Tie Ci said, “What do you think?”
“Miss Feiyu seems to prefer luxurious things,” Xiao Wenliu said softly. “I really like this hairpin. How about… I trade lots of jewelry with Miss Feiyu—South Sea pearls, pearl necklaces, red jade… whatever I have, whatever she wants!”
Tie Ci said gently, “Or you could wait until after I give it to her, then try asking if she’ll trade.”
If Feiyu dared to trade it, she’d beat her flat.
Xiao Wenliu fell silent. After a while, she pouted and said, “Forget it, I don’t want it anymore. Once you’ve given it to her, even if I got it, it wouldn’t really be given to me.”
Tie Ci smiled without speaking.
Xiao Wenliu was big-hearted. Before long, she changed her mind again, stuffing pastries in her mouth and saying cheerfully, “It doesn’t matter. Brother Ye, you’re from the imperial capital, and I’ll be going to the imperial capital in the future too. We’ll meet in the imperial capital, and when that time comes, you mustn’t forget me. You must take me around to play in the imperial capital.”
Tie Ci thought to herself: Once you go to the imperial capital, you’ll be Prince Zhao’s heir’s consort, my sister-in-law. When you see me, you’ll have to bow, and when I see you, I’ll have to avoid suspicion. Play together? In the next lifetime, perhaps.
Xiao Wenliu continued chattering, “You’ve been training here for so long—it must be really hard work. Surely you won’t wait until the embankment is completely built? I don’t know why, but I always feel like you won’t stay long… We’ve agreed that no matter who leaves first, we must say goodbye to the other and leave our address in the imperial capital. We mustn’t disappear suddenly…”
Tie Ci gazed at her bright, clear face and suddenly said, “Miss Xiao, we haven’t known each other long, and I’m just an ordinary young man. Why are you so close to me?”
Xiao Wenliu propped her chin, thought for a moment, and said, “I can’t really explain it either. Perhaps that’s just fate.”
Tie Ci smiled slightly, “Fate can be good or bad.”
Xiao Wenliu turned to look at her, suddenly giggled, and said, “Brother Ye, what are you saying? What good fate or bad fate? Are you afraid I have improper thoughts about you? Well, although you’re very good and I like you very much, I’m someone with a fiancé. Since I’m engaged to someone, even if I have some regrets, as long as there’s no broken engagement, I can’t be fickle…” By the end, she was a bit shy, lowering her head and twisting her sleeve hem.
Tie Ci sighed inwardly again. How could that weasel-faced old thief Xiao Liheng have such a descendant?
The two sat in the pavilion, ate pastries, enjoyed the breeze, and chatted for a while. Tie Ci promised to carve her a little trinket before finally coaxing Xiao Wenliu to leave.
She went down to look at the river embankment. The planned new stone embankment was to be built on the north bank of the existing sand embankment, planned to be over a hundred zhang long, a long diagonal strip that could both divert the tributary of Jing River and prevent the rapid waters of Sanhe River from eroding the embankment. Currently, they were still in the pile-driving stage.
She also went to look at the stones donated by merchants—green-colored dressed stones were piled high and long by the river, along with matching stone ingots. The stone materials and other supplies promised by the Xiao family and county office hadn’t been delivered yet.
These materials had been entrusted by the River Works Commissioner to Gu Xiaoxiao for inventory and management, and Tie Ci was also asked to lead people in guarding them. Tie Ci took this responsibility seriously, not only checking daily herself but also secretly having the Nine Guards watch from afar.
Digging an embankment was already a long and massive project. Tie Ci couldn’t possibly wait until the embankment was finished before leaving. She walked around the pile of green stones, touching the stones, thinking about what Gu Xiaoxiao had said—although she’d entered the accounts office, she hadn’t accessed the most core information. It seemed she’d have to steal to see the double bookkeeping.
Tie Ci planned to steal tonight.
Thunder rumbled overhead—it looked like another rain was coming.
Thunderstorms were rare after autumn, but autumn rains were continuous. She feared another autumn flood.
