◎Xiniang, I trust you have been well◎

The Dao Sect wasn’t far from the Eastern Capital. If one had deep internal energy and could use lightness skills to travel swiftly, it could be reached in half a day. Riding hard along the nearest official road would take less than a day.

However, Luo Wanqing had set out from the Dao Sect two days ago and traveled for two days, mainly because she had made a detour to Huaicheng.

After Huaicheng, all roads were the necessary route from Yangzhou to the Eastern Capital. She specifically inquired with the Supervision Department people in Huaicheng and confirmed that Zhang Yiran hadn’t passed through there, so she knew he likely hadn’t entered the Eastern Capital yet.

Zhang Yiran had departed from Yangzhou a month ago. If he were traveling openly on official roads with his identity revealed, he would certainly use carriages with an official escort, taking about half a month. Huaicheng should have had news long ago.

But now there was no news on the official roads, so Zhang Yiran very likely hadn’t revealed his identity on the regular official roads, but had found ways to conceal his identity and taken detours.

Luo Wanqing wasn’t surprised by this. Zhang Yiran wasn’t a fool. If he were bringing someone from Jiangnan to the Eastern Capital so openly, passing through every city requiring travel documents, people in the Eastern Capital would be notified halfway through the journey.

He was bringing Ji Qing, who was Zhou Chun’s advisor. Given Zheng Pingsheng’s position, he might not notice such a minor figure, but Li Guiyu was different.

Li Guiyu had spent five years in Jiangnan and probably knew the entire officialdom inside and out. Moreover, the details of this case should have been arranged by Li Guiyu personally. As soon as Ji Qing’s name appeared, Li Guiyu should react immediately.

Though Zheng Biyue’s death had made Li Guiyu’s alliance with the Zheng family precarious, this was still a matter Li Guiyu had handled personally—he wouldn’t ignore it.

Whether to exploit or prevent it, Li Guiyu would certainly react.

If Zhang Yiran was trying to conceal his identity, then after a month, he should be approaching the Eastern Capital. The road after Huaicheng had no alternate routes and no other cities requiring identity documents. If she followed the official road with Lianqing, and Zhang Yiran was on the road, they would meet. If not, there were two possibilities: he had reached the Eastern Capital, or… something had happened.

Thinking of Zhang Yiran meeting with trouble, Luo Wanqing’s heart sank slightly. Without further delay, she quickly finished the rice in her bowl and, before dawn, left the inn to continue pursuing toward the Eastern Capital.

She pursued while observing Lianqing. In his letter, Zhang Yiran said he would carry Fengxun incense from the Supervision Department with him, and if there was an opportunity, to have her find him.

Lianqing’s detection range for Fengxun incense was about ten li. If Lianqing reacted, that would be perfect.

But Lianqing remained obediently perched on her shoulder. After riding for half an hour as the sky fully brightened, Luo Wanqing had mostly given up on meeting Zhang Yiran on the road and rushed straight toward the Eastern Capital.

Just as she was only a few li from the Eastern Capital, Lianqing suddenly cried out excitedly and charged toward the nearby mountain forest.

Luo Wanqing realized Lianqing had discovered someone and quickly pursued. Though small, Lianqing flew extremely fast. Luo Wanqing rode urgently into the forest and soon heard sounds of fighting in the distance, accompanied by the sound of galloping horses and someone’s wails: “I’m not with them, my lord, spare me, spare me!”

Luo Wanqing looked up to see Zhang Yiran lying on a maddened horse, carrying another person, both racing madly toward the distance.

Behind him, Qinglu intercepted one wave of assassins but couldn’t stop another group pursuing them.

The man lying motionless on Zhang Yiran’s horse screamed: “Lord Zhang! Don’t run, there’s a cliff ahead!!”

But Zhang Yiran couldn’t stop at all. He had driven the horse mad by stabbing it with his blade—now he could only charge forward.

Seeing this scene from afar, Luo Wanqing immediately rode swiftly forward. She charged so fast that no one could react in time.

