“You don’t know – that first night when Miss Ming arrived, we ate dinner together at Lanyou Pavilion. When she entered the room, Rong’er fell into her arms, and the expression on Miss Ming’s face when she held Rong’er… tsk tsk, you didn’t see it. I never thought I’d see such an expression on the face of someone so composed and calm.”

Qi Fan took a sip of his syrup, frowned, grabbed a handful of hawthorn powder and threw it in, then continued: “She thought I was standing behind her where I couldn’t see – actually, there’s an engraved copper plate in the pavilion with calligraphy by the master calligrapher Yao Chongzhi, polished smoother than a mirror. She happened to be standing diagonally across from the wordless section of that copper plate. When she held Rong’er, thinking no one could see, that expression…”

Qi Fan paused, stopped his hands, and a trace of melancholy suddenly crossed his features as he said quietly: “I’ve only seen it on my mother’s face.”

At the mention of his mother, Rong Xiaotian had been about to speak but immediately shut his mouth. After a long silence, he said: “Actually, you should occasionally go back to visit… after all, so much time has passed…”

“Let’s not discuss this matter,” Qi Fan immediately cut off his words, straightened up, looked at the sky, and smiled: “The pigeon has returned. Let’s see how our new master will praise us?”

Rong Xiaotian remained silent, looking at his brilliant smile and profound dark eyes, his brow furrowing tightly once again.

After unrolling and carefully reading the paper, Rong Xiaotian gave a grunt. Qi Fan, however, frowned and said: “Back then, Master wouldn’t let us enter the palace, so we don’t know what people are around her. From the looks of it now, this Miss Ming must have greatly pleased our master’s heart. Look, she’s even learned her tone of speech perfectly – quite cutting.”

Rong Xiaotian coughed.

“Have you caught a cold? Why are you coughing?” Qi Fan was still studying that “pig and chicken” coded message, shaking his head as he read: “‘Secret reports like merchants haggling over prices, coded letters like pedantic scholars’ flowery prose. If Ruiyi’s spirit has knowledge in the afterlife, she would surely spring up from the Yellow Springs and clap her hands with a long sigh: There are successors to carry on!’ Tsk tsk, this girl is clearly in her budding years – how does she speak with such a gloomy tone, like an old ghost who’s been dead for decades?”

Cough cough! Rong Xiaotian coughed again.

“What’s wrong with you today? So delicate?” Qi Fan asked strangely, reaching out to feel Rong Xiaotian’s forehead, only to have his hand slapped away.

Making eye contact with Rong Xiaotian, who was facing the door, Qi Fan finally understood why Rong Xiaotian’s throat had been bothering him today.

The two figures, one large and one small, reflected in the other’s pupils were clearly smiling with ill intent.

Qi Fan twitched the corners of his mouth and slowly turned around. By the time he fully faced Qin Chang Ge and her son, he had already adopted a smooth, natural smile like a spring breeze: “Ah… Miss Ming, what wind brought you here? Ah, Rong Rong, you’ve finally come. I missed you so much it was agony…”

“The winds of rambling nonsense and hellish ghost winds brought this old ghost here.” Qin Chang Ge stepped through the door with a gentle smile.

“Is it you who missed me, or your strange and bizarre candy that no one will buy?” Xiao Baozi followed closely behind, wrinkling his little face and staying far away from that candy pot.

Qi Fan continued maintaining his unchanging smile with great fortitude, greeting his guests with bows and courtesy, turning a deaf ear to the mother and son’s sharp tongues. However, Qin Chang Ge’s next sentence immediately made his face fall.

“Prepare several things for me,” Qin Chang Ge took out a list and gave it to him. “Also, I want the entry and exit travel passes of all outsider martial artists who entered the city three years ago, before and after Empress Ruiyi’s incident. Additionally, I want the whereabouts of these three people at that time.”

Qi Fan first looked at the list, drawing in cold air with hissing sounds, but said nothing. Upon hearing Qin Chang Ge’s task assignment, he frowned: “Before the incident that year, we had already checked all the travel passes for that day – there were no anomalies. As for these three people’s whereabouts… ah… I hadn’t thought of him, but the other two were also investigated. They were both in their own residences at the time.”

“What were they doing?”

“One was playing the qin. Our informant kept watch outside the window all night – until before the incident occurred, he never saw him come out, and the qin music never stopped. The other was discussing poetry with a great scholar from Yingdu. He held a poetry gathering that night with many attendees, and he was there from beginning to end.”

Qin Chang Ge made a sound of acknowledgment and nodded, slightly appreciating the intelligence and thoroughness of her capable former subordinate, though she said nothing aloud. She only said: “I’m about to pay a visit to Gang Leader Su. Please prepare a calling card for me. Take care of Rong Rong for now. Do you have rubbing copies of those travel passes from back then? Are those informants from back then still around? Please arrange everything in advance – tonight or tomorrow, I’ll want to investigate as soon as I return.”

Qi Fan agreed to everything, but said: “Of the two informants, one was beaten to death two and a half years ago, and the other was expelled from the residence for some transgression. He’s currently working as a shop assistant at a silk store on Dong’an Street. When you return, Miss, I’ll bring him to see you.”

Qin Chang Ge frowned: “Killed? Expelled?” After thinking for a moment, she smiled: “Indeed, that’s those two people’s style.” She said nothing more, took out the box containing the needles to show them. Both men leaned in to look, and upon hearing about the morning’s dangerous incident, they looked at each other in dismay. After a long while, Rong Xiaotian said: “I share Miss Ming’s assessment. These needles contain Chihe heavy iron, but they’re not entirely like it. The style should also be northern, but we’ve never seen it before. Does Miss Ming want to ask Gang Leader Su, who made his fortune at Chihe?”

Qin Chang Ge nodded. “Besides him, who else would have more authority to speak about this thing?” She stood up: “I’m going now.”

After walking a few steps, she turned back: “I heard the late Empress say that originally the Huang Alliance had three heroes: Chu Feihuan, Qi Fan, and Rong Xiaotian. Last time I vaguely heard you mention that the Chu clan betrayed and has already been executed by you two. You were evasive about details, but I must understand clearly. After all, this was one of the late Empress’s old ministers, someone the Empress always remembered. Right and wrong must be clarified. When I return, explain everything in detail.”