You Weinan ran until he was gasping for breath, supporting himself on his knees while panting. For a moment he couldn’t retort, pointing at Tie Ci while frantically gesturing at the guards behind him.

However, the gate was only so big—half blocked by the tree, half blocked by him. The guards couldn’t possibly fly over his head, so they could only curse chaotically behind him. To the civilians’ ears, it sounded like You Weinan had nothing to say in his defense and the guards felt guilty.

Tie Ci finished scolding and left, pulling You Weixing as they jumped down from the tree. By the time the guards finally coaxed the leg-weakened You Weinan aside, those two figures were long gone.

Tie Ci melted into the crowd here while civilians exploded in heated discussion. You Weinan panted for a long while before recovering his composure and hurrying back. The guards, fearing to touch his bad luck, didn’t dare approach. Some went out to make a show of searching for Tie Ci and her companion, while the rest returned to their posts.

You Weinan returned near the privy, where his group of beautiful servants and attendants were already waiting anxiously by the privy with panicked faces. You Weinan clutched his stomach: “This anger has given me stomach pain again.” He turned and entered the privy once more.

Inside the privy, the two servants were still unconscious. You Weinan stared at them for a long while, his fingers pressing on the ostentatiously gold-inlaid, jade-encrusted fan that never left his side. His fingertips brushed over the top of the fan ribs. The fan ribs appeared to be made of a precious material called spotted bamboo, with tiny silver spots on the cross-section glinting coldly.

But in the end he withdrew his hand, woke the two men, and stuffed a black pill into each of their mouths.

Facing their suspicious and uncertain gazes, he said calmly: “Just now you two were taken advantage of by someone who threatened your lives. To save you both, I had no choice but to cooperate with them and let them escape with the Young Master.”

The two men’s eyes showed both gratitude and terror.

“But while this matter is fine with me, it won’t be fine with Commander You. He doesn’t like to keep useless burdens.” You Weinan said: “Have you thought of what to say? If you haven’t, then you’ll never need to think again.”

The two men quickly nodded, both saying they would clear themselves completely and would never disappoint the Young Master’s protection.

Only then did You Weinan nod. Seeing the two servants following behind him much more respectfully than usual, he smiled slightly.

Tie Ci had already pulled You Weixing into the back courtyard of Gui Qizhai for a makeover, then was sent out by Gui Qizhai to settle in a secluded manor in the west of the city, leaving Aunt He to attend him.

Now that You Weixing had escaped, the city gates would certainly be closed and the entire city searched. But since this involved a prince from Yannan Prince’s Mansion, they couldn’t really search extensively like hunting criminals. There would inevitably be several days of delay, which was enough for Tie Ci.

She didn’t need to risk sending You Weixing out now. This matter would ultimately be resolved within the city.

What needed to get out now was herself.

But leaving through the city gates now would be extremely difficult. Along the way, Tie Ci saw many more checkpoints had been added in the direction leading to the city gates. City patrol squads had intensified their inspection of various vehicles carrying people and goods. There were also many more people on the streets who appeared ordinary but had sharp expressions—seemingly idle but with darting eyes.

When the carriage passed far by Yannan Prince’s Mansion, You Weixing suddenly tugged her sleeve and pointed at the mansion gates: “Sister.”

Tie Ci pressed down his hand and said gently: “Don’t worry, there will be a chance to save your sister.”

You Weixuan’s wedding had been postponed again and again. Even though she had been delayed in the deep mountains for quite some time, she hadn’t missed this “wedding”—which meant this wedding was definitely waiting for her arrival before beginning.

Since the host was so hospitable, she naturally wouldn’t refuse.

After settling You Weixing and returning to Gui Qizhai, the second shopkeeper in charge of this matter looked at the obviously tense atmosphere outside and said worriedly: “From the looks of things, this city is hard to enter and hard to leave.”

Tie Ci’s gaze swept over the goods in Gui Qizhai, pausing on a certain item, and smiled: “It seems difficult, but actually it’s not that hard.”

The next day, the second shopkeeper of Gui Qizhai drove a huge cart out the door.

This departure was extremely sensational, attracting countless onlookers along the way, countless exclamations, countless people covering their eyes, and countless people covering their eyes yet still peeking through their fingers.

For no other reason than this cartload of lifelike clothing mannequins.

The kind that, as Tie Ci’s master had said, could be seen everywhere in large stores in a certain era—curvaceous plastic bald mannequins. In the eyes of people of this era, they could probably be cursed as morally corrupting and grotesquely strange.

