He Xiao
Liang Youan was lying on a recliner, basking in the sun, when she overheard the passing maids discussing something:
"The new chef Hao must be from the Le Dynasty, right? His pastries are really delicious."
"Did the little prince specially hire a chef from the Li Dynasty for his new queen? They are so loving."
Pastries? From the Le Dynasty.
Liang Youan got up, peeked into the room, and called softly, "Wenwen?"
No one responded.
Great! With Wenwen gone, she can happily sneak some pastries.
So she strolled out the door with her hands behind her back.
Pastries, pastries, here I come!
She turned the corner and almost bumped into someone.
When she looked up, Mu Chengwu's hand, which was about to reach out to help her, froze halfway. "...Are you alright?"
Liang Youan steadied herself and took a few steps back. "...It's alright."
An awkward silence fell over the room. Liang Youan spoke first: "Brother Mu, you're here to see Wenwen, right? She's not here."
Mentioning his troublesome sister, Mu Chengwu felt his temples throbbing: "I hope she's not with that playboy prince again."
“No, she and Prince Kesh are just drinking buddies, Brother Mu, you don’t need to worry too much.” Liang Youan accurately conveyed Mu Chengwen’s understanding of their relationship.
"A drinking buddy?" Mu Chengwu was almost furious. "This brat, she still can't control her gluttony even here!"
Does she drink alcohol frequently?
Liang Youan didn't expect that her words would make him even angrier, and she awkwardly and guiltily said, "...occasionally, occasionally, I've only seen him a few times."
Seeing his displeasure, Liang Youan tentatively asked, "Brother Mu, if there's nothing else, I'll be going now?"
Her pastries won't taste good once they get cold.
"Oh," Mu Chengwu looked at the girl in front of him, his expression somewhat unnatural: "Actually, I came to see you. Do you have something to do right now?"
Liang Youan was taken aback, and subconsciously replied, "...It's nothing."
After saying that, she felt so pathetic and clenched her fists.
Mu Chengwu took out the wooden box from behind him and handed it to her: "I saw that you seemed to like it last time, so I bought it on a whim."
Liang Youan looked at him blankly: "I can't accept something for nothing, Brother Mu. It's not a holiday or festival, why...?"
Mu Chengwu cleared his throat, cupping his hands around his mouth, his ears turning slightly red: "Wenwen has never given me a moment's peace. You must have suffered a lot with her."
Consider it a thank-you gift and compensation.
Liang Youan chuckled: "Brother Mu, why do you say that about Wenwen? She's a very good person. She's always been the one taking care of me more."
Of course, it would be even better if we didn't always stop her from eating pastries.
"Anyway, you are Wenwen's friend, and I've been very grateful to you these past few days, so please accept this. I don't need it."
After a brief standoff, Liang Youan finally gave in and accepted the box, saying, "Thank you, Brother Mu."
"By the way, where are you going?" Mu Chengwu asked.
“Uh… go to the small kitchen,” Liang Youan said.
The sky lantern ceremony was over, and Zhu Qinghe had only managed to contact a few important figures on the list.
At the current pace, she won't be able to complete the mission even in her next life.
"Searching one by one like this is really inefficient," Shen Wumei said, biting into a pear.
"Then what good ideas do you have?" Zhu Qinghe glanced sideways at the young master, whose injuries hadn't fully healed even after almost half a month of recuperation.
Shen Wumei tossed the pear core aside, shook her hand, took the roster from her hand, and flipped through it to the first page: "This person, let's conquer him first."
Zhu Qinghe looked at the name he pointed out—General He Xiao of the Crimson Feather Guard.
Is this person important?
"The Crimson Feather Guard is the most elite army of the Silver Tenon Clan. The He family has been in charge of the Crimson Feather Guard since He Xiao's grandfather's generation. Do you think it's important or not?"
“I see,” Zhu Qinghe understood. “With He Xiao’s support, our mission will definitely go much more smoothly.”
"She is a promising young woman," Shen Wumei praised her.
"The next step is to meet with He Xiao," Zhu Qinghe said.
Beyond the mountains, green hills rise; beyond the buildings, more buildings stand. When will the songs and dances in the brothels cease?
Standing inside the building, where the air was filled with the aroma of wine and the scent of perfume, Zhu Qinghe, dressed in men's clothing, blew on the small mustache around her mouth: "This is the second time I've been here this month."
She's really a decent person.
“What a coincidence,” Shen Wumei said, “This is my second time too, but I’m a respectable person.”
You're being serious for nothing.
You're the most unserious person there.
"Where is He Xiao?" she asked, looking around at the people in the building.
"It is said that he has recently become obsessed with the young lady Hong Ning in the building."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go upstairs." Zhu Qinghe said, starting to walk forward.
"Wait," Shen Wumei pulled her back, gesturing for her to look at the sign at the door.
A huge wooden screen stood at the entrance, with a small wooden sign that read "Guests Welcome" hanging below Hong Ning's name.
“Hong Ning, we have a guest,” Zhu Qinghe said excitedly. “Is it He Xiao? Let’s go quickly!”
Shen Wumei was speechless at her lack of romantic understanding: "It's not appropriate to go up now."
What if the two of them are doing something inappropriate for children?
Zhu Qinghe: "...Ah, then, what should we do?" She scratched her ear.
Shen Wumei looked at her slightly reddened ear tips and twitched her fingers slightly. "Well, then let's just wait."
Zhu Qinghe glared at him, annoyed to death.
