After dealing with that nuisance of a General of the Left, Xiao Nanhui pulled the curtain shut with a stony face and plopped back onto the cushion. The carriage began to move slowly once more.
After a moment, she felt someone watching her. Turning her head, she found Zhongli Jing observing her with a faint, unreadable gaze.
She curled her lip. "What? Now that you’ve discovered I’m just a lowly Squad Leader, do you feel I’m no longer worthy of sharing a carriage with you?"
Zhongli Jing shook his head. "Not at all. I simply didn't realize before that you held such a strong grievance against the current Emperor."
She froze for a second before realizing he was referring to her accidental grumbling from moments ago. She immediately tried to play dumb. "What are you talking about? I don't quite understand."
"The words Squad Leader Xiao spoke just now—have you forgotten them already?"
"I have a poor memory."
"No matter. If Squad Leader Xiao does not remember, I do. You said... the Emperor has poor eyesight."
Her face stiffened, and she forced a jagged, mirthless smile. "Did I? You must have misheard."
"You also said..." Zhongli Jing’s sentence was cut short as Xiao Nanhui lunged forward and clamped her hand over his mouth.
Her palm was not soft and delicate like that of an ordinary woman; instead, it bore a thin layer of hard calluses, rough enough to be slightly abrasive.
His lips, however, were even softer than they appeared. His warm breath nearly scorched her hand, causing her to inexplicably recall the scene by the stream earlier—the way he had plucked the fruit from her hand with his teeth.
Xiao Nanhui abruptly yanked her hand back.
Silence fell over the carriage. The conversation, halted mid-sentence, was left unfinished; neither of them moved to pick it up again.
The final leg of the journey back to Que City passed in this quiet, steady manner.
In the final moments before the sun dipped behind Mount Shuxi, Xiao Nanhui finally reached Que City, just before the gates were barred for the night.
The journey to Huozhou had only taken about a month, yet she felt as exhausted as she usually did after returning from a full military campaign. In the past, whenever she returned to the city after a month away with the army, her first stop was always the Wangchen Pavilion to find Yao Yi. Her hair grew quickly, and if it wasn't trimmed for a long time, it became difficult to manage during marches. Du Juan would never allow her to cut her own hair, so she always had to seek Yao Yi’s help.
This time, she was going to see him again. But it wasn't for her hair; it was for the contents of that box.
"Many thanks to Brother Zhongli for the use of the carriage on this trip. Since we have returned to the city, let us part ways here. I imagine Brother Zhongli has urgent matters of his own to attend to."
Zhongli Jing glanced at Xiao Nanhui and nodded with easy grace. "Naturally. However, we are still near the city gates, and there are many eyes and ears here. Let us proceed to the vicinity of Dingyu Road before we bid Brother Yao farewell."
Xiao Nanhui found his reasoning sound and nodded in agreement.
The carriage traveled for the time it took to drink a cup of tea before slowly coming to a halt.
For some reason, the noise outside the carriage seemed even more boisterous than it had been near the city gates.
"Are we there?"
Ding Weixiang had already opened the door, signaling that Xiao Nanhui could disembark.
As she hopped down from the carriage, she realized that the surrounding area had been filled with numerous stalls. Each stall hung a lantern covered in pink paper, and beneath the lanterns, crowds of people bustled—mostly young ladies and older women. The stalls were selling trinkets, rouge, and face powders.
"Is it a festival today?"
Hearing her, Ding Weixiang turned around. He looked surprised at first, then remembered something and looked back at her. "It’s not exactly a festival. It’s the city’s annual Peach Blossom Fair. The merchants set up night markets, and most of the visitors are women. Since Squad Leader Xiao isn't interested in such things, it’s natural you wouldn't know."
She had heard of the Peach Blossom Fair, but as Ding Weixiang said, she was a martial artist. Forget rouge and powder; she rarely even wore hairpins or rings. She had never personally visited such a gathering. Seeing it now, it was far more lively than she had imagined.
In that moment of distraction, the crowd around them grew denser. She didn't want to run into any acquaintances, so she turned to tell Bolao to hurry and organize the luggage.
"Xiao Nanhui?"
A sharp, shrill female voice exploded behind her, like a jagged fingernail scraping against her ear.
At the same time, that short stump Bolao acted like a mouse seeing a cat. He gave Jixiang’s belly a hard kick and vanished into the crowd like a streak of lightning.
Truly, whatever one fears most is what one encounters.
She didn't even need to turn around to know who was calling her.
Relying on the cover of the crowd, Xiao Nanhui decided to pretend she hadn't heard, shrinking her neck into her shoulders like a coward.
"Xiao Nanhui!"
The voice drew closer, now tinged with anger and a certain level of conviction.
She shifted her posture, prepared to endure a bit longer, when the man in the carriage before her chose that exact, cursed moment to speak: "Oh? It seems there is an acquaintance of yours over there."
Xiao Nanhui closed her eyes in despair. She heard a flurry of hurried footsteps, and in the next second, Du Juan’s "demon claws" clamped onto her shoulders and spun her around.
"Xiao Nanhui! This old lady was calling you—how dare you pretend not to hear?! So you finally know to come back? Why didn't you just stay out there and die!"
Du Juan hated being called old, so she rarely referred to herself as "this old lady" unless she was absolutely livid.
It was dusk, and the street was filled with both casual strollers and people heading home from work. Du Juan’s shout caused everyone to turn and stare. Xiao Nanhui only wished her face were smaller so she could hide it entirely behind her sleeve.
"Sister Du Juan, I was wrong, alright? Have mercy and stop shouting in the middle of the street."
Du Juan’s elegant brows shot up, though her voice did drop lower. "Oh? You know you were wrong? Then tell me, where did you go wrong?"