Zhang Yiran had no idea what was happening behind him. He only saw the cliff getting closer, with his companion urging, “Lord Zhang, stop! You’ll kill me! Lord Zhang!”

Zhang Yiran desperately tried to rein in the horse, but it was completely out of control. His heart pounded as he breathed rapidly, his mind blank. Just as the horse was about to leap over the cliff with him, a hand suddenly reached across his body and grabbed the reins!

This hand was slender, lustrous, white, and beautiful. If not for the thick calluses at the tiger’s mouth, it would be no different from an ordinary young lady’s—perhaps even more beautiful.

Yet this very hand, the moment it grasped the reins, exploded with astonishing strength, yanking the reins and violently pulling both horse and riders back!

As the horse was flipped by this force, Zhang Yiran and his passenger flew uncontrollably toward the cliff. Luo Wanqing cursed inwardly, grabbed Zhang Yiran with one hand while leaping up to kick the other person back to safety, then pulled Zhang Yiran back to the cliff’s edge.

Before Zhang Yiran could steady himself, the black-clothed pursuers had caught up. Qinglu leaped down to the bound man on the ground and hoisted him up. Luo Wanqing kicked away an attacking assassin, grabbed Zhang Yiran’s wrist, and said: “Follow me!”

With that, Qinglu carried the man and followed Luo Wanqing as all four fled into the forest.

Luo Wanqing had passed through this mountain forest when coming from Yangzhou, so she was fairly familiar with it. After briefly assessing the pursuing enemies, she knew they posed no real threat. Having spare energy, she turned back to look at Zhang Yiran and smiled: “Lord Zhang, we meet again.”

Being led by Luo Wanqing as they bounded through the trees, Zhang Yiran was frightened and panicked but still tried to maintain composure, bowing: “Greetings, Inspector Liu.”

Hearing his voice, Luo Wanqing knew he was scared. Listening to the wind sounds behind them, she turned to pull him along, kicked away an approaching enemy, and led him deeper into the forest, comforting: “These people are no threat. If you…”

Before she could finish, Luo Wanqing heard a sharp whistling sound from behind!

The sound was too urgent, too sharp, too piercing. Luo Wanqing dared not catch the arrow and could only push Zhang Yiran aside violently, both tumbling to the ground together.

Before Luo Wandqing could stand, another arrow came from behind!

Luo Wanqing’s face instantly turned cold. Her blade flashed from her waist, putting all her strength into a fierce downward slash, severing the arrow just half an inch before it reached her.

Then, without a moment’s pause, she charged toward the direction the arrow came from, attacking as defense, seeking the archer while shouting: “Run!”

That arrow had been full of internal energy, comparable to the one Li Guiyu had shot at Fangfei Pavilion, but Li Guiyu lacked such precision; this was a long-term archery practitioner.

Those skilled in long-range attacks were weak in close combat. Given that person’s archery level, continuing to passively wait for arrows would mean certain death.

Thinking of that arrow, Luo Wanqing’s heart pounded like drums, realizing she had been half an inch from death.

She couldn’t give the archer another chance to shoot. She could only counter-attack to disrupt their composure, giving Zhang Yiran and the others a chance to escape.

But the opponent clearly understood her thinking. The moment Qinglu moved with Zhang Yiran, an arrow flew past her, heading straight for Zhang Yiran.

Seeing this, Luo Wanqing quickly drew her blade in a spinning slash while another arrow shot toward her.

This arrow came faster than the previous ones—the arrow at Zhang Yiran was bait, and this was the real target.

They wanted to kill her!

But though they were fast, her blade was faster. Though their arrow was fierce, her blade was fiercer.

As the arrow approached, she channeled all her internal energy into one strike, meeting the arrow head-on, splitting the arrowhead and cleaving the arrow in half while slashing horizontally toward the forest shadows.

Seeing her direction, someone cried out: “Protect the Young Master!”

The moment the voice fell, everyone charged at her together. Qinglu seized the opportunity to grab Zhang Yiran and dash away.

All the black-clothed figures surrounded Luo Wanqing. After parrying several moves and confirming Qinglu had taken Zhang Yiran to safety, she kicked over a black-clothed attacker and said cheerfully: “I have business today, so I must take my leave. Farewell!”

