Qun Qing was brought home by An Lin.

There was hot water at home. She removed her clothing and simply treated her wounds. Fortunately, aside from the gray falcon’s pecking wound on her arm that kept seeping blood, the other injuries were all light. Her wrist still hurt a bit.

That woman called Yue Niang brought her plain clothes for Qun Qing to change into. After Qun Qing had tidied herself up, Yue Niang cooked a bowl of steaming hot red date soup: “It replenishes blood. Miss, please drink some.”

An Lin said: “Thank you, Madam.”

Yue Niang’s gaze was gentle yet worried. She seemed to want to ask something, but seeing that An Lin and Qun Qing had matters to discuss, she still withdrew, gently barring the door.

Qun Qing saw shadows of her own mother in Yue Niang and couldn’t help but ask: “What are Brother An’s plans going forward?”

An Lin pondered: “What plans can there be? I just hope to have a corner of stable life in these chaotic times.”

“Now is no longer a time of chaos.” Qun Qing reminded him.

An Lin flipped through the ledger: “Miss Qing truly is the most capable person I’ve ever met. So many people died for this ledger, yet only you retrieved it. Rest assured, having obtained this item, I will definitely report to our master and promote you to ‘Heaven.'”

Qun Qing thought that actually it wasn’t her accomplishment alone, but she didn’t say this. After pausing, she said: “I want to ask Brother An something.”

An Lin found it strange that she showed no joy. He only heard her say: “The Master had us give the ledger to the Censorate—was it just to trigger mutual accusations among the officials?”

“That must be it. That Minister Wang at the Censorate is an incompetent official.” An Lin said. “Look at this ledger—it involves dozens of people. He won’t dare handle them all at once. With so many civil and military officials, they’ll all make a fuss trying to escape punishment. It will inevitably be chaos, and Emperor Chenming will have a headache.”

“As a result of that chaos, can the Cui family be punished and Siye Tower collapse?” Qun Qing asked.

“I know what you mean.” An Lin paused and sighed. “That mother and daughter who rolled on the nail board used to do odd jobs here. Yue Niang is soft-hearted and often helped them…”

“The reason I paid attention to this matter is because my mother also rolled on a nail board.” Qun Qing said flatly under An Lin’s surprised gaze. “My mother told me she was a Miao woman. As a young girl, because the local chieftain of her Miao village seized land and killed people, she came alone to Chang’an and rolled on a nail board to seek justice for her father.”

“At that time, it was Princess Imperial Changping who personally handled the case. Not only did she uphold justice for her, but because she had excellent needlework skills, she kept her by her side as a palace maid in charge of clothing. This is why my mother’s feelings for the Princess Imperial were immensely deep.”

“After I was born, I never saw my mother lack clothes or food, but I saw the nail scars on the soles of her feet.” Qun Qing continued. “Because of those injuries, she couldn’t walk long distances or run and jump with my brother and me. She was either sitting in a chair or sitting on the bedside.”

That was why she couldn’t imagine how Zhu Ying had trekked south with such feet.

“Miss Qing, you don’t want to hand the ledger to the Censorate?” An Lin said.

“If handing it to the Censorate is useless, why do it?” Qun Qing said. “In the short term, our master also cannot restore the nation. If the court is in chaos and the people suffer, what benefit is there for you and me?”

“Let me think about this.” An Lin’s expression looked somewhat grim.

Both fell silent. From outside the door came Yue Niang’s gentle humming as she lulled her daughter to sleep.

Halfway through the song, An Lin drained the wine in his cup and showed Qun Qing the empty bottom: “Miss Qing, those of us who work as hidden stakes must be wary of people. After a few days apart, we must carefully check if the person under that skin has changed hearts, yet you haven’t changed at all. Whether you’re ‘Heaven’ or ‘Kill,’ whether you’re my subordinate or not, I’m willing to associate with you!”

Seeing hope in persuading An Lin, warmth surged in Qun Qing’s heart: “As long as Brother An is willing to help me exchange the token, I can choose not to be ‘Heaven.'”

