On her wedding night, she went into exile with her pharmacy arsenal

Chapter 2083 Substitute Part 1

A flicker of panic crossed Liu Jiulang's eyes.

Liu Jiulang forced himself to remain calm: "Of course I'm Liu Jiulang, who else could I be?"

"Is that so?" Yan Ruyu took two steps forward, getting closer to him so she could see the evasiveness in his eyes. "Then kill him."

Liu Jiulang was taken aback.

His expression immediately changed, and his fingers unconsciously clenched.

"You...what do you mean?"

Shouldn't they have interrogated him or something? Why did they just kill him right away?

Yan Ruyu ignored him.

Zhou Lie rubbed the blade against his clothes: "I'm about to kill you, what do you mean by that? It means death, don't you understand?"

Liu Jiulang's face turned deathly pale, his lips trembling: "I..."

Huo Changhe didn't speak, but stared intently at Liu Jiulang, as if he were looking at a clown.

"Stop pretending." Zhou Lie stared into Liu Jiulang's eyes and said, word by word, "You are not Liu Jiulang. I'm giving you one last chance. Where is the real Liu Jiulang?"

Yan Ruyu's gaze fell back on the mask that had been thrown on the ground.

Beneath the mask lies not only an unfamiliar face, but also a meticulously planned conspiracy.

Yan Ruyu waved her hand, and Yin Ding pulled the poisonous fangs out of the mouth of a man in black and put his jawbone back in.

Yan Ruyu tossed a medicine bottle to Yinding, who then poured some into the man in black's mouth.

"Speak properly, or I'll make you wish you were dead!"

Yan Ruyu knew that the men in black had all received special training and were generally not afraid of death.

But if one cannot live, nor die, then that's not necessarily the case.

The man in black coughed a few times, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at Yan Ruyu.

"What do you want to do?"

Yan Ruyu raised her chin and pointed at Liu Jiulang: "Why did you kill him?"

"On whose orders?"

The man in black gritted his teeth, but before he could speak, Yin Ding punched him in the stomach.

The man in black was in so much pain that his face turned purple, and he bent over, unable to speak.

He blew on the silver ingot: "That'll teach you to stay quiet."

The man in black: "..." I didn't say whether I would or not.

The man in black took a moment to catch his breath before speaking.

“We were ordered by Liu Jiulang to kill him.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Jiulang gritted his teeth and angrily said, "It really is him! That damned bastard, I'm working for him here, and he still wants to kill me."

"What did they say back then? They told me to wait here, that they'd give me benefits, and that I could run away. Damn it, they broke their promise! May they die a horrible death..."

He kept cursing and swearing, and Zhou Lie got annoyed and slapped him across the face.

“Say something useful.”

Liu Jiulang's throat bobbed: "I, I'm just his stand-in. Last night I went into his bedroom and he told me to participate in the sacrificial ceremony today."

Zhou Lie frowned. Last night? When was the person changed? How come he had no recollection of it, no awareness whatsoever?

Feeling guilty, Zhou Lie bowed to Yan Ruyu and Huo Changhe, saying, "It was my dereliction of duty; I didn't notice..."

Huo Changhe waved his hand, signaling Liu Jiulang to continue.

Liu Jiulang swallowed hard and glanced at Zhou Lie: "It's normal that you didn't notice. I didn't go in through the door. I went in through the secret passage in the room. Several of us have been imitating his voice and movements for years. Not to mention you, even Liu Balang wouldn't recognize him."

No wonder. He didn't leave the room, but changed clothes directly inside. He wore the same clothes and a mask. How could Zhou Liecai and Liu Jiulang, who had only been together for a few days, possibly recognize each other?

Yan Ruyu astutely grasped the key point in Liu Jiulang's words: "You? How many doubles does Liu Jiulang have?"

"As far as I know, there are three people."

Yan Ruyu frowned, and Huo Changhe immediately ordered: "Search the Liu residence, and have Su Zhenhai guard the city gates. No one is allowed to leave!"

"Yes."

In an instant, the entire city sprang into action.

The atmosphere in Liu Balang's mansion was tense, and many of his servants had heard about what was happening outside.

In the corridor of the Liu residence, Zhang San clutched a heavy cloth bag, the fabric bearing marks from the silver ingots.

He leaned close to Li Si, his voice low but barely concealing his panic: "Have you tried the front gate? I just came back from the back alley, and the guards blocked the entrance to the alley, saying they were 'on orders to patrol, and no unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter or leave.'"

Li Si's face was pale, and the bundle in his hand was even bulging than Zhang San's, but he held it loosely, as if it might fall at any moment: "I've tried it. Those soldiers at the main gate have eyes like eagles. They stop anyone carrying a bundle."

I heard from the gatekeeper that it's not just our household; servants from other wealthy families in the city are also fleeing. The city gates are now strictly guarded; even peddlers carrying loads are checked for their travel permits.

"What about the inn?" Zhang San leaned forward, his tone still holding a glimmer of hope. "I'm thinking of going to the Yuelai Inn in the south of the city to hide for a couple of days, and then leaving once things have calmed down."

Li Si shook his head with a wry smile and shrank back: "Don't even think about it. I glanced at it when I passed by just now. There's a notice posted at the entrance of Yuelai Inn that requires you to show your identity and state where you're coming from to check in. If you can't give a proper reason, they'll take you straight to the authorities. The other inns are the same. Who would dare to take in someone with an unclear background these days?"

Zhang San's hand fell to his side, and he didn't even feel the pain when the cloth bag hit his leg: "Then what should we do? We can't just stay in the manor, can we? Eighth Master is still unconscious, and the manor is in complete chaos. The accountant ran away with the account books yesterday, and the head chef in the kitchen has also left. Now there's not even anyone to boil water."

"Where else can we go if we don't stay in the manor?" Li Si sighed, glancing at the bedroom to the east, his voice even lower. "Let's wait a bit longer, maybe the guards will be more lenient tonight..."

Before he could finish speaking, footsteps came from the end of the corridor.

The two quickly hid their bundles behind their backs, and when they looked up, they saw Sun Qing.

He walked steadily, his face expressionless, yet he inexplicably intimidated Zhang San and Li Si.

The two didn't dare to greet each other, and moved aside with their heads down, watching Sun Qing lift the curtain and enter Liu Balang's bedroom.

There were no lights in the bedroom, only a faint light filtering through the window paper, which just illuminated Liu Balang lying on the bed.

His eyes were closed, his face was pale, and his chest was rising and falling slightly. He looked no different from a few days ago.

Sun Qing walked to the bedside, stopped, looked down at him, and said in a calm voice, "I know you can hear me, Liu Balang."

Liu Balang's heart skipped a beat, as if he had been hit by something.

Since yesterday evening, he could hear sounds—he could hear the servants outside arguing about escaping, and he could hear the maids secretly crying, but he just couldn't wake up. His eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and he couldn't make a sound in his throat. He could only stay trapped inside his own body.

Hearing Sun Qing's voice now, he felt a strange warmth in his heart, followed by a sense of urgency.

Sun Qing was someone he trusted. He was reliable and dependable, unlike his other subordinates who were slick and slippery. Now that the manor was in such a mess, only Sun Qing was still willing to come and see him.

He wanted Sun Qing to save him, to find a doctor, but he tried his best and couldn't move a finger. He could only anxiously think about it.

Sun Qing didn't give him much time to wait and continued, "Actually, it doesn't matter whether you wake up or not. If you do wake up, you'll only die faster. You might even hear about what's happening in the manor and die of anger."