Chapter 52

Inside the study, the scent of gardenias lingered in the air. Grayish-white wisps curled up from the hollowed incense burner before fading away.

Xie Tinglan leaned back in the armchair, arms folded across her chest, one finger tapping lightly against her sleeve. Her gaze was distant, as if she were weighing something.

Ri Xi, standing nearby, looked anxious. She glanced at Gong Yinzhi, who was also silent, and finally couldn’t hold it in any longer.

"My lord, now that the emperor is dead set on sending you to your death, once he’s done using you, he’ll certainly kill you."

Ri Xi knew the emperor had always harbored that intention. After all, Xie Tinglan handled the filthy, unspeakable things the emperor couldn’t afford to be seen doing himself. She knew too many of his secrets; she was exactly the sort of person he could never keep around. And now that he had already started laying the groundwork, if the time came for him to take Xie Tinglan’s head, wouldn’t that be far too easy?

By then, the common people might even cheer for Emperor Yuan and praise him as a wise ruler.

At that thought, Ri Xi felt bile churn in her throat. Emperor Yuan’s methods were vile to the extreme. Fortunately, Ye Rui had discovered the matter in time; only then had they had room to think of a countermeasure.

Xie Tinglan lifted a hand to signal for Ri Xi not to worry, and said slowly, "For that person to hide himself so thoroughly, I’m afraid those soldiers weren’t real soldiers either."

"You mean the emperor used a martial sect under his command to disguise themselves as soldiers and slaughter the village?" Gong Yinzhi asked, stepping forward. She sounded tense as well.

"Not necessarily people from the jianghu. During this period, this official has kept strict control over every troop deployment record in the Ministry of War. If the emperor had moved soldiers, this official would have known. So those people definitely weren’t troops from the Capital City."

At those words, Ri Xi suddenly had a thought. "My lord, could it have been soldiers sent from Yizhou City? Is that the favor the Duke of Wei granted the emperor?"

Xie Tinglan did not answer. She merely lifted her tea to her lips and blew on it gently. "Several minor noble families have suddenly gained appointments in court; that must be the favor Duke of Wei offered the emperor. If troops had been dispatched from Yizhou City, the movement would not have been small. Our hidden agents would certainly have reported it, yet this official sensed nothing at all."

As she spoke, Xie Tinglan’s eyes turned cold, and she looked toward the movement beyond the door. Yin Yue was dragging in a man whose wrists were bound with hemp rope.

The man was thrown before Xie Tinglan’s desk like trash. Blood streaked his face, and he scrambled upright in terror, dropping to his knees and kowtowing toward Xie Tinglan. "My lord, my lord, I know I was wrong. I won’t dare again!"

Xie Tinglan acted as if she hadn’t heard a word. She lifted her wrist, took a light sip of tea, and then said, "Yin Yue, next time don’t beat someone before bringing him to the study. This official dislikes getting the study dirty."

"Yes, my lord. Yin Yue knows her mistake."

Yin Yue cupped her hands and bowed toward Xie Tinglan in apology. The man, however, was so frightened he swallowed hard, trembling violently and unable to say a thing. Then he slammed his forehead against the floor again and again, his face full of terror. "My lord, my whole family is in that person’s hands. I really had no choice! My lord, spare my life!"

His forehead was already split open, but Xie Tinglan remained unmoved. She didn’t even lift her eyes, continuing to drink her tea at an unhurried pace.

The oppressive silence stretched on for about five breaths. Only then did Xie Tinglan speak. "Who is that person?"

"He’s a counselor under Helian Chi, surnamed Liu. My lord, the Helian family has my wife, children, and elderly parents. I really had no choice!"

Tears filled the man’s eyes. Blood and tears mingled on his face, making him look even more pitiful. His hands were still bound, but they trembled faintly as he fixed his gaze on Xie Tinglan, hoping she would give him a way out.

Helian?

At those words, Gong Yinzhi and Ri Xi exchanged glances. Xie Tinglan, however, remained much calmer. "What did he tell you?"

The man rolled his eyes as he recalled it, then hurriedly said, "My lord, he only told me to report to you that Peace Village was slaughtered by bandits, and after it was done, he would give me a sum of money!"

