The north wind howled outside the window, but within the room, a warm glow dispelled the cold of the winter night.
Xie Zheng gazed at the young woman, her bright eyes clear in the candlelight. The dark emotions in his heart were miraculously soothed. He gently raised his hand and, under Fan Changyu’s startled gaze, pulled her into his embrace.
His dark eyes were calmly fixed on a point in the distance, but beneath that calm, there seemed to be more chilling emotions hidden. “The Han family is nothing. There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with them later. Tonight, we’ve already alerted the officials of the Court of Judicial Review. It’s not wise to go to the Han residence now. Get some rest. I’ll take you back to the Petition Institute at the fifth watch.”
Staying at the Petition Institute undoubtedly meant exposing one’s every move to the royal family’s scrutiny.
Fan Changyu had managed to leave tonight by once again disguising herself as a guard out on an errand for the Petition Institute. At the fifth watch tomorrow morning, when the kitchen staff would go out to buy ingredients, Fan Changyu could change her clothes and blend in with them to return.
Fan Changyu leaned against Xie Zheng’s chest. After the prison break earlier that night, she wasn’t tired. However, the way Xie Zheng was pressing on the nape of her neck made it difficult for her to lift her head. She had to crane her neck awkwardly to look up and say, “I’m not sleepy right now. I was thinking, since the steward of the Prince of Changxin’s mansion is also in jail, why don’t we strike while the iron is hot and break him out too?”
When she said this with her clear, innocent eyes, she looked like the most diligent student suddenly telling her teacher that she wanted to go commit arson and murder.
Xie Zheng’s hand, which had been stroking her hair, paused. He didn’t speak for several breaths.
Fan Changyu asked awkwardly, “Is that not possible?”
Xie Zheng raised his hand to rub his temple. When he looked down at her, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “It’s not possible tonight. The Court of Judicial Review’s prison is different from other official prisons. Once it’s on high alert, not even a fly could get out. Although many officials are out searching for the prison-breakers tonight, most of them are from the Five Wards Commandery. The Court of Judicial Review won’t lower its defenses. Going there for another prison break now would be walking into a trap.”
Fan Changyu said sheepishly, “I see.”
She wasn’t very familiar with the deployment of troops in the capital and had thought that since many guards had been drawn away from the Court of Judicial Review tonight, it would be an excellent opportunity to strike unexpectedly with another prison break.
Xie Zheng glanced at her and asked, “It seems you haven’t been studying your military strategy diligently?”
Fan Changyu scratched her head. “I’ve only been back in the capital for a short while, and I’ve been confined to the Petition Institute every day. I’m just not very clear about the responsibilities of each government office in the capital. In the military, I would never be so rash. A battle concerns the lives of hundreds or thousands of soldiers! I only suggested this because I was sure that with our martial skills, even if we couldn’t break out that steward, we certainly wouldn’t fall into the hands of the officials.”
Xie Zheng then asked, “Have you finished reading those military strategy books I gave you?”
Fan Changyu unconsciously straightened her back, like a student about to recite poetry for her teacher. “I’ve finished two of them, and I’ve just started the third one.”
“Which two did you read?”
Just as Fan Changyu was about to answer Xie Zheng’s question, a commotion erupted outside.
“Open the door! Open the door!”
“Officers… this… this is not acceptable! The people staying at our inn are guests. How can we disturb their sleep in the middle of the night?”
“The Court of Judicial Review has lost an important prisoner of the imperial court. We must search every household. If anyone dares to obstruct us, they will be treated as accomplices of the criminal!”
Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng, both martial artists with keen hearing, listened to the commotion outside and their expressions grew grim.
The officials had already entered the courtyard. If they went out now, they would certainly be discovered, and if recognized, all their efforts would be in vain.
As the footsteps of the officials approached, Xie Zheng quickly extinguished the candle with a sweep of his sleeve. He looked up at Fan Changyu and said, “Replace the hot tea in the teapot with the cold water from the washbasin.”
Fan Changyu picked up the teapot on the table and poured all the tea into a potted plant in the room, then filled it with the cold water from the washbasin.
The tea had been brewed by the old innkeeper when he showed them to the room. Fan Changyu didn’t know what Xie Zheng had in mind, but given the urgency of the situation, she didn’t ask and simply followed his instructions.
By the time she put the teapot back on the table, Xie Zheng had already found some mechanism at the head of the bed. Fan Changyu heard the muffled sound of stone slabs sliding.
In the faint light from the torches outside the door and windows, she could barely make out that a section of the bed had sunk, revealing a hidden compartment just large enough for two people to lie down.
Xie Zheng looked at her. “Hide inside.”
As soon as Fan Changyu lay down, Xie Zheng activated the mechanism and stepped in.
The space, barely larger than a coffin, became even more cramped with two people inside. Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng were almost neck to neck, shoulder to shoulder, their breaths audible in the confined space.
Fortunately, it was pitch black in the hidden compartment, so neither could see the other’s face. Lying face-to-face like this would have been too awkward otherwise.
Fan Changyu could smell the faint scent of soap on Xie Zheng’s clothes, mixed with the crisp scent of ice and snow, probably due to the winter season. He didn’t dare put his full weight on her, using one hand to prop himself up slightly, but in this narrow space, this posture was undoubtedly very strenuous.
Fan Changyu hesitated for a moment before saying, “Should I be on top instead?”
Even though it was pitch black, Fan Changyu still felt that Xie Zheng had suddenly turned his head to look at her. Unable to see, their perception of their surroundings relied solely on instinct. The feeling of being stared at by a predator in the dark became increasingly apparent, and Fan Changyu’s arm hair stood on end.
