Chapter 24 She Has the Heart of a Bear and the Gallantry of a Leopard
When Dai Li woke up, she overheard some gossip at Lin Erniang's door:
Last night, all the post stations in the prefecture were subjected to a large-scale search, apparently by the prefectural governor's office looking for a fugitive.
There were countless rumors circulating in the streets and alleys. Some people said with certainty that the authorities were looking for a female fugitive, a woman with dark skin and an ugly face who could make children cry.
As for what she did, it seems that this woman stole a nobleman's family heirloom, hence the warrant for her arrest.
Dai Li held a bowl of porridge in her hands, but she had no taste for it, and her heart sank lower and lower.
It sounds like Qin Shaozong has come looking for them.
Regardless, it's not advisable to go out these days. Fortunately, Lin Erniang planned to focus on her seclusion for the next few days and bought three days' worth of groceries in advance; otherwise, she would have inevitably gone out today.
Dai Li stayed at Lin Erniang's house for two days, playing with Lin Erniang's four-year-old child, Shang Nu.
Lin Erniang's family lived in a working-class area, which was somewhat like an urban village in later times. Almost every house was a single-courtyard house, and the houses were relatively close together. Standing under the Li family's courtyard wall, one could hear the Wang family chatting on the other side of the wall.
Dai Li had planned to stay indoors on the third day as well, but while she was digesting her breakfast in the courtyard, she suddenly heard someone talking on the other side of the wall:
"I went to the East Market today and saw that the East Gate was still heavily guarded. It seems that the female thief has not been caught yet. I wonder how long this search will last?"
"It should be over soon. Speaking of which, about an hour ago I saw soldiers carrying household registration books heading towards Hemin Street. They were probably going door-to-door to check the records. After they finish checking that area, it'll probably be our turn. With such a thorough screening, how can we not catch that female thief?"
"Notices have been posted throughout the city, offering a reward for anyone who provides clues about the female thief..."
Dai Li lowered her eyes, turned and went back into the house. She said to Lin Erniang, who was concentrating on embroidering, "Lin Niangzi, I'm going out to find my brother. I'll be back before 5 pm at the latest. Don't worry about my dinner."
Shangnu also wanted to go out; he wanted to go to the end of the street to find his friend Tieshuan to fight crickets together.
Dai Li pushed the child into the house, saying, "Shang Nu, be a good boy and stay home, okay? If you stay home today, Auntie will bring you a sesame cake when she comes back."
Upon hearing that there was food, Shangnu nodded repeatedly.
Dai Li put on her veil and went out.
Yesterday, while chatting with Lin Erniang, she had already roughly figured out the terrain of this area.
The streets here are crisscrossed, somewhat like the Chinese character "曲" (qu). Lin Erniang's house is on the far east side, while the Hemin Street mentioned by the neighbor is on the far west side.
Dai Li walked towards the alley to the east. As Kan Kan walked out of the alley, she suddenly saw a group of people coming from the side in front of her.
Surprisingly, one of the visitors was an acquaintance.
It was that square-faced sergeant; Dai Li remembered his name was Hu Bao.
As expected, it was Qin Shaozong who came looking for them!
Dai Li's breath hitched, and she immediately shrank back, turning around without hesitation to walk into another alley. After turning left and right, narrowly avoiding another group of people, she finally left the Bu Yi residential area.
Although the news of the thief's arrest caused quite a stir in the city, the lives of ordinary people were not actually affected much. Shops remained open as usual, and vendors continued to hawk their wares on the streets.
The streets were bustling with people, and apart from the occasional passing squad of soldiers, everything else was no different from any other day.
Dai Li went into a high-end teahouse and paid to reserve a small private room on the second floor by the window.
After the maid put down the tray of dried melon, she closed the door and left.
Dai Li removed her veil, opened the window to about half a palm's width, and then began to brew tea.
Teahouses are places for chatting and gossiping, where you can hear all sorts of rumors. If you have the money to rent a private room, you can sit there for an entire afternoon.
The streets were bustling with people. Dai Li had intended to observe the frequency of the soldiers patrolling the streets, but she ended up seeing... Qin Shaozong.
Dai Li shook the teacup in her hand, causing the tea to spill onto the table.
On the street.
Qin Shaozong and Mo Yanyun were at the pleasure house.
"My lord, it seems that the battle between Yanzhou and Qingzhou is fierce, and this battle will not end in a short time, otherwise the river bandits would not have come to the vicinity of Zhuya Ferry," Mo Yanyun sighed.
Qin Shaozong: "They've had friction for a long time, and it's only a matter of time before they openly break off relations. This time, taking advantage of the Green Lotus Sect is just perfect..."
Suddenly, he stopped.
Mo Yanyun asked, puzzled, "My lord?"
