Although the manager was trying to send her away, Linlang was at her most skilled when it came to being stubborn and willfully thick-skinned — she acted as though she didn’t understand she was being dismissed at all, and smiled and chatted away with the manager, remarking that tonight looked like the wind might pick up, and saying she truly envied them their cowhide tent, which looked like it could keep out both wind and rain.

While Chu Linlang was rambling on, the little maidservant who had brought the medicine lifted the flap of the tent, and Chu Linlang, looking past the manager’s shoulder, caught a glimpse of the woman sitting inside the tent.

Even after all this time, Chu Linlang recognized her instantly — that woman with the slightly blank gaze was none other than Wen Shi, the mad woman from next door!

It seemed she had been well looked after over these years. Though she had changed somewhat from the woman in Linlang’s memory, her cheeks had filled out considerably, and she did not appear to have aged terribly.

Chu Linlang gave nothing away and looked back at the manager with a smile, saying: “If you’re short of anything, do say so — we’re all far from home out here, and we should look out for each other!”

Linlang’s smile had always been sweet and winning, and the manager, who had privately found her too talkative and irritating, felt himself somewhat disarmed by that smile, and his expression eased slightly as he first offered his thanks.

Chu Linlang unhurriedly made her way back, and only when she entered her own tent did she quickly circle around to the carriage and softly tell Sui Qiye what she had just discovered.

Even Sui Qiye, who normally kept a wooden expression, had a subtle shift cross his face this time. He asked tightly: “Are you sure you didn’t mistake her?”

As he said this, he leapt to his feet, ready to go and confirm for himself.

Linlang hastily grabbed the hem of his robe and said softly: “There are so many of them, and every one of them looks like trouble — even with your formidable martial skills, you should still be cautious…”

Sui Qiye knew Linlang was right. He thought for a moment and said quietly: “This is the boundary between two prefectures — a no-man’s-land. Even trying to bring in reinforcements from the authorities would likely be too slow. We can’t confront them head-on, so the only option is to use cunning…”

Chu Linlang nodded and also lowered her voice: “That group of people are all from the Central Plains — they look like they came south from the north, fleeing the fighting, just like those refugees. But if Yang Yi arranged for Wen Shi to be brought here, does that mean he has somewhere in the northwest for her to go?”

Sui Qiye thought for a moment and said quietly: “Yang Yi traveled widely when he was young and also served in the military in the northwest — he really does have a few life-or-death friends there. He may have quietly made contact with an old friend to arrange for Wen Shi to be settled.”

Chu Linlang nodded, biting her fingernail slightly with tension. If that were the case, they truly could not afford any more delay.

The northwest folk were fierce and bold, and anyone Yang Yi trusted enough to entrust Wen Shi to would certainly not be easy to deal with. If they waited until the group rendezvoused with the powerful local connections there, rescuing her would become as difficult as reaching the heavens!

Thinking of this, she suddenly remembered the good supplies she had prepared beforehand.

Since the ordeal in the oasis, Chu Linlang had come to fully appreciate the dangers of the world — especially the particular misery of being chased down by someone waving a blade behind you.

So this time, Chu Linlang had made a special trip to the pharmacy and bought several packets of medicinal powder not easily found elsewhere.

With this in mind, Chu Linlang had Dongxue retrieve a packet from the carriage and handed it to Sui Qiye: “This is heartbreak powder — a sedative and paralytic the physicians use for patients in pain. It’s made from datura flowers combined with several other medicinal ingredients. If they eat it, everything becomes much easier to handle.”

If properly dosed, this substance could knock out a large horse — if those people ate it, once they were completely insensible, Wen Shi could be taken away safely.

Sui Qiye weighed the packet in his hand and asked Linlang: “Have you tested its potency?”

Chu Linlang quickly nodded — this was kept for protecting lives, so the moment she bought it she had tested it. It was indeed highly effective: within the time it takes one incense stick to burn, it could knock out several dogs. A dose of licorice root broth would then neutralize the effects and bring them back to consciousness.

