Reminded by his wife, Mr. Yin also realized the problem.
"Even if she didn’t manage to get her hands on the Jiang family’s estate, a mighty family in decline still has deep pockets. Since the Jiang family is so wealthy, she must have quite a lot of money on her."
Mrs. Fan curled her lips and shook her head. "I’ve seen her dowry list. Compared to ordinary people, it’s considered generous, but compared to the powerful nobles of the Capital City, it’s just average. Besides, the majority of the items on the dowry list are physical goods that aren’t easily liquidated."
Mrs. Fan then brought up the matter of seeking medical treatment from Divine Doctor Bai.
"I originally thought that since the Jiang family is acquainted with Divine Doctor Bai, we could rely on Jiang Li’s reputation to have the doctor examine me. Who knew we wouldn’t even get to see Divine Doctor Bai’s face? In my opinion, we never should have agreed to this marriage in the first place. If we hadn’t, our Hezhou wouldn’t be forced to stay away from home."
Mr. Yin instantly looked up and glared at Mrs. Fan. "Shut up! If anyone else heard that, it would be a grave crime."
Mrs. Fan shrugged her shoulders and muttered softly with her head down, "Isn’t it because there’s no one else here?"
Mr. Yin let out a deep breath and said, "I’ll have someone investigate to see whose name the Jiang family’s estate is currently under."
Perhaps Jiang Li’s performance in front of Mr. Yin had worked. For the next two days, aside from the morning greetings, Jiang Li was able to stay comfortably in her courtyard.
In the blink of an eye, the day of Commandery Princess Baoqing’s accident from her past life arrived.
Jiang Li had Wangyou and Bai Zhi stay behind to cover for her. She changed into the maid’s clothes she had prepared in advance and disguised herself as Bai Zhi to leave the manor. Fortunately, because she had only recently married into the Yin family, the servants were not familiar with her. Coupled with her deliberate disguise, no one noticed her.
After leaving the Yin family’s home, Jiang Li’s figure was quickly swallowed by the crowd. Without drawing anyone’s attention, she stepped into a roadside inn. It was still early, so there were no other guests inside.
Jiang Li walked into the inn’s backyard and met Ren Dong, who was waiting there as planned. Although Ren Dong didn’t know what her lady was going to do, she would fully cooperate no matter what. Thus, she had prepared Jiang Li’s change of clothes in advance, along with a conical hat to conceal her face.
After quickly changing her clothes, Jiang Li glanced at the conical hat and shook her head. "There’s no need for the conical hat. Wearing it outside will only draw more attention."
Looking into the bronze mirror, Jiang Li made simple adjustments to her appearance. It ensured people wouldn’t recognize her at first glance, yet her fundamental features remained unchanged. Once ready, Jiang Li took Ren Dong and left through the inn’s back door.
The people Jiang Li had dispatched had been tailing Commandery Princess Baoqing ever since she left home today, so Jiang Li only needed to head straight there. Just as Jiang Li had guessed, Commandery Princess Baoqing was indeed disguised as a worker at a tofu shop today, with a radiant smile on her face as she weighed tofu for customers. Though it was clearly a task meant for commoners, Commandery Princess Baoqing didn’t look out of place in the slightest.
Watching the smile on Commandery Princess Baoqing’s face, Jiang Li couldn’t help but zone out for a moment. Such a bright, smiling young girl should have lived a wonderful life, yet she had been abducted by those scoundrels. Whether a noble commandery princess or a truly ordinary commoner girl, neither deserved to be harmed by those people.
As Jiang Li was lost in thought, she heard a customer buying tofu speak up.
"I’m a worker from the restaurant on the street ahead. Our restaurant needs to buy fifty catties of tofu. Can you deliver it to our door?"
Commandery Princess Baoqing seemed to find this amusing and was very interested, so she agreed without a second thought. "Sure, we can deliver! If your restaurant buys tofu from our shop regularly and in set quantities going forward, we can even offer a discount on the price."
