Shen Qingli had successfully made his escape.
When he returned to the inn with Tuo Ni, Xie Subai was holding a hand warmer and admiring the scenery outside the window. His pupils reflected the bustling night scene, but his face remained impassive, showing no trace of emotion.
To him, all this liveliness was meaningless.
He turned his wheelchair around and looked at Shen Qingli’s disheveled appearance. “Did Qin Wei notice?”
Shen Qingli brushed the dust off his shoulder. “No, I just ran into another thief. Guess who?”
Xie Subai was silent for a moment. “Luo’er, I suppose.”
Shen Qingli handed Tuo Ni over, and Xie Subai passed it to Ao Zhi behind him. Ao Zhi took it, bowed, and left.
Once they were alone, Shen Qingli said, “She got there before me and probably saw what I took, but I didn’t see her. Surprisingly, she was working with Huo Xian. She usually keeps to herself; since when did she start collaborating with others? And if her target is Zhao Yong, what was she doing at the Qin residence?”
Xie Subai poured some tea and pushed a cup towards him. “When Zhao Yong embezzled a huge sum from the Qiao family back then, do you think it had anything to do with Yunyang’s finances? Qin Wei was the one sent to audit the books that year.”
Shen Qingli was taken aback. “You knew all along that Ji Yuluo was looking for Zhao Yong?”
Xie Subai didn’t respond, which was an implicit acknowledgment.
Shen Qingli paused, holding his teacup. Ji Yuluo never mentioned her past, but when Xie Subai brought her to Cuixue Tower, he had already investigated her background. Shen Qingli had heard about it too and knew she had been searching for someone for years, but there was no trace of that person anywhere. Shen Qingli had wondered who could be so elusive. When he later learned it was Zhao Yong, he was indeed shocked.
But Xie Subai had known all along and kept it hidden… Tsk, he probably feared she would mess up his plans in the capital.
Shen Qingli fell silent, unsure of what to say. After a long while, he finally asked, “Is it really okay for her to be involved with Huo Xian?”
Xie Subai didn’t answer. His long, pale fingers circled the green teacup. After a long time, he said, “Zhao Yong is useless now. He’s more of a hindrance. It’s better to kill him.”
Shen Qingli responded with a long “Hmm.”
Zhao Yong deserved to die.
They hadn’t acted against him before because Xie Subai wanted to use the brutality of the Jinyiwei to tear this dynasty apart, making it riddled with holes and losing the people’s hearts. Meanwhile, Cuixue Tower’s actions were the exact opposite of the Jinyiwei’s. Their influence was in the south, a place beyond the Jinyiwei’s reach. Over the years, they had gained a reputation by punishing the corrupt and helping the people, while hiding their darker deeds. The people were the easiest to incite, and with the Jinyiwei’s malevolence as a contrast, Cuixue Tower had become the beacon of hope for the common folk.
Xie Subai had spent years quietly building up Cuixue Tower’s power to one day challenge the capital. Although the time wasn’t ripe yet, he forced an attack, rendering Zhao Yong’s piece obsolete ahead of schedule.
A useless piece had no reason to exist.
Shen Qingli asked, “What about Huo Xian?”
–
The carriage rattled as it rolled over the smooth bluestone slabs, leaving the Qin residence behind.
Sometimes, as it turns out, sacrificing one’s dignity can indeed bring about many conveniences. For example, just now, Huo Xian managed to dismiss the servants chasing Ji Yuluo with a few phrases like “My wife is timid, please don’t scare her,” or “Sorry, Lord Qin, we’ll be affectionate when we get home.” These words left the Qin family with nothing to say, especially the young master Huo Cong, who was thoroughly educated at the Imperial Academy and simply couldn’t handle such shamelessness.
However, this tainted the reputation of the eldest daughter of the Ji family, marking her as someone as unruly as Huo Xian. Yet, Ji Yuluo didn’t mind.
The carriage was spacious, furnished with a long couch and a small table. An oil lamp placed nearby illuminated the interior brightly. Ji Yuluo wiped her face carelessly and sat down to examine the account books.
There were three volumes in total, all quite thick. She had learned business management from Madam Qiao in her childhood and later handled many financial affairs at Cuixue Tower, making her adept at accounting.
That is, if it weren’t for the casual gaze fixed on her from across the carriage.
Ji Yuluo glanced up and saw Huo Xian staring at the earring on her left ear.
More specifically, the pearl beneath the earring.
Her hand, pressing on the account book, paused as she recalled the moment on the tree-lined path. After Huo Xian straightened up, she had touched that pearl and found it slightly warm, as if someone had held it in their mouth.
“…”
She looked at Huo Xian, who provocatively said, “Tsk, the earring—suits you well.”
He lingered briefly on the word “earring,” almost as if he were about to say the earring tasted good. This pause was deliberate, meant to anger her, hoping she would retort with embarrassment or annoyance, and perhaps even take a swing at him.
