Hong's eyes widened slightly: "The magic sword technique?! Who are you, Guan Yuecheng, the chief instructor of the 800,000-strong border army!"
Jing He ignored her at all, his eyes were sinister and bloodthirsty: "Those who are red-blooded and use weapons against their masters will be regarded as traitors and will be killed without mercy!"
This woman actually dared to kill the eldest lady just now!
Sister Hong froze, then she sneered in pain and spat out bloody saliva, saying contemptuously: "When did I, the Northeastern Red Blood, recognize anyone other than Xiao Shuai and several generals as my master?!"
"You..." Ming Lanruo raised her eyebrows and was about to speak.
Chen Ning suddenly gestured towards Ming Lanruo, "Stop!"
Sure enough, not long after, there was a knock on the door and the gentle and deep voice of "Qiao Yan": "My dear lady, the hot water prepared for you is ready. It's bathing time, please open the door."
Everyone in the room suddenly froze and their expressions changed.