With that, Luo Wanqing turned and fled down another path. The black-clothed figures pursued for two steps before hearing a young man’s cold voice from the forest: “No need to pursue. You’re no match for her.”

A blue-clothed youth slowly emerged from the forest, watching Luo Wanqing’s escape direction calmly: “Notify the city gates to be on high alert. Take my warrant and, under the pretext of pursuing bandits, strictly examine all who enter the city.”

“Then…” A middle-aged man emerged from nearby, anxiously asking, “We’re not killing Liu Xiniang?”

“Ji Qing is what matters.”

The youth turned around, saying coldly, “Go tell Li Guiyu that Liu Xiniang has returned. If he won’t kill her, I’ll do it myself.”

The youth walked into the forest, but Luo Wanqing had long since fled.

After running for a while and confirming no one was following, she pulled Lianqing from her chest, sent her upward, and urged: “Go find Lord Zhang.”

Lianqing chirped and flew in a direction. Following Lianqing for a moment, Luo Wanqing finally found Zhang Yiran’s group under a large tree.

When she arrived, they were bandaging wounds. Luo Wanqing leaped down from the tree, startling Qinglu, who jumped up: “Who?!”

“Me.”

Luo Wanqing landed and surveyed everyone.

Qinglu had some injuries, Zhang Yiran seemed fine, while the man bound tightly on the ground saw Luo Wanqing and immediately wailed: “Hero, save me! Save me!”

“Are you Ji Qing?”

Luo Wanqing looked over curiously. Ji Qing was startled, then asked hesitantly: “Does the hero know me?”

“I do,” Luo Wanqing nodded, then looked at Zhang Yiran strangely: “Didn’t he volunteer to testify?”

Looking at this man’s attitude, he seemed anything but voluntary.

Hearing this, Ji Qing immediately said urgently: “Hero, I’m not voluntary! It’s Zhang… no, Zhang Yiran kidnapped me! Hero, save me! I have an eighty-year-old mother above and…”

“Ahem,” seeing Ji Qing getting more outrageous, Zhang Yiran coughed lightly: “He…”

Zhang Yiran hesitated for a moment, then finally stood up and beckoned to Luo Wanqing: “Xiniang, come with me. I’ll speak with you privately.”

Luo Wanqing found this odd but still followed Zhang Yiran’s words, walking aside with him.

Zhang Yiran led her to a corner where Ji Qing couldn’t hear, then said quietly: “Well, he…”

“He’s unwilling?” Seeing Zhang Yiran’s hesitation, Luo Wanqing spoke directly.

Zhang Yiran paused, looking somewhat embarrassed as he nodded: “Yes.”

“Then you…”

Luo Wanqing didn’t have the nerve to ask. If the man was unwilling to testify, then clearly Zhang Yiran had bound him, but for what?

“Though he’s unwilling, he’s timid.”

Zhang Yiran glanced toward Ji Qing and whispered, “At first, a little scare made him confess everything. He said he’d testify, then got scared again. Before you came, he kept saying he’d be our servant and point the finger. Now that you’re here, he’s changed his tune again. This person is unpredictable, so I thought I’d bring him back first.”

“Your method of ‘bringing’ him…” Luo Wanqing hesitated, “Seems rather forceful?”

“A bit,” Zhang Yiran also understood Luo Wanqing was referring to him binding the man, and honestly admitted: “I had Qinglu knock him out while he was sleeping and carried him away.”

Luo Wanqing was speechless for a moment, keeping all her thoughts to herself.

Zhang Yiran didn’t dare look at her, saying awkwardly: “If I had gone through proper procedures and said I was taking him to the Eastern Capital to testify, I feared alerting the enemy, so I used this desperate measure.”

Knocking him out and carrying him away meant no one knew where he’d gone. By the time they reached the Eastern Capital and filed the complaint, no one could react in time.

Looking at Zhang Yiran, Luo Wanqing was quite pleased: “Lord Zhang has grown up.”

