Inside the private room, Qun Qing looked down through the carved window at the pool of water in the inner courtyard.

On the water platform, dancing girls swayed their waists, their skirt hems opening like pomegranate flowers. Colored lanterns on all sides were enchanting and dazzling, making even the moon’s reflection in the water appear pale and colorless.

This window filtered the noisy music, making it faint and distant. Presumably people outside couldn’t hear those inside speaking either. Qun Qing asked, “What is the Chief Administrator retrieving?”

Lu Huating was brewing tea. Water struck the bottom of the cup, producing a crisp sound. Instead, he asked leisurely, “What does Miss Qing think of Siye Tower’s furnishings?”

“Heaped with gold and jade.” Qun Qing turned around, her gaze sweeping over the purple jade inkstone on the shelf, the incense beast burner, and the jade cup in Lu Huating’s hand. She discovered that while the furnishings in this room appeared simple and elegant, each item was actually priceless. “I heard the Cui family hoarded goods and raised prices during the war, exploiting the common people to build their fortune. I didn’t expect them to have this much.”

“How much money could the common people have?” Lu Huating smiled. “Even scraping together all of Chang’an’s wealth from the people wouldn’t reach this degree—being able to build such a tall building from flat ground within one year.”

“Does the Chief Administrator mean the money has other sources?” Qun Qing asked.

“When His Majesty entered Chang’an, the entire court of civil and military officials was trembling with fear, not knowing the new ruler’s temperament. On the surface they pledged allegiance, but secretly they quietly transferred their family wealth, leaving only their official titles with empty sleeves. This way, even if the monarch became enraged and executed them with confiscation of property, as long as any of their wives, concubines, or children survived, they could still live freely with that money.”

“Looking throughout Chang’an, where does silver flow abundantly, where adding money to the books wouldn’t attract attention? Only merchant establishments opening wine houses.”

Qun Qing continued, “So the Cui family became their chosen place to hide family wealth. Taking such risks for all the officials, they naturally demanded benefits. The Cui family actually built their fortune on these commissions.”

She had wondered how Cui Zhu, a mere merchant, could achieve “collusion with all officials”—so this was the situation.

“Since they’re holding assets on behalf of others and must eventually return them one by one, to keep things clear, there should be a true ledger recording who has how much money.” Qun Qing probed.

“Miss guessed correctly. What I want is precisely this true ledger.” Lu Huating said.

What a coincidence! Qun Qing’s heart tightened—she also wanted this true ledger.

“Does that true ledger have the Chief Administrator’s name on it?” Qun Qing took a sip of tea to mask her expression. Powerful officials throughout history were rarely free from corruption, and she was somewhat curious.

Hearing this, Lu Huating paused. His dark eyes flickered as he curved his lips. “If Miss thinks so, then so be it.”

Speaking thus, he turned and poured the tea from his cup into the bamboo pot. So the first cup of tea was for rinsing the cup, but Qun Qing had already drunk from it. Lu Huating deliberately didn’t remind her. From his reaction, he had no profit connections with Cui Zhu and was quite averse to others speculating as such.

“Then how can the Chief Administrator call Cui Zhu brother, and today that madam…” Qun Qing’s tone was very innocent.

Did she want to grasp evidence of his crimes so badly?

Lu Huating smiled. “Besides being grasshoppers on the same rope, isn’t it possible that Cui Zhu also likes regular customers who spend lavishly? Siye Tower is different from other music halls—its private rooms aren’t used on rotation. Customers who spend enough can privately own rooms, hold their own keys, and even Siye Tower’s cleaning maids cannot enter.”

No wonder the room’s arrangement was elegant and refined, completely different from the gorgeous decorations outside—it was Lu Huating’s own private room.

Qun Qing’s gaze drifted. This room was very small. Besides where they currently sat facing each other, there wasn’t even a bed. If flower girls were called in…

“Miss Qing is the first guest here.” Seeing her eyes flicker, not knowing where her thoughts had gone, Lu Huating smiled warmly, though his eyes were extremely dark and cold.

The doors and windows were sealed too tightly. Lu Huating had proven the cleanliness of where she sat, yet Qun Qing felt that the desk, cushions, incense burner, and lush potted plants—the unfamiliar atmosphere belonging to another person—pressed toward her from all sides, as if she had fallen into someone else’s private territory. She blurted out, “It’s a bit small.”

