“Your grandfather has always said that the Palace of Tranquility and the Crown Prince’s faction are not worth expecting anything from. Jün’er, you yourself witnessed how Zhao Mingting, in pursuing a suspect whose identity remains unknown, showed not the slightest concern for how severe the consequences might be if the fire spiraled out of control, didn’t you?”

Wang Wenqian stood with his hands tucked in his sleeves. No matter how chaotic the scene before him became, it didn’t trouble him in the least. He even had the composure to calmly critique the unfolding events.

“That sickly-looking beggar child is no simple character either. Even I couldn’t detect any flaws in his disguise. But this boy, in order to evade Zhao Mingting’s pursuit, didn’t hesitate to start a fire and create chaos—he’s also a ruthless character. Jün’er, if you ever encounter this person in the future, you must keep far away from him.”

Wang Jün looked with considerable worry toward the chaotic rouge shop across the crowd.

At this moment, a large group of women came rushing out from the rouge shop, stirring the crowd on the main street into even greater confusion. She and her father, protected by two bodyguards, could only press themselves against the wall on this side. Seeing the flickering firelight within the rouge shop, her delicate brows knitted tightly together. She couldn’t help worrying that the fire might spiral out of control and trigger even greater chaos, but she and her father had no way to help the situation.

Fortunately, there were plenty of patrol soldiers and servants from the Marquis of Linjiang’s household maintaining order nearby. They quickly reacted, clearing the area in front of the rouge shop and dispersing the crowd.

Another dozen or so armored soldiers, under Chai Jian’s command, charged directly into the fire scene where the blaze wasn’t yet too severe, extinguishing the burning materials and preventing the entire wooden building from catching fire.

“Father, doesn’t that woman look somewhat suspicious? Could she have set the fire to create chaos and cover someone else’s escape? That beggar child went into the shop but never came out—he should have escaped from the other side in the first moments, before Zhao Mingting and his men could rush in. The fire probably wasn’t set by his own hand either.” Wang Jün pointed at Chun Shisanniang, who stood in front of the rouge shop gazing around despite having half her dress burned, and asked her father Wang Wenqian.

“Whether or not he set it with his own hands, what difference does it make? Aren’t they working together?” Seeing his daughter arguing semantics with him, Wang Wenqian gave a wry smile, but his attention still fell on Chun Shisanniang.

Women who could enter the Ningxiang Building shop were either noble or wealthy. Those who rushed out during the chaos almost all had servants and maids accompanying them, and afterward left one after another in disheveled states. Yet this woman whose dress had been burned showed none of the panic of ordinary women. Without a maid accompanying her, she still stood beside the shop peering concernedly inside. Wang Wenqian would have to be blind not to notice something amiss.

However, Chun Shisanniang was also rather disheveled at this moment. Her skirt was burned and tattered, a section of her black hair had been singed by the fire, and though her peach-blossom-like face wasn’t disfigured, it was streaked white and black with sweat and ash mixed together—no one could recognize her.

Wang Wenqian hesitated over whether to assign someone to monitor this woman’s movements.

“Jün’er thinks they may not necessarily be working together.”

Seeing that the fire had been brought under control with no deaths or injuries, Wang Jün willfully began debating with her father again, saying:

“That beggar child’s disguise was so masterful that even you, Father, couldn’t detect any flaws. Yet those two people at the shop entrance left traces that were far too obvious—how could they be working together? However, the beggar child, despite risking exposure of his identity, still prevented the person inside the shop from revealing their whereabouts before you and Master Zhao—there must certainly be a deep connection there. And this woman must also be working with the person who didn’t show their face inside the shop, so when she set the fire to create chaos, it’s possible the beggar child spoke a reminder, it’s possible the person inside the shop who didn’t appear gave the order, and of course it’s also possible she acted on her own initiative—why does Jün’er feel that your words, Father, only have a one-third probability of being correct?”

“You little girl, with that sharp tongue of yours refusing to yield—after you marry, won’t you be insufferably annoying!” Wang Wenqian teased.

