Bianjing. The old imperial city had new masters. The Qi people were desperately trying to mark this city with symbols belonging to Great Qi, but everywhere one looked was the incongruous sight of magpies occupying the swallows’ nests.

The second day of the seventh month was Wanyan Puruo’s birthday. Compared to the grand celebrations in the palace in previous years, having returned defeated from battle, this once all-powerful eldest princess had to keep a low profile.

The birthday banquet was held at her own residence, inviting only some familiar ministers and their wives. Rather than calling it a feast, it was more important that Wanyan Puruo could use this occasion of wine cups and cheerful toasts to win over officials and gather intelligence about various situations.

And Nanyi was planning to infiltrate the eldest princess’s residence during today’s rare opening of the residence for guests.

She and Qiu Jie’er had been in the city for several days, making contact with Bianjing’s Bingzhu Bureau spies. They had been tracking for some time and finally caught traces of Xie Zhu, who had now transformed into Wanyan Puruo’s advisor and was living in her residence.

The Qi King had specially permitted the eldest princess to open a residence for conducting affairs, so her mansion was not merely a dwelling but also included government offices, advisory chambers, and military camps, with security comparable to the imperial palace. Even with today’s complex flow of guests, the guards showed no signs of relaxation. All who entered the residence needed their invitations checked, and each invited guest’s invitation was personally written by Wanyan Puruo herself, making forgery impossible.

But Nanyi finally found a breakthrough—there was a lady who was searching the entire city for precious calligraphy, paintings, and collectibles. She knew the eldest princess didn’t love silk and satin but treasured these scholarly items, racking her brains to cater to her preferences.

Nanyi brought timely assistance to this lady. She presented a painting purported to be a genuine work by Master Wang—”Rivers and Mountains”—several feet of paper depicting continuous mountain ranges with magnificent momentum and masterful brushwork. Even someone completely ignorant could be stunned at first sight, exclaiming it a rare masterpiece.

This was actually a forgery that Qiu Jie’er had rushed to complete in five days and nights. But it was more than enough to fool these Qi people who knew nothing about calligraphy and painting to begin with.

The lady immediately wanted to buy this painting from Nanyi, but Nanyi declined the gold and silver, saying only that she had read some books and heard that Princess was someone who cherished talent. She wanted to seek a position under her command and hoped the lady could bring her before the eldest princess on her birthday to make an introduction.

The lady was naturally happy to save money, and seeing that Nanyi didn’t seem like someone who could cause trouble, she agreed without hesitation.

Following behind this lady, Nanyi successfully infiltrated the eldest princess’s residence.

Nanyi’s gaze swept around the mingling guests and spotted Xie Zhu. He probably still retained some conscience, knowing his actions would bring catastrophic disaster to the Xie family, so he hadn’t revealed his identity publicly but sat in an inconspicuous corner. Seeing his hypocritical and pretentiously noble appearance, Nanyi’s teeth itched with hatred, wishing she could immediately cut down this enemy with her own hands.

But now wasn’t the time for acting on impulse. Nanyi needed to take advantage of everyone gathering at the banquet to find an opportunity to slip away.

Just then, apparently an important guest arrived. Before the person even entered, it caused quite a stir, with many seated ministers crowding forward to bow respectfully. From the surrounding discussions, Nanyi learned the arrival was the Eighth Prince. He was the Qi King’s youngest son, unlike his brothers who followed their father in southern and northern campaigns. Raised from childhood in luxury, he was uneducated and spent his days in debauchery and frivolity, a famous second-generation wastrel in the royal court.

The Eighth Prince walked into the banquet hall surrounded by attendants. Nanyi couldn’t help but look curiously—the man was like a peacock displaying its feathers, wearing a golden silk-inlaid, gem-studded hair crown, dressed in deliberately low-key but actually conspicuous dark robes with large patches of golden thread embroidered star patterns decorating the garment. As he walked, sunlight flowed across the robe, making that black outfit truly radiant.

