Every year during the Jade Rabbit Festival in the capital, countless young women were kidnapped. For boy children, the situation was somewhat better—they were typically sold to childless families in remote areas to be raised as sons. But for girls and young women, the fate was much crueler. Those without beauty would be passed through several middlemen before being sold to wealthy households as low-ranking maids. Those with good looks fared worse than the plain ones—they might be sold to opera troupes or brothels, or simply become “Yangzhou skinny horses,” trained for several years to become playthings for the wealthy.
Among these females were daughters from prominent families, but kidnappers made no distinction of background. Whether you were a young lady from a noble house or a commoner, once in the hands of kidnappers, everyone shared the same fate.
“Miss Shen was kidnapped?” In the room, Ji Yushu suddenly stood up and paced back and forth, showing signs of deep concern. “Miss Shen is quite beautiful and has an outstanding bearing. I fear that if she’s fallen into the hands of kidnappers, she’ll certainly be sold. Though I also like Miss Shaoye, I wouldn’t want Miss Shen to become some ‘miss’ in a brothel. Third Brother Xie, should we go rescue her?”
Gao Yang snorted at Ji Yushu’s words: “Are you serious? With Shen Miao’s capabilities, how could she possibly be kidnapped? Besides, kidnappers only target young ladies who are alone or lost children. Shen Qiu and Shen Xin weren’t far from Shen Miao, and kidnappers aren’t fools—why would they deliberately pick such a thorny target? Shen Miao isn’t some exceptional beauty either, so it wouldn’t even be worth it.”
This assessment wasn’t wrong. Kidnappers always struck when people weren’t paying attention. Even when abducting noble young ladies, they would choose moments when no one was around. But according to the scouts’ reports, Shen Miao had been by Wanli Lake where crowds were surging. Though it might be easy for kidnappers to act among so many people, if discovered, they couldn’t escape with so many witnesses. Such a risky endeavor might be worthwhile for an extraordinary beauty, but Shen Miao was just a young girl. Though pretty, she hadn’t yet reached the point where men would lose their reason over her.
Most importantly, Shen Qiu and Shen Xin had been nearby. Since ancient times, bullies have always followed the principle of preying on the weak and fearing the strong. Knowing that Shen Xin’s family looked formidable, what kidnapper would deliberately court trouble? Such a risky and unprofitable venture would only be undertaken by someone with limited intelligence.
Ji Yushu suddenly realized: “So it wasn’t kidnappers? Then who was it? This targeted Miss Shen specifically. Could it be remnants of Prince Yu’s faction?” Then he shook his head: “Prince Yu’s people don’t know about Shen Miao’s involvement in the family’s execution. Could it be someone from the Shen family? I’ve heard their household is not harmonious. Could it be people from the other branches?”
Xie Jingxing, who had been sitting silently on the side, stood up and said: “It’s ‘them.'”
“Them?” Gao Yang immediately tensed up and looked toward Xie Jingxing: “Have they discovered us?”
“Probably not,” Xie Jingxing shook his head. “I’ve been waiting for them to make a move, but there was no activity. Now I understand—they might have learned about the secret chamber and somehow discovered Shen Miao was present that day. Our identities haven’t been exposed yet; they plan to extract information from Shen Miao.”
“They came for you?” Ji Yushu was startled, then became worried: “This is bad. With their methods, Miss Shen won’t fare well in their hands.”
“Have the Ink Feather Army’s covert division search for her around Wanli Lake. With so many people and distractions, they probably haven’t gone far,” Xie Jingxing said gravely. His typically casual demeanor had completely disappeared, replaced by a solemn expression that made him seem not like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth, but rather carried a deep, unfathomable coldness.
“It’s not good for the Ink Feather Army to mobilize now,” Gao Yang frowned. “There are too many eyes on you in the capital. If we alert those above, we could face serious trouble. Better to have people guard the city gates and quietly search the city with your household staff early tomorrow. We’ll find her eventually. Making too much noise now would only alert our enemies.”
“Wait another night?” Ji Yushu jumped up: “After a night, Miss Shen could be dead!” Ji Yushu was still young and impulsive, and he greatly admired Shen Miao. Unlike Gao Yang, who had already developed the cruelty and callousness of a politician, Ji Yushu still retained the precious sincerity and innocence of youth in some respects.
Gao Yang was annoyed: “At a time like this, you’re still thinking about Shen Miao? One careless move and our identities could all be exposed!”
“Send the covert division to find her now,” Xie Jingxing said coldly. “I don’t want to say it twice.”
