ASTRP -Chapter 123 Suspecting the White Lotus Was Hallucinating From Drugs

Qing Shan spoke up, “Following Miss Feng’s instructions, this subordinate brought Miss Liu to the Prince Manor gates to question the guards.”

“The guards told Miss Liu that from the time she left the manor to the time she returned, less than two hours had passed in total.”

“The moment Miss Liu heard that, she exploded, insisting the guards were lying to her.”

“When the guards saw her reaction, they even brought out the record sheet listing everyone who had left the manor.”

“But Miss Liu snatched the paper and tore it to shreds without even glancing at it.”

“She kept muttering, ‘Liars, all of you are liars.’”

“And the person she cursed the most… was mainly Miss Feng…”

After hearing everything, Xiao Jinghan’s face darkened several shades.

Yet Feng Jingge, the person being cursed, remained calm and unbothered.

Seeing that neither of them spoke, Qing Shan cautiously suggested, “Your Highness, perhaps… we should have the manor physician examine Miss Liu?”

Feng Jingge waved her hand. “Sending the physician over now would only agitate her emotions even more.”

She had probably seen something she should not have seen, something that locked her thinking into place and caused her to develop false perceptions.

Qing Shan looked confused and asked hesitantly, “Miss Feng, do you mean that what Miss Liu said was true?”

Feng Jingge answered uncertainly, “Half true, half false, I suppose.”

Xiao Jinghan said coldly, “Go bring Fu Ping here.”

Feng Jingge turned to look at him.

Xiao Jinghan explained, “Liu Qingqing takes her everywhere she goes. She should know something about what happened.”

“Mhm.”

Feng Jingge agreed.

“Then this subordinate will bring her over.”

Qing Shan turned to leave.

Feng Jingge called after him, “Remember, don’t alarm Liu Qingqing. Don’t let her see you taking Fu Ping away.”

“Otherwise, Liu Qingqing will think we bribed Fu Ping too, and who knows what kind of commotion she’ll create then.”

“This subordinate understands.”

After Qing Shan left the hall, Feng Jingge and Xiao Jinghan sat facing each other.

Before long, Qing Shan returned with Fu Ping.

The moment Fu Ping saw them, she knelt to greet them.

Feng Jingge first told her to rise, then directly asked about Liu Qingqing’s kidnapping.

“Fu Ping, you accompanied Miss Liu out of the manor?”

Fu Ping nodded. “Replying to Your Highness, yes.”

“Miss Liu said she was kidnapped after leaving the manor. Is that true?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“This servant and Miss were locked together. We were tied up with ropes and gagged with cloth.”

Feng Jingge asked again, “You were kidnapped for an entire day and night?”

“Before this servant fainted, it was already dark outside. When I woke up again, Miss was untying my ropes, and it was already daylight.”

Feng Jingge asked, “You stayed inside the room the entire time?”

Fu Ping nodded.

“This servant also felt as though an entire night had passed. But after returning to the manor, Lianzhi told me that Miss and I had been gone for less than two hours in total.”

“This servant doesn’t understand what happened either.”

“Fu Ping, take Qing Shan to the place where you were held captive. See if you can find any clues.”

Before Fu Ping could respond, Feng Jingge and Xiao Jinghan both suddenly asked at the same time—

“What were you and Miss Liu doing when you left the manor?”

Fu Ping froze briefly before lowering her gaze to answer, “After Your Highness was taken away by Miss Feng, Miss Liu was in a bad mood, so she wanted to go out and relax, and then…”

Before speaking, her gaze had already dropped.

And as she talked, her hands twisted nervously inside her sleeves.

She was obviously lying.

Feng Jingge did not expose her lie. Instead, her gaze shifted toward Qing Shan.

“Qing Shan, go with Fu Ping.”

“Yes.”

“This servant takes her leave.”

After the two left, Xiao Jinghan looked toward Feng Jingge.

“Fu Ping was lying. Why did you…”

“Have your shadow guards investigate a certain cosmetics shop…”

“Cosmetics shop?”

Xiao Jinghan looked puzzled, but suddenly a scene flashed through Feng Jingge’s mind. Her voice halted, and her expression changed slightly.

She abruptly stood up and strode outside.

At the doorway, she paused and turned back, only to see Xiao Jinghan still sitting leisurely in his chair.

Feng Jingge frowned. “Why are you still sitting there? Come with me.”

Xiao Jinghan replied unhurriedly, “Where are we going?”

“To see Nineteen.”

Xiao Jinghan was somewhat unwilling. “It hasn’t even been half an hour yet.”

Feng Jingge rolled her eyes.

This man really didn’t know how to show concern for his own subordinate.

Too lazy to bother with him, she turned and walked out.

After thinking for a moment, Xiao Jinghan still rose and followed.

The two arrived at Nineteen’s residence. Ning An was standing guard nearby, and when he saw them enter, he quickly stepped forward to greet them.

“Your Highness, Miss Feng.”

The two nodded in response.

Ning An glanced toward the bed and said, “Nineteen still hasn’t woken up.”

Feng Jingge walked toward the bed slowly. “The time isn’t up yet. It’s normal that he hasn’t awakened.”

When she reached the bedside, she bent down and began sniffing around Nineteen’s body.

Ning An was baffled and instinctively looked toward the prince beside him.

Even Xiao Jinghan had no idea what Feng Jingge was doing. Seeing her face nearly pressed against Nineteen’s body, his expression darkened.

He strode over.

“What are you looking for?”

“Tell me, and I’ll help you look.”

Without lifting her head, Feng Jingge replied, “The scent of cosmetics. When I saved him earlier, I caught a faint cosmetic fragrance on him.”

“At the time, I didn’t think much of it.”

“But when you asked Fu Ping what she and Liu Qingqing were doing outside the manor, I suddenly remembered that Liu Qingqing has been frequently visiting a cosmetics shop lately.”

Xiao Jinghan’s brows furrowed tightly. “You suspect Liu Qingqing’s incident is connected to the cosmetics shop? And Nineteen’s incident too…”

Before he could finish speaking, Feng Jingge suddenly straightened up and turned toward him with an unusually grave expression.

Xiao Jinghan’s heart tightened. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, Feng Jingge spoke first.

“The smell disappeared. I can’t detect it anymore.”

Xiao Jinghan let out a breath of relief. “If you can’t smell it, then you can’t smell it. The way you looked just now scared this prince into thinking something had happened to you again.”

Feng Jingge pouted, looking away with a clear expression of not wanting to bother with him.

Xiao Jinghan pressed his lips together before finally speaking to comfort her.

“Don’t worry. Once Nineteen wakes up, we’ll know after asking him.”

Feng Jingge glanced at Nineteen lying on the bed. “For now, all we can do is wait.”

Ning An brought in two stools from outside and let Feng Jingge and Xiao Jinghan sit down.

But just as they sat, Nineteen, lying on the bed, suddenly stirred.

Seeing this, Ning An immediately flashed to his side.

Nineteen had awakened. Upon seeing Ning An, he weakly called out, “Brother Ning An.”

His voice was frail enough to hear clearly.

“Did you catch that person?”

Just as Ning An was about to answer, Feng Jingge spoke first.

“Nineteen, was the person you mentioned a woman?”

Hearing her voice, Nineteen slowly turned his head. His gaze landed on Feng Jingge and Xiao Jinghan.

He froze for a moment before reacting, immediately trying to get up and salute them.

Seeing this, Feng Jingge hurriedly stopped him.

“Lie down. Don’t move. Just answer the questions.”

Nineteen obediently lay back down again, truly not daring to move even the slightest bit.