Though the Canyang Academy members appeared lazy and casual, they were quite cautious when entering this prison-like “boudoir.” First Huo Qi Lang went in to scout, then accompanied Bao Zhu inside, leaving Xu Baozhen outside to provide support, lest they be trapped like turtles in a jar.

Walking into Xiao Ran’s “boudoir,” the first sensation was oppression.

Since it was originally a storage room, it needed theft protection. There was only one extremely narrow ventilation window on the shaded side, reinforced with iron bars outside. Judging by the rust, they hadn’t been replaced for many years.

The furniture inside was all newly made from boxwood, in the latest fashion of high-legged furniture, painted with colorful trailing flowers and birds that looked lively and beautiful—probably also betrothal gifts from the Pang family. Besides that were many scrolls and writing implements. From the usage marks, they belonged to someone who frequently read and wrote.

Bao Zhu casually flipped through some written papers, seeing neat and beautiful hairpin-style small regular script, much prettier than Pang Liangji’s ugly handwriting. However, with the dim lighting inside, writing and reading would require lamps even in broad daylight.

Bao Zhu found it strange and asked, “The Xiao residence doesn’t seem very spacious, but surely they could spare one proper boudoir for the young lady to stay in temporarily?”

Xiao Ren said, “Father insisted she live here.” She paused, seeming to consider whether to reveal the true situation.

“Since you’re relatives of the Pang family, I’ll speak truthfully. Years ago we lived next to the Pang residence. A-ran was young, and household restrictions weren’t very strict, giving her opportunities to become acquainted with Young Master Pang. When she first married, those rumors made the Lu family quite unhappy, so when she returned to her natal home this time, Father insisted on confining her to this room to copy books, not allowing her to go out.”

Bao Zhu thought: Isn’t this the so-called punishment of confinement used in the palace?

Just because Xiao Ran had known Pang Liangji as a child, causing gossip and rumors, Xiao Shilian—out of some twisted psychology—locked up his daughter like a criminal. This kind of declining noble family style was truly suffocating.

Huo Qi Lang jumped onto the table and shook the iron bars on the only window, accidentally breaking off one bar.

“Wow, so severely rusted.” She handed it to Bao Zhu, saying, “Once broken off, it can’t be put back. This place is full of dust with no one coming or going. Looks like the only way in or out is through the main door.”

Bao Zhu asked Xiao Ren, “Is this room usually locked?”

Xiao Ren nodded, “Most of the time, yes. But when Father goes out, I secretly let her out to see some daylight. During the wedding period it was locked all day though. The bridal gown and jewelry the Pang family prepared for the bride were very valuable. With many people around during the ceremony, we feared losing things, so everyone entering or leaving had to be carefully inspected.”

Bao Zhu already felt extreme disgust toward this money-obsessed family. She said to Xiao Ren, “We need to search carefully. Please trouble Madam Xiao to go rest for a while.”

Xiao Ren was startled, realizing this young girl was actually ordering the household manager to withdraw in her own home. Yet her manner and tone were so natural, as if this weren’t the Xiao residence but just a small courtyard under her jurisdiction, and she herself merely a maid under her command. Could this be the true bearing of a lady from a genuinely distinguished noble family?

Xiao Ren felt a sudden wave of inferiority and said nothing, silently withdrawing.

Bao Zhu and Huo Qi Lang divided the work—one person examined scrolls and papers while the other pulled furniture away from walls to check for hidden passages.

Xiao Ran not only had beautiful handwriting but also excellent literary talent. Her poetry and rhyming prose showed elevated spirit and pure sentiment, like orchids in a secluded valley. As Bao Zhu looked through her poetry drafts, she thought this girl’s talent should far exceed her father and brothers. Unfortunately, born female, she was trapped in the mundane affairs of marriage. Otherwise, she would surely have distinguished herself in the imperial examinations, and the Xiao family wouldn’t have declined so much.

After searching for a while without finding anything, Huo Qi Lang asked, “What exactly are we looking for?”

