"Head towards the border town. You're good at light footwork, so I'll have them set off again tomorrow. There's a bit of a show to put on. Don't worry, the others in the brothel can't catch you. When you get to the border town, Leader Zhang is in the red-light district of Pingyang County. Go find him there, and then put on a show with the others in the brothel, and they'll be back."
Zhanchen Tower is hidden in the mountains, unlike the restaurants where business is conducted. It is particularly desolate here, with tombstones covering the hills. In the thick fog, Liu Xiaohua, wearing a peony headdress, speaks to a man dressed in a gray short-sleeved shirt.
"Sister Hua, have I caused trouble for our building?" The tall man asked, sounding aggrieved and with a slight sob in his voice.
"No, it's no big deal. How many people in our line of work would be happy to do this? The person has been released, so just go ahead and move on. If anything happens, the building will cover for you."
"Does that mean I'll no longer be a member of Zhanchen Tower?"
"What's so good about this? You're killing people every day. Get out of here, the farther the better. If you do well out there, you might be able to get the people in the building to come back when they find a new job, you know?"
The man's tears streamed down his face. He wiped them away with his hand and then nodded.
"Okay, sister, take care too..."
Liu Xiaohua smoothed his collar and said
"Sixteen, take care on your journey, and don't look back."
After he walked away, a man wearing a silver mask emerged from behind the tree.
"If you're leaving, then leave. Why did you touch his neck?"
"Tsk, you're so sticky! Eleven."
"That's right, why would you touch his collar if you had nothing better to do?"
The woman wore a long blue-and-white porcelain dress. Her face was like a peach blossom, her eyebrows and eyes were exquisite, and her bright eyes revealed intelligence and decisiveness. Her black hair swayed in the breeze, and the peony on her head seemed to dance along with her movements.
"Sixteen is the youngest brother, so what's wrong with me, as the eldest sister, taking care of him?"
Before the man could speak, Liu Xiaohua continued.
“Look at you, wearing that thing on your face all the time. There’s hardly any sun in this deep mountain forest, and you keep your face completely covered up all day long.”
Eleven parted his thin lips slightly and uttered a border town dialect with the same accent as the woman.
"No, this...didn't you say before that those assassin leaders in storybooks looked cool wearing masks?"
Liu Xiaohua gently turned her head and said to him.
"Indeed, but I don't care about that anymore."
"Then what do you want? I'll get another one."
"I long to be a perfect couple."
The man's fingers had distinct knuckles, neatly trimmed nails, and slightly reddish fingertips. When he removed his mask, his eyes and brows revealed a very effeminate quality, which softened his otherwise sharp eyebrows.
"Alright, let's be a perfect couple. When Zhanchen Tower closes down, I'll take you to buy a house next to the martial arts alliance leader and live our little life together."
The woman put her hands in the crook of his arm and looked up to ask him.
Why buy it next to the leader of the martial arts alliance?
"He's a righteous man. The leader of the martial arts alliance certainly wouldn't stand by and watch us be targeted for revenge. He has to step in and help us when we can't win."
"You're so cunning. Tomorrow, let Seventeen take some men to chase after Sixteen."
"good."
The mountainside of tombstones seemed to be bidding farewell to the two. As the fog dissipated, each stone was inscribed with a number. It was sixteen, also known as Stone Six. The numbers were codes, the names their final resting place.
"Long'er, do you know how to open this dark room, Mother Cen? Did your Uncle Lu change the mechanism?"
Ping'er and a group of girls were fiddling with the mechanisms at Cen Ang's door. For some reason, the mechanisms they had used before could not be opened, so she asked Huo Xiaolong.
"I'll get it done for you, sis."
Madam Cen watched nervously from the side. These young maids were simply doing their duty, and she didn't want to criticize them. After all, Ping'er and the others were all fastidious and had a strong belief in the cleanliness of Fengyue Tower.
Anyway, the mechanism was newly replaced by Lu Feigong, so it shouldn't be too difficult to open...
Just as his thoughts reached this point, Huo Xiaolong activated the mechanism while still in Ping'er's arms.
The walnut fell to the ground, and Zhao Kai bent down to pick it up and put it back in Cen Ang's hand.
"No, when did Long'er find out how to open this mechanism?" the woman said.
"Lu Fei's traps shouldn't be too difficult for her. Next time, have the one from the Mantuo family replace them for you."
"What if it still doesn't work?"
Zhao Kai had a bookish smell about him, the smell of a new book, a faint scent of ink lingering in the air, making Cen Ang a little dizzy.
"There's nothing we can do, our daughter is just too clever."
He held Cen Ang's hands tightly, watching Huo Xiaolong follow the little maid into the dark room, and couldn't help but laugh.
“My… my things, I just used the blood plate a few days ago,” Cen Ang said.
The woman's voice sounded a little aggrieved, and her lips were pouting. For the first time in all these years, this woman, who was as resilient as a pine tree, showed her soft side in front of Zhao Tanhua.
"Should I talk to Ping'er and the others and ask them to stop wiping?"
Mother Cen waved her hand, "Never mind, it's the child's good intention."
"Sis, please don't use perfume powder after you're done cleaning this time." Huo Xiaolong was still sitting on the small stool by the door, and her sisters still wouldn't let her do anything.
"Why? Doesn't it smell bad?" Ping'er replied.
"It doesn't smell good, let's change the incense. I'll ask my daughter for some later."
"Has Miss Fen'e mixed a new incense?"
"Mmm, it smells so good, Long'er, I'm telling you, you'll definitely love this scent."
The little dumpling seemed numb, and said expressionlessly.
"It's not enough for me to just like it; my mom has to like it too."
"Then I'll bring it over for Aunt Cen to choose from later."
The maids kept talking, and one by one the instruments of torture revealed their true colors in their hands. The bloodstains splattered on the window were also wiped away by Huan Lü.
The bloodstained needles and scalpels gleamed coldly, neatly arranged on the table.
"Is this rope a little torn?" Ping'er asked, feeling the rope binding the person.
"Yes, a little. Bring over a few of those ropes that Master Wu taught us to make for binding people later," Wenye said.
"Then throw this away, it's so bloody, don't let it attract maggots in the summer."
"OK."
Huo Xiaolong peeked out from behind the bushes to look at his mother, who looked a little aggrieved, in the backyard, and then at his sisters, who were in high spirits. What to do? He had no idea.
"Wait until summer, then build a water dungeon down here and there, and see how they deal with it this time!" Cen Ang muttered to himself, leaning against Steward Zhao.
"Water prison... water prison..."
The girls in the water dungeon will bring Long'er's waterwheel and make you change the water in your darkroom every three days. You'd be lucky if they didn't scatter some flower petals in it.
But the man didn't say anything; he hugged his beloved and stroked her hair twice.
This was the second time he had seen Cen Ang like this. Huo Xiaolong had brought vitality to the entire Fengyue Tower, and even his beloved next to him had become gentle and considerate.
Zhao Kai, Zhao Tan Hua, is not enough.
He wants to be a literary giant, he wants to be a master. If he works even harder, will people start calling Ah Cen "Madam Zhao"?
Thinking of this, the man felt a little embarrassed, and a silly smile appeared on his face.
"What are you laughing at?" Cen Ang asked.
"It's nothing..."
The white-bearded old man who came to the brothel to help Huo Panli with his things saw through Zhao Kai's intentions at a glance; in fact, any man could see it.
Return Madam Zhao?
hehe.
It's good enough that no one calls you a male concubine.
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