He Sui’an asked for bath water, as the sweat from pulling out arrows made her clothes stick uncomfortably. The staff prepared to fetch water to bring upstairs, while she nervously approached the innkeeper.
The innkeeper was busy balancing the accounts.
She walked over, blocking the light.
The innkeeper, unable to see his ledger, shifted his position. He Sui’an moved closer again, and the innkeeper couldn’t help but look up at her. “Miss, if you need anything, just ask the staff.”
He Sui’an mustered her courage and said, “Innkeeper, I need to speak with you.”
Qi Buyan stood behind her.
Seeing such a charming young lady and gentleman late at night, the innkeeper’s mood brightened despite the tedious accounting.
The innkeeper closed the ledger, took a tea cup from the side, sipped the warm tea to moisten his dry throat, and spoke kindly, “What can I do for you two?”
He Sui’an smiled awkwardly. “Please come upstairs to our room.”
It was rare for guests to make such a request.
The innkeeper felt a vague sense of unease.
Maintaining a smile appropriate for a guest, he said, “Alright.” The innkeeper stepped out from behind the counter, called another staff member to join him, and followed He Sui’an and Qi Buyan upstairs.
When they reached the room, He Sui’an pushed the door open. “Look.”
The innkeeper’s smile froze on his face.
But he quickly regained his composure.
He calmly looked at the arrow holes in the room and said to the staff member, “You can go.”
The staff member was puzzled. “Huh?”
The innkeeper, though inwardly distressed, pretended nothing had happened and gave the staff member a light kick. “Go downstairs and bring up my abacus.”
“Yes.” The staff member hurried off.
The innkeeper knew the arrows weren’t placed there for fun. He couldn’t intervene in matters of the martial world, but… who shot them? Who shot them? He was furious.
This wasn’t just about money!
He Sui’an watched the innkeeper, worried he might be angry. “We’ll pay for the damages.”
The innkeeper glanced at the corner of the room where a poison Gu lay, still calm and unconcerned. “It’s alright. I believe you two didn’t do this intentionally.”
The staff member returned with the abacus, and the innkeeper began calculating rapidly.
He Sui’an’s eyes couldn’t keep up with the speed of his abacus. Qi Buyan, uninterested in the calculations, casually squatted down and picked up the black snake that had crawled back to deliver the news.
The innkeeper handed the abacus to He Sui’an for inspection.
The innkeeper’s calculation of the compensation was not far off from what He Sui’an had estimated earlier.
She returned the abacus to the innkeeper. “Alright, we’ll pay for the damages when we settle the bill. We’re really sorry about this.”
The innkeeper smiled and said it was fine, stepping out of the room without another glance inside. He headed downstairs, almost stumbling over something, but a staff member caught him.
The staff member who had been boiling water arrived with the hot water. Qi Buyan called him over.
“What can I do for you, sir?” the staff member asked.
Qi Buyan spoke gently, “Tomorrow morning, I need you to open the carriage we brought tonight, move the boxes inside to your inn’s carriage, and transport them to a location.”
A thousand taels of gold were stored in the boxes. Shen Jianhe had opened them tonight, but they had closed the boxes before leaving the carriage.
He handed the staff member some silver, “Consider this payment for one of your inn’s carriages.”
The staff member accepted the silver. “Alright, I’ll inform the innkeeper, and we’ll deliver it tomorrow.” As long as the guest’s payment exceeded the carriage’s value, the innkeeper would usually agree.
Qi Buyan wasn’t worried about them discovering the gold or trying to keep it because he could track them down as long as they were alive.
Or even if they were dead, he could still find them.
After the staff member left and closed the door, Qi Buyan walked to the window and released all his poison Gu.
He Sui’an asked if he wanted to bathe first.
He told her to go ahead.
He Sui’an pinned up her hair with a hairpin and went behind the screen to wash off the sweat. After bathing and dressing, she returned to the bed and noticed the window was already closed.
Qi Buyan had moved quickly. She hadn’t been daydreaming on the bed for long before he returned, carrying the scent of soap and steam.
He Sui’an looked around the room.
She didn’t see any of the Gu. Hugging the blanket, she asked, “Where are your Gu?”
Qi Buyan climbed onto the bed, bending his knees. “They went outside to help me find someone.”
“Find someone?”
He replied, “As I mentioned, a Gu master can track people by their scent. I’ve sent the Gu to find the people who tried to kill us with arrows tonight. If all goes well, we’ll have news by tomorrow.”
He Sui’an had almost forgotten that a Gu master could track people by their scent. His reminder brought it back to her. “But they were outside the inn. Hasn’t their scent dispersed?”
Qi Buyan explained, “No, their scent is still lingering. The Gu can pick up even the faintest trace.”
Qi Buyan lay on his side, looking at her. “They bled, so the scent will linger longer.”
She seemed to understand somewhat.
He Sui’an sniffed herself but didn’t notice anything unusual. Perhaps the Gu’s sense of smell differed from humans’, allowing them to discern subtle differences.
With the room’s candlelight extinguished, He Sui’an pulled the blanket over herself and lay down, sharing the bed with him.
—
As dawn broke and the first light of morning appeared, Princess Luoyan couldn’t sleep. She called someone in to help her get dressed, and now sat cross-legged on the Luohan bed by the bedside, playing chess against herself.
