On a dark and windy night—the perfect time to catch a thief.

Just as Yan Sanhe cursed the wretched heavens in her heart, in the bushes by the back gate of the Xie Manor, Steward Xiao Hua slapped dead an autumn mosquito that had fed its fill on him and cursed under his breath.

“Damn that bloodsucking pest to hell!”

After two days of covert surveillance, Steward Xie had received intelligence: someone was entering and leaving through the manor’s back gate in the dead of night.

The gatekeeper was called Ah Wu, an old drunkard who seemed human when sober but turned into a ghost once he touched alcohol—a dead-to-the-world sleeping ghost.

Once a man was dead asleep, what gate could he possibly watch? It simply gave others the opportunity to exploit.

Xie Xiaohua had kept watch for two nights running. The mosquitoes returned fully satisfied, but he came up empty.

Tonight was the third night.

That old drunkard Ah Wu had knocked back a few cups of cat piss and was snoring away again, his snores loud enough to shake the heavens. Steward Xiao Hua’s heart burned with such hatred that he nearly ground his teeth to dust.

Suddenly, footsteps!

Here they come!

Steward Xiao Hua instantly became as energized as if injected with chicken blood, his two eyes flashing with light.

From the darkness emerged a figure. The person first looked around in all directions, then crouched by the gatehouse window to listen for a moment before tiptoeing like a cat to the gate and gently pulling open the door bolt.

This person was none other than Ah Wu’s wife—Madam Zhou.

Madam Zhou put on an act of learning cat calls a few times, then another person emerged from the shadows.

Xie Xiaohua strained his eyes to look, and his mind exploded with a thunderous boom.

How could it be her?

She pulled two taels of broken silver from her sleeve and stuffed it into Madam Zhou’s hand, then skillfully squeezed through the gate opening.

Xie Xiaohua felt his ears buzzing.

Thank goodness he’d had the foresight to come alone on this mission. If there had been one more person, this matter couldn’t have been kept secret.

She was none other than the Madam’s chambermaid, Li Zhengjia’s wife.

Madam Zhou waited for Li Zhengjia’s wife to leave, then gently fastened the door bolt and walked away happily, fondling the silver.

Xie Xiaohua waited until the person had gone far, then emerged from the bushes. He stood in place for several breaths, gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and opened the door bolt to follow.

Damn it all—Lord Hua was going all in!

Lord Hua swung his two fat legs like he’d strapped on wind-and-fire wheels, and in just a few moments spotted Li Zhengjia’s wife’s silhouette.

He watched as Li Zhengjia’s wife skulked furtively to the alley entrance, stopped, then looked around in all directions.

Lord Hua quickly hid behind a large tree, sucking in his belly, clenching his buttocks, holding his breath.

Hell!

When he got back, he absolutely had to eat a few fewer bowls of rice. This physique was seriously hampering his performance.

Li Zhengjia’s wife waited anxiously for someone while Lord Hua took small quick steps forward a few paces and hid behind a tree, poking out his head to look. After a while, he took more quick steps forward and hid behind another tree… After three trees, Lord Hua was only a short dozen yards from Li Zhengjia’s wife.

Just then, a figure walked over in the moonlight. Lord Hua quickly held his breath and compressed himself into a stick, then little by little extended his two round, rolling eyes.

His eyes fixed on the newcomer, and Xie Xiaohua’s expression looked as if someone had cleaved it with a blade.

He recognized this person too—good heavens!

It was the steward from the Du Manor—good heavens!

Let me quickly hear what they’re plotting—good heavens!

I need to move forward one more tree. Yan the divine woman, please protect me from being discovered, or I’m dead for sure—good heavens!

At the alley entrance, just as the two heads came together, Steward Xie rose on tiptoe and moved forward nimbly like a rabbit.

Li Zhengjia’s wife had a guilty conscience and her ears perked up like a rabbit’s. “Who’s there?”

“Meow…”

A wild cat darted out and with a few leaps vanished from sight.