Though the powder was useful, there was no wind tonight, so it could not be scattered into the air to drift in — oral ingestion was preferable.

How to get this powder into the mouths of those guards escorting the caravan was another infuriating puzzle.

Chu Linlang circled back to the fire at her own campsite and watched the neighbors making their meal.

Perhaps their firewood had gotten a bit damp — the fire they built was not very strong, and the broth they were stewing had yet to come to a boil even after a long wait.

Chu Linlang looked down and fiddled for a moment, then casually picked up a bundle of firewood from her own campsite, and with her handkerchief pinched in her other hand, walked over.

As she walked, Chu Linlang smiled toward the manager who was sitting there and said: “I can see your firewood isn’t very dry — the smoke is thick. This is wood we just used for roasting — it burns bright with little smoke, good for cooking or for warming by the fire. If you don’t have enough, just say so…”

As Chu Linlang walked, her slender waist swayed, her steps gracefully alluring. The manager couldn’t help but let his attention slip for a moment.

But just as she reached the fire pit, Chu Linlang’s foot slipped and she nearly tumbled forward — she quickly flailed both arms to steady herself, dropping the firewood in the process, and waved her arms around several times before regaining her footing. The handkerchief in her hand nearly flew out in the commotion.

By this point the night had grown quite dark, and the manager hadn’t noticed that wrapped inside the previously rolled-up handkerchief, a powder had lightly slid free from within the folds and fallen into the pot…

The manager stepped forward just in time to help steady Chu Linlang, thanked her for the firewood, and then asked in passing about her travel plans and where she was headed.

Chu Linlang could spin a lie without so much as batting an eye. While enthusiastically helping the maidservant tending the fire add more wood, she casually mentioned that her surname was Gong, that she was from Yuanmo County in the northwest, and was the owner of a well-known wealthy household in town.

This was not entirely made up. Because the bully who had falsely accused Xia Qingyun and left him crippled in one leg was none other than the Gong Family of Yuanmo County.

After the enthusiastic small talk had run its course, Chu Linlang returned to her own campsite.

With the help of Linlang’s bundle of firewood, the food and broth at the neighboring camp were ready very quickly.

Travelers on the road always worked up a fierce appetite, and they ate quickly and in large quantities.

Before long, the large pot of broth and food had been entirely distributed and consumed.

But Sui Qiye was still somewhat worried, concerned that the dose of medicine Linlang had added might be too little to knock out that many people.

Linlang murmured back: “While I was helping them add firewood, I also slipped more in through my sleeve — a good half a packet!”

When Chu Linlang noticed that the manager, who had just been sitting squarely on a rock to let his food settle, was now drooping with his head lolling to one side, she knew that the powder she had bought this time was pure and potent and had begun to take effect!

The other guards keeping watch at the campsite were the same — one by one, they swayed and toppled to the ground, every single one struck unconscious.

Sui Qiye quickly led his own attendants to their feet and made for that campsite. When he lifted the tent flap, the woman inside appeared not to have eaten anything and had not been knocked out — she was humming a song, talking to herself while peering into a small bronze mirror.

When Sui Qiye walked in, the woman showed no panic at all, only blinked and looked at him, then asked: “Has the wedding procession arrived? I’m not ready yet!”

Sui Qiye recognized with one look that this woman was Wen Shi!

Her mental state, though slightly better than when she had been in Jiangkou, seemed still lost in the girlhood dream of a bride before her wedding…

He wasted no more words, strode over and scooped Wen Shi up in his arms, then began walking back with large strides.

But just then, some among the campsite’s people had eaten so little that they had not been fully knocked out. Seeing Sui Qiye trying to carry someone away, they staggered upright and drew their blades, lurching toward him.

Sui Qiye’s own men were all agile and seasoned fighters from the martial world, and they turned and subdued the opponents in short order.