He was indeed a noble son raised among gold and silver mountains, his magnificent bearing self-evident.

For some unknown reason, Nanyi had a moment of confusion and almost thought she was seeing Zhang Yuehui.

Coming to her senses, Nanyi hurried to take advantage of this heaven-sent opportunity when no one was paying attention to slip away.

The lady who brought her in only assumed she had gone to the lavatory and didn’t suspect anything. She had never really intended to bring her to meet the eldest princess—that would be too degrading to her status. When the time came, she would find an excuse saying the eldest princess didn’t want to meet her.

Nanyi had calculated that this lady had no sincere intention of helping her, which was why she dared to boldly leave.

The current eldest princess’s residence was formerly the Yue Dynasty’s Prince Tai’s mansion, and the terrain inside hadn’t changed much from before. Nanyi had familiarized herself with the layout beforehand, and everything went relatively smoothly as she stealthily made her way to the advisory chambers. Before coming, Qiu Jie’er had told Nanyi that her father was very particular about feng shui arrangements at home—the residence he lived in would definitely have evil-warding copper bells hanging under the eaves and Daoist talismans pasted on the door frames. By checking for these, she should be able to quickly find Xie Zhu’s residence.

Most guards were in the front courtyard, leaving the advisory chambers with sparse security. Stealing was Nanyi’s old profession, and she quickly found her way into Xie Zhu’s room.

Everything was going smoothly—perhaps too smoothly.

But Nanyi couldn’t worry about that now. She quickly searched through Xie Zhu’s bookshelf. Distant music rose and fell through several courtyards, making the room seem even more silent. Nanyi could only hear her own heart pounding, her entire body tense to the point of trembling.

Where was that memorial hidden… Could it not exist at all?

In the front courtyard, the banquet had reached its midpoint. Wanyan Puruo refused no one’s toasts and had drunk to the point of being flushed with wine, when an attendant hurried over and whispered in her ear.

“Your Highness, the woman accompanying Captain Zhuolu’s wife today isn’t her usual maid. We’ve been watching her since she entered, but just now we lost sight of her in a blink…”

A flash of sharp light suddenly pierced through Wanyan Puruo’s hazy drunk eyes.

The fish had taken the bait.

She had received intelligence that Jinling’s Bingzhu Bureau had sent spies into Bianjing, apparently targeting Xie Zhu. With Xie Zhu under her protection, she anticipated the other party would try every means to approach the princess’s residence, so she had already set up airtight surveillance at the birthday banquet, watching every person who entered and left.

She glanced at Xie Zhu, and the attendant immediately understood, adding: “Nothing unusual around Master Xie.”

Not coming for Xie Zhu?

Wanyan Puruo was stunned, suddenly thinking of something. Could it be they were after something Xie Zhu had brought?

The advisory chambers!

Before Wanyan Puruo could give her instructions, the Eighth Prince suddenly approached with the smell of alcohol, holding up his wine cup.

“Aunt, nephew toasts you—wishing you a joyful birthday—”

Wanyan Puruo had to raise her cup first to respond to the Eighth Prince’s toast. But the Eighth Prince seemed drunk, swaying unsteadily forward and losing his balance, spilling all the wine in his hands onto Wanyan Puruo.

“Oh my—Aunt, it’s all nephew’s fault for being clumsy. What should we do? Quick, quick, quick, someone come serve aunt and help her change clothes—”

The Eighth Prince frantically stepped forward to wipe the wine from Wanyan Puruo’s body. This interruption broke Wanyan Puruo’s train of thought as maids swarmed up, separating the reporting attendant.

Wanyan Puruo had to hastily give him a meaningful look. Being clever, he immediately understood to go search the back courtyard and silently withdrew from the crowd.

At this time, Nanyi was still fearfully searching for that crucial memorial in Xie Zhu’s room.

There was a pile of similar memorials. Nanyi couldn’t take them all, so she had to read through them one by one. Since she wasn’t very quick at reading, to speed up, she looked through the memorials for Xie Queshan’s name.

