The person in her dream didn’t understand her, looking at her with terror: “The General has always walked the righteous path…”

“So the old man’s life will surely be praised by others,” she smiled, tying the maid’s hair ribbon while her eyes reddened. “But I don’t need that. He always scolded me for being unruly since I was little. Now that he’s gone, I’ll be even more unruly.”

“Only killing can repay killing, only blood can soothe blood. Don’t give me any nonsense about righteousness, honor, forgiveness, or vindication. The old man is gone, and I want their entire families dead, without heir or descendant!”

Guan Qingyue was just such an unrestrained person, defying etiquette and discipline. After mastering martial arts at age twelve, she could easily escape family punishment, roaming heaven and earth freely. Only Guan Canghai could make her behave for a moment.

She was the type who, upon taking a fancy to someone, would disguise herself to stay by their side. If she couldn’t marry the one she loved, she’d at least share their bed to find fulfillment. If someone hit her once, she’d strike back tenfold; if someone gave her one piece of pastry, she’d return ten.

She was the kind who, though born a woman, commanded thousands of troops with swagger, fought on battlefields, and used blood to stop war.

She was the type who lived life to the fullest, daring to love and hate, riding a fierce horse in military dress, as free as the wind.

And now, such a person had become a courtesan, fallen into the mud.

“What’s your name?” Someone asked her in her daze.

She grinned and said, “I’m Guan Fengyue, of Zhaoyao Street, Menghui Lou—Guan Fengyue.”

…

The sounds of war horses and weapons echoed in the dream. Someone on horseback had taken an enemy general’s head and turned back to see, among thousands of helmeted soldiers, a brilliant smile as bright as the sun.

That smile was beautiful, not a man’s but a woman’s. Suddenly, it seemed as if red gauze had flown out from within the armor, twisting passionately in the intense light, mesmerizing to the eye.

His body stiffened, and Yin Gezhi awoke.

What a strange dream—how could red gauze fly out from armor?

Rubbing his forehead, he felt he must have been poisoned by Fengyue lately, leading to such bizarre dreams.

“Master.” Seeing him awake, Guanzhi handed over a rosewood box with an apologetic expression. “This thing has come again.”

Hmm? Looking at the box and then at his expression, Yin Gezhi frowned. “Couldn’t catch them?”

“We just arrived at the General’s mansion and weren’t fully prepared, so…”

Waving his sleeve to stop further explanation, Yin Gezhi got up and opened the box.

A waist token and a letter—he read the letter first, narrowing his eyes, then looked at the token.

So they knew he was investigating Wang Han and even delivered these things to his door? Yin Gezhi let out a cold laugh: “How impressive.”

“Master, what should we do?” Guanzhi felt a chill down his spine. “Could it be a trap?”

Rising to burn the letter, Yin Gezhi held the waist token and asked expressionlessly, “How many people do you have carrying out orders?”

“Five.”

“Good. I’ll give you five orders to distribute among them. Remember, give them separately, and note which order went to which person.”

“Yes.”

Playing games with him? Then let’s play properly.

After washing up and having breakfast, Yin Gezhi went out and happened to meet Yi Zhangzhu.

“Brother Yin is up?” Smiling at him, Yi Zhangzhu said, “Today I’m going to the mountains to serve tea to passing travelers. Would Brother Yin like to join?”

If an ordinary person made such a request, Yin Gezhi would think of them as sick. Travelers on the road, wouldn’t they bring their water? Couldn’t they drink from rivers? What was the use of serving them tea?

However, the one making this radiantly compassionate suggestion was Yi Zhangzhu, so he nodded in agreement: “Let’s go.”

Yi Zhangzhu’s reputation for being as benevolent as a bodhisattva was well-known in Bu Yin City. Serving cool tea in summer, and distributing cotton quilts in winter—Yi Street always had relief stations from the General’s mansion. Though it was questionable whether these things reached those in need, having such intentions showed exceptional kindness, completely unlike those seductive, worthless creatures from brothels who only earned money for their pleasure.

That worthless Guan woman inexplicably felt a chill down her spine, looked around, and then went back to eating her delicacies.

“If only every noble house in Bu Yin City would donate some silver,” Yi Zhangzhu said while climbing the mountain. “The General’s mansion alone can’t support all the refugees. But whenever I go to other mansions to discuss this, even if they agree to donate, their faces show reluctance.”

“Brother Yin, don’t you think people’s hearts can be very cold sometimes? Though they have plenty to eat and wear, they’re unwilling to let others have the same.”

Yin Gezhi pressed his lips together, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Yi Zhangzhu continued speaking to herself: “Sometimes I want to be selfish too, then Father wouldn’t always say I’m wasting money. But when I look at my fine clothes and think about how many people are starving to death in the world, my heart aches.”

As if overcome with emotion, Yi Zhangzhu suddenly began to cry, crouching on the mountain path, sobbing heartbrokenly.

Yin Gezhi looked down at her and suddenly paused.

Yi Zhangzhu cried beautifully, tears falling like strings of pearls, wiping beneath her nose with a handkerchief—not a trace of mucus to be seen.

“Everyone has mucus when they cry. Some young ladies want to look tragic, so they wipe away the mucus.”