Xie Tinglan raised a brow. The curve of her lips carried a trace of disdain, which made the man break out in a cold sweat. "You took it?"

The man’s face went even paler. Panic flooded him so completely he looked as if someone had already pressed his head against the blade of a guillotine. His lips parted, but no sound came out.

"This official understands. Yin Yue."

Yin Yue grabbed the man by the back of his collar. In an instant, his eyes nearly split with terror, and he rushed to cry out, "Spare my life, my lord, spare my life—!"

In the end, the man practically screamed the words. The Xie residence had an unwritten rule: if Xie Tinglan intended to kill someone, she would have one of her three attendants take the person away. Yin Yue was the most terrifying executioner among them. If Xie Tinglan planned to spare someone, she would simply let them leave on their own.

As an informant, the man naturally knew what fate awaited him if Yin Yue took him away. Yet his heart-rending cries still didn’t make Xie Tinglan change her mind.

"So the Helian family has also become restless lately."

Xie Tinglan set down her teacup and said, "Recently, a maid in Golden Phoenix Palace hanged herself by throwing herself into a well. It seems... Golden Phoenix Palace has also been infiltrated by hidden agents."

Hearing that, Ri Xi asked in confusion, "If those soldiers were Helian Chi’s people, could they have been guards from his residence?"

Xie Tinglan shook her head; her gaze turned even colder. "This official suspects they were killers they secretly trained."

"They’ve kept themselves hidden for so long; it’s only because that fool Duke of Wei has been stirring up trouble before this official that they’ve had room to act."

Xie Tinglan stopped there, then gave a cold snort. "Since there’s already movement in Golden Phoenix Palace, I expect that one won’t let the Helian family act so recklessly either."

"Then what about us? What can we do?" Gong Yinzhi asked. If it involved killing, Wuming would certainly be able to play a role.

"Yinzhi, find out where those killers are gathering and kill them."

Xie Tinglan raised her hand, rolled up her sleeve, and picked up the wolf-hair brush that held life and death in its grasp. "Leave no one alive."

"By then... wouldn’t the 'bandits' who escaped from the mountain stronghold after slaughtering the village be duly put down?"

Gong Yinzhi nodded after hearing that. "This subordinate understands."

**

"Ow, ow, ow... gentler, gentler!"

Ye Rui could walk now, but whenever she moved, her thigh still hurt. Huan Jing could only support her. Yet Huan Jing walked quickly, and when she pulled Ye Rui along, it tugged at her injuries so badly that Ye Rui couldn’t help howling in the courtyard.

"Hahahaha—! You really are lucky. At this point, this little bit of pain already counts as misfortune turned blessing!"

Huan Jing loved laughing, and she also loved teasing Ye Rui. Too bad she didn’t spend much time in the Xie residence; otherwise, who knew how chaotic the place would be with the two of them messing around.

"Thanks so much for comforting me," Ye Rui said, rolling her eyes.

Huan Jing laughed even harder and helped her sit down. But the moment Ye Rui’s butt touched the stone bench, she shot back up as if electrocuted, crying, "Slow down, slow down, my butt hurts."

"Hahahahaha—! I forgot about that. I’ll get you a cushion from the room. Wait a moment."

Huan Jing was back in no time. Ye Rui felt as if she had barely taken two breaths before Huan Jing returned. With the cushion under her, Ye Rui finally managed to sit down. She looked up at the leafless plane tree and sighed.

"I really don’t understand why you insisted on coming out in weather this cold when your injuries aren’t even healed yet."

Huan Jing sat down too, resting her chin in her hands as she looked at Ye Rui. Then she grinned again. "Still, to think you couldn’t even deal with a few bandits. So much for all that martial training!"

"Were those bandits really that good?" Ye Rui shot her a glare, then pinched Huan Jing’s round cheek and said in mock anger, "If I just couldn’t beat them, what was I supposed to do? I’ve barely been training for a year. Couldn’t you comfort me a little?"

Huan Jing was still smiling brightly, her round eyes narrowed into crescents, completely carefree. Yet when she changed her appearance, she could become an entirely different person. It was truly astonishing.

According to Huan Jing herself, when she and Gong Yinzhi were wandering the jianghu, they encountered a very powerful opera troupe. The troupe leader took a liking to Huan Jing and taught her his exceptional disguise skills, even passing on his own notes and taking Huan Jing in as his only disciple.

