Leaving for Yunzhou tomorrow, Xu Qi An immediately left the yamen to go home and prepare his luggage.
To avoid attracting attention, he only packed valuable items in his jade stone mirror, such as silver, gold, and banknotes…
He then informed his aunt and sister that he would be accompanying the Inspector on a trip to Yunzhou.
Xu Qi An had never left the capital in his life, and even his aunt couldn’t help but show concern, telling him to pack everything he needed. Besides money, clothes were the most important.
“I heard that Yunzhou has a lot of miasma and is rainy all year round. You should bring some antidote pills, and also some anti-humidity ointment… Liu Ningyan, are you listening to me?” His aunt slapped the table.
“I know, I know,” Xu Qi An replied irritably. “You don’t need to tell me all this, I’m just here to let you know.”
In my past life, I was from the South, enduring magical attacks year-round, relying only on my righteous qi to ward off the cold. The damp and chilly South is nothing… Xu Qi An grumbled inwardly.
…
At the Yingmei Pavilion in the Court of Imperial Entertainers.
As the creaking of the bed slowly ceased, Xu Qi An propped himself up on his arms, looking down at the beauty beneath him, her face flushed. “I’m leaving the capital tomorrow for Yunzhou. It might be quite some time before I return.”
Hearing this, Fuxiang immediately wrapped her long, fair legs around his waist, her voice filled with worry: “I’ve heard that the bandit problem in Yunzhou is severe. It’s very dangerous.”
“No matter how dangerous, it’s still imperial territory,” Xu Qi An pinched her soft cheek, indicating there was no need to worry.
“You haven’t visited for so long, and now you come just to tell me this,” Fuxiang said resentfully.
“I was afraid of tiring out my beauty, not neglecting you,” Xu Qi An replied.
They chatted for a while, and soon the creaking sounds resumed.
…
After leaving the Court of Imperial Entertainers, Xu Qi An went to the Star-Gazing Tower to inform Chu Caiwei about his trip to Yunzhou.
The beauty in yellow robes was quite interested upon hearing the news and expressed her desire to go as well. However, because the chicken essence was still being improved and refined, and she needed to promote it further to advance to the sixth rank, she couldn’t leave the capital.
This trip would certainly include sorcerers, so Xu Qi An’s visit was out of personal interest, wanting to bring Chu Caiwei along as if on a vacation.
Many couples with ambiguous relationships often travel together, and during their journeys, they sometimes end up conceiving a child.
Unable to bring Chu Caiwei along, Xu Qi An took the chicken essence she had painstakingly refined. The oval-faced beauty in yellow robes chased him out of the Star-Gazing Tower, shouting at Xu Qi An’s galloping figure, “Liu Ningyan, you jerk!”
Next, he went to the palace to seek an audience with Princess Huaiqing. As an ally of the Crown Princess, he felt obliged to report his itinerary and discuss the situation in Yunzhou with the incredibly intelligent Crown Princess, seeking her advice.
The guard returned with the Crown Princess’s reply: “The Princess doesn’t want to see you. Please leave.”
Huh? She doesn’t want to see me? Weren’t we chatting just fine yesterday? My actions yesterday should have made Huaiqing value me more… Xu Qi An left in confusion.
Cruelly rejected by his “elder sister,” Xu Qi An immediately went to find his “younger sister” with her round, charming face.
Lin’an wasn’t in the palace but at Lin’an Mansion in the Imperial City.
“Biaobiao is quite efficient,” Xu Qi An immediately changed course to Princess Lin’an’s mansion.
He could enter and exit the Imperial City using Biaobiao’s jade token, but he couldn’t enter the palace proper. Lin’an not being in the palace was better.
Soon, he arrived at Lin’an’s mansion. After being announced by the guards, he entered.
As Xu Qi An walked and looked around, seeing the gardens, towers, pavilions, and even a stage for opera performances, he thought to himself, “As expected of the Emperor’s beloved daughter, such grandeur.”
Biaobiao was delighted to hear of Xu Qi An’s visit. Sitting in a cool pavilion, she smiled and said, “It’s indeed much freer outside the palace, but it’s too boring in the mansion. It’s not as interesting as living in the palace.”
Her subtext was clear: What do you plan to do for fun?
