The wind and rain in Shangjing had persisted without pause for several days, and newly formed flower buds lay scattered across the ground.

Hooves splashed through the mud as Chen Baoxiang called out to the person in the carriage beside her: “Are we just making one more trip to the Medicine Preparation Bureau today and then done?”

“Yes.” Zhang Zhixu nodded, but then looked puzzled. “Why have you been following us around this whole time?”

“Second Elder Brother, you don’t understand.” Yin Yue poked her head out. “Baoxiang and I are very close. Today is my first day starting the new post — of course she’d come to see me off.”

After several days of negotiation, Elder Brother had finally agreed to let her take up a minor clerical position at the Medicine Preparation Bureau — whether she advanced further would depend entirely on her own abilities, with absolutely no running back to the Zhang Mansion to make a scene.

Just thinking about earning her own salary — and having the chance to see Zhang Xilai a few more times — put Yin Yue in the finest of moods.

Chen Baoxiang smiled and nodded. “That’s right, I came to see Yin Yue off. Shangjing has been in turmoil lately — having more people around is never a bad thing.”

Ever since Lu Shouhuai’s murder — and with no killer yet caught — the noble families of Shangjing had been living in anxious dread, adding extra attendants and bodyguards whenever they ventured out.

Ningsu had also intended to find a couple of more capable fighters to accompany the master in and out, but before she could even raise the matter, Official Chen had begun sticking to the master’s side at every moment.

During the day, whenever the master went to the Bureau of Works, she followed; only after seeing him inside the bureau would she go off on her own to the Ministry of War. At dusk, when he returned home, she would be standing guard outside the Bureau of Works — her tall, imposing figure planted there like a pillar, and the local ruffians in the area would give the spot a wide berth.

Today she had said she came to escort Miss Yin Yue, but Official Chen’s eyes had never left their own master, her alertness so keen that her ears were practically pricked up.

Ningsu felt both gratified and reassured.

“Official Chen.” Halfway down the road, a dispatch courier came riding up on horseback and clasped his hands in greeting. “The constabulary has issued your appointment order. Please return at once.”

Chen Baoxiang let out a delighted exclamation. “Daxian, your word really does carry weight — assignments are already coming in.”

Zhang Zhixu lifted the carriage curtain with two fingers. “It’s a rare opportunity. Go ahead.”

The dispatch courier hesitated, looking uncomfortable.

Zhang Zhixu waved him off. “You can’t afford to offend your superiors — go on. Ningsu is still here with me.”

The carriage was still within the city, and Ningsu had seven or eight people with her, so there should be nothing to worry about. Even so, Chen Baoxiang seemed very uneasy. She gave Ningsu detailed instructions for quite some time before at last turning her horse around and following the dispatch courier away.

Zhang Zhixu watched her retreating figure and said with sudden feeling: “She really does make quite an impression when she’s attending to serious matters.”

“Doesn’t she?” Yin Yue pressed both hands to her heart. “I’ve always thought Baoxiang carries herself magnificently.”

“You’ve got a good eye.”

“As do you.” Yin Yue turned to look at him, her expression meaningful. “Second Elder Brother has always had impeccable taste.”

Zhang Zhixu paused, snapping open his folding fan to cover half his face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, come now. My Second Elder Brother is the most clever person in all the world — there is only what he doesn’t wish to understand; there is nothing he truly cannot understand.”

Zhang Yin Yue teased, “Elder Brother was actually interrogating me just yesterday — asking how you and Baoxiang first came to know each other. How would I know? You’ll have to go and explain that one yourself.”

“Though Second Elder Brother, whatever you do, don’t go praising Baoxiang in front of Elder Brother. He’s like the Queen Mother of Heaven with a golden hairpin in hand — just waiting for an opportunity to draw a dividing line between the two of you.”

“You’re worrying needlessly.” Zhang Zhixu gave a light scoff. “I do not praise people easily.”

Zhang Yin Yue cast him an oblique, teasing glance.

He kept his expression carefully composed — like a lotus leaf holding water steadily, unwilling to let a single drop of emotion spill.

But thinking of the worry in Chen Baoxiang’s eyes whenever they landed on him, Zhang Zhixu held the fan before his face and, despite himself, let the corner of his mouth curve gently upward.

Only she would be so unwilling to let him out of her sight — as though he were not a martial practitioner guarded on all sides, but a piece of jade so delicate that the slightest knock might shatter it.

Completely unnecessary — yet no one else afforded him such concern.

If he were truly to speak well of her, there was indeed much to praise. Elder Brother simply did not know Chen Baoxiang well enough — once he became familiar with her, he would certainly come to see her fine qualities.

Zhang Yin Yue stared in astonishment — and saw her own Second Elder Brother gazing off into the distance in a daze, the corner of his mouth gently lifted, his dark eyes shimmering with a quiet light.

She glanced in that direction, then sighed with deep feeling, pressing a hand to her heart: “Second Elder Brother, it really seems you are very fond of Baoxiang.”

Zhang Zhixu snapped back to his senses, lifted the curtain with a touch of irritation, and called out to those outside: “How much farther? Hurry up and get this person dropped off at the Medicine Preparation Bureau.”

“Up ahead, it looks like the Lu Family’s funeral procession has blocked the main street.” Ningsu cupped her hands in reply.

A man who had originally been sentenced to exile — yet through the intervention of Cheng Huaili’s power and influence — was somehow receiving a grand burial after all.

Zhang Zhixu shook his head and let the carriage curtain fall. “Take a different road.”

The driver acknowledged the instruction and turned down an alternate street.

Perhaps due to the security lockdown within the city, several roads had been barricaded, making them impassable for the carriage — and so they wound one way and then another.

After half an hour of this roundabout route, Yin Yue grew fretful. “It would actually be faster to go around through Xiliang Street and take that route to the Medicine Preparation Bureau, rather than going through here.”

“But that way means leaving the city.”

“That’s still better than being late on my very first day.” She was quite anxious. “Director Cen has already shown me so much consideration — how could I make things difficult for her any further?”

Ningsu looked toward her master with an uncertain expression; he thought it over, then nodded.

“Very well — hold on, both of you.” The driver pulled the reins taut.

Ningsu and Jiuquan led their people on horseback behind, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings and remaining on alert at all times.

What no one anticipated was that while the surroundings were perfectly still, the carriage — which had been traveling normally just moments before — suddenly made its move. It rammed through two of the guards ahead, swung around in a sharp turn, and bolted wildly out toward the city outskirts.

“Stop the carriage!” Ningsu shouted.

The driver on the front seat paid no heed. Not only did he not stop — he drove further and further out toward the western outskirts.

The tremendous force of the movement sent Yin Yue’s head nearly slamming into the carriage wall. Zhang Zhixu braced a hand against the window rail with one hand and steadied her with the other. Looking up, he saw the “stable hand” who had been sitting on the carriage shaft crouching into the cabin with a dagger clutched in hand.

“Even this person was substituted.” He tightened his grip on the window rail. “This was clearly planned far in advance.”

The man gave a cold laugh: “A pity that you were completely unprepared. Today, having two members of the Zhang Family to bury us — even in death, it would be worth it.”

As if in answer to his words, from behind the carriage, a large gang of bandits surged forward — a blinding gleam of pale white blades flashing in a row.

The swiftly spinning wheels churned through a stream, sending white spray flying up — catching the sunlight and scattering into a thousand glittering sparks.