When Xie Zheng grasped her waist, her entire body tensed.
After they had awkwardly switched positions, both were sweating. Fan Changyu thought it must be due to the lack of air circulation; the small hidden compartment was hot enough to make one’s heart race.
She strained her ears to listen to the movements outside, but her heartbeat was quickening inappropriately, whether due to extreme nervousness or something else.
Fan Changyu suspected that Xie Zheng could hear her drumming heartbeat.
However, Xie Zheng’s chest also seemed to contain a drum, which she could hear clearly as she lay on top of him.
It wasn’t beating as fast as hers, but each beat was extremely heavy as if it were pounding on someone’s heart.
Xie Zheng’s breathing remained steady, but the breath that fell on her ear seemed to have grown hotter.
Fan Changyu’s ears were very sensitive, and she instinctively wanted to move away.
But as soon as she slightly shifted her head, Xie Zheng forcefully pressed down on her shoulder. His voice was calm, but to keep it low, it was much hoarser than usual: “Don’t move.”
At that moment, there was a loud noise outside, clearly the sound of the door being kicked open violently.
Fan Changyu immediately stopped moving and lay still on top of Xie Zheng, focusing all her attention on the sounds outside.
“Officers, this room is empty. No guest has stayed here yet!” The innkeeper, who had been following anxiously, saw that the room showed no signs of occupancy and immediately began to plead pitifully.
The leader of the search party ignored him, allowing his subordinates to roughly open all the boxes and cabinets in the room. Even the bedding was pulled to the floor after being checked for residual warmth.
Seeing that they were still rummaging through the bottles and jars on the shelves, seemingly looking for any hidden compartments, the innkeeper wailed, “Oh, officers, please be gentle! These are porcelain wares from the entertainment district. If they break, I won’t be able to explain it to the owner…”
The leader still made no move to restrain his men. He sat down pompously on a stool and lifted the lid of the teapot on the table.
Fan Changyu, lying on top of Xie Zheng, heard the footsteps of the officers searching near the bed move away and had just begun to relax when suddenly there was a loud crash of breaking porcelain outside, followed by an officer’s angry shout: “How dare you!”
Her heart immediately tensed again, and her fingers unconsciously gripped Xie Zheng’s clothes tighter.
Xie Zheng seemed to sense her tension. The hand that had been gripping her shoulder moved to the back of her neck, pressing her closer to him. His burning fingers touched her delicate skin, and although there was no further impropriety, the heat made Fan Changyu instinctively shrink her neck.
Her nose lightly brushed against the skin of Xie Zheng’s neck, and his breathing suddenly deepened.
Fan Changyu felt that he was constantly radiating heat. With her hand on his chest, she could feel the dampness beneath his not-so-thick long robe.
Why was he still sweating?
Was it because the space was too small and the two of them were squeezed together, making it too hot?
Fan Changyu thought about moving away from him inconspicuously to let him breathe better, but the hand on the back of her neck was like a branding iron, holding her firmly in place, even seeming to tighten its grip.
Outside, the innkeeper’s terrified voice could be heard: “Officers, what’s the matter?”
Fan Changyu had no intention of moving anymore and just listened carefully.
The leader slammed his fan-sized palm heavily on the round table. “I’m searching for criminals in the middle of the night, and I wanted a cup of hot tea. Not only is the tea in your teapot cold, but it doesn’t even taste like tea. How dare you show such disrespect!”
The innkeeper could certainly hear the implied meaning in the leader’s words. It was common for officers of the Five Wards Commandery to find excuses to extort money from merchants. On a night like this, they certainly couldn’t squeeze anything out of ordinary households, but in places like inns and taverns, where all sorts of people mixed, even if they couldn’t find any suspects, they still expected some “gratitude” from the innkeeper.
The innkeeper’s face remained frightened, but his eyes had already calmed down. He immediately cursed, “Where has that lazy waiter gone off to again? He didn’t even change the cold tea in the room!”
Then he bowed and scraped to the leader, saying, “Please calm down, officer. Please calm down. I’ll have someone bring you our finest tea right away.”
While flattering the officer, he didn’t forget to slip a money pouch into the leader’s hand.
The leader weighed the pouch, and the anger on his face finally dissipated somewhat. He said, “Alright, I have important search duties to attend to. I don’t have time to drink your tea now!”
With that, he stood up to leave, and the subordinates who had found nothing after turning the room upside down followed suit.
The innkeeper glanced at the space under the bed from the corner of his eye before bowing and closing the door as he left, continuing to flatter the leader as he saw him off.
Inside the room, Fan Changyu listened to the receding footsteps of the officers and let out a big sigh of relief. Her forehead was covered in a fine layer of sweat, either from the stuffiness or the heat.
She said softly to Xie Zheng, “They’re gone.”
The person beneath her didn’t respond.
Fan Changyu found it strange and reached out to feel along the stone wall, trying to find the switch to open the hidden compartment. However, the hand on the back of her neck suddenly applied force, with such intensity and a sense of desperation that Fan Changyu inexplicably felt afraid.
But in the cramped space, even struggling became impossible. She could only lower her head as her lips were forcefully claimed in a kiss that seemed intent on devouring her whole. Her teeth were roughly parted, and a tongue invaded her mouth.
Xie Zheng was like a wolf that had starved through the entire harsh winter, staring at a piece of fat meat for three days without daring to take a bite. At the moment when his reason finally gave out, he could no longer suppress the hunger rising from his very bones. He bared his sharp teeth and bit into his prey.