Chapter 57

Look, I'm dirty too.

The guards followed the map provided by Zhou Baizhi and quickly found the item, delivering it to Xie Yutang.

That was indeed Cao Yong's identity document.

Although they are called jade tablets, they are not made of jade. Instead, they are divided into three grades: gold, silver, and bronze, depending on the official's rank. The Minister of Revenue, being a third-rank official, could use gold.

However, Cao Yong's gold-plated jade plate was edged with genuine jade, which complemented the gold perfectly, making it an exquisite collectible.

This trend, which began at some point, became popular among officials in Da Yan. They decorated jade plates with all sorts of precious items in various ways, supposedly to pay homage to the elegance of the previous dynasty, with its fine trees, fragrant herbs, and beautiful women. However, most of those who joined in this fun were poor, pedantic scholars in the court who couldn't make a name for themselves and lamented their unfulfilled talents all day long.

Xie Yutang never expected that Cao Yong would also have such refined interests.

The jade plate was set aside for the time being.

After the capture of Xuelang Pass, the surrendered Northern Rong soldiers were scattered and reorganized. Combined with Xie Yutang's original forces, their numbers were now sufficient to rival Helou Batu. Moreover, Helou Batu's legitimacy was questionable, and although he commanded a large army, its strength was highly uncertain. If Xie Yutang could rescue the Northern Rong King and Tuoba Xiu from their imprisonment, he could fundamentally undermine Helou Batu's power.

She spent the entire afternoon processing the intelligence and documents that were being handed to her like snowflakes, and thinking about the next troop deployment. When Xie Qi knocked on the door and came in, Xie Yutang could smell a sweet and refreshing fragrance from afar.

The plate was placed on the table: a stack of almond and lily pastries, a bowl of almond and lotus seed soup, and a shallow dish with candied apricots and honey-fried kumquats.

The cooks in this city only know how to cook Hu cuisine, so it goes without saying whose skill these exquisite tea snacks are.

It's just the person who brought this dish to the table—

Xie Yutang watched as Xie Qi carefully carried the bowl from the tray to the table, trying not to spill any soup.

Xie Qi felt the gaze and looked up.

...

It seemed like I saw disdain in the young lady's eyes.

"Where is Prince Su?"

Xie Qi laughed and said, "The young master has something to attend to."

His pride couldn't last two breaths under Xie Yutang's gaze before he obediently stopped smiling and honestly confessed: "The assassins from Jubao Money House are already being interrogated. The underlings don't know much, and the ones who do know a lot are tough nuts to crack and won't talk no matter how we ask them."

Xie Qi coughed and finally revealed the reason for his presence: "I couldn't handle it, so I went to find Prince Su."

The shopkeeper seemed to know something. His cell had been broken into once, but the attempt failed. The assassins either died or committed suicide, leaving no survivors. Xie Yutang was almost certain that Helou Batu was one of them.

She walked deeper into the dungeon, and when the soldiers guarding the area tried to salute her, she raised her hand to silence them. The further she went, the stronger the smell of blood became. In the second-to-last room, she saw the person she was looking for.

He had his back to her and was bending over to wash his fingers.

The walls were covered with instruments of torture, some of which she had never seen before. The interrogation room was next door, the cell door was closed, and damp, crimson blood was still seeping out.

Su Lu's figure had grown a bit taller, somewhere between a man and a boy. The belt accentuated his slender waistline, and the only exposed skin on his neck appeared porcelain white and delicate in the candlelight.

As soon as Xie Yutang walked in, he was forced against the wall by his arm, and a short knife was held against his neck.

"who?"

His voice was extremely cold, revealing an undisguised, chilling killing intent.

Xie Yutang knew that the other party had heard her footsteps long ago and deliberately waited for her to walk in before making a move, defeating her in one strike.

She didn't move, but the slight chuckle made the chill on her neck even more pronounced: "Youzhi, are you trying to rebel?"

Su Lu saw her face almost simultaneously, his eyes flashed, and he immediately sheathed his short sword and knelt on one knee: "...Master, what brings you here?"

The young man lowered his head, behaving obediently.