Li Zhengjia’s wife patted her chest and breathed a long sigh of relief. “You scared me to death.”

The Du Manor steward laughed. “Don’t be afraid. At this hour even ghosts have gone back to sleep. Where would there be people? Hurry and tell me—how are things at the Xie Manor now?”

“How else? In an uproar!”

Li Zhengjia’s wife leaned her head close and said in a low voice, “Please trouble yourself to tell the young miss…”

Young miss?

Du Yiyun?

Every hair on Xie Xiaohua’s body stood on end, and at the same time he thought with lingering fear: How wise I was to remain a bachelor—women are truly the source of disaster!

—

The carriage on the return journey was spacious, carrying only three people.

Li Buyan and Huang Qi had accompanied Guihua to the Water Moon Convent in the western suburbs.

The carriage was permeated with a faint smell of urine and feces. Young Master Pei was fumigated until his head felt heavy and his feet light, wishing he could just drive the carriage himself.

Glancing at Yan Sanhe and Xie Wushi sitting motionless beside him, he cursed inwardly: These two crude people!

Curse as he might, his buttocks remained firmly seated, and he flashed the divine woman a resolute smile. “So what do we do next?”

Yan Sanhe raised her eyes to meet Pei Xiao’s gaze. “We don’t need to visit the Jiaofang Bureau anymore.”

“Why not?”

“A place Yishui desperately wanted to escape from couldn’t possibly be where her heart demon resides. That’s reason one.”

Yan Sanhe said coolly, “Reason two: the water field garment and embroidered shoes are both from the Tang family. Her heart demon should be in the Tang residence.”

“Most urgently, we need to find two people first.”

Xie Zhifei continued, “One is Young Master Zhu, the other is Master Tang. These two are key figures.”

Yan Sanhe nodded in agreement. “As for that Li San, we can set him aside for now. After all, he’s just someone else’s chess piece.”

Young Master Pei frowned. “Then…”

Xie Zhifei: “Then let’s find Young Master Zhu first. His surname is rare—he’ll be easy to find.”

“I’ll trouble Third Master with this.”

Yan Sanhe looked at him with some concern. “Be careful when making inquiries. Tell me directly how much silver it costs. I can’t let you spend both money and effort.”

Young Master Pei: “Hey, he…”

“I won’t be polite with you.”

Xie Zhifei looked back at her, a helpless smile playing at the corners of his lips. “Right now it’s not a matter of silver. Right now it’s a matter of the Tang family.”

Young Master Pei: “The Tang family…”

Yan Sanhe: “I’m not afraid. It just depends on whether Third Master and Young Master Pei are afraid. If you are, you can…”

Young Master Pei heard the wrong tone in her words and hurried to pledge his loyalty. “What would I be afraid of? I…”

Xie Zhifei: “I’ll be as careful as possible. Don’t worry needlessly.”

Ignored Young Master Pei became angry. “Are you going to let people speak or not? You say something, I say something—where the hell do I stand in your eyes… Do I not exist?”

Yan Sanhe: “…” You don’t exist.

Xie Zhifei: “…” You don’t exist.

Yan Sanhe looked at Xie Zhifei with some guilt, then turned her face toward Pei Xiao. “You have another important mission.”

Important mission?

Young Master Pei perked up. “Tell me quickly.”

Yan Sanhe: “If you have time these next few days, accompany me to listen to some opera.”

“Hm?”

There’s such a good thing?

“Tang Zhiwei loved listening to opera when she was in her boudoir. I know nothing about opera. The military texts say: know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never be defeated in a hundred battles.”

Yan Sanhe raised an eyebrow. “Would Young Master Pei honor me with his company?”

Young Master Pei didn’t know if his brain had a spasm or if he was stimulated by just now being unable to get a word in, but he asked meanly, “Why don’t you ask Xie Wushi for such a good thing?”

Him?

Yan Sanhe’s gaze flickered.

I need to maintain proper boundaries!