Lu Huating paused. “My monthly salary isn’t much either.”

“When did the Chief Administrator start spending at Siye Tower?”

“A year ago.”

A year ago, Emperor Chenming hadn’t even proclaimed himself emperor yet. Lu Huating had planted this thread so early—no wonder Cui Zhu wasn’t guarded against him. At that time, probably few people were concerned with officials transferring assets. How could Lu Huating have such keen insight? Could he foresee the future?

Qun Qing couldn’t figure it out for the moment.

She had never been to Siye Tower and originally thought that once Lu Huating brought her here and she was familiar with the environment, she would part ways with him. Now that their goals were the same, she wasn’t in a hurry to leave. A pair of upturned eyes surveyed the surroundings. “Was the Chief Administrator once a Buddhist disciple?”

Lu Huating raised his eyes. “How do you know?”

“I guessed. The Chief Administrator’s sandalwood prayer beads are Buddhist implements, plus this gold band wrapped around the bamboo has Sanskrit on it.” Qun Qing looked at the green bamboo plant, appearing casual. “I’ve heard the Kingdom of Liuli has a flower called Udumbara. Has the Chief Administrator ever seen it?”

“The Kingdom of Liuli’s sacred flower…” Candlelight illuminated Lu Huating’s wrist bone, elegant and distinct. Not knowing what he was thinking, ink-colored depths seemed to flow in his eyes. “I’ve seen it.”

Then he watched as Qun Qing rummaged in her sleeve for quite a while before pulling out a plain handkerchief. Opening it revealed a jade-green seed wrapped inside.

“…I’ve only seen it, never planted it.” Lu Huating hadn’t expected her to produce a seed.

Qun Qing wouldn’t give up. “I just want the Chief Administrator to identify whether this seed is truly an Udumbara.”

Lu Huating pinched a corner and dragged the handkerchief before himself. Then silver light flashed—at some point he had removed the silver dagger hanging from his waist and cut the seed in half.

“Who told you to cut it?” Qun Qing’s eyes widened, feeling fury and coldness simultaneously rush to the back of her head.

Seeing her distress, an innocent smile floated onto Lu Huating’s face. “If I don’t cut it open, how can I diagnose it for Miss?”

Qun Qing also saw—the seed’s cross-section showed the crescent-shaped embryo had turned gray in the center.

“It is indeed an Udumbara.” Lu Huating looked down at it. “Unfortunately, it’s a stone seed.”

“What’s a stone seed?”

“A seed placed on an offering table, fumigated by incense smoke for over ten years. Because the embryo was damaged by smoke, it becomes like stone and cannot sprout.” Lu Huating said.

Hearing this, Qun Qing silently collected both halves of the seed and wrapped them up. Now she needn’t try planting it anymore.

“Very important to Miss?” Lu Huating observed her expression, his eyes brilliant. “Bestowed by imperial decree?”

Qun Qing suddenly looked up, but showed no anger. Her eyes under long lashes were clear. “If it bloomed, what would it look like?”

“The flower is white…” But Lu Huating suddenly realized this information’s importance to her. He leaned back against the low cabinet, his upturned eyes looking at her as he smiled. “As for the rest, I don’t remember.”

“Single or double petals?” Qun Qing asked.

“Can’t remember clearly.”

A cold smile spread from Qun Qing’s lips. Being opponents, naturally Lu Huating wouldn’t help her. Information beneficial to her had no reason to be leaked.

At this moment came a knock at the door. The entering flower girl held a wooden tray containing four dishes of exquisite cuisine emitting a crispy fragrance.

“Has Miss eaten?” Lu Huating wasn’t surprised—apparently he had ordered this food. “The crispy duck here can be tasted.”

Lu Huating was quite polite—cooperating to retrieve objects and even treating her to a meal.

“Please select wine, Miss.” The flower girl handed the menu to Qun Qing.

Following the flower girl in was that Madam Liu from before. Earlier when she went out to purchase supplies, she was knocked unconscious by guards, brought by Lu Huating to the Court of Judicial Review’s prison, and made to witness Cui Shi’s entire torture session. Scared out of her wits, she not only confessed but was willing to act as an inside agent, only begging for reduced punishment.

Madam Liu’s gaze collided with Lu Huating’s. She pointed at Qun Qing with difficulty. Lu Huating’s expression paused as he raised his hand to dismiss her.