Linlang’s side also quickly packed everything up and boarded the carriages.

Once Sui Qiye had the person safely brought out, they began to prepare to leave.

As the carriage started moving, Linlang still felt a little uneasy and asked: “Those people… won’t be able to catch up, will they?”

Sui Qiye said: “They appear to be escort agents Yang Yi hired from a security firm — not Jing Kingdom cavalry. Though they have some skill, they’re not so bound by oath that they’d fight us to the death over this. Even if they do give chase, they should pose no significant threat. But to be safe, I’ve already cut their carriage axles and slashed the horses’ legs — they won’t be able to catch up for a good while.”

Only then did Linlang feel reassured. She turned to look at Wen Shi, who had been carried over by Sui Qiye.

She had been too young before to fully appreciate it — but now, looking closely, Wen Shi was truly beautiful! Those ineffably refined and elegant features in Situ Sheng’s face must have been inherited entirely from his mother.

But unlike the resolute strength that Situ Sheng projected, the exquisitely beautiful face of Wen Shi showed a fragile, fragile delicacy.

At that moment, Wen Shi was staring fixedly at Chu Linlang, her fingers twitching slightly in a clenching grip, her eyes shifting rapidly through changes of expression, as she asked in a low voice: “You… you are so beautiful — are you a new love Yang Sheng has found?”

Chu Linlang knew she was not like an ordinary person, but Wen Shi had been taking the medicine she sent for so long that it should have had some calming effect, so Linlang tried speaking to her normally: “I’m the little girl who used to live next door to you — I used to play together with your son all the time. My name is Chu Linlang.”

At this, Wen Shi’s gaze shifted slightly. She hesitated, then asked: “Son? I have a son?”

Hearing Wen Shi’s confused and lost words, Chu Linlang’s heart ached a little.

Not so much for Wen Shi herself — she had long wandered lost within her own world, and even in her madness, had at least wrapped her heart in a tangled cocoon of confusion, sheltered from the disturbances of the outside world.

But what about Situ Sheng? No matter how confused and chaotic his heart might be, he had no choice but to wander the world with clear eyes, tasting every bitterness and hardship, with no one to shelter him.

And even the mother he had always longed for no longer remembered him…

Thinking of this, a dull ache spread through Chu Linlang’s chest. She barely suppressed her suddenly surging feelings and tried to keep her voice soft: “Your son’s name is Jiexing. He is so good and sensible — he always washes clothes and cooks for you. Do you… not remember?”

It was unclear whether Wen Shi remembered or not — she simply fell silent and said no more, her confused gaze drifting toward the window outside.

Linlang remembered clearly that even in Jiangkou, Wen Shi’s madness had not been constant — there were occasional moments of clarity when she would sit quietly beside her son and silently study his thin face.

In her heart, there must still be a place reserved for her son.

Only, her son did not hold the first place in Wen Shi’s heart.

Otherwise, she would not have been so easily provoked by Tao Huiru back then, collapsing in a breakdown that shattered her reason.

Sure enough, in just a short while, Wen Shi was asking again in a repetitive loop: “Where is Yang Sheng? Didn’t he say he would come to marry me very soon?”

Chu Linlang sighed and gave up trying to bring Wen Shi back to herself. Instead, she went along with her words and said: “Soon — Yang Sheng lives so far away, he has to cross mountains and valleys to get here. Be good and sleep for a bit, and in two days he’ll come to receive you…”

Chu Linlang and her party did not go to Yuanmo County.

Although Xia Qingyun’s former business had all been there, after getting into legal trouble, Qiu Shi — Xia Qingyun’s fiancée — feared he would fall into the hands of those local snakes again, and had moved to the neighboring Elm Tree County, rented a room, and found a physician to treat and care for Xia Qingyun’s injuries.

When Chu Linlang arrived, Xia Qingyun was in the middle of having his injured leg’s bandages changed.

