The Double
Chapter 525 - 159: Green Hat_3

Chapter 525: Chapter 159: Green Hat_3

Soon, the two of them arrived at the entrance of the bookroom. The servant opened the door, and Jiang Li along with Ji Heng entered.

The bookroom still looked familiar to Jiang Li, with its stark black and white austerity, which didn’t seem to suit Ji Heng’s appearance, but somehow, it felt fitting. His inner self was exactly like that: decisive, straightforward, neatly black and white.

Ji Heng walked to the desk, poured a cup of tea for Jiang Li, and then one for himself. Jiang Li noticed that no matter when she visited the Duke Residence, the teapot in Ji Heng’s bookroom always contained warm tea.

This perhaps revealed his nature: always prepared for anything.

Jiang Li sat down at his desk.

"Two pieces of news," Ji Heng said, "One good, one bad. Which do you want to hear first?"

For a moment, Jiang Li was taken aback.

In the past, Xue Zhao loved to tease her the same way, saying, "Two pieces of news, one good and one bad, which would you like to hear first?"

The young man sitting in front of her was completely different from Xue Zhao, and Xue Zhao was already dead.

She gathered her thoughts. She used to always respond with, "Let’s hear the good news first," but today, she said to Ji Heng, "The bad news."

Ji Heng smiled with a hint of amusement, "It seems you prefer to get the bitter out of the way before the sweet."

"I suppose so," Jiang Li said with a wry smile. Yet, how could she be about tasting the sweet after the bitter? In her previous life as Xue Fangfei, her life was initially sweet before turning bitter. The first half of her life was filled with nothing but joy and beauty, and even when there was discontent and pain, it was overshadowed by happiness. That’s why fate is fair; those who enjoy fortune early on will suffer later. What happened later in her life proved this point.

But when would the bitterness she suffered at the hands of Shen Yurong start to turn "sweet"?

"Jiang Youyao has been found," Ji Heng announced.

Jiang Li was startled and blurted out, "Where is she? Is she still in Yanjing City?"

"She’s still in Yanjing City," Ji Heng said meaningfully. "However, she’s in a place you would never imagine."

Jiang Li saw that there was a deeper meaning in his words and quietly waited for Ji Heng to continue.

"She’s at the Right Chancellor’s Residence."

"The Li Family?" Jiang Li was surprised. She’d thought many times about where Jiang Youyao might be, but it never occurred to her that it would be the Li Family. The Li and Jiang families had never gotten along, and even if Jiang Youyao had nowhere else to turn, she wouldn’t have ended up at the Right Chancellor’s Residence. Besides, Li Zhongnan, that old fox, was unlikely to use Jiang Youyao for his purposes—she was of no use to the Li Family and might even bring scandal upon them, causing more trouble than she was worth.

"What’s going on?" Jiang Li frowned and asked, "Did the Li family capture her? Or do they have other schemes in mind?"

"After Jiang Youyao ran away from the Jiang Family, she encountered trouble before she could reach the Ji family," Ji Heng shrugged. "You know, Yanjing City can be peaceful or not, depending on the day. On her way, Li Lian helped her out of a tight spot when he saw her in distress and took her back to the Right Chancellor’s Residence."

"Li Lian?" Upon hearing this, Jiang Li understood a bit, "He must have already recognized Jiang Youyao’s identity and acted intentionally that way."

Li Lian, the Right Chancellor’s younger son, was unlike his elder brother Li Xian; he was known for gallivanting around the city, a debauched playboy. Despite being blessed with a decent appearance, he caused trouble everywhere. As for the number of young ladies he fancied and the girls he debauched, Jiang Li had also heard. Yet this very man always appeared to be very gentle and generous, seemingly a perfect gentleman, which could easily deceive young girls if they weren’t careful.

In fact, not just the girls; even men were often fooled by Li Lian’s façade. When Ye Shijie first came to Yanjing, if Jiang Li hadn’t spotted something amiss and warned him in time to keep his distance from Li Lian, who knows what Li Lian might have used Shijie for.

Li Lian had accompanied the Right Chancellor to various banquets big and small. To say he hadn’t seen Jiang Youyao was impossible. Originally, as the Chief Minister’s Daughter, her beauty was known throughout Yanjing City, an object of knowledge among the young nobles. Even if she snuck out of her residence in disguise that day, Li Lian would most likely have recognized her.

In other words, if it were someone else who brought Jiang Youyao home, Jiang Li might believe that they hadn’t recognized Jiang Youyao’s identity, but with Li Lian, Jiang Li had reason to believe he recognized Jiang Youyao, and that’s why he took the subsequent actions.