Zhi Mo served by her side.
The large room also housed other maids and a few eunuchs sent from the palace.
As the weather turned hot, the Empress, who adored Princess Luoyan, had not only sent carefully trained eunuchs to serve her but also a variety of fruits from across the country. The servants washed a plate of them and placed it on the table.
She picked up a peach to eat, savoring the juicy sweetness. Princess Luoyan took bite after bite, not bothering to conceal the sound of her eating. After all, she was in her own residence with no outsiders around.
The maids and eunuchs in the Princess’s residence, who relied on her favor, naturally maintained her reputation.
Princess Luoyan discarded the peach pit.
The chess game on the board was complex, and any slight mistake could lead to a deadlock.
Zhi Mo, having served Princess Luoyan for many years, knew a bit about chess. Looking at this game, she couldn’t figure out how to resolve it.
Princess Luoyan, adept at chess, held a piece in her left hand but hesitated to place it, her delicate brows furrowing as she pondered the difficult game.
A servant arrived outside, announcing an urgent matter. Zhi Mo went over to ask what it was.
The servant whispered something to Zhi Mo.
Zhi Mo adjusted her skirt and returned to the room. Before she could reach the Luohan bed, Princess Luoyan, without looking up, instructed the maids and eunuchs to go outside and scare away the birds, finding their chirping annoying.
The maids and eunuchs quickly complied, rushing outside to chase the birds from the trees.
Now alone with Princess Luoyan, Zhi Mo leaned in and whispered, “Someone has delivered a cart full of gold to Qigong Pavilion. Would you like to go see it?”
Princess Luoyan knew where the gold came from. It was the proceeds from auctioning off the Water Jade Pendant, a widely known event in Chang’an. How could she not be aware?
“No need, just leave it there.”
The Water Jade Pendant had been auctioned off, which was fine as long as it helped find the real culprit.
The gold didn’t matter. As a princess, she had plenty of it. But Qi Buyan and He Sui’an didn’t want the thousand taels of gold and returned it to her. What did they want, then?
Princess Luoyan dropped the black chess piece into her tea, watching it sink to the bottom.
Today, she would enter the palace.
The prince of Nanliang would also enter the palace today. The intentions of the Emperor and Empress were clear—they wanted the two to meet before any marriage arrangement.
Princess Luoyan disrupted the chessboard and looked out the window, where the maids and eunuchs were chasing away the birds.
Early summer brought many birds.
—
The bird calls woke He Sui’an.
The window in the room was slightly ajar, leaving a small gap. A bird perched outside, chirping incessantly before dawn.
The bird sounds filtered through the gap into the room.
He Sui’an opened her eyes to find Qi Buyan’s face close to hers. His eyelashes were lowered, his bone structure was delicate, his skin fair and smooth, and his jet-black hair fell to his side, drawing her gaze.
Then, He Sui’an realized her sleeping position was very improper. She was practically lying on top of Qi Buyan, using him as a pillow.
He Sui’an pondered how to get off him without waking him. She gingerly propped herself up but accidentally stepped on his ankle.
She felt the butterfly silver chain under her foot, warm from his body heat.
He Sui’an quickly retracted her foot.
She was afraid of breaking the chain or hurting him.
Suddenly losing the support of one foot, He Sui’an lost her balance and fell back onto Qi Buyan. The impact made him open his eyes, still veiled with a slight morning haze.
Although He Sui’an was light, the fall made Qi Buyan let out a soft groan. Her head rested on his chest, and her hair slipped into his slightly open collar, brushing against his neck.
Instinctively, Qi Buyan wrapped his arms around He Sui’an, holding her by the waist.
He Sui’an lifted her head.
Her long hair framed her face, making it appear even smaller, her eyes clear and bright. Her hair fell onto her slender waist and Qi Buyan’s hand that held her.
She wanted to sit up, but doing so would make their lower bodies press together even more. He Sui’an thought of rolling to the side, but Qi Buyan suddenly buried his head in her shoulder, his breath hot.
His attractive brows furrowed slightly, his breath chaotic against her shoulder.
He Sui’an’s heart raced.
Qi Buyan’s indigo inner clothes were slightly wrinkled from her movements, highlighting the curve of his waist. He Sui’an glanced once and quickly looked away.
He held her tightly, not letting go. He Sui’an wouldn’t push Qi Buyan away; after all, they had hugged before. She also noticed his morning reaction pressing against her legs.
Qi Buyan bent his waist.
Wearing the butterfly silver chain, his slightly tensed ankle revealed the outline of his bones. That peculiar feeling of wanting to rebel surfaced again.
Before Qi Buyan could instinctively move his hips and thrust, He Sui’an held him.
She grasped him through the indigo fabric.
Her fingertips trembled slightly, and her mind went blank. She couldn’t quite grasp what she was doing. Was she trying to remove him from between her legs or help him?
Qi Buyan’s eyes were open, his gaze so innocent that it gave her the illusion he was asking what she was doing. Yet, his long, slightly reddened eyes betrayed an intense, unhidden desire.
He was right in He Sui’an’s palm.
She couldn’t completely hold him, yet it felt as though she could envelop his entire being.