How could Qun Qing not notice their small exchange? It seemed she had been marked by that Cui Zhu. The way he looked at her earlier was like an eagle eyeing a rabbit, but she wasn’t afraid. She calmly turned a page of the menu. As a spy, escaping danger was her instinct.

“Whatever the Chief Administrator usually drinks, I’ll also taste.” Qun Qing returned the menu to the flower girl. She rarely drank outside and couldn’t understand what those fancy names corresponded to.

She wanted to drink what he usually drank? Lu Huating couldn’t help but raise his lashes.

“Master Lu must frequently order wine.” Qun Qing smiled back at him. “Wine in the building is much more expensive than food. To spend lavishly, you can’t just order several thousand crispy ducks.”

“Floating Crabapple Reflecting Snow, one pot.” The flower girl presented the wine pot and closed and locked the door.

This wine’s fragrance resembled flowers, wafting from the spout. When poured into cups, the fragrance floated even more, making one feel immersed in a sea of flowers.

The scent was surprisingly fragrant. Qun Qing was curious. After Lu Huating filled her cup, she picked it up and tasted a sip.

This sip was like a knife entering her throat. After a moment, fierce fire rose from below, directly reflecting to both cheeks.

Qun Qing recovered after a moment. She hadn’t expected that Lu Huating, who didn’t seem like someone who craved alcohol, would enjoy drinking such strong liquor. Besides the spiciness, she couldn’t taste any flavor at all. Just as she was about to take another sip, Lu Huating pressed down her wine cup. His smile held absurdity and a trace of tension. “Could Miss not know how to drink?”

Qun Qing didn’t realize her cheeks had already flushed bright red. Understanding his tense expression was fear of delaying today’s mission, she said coldly, “Even if drunk, it won’t affect you.”

Who knew that before she finished speaking, another ball of flame rose from her stomach and exploded in her chest cavity. Qun Qing’s eyes paused. Her entire neck and the skin above the low neckline spread with pale red, concealed under that plain white outer garment. She quickly picked up a fan to wave at her face. Lu Huating shifted his gaze away, only seeing the red droplet pearl earring on her ear swaying violently.

For a moment he was speechless. Raising his sleeve as a shield, he drank all the Floating Crabapple Reflecting Snow in his cup in one gulp, then stood up and pushed open the window above.

Cool wind blew on his face. The music outside suddenly became clearly audible.

Qun Qing also felt the wind and suppressed the alcohol. “It’s fine. Very clear-headed.”

She glanced at Lu Huating. After drinking that cup, his fair complexion showed no change—only his lips were moistened by the wine to an even deeper red, his entire person seemingly emanating the clear fragrance of Floating Crabapple Reflecting Snow.

After they ate a few bites of food, Lu Huating proposed leaving. Presumably he feared she would become more intoxicated later and less clear-headed, making today’s efforts come to nothing. As they walked, he took several sheets of paper from his chest and handed them to Qun Qing.

“This is the layout and furnishings of Siye Tower’s four floors. I’ve marked names on the private rooms.”

Qun Qing took the papers to look at them, her long lashes concealing the expression in her eyes.

“Now can Miss tell me how that nursery rhyme is decoded?” Lu Huating asked.

—September hibiscus flowers, eighteen marries four families.

In Nan Chu spy communication documents, the character “marry” corresponded to “coordinates.” When numbers encountered the tens place, they were added together. “Eighteen” was actually “nine.”

“Eighteen marries four families” meant “counting from left in horizontal row nine, counting from top in vertical row four.”

However, as Qun Qing flipped through the four sheets of paper, she discovered that on no floor, whether horizontal or vertical, were there nine private rooms at all.

There was no choice but to reveal everything. Her gaze lifted from the papers. “Actually I only know the meaning of the latter half—I don’t know the first half.”

As these words fell, Lu Huating’s steps halted.

Presumably he hadn’t expected at all that Qun Qing would dare dig a trap to deceive him on this matter. Cold intent burst from his entire person. “Why didn’t you say so that day?”

Seeing he seemed angry, Qun Qing also felt somewhat uneasy, but if she hadn’t acted that way, how could she have achieved gaining much from little? “If I had said so that day, would the Chief Administrator still have let me come?”

“If you had said so that day, I could have started thinking three days ago.” After Lu Huating spoke lightly, he coldly brushed past her and walked ahead.

