Chapter 24 Northern Liao Mission
Zhao Xuanxu's study was enormous. Three wooden, openwork, embroidered screens, embroidered with peacocks and flowers, stretched from the door to Zhao Xuanxu's desk. Between the innermost two screens stood a massive, gilded incense burner. While it wasn't lit, a charcoal fire burned inside. Every afternoon, Zhao Xuanxu would burn the secret letters delivered by the carrier pigeons kept by the Three Departments.
Usually, every time a portion was burned, a thin layer of ash would accumulate in the stove, and outside the stove, somewhere in Tianshui or in the courtyard, a thick layer of slippery human blood would quietly accumulate.
Wen Yao sat cross-legged on the beam, chin propped up, her gaze piercing the window at the dark night sky. Her eyes were dark and shiny, the carefree and carefree nature of her past less visible now. Instead, she seemed quiet and oppressive, like the Xingyi Sword she carried on her back.
"Ayao." Zhao Xuanxu placed a piece of letter paper he had just taken from the pigeon into the incense burner and burned it. Then he walked under the beam where Wen Yao was sitting and looked up at him. "Your friend is gone safely. The Lingyu Guard didn't find anything."
"Oh." Wen Yao said, "Shaoshan, are you showing mercy?"
"No. Ayao's friend has been operating in Bianliang for many years. He has a wide range of methods and is very flexible. He didn't find anything."
Wen Yao nodded in agreement and said nothing.
Life is too short, and there are so many things we want to do. It's not easy to meet someone we get along with. In this vast sea of people, you might just end up drifting apart. So, she only makes friends with people she likes, regardless of gender, age, or status.
She loved to travel and explore, and whenever she arrived at a place, she would write letters to her close friends to reassure them that she was still alive. However, she never pried into her friends' careers or lives, nor did she care about their troubles. However, when she witnessed Jiang Qiaosheng assassinating the emperor, Wen Yao was filled with doubts and wanted to ask Jiang Qiaosheng the reason.
Outside the study, on the bamboo forest path, a few lights swayed by. A steward and a group of maids stopped outside. He lowered his head and said softly, "Master, a distinguished guest has arrived. It's Governor Song. He's waiting in the tea room outside."
The middle noble lady is the eunuch, and there is only one Governor Song in the whole world.
Wen Yao leaned forward with his palms, squatting down from a sitting position, and lowered his head to meet Zhao Xuanxu's eyes. Zhao Xuanxu didn't look outside the study, but kept looking at where Wen Yao was sitting with his chin slightly raised. Until Wen Yao leaned over and revealed a pair of eyes, a smile spread across his face like ripples on spring water.
Wen Yao landed lightly and stood beside him.
Zhao Xuanxu took a few steps forward, took a lamp from the steward who was inexplicably trembling, then waved away the others and went to the tea room diagonally opposite the study corridor with Wen Yao.
In the tea room, Song Mingde sat in a chair on the lower left, two eunuchs standing behind him, sipping his tea with his eyes downcast. He hadn't changed his attire yet: the same crimson robe with a flamboyant python pattern, except for a jade ring on his hand.
Governor Song had a gloomy face, one leg bent and resting on the footrest under his chair. As Wen Yao stepped into the tea room, he glanced over and the first thing he said was, "Xingyi Sword Wen Yao, why on earth would someone like you be a mere guard in Prince Yan's Palace?"
The words were spoken bluntly and without any politeness.
Song Mingde's voice was sharper than that of a man his age, and his face was handsome. At first glance, he looked nothing like the ruthless governor and sycophant rumored to be. But his next words revealed his true colors, revealing an unparalleled cruelty: "If you hadn't concealed your identity from the beginning, we wouldn't have had to let our men test you, wasting so many good men." He spoke of waste, but the regret was clearly not about human life.
Wen Yao smiled, but didn't react much. "Xingyi Sword Wen Yao also needs to eat. His Highness treats me well here, he's a kind person, and he appreciates me very much, so I decided to be loyal to him."
Hearing this, Song Mingde lowered his left eye, raised the corner of his lips falsely, and showed a half-smile: "This is the first time I've heard of this. It's really eye-opening."
Wen Yao thought to herself, "No way! I've never heard this standard answer to HR. What's the workplace environment like at your factory supervisor? The people below don't even say polite words." Then she suddenly realized that Song Mingde wasn't referring to her response, but to Zhao Xuanxu's kindness.
Hey yo.
Wen Yao exhaled through his nose, folded his hands over his chest and looked at Song Deming.
What do you mean? The two most evil people in the Tianshui Dynasty are my nephew and you, they are both equally bad. What right do you have to personally attack my nephew?
