◎Minister Zhang, Buy a Carriage◎

Hearing his words, Luo Wanqing looked up at him. For a moment, she couldn’t be certain whether the person before her had overheard her conversation with Xiang Sizi.

“You don’t trust me?”

Luo Wanqing stared at him, asking directly.

Cui Heng smiled and only said: “You killed so many people from Fengyu Pavilion. I was afraid you’d be ambushed going out alone.”

Luo Wanqing was stunned. She hadn’t expected Cui Heng to make no mention of her possibly doing anything improper, instead worrying about her safety.

She stared at Cui Heng. He looked her up and down, and after confirming she wasn’t seriously harmed, he released her hair and turned to take the horse’s reins himself, saying gently: “Now that you’ve retrieved the horse, let’s go back.”

“Who did you encounter just now?”

With him leading the horse, they walked side by side. Luo Wanqing glanced at him. Cui Heng didn’t hide anything, saying directly: “Seemed like Fengyu Pavilion people.”

Without waiting for Luo Wanqing to speak, Cui Heng continued as if concerned: “Perhaps they came to kill you. You should be careful.”

With these words, Luo Wanqing didn’t even need to explain anything. He had laid out all the steps for her, asking nothing about tonight’s events.

Luo Wanqing couldn’t discern his intentions, but since he wasn’t asking, she wouldn’t volunteer information either.

The two returned to the Supervision Department like they were taking a stroll. Cui Heng handed the horse to servants to take to the stables and escorted Luo Wanqing back to her room. At the door, just as Luo Wanqing was about to close it, she heard Cui Heng suddenly speak: “Xiniang.”

Luo Wanqing looked up questioningly. Cui Heng gave gentle instructions: “Fengyu Pavilion’s open organization is finished now, with only one Left Envoy still worth mentioning—not much to fear. But they still have a Dark Pavilion for handling internal affairs. I don’t know which prominent family it depends on, but prominent families have many death warriors trained from childhood with exceptional martial skills. You should be careful.”

Hearing this, Luo Wanqing looked up at Cui Heng warily. Cui Heng smiled and only said: “Reshaping bones isn’t easy. Xiniang, I treasure you, so you should treasure yourself well. Rest properly these next few days. Don’t overexert yourself.”

With that, he nodded farewell and turned away, carrying his lantern.

Watching Cui Heng go next door, Luo Wanqing closed her door and lay back on the bed.

She couldn’t understand Cui Heng’s meaning or gauge his attitude.

Treasure herself?

Was his mention of treasuring telling her not to get involved with Fengyu Pavilion affairs, or was it just telling her to rest and recuperate?

Luo Wanqing didn’t dare believe it was the latter. She calculated that from Cui Heng’s words, he should know she had met with Fengyu Pavilion people tonight, but he probably didn’t know what they had discussed. Otherwise, with them plotting against Xie Heng’s very life, and Xie Heng being his cousin, Cui Heng shouldn’t have let her leave so casually.

And Cui Heng’s indulgence toward her…

Perhaps it was because of the sentiment from when she desperately went back to save him, or possibly because he had once reshaped her bones—to Cui Heng, having reshaped her bones was like taking on a disciple, so he placed hopes in her.

Wouldn’t it be a pity if the person he had painstakingly saved was destroyed?

Thinking of Cui Heng’s protection, Luo Wanqing felt somewhat guilty.

But she had no choice.

Remembering her family still in Xiang Sizi’s hands, Luo Wanqing immediately calmed down, understanding this was the most important matter.

Xiang Sizi’s words couldn’t be trusted. With her family in his hands, if she listened to him and killed Xie Heng, she would become Xiang Sizi’s blade in the future. With him controlling her family, she could only obey him.

Just like Zhang Jiuran, a major reason she couldn’t kill Xiang Sizi was that she didn’t want to further implicate her family.

If she agreed to Xiang Sizi, her future would be no different from Zhang Jiuran’s.

