When Bai Miao fell into a deep sleep, Yan Liang had already opened his eyes.
He lay lazily for a while before getting out of bed, tidying himself up, and then leaving the room.
Wang Lianhua was already waiting in the courtyard. He had changed back into his flower girl attire, seemingly determined to continue the performance. The other party raised an eyebrow at him and said, "You overslept."
“Everyone has moments of laziness.” Yan Liang spoke of laziness with such confidence that no one could refute him. “After working so diligently for so long, it’s time to rest.”
Wang Lianhua had witnessed Yan Liang's ability to spout nonsense without batting an eye long ago, and not wanting to dwell on it, she briefly told Yan Liang about Yuze's background.
He had promised to tell Yan Liang about it last night, and Yan Liang already knew that he had been hiding it. If he continued to keep it a secret, there wouldn't be any more excitement to be had.
Wang Lianhua found Yuze in Miao territory. The little girl was in a sorry state, staggering and running away in the pouring rain.
At that time, Bai Miao let Yu Ze escape while the Valley Master was away, and even drove her out of Chi Ri Valley in a carriage, which took several more days.
It wasn't until the Valley Master returned to the valley and discovered the truth that he sent people to chase after the two of them. Bai Miao, as the Valley Master's son, would not die, but if Yu Ze went back, he would die sooner or later. So Bai Miao let Yu Ze escape alone, while he himself went back to the valley with the people who caught up with him.
After that, Yuze, who had fled alone, met Wang Lianhua.
These were all things that Yuze told Wang Lianhua after she vaguely sensed the truth and went to Hongxiu Pavilion to see him.
Wang Lianhua didn't care who killed whom, and since Bai Miao and Yu Ze knew each other, he stopped interfering. Now that Yan Liang had asked, he spoke up.
After hearing this, Yan Liang seemed to be deep in thought. He glanced at Wang Lianhua and suddenly realized that she probably didn't know that Chief Supervisor Yu had gone to Hongxiu Pavilion last night and taken Miss Yuze away.
Bai Miao cruelly cut off his own flesh to heal his wounds last night, and fell into a deep sleep from exhaustion. Presumably, when the other party wakes up, he will learn that Miss Yuze was taken away by Chief Supervisor Yu, and at that time he will also realize that all his previous efforts were in vain.
Yan Liang pondered for a moment. When the servants called them to have breakfast, he didn't mention the matter again. After breakfast, he bid farewell to the two boys and walked to the Hanlin Academy with Li Xunle.
Speaking of their working hours, Yan Liang felt very frustrated. They had very few days off throughout the year, and apart from the afternoons, they had no other free time at all. As a result, he didn't even have time to go fishing to cultivate his mind.
Yan Liang couldn't help but miss his previous idle and carefree life; a fixed and unchanging life was really not suitable for him.
After Yan Liang and Li Xunle left the Li residence, the atmosphere among the remaining adult and two children was somewhat subtle.
Wang Lianhua disguised himself as Hua Guniang again today. Yan Liang and Li Xunle were used to it, but Li Xunhuan and Yan Shenming were obviously a little unaccustomed to it.
When the "flower girl" smiled, there was no trace of Wang Lianhua in her at all, making one wonder if the person seen last night was a figure from a dream.
Wang Lianhua waved his hand and led the two boys to stroll around the capital.
"After all, I'm your sister-in-law."
The young woman smiled and said to Yan Shenming.
Yan Shenming: "..."
Looking at that face, he simply couldn't bring himself to call her "sister-in-law" anymore.
The streets were bustling with people. Yan Shenming looked around, occasionally showing a look of curiosity. Sometimes, when he saw something he didn't recognize, Li Xunhuan would explain it to him.
Wang Lianhua followed behind them with a smile on her face.
He suddenly felt like a girl looking after a child... which was quite fitting for the persona he had given himself.
The streets were bustling with people. After walking for a while, they bought some interesting little trinkets. Not far away was an inn. Wang Lianhua noticed that there were people from the Western Depot guarding the entrance. As he passed by the inn, he saw the Western Depot people talking to the innkeeper inside. Then they led a dog upstairs.