Song Mingde's gaze slowly fell on Zhao Xuanxu, who was standing next to Wen Yao. Since entering the room, Zhao Xuanxu had been standing whenever Wen Yao was standing, with no intention of taking the main seat.
That's really interesting.
Song Mingde thought.
He had been to the Prince of Yan's mansion several times before. Although he worked with Zhao Xuanxu, he had grown tired of seeing him, so he didn't come as often as the assassins he sent. But every time he saw Zhao Xuanxu, he looked the same, neither gloomy nor cheerful, lifeless. This mansion was also gloomy and eerie, with the King of Hell and a group of little ghosts living there in broad daylight.
Just now, walking along, there were flowers in the garden and fish in the pond. Zhao Xuanxu was pretending to be a gentle man in front of the famous Xingyi Jian Wenyao—but his performance was not very good. He just exchanged a few words with him, and the smile on Zhao Xuanxu's face immediately disappeared.
Song Mingde touched the jade ring on his hand and felt really surprised and interested.
A madman who has been crazy for so many years actually has someone he cares about. He must not think that the woman in Yurong Palace is delusional in the future. Zhao Xuanxu has some feelings, but they are obviously not many and rare, and they are not for her at the moment.
Zhao Xuanxu only listened to the tone without looking at the expression, and the mood was quite good: "You come here, and this is all the nonsense?"
"Of course not. His Majesty is frightened and unable to sleep, so he sent us to inquire about the assassin's whereabouts." Song Mingde put down his teacup, and two eunuchs immediately helped him to his feet. He put his hands behind his back and looked at Zhao Xuanxu: "Your Highness, Prince Yan, how is the arrest going?"
Zhao Xuanxu's eyes were dark: "I didn't catch him."
"What if Your Majesty holds me accountable?"
"Then tell your people to give him more pills." Zhao Xuanxu spoke softly, but his brows furrowed. He was already a little impatient, but in front of Wen Yao, he thought about it and decided to keep his composure. So, he rubbed his sleeve with his hand hanging down at his side and said slowly, "You've been doing this for so many years, do you still need me to teach you?"
Song Mingde was not afraid of him at all. He stood opposite him and sneered. The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Wen Yao's heart suddenly moved, and she felt something was wrong. She looked at the two people in the room, and words came to her lips but she held them back.
Zhao Xuanxu seemed to have eyes on his side, and he immediately turned to look at Wen Yao, his voice suddenly softening: "Ayao, do you want to say something?"
"I..." Wen Yao wasn't just suspicious, he was suddenly enlightened: "So you two are on the same side?"
If they weren't on the same side, Zhao Xuanxu wouldn't have said that to her face. She said that she felt something was wrong on the way to the teahouse.
You have to know that this teahouse is quite close to Zhao Xuanxu's study, a heavily guarded area in the Prince of Yan's mansion. Song Mingde shouldn't have delivered the emperor's message here, but in the outer courtyard hall. She had been with the Prince of Yan for so many days, and the last person to speak to her in this area was Zhang Yun.
"Of course not." Song Mingde smiled, his eyes gleaming with coldness. "I know my status, so how can I stand on the same side as His Royal Highness Prince Yan? It's just that His Royal Highness has honored me with his services."
What a joke. He speaks so modestly, but when he tries to test the waters, he just sends assassins to break into the house.
Wen Yao shook his head, smacking his lips. It was hard to imagine how Zhao Xuanxu and Song Mingde could possibly work together. With both men speaking so vehemently, their partnership seemed unreliable. Song Mingde probably had no moral conscience. He wouldn't just turn around and sell Zhao Xuanxu out after feeding the emperor the medicine.
Song Mingde left after a while of sarcasm, and did not mention the matter of accountability again. Wen Yao did not know whether he really went back to give medicine to the emperor.
Zhao Xuanxu told Wen Yao to go back and rest. She was so agitated that she couldn't sleep, so she polished the Xingyi Sword with sword oil for most of the day. She waited until midnight, but still heard no sound of the carrier pigeon fluttering. Only then did she realize that Jiang Qiaosheng had truly escaped the Bianliang City-wide manhunt, and no reports of reprimands had surfaced from the palace.
She breathed a sigh of relief, then a deep sigh.
What happened today was truly absurd and bold. If it weren't for the iron rule that the Red Mansion was secretive and could not be known to outsiders, and she didn't know the Red Mansion's stronghold in Bianliang, Wen Yao would have rushed to Jiang Qiaosheng and asked him about what happened tonight.
A hunt order, issuing one against the Emperor of Tianshui, was truly audacious. By dawn tomorrow, the Red Pavilion, a formerly neutral assassin organization, would be labeled a newly minted demonic cult.
As a result, when the sun rose, Wen Yao didn't know whether Hongge had been labeled a cult. When she opened the door, she saw a small secret guard squatting on the tall sycamore tree in the yard, holding a familiar mahogany box in his hand, looking at her eagerly.