She had promised Zhang Jiuran that Liu Xiniang would live a different life. She wasn’t a blade whose mind had been completely extinguished by hatred.

Xiang Sizi’s words couldn’t be entirely believed, but they couldn’t be completely disbelieved either.

It was true that the Empress disliked Li Guiyu, which was why in the dream, after Li Guiyu rose to power with Xie Heng’s support, he exterminated the entire Wang clan.

It was also true that Li Guiyu and Xie Heng currently planned to ally.

But if they allied, the difficulty of killing Li Guiyu would be far too great.

She needed to rescue her family from Xiang Sizi’s hands.

She needed to obtain the mother parasite from Xiang Sizi to save Zhang Jiuran.

She also needed to disrupt the alliance between Xie Heng and Li Guiyu, preventing Xie Heng from becoming Li Guiyu’s support.

It would be even better if she could directly kill Li Guiyu.

Luo Wanqing stroked the sandalwood prayer beads on her hand, contemplating the current situation.

She was merely a chess piece in these people’s hands, but when everyone wanted to use her as a piece, she could instead constrain these people.

What Xiang Sizi wanted was to kill Xie Heng. What Xie Heng wanted was the Fengyu Pavilion.

As long as she played her cards right, she could defect to either side, letting them fight each other like snipe and clam.

If Xie Heng had no problems, she could use Fengyu Pavilion as bait to approach him, then use Xie Heng’s power to destroy Fengyu Pavilion, rescue her family, and obtain the mother parasite.

If Xie Heng had problems, she could also seek an opportunity to kill him, surrender to the Empress, then use the Empress’s hand to kill Li Guiyu, rescuing her family before killing Li Guiyu.

What she needed to do now was stabilize Xiang Sizi, confirm her family’s safety, and understand what kind of person Xie Heng was.

What reasons did he have for allying with Li Guiyu? Was there a chance to sabotage their alliance? Should he be killed?

Thinking this, Luo Wanqing couldn’t wait to find Xiang Sizi and have him show her her family.

But she knew she couldn’t be too hasty.

Throughout her journey, Fengyu Pavilion might have been monitoring her. In this negotiation, Xiang Sizi obviously understood her very well, deliberately bringing up Li Guiyu and the Empress’s relationship to make clear why Xie Heng had to die—he knew she wasn’t someone who killed innocents indiscriminately.

So she also needed to give Xiang Sizi sufficient reason to trust her, or his wariness toward her would be extremely high.

Moreover, if she showed too much urgency and concern for her family, she would be easily controlled by Xiang Sizi. She had to make him think she had high personal principles and wasn’t completely constrained by her family’s lives—only then would her family be safer.

She needed the right timing to make her decision appear more natural and firm. Once Xiang Sizi trusted her, she would go investigate her family’s situation.

And Xiang Sizi had given her that timing.

Thinking of that phrase “in a few days, Li Guiyu should visit,” Luo Wanqing was certain that in Xiang Sizi’s view, if she heard the conversation between Li Guiyu and Xie Heng, she would side with Fengyu Pavilion.

Thinking this, Luo Wanqing couldn’t help but be curious.

What would they discuss that made Xiang Sizi so certain she would abandon Xie Heng?

But this wasn’t something she could guess. She took a deep breath, lay on the bed, and decided not to overthink. She would wait for Li Guiyu’s visit, then take evidence of Xie Heng and Li Guiyu’s conflict to negotiate with Xiang Sizi.

Her first step was to find a way to learn immediately when Li Guiyu visited.

But Li Guiyu’s movements weren’t easy to track. When they had interacted before, no one had ever been able to follow them. Anyone trying to tail them would be discovered within a li.

Even professional bandits were like this—where could she find someone now who could monitor Li Guiyu?

Luo Wanqing thought left and right, several candidates flashing through her mind, finally deciding to investigate tomorrow.

She rested for a day. The next morning, she found an ordinary water-blue dress in the wardrobe, chose a peach blossom mask, and went out.