I’m not here to play, I’m here to say goodbye… Xu Qi An said, “I’m leaving the capital tomorrow for Yunzhou. It will be a while before I return. Since I had an appointment with the Princess tomorrow, I came to bid farewell.”
Hearing this, Lin’an’s face immediately fell, looking at him with disappointment.
So, her moving to the Princess’s mansion was in vain. Her Mother’s Concubine would only allow her to stay outside for three days at most. She had been secretly excited, thinking this little night watchman would take her to play in the inner city.
“Then this official will take his leave,” Xu Qi An turned to leave. After a few steps, he couldn’t help but look back.
Lin’an sat in the cool pavilion, with the desolate garden as her backdrop. Her red dress was like fire, beautiful and charming, yet also very lonely and desolate.
How annoying… He complained inwardly, then turned back and walked towards her again.
Lin’an’s peach blossom eyes immediately lit up, gazing at him hazily without speaking.
“Does the Princess like to play chess?” he asked.
“I don’t like it,” she replied.
“Why?”
“Because it’s troublesome.”
It’s because you’re not smart, right… Xu Qi An said, “This official has a new way to play. The Princess can try it. When you’re bored, you can also play with your palace maids.”
Lin’an pouted, somewhat disappointed: “Is that all?”
Just don’t say it’s amazing later. Xu Qi An called a palace maid and asked her to bring a chessboard and set it up on the stone table in the pavilion.
“Second Princess, the game I want to teach you is called Five in a Row. It doesn’t have many rules or techniques, it’s very simple. Whether vertically, horizontally, or diagonally, whoever connects five pieces first wins.”
“That’s so simple, it’s even less interesting,” Lin’an shook her head.
“Don’t rush, let’s play a game first,” Xu Qi An said calmly.
“Alright then.”
Lin’an picked up a piece and placed it in the center of the board with a “clack,” raising her snow-white chin towards Xu Qi An.
Xu Qi An placed his piece randomly.
As they continued playing, Biaobiao began to invest herself fully in the game. The two placed their pieces rapidly, and amidst the clacking sounds, Xu Qi An won the first round.
“Again, again!” Biaobiao kicked her feet, her red skirt swaying.
The second game, the third game, the fourth game… Biaobiao kept losing, but she became more and more energetic, her peach blossom eyes growing increasingly focused.
She was surprised to find that although this game was very simple, with only a few patterns, for some reason, it was infinitely more interesting than regular chess. It was impossible not to become engrossed in it.
Losing again and again, she wanted to keep playing, igniting a strong competitive spirit.
At the same time, she had the illusion of being a Go master, moving pieces swiftly, and engaging in a fierce back-and-forth battle.
Finally, Xu Qi An deliberately let her win, allowing her to connect five pieces in a row.
“I won!” Biaobiao cheered happily.
Xu Qi An smiled, with an air of having everything under control.
If Princess Huaiqing were playing Five in a Row, she would have grown bored within a quarter of an hour and sneered at its simplicity.
But for a girl like Lin’an, who wasn’t as bright, Five in a Row was an extremely interesting game. Simple games could attract enormous popularity. Xu Qi An himself had once been addicted to mini-games like “Pick One,” “Link Link,” and “2048.”
He could play for hours, with his brain constantly telling him: “Stop playing, stop playing…”
But his body was honest.
“Liu Ningyan, you’re amazing,” Lin’an twirled a piece with her jade-like fingers. “You can write poetry and know so many interesting little games.
“By the way, have you come up with the first half of that poem?”
Xu Qi An shook his head.
“Drunk, unaware the sky lies in the water; a boat full of clear dreams presses down on the starry river.” Princess Lin’an didn’t ask further, reciting the half-verse softly:
“It’s so beautiful. I wish that one day I could lie on a boat, looking at the stars in the sky, with stars all around me. I hope that at that time, I’ll be free.”
At this moment, she wasn’t Biaobiao, but a girl full of innocence and childlike wonder.
“Second Princess, did you tell the Crown Princess about me giving you the chicken essence?” Xu Qi An asked abruptly.
“No, I didn’t,” Lin’an blinked her charming eyes. In an instant, she transformed from the innocent girl Lin’an back into Biaobiao, the little queen of the nightclub.