The mannequins here weren’t made of plastic but of a certain vine from deep in Yannan’s mountains, making them even more flexible and resilient. There were half-body mannequins and full-body ones, piled haphazardly on the cart. Some heads were nearly falling off, swaying bit by bit with the cart’s movement. Combined with those carefully painted features and rigidly smiling lips, the effect could stop children’s nighttime crying.

The servant driving the cart whipped the horses while chatting sporadically with people nearby: “…Yes, another batch broke down, sending them to our repair shop outside the city for fixing… Well, people are curious, thinking they’re real people, touching here and there… Some even say touching the chest brings fertility, treating our Gui Qizhai like a temple, haha…”

Children ran alongside, some people stopped to watch, and some old neighbors who knew that Gui Qizhai periodically sent damaged items from city shops to specialized repair shops outside the city thought nothing of it.

The secret sentries and spies on the streets also looked at this sensation-causing cart, but precisely because it was so open and lively, it made people feel there was nothing wrong. Most people glanced and moved on without anyone stepping forward to inspect it.

The cart reached the city gate. On ordinary days, this cart would just be waved through, but today’s gate guards jumped onto the cart.

However, it was already late with dusky twilight. Under the low-hanging layers of clouds, a cartload of topsy-turvy, lifelike human mannequins all stared with dead fish eyes straight at you—this feeling could hardly be called pleasant. The squad leader responsible for searching walked a few steps among the sprawled mannequins, then suddenly stopped and frowned: “Today your mannequins even include ones this fat.”

He was pointing at several large-sized mannequins, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, very conspicuous among the slender mannequins.

The second shopkeeper stood below with an apologetic smile: “These are called plus-size mannequins, specially used to display large-size clothing. You should know that many people are broad and fat, but generally have a heart for beauty. We businesspeople can’t not consider them.”

The squad leader’s household also had a rotund wife. Hearing this, he patted his shoulder: “No wonder Gui Qizhai became famous throughout Kun Zhou in such a short time. This thoughtfulness is very considerate. I’ll have my wife patronize your shop later.”

“If your wife graces our humble shop, we’ll immediately offer an eighty percent silver card customer discount.”

The squad leader chuckled and nodded, then reached back to take a long spear from a soldier behind him. Bending his waist and legs, he suddenly thrust it hard into the fat mannequin!

The second shopkeeper: “…”

With a whoosh, the spear tip entered empty space. The squad leader pulled out the spear, its tip still gleaming.

The second shopkeeper let out a long breath.

The squad leader looked at him sideways: “What are you nervous about?”

The second shopkeeper smiled bitterly: “If you want to check, go ahead and check them one by one. This sudden action—my old heart can’t take it.”

The squad leader laughed heartily, stuck the spear back, and said: “Just routine business, don’t mind it.” He jumped down from the cart.

The second shopkeeper smiled as he received him below the cart, slipping him a silver card during their courteous exchange.

The cart was allowed through, passing the city gate and driving all the way into the repair shop outside the city. After the doors were closed and guards posted all around, there was finally movement on the cart.

Tie Ci sat up from the cart and removed the stuffy hood.

She still wore the outer shell of a mannequin. To squeeze into the mannequin’s shell, she had only worn a slippery water suit and contracted her bones.

The second shopkeeper said sincerely: “You were still wise. Fortunately we listened to you and didn’t use that large mannequin, or we would have been exposed. But when you were right next to that large mannequin then, my heart was dripping with sweat.”

“It’s fine. People like that are generally overconfident. After being thwarted once, they won’t try a second time.” Tie Ci went into a room and came out after changing clothes, now dressed as a local youth with colorful cloth wrapped around her head, a half-length colorful skirt, and black cloth leg wrappings—brilliant yet efficient. Combined with her bright eyes and white teeth, everyone’s eyes lit up at the sight.

She went out the door, turned a few corners, and saw the entrance to the inn where they had stayed before entering the city a few days ago. She entered familiarly. Ahead was an open area serving as a tea pavilion, with several tables of people scattered about drinking tea. Three women sat around a table—one drinking tea, one in a daze, one doing needlework.

The tea drinker wore a bamboo hat, drinking tea with proper and refined posture, back straight—her silhouette somewhat resembled hers at first glance.

The one in a daze had her tea cup completely drunk by a tiger-skin frog beside her, which then spat a mouthful of saliva back into the cup. The dazed person didn’t notice, and when thirsty, would absent-mindedly pick up the cup and drink it clean again.

Only the one doing needlework was relatively normal, patching clothes. But looking carefully, she wasn’t patching worn clothes but rather adding patches to garments of understated yet noble quality. The patches were extremely refined—they had to appear realistic and natural while being harmonious and simple, without lowering the overall tone.