“Xiniang, please don’t joke,” Zhang Yiran shook his head. “It was desperation.”

“Alright,” knowing Zhang Yiran wasn’t one for jokes, Luo Wanqing became serious: “Bringing him is what matters. I’ll think about how to interrogate and intimidate him later. Entering the city is urgent now.”

With that, Luo Wanqing led Zhang Yiran back. Seeing them return, Ji Qing seemed to have recovered from his panic, realizing Luo Wanqing and Zhang Yiran were together. Watching them approach, he hurried forward: “Lord Zhang, I was just temporarily confused earlier, talking nonsense. Miss,” Ji Qing looked at Luo Wanqing and bowed, “please don’t take offense. I’m accompanying Lord Zhang to the Eastern Capital to file a complaint. Lord Zhang treats me very well.”

Looking at his complete change of face, Luo Wanqing was somewhat amused but said nothing more. She turned to look at Qinglu, who was sitting and circulating energy, asking with concern: “Qinglu, are you alright?”

“Minor injuries.”

Qinglu opened her eyes and looked up at Luo Wanqing: “Are we leaving?”

“Yes,” Luo Wanqing nodded, turning toward the Eastern Capital: “Let’s enter the city quickly to avoid complications.”

Qinglu thought the same, so everyone immediately set off toward the Eastern Capital.

Perhaps fearing Zhang Yiran’s resentment, Ji Qing’s attitude completely changed along the way, bustling about serving Zhang Yiran and flattering him.

Luo Wanqing and Qinglu walked behind, inquiring about the past month’s situation.

After she and Xing Ling left Jiangnan, Xiang Sizi was worried about Zhang Yiran and left her in Jiangnan to protect him.

Originally, Xiang Sizi wanted to follow personally, but Xie Heng was uneasy about her being alone outside, so he brought her back to the Eastern Capital.

“Why does Xiang Sizi value Lord Zhang so much?”

Hearing Qinglu’s words, Luo Wanqing was somewhat puzzled. Qinglu glanced at her and only reminded: “Have you forgotten Jiuran?”

Hearing Zhang Jiuran’s name, Luo Wanqing was startled, then understood—Xiang Sizi valued Zhang Yiran because of Zhang Jiuran.

Her heart felt somewhat melancholy, then she explained: “I just didn’t expect Xiang Sizi to care so much about Jiuran.”

“Master valued Sister Jiuran greatly, but Sister Jiuran couldn’t get past her barriers.”

Qinglu’s tone was flat, revealing no emotion.

Luo Wanqing thought for a moment, then asked: “So it was just you and Lord Zhang on this journey, plus Ji Qing?”

“Yes.”

“How did you get here?”

Luo Wanqing was puzzled: “Looking at Ji Qing’s state, bringing a bound person along the way would easily attract attention, wouldn’t it?”

“So we kept drugging him on the road,” Qinglu explained, “and I pretended to be Zhang’s sister, escorting a coffin home.”

Luo Wanqing immediately understood—they had kept Ji Qing in a coffin the whole way. That was indeed a good method.

“But after Huaicheng, we were discovered. That’s when we learned that Yangzhou’s government had issued a warrant for Ji Qing. Now all officials can legitimately arrest him.”

Luo Wanqing nodded, understanding: “It should be that news of Ji Qing’s disappearance reached the Eastern Capital, and someone there reacted.”

As they walked and talked, before noon, they emerged from the forest onto the official road.

They walked along the forest edge to near the city gate, where they saw people. Everyone fell silent, lurking in the forest from afar, watching the distant gate.

A crowd was blocked at the city gate, queuing for inspection.

Zhang Yiran looked once and frowned, turning to Luo Wanqing: “They’re examining people. Ji Qing is now a wanted criminal—he can’t enter this way.”

“Mm.”

Luo Wanqing responded. Even if Ji Qing weren’t wanted, she wouldn’t have planned to let him enter through the main gate.

Everyone entering the city gates would be recorded. Those people were clearly after Ji Qing, and she preferred they remain unclear about where he’d gone.