“That little beggar child tucked the snacks Jün’er had into his bosom when he fled, but he doesn’t know that Jün’er mixed special spices into all those snacks—Father, should we release Little Ka to track down his whereabouts?” Wang Jün asked.

“How many people do we have in the city? Why would we get involved in this trouble? Let Zhao Mingting have the headache instead, so they’ll stop constantly watching Chuzhou,” Wang Wenqian shook his head and said. After pondering for a moment, he also decided to abandon sending someone to track that woman’s movements, not wanting this trip representing Chuzhou to deliver wedding congratulations to the Third Prince to develop complications that might provoke a counterattack from unknown forces. He said, “We might as well stay here and watch whether that beggar child has any chance of evading Zhao Mingting’s pursuit!”

……

……

Perhaps because all the idle people had run out to watch the wedding procession excitement, the rear courtyard of the rouge shop was completely empty. However, the households residing on both sides of Fengxiang Street were either high-end shops like Ningxiang Building or wealthy noble residences—their courtyard walls were built both high and steep.

Yet the rear courtyard gate was not only bolted but also locked.

Yao Xishui looked at the high, steep courtyard wall, hesitating whether to find something to climb on or whether it would be faster to simply break the iron lock. But then she saw Han Qian pull from his bosom an iron claw attached to a black cord, toss it upward, and in the next moment it caught firmly on top of the courtyard wall.

Yao Xishui thought this gadget was quite convenient for climbing. She ran over wanting to take turns with Han Qian climbing up the wall to jump into the back alley and escape, but she saw Han Qian pull forcefully downward, bringing down a section of roof tiles.

“What madness has seized you?” Yao Xishui demanded in a suppressed voice.

By this time she had already heard Zhao Mingting leading people rushing into the rouge shop. Once they were surrounded in the rear courtyard, who knew how many agents from the Bureau of Operations of the Privy Council would rush in to capture her and Han Qian. She didn’t understand why Han Qian wasn’t immediately escaping into the back alley, but was instead making mischief at this moment.

Han Qian glanced at Yao Xishui but didn’t have time to explain much.

Precisely because they didn’t know what agents from the Bureau of Operations of the Privy Council were hidden among the crowd, if they jumped into the back alley to escape, there was still a high probability their whereabouts would be exposed.

The issue now wasn’t whether or not they could escape, but that Yao Xishui’s identity couldn’t be revealed.

Otherwise, even if they didn’t flee into the Marquis of Linjiang’s mansion but simply walked out directly—having committed no crime—could Zhao Mingting actually detain them?

After creating false traces on the back alley courtyard wall to suggest two people had climbed over, Han Qian walked to the right side courtyard wall and crouched down, signaling Yao Xishui to use him to jump up.

Only then did Yao Xishui realize Han Qian had just been creating a diversion to redirect the pursuers’ attention. She looked at the height of the side courtyard wall, then ran quickly toward Han Qian. As she stepped on Han Qian’s shoulder, he stood up forcefully at precisely the right moment, and borrowing this strength she leaped onto the wall that was over a zhang high.

Next, Yao Xishui lay atop the courtyard wall and watched as Han Qian ran toward her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up onto the wall too. But most unfortunately, the neighboring courtyard housed a black dog that, seeing Yao Xishui and Han Qian about to jump down from the wall, came charging and barking at them with its tail tucked.

Yao Xishui crouched on the wall top, her scalp tingling at the sight of the vicious dog. A sharp short blade extended from her sleeve—she wanted to kill this vicious dog that might expose her and Han Qian’s whereabouts.

Han Qian pulled Yao Xishui back, making her retract her sleeve sword. He pulled from his bosom a piece of oil-cured smoked meat and tossed it toward the black dog’s gaping bloody maw.

Taking advantage of the black dog lowering its head to chew the meat, Han Qian quickly slid down the courtyard wall and grabbed the dog’s mouth from behind, signaling Yao Xishui to go down and open this courtyard’s rear gate. Then he kicked the black dog—which was whimpering with the oil-cured smoked meat in its mouth—out of the courtyard.

“Why didn’t you kill the dog?” Yao Xishui asked. She heard the black dog scratching at the door with its paws while barking madly in the back alley. She didn’t understand what Han Qian was trying to do. When the pursuers were led into the back alley and saw the vicious dog scratching at the door, wouldn’t they guess they were hiding here?