“Since you’ve said so, let’s do it your way. I’ll vouch for you.” An Lin said in a low voice. “You’ve already gone to the trouble of obtaining the ledger—it’s just that an ‘accident’ occurred during submission. Even the Master must understand—what in this world goes perfectly?”

An Lin returned the ledger to Qun Qing. Seeing the wound on her arm, he said: “Whose people were those today? Falcons are fierce birds of prey. That you could escape was truly perilous.”

“We were opposed from the start, merely using each other, cooperating to obtain the item. I was prepared long ago.” Qun Qing was very calm.

Having been a spy for many years, she was on guard against everyone, let alone Lu Huating whose position differed from hers. Because she was prepared, she had never harbored expectations.

Yet where his hand had grasped hers felt faintly warm, that sensation seemingly branded on her wrist.

Since Lu Huating detested spies, now that the ledger was obtained, she should have no more use value.

However, in that instant when the gray falcon lunged and she fell, what he grabbed wasn’t the ledger but her wrist.

Qun Qing wasn’t hard-hearted, but being too soft-hearted made it easy to become hesitant. She drank the red date soup clean. Thinking of Lu Huating’s scheme, she asked An Lin: “By the way, what exactly happened with the assassination of Prince Yan? Why didn’t they act?”

First, she worried she had transmitted the wrong instructions, causing Crown Prince Zhao to blame her. Second, those spies lying in ambush were human lives after all. If dozens of people were completely wiped out because of her, she would find it hard to accept for a time.

An Lin was surprised: “Wasn’t it because they listened to you and didn’t act rashly? Those people were originally unconvinced and cursed you behind your back. When Prince Yan’s ambush forces rushed out, they became as quiet as quails, not making a sound.”

“When did I say not to act rashly?” Qun Qing was puzzled. She clearly remembered writing “act,” so how had it become the opposite instruction?

An Lin was even more confused than her: “Miss Qing, the wax pill you transmitted to me said: ‘Would rather be punished, don’t take action.'”

Qun Qing’s eyes shifted. Suddenly realizing something, her heart sank: “Oh no, Su Run…”

An Lin said: “Who is Su Run?”

—

Su Run was standing by the door, hands trembling as he unfolded the note, confirming the characters on it once more.

“Act.”

Just two short characters, yet they seemed to contain countless important pieces of information.

Su Run hadn’t expected Qun Qing would give him such a response, but Miss Qing always had her reasons for doing things and had never made mistakes.

Qun Qing had already helped him so much. If he couldn’t comprehend her meaning, he couldn’t make her teach him survival by breaking everything down piece by piece like teaching a small child every time, could he?

Inside the bedchamber, sweet fruit fragrance filled the air. On the soft couch, golden curtains hung. Princess Danyang propped up her head, lying on her side on the soft couch with her back to him. A wide-sleeved robe embroidered with phoenixes drooped from the crook of her arm, exposing her neck and shoulders.

Su Run hid the note and, with the resolve to face death, pushed open the door and walked to the edge of the couch: “This subject Su Run, under orders to paint the Princess’s portrait.”

Princess Danyang started, instinctively pulling the wide sleeve upward. She only turned back to look at Su Run with astonishment, suspecting this person had been possessed by another soul.

Hadn’t he preferred death over doing such scandalous things?

Her eyes revealed listless interest. What death or no death—it was all just pretense.

Su Run began painting with brush strokes on the easel. Seeing his tense expression and unwavering gaze, Princess Danyang instead relaxed. She slid the robe down further, exposing her entire back. Across her back stretched crisscrossing scars from blades and weapons.

Su Run hadn’t expected to see such a sight. His brush involuntarily paused.

Seeing his prolonged silence, Princess Danyang said: “Minister Su, this Princess has scars on her back. Are they ugly and difficult to depict?”

Su Run finally said after a long while: “I’ve heard the Princess served in the military when young. It seems you fought personally. We subjects enjoy peace sitting comfortably—what right do we have to call them ugly? They should be considered the same as the scars of the Emperor and Prince Yan—marks of merit.”

