Chapter 29
The midday sun was warm enough. Because Xie Tinglan was sensitive to the cold, the study still had a fire burning in the stove, and the whole room was pleasantly warm; even so, it couldn’t melt the frost on Xie Tinglan’s face.
Gong Yinzhi frowned. Beneath her mask, she looked puzzled. She glanced at Xie Tinglan, then at Ye Rui. What exactly were these two talking about, with all this nonsense about how nothing could escape calculation?
She had already received a letter from Ri Xi saying that Xie Tinglan had brought back a very interesting person. Now, seeing Ye Rui speak so boldly while Xie Tinglan showed no anger at all, the relationship really did seem even more interesting than Ri Xi had said.
“Please trouble Miss Gong to send back a reply: I’m unwell today. I threw up several times in the middle of the night yesterday, and my stomach still hurts today. I haven’t had a drop of water, so I need to stay in bed and rest.”
Gong Yinzhi: “……”
She looked at Ye Rui, who was sitting straight-backed and idly tapping her chopsticks against the bowl while looking full of energy, and couldn’t help smiling helplessly. “All right, I understand.”
Seeing Xie Tinglan’s expression visibly relax, Gong Yinzhi didn’t stay any longer. This place probably couldn’t fit a third person.
After Gong Yinzhi left, Ye Rui asked, “Mu Xue is as sly as a fox. If I don’t go this time, will it affect your plan?”
“I’ve already promised her one thing, so your decision won’t affect my plans. Her invitation to you is a private matter.”
Xie Tinglan gave a subtle emphasis to the words “private matter.” How could Ye Rui not understand? She shrugged and said, “I have no private matter with her.”
Yesterday Mu Xue had invited her onto the painted pleasure boat and said she wanted to be friends with her, but she hadn’t agreed yet. So there was no private matter between them.
Xie Tinglan raised a brow but said nothing; the gloom between her brows had eased quite a bit, though. She picked up her spoon again and continued eating. Ye Rui had thought this meal might finally end quietly, but after she finished writing on the slip in her hand, she asked, “You said earlier that Mu Xue said something that made you angry. You went to the pleasure boat last night?”
Xie Tinglan’s hand paused, then she kept eating and answered indifferently, “I did. And what of it?”
“So you fell ill because you were caught in the cold wind?”
Although Xie Tinglan had been poisoned, and Ri Xi and the others all knew it, no one ever mentioned “poison” outright. They only spoke of “falling ill” or “a chill acting up.” Ye Rui followed suit.
“Autumn and winter are the seasons when it’s easiest to get sick.”
After saying that lightly, Xie Tinglan passed Ye Rui a book from the table. “Don’t talk while eating or sleeping. Don’t disturb me.”
Ye Rui was still worried about her, but seeing that she was willing to eat now and her complexion had improved somewhat, she relaxed a little. She took the book Xie Tinglan handed over; it was an old yellow-bound volume titled Records of the Jianghu.
Xie Tinglan actually read this kind of miscellaneous book? No, wait—how could Xie Tinglan not read miscellaneous books? She clearly loved them!
For some reason, Ye Rui thought of certain indecent books, and her face heated. She lowered her head at once to flip through the pages so Xie Tinglan wouldn’t notice anything strange.
On the first page, she began reading carefully.
This was a story told from the perspective of a female hero. The martial world was divided into three sects and four schools: the Heavenly Blade Sect, the Absolute Sword Sect, the Immortal Sound Sect, the two schools of Chaoyang and Wangshu in Jiangnan, and the Feiyu Sect of Sichuan and the Poison God Sect of Miaojiang.
Because the founding emperor had issued a ban on weapons and martial arts, these sects had originally been very restrained, occasionally sparring but rarely ever engaging in vendettas or killings. Later, one could only say that each generation was worse than the last; enforcement of the ban grew weaker and weaker, and martial forces began to rise. By now, though they still couldn’t be called a riot of blossoms, they were indeed beginning to grow stronger.
Reading this, Ye Rui thought that the founding emperor had issued the weapons ban to consolidate imperial power and prevent these fighters from disrupting the order of his new nation. Later, once the country’s foundations had become stable, the two former emperors chose to turn a blind eye because these martial forces could serve as their blades, doing the dirty work that couldn’t be seen.
By now, the martial world had the three sects and four schools. Compared with the era of the former emperors, its power was even more formidable, yet the emperor still hadn’t moved against it; that sent a very clear signal.
There were imperial people among these sects.
The Nameless organization secretly controlled by Xie Tinglan was infamous; it was a killer organization looked down on by the righteous path, hated by all as a demonic evil sect. But Xie Tinglan and the emperor did not share the same heart; Nameless, this hidden trump card, was surely Xie Tinglan’s alone, not the emperor’s.
In the book, this female hero came from the Immortal Sound Sect and had been raised from childhood by a local gentryman surnamed Luo... Wait, surnamed Luo, the Luo family, the Immortal Sound Sect? The Luo family that had been wiped out by Gong Yinzhi?
Was the author of this Records of the Jianghu Gong Yinzhi?
