When Cui Shaoting was about to depart, he didn’t really give any instructions to his wife and children. Instead, he specifically pulled Song Chuyi into his study and solemnly instructed her: “I’m leaving everyone with you. You can use them however you wish. Just one thing—if there’s something you can’t handle yourself, absolutely don’t force it. No matter what, your uncle and your two aunts are in the capital. Don’t make foolish mistakes.”
Although Cui Shaoting was only a cousin by marriage, he truly treated her well, even more considerately and dotingly than her actual uncle Cui Yingshu. Seeing Song Chuyi’s eyes reddening, he patted her head again: “Silly girl, normally you seem quite capable, but at times like this you seem to become foolish. I treat you the same way Yingshu treats you. Since childhood I had no sister, so I’ve always regarded your mother as my own sister.”
Speaking of this, he laughed mockingly again: “If it weren’t for looking after you and Yan’er, I wouldn’t have allowed him through the door today.”
The ‘him’ in his words was naturally Song Yi.
Song Chuyi struggled to hold back her tears and nodded her head vigorously. Cui Shaoting then reached into a hidden compartment behind his desk and pulled out an extremely small box to hand to her: “Inside is my token. At a critical moment, take it to find Lai Chenglong—it will be useful.”
Song Chuyi was finally shocked enough to forget to cry, wiping her tears while momentarily unable to recover—Lai Chenglong was the newly appointed Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard. Chen Xiang managed the Southern Office, while he now managed the Northern Office.
She never expected Cui Shaoting to have connections with such a figure.
Seeing her surprise, Cui Shaoting couldn’t help but tease her: “Surprised, aren’t you? No matter how capable you are, you can’t possibly know every little detail of every connection. Lai Chenglong’s father was precisely my secretary when I was in Fujian. The two of us have been through life and death together. If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t feel at ease entrusting you to them—though you won’t tell me what you need these men for, I can imagine it’s not something easy. These people, if used well, are a blade, but if used poorly they might stab you instead. If things ever reach such a point, go find Lai Chenglong. He’ll help you resolve it.”
At the time, she had only thought of these people because she truly had no one else to turn to, remembering that in her previous life, one of the reasons this uncle was impeached included the accusation of harboring desperate fugitives as private soldiers. That’s when she set her sights on Ma San and the others.
But Cui Shaoting and Cui Yingshu had actually already planned and arranged all of this for her. She tucked the palm-sized box into her sleeve pocket, holding back tears as she nodded heavily.
After entering the back courtyard of the Cui residence and avoiding Yu Shi, the first thing she said upon seeing Ma San and Ma Wangkun was to instruct them to act tonight: “Since you’ve already been following them for three or four months, you surely won’t make mistakes. Tonight they’re heading to Hebei, so you’ll seize the opportunity to strike.”
Ma San hesitated slightly and looked up at Song Chuyi, then immediately lowered his head: “Kill them?” He made a throat-slitting gesture while his heart grew increasingly heavy.
He had been following Song Chuyi for a full four months. The first task he completed for her was the matter with Squire Huang, and the second was what Song Chuyi was now instructing—truly taking lives. He couldn’t help feeling somewhat apprehensive. Never mind that she was a noble lady who should have been raised in the inner chambers embroidering and playing on swings—even those shrews from their village who had been forced to become bandits would probably tremble when truly speaking of killing people. Yet Song Chuyi spoke of it so lightly, as if it weren’t something shocking at all.
Song Chuyi glanced at the hesitant Ma San, then looked at Ma Wangkun who had been quietly obedient throughout, her gaze resting on Ma San’s head for a moment. Her voice seemed like ice water in winter, so cold it made the listener shiver: “What, you don’t dare?”
How could he not dare? Not to mention when he went out fighting with Cui Shaoting’s soldiers, even back when he was a bandit, he had killed quite a few people.
Ma San immediately shook his head. He just didn’t know what deep hatred existed that would make this young girl want to kill people.
“Since you’re not afraid, then do as I say.” Song Chuyi’s cold voice this time carried a bit of ease, finally not sounding so murderous: “When the job is done, I’ll have both your sons go to school. In the future they won’t have to follow your old path.”
Ma San and Ma Wangkun exchanged glances, both knowing in their hearts that this young girl had them by the throat. Last time she said that after the job was done, she would arrange for their wives and mothers to work on the estate, and later she truly did it. Now they could even steal away to visit them occasionally. Now she was making such a promise again, and combined with the leverage she held over them, how could they not obey?
They had already scouted the location long ago and knew exactly how many people the other side had. They brought men to hide in advance in grass so deep it reached their knees. When the three carriages rumbled out of the capital boundary in the night and reached this desolate wilderness with sparse population, they led their men to swarm forward. Without a single word of nonsense, they killed all eleven people clean.
After finishing the deed, they pushed both the people and carriages down the nearby cliff, and overnight, braving heavy rain, stayed in an old house in the suburbs of the capital that had already been purchased.
They were all accustomed to killing. Though each had several more lives on their hands, they didn’t sleep uneasily. On the third day, they sent the most inconspicuous Ma Wangkun into the city to pass word to Luo Gui at the theater.
When Song Chuyi received the news, she was in her room writing a reply to Song Yan. Upon hearing the news, she curved her lips into a smile.
Han Zhi liked to show off his cleverness. Not only had he pushed a child who resembled Ran’er before her eyes, but he insisted on reciting that poem. Something about “when the tree dies and the vine dies, they still cling together in death”—thinking she definitely wouldn’t figure it out.
But he forgot that an old soul lived inside her body. Moreover, Song Chuning’s matter was so sensitive. When he recited that, her original three parts of suspicion immediately became ten parts certain.
She didn’t believe Heaven was so bored that sending one Song Chuning wasn’t enough and had to send another Han Zhi to torment her together. Besides, after several encounters, she discovered that Han Zhi was far from as seasoned and smooth as she had seen in her previous life, which further confirmed that he wasn’t reborn, but rather had connections with the reborn Song Chuning.
Sure enough, Heaven rewards the diligent. Having Ma Yongfu and Ma Wangkun watch for so long, they finally followed Wei Yanjun and uncovered the truth—Song Chuning’s coffin really was sent to the temple, but supposedly that day there happened to be another funeral procession in the suburbs of the capital, and the two groups ran right into each other.
Only in books would things be so coincidental in this world.
Han Zhi wanted to toy with her, so she would send him a gift first. She wondered what his reaction would be when he learned his little lover had died?