A burly man in a black robe stood at the crossroads, his gaze sweeping from east to west. He saw a vendor sitting behind his stall, smiling as he collected money; a group of children playing in the mud by the alleyway; and a tea server welcoming customers into the teahouse…
Scenes unfolded before his eyes, like still images of paintings being memorized.
The bustling city center is filled with shops, restaurants, and teahouses with their doors wide open, bustling with people. Two-story buildings are everywhere. Some private rooms have their windows wide open to let in sunlight, while others are tightly closed, looking as if no one is using them, and still others have only a tiny crack open.
Everything was normal, and there was nothing unusual about it.
"My Lord?" Seeing no response, Mo Yanyun called out again, "What's wrong? Is there something amiss?"
Qin Shaozong turned around and waved to the guards of the prefectural governor's mansion who were following far behind him. "Investigate this area, focusing on restaurants and teahouses. Ask the servants if they use private rooms by themselves, or by two or three people."
The guards obeyed the order and scattered, quickly heading towards different shops.
"My lord, do you think she'll come out into the street?" Mo Yanyun was quite surprised. His first reaction was that it was unlikely. "These days, catching thieves is a hot topic in the county, and the people in the city are discussing it heatedly. The number of patrols has also increased several times over. Madam Dai must know that you are looking for her. How could she dare to show her face?"
Qin Shaozong sneered, "What wouldn't she dare to do? She has the guts of a bear and the courage of a leopard hidden under that fox skin. There's nothing she wouldn't do."
Mo Yanyun knew that his superior was still furious, and only by finding the culprit could the ever-growing flames be extinguished.
...
A little over fifteen minutes later.
A soldier hurried back, "My lord, there is a private room in Yuzhu Teahouse that meets the requirements, and a tea servant in the lobby said that the person who booked the private room was a lone female customer who was wearing a veil when she entered the teahouse, so her appearance was hard to discern."
As he spoke, the soldier gestured to indicate the height, "The tea maid also said that she is about seven feet three inches tall, which matches her height."
Qin Shaozong suddenly looked at the building to the side.
Yuzhu Tea House.
Mo Yanyun hurriedly asked, "Are the front and back doors of the teahouse securely guarded?"
The soldier immediately nodded: "The lady's private room is on the second floor. I immediately had two brothers guard the two staircases. Unless she jumps out of the window or grows wings, there is absolutely no way she can leave."
Qin Shaozong strode into the Jade Bamboo Teahouse. The teahouse servants and the manager wanted to greet him, but the soldiers stopped them, saying, "Let the servant who is in charge of reception go forward."
The teahouse has two staircases, with the entrances located on the left and right sides of the main door, like two giant arms encircling the building.
Qin Shaozong casually picked a tea tray and went up, with the tea servant following behind him, saying as they walked, "That female customer came alone about 15 minutes ago and ordered the 'Blooming Prosperity' tea tray. When I carried the tea tray into the private room for the second time, she still had her veil on her head. At that time, I just thought she was shy, and I never expected that she might be a female thief..."
The whole city is searching for him. Logically, the thief should be hiding properly, so why would he be running around in the street so brazenly?
Qin Shaozong pushed the door open, and the unlocked door to the private room suddenly swung open.
This is a small private room, only five steps from the door to the window. There is no screen in the room, so everything is visible.
The window was only slightly ajar, revealing a teapot boiling water, a few scattered dried melons, a small incense burner in the corner, and a small table with a puddle of water on its surface.
It has everything, except people.
Mo Yanyun was dumbfounded and immediately turned around to ask the soldier who had patted his chest and promised to guard the stairs, "Where is he?"
"She runs faster than a rabbit," Qin Shaozong clicked his tongue.
"I...I really did have someone guard the stairs immediately," the soldier said, his face flushed. He had been so focused on guarding the stairs that he hadn't even had time to check the situation upstairs.
Mo Yanyun thought to himself that the soldiers of Taiping County were all incompetent, unable to even handle such a small matter, causing the Lord to be disappointed.
Qin Shaozong suddenly frowned. "There's a medicinal smell?"
Mo Yanyun was stunned. He sniffed hard, but could only smell the faint fragrance wafting from the incense burner.
“She just left recently, she can’t have gone far. Continue searching,” Qin Shaozong ordered.
...
The moment Dai Li saw Qin Shaozong, she knew things were going to go wrong.
This feeling is hard to describe in detail; it's like a string in her brain is buzzing, making her unable to sit still for even a moment.
She had been able to successfully deceive him several times before, entirely because Qin Shaozong believed she would definitely try to climb the social ladder by marrying him. Under this blind faith, he couldn't see things clearly, allowing her to get away with it.
But things are different now, and Dai Li dared not relax her vigilance in the slightest, so she quickly left through the back door of the teahouse.
