Shen Guiyan was somewhat surprised. “Accompany you?”

“Yes! What if that woman is extremely fierce? What if I want to scold her but can’t out-scold her, want to hit her but can’t beat her?” Han Jiangxue said earnestly. “With you there, I feel very safe.”

Shen Guiyan was speechless. Did she look like someone who was good at scolding people and could also fight?

“In any case, please help me,” Lady Han pleaded pitifully, pulling at her. “I don’t quite dare go alone.”

After thinking for a moment—this month’s account books had already been organized by Xu Mengdie, Sixi’s family’s funeral affairs were being handled by the Yuwen residence, and Gu Chaobei should be going to the training grounds lately. She seemed to indeed have free time. Staying at home was boring, so she might as well accompany her to take a look.

“Alright,” she nodded. “Tomorrow you prepare yourself, and I’ll accompany you.”

Han Jiangxue breathed a sigh of relief, then looked down at her own clothes. “Should I wear my best clothes? I haven’t had new clothes made in a long time…”

“No need,” Shen Guiyan said. “Wear the simplest, most ordinary clothes—coarse cloth is fine. We’re just going to gather information, not to catch someone in adultery. If it really were adultery, then you should wear your most magnificent clothes. Listen to me—just borrow a set from your maid, and comb your hair in an unmarried girl’s style too.”

Han Jiangxue’s eyes widened. “Wouldn’t that make her look down on me?”

“How would she know who you are? Besides, haven’t you confirmed yet whether he has someone outside?” Shen Guiyan said. “No need to be nervous. Let’s look first and then decide.”

“Alright.” Han Jiangxue took a deep breath and made up her mind.

When Gu Chaobei returned, the sky was already dark. Han Jiangxue had already left. Pushing open the door to the main quarters, he saw someone dressed entirely in black form-fitting clothes with black hair bound high.

“You…”

Shen Guiyan turned around, her eyes bright as she looked at him. “How is it? Do I look like an enforcer?”

It was actually her! Gu Chaobei was so startled he couldn’t exhale, his eyes rolling skyward. “What are you dressed like this for?”

“Lady Han came to ask for my help today. Tomorrow I’ll accompany her into the city,” Shen Guiyan said with a serious expression. “But it’s not safe for women to go out, so I need to dress like this to protect her!”

Who was she fooling? One look and it was obvious she wasn’t going to do anything proper.

Gu Chaobei leaned against the doorframe with amusement. “Do you know the sword or the saber? How will you protect her?”

Shen Guiyan patted the small bulge at her waist. “I’ve brought everything—a dagger, signal flares. If anything goes wrong, I’ll release a signal flare and Baoshan will respond from a distance.”

Acting as if she were going to assassinate someone. Gu Chaobei walked over and examined her clothes. “Why do these clothes look so familiar…”

“Of course! These are your favorite ones. I altered them to be a bit smaller, and now they fit just right,” Shen Guiyan said with a smile.

Gu Chaobei was speechless.

His favorite ones?!

Looking more carefully, it really was—black was black, but inside there were clearly interwoven patterns embroidered with gold thread. These were clothes he had secretly made with his own savings, and she had actually altered them smaller!

Could they be altered back to larger? Gu Chaobei’s heart ached a bit.

“My lord needn’t worry about me so much,” Shen Guiyan said, looking at Gu Chaobei’s expression and patting his shoulder consolingly. “I’ll be careful about everything and certainly won’t have any incidents. Don’t worry.”

What incident could she have? Such a rule-abiding person—even if she went to kill and rob, she would certainly follow the rules of the underworld. As long as it was daytime, he basically didn’t need to worry about her.

He was heartbroken over the clothes…

“Just be careful, my wife.”

“Mm.” Shen Guiyan looked with satisfaction at herself in the bronze mirror, then took everything off and put it away properly, ready for tomorrow’s use.

Poor Fourth Young Master Gu turned around and went back to wail several times into his blanket. Those clothes were worth several taels of gold. This girl certainly didn’t know, or if she knew, she would surely feel even more heartbroken than him.

The next day, Shen Guiyan got up early to prepare, changed into fresh clothes, then attended to Gu Chaobei getting up.

“My lord is also going to the training grounds, so we can leave the residence together.”

Gu Chaobei nodded with half-opened eyes, then glanced at her outfit. “If my wife walks through the residence dressed like this, I’m afraid there will be misunderstandings.”

From behind, she looked like a refined young gentleman.

Shen Guiyan waved her hand. “No matter. It’s only a few steps to leave the residence—not many people will see.”

As a result, as soon as the two went out, they ran into Gu Chaodong.

It was time to go to the Ministry of Personnel. Gu Chaodong had recently been very unpopular at the Ministry of Revenue due to the influence of Gu Chaobei’s lawsuit incident. There was no smile on his face, though his official robes were worn meticulously.

From a distance, seeing Gu Chaobei walking together with a man, Gu Chaodong didn’t notice at first. But after walking a few steps, Gu Chaobei actually put his arm around that man’s waist!

Eyes widening, Gu Chaodong frowned and called out, “Fourth Brother!”

Upon hearing this voice, Shen Guiyan instinctively burrowed into Gu Chaobei’s embrace.

Since Shen Guiya’s death, she and he hadn’t seen each other much. She always felt it was awkward to look at him, and because he was the eldest brother, she couldn’t avoid him.

Gu Chaobei stopped walking, his arms around Shen Guiyan, smiling as he responded, “Eldest Brother is also going out?”