Her face was too frightening, drawing attention on the street. Though a mask would also attract notice, it was much better than her face.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw Cui Heng standing at the entrance. Seeing her outfit, he looked her up and down and understood: “Inspector wants to go out?”

“Mm.”

Luo Wanqing nodded, looking up at Cui Heng: “How should we arrange today?”

Hearing Luo Wanqing’s words, Cui Heng knew she had other arrangements, only asking: “How would Inspector like to arrange it?”

“I want to go out and handle some matters. How about you take the day off?” Luo Wanqing probed.

Cui Heng raised an eyebrow, only asking: “Is Inspector planning to do things behind my back?”

Luo Wanqing felt somewhat guilty but coughed lightly and only said: “Just some private business.”

Cui Heng stood at the door, quietly looking at her without speaking. Luo Wanqing probed: “I can make this decision, right?”

“Of course,” Cui Heng nodded, raising his hand respectfully: “I listen to Inspector.”

“Then you rest.”

Luo Wanqing didn’t dare look at him, hurriedly going downstairs and parting ways with Cui Heng.

She didn’t know why—perhaps because she had just been caught meeting Xiang Sizi last night by Cui Heng, and today she was acting alone again, which seemed too brazen—but coming down from upstairs, her heart pounded rapidly.

Like she was going to do something bad.

She was going to do something bad.

But she had no choice. She needed to quickly deploy someone to monitor Li Guiyu, preferably able to hear exactly how Li Guiyu and Xie Heng would negotiate. Then she could meet Xiang Sizi more easily, gain his trust, and know the true foundation of Xie Heng and Li Guiyu’s alliance would give her confidence in sabotaging it later.

Suppressing her guilt, she observed whether Cui Heng was following her. After confirming he wasn’t, she made some inquiries and found the courtyard where Qin Jue was staying.

Qin Jue had already brought Zhang Jiuran back and was massaging her in the courtyard. Seeing Luo Wanqing enter, he was startled, then frowned: “Why did you come?”

Luo Wanqing closed the main gate, walked into the courtyard, and saw Zhang Jiuran lying there like a living corpse. Her heart felt heavy.

She looked up at Qin Jue and said softly, “How is she?”

“Her meridians and bones can barely be sustained, but martial arts is impossible. All five senses are gone. She’s like a living person nailed in a coffin, knowing nothing. Right now, we’re just using medicine to sustain her life. If the medicine stops, she’ll die.”

Qin Jue explained, then said, “What do you need?”

“I need to get the mother parasite from Xiang Sizi, but I need your help.” Luo Wanqing got straight to the point: “Can you find someone to help me monitor Li Guiyu?”

“Li Guiyu?”

Qin Jue frowned: “Why do you want to monitor him?”

“That’s my business.”

Luo Wanqing didn’t elaborate. Qin Jue thought for a moment, then shook his head: “I can only borrow people from the Supervision Department now. If you want to monitor Li Guiyu, you need to ask the Supervision Department.”

Luo Wanqing was speechless. If she used the Supervision Department people, why would she need Qin Jue?

She needed to determine exactly what stance Xie Heng and Li Guiyu held before she could determine her position.

Seeing her expression, Qin Jue knew she didn’t want to use the Supervision Department people. He pressed his lips together: “Right now I don’t have…”

“Fine, I understand.”

Luo Wanqing raised her hand to stop him, glancing at Zhang Jiuran: “Just take good care of her. I’ll figure something out myself.”

With that, Luo Wanqing turned and left.

She hadn’t been to the Eastern Capital for many years. As she walked, she bought some things and asked people about Li Guiyu’s residence location, then strolled over there.

Li Guiyu’s residence was personally bestowed by the Emperor. It was said that when he was only thirteen, His Majesty had already prepared to enfeoff him as prince and establish his residence—showing great favor.

Luo Wanqing circled the Prince’s residence, and immediately, someone followed her. Glancing back, she knew these were Jiang Shaoyan’s people. The security here was much tighter than she had imagined.