“Xie San!” Gao Yang looked at him: “Would you ruin our grand plan for a mere girl? Don’t forget what you said before.”
“Gao Yang, mind your position,” Xie Jingxing suddenly said harshly. His brows furrowed slightly, his phoenix eyes swirling with darkness deeper than the night sky of the capital, suddenly emanating such anger that Gao Yang couldn’t help but tremble.
Seeing this, Ji Yushu quickly mediated: “Today’s events were unexpected, and no one anticipated this. But perhaps the situation isn’t as dire as we think. Let’s consider what’s happening first.”
Xie Jingxing was silent for a moment before saying: “It’s not for anyone’s sake. Having someone play this move of ‘pulling the firewood from under the cauldron’ in my territory is truly unpleasant. Since they dare to come, tonight I’ll let them taste what it means to have no way back!”
…
The crowds surged along the shores of Wanli Lake, their cheers and laughter drowning out all other sounds. The disappearance of a noble young lady seemed to cause hardly a ripple—partly because the Shen family hadn’t made it public, but even if they had, people would likely have been too busy enjoying the spectacle before them.
The Jade Rabbit Fairy had finished her dance, leaving men entranced and women secretly cursing the vixen. The enormous Jade Rabbit lantern, made of snow-white silk coated with thick oil and painted with festive rabbit patterns, floated slowly across Wanli Lake, illuminated by candles that flickered bright and dim inside it.
People cheered and rushed to the lakeside, releasing their handmade lanterns onto the water. Inside each lantern was written the maker’s wish for the coming year, rolled into a small slip of paper and placed inside before gently pushing it into the water.
Light snow fell from the sky, but the bright lights on Wanli Lake and the brilliant fireworks overhead made it difficult to distinguish between sky and water. This brilliantly illuminated scenery was rarely seen even during previous Jade Rabbit Festivals. Several exquisitely carved pleasure boats floated in the center of the lake. On normal days, wealthy people would rent these boats for drinking and merrymaking. Today, the identities of those on the boats remained unknown, and with the dense mass of lanterns covering the lake’s surface, the boats didn’t attract much attention.
One unlit pleasure boat drifted slowly downstream along Wanli Lake, where there were fewer people, though many lanterns floated in that direction. From a distance, the boat seemed to be surrounded by these lanterns. The further downstream it went, the farther from the city center and the fewer people there were, until finally it reached an area almost completely deserted.
Shen Miao sat in the innermost cabin of this pleasure boat, coldly watching the two men before her.
In the dim boat cabin, a small oil lamp was lit. Shen Miao’s mouth was stuffed with a rag, her hands and feet bound firmly, struggling to no avail.
Both men on the boat wore linen clothes and had unfamiliar faces. A tall, thin man stood at the bow looking around, then walked into the cabin and nodded to the shorter one: “It’s clear, no one’s here.”
The shorter man chuckled and removed the rag from Shen Miao’s mouth, saying: “Miss Shen, there’s no one here, so don’t bother shouting. If you make noise, we still have time to kill you and escape.”
Shen Miao’s eyes flickered slightly, but she remained silent.
These men had done the unexpected—drifting downstream in a pleasure boat in full public view. Shen Xin and the others would only search for her on land, never imagining that she was in plain sight, right in the middle of Wanli Lake.
Earlier, while standing on the stone platform waiting for Shen Qiu to return, she had been grabbed from behind with a hand covering her mouth and nose, then dragged away. These two had moved so quickly she hadn’t even had time to react before being bound and thrown onto the boat.
Seeing that Shen Miao wasn’t speaking, the shorter man seemed quite satisfied. The tall, thin man walked over and sat across from her, his gaze sinister as he said: “Miss Shen, let’s be straightforward. We brought you here because we want to ask you about something.” The tall, thin man exuded a unique quality that didn’t seem like that of an ordinary bandit.
He continued: “You’ve been to Prince Yu’s secret chamber, haven’t you?”
Shen Miao’s eyes flashed. When she was kidnapped, she had considered many possibilities—perhaps people from the second or third branch of her family, or Shen Yuan, or Prince Yu’s former subordinates, even Fu Xiuyi had crossed her mind. But she hadn’t expected that these people were after the secret chamber. As far as she knew, only Xie Jingxing and Gao Yang knew the secret of that chamber. Could Fu Xiuyi have discovered it several years earlier?
But since her captors had clearly come prepared and had investigated her thoroughly, Shen Miao didn’t bother to conceal anything. She answered: “Yes. That day, my brother was handling matters at Prince Yu’s residence, and I was waiting in the tea room. I accidentally discovered that secret chamber and, out of curiosity, went to take a look.”
