Assassin organization

Sui Zhixu found it all very boring; you can know a person's face but not their heart, haha.

She lowered her head and said in a deep voice, "I'm not a fugitive, you can rest assured, I won't implicate you."

She took out the princess's decree and stopped her from bowing, saying, "The princess's decree is for me to investigate the case. Do not speak further until the case is clear."

The rain outside was drizzling, and just when there were clear signs that it would clear up, the rain suddenly intensified.

"I will leave when the weather clears up. You don't need to worry."

The aunt in front of him was timid and hesitant, completely lacking the decisiveness she had shown earlier. Xu sighed and said, "Fine, I'll leave now."

She took off her money pouch, weighed it in her hand, kept one gold bead for herself, and placed the rest on the table.

He picked up the umbrella from the basket, told his aunt, and left.

Seeing that Sui Zhixu had walked out of the shop, the aunt opened her money bag, which was half full of gold beads. She was about to chase after her, but for some reason she stopped and stared blankly at Sui Zhixu's departing figure.

He followed Zhixu all the way back to the Prime Minister's residence, then used his lightness skill to return to Jianjia Pavilion through the back gate, without being seen by anyone.

"Wife? What's wrong?" Danhong hurriedly put down her work and went to her side.

"Go and change your clothes quickly, or you'll catch a cold. Didn't you go to see Fan Langjun? Did he just let you come back in the rain? He's useless. Liu Lü is right next to you and doesn't even know to find you a big umbrella. Really, none of them can even do this little thing right."

Dan Hong was busy with various tasks, while Sui Zhixu remained silent throughout.

Liu Lü remained silent as she was being scolded, while only Dan Hong's voice could be heard in the Jianjia Pavilion.

As Sui Zhixu's maid, Liu Lü usually hid in the shadows and would only come out when Sui Zhixu called her.

When Sui Zhixu came out of the Fan family, she looked unwell. Liu Lü followed silently behind her. She felt that her mistress might want to be alone. Judging from Yu Shao’s performance, her mistress was in a bad mood, and she didn’t want to go up and annoy her.

Seeing that she was hurriedly preparing ginger soup for herself, Sui Zhixu said, "Alright, there's no need to prepare ginger soup for me, I've already had some. I'm a little tired and want to rest first, you can all go down now."

Danhong: "But you haven't had dinner yet."

"I'm not hungry, I don't want to eat."

Seeing that Sui Zhixu had gone to bed and wrapped herself in the blanket, she said nothing more and silently withdrew with Liu Lü.

Hearing a creak, Sui Zhixu lifted the covers and looked at the ceiling, murmuring, "Tianque Tower."

She read it many times, her nose tingling, and tears welled up in her eyes.

The most powerful assassin organization in the martial arts world, Tianque Tower, let tears stream down her face, leaving tear tracks on her pillow.

Why did she have to be Lu Kou? The source of her hatred was that half of her soul was Lu Kou.

Sima Xian's niece.

Rumor has it that Lu Kou is favored by the king. Sui Zhixu chuckled. Fate is playing tricks on her, making her lose her memory and forcing her to explore step by step to get the result she wants.

Go to sleep, have a good night's rest.

Tomorrow she will still follow Zhixu.

—

[System real-time broadcast: The system has detected that the current fortune of the person with the highest luck, Sui Zhixu (Lu Kou), is yellow and cannot be taken away. The danger index is high! It is recommended that the host eliminate her!]

[The system has detected that the host's luck is yellow, meaning the luck value is not full. It is recommended that the host deduct luck to replenish the value. The system will provide real-time support. Note that the host's luck cannot fall below yellow.]

Sima Xian closed his eyes, lay back in the chair, and sighed. It was astonishing how quickly things had changed from green to yellow.

The system has two ways to acquire luck: one is by consuming the other party's life points, and the other is by absorbing luck over many years through kinship relationships.

For years, he had been relying on the second method to absorb A Ling's luck. That child, the perfect child he had raised, should have been the most perfect part of his grand plan, but it had gone out of control.

No wonder he raised such a child; he ruined the sacrificial rites in Yungang Village, yet the descendants of the sacrificial offerings still thank him.

This act of merit caused half of the luck value he had painstakingly maintained to disappear.

