Night Visit to the Flower Shop
A-Qiu countered, "Whom does the young master wish to invite?"
Gongye Fusu said calmly, "Your Excellency, the Left Prime Minister."
A Qiu stared at him for a long time, making Gongye Fusu very uncomfortable. He laughed and said, "Why is Lord Si Yue looking at me like that? In the capital, wherever there are famous gardens and beautiful scenery, the Left Prime Minister is always a guest of honor. It would be most appropriate to have him accompany you."
Ah Qiu muttered, "You two seem to have quite a similar hobby of searching for famous flowers."
Gongye Fusu smiled wryly and said, "Actually, although my family has a modest reputation, I am known for not liking socializing, so there are quite a few people who secretly treat me coldly. If I were to visit them one by one rashly, they might not be able to refuse, but it would definitely alert them and disturb the real spies and informants. But if I were to bring the Left Prime Minister along, then there would be no problem at all."
He was referring to Gongyi Xiu, who was eloquent and famously good at socializing. He could make everyone feel comfortable and at ease. With him around, there was never any awkward silence or embarrassment. He could make white appear black, so he would never arouse suspicion.
A Qiu suddenly recalled the past when Gongye Fusu always covered himself with a silk screen when sitting and always shielded himself with a silk barrier when walking. She suddenly realized that although Gongye Fusu was now almost always willing to grant her requests, his true personality was by no means that of a social expert. Rather, he was aloof and even somewhat eccentric. She suddenly felt that her request was really too much for Gongye Fusu, who had a cleanliness obsession.
Even so, although she felt embarrassed, she did not intend to back down her request.
When did everyone begin to subtly adapt to and change each other?
She immediately nodded and said, "Then please ask Young Master Fusu to go to the Left Prime Minister's residence first, and say that it is my request, and ask the Left Prime Minister to accompany you."
But she heard Lie Changkong gasp behind her. What she didn't expect was that Lie Changkong was thinking to himself: This young master has a lot of influence. Even when Gu Yi was around, he wouldn't have been able to order Gongyi Xiu around so easily.
Little did he know that Gongyi Xiu was actually A Qiu's senior brother, and he was almost always willing to grant this junior sister's requests.
Gongye Fusu nodded in agreement without hesitation.
Lie Changkong asked worriedly, "Young Master Fusu and I are going our separate ways. So, where are you going, Young Master?"
A Qiu said calmly, "I suddenly remembered that I had seen that Frostflower Vine once before in Jianzhang."
Gongye Fusu and Lie Changkong both paled in shock.
The silence of the long night enveloped the West Market.
It was already past midnight, and the once bustling taverns and brothels of the West Market had gradually fallen silent. Only the lights of the nearby high-rises remained lit, but the noise was gone. Only the sound of the night watchman's gong still echoed from afar.
Already fully dressed in night clothes, A-Qiu quietly hid outside a garden gate, waiting patiently.
After parting ways with Lie Changkong and Gongye Fusu, she immediately turned around and went to Xingfeng Hall's outpost, where she waited until dark before changing into her night clothes and coming out.
The place she was monitoring was Luoyufang, the largest Hu-style dance hall in the West Market, owned by Yuan Si Niang, who had once visited her.
Although Yuan Si Niang reluctantly agreed that she would not side with the Northern Qiang until the situation between the North and South became clear, A Qiu did not dare to fully believe her promise.
Moreover, while she was outside the desolate forest by Yinmaquan, an image of the Frostflower Vine suddenly flashed through her mind.
In my memory, the vine was thicker than the rim of a cup, spiraling upwards and winding over a wall covered with moss. Countless crimson leaves, after being touched by frost, swayed and danced, like a large, richly colored freehand painting paved on the bluestone wall.
She only glanced at it, and didn't think much of it at the time.
Looking back now, the reason I remember it is because although the vines and creeping figs outside the courtyards of ordinary people in Jianzhang could climb all over the walls and trellises, they would at most turn yellow in autumn and winter, and would not be as dazzling as a pond of vermilion color.
Although the colors are different, the vines are also different ages. If the one she saw was indeed a Frostflower Vine, it was estimated to be at least thirty years old.
If this is true, it would mean that the Mo Yi clan's Shuanghua Hall has been operating south of the Yangtze River for over thirty years.
But until the vine is seen as a confirmed evidence, these are all just speculations.
A-Qiu immediately began to recall where she had seen something similar to vines.
The first place that came to mind was the ruined palace of Liyang. The flowers, herbs, wild vines, and ancient trees there were probably the most abundant in any garden or grove she had ever seen, and because they had been neglected for so long, they were also much older.
Secondly, there is the hot spring medicinal pool at Jinlingtai.
But what ultimately convinced her to choose the location was a burst of rapid, complex music with a strong exotic flavor.
In my memory, when I saw that courtyard wall covered with vines, the tall building behind the wall was brightly lit, and I could faintly hear the sounds of silk and bamboo instruments, pipa and drums.
It was this drumming that confirmed A Qiu's location of meeting Teng Mu: Luo Yu Fang. Since entering Jianzhang, she had never heard music of a similar style anywhere else.
Therefore, she set off for this place immediately after dark, but only kept watch without taking any action.
Because the time was not right, and the person she was waiting for had not yet arrived.
A Qiu waited patiently as the lights, near and far, gradually went out, and the hustle and bustle of the streets and alleys gradually turned into silence.
She had traveled to the West Market with Gu Yi and was already familiar with its atmosphere and rhythm.
As the most bustling night market in Jianzhang, the West Market's most lively time begins at sunset, when customers from restaurants and eateries start to enter, and street vendors are busy displaying their various goods from all over the country.
