Pure and innocent

Gu Yi's heart skipped a beat, and his brow twitched slightly. He asked, "What is Chu Yuanyi hiding from you?"

A-Qiu said listlessly, "My aunt's mind is sometimes good and sometimes bad, and her memory is also inconsistent. You can't take every word she says seriously, but there's only one sentence I remember clearly. She asked me what I would do if she had done something to wrong me."

Gu Yi was silent for a moment, then asked, "How will you answer her?"

Ah Qiu said, "After thinking about it, I finally replied that no matter what she did to me, her love for me was genuine. And since my aunt is already in such a state, even if I want to take revenge, I can't take anything more from her."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yi said, "Although you are a member of Lanling Hall, your temperament is significantly different from others."

Ah Qiu had never seen herself from this perspective before, and asked in astonishment, "What?"

Gu Yi stared at her and said, "If it were the same question, go ask your Master Wanqi or Mo Yimingyue, and guess how they would answer?"

After thinking for a moment, A Qiu said sadly, "Master will not let her off the hook, because he never tolerates anyone wronging him, no matter how loyal that person was. As for Senior Brother Mo Yi, he will repay kindness with kindness and grievance with grievance. The two things should not be mixed up, and each should settle their own accounts clearly."

"I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me. I will repay kindness and avenge wrongs." This has always been the guiding principle of the Lanling Assassin.

Gu Yi said, "So you are different from the others in Lanling Hall."

As A-Qiu walked with Gu Yi out of the palace, she asked, "If this question were asked to you, Master, how would you answer?"

Gu Yi paused, looked stunned for a moment, and said, "Probably the same as you."

A Qiu was initially taken aback, but then a look of understanding appeared on her face. Gu Yi, like her, was not one to hold grudges. For her, the past was like fleeting clouds and dreams, and she couldn't bring herself to seriously dwell on it; but for Gu Yi, with the weight of the nation on his shoulders, personal grudges were insignificant before that.

She realized that Gu Yi was leading her not to Jinlingtai, but to the Zhengyang Gate, the main gate of the imperial palace, which aroused her suspicions. It was already close to midnight; were they not going back to Jinlingtai, but instead heading out of the palace?

Gu Yi answered her question: "That's right, let's go to Luoyufang."

However, instead of entering through the main gate as before, Bingye scaled the high wall of the backyard of Luoyufang.

A Qiu moved nimbly, landing on the trunk of a large tree in the courtyard with Gu Yi, and whispered, "Master, did you already suspect this place after you met that Hu woman with a white veil at the Beining Pavilion?"

Gu Yi said calmly, "That's right. The Hu women who frequent Jianzhang are all more or less connected to this place."

Luoyufang has been rooted in Jianzhang City for thirty or forty years, and can be said to be the place with the most local Hu women. Even after the war, it can be quickly rebuilt, but no one has ever verified the true power behind it.

In the past, Gu Yi's junior charioteers also had business and communication with the northern Hu tribes. Because the Hu tribes themselves were also fragmented and their positions were not entirely unified, some tribes admired the might of the Han Dynasty and were closer to the Southern Dynasty, and were willing to do business with the Southern people.

Gu Yi had considered investigating Luoyufang, but he was met with many obstacles from intermediaries. Neither the Jie nor the Di tribes were willing to reveal anything about Luoyufang, so he gave up.

Ultimately, there were no fewer than a dozen brothels in the capital, similar in size to Luoyufang. They were simply gathering places for women trying to make a living, the only difference being that they were all foreign women. However, their skills were ultimately limited, so they were not worth his attention.

Although the northern and southern regimes were hostile to each other, Gu Yi did not extend this hostility to the general populace. Therefore, in Jianzhang, as long as the Hu people conducted their businesses in accordance with the rules, Gu Yi strictly ordered the army not to harass them, and certainly not to extort them because they were Hu people, but to treat them equally. Luoyufang was roughly of this kind.

This is why Jianzhang West Market has gathered many shops of foreign merchants, and Gu Yi's reputation in the north is also extremely good.

A Qiu looked around. Although it was already late at night and other areas of Jianzhang had long been under curfew, the high-rise buildings in Luoyufang were still brightly lit, and the sounds of laughter and music could be heard everywhere.

Gu Yi noticed her eyes darting around, alert like a cat. He recalled how she had been angry when she came with him last time because she was bothered by his visits to brothels. Now, he felt both relieved and amused. He said slowly, "Let me test you."

A-Qiu was stunned by his words and couldn't help but look up at him. Beneath his two sword-like eyebrows, his deep eyes were as black as ink, staring intently at her. His black hair at his temples was interspersed with distinct, warm silver strands, adding a touch of vicissitude to his appearance.

This was the first time Gu Yi had referred to himself as "teacher" to her.

While this nickname carried a hint of mockery and seemed to bring them closer, in A Qiu's ears, it actually pushed them further apart.

In front of Gu Yi, A Qiu dared not reveal the slightest fluctuation in her heart. She tried her best to clear away the miscellaneous thoughts in her mind and said solemnly, "Please enlighten me, Master."

Gu Yi said leisurely, "If we want to find out who the owner of Luoyufang is right now, which house should we go to?"

A Qiu found it amusing. In all her previous assassination attempts, whether entering government offices, wealthy households, secluded courtyards, or even military camps, observing the terrain and determining the location of the assassination target was always the first step.

She glanced at the general layout of the houses in Luoyufang and pointed to them, saying, "In my humble opinion, it should be the row of houses in the second courtyard after the main hall."