The existing sand embankment would need further reinforcement.
Tie Ci walked forward along the river embankment. Passing the place where bamboo hats were stored, she casually picked up a hat, walked to a deserted spot, and took out a cloth roll from the hat’s brim. After reading it, she tore it up.
This was a message from the two maidservants, saying they’d discovered some problems with the foundling home. For instance, young children would be sent to be raised by wealthy official families. The person who had knocked on the door and been invited away before was representing his master to collect someone—a boy—and the other party was a local garrison commander. There were also some children who would be quietly taken away in the middle of the night every few days, loaded onto carriages. They’d sent people to follow and it seemed they were heading toward the imperial capital. New children would also arrive at the foundling home, but strangely, those who were ugly or had defects would quickly disappear—no one knew where they were sent. Finally, they said the nursery was the strangest—all the babies were soaking in medicine packets, supposedly for strengthening the body, but it felt problematic. They’d already stolen some medicine packets and had the Nine Guards examine them. The Nine Guards said it was normal medicine for treating children’s eczema, but those children clearly didn’t have serious eczema. This matter seemed strange and needed further investigation.
After reading, Tie Ci destroyed the note. She thought to herself: the ugly ones sent to mine, the beautiful ones used as gifts to curry favor with prominent families and as spies. Quite efficient.
But thinking was one thing—she still needed evidence. She had to wait for Xiahou’s response.
Since the purge at the academy, the Nine Guards had been completely under Xiahou’s control, making them much more convenient for her to use now.
She continued walking along the embankment, not noticing that behind her, Fourth Master Xiao had arrived.
Under his umbrella, he held a thin bamboo tube, staring at Tie Ci’s retreating figure, then looking back at the green stones piled high in the wind and rain, smiling meaningfully.
…
In the foundling home, the servants were all helping the children bathe. After a period of practice, A’san and A’si were now very familiar with the routine.
While bathing a child, A’san whispered to A’si, “That child in bed A-3 was supposedly adopted last night…”
A’si remained silent. They had switched some of the children’s medicine, but because they couldn’t alert anyone and also needed a control group, they’d only switched the medicine for two or three children. The child in bed A-3 was one whose medicine hadn’t been switched.
That child was sturdy and plump, white and chubby. In the later stages, the blood vessels under his skin showed a faint dark purple color.
A’san had a keen nose and had once smelled medicine in the soup drunk by the wet nurse who specifically fed that child.
A’san suddenly lowered his head, fished out a medicine packet to examine carefully, and said in surprise, “Eh? How come this medicine packet has such fine stitching?”
The medicine packets here had been switched by the two of them, using ordinary medicine for treating children’s skin conditions. Because it was a temporary switch and they weren’t being particular about it, they remembered the medicine packet stitching being rather coarse.
Now the medicine was unchanged, but the packet seemed to have been opened and re-sewn.
A’si said nothing. After a moment, he slowly turned his gaze toward Meihua and Xinghua.
For no particular reason, he just felt that if someone had opened and examined their medicine packets, it should be these two women.
A’san suddenly exclaimed, “Brother, brother!”
Hearing the sound, Meihua turned around to see A’si staring at her lecherously, with two streams of bright red blood slowly flowing from under his nostrils.
Meihua: “…Lecher!”
A’si: “…”
A’san said with wide eyes and rambling speech, “Brother, brother, the Ten Complete Great Tonic Pills were too much of a supplement—you’re having another nosebleed! You need to switch to different pills, brother, brother, hey don’t walk away!”
…
The gambling den in Tianping Ward had recently welcomed a gambling addict.
Gambling dens never lacked gambling addicts, but this one quickly stood out—when he entered the gambling den, his cheeks were sunken, his clothes dusty, and his expression weary, clearly having just arrived after a long journey. But the fatigue of travel couldn’t stop his high spirits. He entered, sat down, and for the next three days and nights, except for relieving himself, he didn’t budge from the gambling table. Even eating and drinking were done with someone feeding him.
