Shuiyun Jian.
Zuo Suiran stood by the window, staring at the dagger in his hand, lost in thought.
He recognized this emblem.
But why would they appear in this place?
He dared not hand the item over to his subordinates. After carefully wrapping it in a handkerchief from his embrace, he tucked it away.
Just then, the madam of Shuiyun Jian came up with an account book.
“General Zuo, here is what you requested.”
Zuo Suiran shed the casual demeanor he used when speaking with Bai You'an, appearing very serious now.
After a few brief inquiries, he ascertained the likely identities of the deceased.
In fact, he had already guessed they were from the Northern Barbarians.
This was why he hadn't been in a hurry from the start.
Northern Barbarians dying in Dayuan was unusual, but not a significant problem.
He had his men search them, but none of them carried travel permits.
Therefore, they must have come by stealth.
Entering secretly, they wouldn't have survived anyway.
As Zuo Suiran reviewed the account book, he pondered strengthening defenses.
“Have there been any unusual individuals visiting the establishment recently?”
The madam trembled all over, clutching her handkerchief.
“Reporting to the General, this establishment conducts legitimate business…”
“I am asking if there were any unusual individuals, and after the incident, are all the guests residing in the establishment still here?”
The madam thought for a moment and then shook her head. “There have been no unfamiliar guests.”
As she spoke, she led Zuo Suiran towards the exit. “All the guests in the establishment are also accounted for.”
As the two walked along the corridor, they saw two youths emerging from the room where Song Qingchao had previously resided.
After a few questions, Zuo Suiran concluded that these two were not the perpetrators.
One was frail and scholarly, while the other wore a sword at his waist. He looked good, but truly didn't seem capable of silently taking down so many Northern Barbarians.
The primary reason was that hidden guards would not appear in the open.
Even when tasked with a mission, they would not be as ostentatious as the two before him.
Zuo Suiran felt the dagger in his embrace was a hot potato. It seemed he needed to inform Chang'an about this matter.
The Mobei region was no longer peaceful.
Night fell.
Shuiyun Jian was not filled with the usual revelry and song tonight.
The madam had placed a sign at the entrance stating, "Closed for three days."
This action caused some unwitting guests to curse at the entrance.
After all, Shuiyun Jian operated normally even during the New Year!
Taking a holiday after the New Year had passed – were they trying to starve them?
The madam also sympathized with the patrons, so she could only offer a smile outside and say, "There will be an eighty percent discount upon reopening," before the disgruntled crowd finally dispersed.
Once the crowd had dispersed.
The madam then sent away some of the hired laborers.
However, a young servant who emerged from the back courtyard of Shuiyun Jian did not return to his so-called home. Instead, he made a detour, eventually circling back into the rear courtyard of Xiyun Ge.
He entered the familiar gate without triggering any mechanisms.
Upon reaching the main hall, he could see the lights on the third floor were lit.
He habitually waited for someone from upstairs to fetch him.
There was a hierarchy among the nightingales of Xiyun Ge.
The third floor was not accessible to just anyone. If someone ignorant were to barge in, let alone what might happen to them, the installed mechanisms alone would be enough to give them a rough time.
After being escorted to the third floor, the servant respectfully bowed. “Sir, Shuiyun Jian will be closed for three days.”
He then recounted all the events that had transpired at Shuiyun Jian that day.
“Shuiyun Jian’s defenses are extremely stringent. Outsiders like us, hired personnel, are not allowed to enter the main hall of Shuiyun Jian. I usually can only stay in the kitchen and interact with the maids of Shuiyun Jian. However, based on my experience, the maids inside are also not simple people.”
He paused. “If not for that incident today, I wouldn’t have been able to enter the building at all. I just didn’t expect them to dismiss all the externally hired staff.”
“It matters not.”
Xiaoguo, from beyond the wall, transcribed the nightingale’s account into a letter and then let the nightingale depart.
After the nightingale left, she followed Song Qingchao’s instructions and placed the letter into a small box.
Then, with a twist of the knob, the entire box vanished into the secret chamber.
On the other side,
Song Qingchao had already returned to the base northwest of Lingshi Valley.
She was leaning by the stove, holding a small pair of tongs and roasting the tangerines she had brought back.
Zhou Si stood by her side, afraid to speak.
Although the temperature recently had been just right, and the wind not particularly strong, Zhou Si felt as if he were about to freeze.
“Zhou Si.”
“Yes.” Zhou Si jolted back to attention. “Master.”
Song Qingchao pointed to the box on the table.
“Get it for me.”
Zhou Si obediently went to retrieve it.
Had Zhou Si not been spacing out, he might have noticed that the box hadn't been in the room before.
Song Qingchao opened the box without any reservation and took out the letter to read.
She frowned. “You left the dagger behind?”
Zhou Si lowered his body slightly. “Yes, Master.”
“Can that dagger trace back to you?”
“Reporting to Master, that dagger can only be traced to the Third Prince.”
“Excellent.”
Song Qingchao’s furrowed brow relaxed.
Zhou Si’s disposal of the dagger was indeed well-executed.
Water should not be clear, nor should there be fish.
As for the Mobei region, the messier it was stirred up, the better.
Moreover, from Xiaoguo’s letter, another group also wished to stir up trouble in Mobei.
Shuiyun Jian, in order to protect her and Hangzhou Shi, had found two similar individuals. This was something Song Qingchao hadn't expected.
She thought Shuiyun Jian would hand her over.
“Zhou Si, go find Zhou Yi and the others, and collect all the daggers.”
“Yes.”
Zhou Si left without a word.
This was precisely what Song Qingchao liked about him.
If it weren't a time when she desperately needed people, she would truly want to bring Zhou Si, Wu, and Liu with her.
She casually tossed the letter into the stove and burned it.
Then, she summoned Aunt Fang.
Aunt Fang bowed respectfully.
“Aunt Fang, I recall you mentioning that the First Prince is stationed three hundred li away, correct?”
As she asked this, she clearly noticed Aunt Fang’s unnatural expression.
But Aunt Fang still answered her.
“Yes, Master.”
Song Qingchao nodded with satisfaction. “Then, allow me to ask, is this First Prince named Wanyan Xiyin?”
Surprise flickered in Aunt Fang’s eyes, but she still nodded. “Yes, the First Prince Wanyan Xiyi possesses immense strength from birth and is skilled in military strategy. If not for the reason of the late Empress, the First Prince would have been the most formidable heir to Northern Barbarians.”
Song Qingchao felt a tinge of disdain in her heart.
She knew how Wanyan Xiyi had ascended the throne in her previous life.
The patricide and fratricide were not clean, and to further spite his youngest brother, he had also inherited his father’s wife, who was the mother of the young prince.
Song Qingchao’s tone shifted. “Setting that aside, if it were you, which of the Northern Barbarian princes do you think is most suited to ascend the throne?”
Aunt Fang didn’t know what Song Qingchao was planning.
But under his intense gaze, Aunt Fang mustered her courage. “This servant believes the Second Prince is capable of the position.”