Seeing that youth actually bury his head in Gu Chaobei’s embrace, Gu Chaodong gasped even more sharply. Standing at a distance, he began lecturing, “Your usual foolishness is one thing, but you actually brought someone back to the residence? What would Yan’er think if she saw this?”

Both were startled. Shen Guiyan was just about to raise her head when Gu Chaobei reached out and pressed her head firmly against his chest. “I truly like her. What could Yan’er think?”

“Truly like her?” Gu Chaodong was furious. “Didn’t you say you truly liked Yan’er? Indeed, philanderers cannot be trusted. Before, your romantic escapades with women were one thing, but now you actually…”

Servants passing by hurried over to watch the excitement. Gu Chaodong couldn’t say more, flicked his sleeves and said, “Yan’er really misjudged you, yet she’s so devoted to you!”

“Even if she misjudged me, she still likes me,” Gu Chaobei smiled very roguishly. “No matter how terrible I am, I’m still her husband for life. What a pity.”

“You…” Gu Chaodong’s anger flared again. Just as he was about to rage, Fengxiao hurried over to restrain him. “Young Master, please go to the Ministry of Revenue first. The Minister is waiting for you, saying there’s urgent business. You mustn’t delay.”

Persuaded away by Fengxiao, Gu Chaodong thought even more that he should leave the residence to establish his own household. He must climb up step by step to have a chance to save Yan’er from this hellish pit.

“Why did you do that?” Shen Guiyan looked up at Gu Chaobei, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “People will spread rumors that you have a passion for men.”

Gu Chaobei was completely unconcerned. “It’s not like they haven’t spread such rumors before.”

He was already so thoroughly ruined that he wasn’t afraid of any gossip.

Shen Guiyan sighed and said no more. After leaving the residence and seeing him off, she went to the Yuwen residence to prepare to meet up with Lady Han.

According to Lady Han, Yuwen Houde left home every day at the hour of the dragon. Going now would be just in time. Arriving at the entrance and standing by the stone lions for a while, sure enough she saw Yuwen Houde walk out. He didn’t ride a horse but went directly toward the training grounds.

Then Lady Han followed out, truly dressed in a maid’s clothes with a maid’s hairstyle, and a face veil from who knows where covering her tightly. Seeing Shen Guiyan, her eyes brightened. “You’re…”

“Follow him. We’ll talk about other things later.” Shen Guiyan pulled her over. “Keep your distance and do as I say.”

Lady Han nodded, clutching Shen Guiyan’s sleeve, carefully watching the distant figure. “He’s going to the training grounds.”

“Mm, I’ve prepared dry rations. We can follow for a whole day,” Shen Guiyan said confidently. “I’ve also brought enough silver. We can buy some steamed buns at the corner bun shop to fill our stomachs.”

Han Jiangxue felt it was extremely good to have Shen Guiyan accompany her out.

Following Yuwen Houde from a distance, he seemed unaware. He went all the way to the training grounds, stayed inside for two hours, then came out again and rode a horse into the city.

“What do we do now?” Han Jiangxue was somewhat anxious. “We don’t have horses!”

Turning her head, Shen Guiyan had already disappeared. Lady Han was alarmed and was about to look for her when she saw Shen Guiyan had already bowed and scraped to lead a horse from a stable hand nearby, handing over silver.

“What are you standing there for? Get on.”

Han Jiangxue was somewhat astonished. “You can ride?”

Shen Guiyan really wanted to shake her head, but Gu Chaobei had at least taken her riding before, so she could ride slowly. To keep Han Jiangxue from being afraid, she still nodded.

This feeling of tracking someone was a bit thrilling. She had never done such a thing before, so once she got into it, it was quite interesting.

Han Jiangxue tremblingly mounted the horse. Shen Guiyan kept her eyes on that black dot that was Yuwen Houde ahead, carefully following all the way.

Fortunately the horse was docile and steady. The two followed Yuwen Houde back into the city, watching him go to a jewelry shop, then to a rouge shop, and finally to a jade shop and silk merchant.

“See? You said he wasn’t good to you,” Shen Guiyan said. “Isn’t he buying things for you?”

Han Jiangxue’s eyes brightened. “It really is… I’ve never touched his salary, and even the allowances and monthly stipends from mother-in-law are all kept by him. I was wondering what he would use it for, turns out…”

Turns out he still had her in his heart after all.

Her heart slightly sweet, Han Jiangxue said, “Then there’s no need to follow anymore. I believe him.”

“No,” Shen Guiyan held her back. “If you’re going to follow someone, follow them completely, otherwise this trip is wasted. He’s coming out—let’s see where he goes next.”

Lady Han thought about it and nodded too. If he was buying anything more expensive, she could also intercept him and tell him not to spend so much.

As it turned out, Yuwen Houde went to Zuihua Pavilion.

The two following behind were both dumbfounded. Han Jiangxue stood stunned for a long time, pointing at that sign and asking, “What place is that?”

Shen Guiyan opened her mouth but couldn’t speak.

During the day, Zuihua Pavilion had no customers—they would start receiving guests around dusk. But Yuwen Houde had gone in and not come out.

The two waited outside for an hour, and Han Jiangxue’s gaze gradually grew colder.

“Shall I go look?” Shen Guiyan said softly. “I’ve been to that place. Actually, it’s not really what it looks like from the outside…”

Han Jiangxue clutched her sleeve, her lips pale as she smiled. “Yes, go look. Perhaps there’s some misunderstanding?”