She pretended to stroll away from the residence. Before leaving, she looked at the entrance once more—there were no vendors at the gate, and the vagrants in the nearby alleys were martial artists. Not even a needle could be inserted.

It seemed Jiang Shaoyan wasn’t having an easy time in the Eastern Capital.

Thinking about it, Luo Wanqing almost wanted to laugh.

Standing on the street, she momentarily didn’t understand what he was pursuing.

Was living like this better than his time in Yangzhou?

She remembered that in Yangzhou, he smiled every day. Those eyes seemed naturally made for smiling, embracing all of Yangzhou’s spring beauty.

But now, she had fallen to this state, and he lived in constant fear of assassination day and night. What was he pursuing?

Luo Wanqing took a deep breath and turned to leave.

As she was leaving, a luxurious carriage stopped at the Prince’s residence entrance. A weary-looking young man lifted the curtain and stepped out of the carriage. The moment he stepped out and looked up, his gaze fixed on Luo Wanqing.

“Your Highness?”

The steward Zhang Bo, who was attending Li Guiyu, saw his expression and became worried: “What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

This Highness had just been beaten by the Empress at Kunning Palace, struck with clubs in front of the Crown Prince. Everyone knew he was in a bad mood.

Li Guiyu watched the woman’s retreating figure. He said nothing. He seemed to use great effort to control his emotions, staring at Luo Wanqing’s disappearing figure for a long time before forcing himself to look away.

“Your Highness?” The steward hesitated, somewhat fearfully: “What did you see?”

“Nothing.”

Li Guiyu spoke flatly.

He saw nothing, just saw her.

She had…

Returned as promised.

Her memorial tablet was here, and she had returned too, always watching him, knowing where to wait for him.

Thinking this, Li Guiyu lowered his eyes and walked toward the bedroom.

He was always like this—every day when he returned, he would first go see the young miss.

Afraid the young miss would wait too long, she might become unhappy if she waited for him too long.

Li Guiyu did all this while Luo Wanqing remained completely unaware.

She heard that Jiang Shaoyan had returned, but she didn’t dare look back, fearing it would attract his people’s attention.

She had already let them discover her observing the Prince’s residence and couldn’t create additional complications.

She calmly left, frowning as she pondered exactly how to arrange someone to monitor Li Guiyu.

She crossed her arms, tapping her fingers against her arm, thinking through all possibilities.

Hire beggars?

Street vendors?

Or… neighbors…

Neighbors?

Luo Wanqing suddenly realized something and looked back at a row of residences in front of the Prince’s residence. The back courtyards of these residences would have a perfect view of the Prince’s residence entrance.

If Luo Wanqing remembered correctly, five years ago when she was still in the Eastern Capital, this location seemed to belong to official residences used to house ministers.

Officials of sixth rank and above in the Eastern Capital who couldn’t afford to buy houses could rent here for just one tael of silver per month—an extremely low cost. Many ministers without family wealth would live here.

It was just that generally, officials who could reach the sixth rank and above rarely could afford houses.

But there was one person…

Thinking of the young man who even had to freeload official carriages, Luo Wanqing couldn’t help but want to laugh.

She immediately went to search through this row of residences one by one, finally finding one marked “Zhang Residence.”

Unlike Li Guiyu’s entrance, small vendors lined the street here. Luo Wanqing asked around and confirmed this was Zhang Yiran’s residence.

Right across from Zhang Yiran’s residence entrance was a vendor selling wontons. Luo Wanqing simply sat down there, eating wontons while waiting.

She waited all afternoon until evening, when the vendor was about to pack up, before finally seeing Zhang Yiran walking home.

Yes, “walking” home.

Luo Wanqing watched him wearing scholar’s blue robes, still covered in mud, obviously having gone to the suburbs for some business.

Even dressed like this, it couldn’t hide his upright bearing.

Luo Wanqing watched him reach his door and knock. She quickly put on her mask and chased after him, still with wontons in her mouth, calling out unclearly: “Minister… Zhang!”