Bao Zhu said, “I don’t know either. Clues always provide inspiration when they appear before us. Behind this case is three families fighting over ownership of one woman—former husband’s Lu clan, natal family Xiao clan, and new husband’s Pang clan. First she belonged to the parents who gave birth to her, then to whoever paid to buy her. One sale wasn’t enough—she could be reclaimed and resold. Only she herself cannot control her own fate.”

Huo Qi Lang was also shocked: “We martial world people always thought ladies from such noble households must eat well and drink well at home, living extremely comfortably. Who knew they’d be locked in places like this to be appraised, without any freedom? What’s the difference between this and livestock?”

Bao Zhu thought privately that even as a princess, her autonomy in marriage wasn’t much higher than the Xiao sisters. She still had to follow parental commands and matchmaker’s words, serving as a tool for political alliance building. Without the love of father and brothers, even if sent to foreign lands for marriage alliances, there would be no room for resistance. To gain true freedom, one would have to abandon everything—lacking clothes and food, disheveled and dirty, wandering the martial world in chaotic times.

She opened a makeup box to examine it. There wasn’t a single piece of gold or silver jewelry inside, only a few boxes of powder and rouge. However, at the bottom of the box she found a slip of paper for mixing rouge colors, hastily scribbled with a few lines of poetry: “Father loves gold so dearly, elder brother wants horses to ride; they’re marrying their delicate daughter to a playboy.”

This was a poem by Yuan Zhen called “Substituting for Nine-Nine,” describing precisely the resentful voice of a woman married off by greedy father and brothers through a wealth marriage. Only “Mother” was changed to “Father,” fitting the Xiao family members.

Seeing this poem, Bao Zhu pondered for a moment, then called out softly, “Oh no!”

Huo Qi Lang curiously leaned over and asked, “What do you mean?”

Bao Zhu pointed at the paper slip and said, “A playboy refers to a pampered young master who spends all day seeking pleasure outside. The woman in the poem feels she’s entrusted to the wrong person. The ending line goes: ‘Stars rise at midnight, lute and zither part with one sound. Strive for new blossoming beauty, wild winds blow in succession.’ The woman hints at leaving this terrible husband arranged by her parents to start a new life. If the playboy refers to Pang Liangji, then Xiao Ran might not want to marry him at all.”

Huo Qi Lang was stunned: “Could it be that girl actually hates Old Sixth?”

The bride substitution case had caused uproar throughout the city, yet her father and sister showed extreme calmness—this was indeed strange. Bao Zhu had always assumed Pang Liangji and Xiao Ran were childhood sweethearts with an emotional foundation. But Xiao Ran had been forcibly reclaimed by her natal family from her former husband’s house and locked in this prison-like place that never saw daylight. Everything was parental command and matchmaker’s word.

Had Pang Liangji ever personally communicated with his fiancée about the marriage? Could it have been his one-sided wishful thinking all along? If viewed from the bride’s perspective, perhaps it was a disabled wealthy man persistently pestering and using money to force marriage, even hiring fierce martial brothers as wedding guards—the impression would indeed be quite poor.

After considering for a moment, Bao Zhu said seriously, “If we ultimately discover that Xiao Ran escaped the marriage herself, then I cannot bring her back. I can only tell Pang Liangji to seek another good match.”

Huo Qi Lang took a deep breath, seeming to struggle internally. After a moment he said, “Alright. Though we’re not good people, we really can’t do things that force women. If that girl is unwilling, so be it.”

The investigation of the boudoir yielded only this much. As Bao Zhu walked out of the room, considering where the next investigation site should be, she suddenly remembered Wei Xun saying that during the wedding harassment, someone mixed among the sisters-in-law and attacked with iron rods. He hadn’t been able to retaliate at the time, only seizing their weapons and casually throwing them onto the rooftop.

Seeing Xu Baozhen standing idly in the courtyard, Bao Zhu ordered him, “Please trouble yourself, Daoist, to go up on the roof and look for a pair of iron rods.”