The two men exchanged glances, and the shorter one asked: “Then you must have encountered someone else in the secret chamber. Who was that person?”
Shen Miao’s fingers contracted slightly.
It wasn’t about the secret of the chamber or its contents, but about the people inside. Xie Jingxing and Gao Yang? Were these men after them? Shen Miao’s mind raced quickly. These people knew someone else had been in the secret chamber that day but didn’t know who. Xie Jingxing and Gao Yang must be hiding something, and if she revealed them, their secret would be exposed.
She looked at them with confusion: “Someone else?”
The tall, thin man looked at her maliciously: “Miss Shen, don’t play tricks with us. We believe your discovery of the secret chamber was accidental, but the items inside have been taken away. Who did you meet in the secret chamber? Tell us, and we’ll spare your life.”
Shen Miao stared at him, her mind rapidly calculating. She knew about Prince Yu’s secret chamber because of her previous life, so in these people’s eyes, she could only have “accidentally” discovered its location. These people might be investigating something, but they didn’t know exactly who was involved. Xie Jingxing and Gao Yang were the people they were looking for.
She shook her head: “When I entered the secret chamber that day, there was no one else inside. As for the items you mentioned, I didn’t see them either. Perhaps those people you speak of had already left before I entered.”
“Impossible!” The tall, thin man looked at her and suddenly revealed a cruel smile: “Miss Shen, since you won’t talk, we’ll have to make you suffer a bit…”
As soon as he finished speaking, the shorter man’s eyes lit up, and he reached out to touch Shen Miao’s face with a lecherous expression. He said: “This pretty little thing has such smooth skin. Why don’t you serve me first, and perhaps then you’ll remember.”
“If you touch me, I’ll bite my tongue and kill myself, and you’ll learn nothing,” Shen Miao said calmly. “If I lose my virtue, I’ll surely be devastated. In such despair, do you think you’ll have any chance of getting information from me?”
At these words, the shorter man’s hand immediately stopped. He turned to look at the tall, thin man, who stared at Shen Miao and asked: “You know who it was?”
Shen Miao smiled slightly: “Perhaps I might remember.”
The shorter man looked somewhat dumbfounded, while the tall, thin man’s gaze was dark and uncertain. Perhaps Shen Miao’s composed and calm attitude caught them off guard, or perhaps they were surprised that she could threaten them in such a situation. No woman disregards her chastity, but Shen Miao’s demeanor resembled that of a street ruffian. Indeed, if Shen Miao truly knew who had been in the secret chamber, once they violated her, she would likely harbor such hatred that she would never reveal the truth.
Shen Miao’s gaze turned cold. Everyone has their weaknesses. These two men seemed desperate to know who had been in the secret chamber, and now she might be the only person in the world who knew. If she were a delicate noble young lady, she might be frightened into revealing the truth, but unfortunately for them, she was Empress Shen, who had crawled through the treacherous imperial harem.
“What are you thinking about?” The shorter man no longer tried to touch her and adopted a more amiable manner: “Tell us who that person was, and we’ll do whatever you want.” His tone was like someone coaxing a child.
Shen Miao didn’t blink and asked: “Who are you?”
The two men were stunned for a moment. The tall, thin man sneered: “What good would knowing who we are do for you?”
“Perhaps then I could remember who that person was,” Shen Miao smiled as she looked at him.
“You’re stalling for time.”
Shen Miao neither confirmed nor denied.
The shorter man stood up abruptly and slapped Shen Miao across the face without thinking, apparently having run out of patience. He snapped: “Bitch, you’re asking for trouble! Stop wasting words with her. Shen Xin’s soldiers are outside, we can’t get out. Let’s take her back first, and when we return…” His smile became twisted: “We’ll have plenty of ways to make her tell the truth!”
He bent down, his disgusting hand roughly stroking Shen Miao’s cheek: “Girl, grandpa was just being nice to you to save trouble. Since you don’t want to live, don’t blame others!”