Finally, she found a memorial pressed at the very bottom. It contained Xie Queshan’s name, and the familiar name made her eyes well up with tears. The handwriting was different from the others—this must be Minister Shen Zhizhong’s personal writing.

When entering the residence, she had been searched and couldn’t bring any weapons.

Just as her heart was pounding, she heard a somewhat familiar yet strange voice say: “One of us.”

Nanyi looked back in surprise, and the person before her left her stunned for a full moment.

Wasn’t this Qiao Yinzhi, Xie Hengzai’s concubine? She seemed thinner and darker, with her hair tied in a neat ponytail, wearing a residence guard’s uniform, her eyes full of sharp vigilance. Saying she came from a martial background wouldn’t be surprising—she looked nothing like someone who had been a aristocratic family’s concubine for ten years, with none of the weak, helpless appearance from before.

On New Year’s Eve this year, Nanyi had discovered she was a Qi spy, but before she could inform Xiaoliu, she had been released by Xie Queshan.

She had almost forgotten about this person. Seeing her again today, many memories came flooding back.

But why was she here, and claiming to be “one of us”?

Qiao Yinzhi pulled the confused Nanyi into a secluded grove, checked that no one was around, then began removing her clothes.

“Change clothes,” she instructed Nanyi simply and efficiently.

“Why are you helping me?” Though Nanyi hadn’t lowered her guard, she immediately cooperated in changing clothes.

This princess’s residence guard uniform was something they couldn’t obtain outside even with broken heads and heavy gold. Regardless of what Qiao Yinzhi wanted to do, wearing this disguise couldn’t be a bad thing.

“If I don’t help you, should I help the Qi people?”

Nanyi remained somewhat cautious: “Then if you give me your clothes, what will you do?”

Hearing Nanyi’s hesitation, Qiao Yinzhi explained: “After Xie San released me, I had nowhere to go and could only return to Gusha’s side. He placed me in the Black Crow Battalion for his convenience. After his death, I continued staying in the Black Crow Battalion and was later transferred to work as a guard at the eldest princess’s residence. My identity is very safe—without these clothes, I can escape at any time.”

“…Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” she paused, and Qiao Yinzhi’s tone finally softened a bit. “Xie San spared my life. This is how I repay him.”

Nanyi’s nose stung—he had silently done so many things, leaving only quiet actions.

After changing clothes, Qiao Yinzhi familiarly led Nanyi through a path with no guards.

Just as they emerged from the end of the path, they met head-on with a squad of soldiers ordered to search for people.

The lead guard saw people coming out of that path and immediately became alert: “Who goes there!”

…

At the banquet, the drunk Eighth Prince was becoming more of a hindrance than help. Just wiping wine stains, he accidentally knocked over small dishes, making Wanyan Puruo a complete mess. She was now completely unable to summon her close attendants to give orders.

Someone had infiltrated her residence, she hadn’t caught them yet, and the situation could spiral out of control at any moment. Wanyan Puruo was irritated but couldn’t lose her temper with her nephew, keeping a smile on her face while repeatedly saying it was no problem, just wanting this wine sack and rice bag to get lost quickly.

Then she looked down and saw his hands.

That person had a pair of very beautiful hands. These hands had once calmly pushed all chips forward in front of her, with distinct knuckles, slender and pale. She had seen them countless times, these hands fluttering like butterflies as they worked the abacus, handling business worth tens of thousands of taels. She often stared at these hands, sometimes even having momentary fantasies of being held tight by these hands, being caressed by them.

She wouldn’t forget.

Wanyan Puruo suddenly gripped this “Eighth Prince’s” wrist. Then with a sweep of her wide sleeve, she pulled a golden hairpin from her hair and with lightning speed drew it across his face.

Hair cascaded down, and a crack appeared on his face, but strangely, there was no blood in the crack.

There was another layer of skin beneath the skin.