Now there were only just over two hours until midnight closing. Having to burst forth with quick wit within these two hours presumably made Lu Huating’s pressure increase sharply. Qun Qing followed.

Musicians, dancers, and drunken patrons ran through the corridor, mixed with cheerful music—a lively scene. Lu Huating went straight down to the second floor’s central court. From time to time embroidered balls brushed their sleeves, making flower petals dance in the air.

This area was filled with blooming potted flowers—over a hundred pots of flowers densely piled together, forming a sea of red and pink flowers.

Lu Huating stood before the flower sea identifying them for a while, then directed a servant. “Move out that pot of hibiscus flowers in the third row.”

Occasionally patrons also made unconventional requests to move flowers from outside into rooms. The servant nodded and bowed, walked into the flower sea, and brought out that pot of hibiscus flowers.

But Lu Huating didn’t accept it. As if knowing Qun Qing was following behind, he said coldly, “What Miss wants, let Miss hold it.”

The servant, panting, placed this large pot of blooming hibiscus flowers in Qun Qing’s arms. The potted flower was quite heavy—ordinary young ladies probably couldn’t hold it, but Qun Qing had martial arts skills, so for her it was only somewhat strenuous.

Little did she know Lin Yujia was coming up from the first floor. Seeing Lu Huating, he quickly hid by the railing. He saw a tall, slender flower girl following behind him, her figure very familiar. Lin Yujia craned his neck to look, but that flower girl’s face was blocked behind the blooming hibiscus flowers and could never be seen clearly.

The two walked behind a pillar. Lu Huating walking in front turned around and looked down at her. Qun Qing averted her face and discovered he suddenly reached out—only to remove one of her hairpins. Grasping this hairpin, he slowly poked it into the hibiscus flower’s soil. Blue veins even showed on the back of his pale hand.

Qun Qing had no doubt that in his heart he wanted to poke like this at her holding the flowers. Watching his actions, she tried asking, “How many petals does the Udumbara have?”

Lu Huating remained silent, pulling out the hairpin to forcefully stab it down elsewhere.

“Is it similar to this hibiscus flower? Tell me, I’ll help the Chief Administrator solve it together—maybe it’ll be faster.” Qun Qing said. “It seems the ledger isn’t buried in this pot.”

Lu Huating had already finished verifying. Hearing this, he clattered the mud-covered hairpin onto the ground and turned to leave.

Though this hairpin was jewelry Lu Huating had placed in the bundle and thus belonged to him, discarding it was still wasteful. Qun Qing set the hibiscus flowers beside the pillar, picked up the hairpin, and followed him to the top floor. Compared to the clamor downstairs, the fourth floor was the flower girls’ residences. Most wooden doors were closed—very cold and quiet. The two walked one after another through the narrow passage partitioned by wooden doors.

Lu Huating pulled a red cord. At the end of the corridor, hanging red gauze curtains floated down, revealing an entire wall of jade plaques. Over a hundred thin jade plaques trembled in profusion when blown by wind, producing crisp sounds.

Qun Qing looked up at these jade plaques. Each plaque was written with a flower girl’s stage name. At Siye Tower, flowers could be real flowers or could be people.

“Take down that jade plaque.” Lu Huating stood before the wall of jade plaques and looked for a moment before pointing. That jade plaque was clearly carved with cinnabar writing: “Jade Hibiscus.”

“Master, what bad luck—Yu Nu hasn’t been in the building for a long time. We just forgot to take down her jade plaque. Why not choose someone else?” The servant holding a long pole looked closely and apologized repeatedly.

Qun Qing’s heart stirred. So “Jade Hibiscus” was Yu Nu’s stage name, but she didn’t show joy on her face.

Lu Huating also seemed completely unaware and pressed, “Not in the building—where did she go?”

“This Yu Nu, last September was chosen by Court Gentleman Meng and made to permanently reside in his private room. Later Court Gentleman Meng doted on her and even redeemed her status. Now she’s already a legitimate concubine.”

September… hibiscus flowers…

If Chun Niang had hidden the ledger in Meng Guanlou’s private room, Cui Zhu wouldn’t dare easily enter. With Yu Nu permanently residing in Meng Guanlou’s room, she would certainly have the key—this would be easy to accomplish.

Qun Qing met Lu Huating’s dark eyes.

According to the layout on those papers, Meng Guanlou’s private room was directly below Lu Huating’s room.