Su Run added: “This subject excels at meticulous brushwork and will use gold ink to depict the Princess’s scars.”

Though Su Run’s response was nervous, it was neither servile nor overbearing, sincere and genuine. Princess Danyang couldn’t help but turn to look at him.

Afraid only that she wasn’t wearing clothes, Su Run turned his face away.

His gaze remained straight ahead as he quickly walked around to the window and closed it, only then startled to see someone in the courtyard.

It was Meng Guanlou. Seeing him close the window, his face had turned purple.

Su Run was greatly alarmed. Fortunately, they were far apart and Meng Guanlou hadn’t seen him. Princess Danyang laughed: “He came to beg me, hoping that for the sake of growing up together, I wouldn’t take my anger out on his family. This Princess wanted him to see exactly what kind of life this Princess lives.”

“If painting, why close the window, Minister Su? Can you not bear other men looking at this Princess?” Princess Danyang smiled. “Have you thought it through about pleasing this Princess like the other household officials?”

“It’s turned cold. The autumn wind penetrates to the bone, and the Princess isn’t wearing much.” Su Run said with his back to her. “That’s why I closed the window.”

Princess Danyang froze, pulling together that thin garment. Her frivolous expression faded.

She properly donned her clothes and carefully looked at Su Run’s painting. Her gaze swept over those scars in gold ink. Indeed pleased, after a long while, her tone softened considerably: “Minister Lu said you were good, but this Princess didn’t agree. Now it seems you truly have a gentleman’s bearing and aren’t a hypocritical sort. This Princess wronged you. Paint on. When you’ve finished painting, go help me copy that map on the desk as well.”

Su Run hadn’t blushed when he saw Princess Danyang improperly dressed earlier, but hearing her praise, he did blush.

As he traced the map, he couldn’t help but feel grateful for Qun Qing’s divine foresight. Princess Danyang truly wasn’t as unreasonable as he had imagined—he had been shortsighted.

—

Prince Yan’s Manor was brightly lit.

The gray falcon’s corpse lay on the ground. Chi Su knelt looking at it, her voice hoarse: “Though the Chief Clerk told this subordinate to remain at the Manor, this subordinate was worried. I disobeyed orders and switched with a府 soldier to follow, never expecting this beast to mishear the signal.”

Lu Huating gazed at her: “Worried—you were afraid your master would worry, weren’t you?”

Chi Su suddenly raised her eyes, her expression terrified.

The physician was setting Lu Huating’s wrist. The pain of setting bones was intense. Fine beads of sweat had clearly formed on his forehead, yet his face remained expressionless, his eyes reflecting dark shadows.

“Take her away.”

Chi Su struggled and sobbed but was still dragged away by two府 soldiers.

Zhu Su and the others witnessed this with suppressed expressions on their faces.

After a while, Jiao Su reported: “You had this subordinate secretly follow Chi Su recently. Last night this subordinate followed her to an estate where Chi Su quietly went to deliver clothes and food to someone.”

“It turns out that four years ago, Meng Guanlou found Chi Su’s younger brother and brought him into the Manor to serve as a府 soldier. Her brother was that ruffian who led the attack against us that day at East Market. The person was placed by Meng Guanlou on the estate and has already been captured by this subordinate.”

“How could she have a brother?” Juan Su was somewhat annoyed. “Doesn’t the Chief Clerk always select people with weak family ties and no siblings?”

“That day Chi Su and her grandparents colluded with the villagers to conceal this, thinking getting two official positions was taking advantage.” Jiao Su said. “Meng Guanlou threatened Chi Su with her brother’s life and her future prospects, so Chi Su agreed and became an inside agent…”

“How will the Chief Clerk deal with Chi Su?” Juan Su said.

Prince Yan’s Manor couldn’t tolerate betrayal. Today she nearly snatched away the ledger. It seemed Chi Su’s life couldn’t be saved.

Lu Huating’s voice was like a plucked string: “Confine these two in a narrow cell and feed them gut-wrenching poison. Leave only one dose of antidote. Since she cares so much about her brother, let her see if it’s worth it.”