The customer acted completely normal. After agreeing on the price with Commandery Princess Baoqing, he paid the money. The tofu shop had a handcart. Although Commandery Princess Baoqing was young, she was tall and strong.
After the other workers in the shop loaded the tofu onto the cart, they asked hesitantly, "How about I go deliver it instead?"
Commandery Princess Baoqing waved her hand nonchalantly. "It’s not far anyway, I can go. Besides, you’re much more skilled at the shop chores than I am, so it’s most fitting for me to go."
With that, Commandery Princess Baoqing began pushing the handcart. She pushed it effortlessly; at first glance, she looked like someone completely accustomed to heavy labor. The customer walked alongside the handcart, guiding the way for her.
Jiang Li’s heart instantly leaped into her throat. She wasn’t sure exactly how the human traffickers had taken Commandery Princess Baoqing away, so as long as the princess left the tofu shop, she had to follow her. Jiang Li and Ren Dong exchanged a glance, the master and servant immediately understanding each other’s intentions. Consequently, the two split up. Ren Dong hurried ahead of the handcart while Jiang Li followed behind.
With every alley they passed, Jiang Li remained extremely cautious. Yet, even when the handcart stopped in front of a newly opened restaurant, there was still not the slightest hint of anything amiss. After Commandery Princess Baoqing secured the handcart, the restaurant’s workers came out to carry the tofu inside. Everything was normal. She bid farewell to the customer and left, pushing the empty handcart.
Jiang Li tightly clenched her fingers beneath her sleeves. As she trailed behind quietly, she kept a close eye on Commandery Princess Baoqing’s direction. She had her people hidden in the shadows, but this matter required absolute certainty.
While pushing the handcart back, Commandery Princess Baoqing suddenly stopped as she passed an alley. At the mouth of the alley, a little girl of five or six was wiping away tears.
Commandery Princess Baoqing set the handcart down and walked over enthusiastically to ask, "Little sister, why are you here all alone?"
The little girl looked up, her small face streaked with tears. "My mother told me to buy salt, but I lost the money. I don’t dare go back."
"That’s no big deal." Commandery Princess Baoqing smiled, took out a piece of broken silver from her sleeve, and stuffed it into the girl’s hands. Glancing at the alley, she added, "Hurry back now. If you don’t go home soon, your parents will worry."
Sniffling, the little girl reached out a small hand and grabbed Commandery Princess Baoqing’s sleeve. "Can you take me home, big sister? I’m scared."
Commandery Princess Baoqing looked at her handcart, figuring that just walking into the alley wouldn’t delay her for too long. Moreover, the little girl was crying so pitifully that she truly couldn’t bear to leave her. So, Commandery Princess Baoqing nodded in agreement.
"Alright, I’ll take you home."
The little girl suddenly smiled, even though tear tracks still stained her face. "You’re so nice, big sister."
Commandery Princess Baoqing held the little girl’s hand and walked into the alley. The moment she stepped foot inside, people emerged from out of nowhere and pushed the handcart away.
Ren Dong walked over silently and said in a low voice, "Miss, the princess entered the third courtyard on the left."
Jiang Li gave a slight nod, glancing at the surrounding wall and then at the leafy, lush tree in front of them. "I’ll go take a look first. You stand guard out here."
Immediately after, Jiang Li avoided the crowd, circled to the other side of the large tree, and leaped up into it. Leveraging the tree’s height, Jiang Li could perfectly see the situation inside the courtyard. And due to the camouflage of the leaves, no one noticed her.
Commandery Princess Baoqing was sitting in the courtyard while a young woman served her a cup of tea. Although Jiang Li couldn’t hear what they were saying, she could tell that Commandery Princess Baoqing didn’t intend to drink it. But in the next moment, the little girl tugged on Commandery Princess Baoqing’s sleeve and shook it. Seemingly unable to bear rejecting the little girl’s good intentions, Commandery Princess Baoqing picked up the cup from the table and drank it all in one gulp.