Seeing Wen Yao come out, the eyes of the slightly troubled secret guard squatting on the tree branch lit up, and he immediately jumped down from the tree. Although Hao Chunhe complained about Zhao Xuanxu, he still tried his best to teach people, and it had been very effective recently. The secret guard landed on the ground lightly, making no sound or splashing any dust, and respectfully handed the large mahogany box to Wen Yao.
"This was delivered to the gate just before dawn. It was a man with good skills, especially in the art of tracking and counter-attack. We sent out to pursue him, but he was lost under the Imperial Bridge. The paper on it says that this box is for you, so I'll keep it and give it to you when you wake up."
The red box was exactly the same as the one Jiang Qiaosheng's men had given Wen Yao on the inn window. It seemed the girl wasn't afraid at all when she returned, and she even had the time to roast a chicken for her overnight.
Wen Yao closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then went to open the lid. The secret guard suddenly became nervous and whispered, "Commander Wen, be careful, there are hidden weapons inside."
Wen Yao could already smell the aroma of the chicken fat. She waved it off, saying it was nothing. She lifted the lid and saw a smooth, smooth chicken resting peacefully inside. The sight of it was enough to make one's mouth water. She tore off a leg and handed it to the little secret guard, asking him to eat. Then, she took the rest of the chicken and went to the garden to find Zhao Xuanxu.
During this time, Wen Yao and Zhao Xuanxu usually ate breakfast in the garden pavilion. When Wen Yao got up to practice swordplay, Zhao Xuanxu would sit nearby and watch. Usually, after Wen Yao finished, Zhao Xuanxu would start by praising her, gently and with a smile, from her techniques to her strength, saying she was unparalleled, then treat her to a hot soup.
Wen Yao also realized that Zhao Xuanxu often missed court, not because of official business, but simply because he was annoyed by the ramblings of the crowd. The emperor didn't ask Zhao Xuanxu's reason; he simply didn't come. Zhao Xuanxu made up a random excuse and let it go. Zhao Xuanxu seemed relaxed, not at all like a high-ranking official in charge of the Three Departments and Twelve Guards.
That day, too, when Wen Yao arrived at the garden with the baked chicken, the pavilion table was already filled with dozens of plates, large and small. Zhao Xuanxu, dressed in a long, dark white dress with long sleeves, had a beautiful face and soft black hair tied with a ribbon. He sat quietly waiting for Wen Yao.
The surroundings were very quiet, with only the chirping of birds and no attendants in sight. This suited Wen Yao's taste very well, because she really couldn't stand so many people standing around watching her eat.
As Wen Yao walked over, Zhao Xuanxu immediately looked up at her. He saw the food box in Wen Yao's hand, reached out to clear a space on the crowded table, and told Wen Yao to put the box down.
"Here, my crazy friend brought this yesterday." Wen Yao lifted his clothes and sat across from Zhao Xuanxu, waving, "Eat, eat. By the way, when will Shaoshan come over? He worked so hard last night, so let's not eat the last chicken drumstick. Let's give it to him as an apology from my friend. We can eat the wings instead."
Zhao Xuanxu smiled at Wen Yao, nodded his approval, and then watched her mutter, sighing from time to time. She must have been a little worried about the assassin's friend from the Assassin's Pavilion's assassination attempt on the emperor last night, but she was still full of energy and spirit, like a fluffy cloud basking in the sun, beautiful, casual, and free. It was always like this, making him feel satisfied watching her from the dark, blood-soaked place below, on the pile of bones. But then he would think of the vastness of the world, and this lovely, amiable cloud could float anywhere.
Just last night, the cloud told him in person that it would leave him and drift to the Mediterranean Sea.
Wen Yao didn't know what Zhao Xuanxu was thinking. She pulled off a chicken wing and gave it to Zhao Xuanxu, urging him, "Eat it. It won't taste good if it gets cold."
Zhao Xuanxu took the chicken and slowly deboned it, removing the thick meat and chewing it. A fleeting glimpse of bright red lips, sharp white teeth, and the greasy, white flesh and skin passed by. He wasn't a heavy eater, so he took a quick sip and said with a smile, "This kiln-baked chicken is delicious."
"Right! I said, if she left Hongge, she wouldn't starve to death on the streets with this skill." Wen Yao said.
Well, now Jiang Qiaosheng's roasted chicken has been personally approved as delicious by the meticulous Chu Yutang and the ever-eating Zhao Xuanxu. She should find a carpenter to make a fine plaque for Jiang Qiaosheng, with the words "Number One Roasted Chicken in the World" written on top and "Highly Recommended by the Owner of Fanlou and His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan" written below. It's guaranteed to be a national hit!