This area is full of shops, and Dai Li moved about stealthily, aiming to avoid peak hours. Perhaps it was because she was too leisurely, or perhaps many people thought, like the tea maid, that the female thief was too busy hiding to swagger out on the street.
In short, Dai Li walked through two streets unharmed.
She went to four city gates in succession and saw from afar that the number of guards at each gate was twice that of the day before when she entered the city.
We can't get out for the time being.
Dai Li sighed, turned around and walked back. She had been wandering around outside for two hours, and now that it was almost dusk, she should have finished checking the area around Lin Erniang.
It might be just right for her to go back now.
It would be a lie to say she wasn't worried at all, but if she didn't go back to Lin Erniang, where else could she go?
Her biography is written as "Dai Li," and she can't change her name. Taking this biography to the post office is no different from walking into a trap.
Dai Li felt a pang of regret. If she had known this would happen, she shouldn't have disembarked in Taiping County. She also resented the scarcity of boats at Riyuejin.
After buying sesame cakes from a street stall, Dai Li walked into the alley, turning left and right in the warm glow of the setting sun, heading towards Lin Erniang's house.
When she first went out, she encountered two groups of people and almost ran into them, but the return journey was strangely smooth.
They didn't encounter a single soldier.
That's actually a good thing.
"Giggle." Dai Li knocked on the door.
The door opened quickly, and Lin Erniang stood behind it, smiling. "You're back!"
Whether it was because of the veil or because the house's orientation prevented the setting sun from shining on Lin Erniang, Dai Li felt that Lin Erniang was somewhat unfamiliar at this moment.
Dai Li nodded and carried the flatbread wrapped in straw paper into the house. "Where is Shang Nu? I promised to buy him flatbread before I left. The flatbread is still warm. Let him eat it while it's hot."
"Tie Shuan from next door just came looking for Shang Nu, insisting on going out to play with him," Lin Erniang explained.
Dai Li paused, handed the flatbread to Lin Erniang, and then took off her veil. "Let's wait for Shang Nu to come back before we eat it."
The flatbread was handed over, but even after Dai Li removed her veil, she didn't hear Lin Erniang's footsteps coming back. She looked up and met the other's eyes.
When they first met, Lin Erniang was startled by the "black flame birthmark" on her face. After that, she basically stopped looking directly at her. Even when she was talking to her, her gaze would only fall on her clothes or simply drift to other places.
This was the first time the other person had stared at her so intently.
Feeling a little strange, Dai Li didn't show it on her face, only responding with a smile, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to ask if you want to eat fish tonight? The fish in the tank will get sick if we don't eat them soon." Lin Erniang quickly looked away.
Dai Li froze, the strange feeling suddenly intensifying. She had clearly told Lin Erniang before leaving that she didn't need to prepare any food for her that night.
Why did she ask her if she wanted to eat fish tonight...?
Dai Li turned her eyes away and looked into the courtyard. Her original intention was to see the ceramic fish tank and check on the fish.
However, that casual glance made Dai Li feel as if an ice arrow had suddenly shot into her chest, freezing her in place.
Lin Erniang's family lived in an "urban village," and most of the people who lived there were poor. Their houses were single-room dwellings with simple tiles, only slightly better than thatched huts.
Since their pockets were empty, they naturally spent their money wisely, so many households, including Lin Erniang's, did not have brick paving in their courtyards.
The ground is muddy, and it becomes extremely muddy when it rains; however, if the weather clears up for several days in a row, it's not too bad.
Regardless of the type, once you step on it, you will leave footprints, some deep and some shallow.
At that moment, a series of footprints appeared in the courtyard.
There were only two young women and a child in the house. None of the three of them could have made such wide and long footprints, let alone the fact that the footprints were messy and dense, indicating that it could not have been made by one person alone.
Dai Li felt her muscles trembling and spasming, and her skin became incredibly sensitive. Even a gust of cool wind made her heart pound with fear.
She turned around abruptly and walked quickly outside without saying a word.
She opened the two wooden doors, and from the slit in the middle, a glimpse of black was revealed.
At this moment, the scene seemed to slow down considerably. A cool breeze lifted a corner of the tall, imposing man's black robe outside the door, like a ferocious tiger raising its claws, or a harbinger of a warrior drawing his sword.
The sky seemed to darken suddenly, as if it had been split open by a white lightning bolt resembling a tiger's claw. Dai Li's pupils trembled with the thunder, and all the color drained from her face.
Author's Note: I think I caught a cold; my period is really uncomfortable this time, and I'm feeling quite down. Plus, I'll be on the clip list tomorrow, so there won't be an update at midnight. Don't wait up, my darlings! [chin resting on hand]
Any changes to the update time will most likely be announced in the comments section. Thank you for your attention! [Orange Heart]
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