Shen Miao’s eyes turned cold, and she suddenly raised her hand and stabbed a knife toward his face. Caught off guard, the shorter man was slashed across the face by Shen Miao, immediately drawing blood. The ropes binding Shen Miao’s hands and feet had been worn away at some point. She habitually kept a dagger hidden in her sleeve, and now she had drawn it out in a surprise attack. After slashing him, she ran toward the cabin door, shouting “Help!” Just as she reached the doorway, she was violently grabbed by the hand, dragged back in, and thrown to the ground. Her entire back struck a wooden table on the boat, causing her to gasp in pain as the boat rocked several times. She reacted quickly, immediately standing up and trying to run out again. The tall, thin man laughed coldly and kicked her kneecap, causing an almost heart-piercing pain. Shen Miao regained her senses and thrust the dagger in her hand toward the man’s eyes. The tall, thin man jumped in surprise, dodging to the side to avoid her dagger’s point. He cursed “vicious woman” and seized the dagger from her hand. Shen Miao, enduring the pain in her leg, suddenly grabbed onto the cabin window and, without hesitation, jumped out.
“Trying to escape?” The tall, thin man laughed coldly, unhesitatingly throwing the dagger after her. It stuck into Shen Miao’s calf, and although it didn’t penetrate deeply, a bright red trail of blood quickly spread across the lake’s surface.
Shen Miao knew how to swim, but in the dead of winter, Wanli Lake’s water was cold. Once immersed, her entire body felt like ice. After struggling to move a few strokes, she felt unable to move anymore.
The tall, thin man was about to jump into the water to retrieve Shen Miao, as she still held the information about who had been in the secret chamber. But before he could act, a strange sound of firecrackers came from the horizon. Looking up, they saw a firework light up in the western sky.
“The situation has changed!” The shorter man wiped the blood from his face and said: “Retreat!”
“Bring the girl first,” cursed the tall, thin man as he prepared to jump into the lake. Suddenly, the boat violently rocked. Two men in black stood at the bow, their shoulders adorned with eagle patterns embroidered in gold thread. The shorter kidnapper exclaimed in shock: “The Ink Feather Army! How could the Ink Feather Army be here?”
Before the two men could recover, the black-clad figures had already reached them. A flash of silver blade passed, and the terrified expressions of the two men froze in that instant as they slowly collapsed.
In the lake, Shen Miao was still struggling violently. From the words of the shorter and taller men, they weren’t working alone but seemed to have another force behind them—and a considerable one. Shen Miao had an extraordinary intuition for such matters. In the hands of these two, she might still find a way to escape, but in the clutches of that powerful force, even if she died outside, the Shen family would never find the culprits.
But she hadn’t expected that this desperate jump would trap her in a dead end. The two men still hadn’t come down to save her, and the lake water was freezing. Could she die here?
Her head began to feel heavy, her ears buzzing with no clear sounds. It was like falling into an ice cellar. Though the light from the surface was right before her eyes, and she could still see the brilliant lights of the lanterns flowing downstream, she couldn’t grasp or see them.
Just as her vision was beginning to blur, she suddenly saw a figure swimming toward her from a distance. The person moved with agile grace through the brilliant lights reflected in the lake water, like a deity descending from heaven, bringing brightness as they swam toward her.
The figure reached Shen Miao, grabbed her by the waist, and swam toward the surface. In this icy winter weather, with the cold lake water, it was difficult for one person to swim, yet carrying another, this person swam with ease. Upon reaching the pleasure boat, he lifted Shen Miao and threw her onto the deck before climbing aboard himself.
Shen Miao had swallowed several mouthfuls of water. After boarding the boat, she didn’t get up but kept coughing hard. The figure before her turned, and looking up, she saw the person was also soaking wet, his face no longer wearing its former teasing expression but instead frowning as he looked at her.
It was Xie Jingxing.
Seeing Xie Jingxing at this moment, Shen Miao didn’t even have time to be surprised. Those two men had come for Xie Jingxing, and apparently he had learned of the situation and rushed over.
She struggled to prop herself up and saw that there were two corpses in the cabin—the tall, thin man and the shorter one from before. Two men in black emerged from the depths of the cabin. One walked to Xie Jingxing’s side and whispered something. Xie Jingxing waved his hand, and the two men left with the corpses, even cleaning up all the bloodstains in the cabin before departing.
Shen Miao didn’t bother to ponder who these men were—even a fool could tell they were Xie Jingxing’s people. She moved her body slightly and felt pain throughout. Having been soaked in the icy water for half a watch, she was cold and shivering. She had been thrown around by the tall, thin man earlier, making her back hurt terribly. The most painful part was probably her calf. Looking down at her skirt, the entire dress clung to her body, and around her calf, a flower of blood had bloomed, mixing with the red embroidery on her dress so it wasn’t visible. That was the wound from the tall, thin man’s dagger.
She was both cold and in pain, unable to say a word. Xie Jingxing walked into the cabin. These elegant pleasure boats usually kept spare braziers and clothing for emergencies. He pulled out a brazier from a wooden box, lit it with a flint, and added some charcoal.