He showed no trace of the murderous intent he had just displayed.

If she were truly an assassin who came to break up the prisoner, she would probably have bled to death by now.

She grabbed his wrist, and the young man froze for a moment. He obediently got up, following her force, but took a half step back and gently pulled his wrist away.

He never resisted her touch.

Even when she pressed his head into the water and nearly suffocated him, he didn't struggle at all.

Xie Yutang looked up.

Su Lu pulled up his sleeves, but couldn't hide the blood on his hands.

"Don't touch it, Master, it's dirty."

Xie Yutang raised an eyebrow: "So this is why you don't want me to see this?"

Xie Qi's earlier evasive words, the fleeting panic in Su Lu's eyes, the half-step back, and the instant she pulled her wrist away from Xie Qi's palm.

Xie Yutang wasn't angry. He pulled out a chair from the table, sat down, and gestured for the young man to sit opposite him. "Since that's the case, you could have just had Xie Qi make up some excuse that you went somewhere else. Why did you have to tell me you were here?"

He had too many things to do: deploying defenses in the city, resting and reorganizing the military camps, training soldiers and horses... He would just find an excuse to get the information from this side and let Xie Qi take the credit for it, and she wouldn't find out.

Su Lu couldn't have been unaware of this.

However, due to his previous status, he almost made a grave mistake. Since then, he has almost completely changed his personality. He doesn't want any misunderstandings between them. People like them, sitting in such positions, know that trust is hard-won and cannot tolerate any deception. Even if the deception seems harmless to one side, trust is eroded by these seemingly harmless acts time and time again.

Xie Yutang guessed what he was thinking, and her heart felt like it was being pulled and squeezed by something, but she also felt a warm feeling of being carefully cared for from the inside out: "That matter... I should have given you more trust."

"It's fine."

Su Lu subconsciously wanted to grasp her hand that was on the table, but seeing the blood still on his own hands, he put it back down, tucking his fingers together as if trying in vain to suppress the stench of blood all over him.

"The master will never have to feel guilty about the decisions you make. You can doubt anyone or anything at any time, because this is also part of ensuring your safety."

The young man looked up and gazed intently into her eyes. "And I will remain absolutely honest with you."

Even if this honesty includes the dark side he least wants her to see.

Xie Qi was horrified by his methods of interrogation. Everyone could see how much his young mistress cared for this young master. If she knew, she would definitely come to take a look. Xie Qi had asked him before, "You've already prepared the tea and snacks. What will you do if the young mistress asks about them now that you've asked me to deliver them?"

After all, he was the one who asked them to help, and they were doing such dirty and filthy work. This young master Su looks like a pure and clean immortal, so he probably wouldn't want the young lady to see this.

Xie Qi gritted his teeth: "If Miss asks, I'll just say you went to patrol the west city gate."

"No need."

The shopkeeper's jaw had already been dislocated and he was tied to a rack. The young man held an extremely thin blade in his fingers. Although he still had that cold and beautiful face and spoke softly, it inexplicably sent chills down one's spine.

"If you want to say something, blink three times and I'll put your jaw back on. If you don't say anything or try to bite your tongue to commit suicide, then I'll cut an opening right here."

The blade slid up the shopkeeper's cheek and landed on the top of his head. The young man's voice was like the voice of hell, "Pour mercury in. You'll be tied to a shelf, and the mercury will slowly peel away your flesh. In the end, you'll become a bloodied man who has been skinned alive, and you'll jump off the shelf and land here."

Ahead, a brazier eight feet long was burning brightly.

Xie Qi could almost hear the sizzling sound of the human-shaped blood stick falling into the fire pit, and his vivid imagination gave him goosebumps.

"If the master asks, there is no need to cover for me."

Su Lu glanced at the mercury laid out at his feet and whispered in the shopkeeper's ear, "Shall we start now? Don't worry, I've made a small incision, and the mercury will be poured in little by little. Even without skin, a person can still speak. It will take about half an hour for the mercury to flow to your toes. You can take your time to think about it."

Xie Qi was stunned for a moment before realizing which sentence was addressed to him and which was addressed to the prisoner. After struggling with this thought for a while, he finally nodded and left with a tingling sensation on his scalp.