Xu Baozhen glanced at her coolly, flicked his whisk, and acted as if he hadn’t heard.

Huo Qi Lang laughed, “Second Senior Brother always puts on airs. Let Old Seven run errands for you instead.” With that, she busily leaped onto the roof to search.

This Daoist had clearly followed her out yet wouldn’t obey her commands. Bao Zhu felt dissatisfied and once again noticed that Xu Baozhen’s attire was very different from his other fellow disciples in their common cloth and sturdy clothing. He wore a gold-inlaid Five Elders jade crown and wide-sleeved purple robe with star patterns. Both the style and dyeing were the same as those Daoist masters who attended the emperor in the palace.

Purple garments were a noble color designated by Emperor Taizong for imperial clan members and officials of third rank and above. The current emperor spent all day mixing with a bunch of so-called perfected beings and celestial masters engaged in alchemy and magic, casually bestowing these high-rank garments. Both court and countryside had long disapproved.

She asked proudly, “These robes and crown are imperial gifts. What relationship do you have with the current sage?”

Xu Baozhen’s suspicions grew stronger. With sinister eyes he quickly glanced at her, while simultaneously a thread of cold killing intent swept from the corner, making the whisk’s tail move without wind. Xu Baozhen suppressed his emotions, lowered his eyes again, and said carelessly, “Your eye is good. How do you recognize it?”

Bao Zhu lied, “My family has relatives who are imperial merchants. Since you wear imperial-gifted robes and crown, why aren’t you serving beside the sage? Wouldn’t palace treatment be much better than the martial world?”

Xu Baozhen sneered, “Emperors want an upper limit of eternal life and a lower limit of a hundred years, yet don’t want to pay any price. They only want to move their mouths and take pills for longevity. How could there be such good things in the world? I’m too lazy to fabricate lies for food and drink.” After saying this, no matter what Bao Zhu asked, he refused to speak further.

Huo Qi Lang jumped down from the eaves holding two iron rods, laughing, “Buy two, get one free—good luck! While looking for things, I found a book on the roof too.” She handed Bao Zhu a booklet wrapped in oiled paper.

Bao Zhu felt suspicious, removed the oiled paper, opened the pages, and after scanning a couple of lines, saw a sentence that seemed like both ballad and riddle: “One flame, two flames, a crimson-robed child sits in the main hall.” Her face immediately changed dramatically, and she closed the booklet.

Her expression became extremely serious as she asked Huo Qi in a low voice, “Did you look at the contents inside?!”

Huo Qi Lang asked, “Does it have my name written inside?”

Bao Zhu shook her head.

Huo Qi asked again, “Then does it have characters from gambling games like Tupu, Shuanglu, or Leaf Cards?”

Bao Zhu knew she was asking about gambling games and shook her head again.

Huo Qi Lang laughed loudly, “Then I don’t know it, and it doesn’t know me.”

Bao Zhu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that sometimes illiteracy was actually safer and more convenient. She quickly tucked the booklet into her bosom and called a maid, ordering her to immediately take her to find household manager Xiao Ren and family head Xiao Shilian for private conversation.

Huo Qi Lang called out, “Don’t you want these two iron rods?”

Bao Zhu was extremely anxious, “Rods can only beat a few people to death—this book can exterminate entire households!” With that, she ran toward the master’s room.

Huo Qi Lang and the others were left in the courtyard. Xu Baozhen regarded her with indifference, saying disdainfully, “Your fawning appearance is truly disgusting, no different from those royal nobles’ lackeys and running dogs.”

After being mocked, Huo Qi Lang was unconcerned, saying, “You haven’t seen Eldest Senior Brother running around doing errands—he’s much more attentive than me.”

Xu Baozhen said coldly, “He’s going to die soon, so he acts recklessly. Do you also debase yourself the same way?”

Huo Qi Lang shrugged, “Looking at the long term, we’re all going to die eventually. Isn’t it good to do things you enjoy before dying? I love mixing with beautiful women. Even just chatting without doing anything makes me very happy.”