The fire in the brazier began to burn warmly. The boat swayed gently on the lake. Xie Jingxing glanced at Shen Miao and suddenly smiled: “I need to change my clothes. Do you plan to keep your eyes open?”
Shen Miao quickly closed her eyes. Her mind was still somewhat confused, yet Xie Jingxing had the mood to jest. She heard a light laugh, followed by the rustling sounds of changing clothes. A moment later, Xie Jingxing’s voice sounded: “Done.”
Shen Miao opened her eyes. Xie Jingxing was fastening the last button. He had changed into a dark blue brocade robe with a white fox fur coat, giving him a cold and solemn appearance. His dark phoenix eyes, seeming both smiling and not, stared at Shen Miao: “Don’t you want to change as well?”
Wearing cold, wet clothes against the skin can easily cause illness. Even sitting by the brazier to dry off would take considerable time. By then, she would likely have caught a chill. She had always taken care of her health. With her whole body feeling uncomfortable, she looked at Xie Jingxing and calmly asked: “Are there other clothes?”
Xie Jingxing stood up, took out a set of clothes from a cloth package on the wooden table, and sat against the wall: “My subordinates brought clothes for me. Given the current situation, there’s no way to find women’s clothing for you. If you want to change, you can only wear mine.”
For an unmarried woman to change into a strange man’s clothes—such a situation, if spoken of, would carry a somewhat romantic and risqué color. Shen Miao looked up at Xie Jingxing; the smile at the corner of his lips was slightly mischievous. She couldn’t tell if this was truly forced by circumstances or deliberate.
Shen Miao discovered that Xie Jingxing truly had a special magic. Since her rebirth, she had faced everyone with the mindset of “Empress Shen.” Even with Shen Qiu, she couldn’t regard him as her brother, sometimes even feeling like she was taking care of him. But whenever she encountered Xie Jingxing, his mischievousness often made Shen Miao feel disoriented, as if she wasn’t the Empress Shen who had weathered many storms, but merely the innocent and unworldly Fifth Miss of the Shen family.
Taking a deep breath inwardly, Shen Miao said: “Give them to me.”
Her answer seemed to surprise Xie Jingxing, who looked at her doubtfully: “You’ll wear my clothes?”
“Are there any other clothes here?” Shen Miao asked.
Xie Jingxing smiled and tossed the clothes to her. Shen Miao caught them and, after hesitating, said to Xie Jingxing: “Please turn around, Young Marquis.”
Hearing this, Xie Jingxing gave her a meaningful look, examining her up and down. Shen Miao’s current clothes clung to her body. With her petite frame, the contours of a young woman’s figure were almost completely revealed. Her somewhat disheveled appearance showed a vulnerability not usually seen in her. Xie Jingxing remarked with interest: “Even a milk-scented little girl knows how to be shy? Don’t worry,” his gaze was critical and disdainful, “there’s nothing there, nothing worth seeing.” With that, he turned around gracefully, not looking in Shen Miao’s direction at all.
Shen Miao felt slightly relieved and picked up Xie Jingxing’s clothes. It was a light blue thin cotton robe with neatly pressed sleeves, made of superior fabric with exquisite embroidery. Shen Miao unconsciously touched it—in her previous life, such craftsmanship was probably only found in the palace. The rumors that the Marquis of Lin’an’s wealth could rival a nation’s weren’t unfounded.
She slowly removed her wet outer and middle garments, using them to wipe the water from her body after drying them briefly on the brazier, then picked up Xie Jingxing’s robe. However, Xie Jingxing’s robe had a complex style, and she couldn’t put it on properly. Moreover, the waistband had become tangled around her left calf. The calf already had the wound from the dagger, which she had thought wasn’t too serious, but now it looked frightful, bloody, and mangled. The waistband rubbed against the wound, causing Shen Miao to gasp in pain. She lost her balance and fell with a “thud,” also knocking over the teapot on the table.
Hearing the noise, Xie Jingxing immediately turned around. Seeing Shen Miao fallen on the ground, he stepped forward and helped her up. Shen Miao had no time to stop him, and she found herself leaning in his arms. Her clothes weren’t properly fastened, loosely draped around her body with her shoulders slightly exposed, her hair still damp—the scene had a somewhat romantic ambience. Despite her usual composure, she felt momentary panic and helplessness.
Instead, it was Xie Jingxing who frowned, grasped her calf, and stared at the wound, asking gravely: “What happened?”