Mei’er presented the small cloth package with both hands, curtsied, and said softly, “Young Master Xu, then, this servant will take her leave.”
“Wait!” Xu Qi An took the package but didn’t open it. Looking at the pretty young maid, he asked, “Where is your home?”
“This servant’s home is in Jiaoshi County,” Mei’er replied in a soft voice.
Jiaoshi County was within the boundaries of the capital, in the northeast direction. Setting out from the north, hiring a carriage, one could reach it in two days.
Mei’er wasn’t the daughter of a convicted official; she had been sold into the Teaching Fang Si by her family.
Girls like her, sold into the capital’s Teaching Fang Si, usually came from poor families in the capital or its surroundings. No one would travel thousands of miles to sell a girl in the capital. If they had that kind of travel money, they wouldn’t need to sell their daughter.
As for her parents, selling her to the Teaching Fang Si was purely out of desperation. That year, there was a great disaster, and the whole family could barely afford the gruel. Selling her at least gave her a chance at survival.
Even if Floating Fragrance had left her some silver, the Teaching Fang Si, being the exploitative place it was, would have surely extorted her during the redemption process. As a weak woman, if she brought back too little silver, her family might not treat her well…
Seeing her modest attire, Xu Qi An pondered briefly, then reached into his robes, lightly tapped the mirror surface, and took out a fifty-tael silver note to hand to her.
“Young Master Xu, I can’t accept this,” Mei’er shook her head repeatedly.
“You and Floating Fragrance were mistress and servant. It’s only right that I do what little I can,” Xu Qi An smiled.
Mei’er’s eyes filled with tears as she choked out, “When Miss Floating Fragrance was gravely ill, this servant hated you in her heart, hated you for being cold and unfaithful. This servant was wrong. You are truly a man of honor and affection. Miss Floating Fragrance was ill-fated, she didn’t have the fortune…”
Xu Qi An felt somewhat awkward. He had known about Floating Fragrance’s serious illness for a while but hadn’t figured out how to face her.
As for her identity, ever since Zhong Li had pointed out that her soul was incomplete, he, as an experienced detective, had connected many previous doubts.
For instance, why did the demon clan know he was entangled with fate…
Why did the demon clan secretly hide Shen Shu’s severed hand in his home…
Normally, a person with an incomplete soul couldn’t function properly; they would either be an idiot or in a vegetative state.
After seeing Mei’er off, Xu Qi An sat in the outer hall and opened the package.
Inside were two letters, a book, and a yellow jade bracelet.
One letter was written when he passed through Qingzhou on his way to Yunzhou. The other was written when he passed through Huangyou County in Jiangzhou while investigating a case in Chuzhou.
Xu Qi An was about to put down the bracelet and the two letters when he suddenly felt something was off. He opened the letter from Qingzhou and shook out a dry, wrinkled lotus petal.
Xu Qi An, who had only felt slight sadness at Floating Fragrance’s death, suddenly felt a choking sensation.
So, from beginning to end, this was all I ever gave you…
He unfolded the letter and read it silently, a lingering sourness in his heart as he recalled his past with the courtesan.
He had once read on a forum that true, deep sorrow isn’t an explosive bout of crying, but rather the half-empty milk carton in the fridge, the gently swaying pothos on the windowsill, the folded quilt on the bed, and the quiet hum of the washing machine on a peaceful afternoon.
Taking a deep breath, he carefully put away the letter and bracelet, shifting his attention to the book.
The book had a blue cover with no title. Upon opening it, he discovered it was a collection of Floating Fragrance’s random writings. The handwriting was delicate, recording some peculiar little stories.
The book told of a towering cliff where an old eagle lived with its six children. One day, the eagle’s children were bullied and came back crying to the eagle.
The eagle didn’t intervene, just silently stood on the cliff, watching the ground below.
So, the eagle’s children flew away and never returned.
At the foot of the cliff was a dangerous jungle where a tiger lived. The tiger fell ill and could no longer hunt, so it sent its subordinate, the fox, to lure small animals into its cave to satisfy its appetite.
The fox believed the tiger couldn’t do without it, so it gradually became arrogant. It allied with the wolf pack and ate the noble little white rabbit.
The tiger found out but chose to turn a blind eye, covering for the fox.
The wise monkey king in the forest noticed something was amiss and sent his monkeys to investigate the fox. To prevent the exposure of the fox’s luring of small animals, the tiger told the python:
“Go tell the big black bear that the fox ate his cub.”
Upon hearing this, the big black bear became furious, stormed into the fox’s home, and killed the fox.