After a while, the singers and dancers of the brothel will be ready, and the sounds of string and wind instruments will drift out from upstairs.
Unlike the East Market, which was mainly frequented by local Han Chinese merchants from the Southern Dynasties, the West Market represented the extensive trade and wealth flow across borders throughout the Great Western Regions. People of all ethnicities, traveling from afar, traded and sold goods here.
As a result, forces from both the north and south have been secretly entrenched here, making it a place rife with undercurrents and hidden talents.
A Qiu remembered that Gu Yi once said that the two largest forces in the West Market were, in the open, the Pei family's Divine Hound Camp, known as the tyrant of Jianzhang; and in the shadows, the Xingfeng Hall of her second senior brother, Mo Yimingyue.
Within the Lanling Hall, Xingfeng Hall not only oversees interrogation and assassination, and maintains its undercover agents and informants, but also handles debt collection, rent collection, and acts as a henchman. On the Yangtze River, there is also a branch of Xingfeng Hall that controls waterway trade called "Night Traveler of the World."
The second senior brother was able to do these things, at least in part, because of his mixed Han and non-Han heritage. Previously, A-Qiu only thought that her master's willingness to disregard societal norms and accept a mixed-race disciple during a time of significant North-South division was an enlightened approach, unconstrained by lineage or bloodline. But now, she began to realize that there might be a deeper purpose behind it.
In particular, the master himself may not be Han Chinese.
Thinking of this, a shadow fell over A-Qiu's heart once again.
A figure dressed in similar black outfit descended from the sky, landing silently. The figure immediately looked around warily, seemingly searching.
The moment he landed, a figure gracefully emerged from the shadows beside the door and blocked his way; it was A-Qiu.
She said softly, "Have you found out where those Western Region people are staying, as Madam Pei mentioned?"
Although the newcomer, like A Qiu, also had his face covered with a black cloth, he could not hide the bright confidence in his eyes. It was the kind of gaze that belonged only to Lie Changkong, the Heavenly Power Master under Gu Yi.
But at this moment, only a bitter smile appeared in his eyes as he looked at the garden hidden among the flowers and trees and said, "If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have needed to go to the West Market to inquire one by one. I could have just followed the young master to this Luoyufang."
He then asked, "Did the young master already guess that this was where those Western Region assassins were hiding?"
Aqiu gazed at the lights gradually going out in the back garden of Luoyufang, and gently shook her head, saying, "Of course I can't be sure, which is why I sent you to investigate. Yuan Si Niang is practically half a mother to Young Master Fusu, so we can't just frame her without any evidence."
Lie Changkong remained silent for a moment after hearing this, then said, "I followed the clues from the Jie Clan Merchant Guild, and then used the spies from the Divine Hound Camp and the Court of Justice to finally find my way here. The group of Western Region people who bought gunpowder from the Han people through the Jie Clan Merchant Guild were led by a young woman. Their final destination was not any inn in the city, but this Luoyufang."
Lie Changkong had no choice but to point it out; it was already clear that Yuan Siniang was harboring these people.
A Qiu sighed and said, "Are most of the Western Region people who suddenly appeared in the West Market women, and are they all beautiful?"
Her question was not without reason, for such a long journey—entering the Jade Gate Pass, crossing the Central Plains to the Southern Dynasties—was an extremely arduous one. Normally, both caravans and warriors were predominantly male. If there were more women than men, that would be unusual.
Lie Changkong pondered, "Whether they were beautiful or not, no one probably knows, because they all deliberately covered their faces with hoods. But judging from their figures, there were indeed quite a few women. However, no one dared to make a move on them at the time, because these people were not to be trifled with at all. They were clearly skilled fighters, and they were disciplined and knew how to advance and retreat with propriety."
He couldn't help but ask, "Young Master, how credible is it that Yuan Si Niang said she wouldn't side with the Hu tribe until the situation became clear?"
Lie Changkong had fought alongside Gu Yi for nearly ten years and was always confident and resolute. When he asked A Qiu this question, it meant that he was also feeling uneasy.
This was, of course, because what he was concerned about was not only Yuan Si Niang's attitude, but also the fact that Yuan Si Niang had mentioned that the 100,000-strong Northern Qiang army was already marching south.
A Qiu asked calmly, "Has the secret report I ordered you to send to the Marquis of Guannei in Youzhou been sent?"
Lie Changkong solemnly replied, "It was sent out an hour ago and relayed through the Junior Master's charioteer. It should have arrived in Jiangbei by now." He added, "At the same time, General Xiao Fan also sent a letter home to the Northwest Army. As soon as General Xiao Fan received the message from the young master, he immediately wrote it down and asked me to find a way to send it to the border."
He then asked with some hesitation, "The court has not yet publicly discussed this matter, yet the young master has already sent a message in his private capacity under the guise of a private mission, but in reality, he is mobilizing the Shuofang Army and the Northwest Army. Isn't that inappropriate?"
A Qiu gazed at the last extinguished light in Luoyufang and said calmly, "Do you know what the most important thing is before a battle?"
Without hesitation, Lie Changkong replied, "An army marches on its stomach; we must prepare provisions."
A Qiu smiled and said, "That's just a military perspective. From a political standpoint, we need to immediately figure out who will be on our side and who will try to sabotage us."
Lie Changkong realized what was happening and said, "Young Master is worried that there might be people in the palace and the court who are just like Yuan Si Niang, wavering and deciding which side has a better chance of winning. If we wait until the court announces the decision and it is over, it will be too late to prepare for war."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