Aside from the disguise techniques, those notes also contained a cultivation art called Bone-Switching Technique. No one knew how miraculous it was except Huan Jing, which was why her height could change from tall to short without anyone noticing anything amiss.

Huan Jing puffed out her cheeks exaggeratedly and said in a dog-teasing-dog sort of way, "Then I’ll comfort you a little more~ Poor Ye Rui, your butt got beaten into a flower. Big sister will ache for you."

Seeing Huan Jing’s obviously insincere expression, Ye Rui couldn’t help laughing helplessly. Before she could retort, though, she heard familiar footsteps outside the Smoke and Rosy Clouds Courtyard.

She had never thought she would become this familiar with that person’s footsteps.

When Huan Jing saw the pale-faced beauty standing at the arched gate of the courtyard, she immediately stifled her smile, rose to her feet, and stood straight. "Greetings, my lord."

Xie Tinglan only glanced at her briefly. Her gaze lingered for a moment on Huan Jing’s face, but she said nothing. Huan Jing was usually carefree, but she could still understand the meaning of Xie Tinglan’s silence. She immediately said, "My lord, I still have matters to attend to. I’ll take my leave."

"Mm."

Huan Jing used lightness skill to leave, vanishing without a trace in just a few steps. Ye Rui didn’t even get a chance to see how she moved; it felt like her own eyes weren’t working.

These people’s lightness skill was practically ghostly. Too terrifying.

Ye Rui drew her gaze back and looked at Xie Tinglan. Seeing her hesitant expression, she spoke first. "What is it?"

Xie Tinglan sat down. Her hand moved slightly toward Ye Rui, but Ye Rui did not, as usual, take that hand into her own.

Xie Tinglan’s hand froze, then lowered a little stiffly. She looked faintly disappointed. "There is."

"Go on."

Ye Rui did not look at Xie Tinglan again. Instead, she looked up at the leafless plane tree, thinking that if someone struck the trunk with a palm, all the snow piled on it would surely shake loose.

She rarely spaced out like this while talking with Xie Tinglan. Right now, it seemed as though she was deliberately avoiding looking at her. Only by doing that could she distract herself from the pull Xie Tinglan had on her.

"You’ve had contact with the people in the mountain stronghold, haven’t you?"

Xie Tinglan had considered many possibilities. With Ye Rui’s vigilance and her familiarity with the terrain of the mountains and forests, there was no way she would be ambushed so easily. Since she now knew the truth behind Peace Village’s slaughter, it was very likely Ye Rui had come into contact with someone from Peace Village; and people from Peace Village were inside the stronghold.

Before, she had never heard of bandits in Yushan. Even if there were any, they were only scattered little thieves acting independently. There had never been such a large group of bandits suddenly appearing.

So Xie Tinglan quickly understood: those people in the stronghold were not bandits at all.

"Yes."

Ye Rui then described what had happened in the stronghold, but she left out the part where she had asked Lu Yihua to go find Mu Xue. That was her main quest; it had nothing to do with Xie Tinglan, and she didn’t plan to drag Xie Tinglan into it.

Right... speaking of that, Hu Tu still hadn’t given her her main quest. Didn’t it say it was about to expire?

Hu Tu: [Ah! I forgot, but your injuries aren’t healed yet anyway. Even if I gave it to you, you wouldn’t be able to do it.]

At first Hu Tu had sounded a little panicked, but the more it spoke, the more self-righteous it became. Ye Rui nearly laughed in anger.

Ye Rui: [Whether I’m healed or not has nothing to do with you forgetting to tell me the mission!]

Hu Tu: [Waaah, I don’t want to hear it!]

Ye Rui: [Don’t fake-cry at me!]

After hearing Ye Rui out, Xie Tinglan fell silent for a long time. She was thinking about what she would do.

Perhaps... to protect herself, she would kill everyone in the stronghold.

She had originally thought Ye Rui would complete the mission and return. She believed Ye Rui had that ability. But when the news of mission failure came back, Helian Shaohua’s letter arrived as well. In that instant, fate had forced Xie Tinglan to the edge of a cliff and made her decide Ye Rui’s outcome.