“What does this mean?”
Xu Qi An furrowed his brow, pondering for a long time, unable to understand what the story was implying.
It felt oddly familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it at the moment.
He didn’t dwell on it further, returning to the inner courtyard to hone his blade intent and practice the Heaven and Earth Single Slash.
After lunch, he rode his little mare to the brothel, disguised himself there, left on foot, and then reached the agreed private residence, entering Ling An’s carriage.
Once again sitting in the royal princess’s carriage, the wheels rolled, entering the imperial city.
As they approached the area where the royal clan gathered, an equally luxurious carriage made of purple sandalwood approached from the opposite direction.
“Stop the carriage!”
From the oncoming carriage came Huai Qing’s cool voice.
Both carriages stopped. Huai Qing opened the window, sat by it, half-leaning out her beautiful face, and said, “Ling An, didn’t you say you were feeling unwell these past few days? Where have you been?”
Damn… Xu Qi An sat in the carriage, his face stiff.
Secretly meeting with the younger sister, only to be caught midway by the elder sister.
Huai Qing frowned and said, “Why aren’t you speaking?”
What I wanted was Master Luo’s time management skills, not his accident-prone lessons… Xu Qi An’s mind was full of complaints. He pinched his voice, coughed forcefully a few times, and then, without answering Huai Qing, calmly instructed the driver:
“Go on.”
After reaching the fifth rank, he could perfectly control his body, including his voice. Temporarily producing a shrill female voice wasn’t difficult. As for whether it sounded like Ling An, with the coughing as a setup, it was understandable for an unwell Ling An’s voice to have some changes.
I hope Huai Qing didn’t notice…
He spent the entire afternoon fooling around with Ling An, keeping her company, playing chess, and drinking tea, with occasional physical contact, growing increasingly harmonious and natural.
At the beginning of the Shen hour, he left Ling An’s residence, taking Biaobiao’s carriage to leave the imperial city. Just as he exited the city gate, he heard that familiar, cool voice again:
“Stop the carriage!”
Damn… Xu Qi An nearly lost his ability to manage his expression. Before Huai Qing could speak, he pinched his voice, coughed forcefully, coughed forcefully…
Then, he coughed Huai Qing in.
Wearing a plain palace dress, as beautiful as a painting and as elegant as a flower, the eldest imperial princess pushed open the carriage door, climbed into the compartment, and looked at him coldly. Those clear eyes, like a deep autumn pond, carried both playfulness and anger.
“Princess Huai… Huai Qing…”
Xu Qi An forced a smile, though, without a mirror, he knew his current expression could be described in seven words — awkward but not impolite.
“Young Master Xu, you’re quite skilled, sneaking into the imperial city to meet with a princess in secret. Are you afraid His Majesty doesn’t have enough reason to behead you?” Huai Qing’s voice was icy, her beautiful face frosted over.
“I’ve always been cautious.”
He pointed at his face, which was the face of his younger brother, Xu Er Lang.
He and Ling An had agreed that if anything went wrong, they would say she was seeking explanations on the classics from a Presented Scholar, that she was studying. As for whether there was any “private tutoring” during the process, well, they had dismissed all the palace maids, so no one would know.
Huai Qing sneered, “When you meet with Ling An, do you dismiss the palace maids and guards?”
“Of course.”
“Every time?”
“Yes.”
Huai Qing’s autumn-water clear eyes looked at him calmly, saying softly:
“Ling An is not like me. She might not even know which of her guards and maids are Consort Chen’s people. There’s nothing wrong with a royal family member seeking explanations from a Presented Scholar, but dismissing the servants every time… I dare say Consort Chen already knows about this, she’s just waiting and watching.
“You’ve already offended Consort Chen to death in the Consort Fu case. If you let her catch you, she’ll report it to Father Emperor in an instant. Do you want to die, or push Xu Ci Jiu out to take the blame?”
I just said today that I wanted to reduce the frequency of our meetings… Xu Qi An nodded: “Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness.”
Huai Qing nodded with satisfaction: “From now on, you’re not allowed to see Ling An anymore.”
…Xu Qi An looked at her in shock.
Huai Qing explained seriously: “I’ve said before, she’s not like me. She doesn’t even know how many spies are around her. Your private meetings with her are too risky.
“If there’s anything in the future, I can relay it. Hmm, if you must meet, come to Huai Qing’s residence. I’ll help you arrange meetings with Ling An.”
This way, everything will be under your nose. How am I supposed to hold Biaobiao’s hand… Xu Qi An grumbled inwardly, saying:
“Doesn’t Your Highness’s residence have outsiders’ spies?”