“Oh!” Xu Qi An didn’t ask further. Looking at the sky, he realized it was already dusk, and the Imperial City gates had closed. He couldn’t leave now.
Because the Imperial City patrols were handled by silver-grade night watchmen, his badge couldn’t be used, and neither could Princess Lin’an’s jade token.
The curfew in the Imperial City was very strict. It was difficult to obtain a permit from the court in the first place, and permits usually had to be applied for several days in advance, not written and used on the spot. Moreover, the offices in the Imperial City had already closed for the day.
…
Xu Qi An naturally stayed at Lin’an’s mansion. At dusk, he took a stroll around the Princess’s mansion and discovered a large pond in the back garden.
A covered boat was moored by the pond.
“Heh, she keeps talking about wanting to lie on a boat and look at the stars. She has the perfect time and place, yet she only talks about it… Young people these days, are always strong in words but lacking in action.”
Xu Qi An left discreetly. When Biaobiao hosted a banquet for him, he suggested, “Your Highness, shall we dine somewhere else?”
The Princess’s eyes lit up. Without asking further, she followed his instructions and ordered the palace maids to carry small tables and dishes to the back garden, boarding the covered boat.
After setting up the small table and lighting the charcoal fire, there was no room left on the covered boat for anyone else. The palace maids could only watch from the shore, exchanging worried glances.
The Princess and this man were getting too close. Whatever happened during the day was one thing, but meeting on the pond at night was inappropriate in terms of both propriety and etiquette.
Lin’an drank a few cups of wine, her face flushed: “I’ve never tried dining on a boat before.”
In the candlelight, her face was as soft and flawless as a piece of fine jade, her peach blossom eyes charming like silk. Though she was a classic beauty who could feast one’s eyes, Xu Qi An couldn’t help but imagine her in modern clothes – a red T-shirt with a little bear print, denim shorts, white sneakers, long straight jade-like legs, and wavy permed hair – the little queen of the nightclub.
Night fell, and the crescent moon hung high.
Xu Qi An suddenly said, “Lie down.”
Biaobiao was stunned for a moment, her heart-stirring. Without thinking, she lay back…
“Ouch!”
She hit her head on the boat’s planks, crying out in pain. But she quickly became transfixed. In the night sky hung a crescent moon, with sparse stars twinkling, emitting a lonely light.
The water’s surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the crescent moon and stars.
“Drunk, unaware the sky lies in the water; a boat full of clear dreams presses down on the starry river,” Xu Qi An said softly.
She gazed at the stars in the sky, her eyes misty. Xu Qi An looked at her – the beautiful curve of her snow-white jaw, her straight nose, her small cherry-like lips slightly parted.
A girl like her was naturally alluring, and her demeanor when slightly drunk was utterly captivating.
“There are too few stars. I want to see the Milky Way, I want to see the Milky Way,” she lay on the boat’s planks, twisting her waist, unconsciously acting coquettishly.
Today’s stars weren’t few, but they couldn’t compare to the “Milky Way.” That would have to wait until summer.
“This is so nice…” she murmured.
…
At the Eight Trigrams Platform of the Star-Gazing Tower.
Standing at the edge of the platform, observing the night sky, the Supervisor’s ears twitched.
A few seconds later, the array patterns lit up, revealing a white-robed figure standing with his hands behind his back, leisurely reciting:
“Holding tomorrow to pluck…”
The voice suddenly choked halfway through, as if an invisible hand had gripped his throat, unable to utter the rest of the content.
After a long while, Yang Qianhuan found he could speak again and honestly said, “Master, what did you summon me for?”
The Supervisor, his white beard fluttering, stood with his back to Yang Qianhuan and said, “Go to Yunzhou, watch over…”
The latter half of the sentence was transmitted directly into Yang Qianhuan’s mind.
The master and disciple stood with their backs to each other. Yang Qianhuan probed, “Go secretly?”
“Mm.”
“Understood. Does Master have any other instructions?”
“The Nine Provinces are full of hidden talents, and there’s always someone better. When you’re away from home, remember to be humble and low-key. Don’t say things you shouldn’t say, don’t do things you shouldn’t do.”
“Master, please be more specific.”
“Keep a low profile. Don’t go around saying that phrase, or you’ll get beaten up.”
“Yes, Master.”