Chapter 28: The Shadow of the Bat
Xie Huailing did indeed spend an afternoon watching the play with Di Feijing, occasionally saying a few words to him, but she was almost always the one doing the talking. Di Feijing would only suddenly throw out a question during the conversation, and then the two of them would dodge the question, never revealing the truth. Regardless of Di Feijing's thoughts, at least Xie Huailing enjoyed watching the play, and from the perspective of a fellow actor, Di Feijing was a very suitable partner.
Finally, the scholar's regret flowed onto the stage, pain seeping in through the cracks of his life, revealing that his old house was already riddled with holes. The world is a fleeting river, a river of no return; those who cannot resist their own conscience are constantly washed away, their own reflections swallowed by the waves as they drift with the current. It is hateful that he committed an irreparable mistake, and tragic that he turned back at the end, leaving only a heart filled with sorrow that cannot even fully express. With the resounding drums and gongs, the curtain fell on the play.
Xie Huailing clapped, a rare gesture for her, which drew the maid's attention and made her glance at the stage a few more times. When she saw Xie Huailing stand up again, the maid understood and took out a money pouch, placing it in the hands of the waiter who had come into the theater, and said with a smile, "This is a reward from my young lady."
The bag full of reward money was so heavy it made him feel uneasy; he had never felt such a heavy bag before. The waiter was apprehensive and dared to ask, "Who is this reward for on stage?"
The maid, unaware of the situation, glanced at Xie Huailing. When Xie Huailing didn't look back at her, she assumed she could decide for herself and said, "Whoever wrote the play will naturally be the one to whom it's awarded. The extra tael is your errand fee."
"Miss Xie likes it very much?" Di Feijing also stood up, straightening his sleeves. Hearing the maid's words, he brushed away a few specks of dust and asked casually.
Xie Huailing tucked her hair behind her ear, not in a hurry to reply to his words. Her gaze remained on the stage, where the scholar's life, shrouded in red cloth, was now unseen. In the gaps between her silences, the stillness seemed to pac back and forth in the room, the inaudible footsteps echoing back and forth—this was not a quiet wait.
Until she suddenly realized what was happening, or perhaps because she didn't care much about him, the feeling of uncertainty and emptiness she gave him grew stronger. It was then that Xie Huailing spoke: "It's not a matter of liking or disliking, this is indeed not a tragedy."
She actually agreed with Di Feijing, and raised her hand to adjust the wooden hairpin by her ear. Only after the action did she look at him: "It's already this late. If I don't go back soon, my cousin will be angry with me. This seems to be the first time I've spent so much time with a man. Master Di, let's reschedule for another day."
Di Fei nodded in surprise, forcing himself not to dwell on her unclear pronunciation. He hadn't gleaned much from Xie Huailing, yet her interest in him was practically blatant. Before he could figure out Su Mengzhen's intentions, the maid turned her face away. It was Xie Huailing who had pulled out her wooden hairpin. So she hadn't intended to make him her husband—two strands of her tied-up hair fell loose, revealing her sleek, arched eyebrows. She took his hand.
"I'll take my leave for today. When we meet again in the future, just bring this over, and I'll know." Xie Huailing lightly covered the back of his fingers, pressed the seal on his palm, and then placed the wooden hairpin in his hand.
Di Fei was startled and tried to refuse, but he leaned back and said, "Miss Xie, this is not proper etiquette."
Xie Huailing pressed his hand firmly against his movements. This didn't seem like she was being disrespectful to him; on the contrary, his bowed head made it seem more like they were deeply in love. "Etiquette? People in the martial world don't care about such formalities. My parents died early and didn't teach me anything about that. To be honest, I genuinely want to be friends with Master Di."
Neither of them believed her nonsense. At that exact moment, she blew a breath at him. The skin where the wooden hairpin touched began to feel uncomfortable. Di Fei remained unmoved, his gaze shifting to the wall, his head lowered even further.
Her voice trailed off: "It's alright, after all, Master Di has never refused me."
On the wall he could see, two blurry shadows overlapped under the dim light, as if she were truly whispering sweet nothings to him. And the wooden hairpin—it must be covered in her fragrance.
This was a trick, and Di Fei knew it perfectly well.
But those two shadows were far too close, so close that the emptiness in his heart seemed to grow larger. A faceless, dark gray blob of ink perched on the wall, the shorter blob seemingly tiptoeing to get closer to the taller one. They were both thin, one slender and graceful, the other solitary and alone, only able to lean on each other when so close. Yet, the shadows themselves, constructed of illusion, did not deceive, seemingly unchanging forever.
.
It seems like it has already changed.
It was still a shadow, but now it had become a sickly, languid shadow, casting its thin, elongated shadow from beside the bed down the wooden floor to a corner of the vase. Above it were autumn-red begonias, their blossoms large, vibrant, and elegant, like the color on someone's clothes, and indeed it was.
