Meeting Grandpa Feng naturally took place in the Bei Zhai, though not in the inner chamber used for receiving close relatives as before. Instead, a formal reception hall had been prepared. Four young eunuchs led us inside, saw us seated, and diligently served tea.
Before the tea could even cool, Grandpa Feng indeed emerged with slow steps, draped in a heavy fur cloak. He smiled and raised a hand, signaling for us to rise from our bows and dispense with the formalities. He sat down with leisurely ease, lowering his eyes as he watched the young eunuchs patiently wrap his legs in two thick layers of warm quilts. Throughout this, I watched him with concern, wanting to see if his complexion was good and if the bitter cold had caused him any discomfort. He naturally sensed my gaze and asked affectionately, "This is truly your first time spending the New Year in the capital. Have you visited the Xiangguo Temple yet? Did you see the Bramble Basin?"
"Of course I visited! I even saw the descendants of the Qi Garden sell the 'Nine Heavens Ring Pendant'!" Seeing that his spirits were good, I felt at ease, and my tone became a bit sweeter and more enthusiastic. "I heard that this year’s Bramble Basin features man-beast combat. When we have some free time in a few days, Qingming and I are going to see it! It’s Grandpa who is so busy he hasn't had a chance to have any fun, right?"
Grandpa Feng burst into laughter, clearly more interested in the Nine Heavens Ring Pendant. He asked for details in a rambling fashion. Fortunately, after buying the 'Forgetful Flavor,' I had brushed up on a lot of practical knowledge about zithers, so I wasn't just speaking empty words. Having heard Zhang Zhuyi play at the Xixi Pavilion, I was able to answer his questions. Wei Qingming listened quietly, occasionally lifting her cup for a sip of tea. Chu Jiangheng, on the other hand, simply stopped drinking altogether. He sat there with a furrowed brow, glaring as Grandpa Feng and I went back and forth, me calling him "Grandpa" so affectionately. In his heart, he likely viewed me even more as one of those fickle, honey-tongued, social-climbing, lowly demon women. His "Ninth Brother Wei" was so good to me; it was truly a case of a hero being unable to pass the gate of a beautiful woman. A lifetime of brilliance and divine martial prowess wasted—when faced with lust, her taste was apparently appalling, her eyes blind... Ah, I shouldn't think about it anymore. Could this fellow really have designs on my Wei Qingming?
Just as my anger was rising and I was locked in a staring contest with Lord Chu, Wei Qingming began to report on official business. She had barely started when Feng Zhen nodded to show he knew. "Qingming, there is no rush. I’ve called all the boys back today. Once everyone is here, we shall speak together."
Wei Qingming respectfully complied. Only then did Chu Jiangheng and I sound the gong and retreat, each huffing inwardly as we turned our heads away from each other.
I continued to vividly recount the interesting things that had happened at the Xixi Pavilion to Grandpa Feng, making him roar with laughter. This time he didn't cough, and his health seemed much improved. Just as I was about to mention Li Zizhuo’s evaluations of the famous ladies present, a eunuch announced an arrival. A clean-cut, lean young man walked through the door. This was Envoy Thirteen, Ye Jun—the one who had collaborated with Lu Lingfeng to lead the pursuit of the Demonic Zither. Thinking about how he had spent three whole days with my Second Senior Sister during their first encounter, my gaze toward him became tinged with pity...
Ye Jun, however, seemed to be in a good mood. Or perhaps, having weathered many storms, he was simply composed and tranquil. He didn't seem at all worried about the lack of progress in his mission. He knelt gallantly on one knee and greeted his superior with a smile: "Greetings, Master Feng. Ye Jun has returned empty-handed and has the gall to come see you first." He wasn't tall, and his joints were exceptionally supple and agile. Most peculiar was his skin, which was white as snow. Sitting across from Wei Qingming, whose face was like carved jade, it was hard to tell for a moment who was fairer. One could only say that Wei Qingming’s skin tone was colder, with a faint blue tint from her veins, while Ye Jun’s was warmer. As the pale winter sunlight spilled across his face, it highlighted his cheerful and handsome features. In the gap as he raised his hand to take a cup, he even revealed a small section of a jade-green tattoo on his wrist.
