Qin Jiuye stood frozen, her limbs refusing to move.
Why was Su Lin here? Had the events of last night finally alerted him? Or was he already so close to the Qiu family that his presence in the Protector’s courtyard was merely a routine visit?
Before she could think it through, his voice reached the door.
“It seems the Protector has a guest.”
Through the gaps in the half-drawn bamboo blind, Qin Jiuye could see the hem of Su Lin’s robes, embroidered with interlocking scroll patterns, and his pristine, bifurcated shoes adorned with beast motifs.
With the enemy at the door, the young woman stood paralyzed in a dilemma. In that moment, the young Protector took an imperceptible step forward.
The daylight from outside cast a shadow over him, perfectly concealing the person beside him. He offered a brief, formal salute to the figure lingering at the entrance.
“To what do I owe the honor of Master Su’s personal visit? Is there some urgent matter?”
Su Lin’s laughter drifted in, sounding almost leisurely.
“Nothing urgent. My mother’s birthday banquet yesterday was crowded, and it was inevitable that some guests were neglected. Since the Protector is family, I didn’t bother with formalities then. Passing by today, I happened to remember and brought some sobering soup. Please, do not refuse.”
*They aren’t even married yet, and he’s already calling him ‘family.’ If Su Muhe truly marries into the house, Su Lin will be able to walk through Jiugao City’s medicine trade like a tyrant, untouchable by anyone.*
Qin Jiuye’s expression was grim, but she could say nothing. She kept her head low, searching for a chance to slip away.
Qiu Ling kept his gaze fixed forward, seemingly having forgotten her existence as he continued the polite exchange with Su Lin.
“A small matter like this—how could I trouble you to come in person? You could have simply sent a servant.”
Su Lin laughed again. After a moment, he dismissed the young attendant following him and stepped into the room. Approaching them, he lowered his voice.
“If it were just sobering soup, I wouldn’t have made the trip. My worthy son-in-law does not know—this fish broth was personally simmered by Muhe since early morning. she didn't let anyone else touch it. She was worried it would cool and lose its flavor on the way, so she wrapped it in layer after layer and insisted I bring it myself. You must not let my daughter’s heart go to waste.”
Su Lin’s voice wasn't particularly loud, but it carried a sense of brazen confidence. Hearing him call Qiu Ling “worthy son-in-law” over and over made Qin Jiuye feel as though she were sitting on needles; she didn't want to stay a moment longer.
She stole a glance upward, trying to read Qiu Ling’s expression, but his back was turned to her, hiding even the profile of his face.
A moment later, she saw him slowly reach out and take the exquisite lacquer box.
“I thank the young lady for her concern.”
Qin Jiuye’s heart sank inch by inch.
In that moment, the lacquer box didn't seem to hold slow-simmered fish broth, but rather a freshly sharpened fillet knife.
And who was the fish? Naturally, it was her—the blind little loach who had delivered herself right to their door.
Earlier, she had used the Su family to provoke Qiu Ling, but that was merely a desperate gamble of reverse psychology. She hadn't truly believed Qiu Ling would be in league with them. But now, seeing Su Lin emerge from his courtyard and watching the two of them engage in this polite back-and-forth, she was suddenly unsure. Amidst her terror, she felt as though she had stumbled into a wolf’s den, realizing her actions today were nothing but the folly of someone trying to be clever.
Indeed, how could he be any different? He was younger, better-born, and might struggle a bit longer, but in the end, he would become just like those people she saw in the Su residence yesterday—blurred, towering, terrifying faces with hollow laughter.
“We are family; there is no need for formalities,” Su Lin said, clearly satisfied with Qiu Ling’s reaction. He patted the younger man’s shoulder. “Now that the delivery is made, I should head back. Lest my daughter waits too long and starts complaining about her father again.”
Qiu Ling stood straight and unmoving. As Su Lin withdrew his arm and turned to leave, Qiu Ling followed him for a few steps.
At that exact moment, a gust of wind blew through, slightly lifting the bamboo blind.
Qin Jiuye felt the outside light spill across her face. In the next heartbeat, Su Lin’s silhouette paused.