"Because of this, I’ve caused you quite a bit of trouble. I’m sorry."

Ye Rui sighed. A cloud of stale air slipped from her lips, and then she continued, "But I really can’t just watch those old and weak men and women die without knowing why."

"I know that person will definitely send more people. He naturally won’t kill them all; he has to leave survivors to smear you with filthy water again. But I really had no choice..."

Ye Rui knew that once the people were let go, word of Xie Tinglan’s village massacre might well spread. But for now, she could only trust Lu Yihua.

Letting her heart soften and bringing trouble to Xie Tinglan—Ye Rui thought to herself that she really was nothing but a burden.

"It’s fine; I can handle it."

Xie Tinglan’s tone was resolute. That slender body of hers seemed to hold immense strength; with a single sentence, she could block back every wave and storm.

And yet, she was already on the verge of collapse.

"Is there anything I can help with?" Ye Rui wanted to make up for it.

But Xie Tinglan shook her head. "Just focus on recovering. Also, the people you saved will be safe very soon."

Very soon, the real culprit would be brought to justice, and the so-called "bandits" would be wiped out completely.

After saying that, Xie Tinglan rose and left. She looked even thinner than before; even the thick fur robe seemed like it might crush her. Yet she still held herself straight and walked forward through the wind and snow without looking back.

Ri Xi had once told Ye Rui that Xie Tinglan’s decision to sentence her to a military beating had been unavoidable. Ye Rui understood; she had always understood.

But even if someone stabbed you for a reason, the pain was still real.

Ever since she woke up, Ye Rui seemed to have heard very little about the Xie residence. She didn’t know what Ri Xi and the others were doing, and she didn’t know what Xie Tinglan planned to do. Suddenly, she felt as though she no longer belonged in the Xie residence at all. Even without her, the Xie residence still functioned as usual, perhaps even more smoothly.

With Ri Xi handling the civil affairs, Gong Yinzhi and Yin Yue taking care of the martial side, and Huan Jing being as versatile as ever, what about her?

Ye Rui smiled bitterly and slowly stood up, picked up the cushion, and limped back to her room step by step.

The first winter after coming to this world was exceptionally lonely.

**

Hu Tu finally issued the main quest: before winter ended, she had to have a small squad of her own. If she succeeded, her spear skill would be raised to beginner level. If she failed, twenty points of strength would be deducted.

The quest was vague, and Ye Rui had no idea what to do.

Right now, the guards in the Xie residence were all being arranged by Xie Tinglan. Although Li Yun was nominally her subordinate, she still took Xie Tinglan’s orders as her standard.

If there was anyone who could be fully brought under her command, it would only be Lu Yihua.

Two people counted as a squad, right?

Ye Rui wasn’t sure.

During her recovery, Ye Rui did not stop cultivating her internal energy. Since she couldn’t go out most days, she stayed in her room writing down internal cultivation methods and improving Gong Yinzhi’s Fire-Rebirth Art. Gong Yinzhi also came to see her and studied the Fire-Rebirth Art together with her. Two minds were indeed better than one; the progress Ye Rui made was much faster than before.

After seeing what Ye Rui had written, Gong Yinzhi even felt a surge of excitement, as if the Heartfire Art had returned to the world.

Now Ye Rui could move around freely. Having been cooped up for so long, and with the weather so nice today, she naturally made a trip to Beichenfang. But her purpose wasn’t to shop. She was still thinking about Lu Yihua, so she wandered all the way to Dongfeng Ward.

This time she did not bring Li Yun. She didn’t know if anyone from the Xie residence was secretly following her, but in any case they wouldn’t be able to hear what she and Mu Xue said, so it hardly mattered.

Stepping once more into that lavish, intoxicating place, Ye Rui had the strange feeling of being separated from it by ages. As soon as she entered the main hall, the servants were already sweeping. Broken silver lay scattered across the floor; the smell of wine and food that hadn’t yet dissipated was unique to this place. It wasn’t pungent, but Ye Rui didn’t like it.

Before the steward could even lead her upstairs, the stunning Mu Xue came down step by step in a thin robe. Her long legs crossed the stairs, and the servants below all stared wide-eyed.

"Oh-ho~ The fool hero is here~"

Fool hero?!

What kind of bizarre nickname had this big fox given her now!