That useless He Miao couldn't even handle a weak woman with little martial arts skill. The Sui family managed to wrest back the silver.

"Someone come here."

"Your Majesty." A moment later, the attendant opened the door and came to the desk.

"How is the Hu Ji Tavern under Tao Yao's control doing?" Sima Xian rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Ever since the son-in-law met Madam Ye in the business, Madam Ye's tavern has been doing quite well."

Sima Xian nodded. Zi Rong was indeed good at business. He had chosen such a good marriage for A Ling. Merchants had a low social status and moved between the powerful and the common people, making it easy for her to manipulate them.

It would not only contribute to his grand plan, but he also fell in love with her at first sight. If she had any complaints, she would always go against him.

"How is Tianque Tower now?" Sima Xian asked as he wrote the letter.

"The host has recently recruited a new batch of children to join the building. Wang, rest assured, Yinling will soon be able to fill the gap."

"Hmph, what a fine child of mine, almost wiped out everyone in the building." Sima Xian stuffed the letter into an envelope. "Give it to Jiang Li and let her handle it."

"Yes." The attendant carefully took the envelope and withdrew.

Sima Xian stood outside the window, the rain and mist blurring the memories in his mind.

"Princess." The attendant stepped out of the room and met Sima An, bowing respectfully.

She asked, "Is Father inside?"

Having received an affirmative answer, she waved to the person and stepped inside.

I heard some noise at the door, and soon after I heard a sound behind me.

"Father." The pretty wife, dressed in flowing red, called softly from the doorway of the study.

"Hmm? What brings you here?" Hearing that it was Sima An, he turned around with a smile.

"Are you still unwilling to give up on replacing your elder sister with Xi Yuzhen?" Sima An grabbed Sima Xian's sleeve and looked into his eyes.

"You came to see me just to say this?" His voice softened as he silently looked at Sima An.

Sima An shouted at him, his red sleeves arcing through the air, "Otherwise what? Why did you let Xi Yuzhen get close to Fan Lingzhang again? Would you be happy if he really accepted Xi Yuzhen?"

“You should be growing up by now. Don’t you understand this? Your older sister has already done a lot for me at this age.”

Sima Xian let go of her hand that had been tugging at his sleeve and shaking it, and continued, "Isn't this better? Anniang has always wanted A-Ling to come back. Isn't it better to leave yourself with something to remember her by, so that you won't be in pain when you forget A-Ling's face in a couple of years?"

Sima An overturned the pen and ink on the desk, confronting him. "No! You're the one who doesn't understand! If Fan Lingzhang accepted Xi Yuzhen because of a face that resembled Sister's, then he didn't truly love Sister. Sister was unique in the world; no one could replace her. Fan Lingzhang loved Sister very much. If Sister hadn't passed away, they could have grown old together..."

Undisguised sobs filled the room. Sima Xian glanced casually at the mess on the floor, a mocking tone on his lips. "Ha? Naive child. Compared to your elder sister, you're utterly foolish. What have you learned from all the books I made you study? You can't even see the bigger picture, instead clinging to petty romances. Is this how your mother raised you?"

"It's not you anyway! You've never taught me, yet you insist on interfering. Compared to you, Madam Gu spends more time by my side than you do, so what right do you have to tell me what to do!"

After saying that, Sima An turned and ran out, bumping into Shen Huaiyu and Gu Qingyi, who had arrived late.

"Anniang! It's still raining outside, hurry up and hold an umbrella for the lady." Shen Huaiyu hurriedly called to the servants and followed them up.

"Wait for your mother."

Seeing Shen Huaiyu and the others leave, Gu Qingyi turned to look at Sima Xian and said, "She probably asked you about the opera singer again, right? I don't even need to guess to know."

"So reckless, she has none of Ah Ling's composure and calmness. How could I have such a daughter?"

Gu Qingyi remained silent, her expression indifferent, and waited for him to finish before asking, "Has the Pei family decided how to handle this?"

When it came to serious matters, Sima Xian became much calmer. "Hmm, I've discovered a few useful pieces."

Gu Qingyi nodded slightly and calmly said, "Leave it to me."

"These are trivial matters that won't trouble you," Sima Xianpao waved his hand dismissively.

"No, it's better to be cautious."

"Then so be it."