“I didn't notice before, but the Protector’s guest… looks somewhat familiar.”
The surroundings fell into an instant silence. Qin Jiuye could almost feel Su Lin’s predatory gaze lingering on her face.
She knew that keeping her head down was useless now. Instead, she knit her brows and looked up with a miserable expression. Relying on her usual shabby attire, she performed a deep, clumsy bow, managing to evoke the air of a street beggar.
“This… this humble one is not from the city. A master of your noble status, how could you have seen me? You must have misremembered…”
She deliberately used a thick Suiqing countryside accent, aiming to distance herself from the person who had appeared at the Su residence the day before. However, the way her legs trembled beneath her hem was not an act.
Recalling what she had seen and heard in the Su residence, she truly feared that this refined, wealthy gentleman would tear a slit in his human skin right in front of her and reveal the monster beneath.
But the more she scrambled to escape, the less he intended to let her go.
“Is that so?” That terrifying voice drew half a step closer, carrying the leisurely tone of a cat playing with a mouse. “Perhaps the young lady doesn't know, but in all my years of business, I can boast of one thing: I never forget a face. If I recall correctly, at my mother’s banquet yesterday, you were standing beside the second young master of the Qiu family. To see you here today at the Protector’s residence… this fate is truly hard to describe.”
Back at the Magistrate’s office, she had been nothing more than a scapegoat waiting for a cell, not worth a second glance. But yesterday, she had been at the side of that profligate youth. Even a passing glimpse was enough for the sharp-eyed Su Lin to take note.
In terms of catching people out, he was no less skilled than the officers in Magistrate Fan’s yamen.
However, having been tempered by Magistrate Fan, Qin Jiuye’s resolve was now firmer. With Qiu Ling still standing there, no matter how afraid she was, her best strategy was to brazenly deny everything to the end.
“You must be joking, sir. How could I know any ‘second young master’? And where would I get an invitation to attend your family’s banquet? They say Jiugao City is full of nobles, but not all are as easy to talk to as the Protector, who was willing to listen to my idle country talk so early in the morning. I have a common face; you must have seen someone who looks like me. You’ve surely mistaken me.”
Su Lin fell silent, but his gaze never left her face. However, he clearly realized that he was standing in the Protector’s residence, a very different setting from the Magistrate’s office. The lacquer box of fish broth was still in the hands of his "worthy son-in-law." For the sake of appearances, he could not continue to press the matter.
After a moment, Qiu Ling finally spoke again, but to the woman.
“If you have no further business, do not just stand there.”
His tone was as cold as ever, but to Qin Jiuye’s ears, it sounded sweeter than the clinking of coins from the village aunties paying off their debts.
“Yes, this commoner takes her leave.”
With that, Qin Jiuye hiked up her skirts and fled the barren stone courtyard as fast as her feet could carry her.
Su Lin’s eyes remained fixed on the small, thin figure until she vanished completely. Then, he gave a meaningful smile, bid his farewells, and departed.
The courtyard grew quiet again. Qiu Ling looked down at the delicate lacquer box in his hand and called out to the air.
“Lu Zican.”
Before his voice had even landed, the scruffy figure of the bearded adjutant emerged from the shadows in the corner. He hurried over, bowing while rubbing his hands together.
“They’re gone? Did she say anything else?”
The young Protector had no interest in entertaining his curiosity. He simply thrust the box into his hands.
“Take this and share it with Xiaozhou and the others.”
Lu Zican looked at the lacquer box, then his gaze drifted to the familiar paper-wrapped bundle beneath the bamboo blind inside the room. He instinctively asked, “What about the sugar cakes…?”
“What sugar cakes?”
Lu Zican looked up in shock. Seeing his superior’s expressionless face, he seemed to have a sudden realization and immediately backed off.
“Nothing.”
Lu Zican held the lacquer box, but his feet hesitated, his face a mask of suppressed worry.
Qiu Ling, who had been about to enter the room, stopped.
“If you have something to say, say it. If not, get back to work.”
Lu Zican stroked his beard, forcing his rugged face into an expression of delicate concern.
“Miss Qin came to find you today seemingly because of the matters within the Su residence.”
