Feiyu smiled sideways.

Little fool who couldn’t hear the double meaning.

She bit into a goose wing, getting oil on the corner of her mouth. Just as she was about to wipe it, a slender white hand extended an embroidered handkerchief decorated with orchid patterns and fragrant with perfume.

Feiyu’s gaze followed that hand up to Xiao Wen’s beautiful face.

The woman was smiling with slight shyness.

Feiyu frowned.

Offering courtesy to the wrong person?

After a long moment, she slowly extended her hand to accept the handkerchief. When their fingers slightly touched, Xiao Wen’s face suddenly turned red and she quickly withdrew her hand.

Feiyu stared at her, a flash of killing intent in her eyes.

Then she smiled, used the handkerchief to wipe her mouth, and casually tucked it into her bosom.

Xiao Wen kept her head down, not daring to look, only seeing her ears gradually turning pink.

Over there, Xiao Jing reached his arm across the group to offer a goose leg, “Miss Feiyu, try this.”

Feiyu accepted it, her slender fingers also touching Xiao Jing’s hand. Xiao Jing nearly dropped the goose leg.

Xiao Wen still kept her head down.

Feiyu smiled charmingly and suggested, “After eating we should digest—I hear Dongming County’s market is quite lively. Shall we go take a look?”

Everyone agreed. Xiao Wenliu excitedly said to Tie Ci, “Dongming County has many medicine halls and clinics opened by the Xiao family, all half-selling half-giving to treat poor people. There’s also a foundling home that specially takes in abandoned babies—the children there are so cute! But great-grandmother, grandfather, uncles and such all forbid me to go. Today I’ll take you to see, all right?”

Tie Ci’s heart stirred.

The Xiao family’s wide network of good relationships and reputation-buying through these charitable works wasn’t surprising, but given their style of openly providing disaster relief while secretly digging embankments that night, she felt these good deeds deserved careful examination.

She agreed, and the Xiao family servants bustled about again. They didn’t set out until late afternoon.

Gu Xiaoxiao feared crowds and naturally didn’t go. The rest took carriages and horses toward the county town.

The Xiao family’s ancestral estate wasn’t within Dongming County. The city gates were normally closed, with no more people admitted in the afternoon, but seeing the Xiao family carriages, the gate guards let them through without question.

The streets were still fairly lively at this time. As they strolled along, the area before Guandi Temple had many stalls—cockfighting, goat fighting, acrobatics, drum singing, creating a cacophony.

Their group was quite conspicuous, not only because of their luxurious clothing and grand appearance, but also because of Second Senior Brother’s strange outfit, which attracted secret stares like a magnet. Second Senior Brother had always enjoyed being the center of attention, walking with his head high and chest out, his Scottish kilt fluttering in the wind, each step carrying exotic charm from across the ocean.

Xiao Jing accompanied Feiyu, constantly asking what she wanted to eat or drink, always being elbowed away by Le Wuxun, then persistently following again after a while. Xiao Wenliu followed behind Tie Ci like a little tail, continuously introducing which things were delicious or fun. Tie Ci bought them all for her—ordinary things that made Xiao Wenliu beam with joy.

Xiao Wenliu pointed out a yellow flag with black borders to Tie Ci, saying it was the Xiao family symbol. Tie Ci counted and found nearly half the market stalls displayed this flag. She pointed to an area of connected shed houses with a pawn shop beside them and countless people selling food and drink outside, looking very lively, and asked, “What’s that place? It doesn’t look like a tea house.”

Xiao Wenliu blinked, “That place—grandfather and uncles all say it’s not a good place and never let me go.”

Over there, Xiao Jing’s face reddened slightly as he told Feiyu, “Miss Feiyu, places like gambling halls and pleasure houses are strictly forbidden to us Xiao family children…”

Hearing the sounds of dice and gambling cries from inside, Tie Ci knew it was a casino. Though the current dynasty prohibited gambling, since it couldn’t be completely stopped, most people showed some restraint, keeping their establishments hidden with modest scales. If high officials and nobles gambled, they mostly chose deep courtyards and secret rooms with very high stakes. This was the first time she’d seen such an openly large-scale gambling house like in Dongming.

