“Where?” Mao Linye’s gaze swept left and right across the doors.

The man had no time to think further — he stood and pointed at two of the rooms.

“Madam is here, in the young lady’s elder brother’s room. Sister Min-Min is here, in the young lady’s second brother’s—”

The person inside seemed to hear something, and one of the doors was pushed open.

The madam glanced up, then quickly lowered her head to straighten her clothes.

“S-sir, why have you come? It’s so late — did something happen?”

Her hair was disheveled, and she’d only just finished retying the sash of her robe.

Mao Linye looked at the madam’s unnaturally flushed face, his gaze darkening.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the man draped in his robe coming out behind her, and asked, “Have you been with him the whole time?”

“Mm.” The madam turned to glance at the man, her face flushing even redder. “I… came near the end of Hai hour.”

On the other side, the door to Gong Xinyue’s room also opened.

The person who emerged was the woman who’d taken a fancy to Gong Xinyue. Her state was much the same as the madam’s — one glance was enough to tell she’d just spent some intimate time with a man.

Finally, Gong Xinyue also came out, fully dressed.

“Boss, what exactly happened?” the madam pressed again.

Mao Linye’s gaze landed on the last door. He strode over and pushed it open.

Inside the room, a small, slender figure lay on the bed.

Her face was pale with a touch of pink, her breathing even — she was sleeping soundly.

As if sensing something amiss, Feng Jiu’er rubbed her nose, let out a soft murmur, turned over with her back to Mao Linye, and fell right back into deep sleep.

Mao Linye glanced around the room, saw nothing unusual, and turned to leave.

Before leaving the private rooms, he also had his men thoroughly search Qiao Mu and Gong Xinyue’s rooms.

Once Mao Linye had gone, the two women who had secretly come in the middle of the night also left, thoroughly satisfied.

They had no idea that the City Lord had died right there in that very place.

In the latter half of the night, undisturbed, Qiao Mu and Gong Xinyue had both slept quite well — with someone else in their beds, there was no way they themselves could actually sleep.

The two women’s blissful satisfaction certainly hadn’t come from any man’s attentions — where would a man have come from in this private room?

Feng Jiu’er had drugged them ahead of time. Once they fell into that sleep, they’d wake up believing whatever had happened in their dreams had really occurred.

The dosage had been calculated well — by the time Mao Linye showed up, they were due to wake anyway.

The next day, the pleasure house operated as usual, as though nothing at all had happened.

But Feng Jiu’er, Qiao Mu, and Gong Xinyue all knew a great deal had happened the night before.

The remaining medicine burned at Songjia Village had only just been delivered to Chiling Temple when the temple itself was engulfed in flames.

The fire burned for a long time, and every last bit of the medicine was completely destroyed.

More than a dozen people who had shown up near Chiling Temple in the middle of the night were killed; the other side had captured their leader. All the dead were from the imperial household.

The captured leader was none other than Cai Junyao, the imperial family’s field commander.

Early the next morning, the imperial soldiers received word that Mao Linye had killed over a dozen of their men and captured their general.

Three thousand imperial troops surrounded Mao Linye’s residence in force.

Having burned to ash the letter the messenger bird had delivered, Feng Jiu’er smiled with satisfaction and picked up her chopsticks.

“Everything’s going smoothly,” she said to the two beside her.

Hearing her words, both Qiao Mu and Gong Xinyue’s lips curved into smiles.

Especially Gong Xinyue — the night before, she had personally ended Mao Zhongcai’s life with her own hands, finally able to avenge her father.

She took a bite of meat, then raised her cup.

“Jiu’er, tea in place of wine — thank you!”

Feng Jiu’er picked up her teacup and glanced at Qiao Mu.

Qiao Mu also raised her cup.

The three clinked their cups together, then all raised them and drained the tea in one go.

“Thank you!” Gong Xinyue said as she set down her cup, looking at Feng Jiu’er with gratitude.

“We’re family — no need to thank me.” Feng Jiu’er patted her shoulder. “Eat up! Once we’re done, we’ll figure out a way to slip out of here.”

With everything so chaotic outside, it felt somewhat awkward for them to keep lingering here eating and drinking.

“Family?” Gong Xinyue’s eyes reddened slightly.

“You’ve completed your mission — you’re one of Dragon Shadow’s people now. Aren’t we family?” Feng Jiu’er looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

“Mm.” Gong Xinyue pressed her lips together and nodded firmly. “We’re family now.”

“By the way, Jiu’er, how did you lure General Cai to Chiling Temple?”

“That’s all thanks to our Qiao Qiao here.” Feng Jiu’er patted Qiao Mu’s arm lightly. “The plan was her man’s idea.”

Feng Jiang was the third prince of the Feng clan — luring out an imperial general was no great difficulty for him.

Still, it was fortunate he’d been involved, or that old fox Cai Junyao would never have taken the bait.

Cai Junyao truly was an old fox, the cunning kind. As for why he’d been sent to reinforce Fenggang Town, no one knew except whoever had arranged it.

“Qiao Qiao’s man is so impressive! I’m jealous!” Gong Xinyue said with a smile, looking at Qiao Mu.

Qiao Mu shrugged, looking utterly unimpressed by the compliment. Her man being impressive — did that even need saying?

Once breakfast arrived, Feng Jiu’er was still trying to think of an excuse to leave, or whether to just sneak out through the window, when she noticed no one had come by the private room at all.

Finally, the three of them changed clothes and boldly pushed the door open to walk out.

They went downstairs and left the pleasure house without being stopped by anyone.

Perhaps Mao Linye no longer suspected them, or perhaps he was simply too busy to spare them any thought — whatever the reason, at least they’d gotten out.

Mao Linye’s residence wasn’t far from the largest pleasure house in this town, and the three of them soon found their way there.

When they’d left, all three had changed into plain, single-colored clothing — simple and practical.

Feng Jiu’er had also changed into men’s clothing, an all-brown set: a long-sleeved top, trousers cinched at the waist with the hems tucked into tall boots.

She’d pinned up her long hair and wrapped it tightly in cloth of the same color, leaving only her fair, delicate, melon-seed face exposed.

Her small face was exquisite and flawless, and paired with a hint of a playful smile and her petite frame, it was the kind of look that made people want to steal a second glance.

“Your Highness.” On the second floor of an inn, a tall figure stood by the window.

Before him, a man dressed in white, devastatingly handsome and elegant, was savoring a cup of tea.

“Should we tell Miss Jiu’er that we’ve arrived as well?” the man’s voice continued.

The voice was Yu Jingfeng’s. The face, however, was not.

“No need.” The man drinking tea set down his cup and watched the small, retreating figure leave.

After a moment, he asked flatly, “How are things being handled?”

“Everything is proceeding exactly as planned.” Yu Jingfeng cupped his hands in response.

The man with the half-mask on his face furrowed his brow. “Make sure Long Shiyi and Long Qi protect the Princess Consort no matter what.”

“Yes.” Yu Jingfeng cupped his hands again. “Actually, if Your Highness misses the Princess Consort, you could still go and see her.”

“I imagine,” he said, “Miss Jiu’er surely misses you too.”