Wang Lianhua was puzzled. When she thought of Yan Liang saying that he had met Yu Huatian and even visited Hongxiu Pavilion, she began to have some ideas.
After heading to a more bustling area, Wang Lianhua overheard passersby talking about how "the courtesan of Hongxiu Pavilion encountered a thief, and the West Depot let the thief escape and even brought the courtesan back to the West Depot."
Yu Huatian's actions were quite significant, presumably because he intended to send someone to find him.
Wang Lianhua acted as if nothing had happened and continued to stroll along the street with the two boys.
Yan Shenming looked dazed after hearing the conversation among the passersby, clearly distracted, and even unconsciously looked up at Wang Lianhua.
Yesterday, Yan Liang explained to them that the "Miss Yuze" who fell in love with Yan Liang at first sight and the "Miss Hua" with whom he rekindled his old flame were both Wang Lianhua. Now that the real Miss Yuze is in trouble, Wang Lianhua doesn't seem to be in a hurry at all.
Yan Shenming made no attempt to hide it, and Wang Lianhua saw it clearly. She thought to herself that Yan Liang's younger brother was nothing like her. Then she remembered that Yan Shenming was not Yan Liang's biological brother. She paused for a moment, then raised her hand and flicked Yan Shenming's forehead: "Don't overthink it. We'll talk about it when we get back."
Yan Shenming covered his forehead and quickly turned to look ahead.
Li Xunhuan came running over excitedly, carrying an exquisite bamboo craft. Wang Lianhua raised an eyebrow, and Li Xunhuan quickly explained, "This is for my cousin; she likes these things."
Wang Lianhua nodded in agreement. Li Xunle had mentioned that his younger brother and his cousin, who lived in his house, were engaged.
Along the way, Wang Lianhua stopped frequently and heard quite a bit of news. For example, Bai Miao had been shot with an arrow, and these people were currently looking for him.
Wang Lianhua speculated with great interest about Bai Miao's whereabouts. He would probably feel it was a pity if Bai Miao were captured so easily. Although he had never met the young master of Crimson Sun Valley named Bai Miao, Wang Lianhua held him in high regard.
Bai Miao, who was on the minds of Wang Lianhua and many others, was currently sleeping soundly against the bedpost.
Bai Miao had only fallen asleep at dawn, and hadn't even slept for two hours. His brows were slightly furrowed, his face pale, and he suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with despair.
He was dreaming.
In my dream, there was a dark, cramped room, endless whipping, and cold, harsh rebukes.
He tried to move, and a sharp pain shot through his wound. If he didn't take good care of it, he might become crippled. However, the people from the Western Depot might be investigating him, so he had no choice but to hide.
The streets were bustling with noise. Bai Miao frowned as he dressed and changed his disguise. After resting, he packed his things and went downstairs to check out of the room.
Someone was slowly walking down from the second floor. Bai Miao was so focused on talking to the shopkeeper that he ignored the seemingly ordinary man.
The man glanced at Bai Miao and walked out.
After a while, Bai Miao also came out. He looked at the sun in the sky, closed his eyes slightly, and turned to walk towards the direction of Hongxiu Pavilion.
He saw the people from the Western Depot on the road. This time, almost every person from the Western Depot had a dog with them when they were investigating him. However, Bai Miao had been to several inns in recent days, making it very difficult for them to find him.
Fortunately, Bai Miao changed his scent to cover up his body odor and also deliberately avoided the West Depot's inspectors.
Bai Miao thought to himself that this strange smell was really getting him into big trouble... If he could, he wouldn't want to have this ability to raise Gu.
"The people from the Western Depot have arrested Miss Yuze and thrown her in jail..."
"I heard that Scholar Yan went to the Red Sleeve Pavilion yesterday. Could it be related to him?"
"What are you saying? Last night, the people from the West Depot went to catch a thief, and the thief was in the Red Sleeve Pavilion. Miss Yuze was implicated! It has nothing to do with the third-ranked scholar!"