Feng Zhen smiled and said it didn't matter, asking after his well-being and whether the brothers had suffered any casualties. Since they were only seizing stolen goods, they had at most encountered minor skirmishes with random bandits and thugs along the way. There were no real injuries. Ye Jun finished his respectful report and thanked Master Feng for his concern.
Ye Jun grew curious about me, sitting beside Wei Qingming. His gaze swept over Chu Jiangheng’s sour face—which was pulled longer than the sole of a boot—and he offered a smiling greeting. Before Wei Qingming could speak, Grandpa Feng happily introduced me first. Ye Jun actually rose and cupped his hands with perfect etiquette, saying with a warm smile, "So this is Lady Zhenzhen. We have heard much of you. Now that we’ve met, I’ll have to demand a large jar of fine wine from Ninth Brother Wei!"
"Haha! You should!" Grandpa Feng joined in the teasing. "Drink a few extra cups on my behalf as well."
"Haha, leave it to me!"
Wei Qingming only smiled, saying nothing, her eyes narrowing slightly as she gazed at me. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I returned the greeting to Ye Jun and replied with a smile, "That my humble name could reach the ears of the Envoys is truly overwhelming. However, since you are drinking my wine, you can't drink it for nothing. You must help my husband with her work more often, so she isn't so busy that I don't see a shadow of her for a month at a time!"
Ye Jun and Master Feng laughed loudly. Chu Jiangheng, conversely, felt I was mocking his failure in his duties and his need to come to the door for help. Hearing this, he glared at me again. I certainly meant it that way, and I smiled triumphantly, making him glare even harder.
Amidst the laughter, Li Shuanglin—Envoy Thirty-six—also arrived. He walked in with hurried strides, performed a salute with a swirl of his cloak, and took the seat of honor closest to Feng Zhen. He also laughed, "What’s so funny? Let old Li join the fun!"
The numbers of the Envoys in the Temple were chosen entirely based on personal preference or bestowed by Master Feng; they did not represent a ranking. Otherwise, wouldn't it easily expose exactly how many Envoys there were? Grandpa Feng himself was Fifty. During his tenure as Commander, the Envoys' numbers were all below fifty. Besides these few, Lord Hou Yi, whom I had met at the city gate on the day I entered the capital, was Number Twenty-three.
Li Shuanglin had an elegant name, but he was a coarse man. He was short and stout with a face full of rough features and dark, weathered skin. He was four or five inches shorter than my Wei Qingming. His large hand gripped his cup—the exact same delicate, elegant, small white cup that Wei Qingming held—yet it looked like a tiny thimble in a giant's fist. Observing his manner, one would expect him to say something crude or flirtatious upon seeing a woman like me, but he was clever enough to restrain himself. He gave a hearty laugh, offered a few auspicious blessings, and stopped looking at me. It seemed he was also quite familiar with Wei Qingming’s "dog temper."
Finally, everyone was present, and the pleasantries were exhausted. Just as I was about to bow and excuse myself, Master Feng spoke: "Zhenzhen, you stay." Ignoring the surprised looks of the others, he nodded faintly. "Ajūn, speak."
"Yes." Ye Jun briskly cupped his hands and detailed the process of pursuing the Demonic Zither. "The incident occurred on the night of the eighteenth, at the start of the hour of the Pig. About the time it takes to finish a cup of tea after Xia Ji fled the Xixi Pavilion, my subordinates and I arrived. Lady Lu and Lady Xuesu had already pursued him, leaving clues along the way. Additionally, Captain Liu Shengrong was with them. Only upon meeting did I learn that Ninth Wei had planned ahead, and it truly proved useful." As he spoke, he bowed slightly to Wei Qingming, who returned the gesture.