"Ah—" A sharp scream rang out from upstairs, and all the guests in the building looked at each other in panic.
Zhu Qinghe and Shen Wumei exchanged a glance.
The sound seemed to be coming from Hong Ning's room.
They both immediately ran upstairs.
Upon reaching the door, Shen Wumei stopped Zhu Qinghe, making her step back a few paces: "Wait here for me, I'll go in and take a look first."
Zhu Qinghe nodded.
Shen Wumei kicked open the door and went inside.
The guests in the next room also heard the commotion and came out to look over from a distance. They discussed what had happened.
"What happened?"
"That seems to be Hong Ning's room, right? General He is in there, so what could possibly happen?"
Shen Wumei slowly approached. Bloodstains were splattered on the walls of the room. A thinly dressed woman was curled up by the bed, looking frightened and with unfocused eyes.
It seems that the shout just now came from her; she must be the owner of this house.
Hong Ning, the girl.
As Shen Wumei approached, she saw a burly man with a thick beard lying face up on the bed.
His throat was slit open with a sharp weapon, and the gushing blood stained the bed a mess.
Judging from this, there's definitely no hope for them.
Could this unlucky fellow be He Xiao?
Shen Wumei's eyes were filled with doubt. The leader of the Crimson Feather Guard was dead just like that.
They had just decided to approach him and discuss cooperation when he died so inexplicably.
Zhu Qinghe rushed in: "How is it?"
"Don't look." Shen Wumei blocked her view; she could only see a jade pendant hanging from the waist of the corpse on the bed.
There is a character “苓” on it.
The pungent smell of blood made her cover her nose uncomfortably, and the madam rushed in from outside, wailing and screaming.
"My daughter, my dear daughter, are you alright?"
Hong Ning seemed to suddenly find her strength, and she stood up abruptly, rushed into the madam's arms, and burst into tears: "Mommy, it was so scary, it scared me to death!"
“General He, he… he’s dead!” Hong Ning said in a trembling voice, pointing to the bed.
The madam seemed to have been struck by lightning; she couldn't utter a single word.
-
"He Xiao is dead?" Gigali threw the note in his hand into the stove.
"Yes, just yesterday, Hong Ning, a courtesan who was with him at the time, witnessed a man in black climbing into the room through the window and slitting He Xiao's throat with a sword."
“He Xiao was a general of the Crimson Feather Guard, yet he was so easily killed by having his throat slit. Something just doesn’t seem right.”
"Perhaps he was momentarily careless, especially since he was in a brothel. Since his wife died a year ago, he has become completely despondent. The king has long been dissatisfied with him and wanted to replace him, but he was held back by the foundation of the He family."
“Maybe I’m overthinking it,” Gigalli said, pinching the lid of his cup and blowing away the foam on the tea. “But it’s always good to be cautious.”
"Tell Qingque to keep an eye out."
"yes."
"When you went into the house yesterday, did you find anything suspicious?" Zhu Qinghe asked.
Shen Wumei nestled in the recliner, still holding two walnuts in her hand: "I always feel that person isn't He Xiao."
Zhu Qinghe's eyes widened as she moved closer to him: "What do you mean?"
"It's hard to say, it's just a gut feeling."
Logically speaking, He Xiao, as a general of the Red Feather Guard, must have considerable martial arts skills.
How could someone so easily have their throat slit with a sword? Even if they were just playing around, they shouldn't have been able to resist without any resistance.
"But I heard that he had a wife before, but she died mysteriously, and since then he has lived a life of debauchery. Could that be why he..."
“I’ve heard about this too. His wife was murdered. I don’t believe he’d be willing to die like that until the truth is found.”
"So you think he faked his death?" Zhu Qinghe frowned in thought. "But why would he do that?"
"If that's the case, then he must have a reason for doing so."
"Unfortunately, our mission can't be postponed again." Zhu Qinghe spread the roster out and covered her face. "This day has been too difficult."
The underground black market in the southern suburbs.
Peddlers and laborers, all sorts of legal and illegal black market transactions take place here.
A tall man wearing a straw hat walked through the crowd and slammed a wooden sign down in front of a hunched, blind old man.
"I want to see your leader."
A tattered sign stood at the old man's feet.
Xiaoyaotang.
The old man chuckled and said, "My lord, I am blind. I cannot see this thing."
“Oh,” the man smirked, “then guess whether it’s a knife or a sword pressed against your neck.”
Feeling the coolness on his neck, the old man fell silent.
After a long pause, he spoke: "Come with me."
The man scoffed, "If you won't listen to reason, you'll have to suffer the consequences."
The old man led him through the wet road, past all sorts of people, until they arrived at a medicine hut.
"So you guys were pretending to be buying medicine here." The man stepped inside first.
As soon as the curtain was lifted, the young apprentice pharmacist, who had been dozing behind the table by the door, immediately greeted, "What medicine would you like to buy, sir?"
The man walked over and slammed the wooden sign on the counter: "I'm not buying medicine, I'm here to ask for a prescription."
The young apprentice looked at him intently for a few moments and asked, "What prescription?"
"Forget your worries."
The young apprentice pocketed the wooden plaque. "Please wait a moment, I'll go and inform them right away."
The man touched his smooth chin, still feeling a little unaccustomed to it.
He turned his head, and his face appeared in the bronze mirror beside the counter.
Thick eyebrows and big eyes, with an unruly appearance.
He looked exactly like the bearded man who died in Hong Ning's room.
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