She insisted on going, and Sima Xian did not stop her. He agreed with her words and said, "Have someone go find Kaiyang and Yaoguang."

Gu Qingyi nodded in agreement and left after a short while, leaving Sima Xian alone.

His grand plan will eventually come true.

—

The next morning, Jianjia Pavilion was unusually quiet, and the maids and servants cleaning the courtyard did not dare to move too much.

The maidservant quietly ran to Danhong's side and asked, "Why isn't Madam practicing martial arts with Sister Liulu today?"

Dan Hong shook her head. Yu Guangzhong's wife's room door was tightly closed, and she had not come out yet.

"Sister Danhong!"

"Shh—" Dan Hong put her index finger to her lips to warn her.

"The young master from Puyang has arrived, saying he wishes to meet with his wife to discuss important matters."

"Qin Lin, you go and greet the young master from Puyang first. Du Yun and I will go and call for the lady."

"Yes." Qin Lin stepped back and ran to the front yard.

Dan Hong took a deep breath and knocked on the door, which opened by itself the next second.

"Wife?"

"I heard you, go wash up."

"Is my wife really alright?" Dan Hong couldn't help but worry as she watched Xu's face turn ashen.

"It's nothing." Sui Zhixu left those words and turned to walk inside.

I sat up for half the night, then drifted off to sleep, only to wake up suddenly in the middle of the night and be unable to fall back asleep.

"Could you cover this up for me?"

Dan Hong glanced lightly at Sui Zhixu's eyes, her lips moving as she swallowed the words in her mouth.

My wife's eyes are very swollen; perhaps she's been crying?

"Which dress should my lady wear today? Is it lotus leaf green, or catalpa and bamboo green?" Danhong took out clothes from the wardrobe and let Sui Zhixu choose.

"Did my aunt prepare a lot of silver-colored fabric for me during the New Year? I'll find a few pieces suitable for making summer clothes. I'll wear the lotus leaf green ones for today."

"Why does my wife suddenly like red?" Dan Hong paused, her pupils trembling slightly. Her wife had been acting strangely ever since she returned from seeing Fan Langjun.

"It's nothing, I just felt like I could have more clothes in the closet in different colors. Don't worry, I'm fine. You don't need to overthink things in your little head," Sui Zhixu said gently, ruffling Dan Hong's hair.

"I'll go out after I change my clothes. Don't keep the young master of Puyang waiting."

In July, the trumpet creeper hangs high on the wall in the Jianjia Pavilion, standing proudly, its orange blossoms adding a splash of color to a corner of the wall.

Following the fragrant breeze, he walked to the front yard.

"My lord, you have been waiting for a long time."

The teacup was brought to Puyang Kai's lips when he quickly put it down, cupped his hands in a respectful bow, and said, "May the young master be well."

"Hmm, I wonder what brings you here today, young master of Puyang?" Sui Zhixu walked to his seat, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"It's about the Pei family." Puyang Kai smiled calmly. "Kai is currently the Registrar of the Court of Judicial Review. I've found some information about Minister Lu, which might be helpful to the young master."

"Isn't Sui Chu Ke following Cheng Zhijie at the Dali Temple? Why didn't you give them to them first?"

"Senior Brother Cheng and the Sect Leader Sui? Sorry, the first one that comes to mind is the Young Master."

Pu Yangkai's voice was gentle and unhurried, as clear and pleasant as pearls falling on a jade plate.

His features were not as deep as Xi Yushao's, lacking Xi Yushao's glamorous mystery, but possessing a gentler quality.

As Xu Zhixu's gaze fell lightly on him, he smiled and met her eyes in return, his smile gentle and polite.

Her eyes droop, and she always thinks of another person's unrestrained laughter. She appears aloof in front of outsiders, but in reality, she is a sensitive and thoughtful person who is prone to tears.

"Tell me about it." Sui Zhixu looked up at him, suppressing everything from the past deep in her memory.

"My lady is not in Chang'an and may not know about the past of the Lu and Pei families. I happened to witness it back then, and perhaps I can tell you about it, young master."

“Madam Pei and Lu Silang were betrothed since childhood. However, Lu Silang was born weak and the imperial physician diagnosed that he would not live past the age of twenty-five. In particular, he became bedridden at the age of eighteen, so the Lu family forced Madam Pei to marry him to bring good luck.”