Huai Qing glanced at him, her smile contemptuous.
“Your Highness is indeed wise beyond measure, with superior skills, a hundred, no, a thousand times better than Princess Ling An.” Xu Qi An immediately offered flattery.
Huai Qing neither acknowledged nor denied his flattery, continuing: “Three days from now, the Imperial Academy will hold a literary gathering at Reed Lake in the imperial city, related to the northern war and the historical grudges between Great Feng and the Witch God Cult. You’ll accompany me, under the identity of Xu Ci Jiu.”
“Alright!”
Xu Qi An could only nod.
Huai Qing nodded with satisfaction, smiling faintly: “In about twenty days, summer will be over, and the court might go to war. Whenever there’s a war, it’s customary for the local gentry to donate silver and grain. What are Young Master Xu’s thoughts on this?”
Ever since Emperor Yuan Jing began cultivating, labor and finances have been strained. To fill the empty national treasury, he came up with the idea of squeezing the local gentry.
Huh? What thoughts could I have? I’m not part of the gentry… Just as Xu Qi An thought this, he heard Huai Qing say coldly:
“Young Master Xu is wealthy. Why don’t you donate a bit?”
“How… how much should I donate?”
“How about eight thousand taels?”
Xu Qi An’s face suddenly froze.
…
Donating is impossible, it’s impossible in this lifetime… In the twilight, Xu Qi An dragged his tired body back to the mansion.
After lunch, he lay on the bed and heard the door creak open. It was Zhong Li returning after her bath.
“How was this afternoon? You didn’t get hurt, did you?” Xu Qi An asked.
“No, no injuries, just almost died,” Zhong Li said quietly.
“?”
Xu Qi An immediately sat up and asked, “What happened?”
Zhong Li suddenly became aggrieved, saying tearfully, “I was cultivating nicely in the room when your broken sword went crazy for no reason. It suddenly thrust at me, just a centimeter away from taking my head off.”
Xu Qi An comforted her, “It’s okay, it’s okay.”
“It didn’t end there. Your broken sword kept chasing and trying to kill me. If Daoist Li hadn’t come to save me, I’d be dead by now.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
“It still didn’t end. While subduing it, Daoist Li accidentally used the wrong spell and scattered my soul. She spent the whole afternoon trying to call me back.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
“It still wasn’t over. After my soul was called back, I found out your kid had forcefully stuffed a piece of sticky rice cake in my mouth, and I almost choked to death.”
“It’s not over yet?”
“It’s over now.”
What should I use to save you, my Fifth Junior Sister… Xu Qi An was overcome with sorrow. He beckoned the Taiping Sword and scolded, “Why did you bully her?”
The Taiping Sword hummed and vibrated.
I don’t know why, but I suddenly couldn’t stand her… This thought was transmitted to Xu Qi An.
I suddenly don’t know whether to blame Taiping or you! Xu Qi An was once again overcome with sorrow. He said gently, “Junior Sister Zhong, you can sleep in my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.”
Zhong Li shook her head repeatedly, curling up on her small couch, feeling very safe.
At this moment, a familiar heart palpitation came over him. Xu Qi An instinctively reached under his pillow for the Earth Book fragment, lit a candle, and checked the Earth Book message.
[Six: The Health Hall is being watched. Someone wants to deal with this poor monk.]
This was Heng Yuan’s message.
Does someone want to deal with Master Heng Yuan? He shouldn’t have offended anyone, right?
Xu Qi An was stunned for a few seconds before suddenly realizing that the person Heng Yuan had offended was none other than Emperor Yuan Jing. Whether it was interfering when the imperial guards were killing the two dukes or guarding the lotus seed in Jian Prefecture, both were acts of opposing Emperor Yuan Jing.
[Two: Are you at the Health Hall? Are you in danger? I’ll come right away.]
The Flying Swallow Heroine was always urgent in others’ urgency, never hesitating to help those in need.
[Six: This poor monk is not at the Health Hall. Today, someone was inquiring about my whereabouts in the southern city. The commoners I’ve helped before secretly informed me.
[I left the Health Hall and hid in a nearby residence. After dusk, people were lying in ambush near the Health Hall.]
[Four: Don’t bother with them, find another place to hide.]
Chu Yuan Zhen offered advice.
[Six: This poor monk is worried they might harm the children and elderly at the Health Hall.]
[Four: Do you know who they are?]
[Six: I don’t know.]
Xu Qi An used his hand as a pen and transmitted: [It’s not hard to guess. It’s our Emperor’s people.]