No matter how the Xiao family disguised themselves as proper and modest, their arrogance in their own territory couldn’t be hidden.

Over there, Feiyu stopped and curiously asked Xiao Jing several questions. Learning that gambling here wasn’t regulated by officials—that officials even took a cut and could provide protection when needed—and that there were many gambling varieties including animal fighting with quail circles, cricket bowls, cockfighting pits, etc. Entering this gambling house provided one-stop service with eating, drinking, and entertainment all available. It was therefore famous far and wide, with people traveling thousands of li to play for ten days or half a month, returning impoverished, only to come back again soon after.

As Feiyu listened, her smile deepened, a dimple appearing faintly on her cheek. Xiao Jing was nearly intoxicated, thinking Miss Feiyu’s smile was so beautiful, she must be thinking of something extremely wonderful.

While chatting with him, Feiyu casually made a mark on someone’s bamboo shed as they passed a certain shop.

After a while, she said she needed to relieve herself and entered a roadside jewelry shop, went straight through the store into the back courtyard, then climbed over to an inconspicuous small courtyard next door.

In the small courtyard, two people—one tall, one short—were waiting for her. Feiyu got straight to the point: “Use that batch of Abyss Iron weapons I obtained as bait to lure Eleventh Brother here. Make him discover this gambling house and keep him here.”

The short one said cheerfully, “Make him gamble until he’s broke? Young Master, your plan is excellent. Gambling is too strictly prohibited in Liaodong, and the Jin family manages things tightly. I heard Eleventh Prince hasn’t gambled in a long time.”

Feiyu glanced at him and snorted dismissively.

The tall one said, “Idiot! Why go through all that trouble to trick him here just to make him broke? Naturally he should die in the gambling house.”

Feiyu smiled slightly.

Since she had dragged Eleventh Brother into gambling and cultivated him into a gambling addict years ago, she naturally wouldn’t let him quit easily.

So what if the Jin family had power and influence? So what if Jin controlled things strictly? If there were no opportunities in Liaodong, what about outside Liaodong?

As long as the Jin family still wanted to rise in status, as long as Eleventh Brother still coveted the throne, then like Second Brother, he couldn’t resist the temptation of Abyss Iron weapons. Even just to recover his losses, Eleventh Brother had to come.

Eleventh Brother and Second Brother were born of the same mother, both sons of Consort Jin. The Jin family was distinguished and skilled at recruiting talent, with several famous scholars under their command—she had long coveted them.

Having seventeen wolf-like elder brothers above wasn’t good, but it was convenient for her, the poor little one, to pick up their scraps!

What leaked from each brother’s hands was enough to keep her well-fed.

The debts from years of humiliation should be slowly repaid.

When Second Brother went missing before, the Jin family searched frantically like headless flies, suffered heavy losses in manpower at her hands, had much silver money tricked away, and took many wrong turns. Now they had finally gotten Second Brother back, but because of that secret weapon forging, his fall from favor was certain.

Solving Eleventh Brother would finish off the quite powerful Jin family.

News of Fourth Brother’s death had already reached Liaodong. The Embroidered Guards moved upon hearing it, severely impeaching him before the Great King. Fourth Brother’s mansion was confiscated, and the Embroidered Guards made a fortune.

Fourth Brother was a legitimate son, beloved by the Queen Consort.

Having struck the Jin family, how could she let the legitimate line benefit?

After arranging subsequent plans with several subordinates, Feiyu climbed back over, returning to the jewelry shop with a red face. She immediately received a gift from Xiao Jing—a gold filigree kingfisher feather peony hairpin.

She immediately put it in her hair, ignoring everyone else but deliberately moving to the front, grabbing Tie Ci’s sleeve and bringing her face close, smiling as she showed off the hairpin: “Young Master Xiao bought it for me. Beautiful or not?”