With that guess in mind, Ye Rui read on even more seriously. It turned out to be a handwritten journal told in the first person. The heroine was named Yin. She had originally been an orphan in the wars of Qingzhou, and later the local soldiers couldn’t bear it and sent her to a Luo gentryman in neighboring Shanhe City.
But that was the beginning of her nightmare. The Luo gentryman was known outside as a great benefactor, but behind closed doors he sold the children he had adopted to brothels; otherwise, he would give them to corrupt high officials and profiteers in exchange for benefits. Yin was the one he especially cultivated, and she only learned his true goal from a disgruntled old maid in the household. Later, that maid even helped her successfully escape from the Luo family.
On the road after their escape, they passed a mass grave, where she discovered the girls who had once eaten and lived with her. One by one, their bodies had been mutilated; they lay naked on the filthy ground. That night, Yin grew up overnight, and hatred took root in her heart.
Those girls had all been only fourteen or fifteen years old, yet they died under the filthy desires of human beings.
Later, the maid fell seriously ill and died along the way. Yin then happened to meet members of the Immortal Sound Sect, and from then on she entered the sect as a disciple. After ten years of martial training, Yin became the most gifted person in the Immortal Sound Sect, and the one most qualified to inherit the position of sect master. Yet she chose instead to defect from the sect.
Yin returned to Shanhe City and, with one performance of "Ode to the Luo River Goddess," wiped out the Luo gentryman’s entire household, sending all the imprisoned girls to the Immortal Sound Sect. She gave no explanation, nor did she allow the Immortal Sound Sect to explain. Her infamy spread from there, yet no one knew she had returned to the mass grave and buried all the bones with the hands she used to play the qin.
Because of Yin’s affair, the Immortal Sound Sect entered a semi-retired state and had not concerned itself with the affairs of the martial world for a long time. Yin’s name, however, only grew louder and louder. Many people called her a female demon and came hunting her down. She killed many people; some were good, some were bad.
She passed through many towns and met many people. Her Jianghu was full of blood and storms, yet it was also not without tales of chivalry and tenderness.
“Reading that intently?”
Xie Tinglan’s voice interrupted Ye Rui’s thoughts. Ye Rui lifted her head from the book and met Xie Tinglan’s beautiful eyes, which held a trace of amusement.
“I called you twice and you didn’t hear me.”
As Xie Tinglan spoke, Ye Rui gave an “ah” and quickly closed the book. “I was really too absorbed. What is it?”
She glanced over and saw that Xie Tinglan had already finished the official documents in front of her. It wasn’t even past noon; this was...
Xie Tinglan leaned in with a clearly unkind look, and while she was speaking, she had already lifted her slender, snow-white hand.
“Were you deliberately trying to tease me just now?”
Xie Tinglan covered Ye Rui’s face with her hand and, just like before, used the pad of her thumb to gently rub Ye Rui’s lips. Her gaze lingered on Ye Rui’s mouth so hotly it almost burned.
“What?”
Ye Rui’s thoughts were a little muddled; when she opened her mouth, she nearly bit the cool tip of Xie Tinglan’s finger. She turned her face slightly aside and thought back to the messy, flirtatious things they’d just been doing, then protested, “You were the one who started it first. And you’re still doing it now.”
Xie Tinglan gave a low chuckle and did not let her go. Her fingertips moved to Ye Rui’s earlobe, and a light pinch was enough to raise goosebumps across Ye Rui’s neck.
“So sensitive here?”
Ye Rui’s whole body heated up; her heart was practically about to leap out of her chest. Especially after hearing Xie Tinglan’s shameless words, she really felt Xie Tinglan had learned from those books and put them to use!
Ye Rui pulled back a little to avoid Xie Tinglan’s wandering hand and said, “Why do you have to tease me every day?”
Xie Tinglan’s gaze softened. In a low voice, she said, “The way you look when you lower your head to read...”
She didn’t continue.
That unfinished sentence only made Ye Rui more restless, like a hook that caught her heart tight and wouldn’t let it go.
“Then you still can’t... ”
You can’t just come tease me because I’m attractive! How is that any different from being a creep?
Hutu: 【What! You’re attractive!】
Ye Rui: 【Shut up.】
“You still can’t be so handsy. If you were a man, I’d have already dragged you to the authorities!”
Ye Rui warned Xie Tinglan, and when she saw Xie Tinglan still smiling, she muttered unwillingly, “You won’t even admit you’re jealous, and you still have the nerve to touch me.”
The smile in Xie Tinglan’s eyes gradually faded, and her hand slowly withdrew. “So what if I admit it; so what if I don’t?”
“Bastard woman!”
Ye Rui scolded her, then snatched up Records of the Jianghu and stormed out. “I’m going to train!”
Once I’ve trained well, if you still dare get handsy with me, I’ll haul you off to report you!
Hutu: 【Isn’t she the biggest official in the capital city?】
Ye Rui: 【……】
Fine. Reporting her was impossible, and now I’d gone and paid for it with my heart too. I really am hopeless! People already said this was a matter of physical needs, and I still foolishly went asking for a heart. I’m just... too stupid!
