Chapter 456 Flower Wolf

After readjusting the direction, the long-suppressed anxiety in Su Muyang's heart instantly turned into motivation for action.

Like the most patient spider, he began to quickly weave an invisible web in his mind.

Taking advantage of his status as a groom, he mingled with the lower-level servants, extracting information from small talk, observing subtle anomalies in the flow of supplies, and quietly sketching out the profile of the "unofficial" personnel who accompanied the Xiyu delegation into the capital:

A large caravan claiming to be transporting medicinal herbs for the border;

A few craftsmen from a border town traveled together, hoping to make a living in the capital;

A group of about 20 or 30 refugees, dressed in rags, who attached themselves to the embassy in order to seek shelter along the way and arrived in the capital;

And there are a few solitary travelers whose whereabouts are even more mysterious: a taciturn storyteller; a seemingly down-and-out traveling doctor; a mother and daughter who claim to be going to Beijing to find their relatives.

Su Muyang immediately mobilized the secret guards and set up a tight net to monitor the target in all directions and without blind spots.

Record everyone's daily activities and contacts in detail, and capture any subtle abnormal words and deeds.

The most important thing is to find out any clues of contact with people inside Sifang Pavilion, especially those around Princess Yuyao of Xiyu.

This kind of contact is often brief and hidden, like a tacit exchange of glances or a seemingly unintentional collision when passing by.

Or a few obscure codes drowned out by the clamor of the city.

Half a month later.

Near Sifang Pavilion, there is an inconspicuous room in a private house with its doors and windows tightly closed, isolating it from the noise of the outside world.

The light in the room was dim, with only an oil lamp dancing restlessly on the table, stretching the person's shadow to appear longer and shorter.

Su Muyang had taken off his groom's coarse linen clothes and put on a neat dark suit.

The dirt that he had deliberately smeared on his face was washed away, and the restrained yet imposing aura of Marquis Pingnan was restored.

A thick stack of secret reports lay spread out in front of him, the papers looking particularly heavy in the dim light.

This is a summary of all recent surveillance records.

The secret guard in charge of the summary was a middle-aged man with an ordinary face that was easily overlooked, except for his eyes that sparkled with brilliance.

He stood aside with his hands down, his voice low and clear:

"My Lord, after repeated screening and comparison, we have identified the five most suspicious targets."

Su Muyang's eyes swept over the names and key actions listed in the secret report:

Target 1: Hu San, the manager of the medicinal materials caravan.

This man looks rough, but his actions are flawless.

Three days ago, one of his servants "accidentally" knocked down a palace maid who was responsible for laundry in the back alley of Sifang Pavilion. While helping her up, a tiny wax ball was slipped into the maid's hand without anyone noticing.

That night, the palace maid took the opportunity of delivering the washed clothes to hand the wax ball to Princess Yuyao's personal maid.

What is even more suspicious is that Hu San himself "happened" to appear twice in the shop where Princess Yuyao's maid went out to buy rouge and powder.

Although there were no words, their eyes met briefly and quickly.

Target 2: 'Dumb Old Wu' among the refugees.

This man became mute due to the war and was inconspicuous among the refugees.

Seven days ago, he had been wandering near the western corner gate of Sifang Pavilion. Taking advantage of the brief break between guard changes, he quickly made a few gestures to an old eunuch who was sweeping inside the gate.

The old eunuch glanced at him calmly and continued working.

The meaning of the gesture is unclear, but it is definitely not an ordinary begging gesture.

Upon investigation, it was found that the old eunuch was in charge of kitchen chores at the embassy and had served for fifteen years. His background seemed clean.

Target three: Storyteller 'Mr. Liu'.

This man often told stories in a teahouse near Sifangguan, and the content of his stories was mostly about the customs and people of Dayan.

A few days ago, Princess Yuyao's personal maid Aisha brought people to invite him to the library to give lectures.

After the show, when Mr. Liu was packing up, he "accidentally" dropped a folding fan at Aisha's feet.

Aisha leaned over to pick it up and handed it back, and their fingertips touched for a moment.

Target 4: The mother and daughter who came to Beijing to look for their relatives - Tang and Hua Lan.

According to investigation, the mother and daughter were from Luori Town, Xitongguan, Dayan. They were originally a family of nine with a wealthy and harmonious family background.

After several years of war at the border, the family was broken up and only the widowed daughter was left.

Life at the border was difficult, so he sold his belongings, packed his bags and went to Beijing to find his relatives.

After arriving in Beijing, he did search for several days but failed, so he set up a bun stall on Yongning Street to make a living.

Yongning Street is only one street away from Sifangguan and has a large passenger flow.

The secret guards noticed that several women who had been targeted before and were wearing special bells would go to buy buns at different times.

More importantly, among the several households whose doors the mother and daughter knocked on when they first arrived in the capital to look for their relatives, two were the key surveillance targets of the secret guards, and the maids in their families became regular customers of the bun stall.

During the transaction, the buyer was very close to the mother and daughter, and the environment was noisy, so the conversation could not be heard clearly.

However, the secret guards observed that when they spoke, they deliberately changed their lip shapes or lowered their heads to cover their mouths. When passing buns to each other, their fingers would unconsciously tap the stall or the other person's palm quickly, which seemed to be a way of conveying some special code.

Su Muyang's eyes scanned back and forth over these pieces of information.

The actions of each target were carefully planned and deliberate, but his gaze lingered on the names of "Tang and Hua Lan" for a long time.

Flower wolf?

Su Muyang snorted.

I want to see whether the one hiding under this skin is a delicate flower or a vicious wolf.

He pointed at the information about the mother and daughter and gave a decisive order:

"Send a pigeon to Xitong Pass. Tell me everything about the Tang family mother and daughter, especially Hua Lan. Dig deep and deep into the ground! Tomorrow, bring Hua Lan to my mansion and tell them I'm interested in her and want her as my concubine."

Secret Guard: ???

A trace of surprise flashed across his eyes, but seeing that Pingnan Hou had no intention of joking, he immediately lowered his head and replied:

"Yes! I'll arrange it immediately!"

…

The next evening, in the main courtyard of Sifang Pavilion.

Princess Yuyao was enjoying her dinner elegantly, with the scent of incense curling through the hall.

Her personal maid, Aisha, hurried to her side, leaned over and whispered a few words quickly in her ear.

In an instant, the calmness on Princess Yuyao's face began to crack inch by inch, the knuckles of her fingers holding the silver chopsticks turned white due to the force, and the calmness in her eyes was replaced by shock and surging anger.

She slammed the silver chopsticks on the table, making a harsh sound.

"Marquis Pingnan...Su Muyang..."

Princess Yuyao squeezed out the name from between her teeth, shaking with anger.

"Why would he... target Hua Lan?!"

Aisha's face turned pale and she shook her head, "I don't know! It happened so suddenly, without any warning! Our people... didn't have time to react at all."

"waste!"

Princess Yuyao suddenly waved her sleeves, sweeping all the expensive cosmetics and jewelry on the dressing table beside her to the ground, making a crisp sound.

Her chest heaved violently, and her beautiful face was slightly distorted with anger.

"A bunch of losers! They can't even protect one person!"

She took a deep breath, and a trace of determination to perish together with her flashed in her eyes.

"Send the message! Get the person out at all costs!"

"Yes!" Aisha did not dare to delay for a moment and immediately turned around and walked out quickly.

…