He was a sturdy young man who could generally endure hardship, yet the pain still had him crying out, while Qiu Shi, sitting beside him, wept at the sound.

Chu Linlang waited until the physician had finished changing the dressing before entering the room.

The moment Xia Qingyun saw Chu Linlang, he was so ashamed he nearly fell to his knees: “Miss, please scold me! It’s all my fault — I didn’t listen to you.”

His conflict with the Gong Family had begun from the very start of the gold-panning business.

Back then, Chu Linlang had given Xia Qingyun instructions — as an outsider unfamiliar with the local terrain and people, it was a blessing to suffer some small losses. So even if it meant spitting out meat that was already in his mouth, he should share some with the local wolves.

That way, everyone had meat to eat and peace was kept.

At first, Xia Qingyun had done exactly that. But unfortunately, the local wolf’s appetite only grew larger and larger, until in the end greed got the better of them, and they wanted to muscle in on the gold-smelting business itself.

When Linlang heard this, she had only instructed Xia Qingyun to sell the shop as soon as possible and wrap up the northwest business entirely.

But Xia Qingyun had grown a little greedy himself — reluctant to give up the orders that were lined up through year’s end, he had verbally agreed with Linlang that the shop’s business was done. In reality, he had not stopped at all, planning to keep running it through the end of the year before selling up.

The result of breaking with the Gong Family was that he drew the Gong Family’s malicious framing — the authorities discovered bags of gold dust from the official mines in their gold-smelting shop.

And so the authorities arrested Xia Qingyun on charges of colluding with miners embezzling from the official mines and privately smelting gold.

Now, though Qiu Shi had used money to secure his release, the gold-smelting shop had been seized by the authorities, with gold ingots inside that hadn’t been moved out in time!

Chu Linlang gently consoled Xia Qingyun, saying that worldly possessions were nothing compared to human life.

He was safe now, and that was what mattered — she would handle the business with the shop herself.

So Linlang asked for the shop’s accounts, then turned and wrote out a calling card to send to the local prefect.

This Prefect Bai was an experienced old official who had worked in the northwest for over ten years.

He had clawed his way up from county magistrate to prefect — it was hard to say what sort of ability he truly had, but judging by the way he was helping local bullies like this, he certainly had an appetite.

Chu Linlang’s northwest business had always been run by Xia Qingyun as the public face. She was the proprietress who stayed quietly in the background.

So whether it was Prefect Bai or the local bully Gong Family — both knew that the proprietress behind Xia Qingyun seemed to have some influence, but neither knew exactly which “Chu Linlang” was named on the property deeds.

After all, Chu Linlang was a woman without official rank, not serving in the court — how could distant rural gentry and officials in the northwest have known of her?

So when Linlang’s calling card arrived, Prefect Bai still sneered and said: “Any random dog or cat is sending me calling cards now. ‘Lady Xinmei of the Fifth Rank?’ Which official’s family member from the capital is this?”

With that, he was about to toss the card aside.

But his advisor beside him timely reminded the prefect: “The title ‘Lady of the Fifth Rank’ is generally only conferred upon the wife of an earl — which suggests this woman’s husband is of quite considerable rank!”

Hearing this, Prefect Bai gave a start and quickly ordered someone to invite this Lady Xinmei to his residence for a meeting.

Today, Chu Linlang was taking the path of borrowing another’s authority to intimidate — her full ceremonial regalia as a titled lady of the nobility, complete with the phoenix crown and embroidered robes of a ranked consort’s wife, was all in place.

And so she entered the prefect’s residence in all that solemn and dignified splendor.

Once seated, when the prefect made polite enquiries about her husband’s identity, Chu Linlang smiled slightly and said: “My husband and I have separated — there is no need to speak of him. I was originally just a drifting, wretched woman without support, but fortunately I found favor with the Empress Dowager and our sacred Emperor, and am permitted to enter the palace from time to time, partaking of a little imperial grace and favor.”

This speech left the prefect dazed and blinking.