Hearing the voice, Zhang Yiran turned back questioningly to see a girl in a water-blue dress wearing a peach blossom mask that covered her entire face, running toward him.

He was somewhat bewildered, respectfully saying: “Miss, who are you?”

Luo Wanqing swallowed the wontons. Seeing Zhang Yiran’s appearance, she momentarily felt like she was back to being Luo Wanqing from the past. She felt somewhat embarrassed, worried about having wonton smell on her breath, stepped back, and said quietly: “Um, it’s me.”

Hearing her voice, Zhang Yiran took a moment to react before starting to say: “You…”

Before he could finish, the door beside them opened and a woman’s voice rang out happily: “Yiran is back…”

“Mother, you should quickly…” Zhang Yiran hurried to pull the door, wanting the woman to hide inside.

“Madam!”

Luo Wanqing immediately knew Zhang Yiran was going to turn her in. She quickly squeezed through the door into the house and said to Zhang’s mother: “I’m Minister Zhang’s friend.”

“You get out!”

Hearing this, Zhang Yiran immediately tried to pull her.

But as a scholar, how could he move Luo Wanqing? Instead, she grabbed him and pulled him inside.

Luo Wanqing closed the door and respectfully said to the obviously stunned Zhang’s mother: “Madam, I have some words for him. Please wait a moment.”

Without waiting for Zhang’s mother to respond, Luo Wanqing dragged him inside.

Zhang Yiran’s face turned red with anger: “Let go of me! This pulling and tugging is improper! You, death row prisoner…”

“Keep your voice down, don’t scare your mother!”

Luo Wanqing scolded quietly. Zhang Yiran paused, seeing his mother still watching them, finally swallowed his anger, and let Luo Wanqing drag him to the back courtyard.

The courtyard wasn’t large. Luo Wanqing touched her toes to the ground and leaped into a tree to look around, confirming this was indeed an excellent position for observing Jiang Shaoyan’s residence.

She jumped down from the tree and heard Zhang Yiran say coldly, “What are you doing here if you haven’t turned yourself in?”

“I did turn myself in,” Luo Wanqing told the truth with a smile: “I’m now an official in the Supervision Department. Don’t keep calling me a death row prisoner.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yiran was stunned, looking at her suspiciously: “Supervision Department? You passed the Supervision Department examination?”

“Right, that’s correct.” Luo Wanqing nodded, extending her hand to him: “Where are my things?”

Hearing this, Zhang Yiran pressed his lips together, seeming reluctant but still saying: “Follow me.”

Luo Wanqing was somewhat surprised. She followed him, only saying: “You kept them?”

“They’re not mine to dispose of.”

Zhang Yiran said with a stern face. Luo Wanqing was curious: “What if I never came back?”

“Then I’d keep them forever.” Zhang Yiran glared at her.

Luo Wanqing found it somewhat amusing. She followed Zhang Yiran into a storage room where he dug out the items, saying coldly, “Here they are. Don’t come again.”

“That won’t do.”

Luo Wanqing immediately smiled sweetly: “I’m here to ask for your help.”

“I have no relationship with you…”

“Do you still remember that you have a sister?”

Luo Wanqing spoke, and Zhang Yiran’s movements stopped. He looked up, frowning: “What do you want to say?”

“She’s in the Eastern Capital.”

Luo Wanqing said calmly. Zhang Yiran was stunned as Luo Wanqing said quietly, “I need to do something now. If you help me, after it’s done, I’ll have her come back to find you.”

“What are you saying?” Zhang Yiran looked incredulous: “She’s in the Eastern Capital?”

“Mm.”

Luo Wanqing didn’t dare say more. She nodded: “Don’t worry, she’s fine.”

“If she’s fine, why doesn’t she come see us?” Zhang Yiran stared at Luo Wanqing: “Does she know how long Mother has waited for her? Mother thinks of her day and night, crying until she has eye problems, but doesn’t know where she is and fears disturbing her. Now you tell me she’s just in the Eastern Capital. You can find me, but she doesn’t come to see us?!”

