Nanyi jolted awake—only now did she truly wake up. She touched her neck, finding nothing amiss, and looked down at herself to see still the same tub of completely cold water, without any trace of blood.

Only then did Nanyi confirm she had merely had a nightmare.

But since nothing had happened, didn’t this mean Xie Queshan had spared her? Nanyi looked at the bruises on her body, lost in thought… Actually, the black-clad figures from last night hadn’t struck particularly hard.

Perhaps Xie Queshan had only wanted to punish her a little? Nanyi speculated wildly, but gradually became clear in her heart that she had probably escaped disaster.

She rose and dressed, then after a moment’s thought, decided to find Xie Sui’an.

Xie Sui’an was confined to her room under house arrest, lying listlessly on her bed.

“Sixth Sister.”

Hearing Nanyi’s voice, Xie Sui’an scrambled up from the bed.

She had already fought with her own mother last night until she was sick of fighting. She spoke to Lu Jinxiu about national righteousness and duty, while Lu Jinxiu told her she had grown willful. She spoke to Lu Jinxiu about Third Uncle’s noble character, while Lu Jinxiu said that as a girl, if she didn’t behave properly, she wouldn’t be able to marry in the future.

It was completely talking at cross-purposes, impossible to communicate.

Now finally someone on her side had come. Xie Sui’an perked up, eagerly grasping Nanyi’s hands.

“Sister-in-law, the situation outside has become very bad.”

Nanyi often felt that compared to Xie Queshan’s impassivity, Xie Sui’an’s emotions were too clearly written on her face, and her thinking was too single-minded. Sometimes it gave one the illusion of playing house, but her martial arts were truly superb, and her heart was too sincere. Even if Li Du Mansion became a battlefield, you wouldn’t doubt for a moment that Xie Sui’an would charge forward first on horseback with spear in hand.

“Little Six, don’t be anxious. Tell me the details.” Nanyi wanted to extract some information. Though Xie Sui’an was confined to her room, her intelligence network shouldn’t be cut off.

“Wanyan Jun—the Qi person who brought Princess Lingfu into the city yesterday—he’s the biological younger brother of Great Qi’s Prime Minister Han Xianwang, you could say Han Xianwang’s most trusted person. His coming to Li Du Mansion this time is actually for the Shipbuilding Department—to put it this way: Li Du Mansion was occupied relatively peacefully by the Qi people. They want to use appeasement policies to win over the prefect and befriend our Xie family, all for the sake of the Shipbuilding Department.”

“They want the dragon bone ships?”

“Exactly.”

Only now did Nanyi understand. Gusha played the villain, applying pressure to Li Du Mansion from top to bottom with iron-blooded brutal methods, provoking public anger, earning condemnation from scholars both orally and in writing, causing the Shipbuilding Department to strike and refuse to build ships, deteriorating Han-Qi relations to the extreme.

At this time Wanyan Jun entered the city to play the benevolent role. He only needed to show slight favor to appear magnanimous and generous on behalf of the Qi people, and with Princess Lingfu at his side, he could better win people’s hearts.

And Third Uncle was a chess piece in the Qi people’s hands. Tormenting him could stir up everyone’s anger, while sparing him could make everyone grateful. Through several rounds of this, the Qi people could easily obtain conditions favorable to them.

Xie Sui’an said with a heavy expression: “So Third Uncle must be rescued, otherwise the Shipbuilding Department will be constrained by the Qi people and ultimately be forced to compromise and build ships for them.”

“Little Six, you’re confined to your room—how do you know all this?”

“Sister-in-law, do you remember the singing girl you saw at the Huachao Pavilion banquet? Her name is Chang Yan. She’s my contact person within the Bingzhu Division. All this information was passed to me by her. I dare not speak for others, but Chang Yan definitely won’t be the inside traitor. She can also help with our operations.”

Nanyi nodded. That singing girl was indeed also from the Bingzhu Division—she hadn’t guessed wrong. Knowing that Xie Sui’an had reliable help outside gave her some confidence.

She had to help Xie Sui’an rescue Third Uncle, so that Xie Sui’an could free up her hands to help her.

Nanyi pulled Xie Sui’an to the writing desk and had her help grind ink. Drawing from her memory, she sketched out half of the city defense map.

Her talent lay in photographic memory. Even though she had only glimpsed it hastily in the darkness last night, she remembered all the parts she had seen.

Though Nanyi’s drawing skills were extremely clumsy, Xie Sui’an was very familiar with Li Du Mansion. After puzzling it out a bit, she could understand what Nanyi was drawing.