Fengyue’s words somehow echoed in his mind, and Yin Gezhi raised an eyebrow, suddenly smiling.

It was a genuine smile—his facial features softened, his lips curved in an attractive arc, his eyes sparkling. Sunlight filtered through the leaves above, creating enchanting dappled patterns.

Yi Zhangzhu stared dumbfounded, mouth agape, momentarily forgetting to cry.

“You…”

Coming to his senses, the smile instantly vanished from his face as Yin Gezhi turned to continue up the mountain: “If we want to get down before dark, we should head up earlier.”

“…Alright.”

So Yin Gezhi could smile? After a long while, Yi Zhangzhu finally thought to ask: “What were you smiling about?”

She had been crying so sadly—any man should have offered comfort, right? Yet he smiled? Even if his smile was beautiful, that wasn’t right! How could he?

Unexpectedly, the person ahead maintained an expressionless face and said very seriously: “You must be seeing things. When did I smile?”

Struck by his serious tone, Yi Zhangzhu lowered her head, genuinely beginning to doubt whether she had been seeing things.

After finishing serving cool tea on the mountain and returning to the General’s mansion, Guanzhi came to report in a low voice: “The orders have been distributed.”

Making a sound of acknowledgment, Yin Gezhi turned to Yi Zhangzhu: “I just received some news. May I have a word with you in private?”

Seeing Guanzhi’s mysterious manner, Yi Zhangzhu grew very curious and followed Yin Gezhi into the guest room.

“What did you find out?”

Opening the box on the table and taking out the waist token to examine it, Yin Gezhi asked: “Is this something from your household?”

Looking at what he held, Yi Zhangzhu was startled: “Steward Wang’s waist token? How did it end up with you?”

“Guanzhi just told me that an innkeeper discovered some items from the General’s mansion and sent them all here in this box,” Yin Gezhi lied smoothly. “The thieves probably wanted to dispose of them while fleeing, finding them cumbersome. Then the inn’s staff found them in a pile of miscellaneous items.”

After examining the waist token twice and opening the rosewood box, Yi Zhangzhu’s expression changed upon seeing the map of the General’s mansion. She drew in a sharp breath: “This!”

She had thought so! She had thought so! The General’s mansion was so heavily guarded, how could thieves possibly get in? So there was an insider, using this waist token to infiltrate the General’s mansion. Once night fell, following this map of mechanisms, they could steal from the study and escape completely unscathed!

That Wang steward!

“I’ll go settle accounts with him!” She slammed the table and rose to leave, but a figure flashed before her.

Pressing his hand against the door, Yin Gezhi frowned down at her: “Don’t be rash. Steward Wang has served the mansion loyally for many years and has earned the General’s trust. We should find out why he betrayed the mansion before convicting him. Otherwise, how will you explain it to the General when he returns?”

Women were indeed more impulsive. Hearing this, Yi Zhangzhu calmed down and thought for a moment: “What does Brother Yin suggest?”

“We need to find out his reason for doing this.” Yin Gezhi said, “Has Steward Wang ever expressed any dissatisfaction with the mansion?”

When asked this way, Yi Zhangzhu really couldn’t say. She opened the door and called a servant, asking quietly: “Where is Steward Wang?”

The servant bowed and replied: “He should be at his residence, but it seems he’s argued with his wife—the clothes we just sent over were returned.”

“Hmm?” Yi Zhangzhu raised an eyebrow: “If he’s arguing with his wife, why return the mansion’s clothes?”

“This servant doesn’t know. Seeing that Madam Li was in a bad mood when this servant mentioned the newly made clothes, she said Steward Wang had plenty of clothes, why did he need to wear clothes from the General’s mansion.”

Shaking his head in confusion, he added: “This servant doesn’t even know if they argued.”

How strange. Yin Gezhi turned his head and suggested: “If you want to know, why not have your maids ask around among the people at Steward Wang’s residence?”

Good idea! Yi Zhangzhu immediately did so.

Whether by divine intervention or something else, the information gathering went surprisingly smoothly. The maid soon returned to report, speaking softly about the reason for Madam Li’s temper.

“Absurd!” Yi Zhangzhu said angrily: “Father kept him in the mansion because he trusted him, feeling uncertain about giving certain tasks to others. And look at him—concerned about status and betraying Father for it? What did they offer him? Gold and silver, or an official position?”

Yin Gezhi sighed: “This matter needs further investigation. We should wait until we find who’s behind it before passing judgment.”

No matter who was helping behind the scenes, things had progressed naturally to this point. The next day, Yin Gezhi found a large amount of unexplained wealth in Wang Han’s residence and sent a bewildered Wang Han to prison.

“The evidence is conclusive, I won’t let him off!” Yi Zhangzhu trembled with anger: “Such a backstabbing creature—the General’s mansion is better off with one less of his kind!”

Indeed, a backstabber. Yin Gezhi stood to the side, his eyes dark.

Wang Han had once served as deputy commander under Guan Canghai, but was later exposed as a spy and defected directly to Wu Country, turning around to kill dozens of Wei soldiers, repeatedly achieving merit for Wu in subsequent battles.

He was a Wei native, yet willingly became Wu’s dog.