The man had deep-set eye sockets, but his gaze burned like demon fire, like an addict who had finally found his precious fix—he felt it was a waste to look away even for a second.
Such a gambling gourmand naturally couldn’t be let go. The gambling den’s dealers used every trick in the book to keep him immersed in the gambling world, unaware of day or night.
At first he won, but later he naturally lost. By the end, silver became just numbers, banknotes rustling as they piled up in front of him and were pushed out again, lamplight reflecting on his pale, dazed face.
In the rest room on the second floor of the gambling den, under a green gauze lamp inlaid with emerald and jewels, sat Feiyu in wide robes and flowing sleeves, her long hair like flowing water, gleaming black as it swept over her shoulders. Through the half-open window, she could see the slightly shining forehead and nose of the gambling addict below.
A knock came at the door. She said “Enter,” and a gray-clothed man with ordinary features came in, saying softly, “He’s lost everything again. Should we add more?”
This was already the seventh such inquiry in the past two days.
Feiyu flicked her fingers and said, “Add, of course we add. My eleventh brother finally gets to indulge once—how can we not let him play to his heart’s content?”
The man received his orders and left.
Another person in the room said in a deep voice, “I saw him bleeding from the nose just now. If this continues, he might really collapse face-first onto the gambling table.”
On the table, several jasmine flowers in a blue and white porcelain vase bloomed white and elegant. Feiyu gently pinched the flower stem with her fingers and smiled, “How pitiful.”
That person lowered his head, thinking that the sons of the Murong family were indeed pitiful, having encountered this master.
Take the gambler below, for instance—the dignified Eleventh Prince, now hoarse and disheveled, no different from a street ruffian.
He’d only heard before that there were drugs that made people addicted with no escape, but he hadn’t expected gambling addiction to be so terrifying.
The Eleventh Prince originally had no gambling addiction. In royal families, discipline was strict, and there were no opportunities to touch such things.
He had been seduced into it by this person.
Luring him to gamble, luring him to play, making his addiction grow larger and larger. When he was most unable to extricate himself, she sent people to secretly report to Noble Consort Jin.
How could Noble Consort Jin allow her son to develop such a bad habit? Immediately, the entire Jin family mobilized, completely blocking the Eleventh Prince’s gambling paths from all directions, having people watch him without blinking.
A gambler under such restraint would originally improve gradually. But this person would occasionally send people to do some casual gambling activities wherever the Eleventh Prince appeared.
For example, some servants playing cards, or some concubines having cricket fights. Each time letting him see, but resolutely not letting him participate.
Unable to play but always seeing it, seeing it but unable to satisfy his addiction even once—his addiction was hung even more cruelly, making him scratch his ears and cheeks daily, losing interest in food and drink.
Then at this time, someone suddenly mentioned to the Eleventh Prince the various gambling den attractions in the interior.
Only after getting this hint did the Eleventh Prince remember that while Liaodong was full of the Jin family’s spies making gambling impossible, who could control him once he left Liaodong?
But how to leave Liaodong was another problem.
Then it was like a drowsy person meeting a warm pillow—trouble broke out within the Jinzhou garrison, with several soldiers fighting and ultimately involving the entire camp in chaos. The Great King sent people to investigate, and the Eleventh Prince, upon hearing this, actively took on this assignment.
Jinzhou garrison was originally the closest hook extending toward Da Qian. From there, going to sea, one could cross the strait and land in just one day, then ride fast horses for two or three days to reach here.
The Eleventh Prince must have thought the sea was vast enough for fish to leap freely, not knowing that everywhere were nets spread by the Eighteenth Prince.
Otherwise, how could Jinzhou garrison have had trouble so coincidentally?
Coming to this gambling den, the Eleventh Prince threw himself into the sea of gambling, gambling until heaven and earth were dark, completely unaware that his money had long been lost.
Among those he brought were the Eighteenth Prince’s people, while those truly loyal were blocked outside the gambling den.