After thinking about it carefully, Wen Yao actually thought this was a good idea. He laughed at himself for a moment and laughed non-stop in front of Zhao Xuanxu while holding the chicken wings.
So when Gao Shaoshan brought the Lingyu Army to the Prince of Yan's Mansion to report to Zhao Xuanxu as usual, he saw Zhao Xuanxu and Commander Wen laughing across the chicken in the kiln.
He was full of curiosity. As soon as he got closer and took a deep breath, his appetite was aroused. He said with great greed, "What is this? It smells so good."
"Here, the leg is left for you." Wen Yao solemnly handed the last leg to Gao Shaoshan and said, "This is an apology from the person you caught last night. Eat it, don't be polite, there will be more in the future if you like it." Then she went to the lake to wash her hands, grabbed the Xingyi sword, flew to the eaves and began to practice sword.
Strenuous exercise is not recommended after meals. Wen Yao's daily sword practice is always for an hour before breakfast. Today, he switched the order because he was worried that the chicken would become unpalatable if left out too long, wasting Jiang Qiaosheng's skill. He didn't push himself too hard during this practice, his moves were incredibly deft, each one clean and beautiful without requiring much effort.
A beautiful pigeon fluttered across the azure sky above. Stirred by Wen Yao's sword wind, it stumbled towards the pavilion and landed with great effort on Zhao Xuanxu's wrist.
Pigeons had also visited Prince Yan's mansion last night, but they were meant to be a link between Gao Shaoshan's Feather Guard and Zhao Xuanxu, and their underbelly feathers were dyed cyan. This time, the pigeons were dyed black, looking much more understated. They tilted their heads and silently gazed at Zhao Xuanxu, their eyes, as big as black beans, looking quite lively.
The Three Departments and the Twelve Guards each had their own carrier pigeons, conveniently allowing them to communicate with their less-traveled, less-people-friendly, and often ill-tempered superiors. The black feathers indicated this pigeon was from the Supervisory and Fusi Department. Wen Yao suspected it was most likely another summons from the God of Hell, calling upon some lucky minister in the court.
Zhao Xuanxu pulled a small roll of letter paper from a bamboo tube tied to the pigeon's leg, unfolded it, glanced at it, and set it aside. Wen Yao was still lost in thought, but Zhao Xuanxu remained silent. Gao Shaoshan gnawed a chicken leg nearby, watching Wen Yao quietly, much like the young man who, years ago, had always been ill and watched Wen Yao play with the maids.
After Wen Yao finished practicing a set of moves, Zhao Xuanxu stood up and walked into the garden, extending his hand towards Wen Yao: "Ayao, come here."
Wen Yao suddenly floated past him and asked with a bright look, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing much. I just received a letter from the Supervisory Office saying that the advance guard of the Northern Liao delegation entered Bianliang City half an hour ago in disguise." Zhao Xuanxu handed the paper to Wen Yao, letting her read it. "They split into two groups. One group went to meet the Liao people at the Cunying Mountain Arena last time, and the other group went to a flower boat on the Bian River."
Every winter solstice, ministers from various countries would send envoys to the capital, firstly to attend the year-end palace banquet, and secondly to discuss trade cooperation and diplomatic strategy for the coming year. Because the journey was long, the envoys usually set out early to avoid delays along the way.
"Flower boat?" Wen Yao took the paper and looked at it for a few seconds.
The Liao people at Cunying Mountain were obviously not ordinary people. They had originally come to cause trouble, so it was normal for them to contact the delegation. But it was a bit strange that these people went to the flower boat. Who would go to the flower boat so early in the morning?
Her eyes fell on these three words and she stopped in her tracks.
"Qiong Yulou." Wen Yao paused, his tone rising slightly: "Are they going to look for Lou Chengyi?"
"I remember the owner of Qiongyu Tower seemed to be Ayao's friend." Zhao Xuanxu said considerately, "Do you need me to keep the news secret? These Liao people are still unfamiliar with Bianliang City. The city is full of spies from all sides, so it won't be difficult to detect that they are not doing well. Tianshui and Northern Liao just finished fighting, and both sides are holding grudges. If you get too close to these people, it will inevitably drag down your friend."
Wen Yao was filled with anger and immediately used his inner strength to turn the letter into powder and threw it into the lake.
"No need. Isn't he very powerful? Just let him handle it himself." She sneered.
One is Jiang Qiaosheng, the other is Lou Chengyi. Even so, these two used to dare to laugh at and criticize each other! No one should laugh at anyone else, because neither of them gives her peace of mind.
One moment he was assassinating the emperor, the next moment he was contacting the Northern Liao people. Was it because his life was too peaceful and he wanted to add some brilliance? She had to find time to beat them up one by one!
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