But Ji Yuluo didn’t.
She didn’t move; she just stared at him.
Huo Xian’s eyes contained a smile, but there was always a hint of obvious provocation in his smile. This was why Ji Yuluo found his smile particularly unappealing; she always felt those eyes shouldn’t be smiling, at least not at certain times, like now.
It was especially unsettling.
Ji Yuluo’s gaze remained calm, and she said blandly, “You’re jealous.”
Her words caught Huo Xian off guard. The smile on his face froze for a moment. Ji Yuluo, in a straightforward tone, continued, “You’re jealous of Qin San and jealous of Huo Cong.”
The smile gradually faded from Huo Xian’s face, his lips straightening. He narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at her with deep, brooding eyes, similar to the night he had angrily grabbed her by the neck.
She had angered him again.
But Ji Yuluo inexplicably felt that this was more pleasing than his fake smile.
A long silence followed.
Ji Yuluo didn’t want to delve too deeply. After a moment of staring at each other, she lowered her head as if nothing had happened and returned to her account book. However, it seemed one shouldn’t provoke a tiger. A hand reached across and snatched her account book.
Huo Xian said coolly, “Who do you think you are, some kind of oracle? Spouting nonsense without thinking of the consequences?”
He was being unreasonable, clearly in a foul mood.
Ji Yuluo paused, unwilling to argue with him, and simply said, “Give me the account book.”
Huo Xian looked at her calm and composed expression and felt a strange sense of frustration. A cold laugh escaped his nose as he rolled the account book into a tube and tapped it on the small table. “Come and get it.”
Ji Yuluo reached out to take the account book, but Huo Xian, seizing the opportunity, grabbed her hand and pulled her over from the opposite seat.
“Hiss.”
Unlike their previous life-and-death struggles, knowing there was no mortal danger this time, Ji Yuluo didn’t put up much of a fight. Besides, there wasn’t enough space in the carriage to maneuver. She simply braced herself and glared at him with furrowed brows. “What are you doing?”
Huo Xian stared at her intently. Perhaps it was because of Lou Panshun, or maybe because she wasn’t involved in the intricate power plays and only had her mind set on Zhao Yong’s life. Despite his vigilance, there were moments when he let his guard down or made a slip.
In that moment, she glimpsed the emotions he kept hidden in the shadows.
This could make one sense danger.
However, the frustration in his heart inexplicably dissipated when he saw the annoyance on her face. Anger seemed to be transferable.
Her cold, frost-like face indeed looked better with a bit of liveliness.
Huo Xian suddenly raised his hand and pressed his palm against her forehead. “You’re getting warm again, did you know that?”
Ji Yuluo was momentarily stunned by the sudden change.
Madman.
She brushed off Huo Xian’s hand with an indifferent expression, took the account book, and sat back down. Yet, the lingering traces of irritation still clung to her face. She shot a wary glance at him.
Huo Xian seemed to be in a better mood. The carriage fell silent, and the driver drove steadily. Ji Yuluo, however, had lost the mood to go through the accounts. As they approached the bustling marketplace, she glanced out the window, just as they passed the inn where Xie Subai was staying. Her thoughts drifted.
Shen Qingli…
He had been with Xie Subai for a long time, long before she knew him. Their relationship was not as simple as that of a superior and subordinate. Because of this, she didn’t suspect Shen Qingli much, not even knowing where he was from.
And as for Xie Subai, although Shen Qingli was vague, her intuition told her that everything he did was likely on Xie Subai’s orders.
It felt like she was missing some crucial piece. As Ji Yuluo was deep in thought, the carriage passed by a pharmacy. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a figure. She jerked her head back. “Stop the carriage!”
The driver quickly pulled the reins, and Ji Yuluo jumped out, heading straight for the pharmacy. There was a long queue outside, but the figure she had seen was nowhere to be found. She stood at the entrance, frowning, scanning the surroundings. She hurried towards a woman in white not far away, and grabbed her shoulder.
But when the woman turned around, it wasn’t who she thought it was.
Ji Yuluo wasn’t sure if she felt relieved. She stood there in a daze for a moment before returning to the carriage.
Huo Xian was still inside. He lifted the curtain and glanced at the back of the woman in white. “Who did you think she was?”
Ji Yuluo paused. “No one, I made a mistake.”
Huo Xian didn’t respond, his gaze shifting from the woman to the pharmacy.
It was late, and the night was lively with women free from household chores and men done with their work. It was the peak time for the bustling streets, with young nobles from prominent families out and about, and restaurants and taverns bustling with activity. But for a pharmacy to be so busy was indeed unusual.
With the sharp instincts of the Jinyiwei, Huo Xian’s eyes lingered on the pharmacy for a moment before ordering the carriage to move on.