When the money was gone, the Eighteenth Prince helped him add more. Tianping Ward allowed collateral pledging. At first, they added money, later it was objects—for instance, this time they added the deed to an estate a hundred li outside Dongming County. The previous object deeds had all been fake too.
If he lost again, the debt owed by the Eleventh Prince would probably require selling the Liaodong royal palace.
This embroidered guard in the room had seen killings and deaths, but at this moment couldn’t help but be secretly alarmed by his master’s methods.
Such serpentine planning, patient scheming—who could resist?
Downstairs, under the bright lights, the Eleventh Prince’s eyes were already full of bloodshot veins.
He gripped the cards in his hand fiercely. When someone beside him tried to dissuade him, he gritted his teeth and said, “One more round. If I win back my capital, I’ll leave. After playing this once, I’ll definitely quit!”
With a “crash,” the cards clattered crisply on the jade table surface. The Eleventh Prince slightly lifted his buttocks, craning his neck to look. After a moment, he slumped back in defeat.
“Eleventh Master…” the person beside him pulled at him.
The Eleventh Prince rubbed his face roughly, “Again.”
The dealer tapped the table, “Where’s the silver?”
The Eleventh Prince was startled. Having gambled smoothly all along, he’d forgotten about betting stakes.
“Where’s the silver?” he asked his attendant.
“It’s long gone…”
“Then… my things?” The Eleventh Prince felt for ornaments on his body—he’d brought some valuable items before coming.
His hands came up empty.
“…Those were pawned long ago too…”
“Then I now…” The Eleventh Prince was about to ask what his current betting stakes were since everything was long gone, when suddenly several burly men hurriedly squeezed in, their faces fierce as they said, “Wrong! That deed is forged! The estate owner is still at home and doesn’t know what happened at all!”
With a thunderous sound, countless people stood up on all sides.
The Eleventh Prince had been sleepless for days, his brain power exhausted. At this moment, his mind was in complete chaos. Seeing people pressing close, he hazily thought he was still in a gambling den in Ruzhou and put on airs, angrily saying, “What worthless scoundrels dare be rude to me? It’s just a bit of silver…”
The dealer cut off his words, smiling coldly, “Just a bit of silver—three thousand one hundred twenty-six million nine hundred thousand taels and seven qian. Rounding off the change, three thousand one hundred twenty-six million. Please bestow your payment now, young master.”
The Eleventh Prince stared blankly, laboriously turning his brain. It took him a long while to react to this number, then he flew into a rage, kicking over his stool, “Nonsense! How could I have lost so much!”
The dealer’s eyebrows shot up, anger rising from his heart. Who in Tianping Ward didn’t know the backing power? Since opening, when had anyone dared cause such trouble?
However, the Xiao family’s style had always been rather cautious. He looked the Eleventh Prince up and down, feeling this skinny monkey did have some bearing. Remembering Fourth Master’s previous instructions, he couldn’t help hesitating. Just as he was about to explain a few more words, someone suddenly came in and hurriedly whispered a few words in his ear.
The dealer’s eyebrows shot up sharply.
Well now! Not only was the deed fake, but some of the precious objects pawned before were also fake, and among them were things that could only be tributed to the emperor, as well as stolen goods with government rewards.
This was digging a pit for the Xiao family!
Turned out to be a bandit!
The dealer lost his last bit of patience, spat, and said, “Lost the gamble and won’t pay, even making fakes to frame us. Even if we’re kindhearted people, we can’t tolerate such insolence!”
“Who dares—” Before the Eleventh Prince could finish, someone behind him pressed his head and with a “bang” slammed his face into the table.
His followers—some swung stools, some took advantage of the chaos to escape. The Eleventh Prince shouted, “Scoundrels, stop! I am…”
His voice was drowned in the punches and kicks.
Layer upon layer of people pressed down.
During this, the Eleventh Prince tried several times to struggle out. After all, he came from the Liaodong royal court, and though short of breath and weak, he shouldn’t have been completely suppressed by these thugs.
On the second floor, Feiyu leaned against the railing watching, suddenly flicked her finger.