Xie Yutang looked at the hands in front of her. The fingers were long and slender with distinct knuckles. They were truly beautiful hands. She had secretly rejoiced that in this life, she had protected him and prevented him from being worn down from the bottom on the battlefield. His body was still as beautiful as a young man's, without any scars, and his fingers were delicate, white, and without calluses.

Besides the crescent moon in vermilion on her left wrist.

That was the mark of being implanted with the Spirit Control Guide.

She covered those hands.

The young Prince Muqing, who wouldn't even flinch while skinning a person alive, was thrown into disarray by this one touch. He instinctively tried to dodge, but Xie Yutang forcefully pressed him down, inserting his ten fingers one by one between them.

His hands were icy cold, like snow that could never be melted, and dried crimson seeped into his fingernails.

Her warm palm enveloped his, and little by little, it became stained with his color.

"look."

Xie Yutang's fingers tightened little by little, and the corners of her mouth curled up, seemingly with a touch of pure joy, "I'm dirty too."

She pulled the young man up and led him to the sink.

The washbasin tiles were covered with green moss, mixed with blood that hadn't been rinsed off, and the air was filled with a damp, fishy smell.

She scooped water from the bucket and poured it on their hands.

It was bitterly cold.

Su Lu seemed oblivious, looking down at the top of her head. He had styled her hair himself today; it was a simple low bun, adorned with the hairpin she had picked out when they strolled through town.

"Such a powerful young Prince Mu Qing, are you afraid I'll see him?"

The young man, unable to back down with her hand in his grasp, could only tilt his head slightly, his Adam's apple bobbing: "It's not like it's anything good."

"yes."

Xie Yutang did not deny it, and used the water ladle to wash the blood little by little. The dried bloodstains faded and turned into strands of red: "You have tarnished your reputation because of me, your hands are covered in blood, you don't want the title of Marquis of Beirong, and you still haven't become a general. You still have to do dirty work for me in the dungeon in secret - it really doesn't seem like a good thing."

The young man's fingers curled slightly as she grasped them. After washing their hands, Xie Yutang pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve and handed it to them.

Those hands were porcelain white and delicate, even the crevices under the nails were washed clean, and the fingertips were slightly red.

Xie Yutang asked him to wipe her hands, but Su Lu folded the handkerchief, dampened it with water, and gently placed it on her neck.

Xie Yutang paused, then realized what was happening.

She had been pressed against the neck, and there was some blood on her skin.

He wiped very gently, the soft handkerchief cool to the touch, his long, drooping eyelashes casting a faint shadow on the young man's eyes, his breath brushing against his ear, carrying the crisp chill of snow.

“That’s different,” he said.

Xie Yutang pushed the man against the wall, pinned his wrists to his sides, stood on tiptoe, and pressed his lips down.

Unlike his previous gentle probing.

The kiss came on strong, passionate, and fierce.

Without hesitation, she bit his lip, and blood immediately flooded her tongue. She then forced open his teeth and thrust in.

She could clearly sense that Su Lu was momentarily stunned, but he did not resist, letting her press him against the wall and gently endure her brutality.

The brick wall behind him carried the damp, earthy smell, and the rough brick surface scratched the back of his hand red. Her fingertips kept rubbing the vermilion crescent mark, and only suppressed low breathing remained in the dungeon.

"How are they different?"

She asked during the break.

Water droplets clung to his eyelashes. With his eyes closed, he tilted his head back. Xie Yutang's gaze meandered from behind his ear to his Adam's apple, feeling the thin layer of sweat gradually forming on the skin beneath his lips, and sensing the young man's trembling inch by inch.

The man she loved stained his hands with blood and did filthy things for her.

All she wanted to do was crush and possess him.

...

The candles inside the cell burned quietly, occasionally crackling and popping as sparks flew.

Su Lu leaned against the wall, Xie Yutang wrapped his arms around his waist, rested his chin on his shoulder, a strand of hair falling down and sticking to his cheek, his voice slightly hoarse: "In our past life... when did you start liking me?"