Xiao Nanhui stammered, "I... I was wrong because..."
Du Juan huffed. She tucked a newly purchased silver hairpin into her hair, freeing her hand to swiftly twist Xiao Nanhui’s ear.
"Can't say it, can you? I’ve finished my work for the day, so I have plenty of time to spend the whole night chatting with you to see exactly what kind of logic is rattling around in that head of yours."
Xiao Nanhui cried out in pain. She had never understood how Du Juan’s slender, delicate hands possessed the strength of the Abbot of Dabei Temple’s "Withered Zen" technique.
"Wait a moment."
Zhongli Jing’s voice drifted leisurely from the carriage. Du Juan froze, and the strength in her hand instinctively loosened.
Xiao Nanhui wasn't surprised. Most people had this reaction the first time they heard that voice.
"Weixiang, give Young Master Yao his luggage."
Several cloth bundles and the large box gifted by Hao Bai were pushed out from behind the curtain. Finally, a well-defined, fair, and exquisite hand emerged from behind the veil, elegantly and solemnly placing the box she had worked so hard for on top of the pile of luggage. "Young Master Yao must not leave behind this most important item."
Du Juan stared at that hand and swallowed hard, her voice becoming unconsciously gentle.
"Thank you, young master. My Nanhui has a stubborn temperament; she must have caused you a great deal of trouble. I hope you can be understanding."
*Caused trouble? Who caused trouble for whom is still up for debate!*
Xiao Nanhui felt the man was definitely doing this on purpose. He had refused to let her off at the city gates, insisting on this Dingyu Street, and they just happened to run into Du Juan at the Peach Blossom Fair. How could everything be so coincidental?
She was about to bark a question at him when Du Juan’s grip tightened again, this time pinching her hard at the waist.
"You’ve got all your things, now get home with me!"
Before she could have any further interaction with the person in the carriage, she was forcibly dragged away.
Once they were away from the noise of the main street, Xiao Nanhui finally managed to break free.
"Sister Du Juan, stop being angry. I did it for my adoptive father..."
"How was it for him?! You left without a word, and the Marquis was so worried about your safety that he kept sending people into Chizhou to look for you. I don't know what kind of muddy water you jumped into, but his men were coming to the manor late at night to report. The Marquis hasn't had a single night of peaceful sleep..."
So, the reason the assassination attempts had decreased after entering Chizhou was because of Xiao Zhun.
Xiao Nanhui listened blankly, a sour yet warm sensation spreading through her heart. She didn't even mind Du Juan’s mouth moving a mile a minute as she scolded her.
Xiao Zhun cared about her.
In this world, there weren't many people who cared for Xiao Nanhui, so she would repay every one of them with a thousand times the devotion. To have Xiao Zhun among them was the greatest stroke of luck in her life.
Forget seeking a mere Imperial Seal; even if it were the moon in the sky, she would be willing to try for him.
Tucking herself into a corner, she reached out a hand to happily pick up the box at the top of the luggage pile.
However, the moment she lifted the box, the smile froze on her lips.
The box was far too light.
She looked up in a panic toward the street at the mouth of the alley. Amidst the heavy traffic, that carriage was already nowhere to be seen.
Seeing her expression change, Du Juan was confused, but Xiao Nanhui had no time to explain. She hurriedly threw open the box in her hands.
What met her eyes was not a flash of emerald green, but several clusters of deep red.
Lying quietly in the box were three very familiar wild raspberries. Where was there any sign of the Imperial Seal?
***
In the maze of alleys in the western part of Que City, there was a courtyard that looked like a private residence. Though it faced the street, it was a three-story building. Hanging from the triple eaves were rare white jade wind chimes; when a breeze passed, the sound of jade striking jade was crisp and pleasant.
The street-facing gate of this courtyard had no plaque or inscription. Only regular customers knew that this was a jade gallery.
The sky had darkened, and small candles were being lit inside the building. The sound of voices remained thick; it seemed they had not yet closed for the night.
Ding Weixiang drove the carriage to a slow stop in front of the building. A man dressed in black was already waiting there. After the two men disembarked, he drove the carriage away from the entrance.
Zhongli Jing was unburdened and empty-handed. Ding Weixiang was the one holding a certain object. Now that it was out of its box, the treasure was temporarily wrapped in a soft cloth, making it impossible to tell what it was from the outside.
Ding Weixiang weighed the item in his hand, feeling a bit sentimental.
He had seen his master’s "switcheroo" maneuver early on. As a swordsman from a prestigious background, he privately felt the method was a bit underhanded. But thinking about it now, it was a masterstroke—quietly avoiding trouble. After all, if it had come to a confrontation, Miss Xiao would surely have been a difficult person to handle.
"Does Weixiang think I am despicable?"
Even after years of companionship, having his thoughts suddenly exposed gave Ding Weixiang a start. He quickly straightened his expression. "Master has his own reasons; how would this subordinate dare to criticize?"
The man seemed to have only teased him in passing and didn't intend to press the matter. He stepped into the building, and Ding Weixiang put aside his thoughts to follow.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 枢夕山 | Mount Shuxi | A mountain near Que City. |
| 望尘楼 | Wangchen Pavilion | A location in Que City, likely a place for grooming or socializing. |
| 丁禹路 / 丁禹街 | Dingyu Road / Dingyu Street | A street in Que City. |
| 桃花集 | Peach Blossom Fair | An annual night market/festival in Que City. |
| 蓬蘽 | Wild raspberries | Specifically *Rubus hirsutus*, used here as a decoy. |
| 枯禅手 | Withered Zen Hand | A fictional martial arts technique. |
| 偷龙转凤 | Switcheroo / Stealing the dragon to replace it with a phoenix | An idiom for a deceptive swap. |