A thread of cold light precisely wound through the chaotic, overlapping crowd and shot into the Eleventh Prince’s kidney area.
The Eleventh Prince convulsed once, groaned twice, and gradually could no longer speak, his body slowly going limp.
The gamblers had long scattered. Only the gambling den’s people remained in the room. The “bang bang bang” of fists hitting flesh echoed stiffly and dully in the room.
Feiyu smiled as she plucked flowers at the railing. With each punch, she plucked off a jasmine petal.
Snow-white jasmine petals fluttered down from the second floor, falling into the center of the crowd, then being ground into mud by those fists.
Like scattering a sky full of spirit money.
The Eleventh Prince, amid the chaotic waving arms of the crowd and the gradually fading pain throughout his body, finally managed to open his eyes with difficulty. In the interwoven swaying black shadows overhead, he saw the vast white falling from above, and in that whiteness, half a face with smiling eyes and brows.
That person’s eyes rippled like water, seeming angry yet pleased.
His mind cracked like lightning, as if struck by a flash. Something wanted to surge from his throat. He opened his mouth, but at this moment a fist heavily struck his chest. From his open mouth, black blood silently flowed out.
The broken flowers, white mist, and that lightly smiling face flashed like lightning, then were eternally extinguished.
People were still “bang bang” pounding away, but that body had already lost all sound.
Someone suddenly said, “Eh?” stopped his hand, and turned the person over.
After a moment of silence, someone said, “Beat him to death?”
The dealer frowned, leaned over, and said, “Handle it the usual way.”
“Yes.”
The gradually cooling corpse was carried out, that pale face always with mouth wide open and eyes staring, probably having many words left unsaid.
Feiyu watched quietly from the second floor.
In a trance, she saw a child running on land where ice and snow were melting, his face and hands already cut by countless small wounds from stones and ice chunks due to falling repeatedly, but not daring to stop.
Behind him, packs of giant dogs roared in pursuit, their foul-breathed mouths almost touching his heels.
Someone on the hillside laughed, calling to those giant dogs to surround him.
The child suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground. Immediately countless giant dogs leaped down, pressing down on him layer by layer.
The chase became a melee. The sounds of fighting, shouting, dog barking, and the hearty yet twisted laughter of those blood-related brothers on the hillside wove together into a clamor that nearly drowned everything.
The child’s shrill voice nearly pierced people’s eardrums.
“Bite! Bite! Tear his face apart!”
“Right, tear off his face skin, so this little seductress can’t bewitch us and get us scolded by Mother Consort!”
“Since he likes being a woman so much, bite that thing off too!”
Suddenly a mad bark rang out. One giant dog struggled out of the pack, rolling together with that small person in the mud at the bottom of the hill.
That dog’s howl was mournful, drowning out countless other sounds.
The children on the hillside gradually fell silent.
They saw below that the child had bitten down on the dog’s neck, refusing to let go no matter how wildly he was shaken. Under the mutual force, the skin on the dog’s neck was slowly torn open, continuing to rip all the way to the dog’s face.
The other giant dogs, frightened, fled with tails between their legs.
The children on the hillside were stunned like wooden chickens.
Below, with a “hiss,” the dog barked madly once—half its face was gone.
The dog couldn’t even care about the pain. With a roll, it struggled desperately to rise and fled, bleeding.
Only that child remained, disheveled all over, crawling up to sit in the muddy snow water.
After a long while, he spat viciously, spitting out a mouthful of bloody dog skin and fur.
…
Feiyu smiled, watching as the corpse was carried past right below her floor.
She flicked her finger.
The last complete jasmine flower floated down, landing precisely on Murong Zhang’s face, covering his eyes that had remained wide open in death.
…
Author’s Note: My bronchitis is acting up, coughing all night without being able to sleep. I’m too lazy to even set up chapter updates, so today there’s just this one chapter. I really don’t have much saved up, no energy, and there are activities coming up. Of course, I still shamelessly ask for double monthly votes—you give one, I give one, and later Tie Ci will lull you to sleep.