"Initially, Xia Ji's route was very consistent. Since the speed of the Canshia Realm is far beyond what we can match, if not for Lady Xuesu carrying Lady Lu while marking the trail, and Lady Lu’s Aura-Reading technique being incredibly reliable, we wouldn't have even been able to catch his tail. It was truly shameful. On the first day, we headed south. Later, the carriages requested from the Temple arrived, and only then did we make up much ground. On the evening of the nineteenth, we intercepted Xia Ji in the southwestern suburbs. Immortal Ren He-guang, who was on duty and came to assist, was no match for him, but he did manage to wound Xia Ji. Xia Ji fled in a hurry. Perhaps it was after this that he handed over the Demonic Zither to someone else and they split into two paths. We continued to follow the markers, which is why the next time Xia Ji was encountered, it was by Jiangheng’s team."
As he spoke, he naturally glanced at Chu Jiangheng, who gave no reaction. Thus, Ye Jun continued: "The strange thing is that when the Demonic Zither moved, its speed did not decrease; it remained at Canshia speed. In truth, for a Canshia master, this speed isn't the fastest; he was just leading us in circles to try and shake us off. What’s eerie is that by the hour of the Ox on the twentieth, the Demonic Zither actually re-entered the capital through the northwestern Yiqiu Gate. It then cut diagonally across the city and exited through the southeastern Wangchun Gate. Less than ten miles into the suburbs, the markers disappeared."
Feng Zhen only nodded after listening and signaled for Li Shuanglin to speak. His side of things was much simpler: "The disappearance of the two young ladies, He and Zhou, was reported to the Capital Governor's Office by the manager of Xixi Pavilion. We didn't receive the Imperial Decree until the next morning. We’ve searched for three days, scouring both inside and outside the city. Miss He was not on the same line as the group with the Demonic Zither, nor was she in the direction of the Prime Minister's daughter. She was taken directly to the western suburbs and locked in the back garden of a wealthy demon family. That family had no idea a girl had been stuffed into their backyard, let alone that she was the daughter of a high official. The old patriarch fainted on the spot. Out of pity for the elderly, I only invited his eldest son to stay with us for a while. We found Miss He yesterday morning, and only then did we learn that Miss Zhou had parted ways with her early on the nineteenth. We were tracking them based on items engraved with their family crests, but Miss Zhou had naturally been..."
If I hadn't been present, he surely would have said "stripped bare" with a lecherous glint in his eye. In the end, he just cleared his throat and stopped himself. "Cough, the items were gone; they were all stuffed onto Miss He to mislead old Li."
Finally, it was my turn. I recounted my experience of being kidnapped and trapped. In truth, the Wen family only learned of their daughters' disappearance in the early hours of the nineteenth. Wen Gan had been awakened by the commotion at Xixi Pavilion. Being clever and meticulous, she worried for Wen Jiang and Wen Qi and sent people home to inquire. Only then did they realize the two were missing. Back and forth, nearly an hour was wasted before the Wen family reported it to the Capital Governor. For such incidents, the noble families in the capital would ideally use Feng Zhen’s connections, but as the leader of the 'Pure Stream' faction and an opponent of Chancellor Zhang, Prime Minister Wen refused to associate with Feng Zhen to show his stance. It was even more impossible for him to seek help from Feng Zhen when trouble struck. He could only deploy all his family guards and, at most, seek help from Lord Pan Derong of the Court of Judicial Review. As one might imagine, those two offices knew nothing of illusions. It just so happened that the line involving Wen Jiang used the most illusions, so how could they possibly find her?
When Wei Qingming explained these intricacies to me, she had smiled and patted my head in praise: "One Zhenzhen is worth a hundred thousand soldiers. Otherwise, Jiang-jie’s escape would have been left to fate."
However, the cold remark she made before entering the Bei Zhai reminded me: since Prime Minister Wen disdained seeking help from the Temple, Chu Jiangheng’s appearance in the southeastern suburbs was indeed strange. He claimed it was for the "Demonic Zither and Xia Ji," but that line was miles away from the route of that person and object... The truth was that he had come for us. It was hard to say whether Master Feng had planned ahead and secretly ordered him to find the Prime Minister's daughter, or if Chu Jiangheng had acted on his own...