That day he said, "In this life and the next, it's only you." She was too surprised when she first heard it. Later, she pondered it for a long time. In her previous life, she was single-mindedly focused on Lin Tan and had very little interaction with this young Prince Mu Qing. Thinking about it carefully, she couldn't even remember how many words they had spoken. How did he fall in love with her?

The young man ran his fingers through her hair, remaining silent for a moment. Xie Yutang lifted her chin from his shoulder, frowning, "You didn't just fall for me because of my looks, did you... No, if you only care about looks, who else would you be interested in besides yourself?"

Su Lu let out a low chuckle: "Do you remember the first time we met?"

Xie Yutang squinted and thought for a while before admitting, "I don't remember."

She paused, then poked his waist: "So, you really did fall in love with me at first sight?"

"It's neither true nor false."

Su Lu thought for a moment, "Back then, you had just arrived in the capital and were returning from a banquet. Everyone had drunk too much, and I was the one driving the carriage... At that time, I thought this girl was really interesting, different from others, so I took notice of you."

"Later, the more I paid attention to you and the more I learned about you, the more interesting I found you... It wasn't until I realized that I had fallen for you."

His voice was very soft. He spoke of a young man's innocent crush in his past life, and how, when he realized it, his feelings had already deepened. He spoke of all the twists and turns of his feelings in a light and gentle way.

When Xie Yutang first returned to Beijing, he had just experienced a major life change. He was depressed and listless, and spent a period of time numbing himself with nightly revelry. How could he still be interested in someone in that state?

Xie Yutang had a gut feeling that something must have happened on that carriage, but she really couldn't remember. Those days were the most chaotic period of her life, and Su Lu probably didn't go into details for the same reason.

He twirled a strand of her hair between his fingers and said, "I also have something I'd like to ask A-Mian."

Xie Yutang hummed in agreement.

Su Lu kissed her ear but didn't pull away. As he spoke, his lips brushed against her earlobe: "In your heart, do you think I am a Han Chinese or a Hu (non-Han Chinese)?"

"I don't care if you're Han or Hu," Xie Yutang laughed, pulling him down by the collar and kissing him again, his possessiveness evident. "All I know is that you're the one I brought back." At this point, Xie Yutang mimicked Zhou Baizhi's tone from that day, lightly stroking his eyebrows with her fingertips. "If I give you food and clothes, then, wouldn't I be considered your home?"

Su Lu let her kiss him, raising an eyebrow between breaths: "Is this all you give me? Isn't Master being a bit stingy?"

At this moment, he called her "master" in a low, hoarse voice, his breath almost a whisper around her ear, moist and sticky, which was especially able to stir Xie Yutang's heartstrings.

...

By the time the two returned to the city lord's mansion, it was already completely dark.

Xie Shiyi paced back and forth at the entrance of the courtyard: "Miss said she was going to take a look, and she's been looking for over an hour now, why isn't she back yet?"

He was sent by Su Lu to keep an eye on Chen Bingliang and was supposed to report back, but Xie Qi told him that the young lady and the young master were interrogating the assassin in the dungeon.

"Didn't you say that the assassin confessed?"

Xie Qi was also puzzled. When he left, the shopkeeper was clearly in tears and answered all his questions, so why was the young lady still nowhere to be seen after more than an hour?

Xie Shiyi was worried, so he picked up his sword and left, saying, "I'll go check it out."

Xie Qi grabbed him, saying, "...Wait a little longer."

He couldn't explain why, but his decades of experience navigating wind and rain, licking blood from the edge of a knife, told him it was better not to go. Meeting Xie Shiyi's questioning gaze, Xie Qi touched his nose and mumbled, "Anyway, with Prince Su here, there's no need to worry about Miss's safety."

"What are you two doing, pulling and tugging at each other?"

The two looked up and saw that Xie Yutang had returned at some point, standing in front of the door with his hands behind his back, looking at them.

"Greetings, Miss."

The two quickly bowed. Xie Shiyi stepped forward, about to present the intelligence in his hand to Xie Yutang, when his eyes fell on Su Lu behind him. He suddenly stopped and exclaimed in surprise, "Young Master, why are your lips swollen?"