Xie Sui’an was very surprised: “Sister-in-law, how did you get the city defense map?”

“There’s still another half. I’ll find a way to go to Xie Queshan’s place to steal a look at it. But after completing this task, I want Sixth Sister to help me with something.”

“Sister-in-law, please speak freely.”

“Li Du Mansion was never meant to be where I would stay. I just didn’t expect Big Brother Xie to suddenly fall ill and die, disrupting all my plans. I was originally a member of the Jinling Bingzhu Division. I need to return to Jinling, but I’m now trapped in the Xie family…”

Nanyi had made this decision to go to Jinling after deep consideration.

Previously, like a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, she had even boasted about going north to find Zhang Yuehui. But after going through all these twists and turns, she finally saw clearly that with her meager strength, she simply couldn’t oppose this chaotic world.

She needed to go to a safe place first to establish herself, then slowly search for Zhang Yuehui. Jinling, where the new court was located, was definitely the safest place at present.

After briefly pondering, Xie Sui’an readily agreed: “This isn’t difficult. The Xie family now only has women. As long as we hide it from Xie Queshan’s eyes, it’ll be fine. I’ll handle this matter properly.”

“Also, my identity cannot be known by anyone, including Chang Yan.”

——

That afternoon, Nanyi went to knock on Xie Queshan’s door.

To prevent him from having murderous intent, this time she entered through the front door. She had to let the Xie family people see that she had gone to find Xie Queshan. If she died violently, it would definitely be Xie Queshan who did it.

Xie Queshan opened the door, afternoon sunlight pouring over him. He didn’t invite Nanyi in, nor was he in any hurry to speak, just looking at her like this.

Seeing his appearance, though he hadn’t said anything, that strange feeling in Nanyi’s heart became more certain—he wouldn’t kill her.

Nanyi took a deep breath and got straight to the point: “Let me look at the city defense map once, and I’ll let you beat me up again. Tonight, I absolutely won’t run.”

Though he understood all her actions completely, these words still made Xie Queshan pause slightly in surprise. He looked her up and down.

“Why?”

“People from the Bingzhu Division are extremely good at hiding, using various different identities to disguise themselves as ordinary people hiding in Li Du Mansion. It just so happens that Xie Little Six said the Bingzhu Division’s inside agents are planning to rescue Third Uncle, so if I help them steal the city defense map, they’ll start their operation quickly. Won’t this help you, Young Master, force them out and catch them all in one net!”

Nanyi spoke as if it were completely true, her face full of loyalty to serve him.

Xie Queshan smiled: “Are you teaching me how to do things?”

Nanyi cowered slightly, her tone weakening: “I didn’t… I was afraid you didn’t trust me, so I was anxious to express my loyalty to you.”

“If I didn’t trust you, how would I let you live until now?”

Ha, he probably never trusted her at all—he was just confident that her tricks couldn’t threaten him. He was simply a madman who enjoyed toying with people and watching them scramble about.

She still managed to squeeze out a smile on her face: “Thank you for your trust, Young Master! Since you trust me, then do I not need to be beaten, and you could just let me look at the city defense map directly?”

“Are you asking me to be your accomplice?”

…No matter what she said it was wrong. What exactly did he want?!

Nanyi smiled sheepishly: “This humble person wouldn’t dare.”

Xie Queshan said seriously: “Stealing and looking can only be your personal action. If you’re discovered, you must accept punishment, otherwise I would become your accomplice, which would bring me trouble.”

Nanyi gritted her teeth: “Then tonight, same place as usual?”

Xie Queshan nodded like spring breeze itself.

——

That night, all was quiet.

Nanyi came alone to that dark alley with practiced ease. She looked somewhat bulky, having bound thick padding to her front and back, knees, and arms, so she could suffer less when beaten later.

But there was no one in the dark alley. Nanyi waited left and right until she was somewhat confused. Could it be that Xie Queshan was just toying with her?

Suddenly, the sound of something cutting through air came from the darkness. Nanyi looked up alertly as an arrow grazed past her ear and embedded itself in the ground.

Nanyi’s eyes widened. She hurriedly pressed against the wall vigilantly. The next second, a sky full of flying arrows shot toward the dark alley.

This wasn’t a beating—this was trying to kill her!

Since you’re unkind, don’t blame me for being unrighteous. Nanyi didn’t hesitate to take off running.

The various padding bound to her body greatly restricted her movements. She had to throw off the burdens on her body while running.

…Another night of cat-and-mouse games, with escalated danger.