“Elder Sister Ming should sleep for another hour. Since we have some leisure time, Master, why don’t we chat a bit more?” Si Tuling said. “I’m curious, how did Official Dan, originally a Beast Master, become an envoy?”
His tone was casual as if merely making small talk. Shen Tianlin didn’t seriously refuse, only vaguely replying, “There are many internal affairs in Chaoyang City. No one else could spare the time to come, so the two of us were sent.”
“Are you two the only ones who came? Are there any other notable figures among your attendants?” He smiled.
Shen Tianlin’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly lowered his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”
“When the streets were congested, I saw Official Dan lift the carriage curtain anxiously to look outside, then turn back to say something to someone inside the carriage,” Si Tuling said, swinging his legs. “Master, you weren’t in the carriage at the time. So who else could make Official Dan sit in the side seat and lift the curtain?”
“Well, I don’t know about that,” he said, lowering his head to sip his tea.
Si Tuling looked at him with a smile. “Master Shen is straightforward and not good at lying. When you lie, your eyes look down and to the left. You’ve done it twice just now.”
“Pfft, cough cough—” Shen Tianlin spat out his tea and stared at him wide-eyed. “You little brat, why are you so talkative?”
“If I were facing Elder Sister Ming, I’d play dumb as I should. But with you, I can’t help but speak the truth,” Si Tuling shrugged. “Chaoyang City is currently in serious turmoil, and the one who needs to establish authority most urgently is your Prince Yong. Let me guess, you plan to bring him to Muxing City for a visit, then attribute all the credit for the tribute to him when you return, right?”
“Nonsense,” Shen Tianlin glanced down and to the left, then quickly averted his gaze.
Si Tuling chuckled. “I’m just saying, and you’re just listening. A noble prince, a potential heir, coming to Muxing City so rashly—you’d be concerned about his safety, so you disguised him as an attendant. But—even with such good protection, you still let him watch the commotion at the Ji residence. This means that fire must have had something to do with him.”
Shen Tianlin looked confused for a moment, then shook his head. “One is a prince from Chaoyang City, the other is a fighter from Muxing City. What connection could they have? Prince Yong is truly innocent; at most, he just went along to watch the excitement.”
“An envoy, if ordered by the Grand Minister to harm Earl Ji, would be very nervous. But Official Dan isn’t. He’s composed, even a bit impatient—a man with a plan,” Si Tuling shook his head. “Such a person wouldn’t easily leave evidence against himself. If it weren’t related to Prince Yong, he absolutely wouldn’t let the prince watch.”
Shen Tianlin was speechless. After some thought, he found the young man’s words somewhat reasonable.
“As for what grudge Prince Yong might have against Earl Ji, that’s hard to say. Perhaps it’s for next year’s Six Cities Tournament, or maybe for some other reason,” Si Tuling scratched his head, looking a bit dissatisfied. “There are no more clues. It’s quite frustrating.”
Shen Tianlin looked at him for a while, then suddenly said, “You’re a talkative little brat, but quite clever. To become a City Patroller at such a young age, you must have some real ability.”
“Master Shen, you flatter me,” Si Tuling cupped his hands. “If you have any doubts or questions, feel free to share them with me. As repayment for the kaleidoscope, I’m willing to help clarify things for you.”
Impressive, he thought, making such a formulaic response sound so fresh and unconventional.
Shen Tianlin snorted with a smile. “If there comes a day when you can visit Chaoyang City, I’ll truly bring some matters to ask you about.”
As for now, on someone else’s turf, it wasn’t reliable.
Si Tuling didn’t press further. Knowing that Prince Yong was here was enough. He discreetly clenched his hand behind his back. Fu Yue, standing behind him, noticed and slipped away.
Ming Yi woke up from her nap and immediately devoured two bowls of rice.
Food is the primary need of the people. No matter what happened, she had to eat her fill before dealing with anything else.
Si Tuling was truly observant. All the dishes she had eaten more of at the welcoming banquet were now placed on the table. The spicy tripe was fragrant and crispy, truly delicious.
Seeing the last piece of tripe left on the plate, she reached out with her chopsticks while scooping rice, trying to pick it up several times without success.
Someone walked in and, using the chopsticks set aside on the table, helped her put the tripe into her bowl.
She froze, looked up, and saw Shen Tianlin’s stern face.
… She nearly choked on her rice.
“In the past, you’d bother your master with trivial matters. Now that something big has happened, you’re hiding away,” he said, sitting across from her and casually setting up a spirit realm around them.
Realizing she couldn’t escape today, Ming Yi bit the edge of her bowl and mumbled, “My meridians are destroyed. How can I be your disciple now?”
“How were they destroyed?” he asked.
Ming Yi lowered her eyes, stiffly scooped another mouthful of rice, then put down her bowl and wiped her mouth. “I don’t know. By the time I discovered it, the Lihentian poison had been in my body for several years. There was no antidote, so it suddenly flared up just before the Six Cities Tournament began.”
“And after the poison flared up? Why didn’t you stay in Chaoyang City for proper treatment? You disappeared overnight!” Shen Tianlin had been angry about this point all along.
The person in front of him tilted her head and smiled wryly. “It’s not that I didn’t want to. They wouldn’t let me.”
As soon as the poison flared up, the Meng family came with people, intending to expose her true gender and bring down the Si family. Her Imperial Mother, without a second thought, immediately ordered her throat to be cut, her body burned, and the remains were thrown into the moat.
If it weren’t for the court eunuch who couldn’t bear to do it and secretly sent her out of Chaoyang City, she probably wouldn’t even have ashes left now.
Ming Yi still remembered the tone in which those four words, “cut-throat and burn the body,” were uttered by her once-respected Imperial Mother. It was as if she were just a useless rag, too dirty to even look at.
“The eunuch told me to come to Muxing City to find Earl Ji, saying there might be a slim chance of survival, so I came,” she finished the rice in her bowl and folded her hands obediently, looking at Shen Tianlin. “I don’t want to win any Six Cities Tournament anymore. I just want to survive now. This must seem utterly lacking in ambition to you, so how could I dare to call you Master anymore?”
Shen Tianlin listened, his eyes turning red.
He stood up and looked around the room for something.
Ming Yi thought he was going to hit her and quickly raised her hands to protect her head.
Unexpectedly, he turned around twice and pulled out a large purse from his own body, somewhat awkwardly stuffing it into her hands. “Here, hold onto this. Holding it will make you feel less miserable.”
Ming Yi was stunned. Looking down, she saw a heavy piece of gold about the size of her fist, clearly hastily exchanged, with the money house’s seal still on it.
“Let me think where to start,” Shen Tianlin tried to calm his emotions, then looked into her eyes and said, “I took you as my disciple indeed because of your strong Yuan power and exceptional talent. But since you became my disciple, no matter what you look like, you are still my disciple.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, or how high or low your Yuan power is. But when something happens to you, you should at least let your master know!”