...
Bai Miao stopped in his tracks. He had overheard the whispers of the people on the street and immediately realized that everything he had done yesterday had been in vain; Yu Ze had still been taken away.
He had heard about Yu Huatian's actions, and it was clear that Yu Ze would not have a good ending if he fell into the other party's hands.
Bai Miao's leg injury throbbed with pain. The sunlight grew stronger, but his face was pale, his body was ice-cold, and his body temperature was slowly fading away.
He is still a... good-for-nothing.
＊
Wang Lianhua and the two boys returned home laden with their loot. After they arrived at the manor, Yan Shenming finally couldn't help but ask, "Isn't that Miss Yuze an acquaintance of Brother Wang?"
“Yes, I saved her life.” Wang Lianhua countered, “What are you trying to say?”
"Aren't you worried about her?" Yan Shenming asked. "I heard from people on the street that... the Western Depot is very cruel."
Yan Shenming, who had been observant of people's expressions since childhood, noticed that Wang Lianhua didn't seem to care about Yuze's arrest, which puzzled him greatly.
Wang Lianhua smiled enigmatically: "I don't need to worry about her. The head of the Western Depot won't kill her."
Yu Huatian was only thinking of luring the snake out of its hole; he wouldn't kill Yu Ze until the snake came out.
Li Xunhuan, being older, assumed Wang Lianhua had her own ideas, so he obediently sat aside and listened to the conversation between the two.
Yan Shenming pondered for a moment and then fell silent. Wang Lianhua was now somewhat unable to fathom what Yan Shenming was thinking—a trait he shared with Yan Liang, sometimes able to guess what was going on, sometimes not.
While they were enjoying a quiet moment in their residence, Yan Liang, a lowly office worker in the Hanlin Academy, was diligently working.
Seeing Yan Liang's worried expression, Li Xunle offered words of comfort. Yan Liang patted Li Xunle's shoulder in return and sighed heavily.
He saw everything clearly about what was happening with Yu Huatian, and he wasn't worried about Yu Ze's safety. Rather, he was worried about Bai Miao.
After all, Bai Miao looked so pitiful.
Judging from what Bai Miao didn't finish saying last night, there's more to Liu Changmin's death than meets the eye. All the people Bai Miao had killed before were villains, even Vice Minister Cheng was someone whose death was insignificant; only Liu Changmin was a truly good person.
When Bai Miao impersonated Liu Changmin, he went to great lengths to mimic the latter's mannerisms and temperament. Yan Liang had to admit that he didn't dislike Liu Bai Miao Changmin when they were together, and Bai Miao didn't have any ill feelings towards him at that time either.
The other person's gaze at him from the second floor of the inn was full of malice.
Yan Liang just couldn't understand this point.
What he did that angered both heaven and man?
Even now, recalling Bai Miao's gaze at that time still sends chills down Yan Liang's spine. Malice taken to its extreme becomes murderous intent, and Bai Miao clearly wanted to kill him back then.
Yan Liang just wanted to get off work quickly so he could go find Bai Miao.
＊
In the dark prison, Yu Huatian sat in front of Yu Ze, looking down at her condescendingly.
"Did he ever stay at the Laifu Inn?"
"have no idea."
This question was obviously very important, as Yu Huatian frowned slightly after hearing Yu Ze's answer.
“I’ve already sent people to search for him… It doesn’t matter whether you talk about it or not, but this question is related to how many people he killed in the capital.”
Yu Huatian said coldly.
Yu Ze's eyelashes trembled slightly as she suddenly recalled Bai Miao's sorrowful words last night that Liu Changmin was not killed by him.
"...No."
Yu Ze said softly.
"He said that the inn was close to the Li residence, and if we stayed there, we might be recognized."
Author's Note: Yesterday's wasn't anti-theft; it was just that I, being an idiot, copied and pasted it twice OTZ. Today, I'm a bit "word counted" (。).
Yes, the app is still incredibly unreliable; I'm going crazy from all those loading and multitasking messages.
When will Green Gigi get an upgrade? Sigh.
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