The tea drinker was Dan Shuang, the dazed one was A Kou, and the needleworker was Chi Xue.

As Tie Ci approached, she heard A Kou chattering to Chi Xue and Dan Shuang: “…It’s been several days and still no sign. Maybe I should go find Aunt A Dan, or find tiger’s brothers, or else…”

Dan Shuang dismissively said: “What? Things my master can’t solve, you think those old women from your deep mountain forests and a frog can handle?”

“Aunt A Dan isn’t…”

Before she finished speaking, Chi Xue suddenly put down her needlework and smiled.

A Kou turned around and stared wide-eyed at the hazy young figure walking by—a colorful skirt, upright and handsome. Suddenly countless whirlpools appeared in her eyes.

Then Dan Shuang cruelly burst her first-ever girlish pink bubble: “Master is back!”

A Kou’s shoulders suddenly drooped.

Her shortest-lived romance was over.

Tie Ci looked at A Kou with amusement. This was all trouble caused by not wearing glasses.

Tie Ci made a gesture with her hand behind her back, indicating the three women should follow her back to the room. This tea pavilion had mixed visitors—it wasn’t a place to discuss matters.

She took the lead into the second courtyard. The three women returned one after another, with Chi Xue walking last. As she entered, she said: “After I left, I doubled back and discovered that after we left, one table of customers settled their bill—one person went outside while two people checked into the second courtyard under the pretense of staying at the inn.”

Tie Ci nodded, unsurprised that this inn outside the city was also being watched by You father and son’s spies. After all, traveling merchants mostly stayed here. If the You father and son had any brains, stationing spies here long-term to gather information was unavoidable, though it wasn’t necessarily targeting her identity specifically.

After all, three women like Chi Xue, Dan Shuang, and A Kou staying at an inn for many days was always suspicious.

During these days, the three had to create the illusion that all four were present. Often Dan Shuang disguised herself as her, Chi Xue as Dan Shuang, and they moved together. Sometimes Chi Xue disguised herself as her while Dan Shuang disguised herself as Chi Xue. A Kou, being too short to impersonate anyone, could only appear occasionally for decoration.

Short-term, this could create the illusion that all four people had been at the inn continuously. The You father and son’s spies outside the city would only feel somewhat puzzled but wouldn’t act rashly.

However, soon the search would spread outside the city. Then, regardless of the level of suspicion, everyone would be questioned first.

Tie Ci spread out a piece of paper on the desk and wrote “Chouli, Mubang, Nanya.”

These were Yannan’s three great Native Commissioner offices. Originally, Native Commissioner offices should have been institutions established by the court to send officials to pacify and manage remote frontier territories, but due to Yannan’s special circumstances, the Yannan Native Commissioner offices ultimately became the government offices for chieftain self-governance. Chouli had the greatest power and was farthest from Kun Zhou; Mubang had the largest area with moderate power and the best relationship with Kun Zhou; the weakest was Nanya, occupying only a piece of Wan Qing Mountain in a remote location.

But Nanya was originally the strongest of the three Native Commissioner offices, only it had an old feud with Yannan Prince’s Mansion. Though it submitted, it was always superficially compliant but secretly resistant, so it was long suppressed by Yannan Prince’s Mansion in alliance with the other two offices, gradually declining.

However, Nanya’s native army was the most powerful among the three offices. The clan had produced elite soldiers and generals for generations, and the clanspeople were also stronger, more robust, intelligent, and clever than other Yannan ethnic groups. Legend said this was because of a spring in Wan Qing Mountain that came from underground and had life-extending effects, nourishing the people there so that even in old age their teeth didn’t loosen and even in their eighties their hair remained black.

The three great Native Commissioner offices were far apart from each other. She couldn’t possibly visit all three simultaneously—she could only choose one to first secure a promise, then use that office’s backing to threaten or win over the other two to advance and retreat together.

So which office to visit became an important choice.

Tie Ci took out the jade piece You Weixuan had handed over at the last moment—thin as a slice, with carved secret patterns that didn’t look like decorative designs but rather like writing.

She ordered Chi Xue to bring a lamp. Chi Xue held the lamp at the jade piece’s side, constantly adjusting the angle until Tie Ci said: “Good.”

With doors and windows closed and curtains drawn, the smooth desktop reflected dense text, but Tie Ci couldn’t read it.

Just as she was about to make rubbings and find someone to examine it, she saw A Kou curiously poke her head over and say: “Oh, Aunt A Dan’s place!”

…