This is because the main hall is used to entertain the most distinguished guests, and the owner of Luoyufang would naturally reside nearby for convenience in entertaining them. Moreover, in terms of scale, its level of luxury is second only to the main hall, which is commensurate with the owner's status.

Gu Yi simply smiled at her without saying a word. A Qiu, confused by his smile, asked, "Did I say something wrong, disciple?"

Gu Yi smiled and said, "I'm just relieved that I still have something to teach you." It wasn't like he simply picked up a cheap disciple from Wan Qiqing for free.

Upon hearing his words, A-Qiu realized his mistake and humbly said, "Master, please enlighten me."

Gu Yi asked, "Have you never been to the North?"

A Qiu nodded in agreement, "That's right." She had nothing to hide from Gu Yi. She had carried out numerous assassination attempts throughout her life, all within the territory of the Southern Dynasty. But if we're talking about the far north, she had been to Luoyang in the Central Plains. However, although Luoyang was mostly deserted and in ruins, its general architectural style and primary and secondary structure were quite similar to those of Jianzhang.

Gu Yi said knowingly, "If your senior brother Mo Yi were to point it out, he wouldn't be mistaken. Why don't you think about it from another angle? Among all the buildings here, which one has the most obvious stylistic difference from the others?"

Hearing the implication in his words, A-Qiu immediately pointed and said, "That small, pointed, round building made of white stones on the right side of the pond. It looks somewhat like the exotic palaces I saw in Master Wanqi's grotto illustrations, and also like a temple." She had never seen such a beautiful and exotic building before, and exclaimed, "What is it?"

He added, "However, this place is a bit too far from the main building of Luoyufang. I suppose the owner doesn't care much about managing the business."

Gu Yi suddenly said, "Silence."

On the covered walkway by the pond, a group of several women carrying lanterns approached. They were all dressed in white robes, with their hoods hanging low and gold rings around their arms. Leading the group was none other than Princess Wansui, who had repeatedly given Aqiu a headache.

A Qiu held her breath and watched the group of Hu women enter the white stone chamber beside the pond, which resembled a bright pearl. When she turned around, her eyes met Gu Yi's.

Gu Yi said calmly, "You're right. The owner here really doesn't care about business; others manage it for her. What she cares about are other things."

He stretched out his arm and lifted A Qiu's slender waist. The two figures seemed to merge into one in the night, heading straight towards the white stone chamber.

Looking through the exquisitely carved openwork cross-shaped window of the stone chamber, A Qiu gasped in shock.

The stone chamber was brightly lit, with the floor covered with snow-white animal-patterned felt, and the walls were covered with grottoes of all sizes, totaling four or five layers, filled with Buddha statues of various expressions and postures.

This is indeed a tiny, detailed temple.

Incense was burning in a large incense burner in the hall, and wisps of blue and purple smoke rose up, changing into various shapes. Behind the incense smoke, the back of a woman sitting cross-legged was half-hidden. She was tall, wearing a white robe and a golden crown, and her long, black, wavy hair cascaded down her back.

Even with just a glance, A Qiu immediately recognized the figure as the tall Hu woman she had brushed past in the Beining Pavilion.

This woman possesses an unforgettable quality, seemingly indifferent, yet also cold and aloof towards everything around her.

Only those who hold extremely high positions of power can have such an attitude that is both comfortable and ruthless.

Princess Wansui led the women in prostrating themselves three times, saying, "May the clan leader be well. Your Majesty has not failed in your trust. After working hard these past few days, we have finally gained Pei Yuanli's trust."

Ah Qiu finally understood why Princess Wansui was doing this. Although she was nominally under house arrest, she was able to freely enter and leave the West Market and even Luoyufang.

This was because the people guarding them at the post station were not the Imperial Guards under Sikong Zhao, but the Jiankang Army under Pei Yuanli. Princess Wansui must have been secretly working to curry favor with high-ranking officials of the Southern Dynasty.

A Qiu's first thought was of her senior brother, Gongyi Xiu. If Princess Wansui was casting a wide net, she would surely not miss Gongyi Xiu. At such a young age, he had already become the Left Prime Minister of the court, and what was even more remarkable was his reputation for being a womanizer, always indulging in a life of debauchery at Luoyufang. If they missed him, the clan leader and Princess Wansui would be blind to his true intentions.

But the clan leader calmly asked, "Pei Yuanli didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Her voice, with its exotic flair and penetrating magnetism, was incredibly pleasant to listen to.

Just from the fact that neither of them were Han Chinese but they communicated in Chinese, A Qiu was already certain of one thing: although both of them were Hu women, they were not from the same ethnic group, otherwise they could have communicated in their own language.

However, among the northern ethnic minorities, being fluent in Chinese was a mark of nobility.

The Emperor looked ashamed and said awkwardly, "Although Your Majesty tried your best, that old man refused to be fooled and only agreed to cooperate with me honestly."

It's no wonder she felt ashamed. A woman like her, who mostly relied on her beauty to mingle with men, had almost always stumbled since arriving in Jianzhang. First, she was refused an audience by the emperor, then she was overwhelmed by the radiance of A Qiu and Shangguan Yuqi, the "Twin Beauties of the Southern Dynasty," and later, Gu Yi and Mo Yimingyue both looked down on her.

Even Pei Yuanli, the old man she referred to, remained unmoved by her advances.

But Gu Yi was not surprised by this result. Pei Yuanli was extremely shrewd and mature, and was definitely not someone who could be easily tempted by women.

The clan leader chuckled and said, "Pure and innocent! Ha, what men call purity and innocence is just that you can't move his heart."