Luo Wanqing thought for a moment and nodded: “We need to sneak in. We can’t let Ji Qing leave a record of entering at the city gate.”

“How do we sneak in?” Qinglu frowned.

Hearing this, nearby Ji Qing became anxious: “Everyone, it’s very troublesome. Why don’t you just release me here? We’ll part ways—I’ll return to Yangzhou myself. Just lend me some travel money…”

“I have a way.”

Zhang Yiran spoke calmly. Everyone looked over, but Zhang Yiran was looking at Luo Wanqing: “Hijack a carriage.”

Without waiting for Luo Wanqing to nod, he looked at her and reminded, “That’s how you snuck in originally.”

Hearing Zhang Yiran mention this, Luo Wanqing choked. She couldn’t tell if Zhang Yiran was being intentional, so she could only pretend not to hear and nodded: “Alright, I’ll go hijack a carriage. You wait for me.”

Zhang Yiran and Qinglu nodded. Seeing the situation, Ji Qing also chose to remain silent.

Luo Wanqing leaped from the forest onto the official road. After surveying for a moment, her gaze stopped on a particularly luxurious carriage.

They had three people and needed a larger carriage to hide in. Most importantly, with the city gates under strict examination, they needed an aristocratic family member whose status could pressure others into forcing entry.

This carriage was twice the size of ordinary carriages, with exquisite and complex craftsmanship, carved flowers, and gold bells—very valuable. Though it lacked the unique family crests of great houses, it certainly wasn’t owned by common people.

Moreover, this carriage was parked remotely, out of place with the crowd, with very few guards around—convenient for her hijacking.

After observing for a moment and confirming this was the most suitable target nearby, she circled from the nearby reed marsh.

The carriage had only one driver. She crept around to the carriage’s rear.

The carriage’s back window was wide open, revealing the occupant’s back. He wore snow-white robes with silver embroidered flowers, a jade crown set with pearls, appearing like a blooming snow plum among the rolling gauze curtains.

He sat properly with an extremely attractive back, looking somewhat familiar. But compared to the person in her memory, the man before her had a gentler temperament and more ornate, complex clothing, completely different in style from the person she knew.

He faced away from her, seemingly preparing something. Luo Wanqing took the Qianji Bead Bracelet in her hand and silently approached, muscles tensing. After stopping at the most suitable distance from the window, she prepared herself, leaped in, pulled the person into her embrace, and pressed the Qianji Bead Bracelet to his neck with a cold warning: “Don’t make a sound.”

The young man didn’t move.

Cold wind swept in from the window behind her, her loose hair tangling with the man’s flowing locks. The familiar scent of pine, accompanied by white plum fragrance, flooded Luo Wanqing’s nostrils.

Luo Wanqing couldn’t help but freeze, then heard the young man’s familiar yet cold voice, clear as spring water striking stone:

“Where I dream of longing in the night, turning back to find an old friend.”

The young man spoke, turning his head to look back.

It was a clear, snowy day, with sunlight falling on half his handsome face, illuminating his obsidian-like eyes that reflected her image.

Gauze danced lightly, and incense powder floated in the air.

The person before her seemed like a dream. Luo Wanqing stared blankly at Xie Heng, feeling her heartbeat heavy and rapid.

Seeing her dazed expression, Xie Heng couldn’t help but smile brilliantly.

“Xiniang, I trust you have been well.”

Author’s Note:

[Mini Theater] Luo Wanqing: “Wait for me to rob a rich target.” Xie Heng: “Xiniang, I trust you have been well.” Luo Wanqing: “Damn, everyone come quick! I’ve hijacked the biggest rich target in the Eastern Capital! Perfect!”

[Mini Theater 2] Xie Heng: “Beautiful clothes prepared, big carriage ready, picking up wife to come home!” Luo Wanqing: “The carriage is really big, just right for hiding several people.” Xie Heng: “…Did I prepare such a big carriage for you to hide people in?” Luo Wanqing: “What else? This carriage is big enough to roll around in several times. You can’t possibly be planning to roll around on the carriage floor, right?” Xie Heng: “Well… that’s not impossible either.”