Seeing that Han Qian ignored her, Yao Xishui grabbed a handful of mud and ash in frustration and smeared it on her face. Then, gripping her sleeve sword in reverse, she stood against the rear courtyard gate, thinking that when the Bureau of Operations agents kicked the door open and rushed in, killing one or two first might make escaping more convenient.

Seeing that Yao Xishui finally realized her female-disguised-as-male appearance was more attention-drawing, Han Qian shot her a contemptuous glance. Ignoring the black dog’s loud barking in the back alley, he stood against the courtyard wall. In the next moment, he heard someone pursuing into the rear courtyard of the neighboring rouge shop.

Whether it was the gap in the wall top where the bronze-toothed claw had pulled down tiles, or the dog barking in the back alley, everything made the pursuers certain the suspects had already climbed into the back alley to escape. Subsequently, Han Qian and Yao Xishui heard the pursuers in a flurry of confusion climbing from the neighboring courtyard into the back alley.

The black dog was obviously immediately attracted to the people climbing the wall and came barking to pounce. Immediately after, Han Qian and Yao Xishui heard a muffled whimper. Without question, that black dog must have already been struck down by the pursuers and thoroughly dead—afterward not even the sound of struggling hooves came through.

Then they heard the pursuers unhesitatingly chasing toward the right alley entrance.

Only now did Yao Xishui understand why the pursuers had been so thoroughly misled.

Before climbing the wall, the pursuers hadn’t realized at all that it was because the suspects were hiding in the courtyard on the right that the black dog was pouncing at the door and barking. When the pursuers climbed the wall and saw the black dog charging from the right, they naturally assumed the suspects had fled toward the right alley entrance, and the black dog, unable to catch up chasing people to the right, had then been attracted back to them.

Although the pursuers had been led away, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t soon realize something was wrong and return.

The situation was tense. Yao Xishui’s heart was also pounding wildly. She hesitated over whether to suggest Han Qian change hiding places.

Han Qian saw that the front courtyard of this household was also unoccupied. He gestured to Yao Xishui, and they tiptoed into the house, rummaging to find two sets of clothing.

Han Qian changed out of his beggar disguise, and Yao Xishui also changed back into women’s clothing. But they didn’t immediately walk into the chaotic Fengxiang Street. Opening a crack in the small wooden window of the second-floor pavilion to observe the situation outside, they saw that Wang Wenqian and his daughter unexpectedly still hadn’t left and were still standing across the street observing this side.

“Well then, let’s rest here for a while. Hopefully this household won’t return too early.”

Han Qian crouched by the window. Even if they changed clothes, walking out directly couldn’t possibly deceive Wang Wenqian and his daughter’s eyes.

Wang Wenqian was Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan’s man, and also currently the primary object of vigilance for the Palace of Tranquility and the Crown Prince’s faction. But Wang Wenqian most likely also wouldn’t want to see a force as deeply concealed and mysteriously originated as the Evening Red Building become involved in Great Chu’s succession struggle, would he?

The Evening Red Building’s history of existence was slightly longer even than the Liang and Jin kingdoms, which had only been established for twelve or thirteen years. It was highly unlikely to be secret agents sent by the two enemy states of Liang and Jin, but precisely because of this, it seemed even more suspicious.

Taking advantage of Wang Wenqian’s side not paying attention, Han Qian left a mark outside the window that Fan Dahei and the others could recognize, then closed the window tight. He and Yao Xishui huddled in a corner of the pavilion, waiting for Fan Dahei and Zhao Wuji to rush over after receiving word and spot the mark he’d left.

Of course, he also prayed that Fan Dahei and Zhao Wuji were clever enough to consult with Chai Jian or Li Zhigao after seeing the mark, rather than rashly coming to help them escape danger.

Otherwise, even if this trip could cover up Yao Xishui’s identity, his own exposure before that old fox Wang Wenqian couldn’t be counted as anything good.

Not to mention that at this critical juncture, there was also the possibility of being targeted by that venomous snake Zhao Mingting…