This woman had the remarkable ability to be constantly in front of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor — how extraordinary her connections must be!

In the business of borrowing another’s authority to intimidate, Chu Linlang had always taken it to the grandest possible extreme. The prefect did not dare be negligent at this.

But when Linlang stated her purpose and revealed that she was the proprietress behind the gold-smelting shop, the prefect’s expression turned rather ambiguous.

He laughed and said that had he known earlier, he would certainly have extended much more care and support to the business.

But this time, her shop manager Xia had knowingly broken the law, daring to take in stolen goods from thieves — so he had no choice but to enforce the law accordingly.

Chu Linlang smiled slightly: “My shop records its daily gold-smelting output in exact figures, and as the accounts show, orders were already booked through to the end of the year. So starting from two months ago, Manager Xia stopped taking in gold dust altogether. Yet the shop suddenly had so much gold dust appearing that wasn’t in any accounts — and on top of that, the back door showed signs of being forced open. Doesn’t that strike you as strange?”

The prefect’s expression darkened slightly: “Is Lady Chu suggesting that this official has framed Xia?”

He put on a long face, trying to intimidate her — a tactic that worked well enough for the local gentry but was a few degrees short of working on Chu Linlang.

She simply smiled with unruffled calm: “I would never dare to question. Only my shop’s worker was framed and slandered, and I hear it had something to do with the Gong Family of Yuanmo County. That is a separate lawsuit — I will settle accounts with the Gong Family in due time. But Manager Xia has already been punished and beaten — surely now the seal on my shop ought to be lifted? There are gold ingots inside promised to clients. If the quantities fall short, would that not also be trouble for me?”

Those gold ingots in the shop had long since been moved out and pocketed by Prefect Bai’s people — there was no question of returning them.

So what if she was a titled lady from the capital? She had come to the northwest — she had better know the local rules! Tangling with the authorities — how could that not cost some silver to smooth things over?

As for the talk of attending the Emperor and Empress Dowager — Prefect Bai just listened to it as entertainment, growing more convinced that Chu Linlang had it three parts true and seven parts blown up. A merchant woman without connections — how could she possibly be worthy of being received at court?

She had most likely bought her title to gild herself.

The more Prefect Bai thought about it, the more it seemed right, and his attitude began to grow dismissive — he showed less and less regard for Chu Linlang, and simply stated that the gold dust in the smelting shop had all been of unclear origin and that those gold ingots too would be treated as stolen goods — she could forget about getting them back!

Watching Prefect Bai’s attitude, Chu Linlang also guessed what was in his mind.

These corrupt officials in the remote regions were truly growing more and more like petty emperors unto themselves.

She had not expected to recover the gold ingots today anyway — she had only come to probe the mood and make plans later. She had never intended to linger.

So she rose and said lightly: “In that case, I have troubled you, sir — I dare not impose any further, and will take my leave.”

But just at that moment, a bailiff came stumbling in, stammering as he reported: “Your — Your Honor, this is terrible! The Gong Family has been raided by bandits — they walked straight in and started smashing the place, and the Gong patriarch and his sons have been tied up and taken away!”

Hearing this, Prefect Bai immediately fixed his gaze on Chu Linlang.

This woman had only just spoken of settling accounts with the Gong Family, and the Gong Family had immediately been hit by bandits — could all of this really be related to this apparently delicate and gentle little woman?

And when Chu Linlang heard this, her heart also gave a lurch.

The Gong Family held considerable power locally — ordinary bandits would never dare strike at them in broad daylight!

For reasons she could not explain, Chu Linlang suddenly felt that all of this might have something to do with her having casually claimed to be from the Gong Family when rescuing Wen Shi.

Oh no — those people had actually followed the lead all the way to Yuanmo County.

And right at this moment, Prefect Bai’s expression changed too, and he barked: “Arrest this woman! And let me see who dares to cause this sort of chaos in my jurisdiction!”