Su Mengzhen was dressed in autumnal reds, all sorts of shades of red, as if trying to replenish his lack of vitality in the wardrobe. He sat on the edge of the bed, still resting after drinking his medicine and practicing his internal energy. A little further away was Xie Huailing, sitting by the glass window of his bedroom. She had also changed her clothes, and like him, she had a strange obsession with matching colors, trying to make even the most varied shades of white look like flowers. But she was even more particular than Su Mengzhen; besides white, the hem of her skirt was embroidered with continuous blue patterns.
Xie Huailing reported Di Feijing's height and bone age, and even filled a whole page with his manner of speaking, not to mention all the other miscellaneous information he could glean. He placed it all by Su Mengzhen's bedside, waiting for him to finish resting.
After about half a cup of tea's time, Su Mengzhen picked up the intelligence she had handed over. The length of the break was so short that Xie Huailing's teeth ached just looking at it. He frowned first, then frowned again, and finally frowned again. Xie Huailing's handwriting hadn't improved in the slightest despite joining the Golden Wind and Fine Rain Pavilion. It was like earthworms crawling on the craftsman's hard work with the air of bandits, scribbles that were utterly self-righteous.
Su Mengzhen took a sip of water to moisten her throat and said, "Come here."
Xie Huailing knew what was going to happen and refused, saying, "I'm not feeling well, I'll sit here for a while."
"I called you over."
Su Mengzhen's tone was too harsh the second time, but Xie Huailing, whose writing was so bad it didn't seem to care, stayed by the window and refused to leave.
Helpless, Su Mengzhen barely managed to decipher the handwriting. He pressed his temples, smoothed the paper on his knees, and then, his mind, which had just begun to feel better, had to focus his energy on Xie Huailing's handwriting again. He was only able to recognize what she had written thanks to the pitiful little bit of telepathy he shared with Xie Huailing. But towards the end, he strangely began to decipher it faster and faster, as if he had completely accepted Xie Huailing's distorted strokes and tangled ink in her ghostly writing.
Su Mengzhen didn't feel enlightened; instead, she wondered if she was doomed.
Fortunately, Xie Huailing's plan was executed very successfully, arguably the most successful intelligence operation against Di Feijing since he took over Jin Feng Xi Yu Lou. For that reason, he could tolerate her one more time. Su Mengzhen folded the papers, her brows relaxing.
He finished the rest of his tonic, tapped the bedside, and the person who had been complaining of feeling unwell turned around. She was so idle that she was playing with her hair, which swayed like seaweed on her hand.
Su Mengzhen still acknowledged her efforts, even though they weren't the best they could do. He didn't hold back his praise, saying, "You did a great job. I'll give these to Yang Wuxie, and you can take over the next task."
This is why Xie Huailing dragged Di Feijing through half the play. Su Mengzhen is the kind of person who can be so busy that he forgets to eat and sleep, and he is determined to make his subordinates so busy that they forget to eat and sleep as well. He knew that Xie Huailing would find time for herself, so he didn't give her a chance to breathe: "Jin Feng Xi Yu Lou is discussing a few business deals, but it's not convenient for you to get involved for the time being. You've already made a move on the matter with Liu Fen Ban Tang once, so hold back for now... I'm entrusting the 'Bat Prince' matter to you."
Xie Huailing asked him, "Have you found out? The 'Bat Prince' is indeed a real person?"
Su Mengzhen added, "It's all been investigated. Not just the 'Bat Prince,' but the entire 'Bat' faction is indeed real. Chu Liuxiang's words are true."
He took out a map scroll from under the table. The yellowed paper complemented the lamplight, and his withered hands drew the vast territory of the Song Dynasty, its rivers and mountains stretching for thousands of miles. The Yellow River flowed down from the heavens, joining the Yangtze River to flow through it, extending from more than twenty districts, bypassing the marks drawn by Su Mengzhen, and looking out over the Yan and Yun regions in the distance.
Su Mengzhen marked Liangzhe Road, which was also the first place he wrote: "'The Bat' made its first move, its first appearance in the martial world, on Liangzhe Road. Several girls from families here went missing." He then turned to Jiangnan West Road, where there was another red marker: "Next is the Huo Family Money Shop here. A man with no clear identity, claiming to be surnamed Ding, deposited 500,000 taels of silver and then quickly withdrew it..."
If one disregards the Six and a Half Hall, the strength of the Golden Wind and Fine Rain Pavilion is truly terrifying. Their power is such that even Su Mengzhen doesn't have to grovel before the Emperor, let alone a mere "Bat Prince." Once the Golden Wind and Fine Rain Pavilion makes its move, it wouldn't take a month to investigate them: "Based on all the intelligence, this is a fledgling force, but its mastermind, the 'Bat Prince,' must have a certain understanding of the martial world and made ample preparations to ensure a clean and precise conclusion to each operation, until Chu Liuxiang encountered him and his true colors were revealed."