Ye Rui thought again of Xie Tinglan’s ambiguous answer earlier about jealousy, and her heart sank to the bottom again.
She really was a bastard woman; the very worst kind.
Xie Tinglan watched Ye Rui’s angry retreating figure, her brows and eyes darkening. A sigh blended into the autumn light, making her look especially forlorn.
**
That night, Xie Tinglan indeed received a letter from Mu Xue. There was no unusual movement in the residence, but Ye Rui never again saw Gong Yinzhi walking about inside the manor; even Huan Jing was nowhere to be seen.
On the day of the imperial examinations, carriages filled the streets one after another, and famous scholars from all directions arrived in a steady stream. Teahouses and wine shops were full of discussion about the examinations, and the streets were festooned with lanterns and decorations. Every temple was packed with people; the scent of incense drifted through every alley and lane, and from every corner came prayers for success. The market teemed with a dense, restless crowd.
Ye Rui sat in the carriage, drawing back the curtain to look outside. Her gaze fell now and then on citizens arguing loudly, then swept toward empty side alleys, then lifted again as if searching for something.
“Even if a large number of soldiers are needed to guard Shenwu Plaza and maintain order, the defenses outside the imperial city shouldn’t be this empty.”
Only Ye Rui and Xie Tinglan were in the carriage; Ri Xi and Yin Yue were outside with the procession. Hearing Ye Rui’s words, Xie Tinglan didn’t care much, merely letting out a cold laugh. “The authority to deploy the guards was handed over to Helian Chi by that one.”
At that, Ye Rui lowered her voice and asked, “So the assassins you want to root out are Helian Chi’s people too?”
After speaking, she felt that something was off. Xie Tinglan reached out and lightly tapped her forehead. “Idiot. I already said that the authority to deploy them was given to Helian Chi by that one.”
Today, Xie Tinglan wore the court dress of dark red with a gold four-clawed python. She was richly robed and belted in jade; her hair was neatly bound in a crown. When those wide sleeves brushed past, they still carried the incense she had picked up that morning; that tap was not just on Ye Rui’s forehead, it was squarely on her heart.
Ye Rui drew a deep breath and forced down the flutter in her chest, rubbing the spot Xie Tinglan had tapped. She clicked her tongue. “You really are beset on all sides.”
Xie Tinglan closed her beautiful eyes and gave a cold laugh. “That only means I’m a frightening enough threat.”
Ye Rui looked up at her. Today Xie Tinglan had drawn her brows and lined her eyes; her features looked even more ruthless and alluring than usual. Her black-and-white hair was coiled up beneath a crown, and in that red robe with the golden python she was full of imposing force. With just a slight curl of her lips into a cold smile, her aura became dangerously sinister.
Ye Rui thought to herself: no wonder those court officials both hated and feared her. With such an arrogant, wild air, she looked as though the whole world ought to be kneeling at her feet; it would be strange if anyone didn’t want to get rid of her.
“You really do have a good mindset.”
Ye Rui gave a displeased little laugh, then pulled the curtain back again and looked outside. They had already passed the crowded markets; now the carriage was about to enter Yuelong Gate.
Yuelong Gate was a broad avenue, the only road leading to the imperial city. It had been specially opened by the founding emperor to encourage everyone entering court service. Passing through here was like a fish leaping over the Dragon Gate; it lifted one’s aspirations to the clouds and helped build the Great Yan’s backbone and stabilize its foundation.
Back then, the founding emperor had even encouraged men of humble origin to enter officialdom, and the atmosphere was still fairly good. Later, after the founding emperor passed and the new emperor ascended the throne, the power of the great clans and noble houses began to solidify, gradually forming the present situation, where the lifeline of the imperial family was held in the hands of the major clans.
One couldn’t help but sigh again at the old saying: each generation is worse than the last.
Today, the guards at Yuelong Gate were sparse. Ye Rui immediately sensed something was wrong. This place should have been heavily guarded... so were those assassins originally planning to strike here?
Blood splashing across Yuelong Gate; it was also meant to warn those with neither backing nor support not to dream of stepping onto this path to glory.
When the state is ridden with corrupt officials, its fall is near.
Xie Tinglan had kept her eyes closed in rest the whole time. Hearing the carriage wheels rumbling smoothly across Yuelong Gate, she let out a cold laugh. “Looks like Yinzhi has already cleaned things up.”
Ye Rui shivered for no reason at all. She pulled back the curtain and looked at the Great Yan flag fluttering atop the city wall. A flaming eagle flew with the banner, majestic and vivid.
Yet when Ye Rui thought of corrupt officials in power, she only felt a pang of regret. She secretly thought: this banner probably won’t be fluttering for much longer.
She turned to look at Xie Tinglan, her gaze gradually growing deeper.
Was Xie Tinglan’s goal to usurp the throne?
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Author’s note: Little Ye: Bastard woman, bastard woman, all of them are bastard women!
Prime Minister Xie: Come here; I’ll teach you how to write.
Little Ye: Yes, ma’am!