Faced with Zhang Yiran’s questioning, Luo Wanqing momentarily didn’t know how to respond.

She was thinking how to lie when she heard Zhang Yiran say: “She’s not doing well, is she?”

Luo Wanqing paused. Seeing her reaction, Zhang Yiran knew the answer.

He said no more, his hands trembling slightly. After a long time, he calmed down and only said: “What do you want me to do?”

“Without letting them discover, monitor the Guang’an Prince’s residence.”

Luo Wanqing didn’t dare think deeply about Zhang Yiran’s emotions, saying quietly, “If they travel at night in ordinary carriages, notify me.”

“How do I notify you?”

Zhang Yiran looked up at her: “Go to the Supervision Department to find you?”

“No.” Luo Wanqing immediately refused: “Don’t have any connection with me. The fact that we know each other ends today. Don’t let a third person know. This flute is specially made, its sound can carry fifteen li.”

Luo Wanqing thought for a moment and handed over the flute Cui Heng had given her.

She had tested it—this flute made a special sound that ordinary people couldn’t hear, only martial artists could hear when concentrating. Cui Heng could, and so could she.

This type of flute probably wasn’t unique to Cui Heng, so the key was the signal.

The signal Cui Heng had arranged with her was three sharp, continuous calls. She changed the signal, which shouldn’t alarm Cui Heng. Even if it did…

It wouldn’t matter much.

She could just say she lent it to Zhang Yiran.

Thinking this, Luo Wanqing said: “If he goes out, use this flute to play ‘West Lake Willows.’ I can hear it.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yiran looked at the flute in his hand and pressed his lips together: “What’s your relationship with her?”

Luo Wanqing paused, thought for a moment, then said softly: “Friends.”

Looking around, Zhang Yiran was truly the poorest official she had ever seen.

Thinking of how he had walked home today, she couldn’t bear to watch. She took two small gold pearls from her bag, placed them in his hand, and said, “Buy some better medicine for Auntie, and also…” She looked up, hesitating: “Buy a carriage.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yiran immediately became furious: “I don’t want…”

Before he could finish, Luo Wanqing quickly hugged her things and rushed out, touching her toes to fly away, hurriedly like someone rushing to pay a bill, quickly leaving with only: “I’m going.”

“Come back!”

Zhang Yiran ran out clutching the gold pearls, angrily shouting at Luo Wanqing, flying away in the sky: “Take your money back! I don’t want it!”

Luo Wanqing hadn’t expected him to be so angry and didn’t dare go back.

Hugging her things, she flew back to the Supervision Department, frantically jumping through her room window.

As soon as she entered, she saw Cui Heng waiting in the room.

A full table of dishes was set out. Cui Heng looked up, his gaze sweeping over what Luo Wanqing was carrying, smiling: “Quite a harvest. Where did you buy these things?”

Luo Wanqing hugged her things, hesitating: “I didn’t buy them.”

Cui Heng found this strange. He stepped forward to take what Luo Wanqing was carrying, glanced at them briefly, and said puzzledly: “These are all things I gave you before. Didn’t you…”

His words stopped abruptly. Cui Heng seemed to understand something, turning to look at her meaningfully: “Minister Zhang?”

Author’s Note:

[Mini Theater]

Someone: “Using my money to buy a carriage for another man, Xiniang, you’re something.”

Luo Wanqing: “…But isn’t this my salary?”

Someone: “Ask Zhuque if he has such a high salary.”

Luo Wanqing: “…How about I resell medicine to pay you back?”

Someone: “Ask Zhuque if he can resell.”

Luo Wanqing: “…Then I’ll save money to pay you back.”

Someone: “Ask…”

Zhuque: “Stop asking! Don’t ask anymore! I don’t have any! This is all him opening credit cards for you!”

Just kidding, the Supervision Department’s salary is quite high.