The image of the woman questioning him earlier flashed through Qiu Ling’s mind, and he fell into a brief silence.
She was bolder than he had imagined, and her mind was sharp. Everything he had observed at the Su banquet yesterday, she had also seen. Not only that, she had even detected his own investigative intent toward the Su family. Did that mean her eyes had been lingering on him the entire time? Had she focused her attention so completely on him just to gauge his progress on the case, or was it…
Seeing that he hadn't spoken for a long time, Lu Zican, not understanding the silence, muttered to himself.
“I didn't mean anything by it, it’s just that her expression looked quite poor just now, and Master Su left right after her. I don't know if…”
His train of thought was abruptly cut off as the cold, hard expression returned to the young Protector’s face.
“What? Are the tasks I’ve given you not enough? Or is my governance of this city so poor that you worry a medicine merchant—who just held a massive banquet and whose entire household is embroiled in a murder case—would dare to silence a witness in broad daylight?”
His thoughts exposed, Lu Zican’s beard twitched, and he quickly lowered his head.
“This subordinate wouldn't dare.”
“He wouldn't dare either,” Qiu Ling’s gaze flicked toward the lacquer box as he stepped into the room. “A startled bird may be restless and prone to testing the waters, but he hasn't reached the point of a desperate struggle yet. He won't do anything out of line for the time being.”
***
Qin Jiuye hurried out of the Protector’s residence, turning several corners before ducking into a side alley.
She walked so fast that she didn't even notice her shoulder brushing against the dirt walls of the alley; her steps grew increasingly frantic.
The sunlight dimmed as the sky turned overcast, and rain looked ready to fall. Street vendors looked up at the sky, moving their stalls to sheltered spots, while residents hurried to bring in the laundry and quilts hanging in the alleys.
Figures scattered everywhere, and the air grew damp.
After running for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Qin Jiuye finally stopped. Her lungs burned, but she didn't stop to catch her breath, looking back anxiously.
At the end of the winding, dim alley, there were only a few children throwing stones. No one else was in sight.
Had Su Lin truly just remembered her from the banquet, or had he recognized her as the apothecary shopkeeper summoned for Kang Renshou’s murder? Was his mention of it just a whim, or did he already know what she had done that night at the Su residence? She had no way of knowing.
But one thing was certain: Su Lin’s words had been a threat.
Perhaps it was to make her realize the situation—that she shouldn't dream of dragging the Su family down. Or perhaps it was a blatant warning: even if the Su family was guilty of something, they stood on invincible ground now. If she continued to meddle, she should be careful when walking the streets at night.
Right now, the people she could trust might not have the power to act, and the people with the power to act might not be entirely trustworthy. She had come to find Qiu Ling today, betting that the title of "Lord of Severed Jade" wasn't unearned. Though he left no room for compromise and was somewhat rigid, perhaps he was someone she could entrust with this.
But after what just happened, she wasn't sure of her judgment anymore.
*One year in politics, and the pure lotus is broken. Ten years in politics, and the lotus swims through the ferry.*
Who didn't enter with high aspirations and hot blood? But how many could truly emerge from the mud unsullied? Most were pulled into the dyeing vat within a few years by shameless, gold-slicked hands, becoming tools for wealth and social climbing.
The more she thought about the unspeakable complexities and the seemingly predestined outcome, the more she felt an indescribable disappointment and loathing. Su Lin’s face seemed to merge with Qiu Ling’s, transforming into the "monster" she had seen in the darkness that night.
Taking a deep breath, Qin Jiuye propped up her trembling legs and continued forward.
Once she cleared this alley, she would reach the East Side Bridge. It was near Leitian Boulevard and would be crowded; she shouldn't run into anyone there…
Just as she was about to take the final steps out of the alley, a carriage suddenly swerved out, narrowly missing her legs.
She nearly cried out in shock, but the carriage had already stopped, blocking the mouth of the alley completely.
Qin Jiuye had a premonition. She took three quick steps back, already thinking of turning around to retreat the way she came.
The person in the carriage had clearly anticipated her intent and suddenly spoke, stopping her in her tracks.
“I only wish to have a brief chat. Why does Miss Qin turn to leave so suddenly?”