Only then did Feng Zhen ask for everyone's opinions. Li Shuanglin laughed, "The 'Star of Wisdom' is back. Master should ask him."
Master Feng turned his piercing gaze toward Wei Qingming with a smile. She leaned forward slightly and began to speak slowly: "The key to Xia Ji’s plan was to disperse and tie down the Temple’s manpower. For instance, Miss He’s clothing was intact, yet she carried Miss Zhou’s belongings. With this office's usual efficiency, such a kidnapping would yield results within three days. Perhaps this was intended to buy about three days of transport time for the Demonic Zither to reach their intended hiding spot. Originally, Misses He and Zhou didn't need to be put in danger; the kidnapping of the Prime Minister’s daughter was enough to achieve this goal. Only because the Palace of a Thousand Colors failed did Xia Ji temporarily change his strategy. Thus, Miss He’s drop-off point was chosen hastily, requiring the two to be separated to delay us further."
"However, there were unexpected circumstances—namely, that a disciple of the Illusion Sect from the Mountain of Former Dreams was also at Xixi Pavilion and placed a marker on the Demonic Zither. Xia Ji’s slow speed was likely due to him researching a way to break the mark along the way. As for the battle in the southwestern suburbs..." Wei Qingming gave a playful smile. "It wasn't that he couldn't maintain speed and was caught by me, but rather that he took the initiative to attack as a diversion. After this, our side would naturally assume Xia Ji fled with injuries and had separated from the Demonic Zither."
Ye Jun wasn't at all annoyed at being criticized for his performance. Instead, he slapped his palm down with relish. "Exactly! I also guarded against that possibility and sent a team to pursue Xia Ji. But since he has illusions to protect him, the trail went cold before we could pursue him for long."
"In fact, he eventually merged back with the Demonic Zither’s true destination. This move was merely to shake us off and buy some time," Wei Qingming said. "During this period, the markers Senior Sister Lu saw were transformed by illusions. Xia Ji took the opportunity to completely resolve the marker and verified that illusions could be used to simulate it. Therefore, after that battle, the routes we pursued are all suspect."
Ye Jun frowned. "Then, if he removed the marker from the Demonic Zither, couldn't he easily send it anywhere in the fourteen provinces of Great Jing? Our diagonal crossing of the city was completely wrong."
"That is the second layer of the plan," Wei Qingming’s smile deepened. "If we had deployed troops to search in all directions, we would have played right into Xia Ji’s hands. The destination of the Demonic Zither is indeed within the city, and it lies precisely on this line that we saw through and then dismissed—the line connecting the Demonic Zither's path from the northwestern Yiqiu Gate to the southeastern Wangchun Gate."
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 备斋 | Bei Zhai | A study or office area used for preparation or receiving guests. |
| 九霄环佩 | Nine Heavens Ring Pendant | A famous historical Tang Dynasty zither (guqin). |
| 棘盆 | Bramble Basin | A festive arena or display area, often used for performances during festivals. |
| 相蓝 | Xiangguo Temple | A major Buddhist temple in the capital (Kaifeng). |
| 令使 | Envoy | A specific rank or title for agents within the Temple/Bureau. |
| 叶十三 / 叶钧 | Ye Thirteen / Ye Jun | Envoy Number 13. |
| 李卅六 / 李霜林 | Li Thirty-six / Li Shuanglin | Envoy Number 36. |
| 廿三 | Twenty-three | Referring to Envoy Number 23 (Hou Yi). |
| 宜秋门 | Yiqiu Gate | A gate in the northwestern part of the capital. |
| 望春门 | Wangchun Gate | A gate in the southeastern part of the capital. |
| 故梦山 | Mountain of Former Dreams | The name of the sect/location associated with the protagonist's senior sisters. |
| 大景 | Great Jing | The name of the fictional dynasty/empire. |