"That's probably someone you know in the martial arts world." Xie Huailing meant someone with a well-known identity in the martial arts world. "Let's investigate further; it might be a big surprise. What about Wuzheng Manor? Is it true that they did?"
This is another scene involving an official document. Su Mengzhen took out another file, and Yang Wuxie's signature was still clearly visible on it. He truly deserves to be called the busiest person under Su Mengzhen.
Xie Huailing took the file in his hand and read Yang Wuxie's handwriting. His writing was concise and clear, saving Su Mengzhen a lot of time. The gist of it was: Yuan Dongyuan had begun contacting Lei Gun half a month ago, but the banks and shops under Wuzheng Manor showed no signs of aligning with Liufenbantang. Besides paying for Lei Gun's visit to the brothel, Yuan Dongyuan had also given Lei Gun a gift once, but Yang Wuxie hadn't obtained conclusive evidence for this.
"How strange," Xie Huailing thought to herself. She rolled up the file and handed it back to Su Mengzhen. "Yuan Dongyuan is quite interesting. He only invites Lei Gun and doesn't do anything else. This doesn't seem like he wants to pledge allegiance to Liufenbantang."
Previous thoughts resurfaced, and Xie Huailing said meaningfully, "I was wondering before, what was he doing contacting Lei Gun? It's true that Lei Gun has power and influence, but that's all he has. In terms of talent and cunning, Lei Gun is at least two streets away from being outstanding. Whether it's doing business or seeking security, Lei Gun is not the best choice. Wuzheng Manor is not small, so why did the Yuandongyuan Society not contact Di Feijing but instead bribe Lei Gun?"
"But then again," she narrowed her eyes slightly, seemingly able to see right through Lei Gun even without witnessing it firsthand, "it seems that a lack of wisdom has its advantages. Those lacking wisdom often have an inflated ego and might not even be as adept at maneuvering as Yuan Dongyuan. I understand—"
"Yuan Dongyuan only wanted to use Liufenbantang to do something; he had no intention of ruining Wuzheng Manor's 300-year-old good reputation."
As Su Mengzhen examined him with satisfaction, Xie Huailing spoke calmly.
He pressed on, asking, "What do you think he's going to do?"
Xie Huailing replied, "Who knows? But it's definitely not a clean affair. If it were aboveboard, why would they associate with Liufenbantang? That's the reputation of Wuzheng Manor for three hundred years, a reputation built up with the blood and tears of countless ancestors. Alas, Lei Gun isn't that smart, and Yuan Dongyuan is certainly not as wise as he thinks."
Night had fallen, and a few cold stars hung outside the glass window, seemingly dim yet still bright, seemingly cold yet also fleeting. She spoke a few more words, but Su Mengzhen couldn't hear them. She only moved her lips, calculating something else in her heart. Perhaps the cold stars were also in her heart, and this was precisely the talent he valued, an indescribable talent.
It wasn't long before Xie Huailing spoke: "Master, Wuzheng Manor wields immense power in the area south and west of Huainan West Road. I recall there being some financial loopholes in the manor's records..."
She didn't finish her sentence; that was what she wanted to convey—the fact that this matter was profitable was enough.
Su Mengzhen looked north out the window, gazing into the towering buildings that seemed to divide the world into two distinct sections. The buildings were interlocking, the sky was hazy, the distant mountains stretched endlessly, and the sky was a dark, inky gray.
“I met Yuan Dongyuan when I was a child,” he suddenly said. “My father was still alive then, and he and Yuan Dongyuan hit it off immediately. In my memory, Yuan Dongyuan was upright and despised wicked people. My father once said, ‘He is worthy of being the master of Wuzheng Manor and lives up to the great reputation of his predecessors.’”
"However, life is unpredictable, things change, and people are no longer the same, so it's not a pity," Xie Huailing said.
She stood beside him and drew his gaze back: "Master, there's no need to feel sorry. In this world, as long as there is one person who adheres to their conscience and has a clear conscience before Heaven, that's enough."
"Just one?"
"As long as there is one."
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Bonus chapter for everyone's nutrient solution and landmines!
I'm trying to write more. If the descriptions decrease and the writing style becomes more concise later on, it probably means that I'm unconsciously starting to distort the style as I add more, and beginning to resemble the previous book...
Then I'll be figuring out the lottery system. At the end of this chapter, I'll randomly select ten readers from the comments section to receive red envelopes. Please let me see at least ten comments by tomorrow's update! [Thumbs up]
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