Chapter 27: Praise
It always snowed at night these past few days.
When Shen Zhishu arrived at the Banquet Again Pavilion as scheduled, she did not rush to lift the curtain, but instead took off her white fox fur great cloak and shook off the snowflakes on it.
It was late at night, and there were fewer pedestrians. The welcoming staff had long since disappeared.
Shen Zhishu lifted the curtain and entered, almost bumping into a young girl squatting by the main door.
This girl was the manager’s daughter. She patted her thighs and stood up, letting out a surprised “Ah,” “The General has arrived early, Her Highness the Eldest Princess has not yet arrived.”
Shen Zhishu smiled, “What are you squatting here for? You gave me quite a scare.”
“I’m practicing the horse stance,” the young girl was much more composed than last time, and she said matter-of-factly, “My mother said that my constitution is really weak, and she told me to practice the horse stance whenever I have nothing to do.”
Shen Zhishu looked her up and down and shook her head, “I think you’re quite well. If you don’t plan to join the army, being healthy is enough. There’s no need to pursue a body of sinewy muscles.”
“But my mother wants me to join the army,” the young girl said. “My mother said that becoming a soldier and going to the battlefield to defend the country is the lifelong pursuit of the people of Nan’an.”
Shen Zhishu thought to herself that this “lifelong pursuit” was quite easy to achieve. She could just go to the Ministry of War and sign up tomorrow.
Shen Zhishu replied casually, “That’s simple. You can come to the General’s Manor tomorrow and find me. I’ll arrange a position for you in the military camp.”
“Really?” The young girl’s eyes lit up.
“Absolutely true,” Shen Zhishu smiled. “But going to the battlefield means losing an arm or a head, are you not afraid?”
The young girl said seriously, “The General is not afraid, so I am not afraid either.”
Just as Shen Zhishu was about to praise her, she suddenly heard a rustling sound from the curtain behind her.
She narrowed her eyes and looked over, and saw the Eldest Princess, wrapped in a moon-white snow robe and holding a white marble hand warmer, standing tall and jade-like at the entrance, about to step in.
Their eyes met, and the Eldest Princess nodded slightly.
The three of them stood in the narrow walkway in front of the counter. The scene was very similar to the last time, but Jiang Yu did not say “flirting.”
She slowly and methodically took off her outer robe, handed it to the attendant behind her, and asked in a faint voice, “When did the General arrive? Have you been waiting long?”
“Not long, I just arrived.”
Jiang Yu nodded and turned to the young girl, “Has the Bi Fang Pavilion been tidied up?”
“My mother had someone clean it early in the morning, just waiting for Your Highness’s arrival,” the young girl said.
Jiang Yu then turned and walked straight up the stairs, leaving behind a faint voice—
“I’ll go upstairs now, the General can do as you please.”
…What’s there to do as I please, where else can I go?
Shen Zhishu thought to herself, flicked her sleeve, and also grabbed the railing to follow.
**
Shen Zhishu had originally thought that the Bi Fang Pavilion was just a small room that could be tidied up with a little cleaning. How could the word “tidied up” be used?
But when she stepped in and saw the round table, the Eight Immortals table, the chaise lounge, and the bed, she let out a long sigh of relief and thought to herself that she was still too inexperienced.
After the attendants had all left the room, Shen Zhishu couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t we just talking about the assassin? Is it necessary to make such a big fuss? Setting aside the rest, what’s with the bed?”
“This matter is quite complicated, and I estimate that we will be talking for a long time. I was thinking that if the General can’t hold on, you can rest here for the night,” the Eldest Princess said. “I see that the General is not unfamiliar with beds. You have already dragged me to roll around twice before, haven’t you?”
…Was the Eldest Princess making a joke?
How could someone make a joke with a tone that had no emotional fluctuation, like “the weather is so nice today”?
Shen Zhishu let out a dry “Ha” twice, “That’s true, but the scenes were different. The first time, it was Your Highness who asked me. The second time, it was natural. This time, it’s a little baffling.”
Jiang Yu glanced at her, didn’t respond to the “baffling” comment, and went straight to the point in a faint voice, “I have thoroughly searched Qiuyan’s belongings and found one thing that is a little unusual.”
“What is it?”
Jiang Yu took out a silver note from her wide sleeve, “This was found in her trunk.”
Shen Zhishu asked, “What’s wrong with this?”
“Palace maids mostly use real gold and silver for transactions. Firstly, the amount of a silver note is large, starting from fifty taels, and it’s difficult for them to get so much at once; secondly, silver notes are not easy to store, and if you lose one, you lose fifty taels, which would be heartbreaking for a long time.”
“So, this silver note was probably given to her by the person behind the scenes?”
“Indeed.”
Shen Zhishu smiled, “I knew there was someone behind her, and when they drove her to do this, it must have been through coercion and inducement, and the inducement must have been mostly money. This discovery of Your Highness is of no great use, at most it confirms the speculation that ‘there is someone behind her’.”
“Don’t be anxious, General, I’m not finished yet,” Jiang Yu said. “Every silver note has a batch number. I had someone thoroughly investigate the circulation of the silver note through the batch number. Although it was a little difficult, I finally found something.”
“Hmm?”
“This silver note was originally from the batch of ten thousand silver notes that the Emperor bestowed upon General Huang Shizhong.”
“The name Huang Shizhong sounds a little familiar…” Shen Zhishu suddenly remembered what Xie Jin had told her during the day, “Huang Shizhong is in charge of the Left Infantry,” and she understood in her heart, “Is this General Huang under the command of the First Highness?”
She paused and sighed, “But this doesn’t prove anything. Perhaps the silver note was spent by General Huang and passed through several hands before it reached the person behind the scenes.”
“The silver note is brand new.”
“This also…”
“I have checked the accounts of General Huang’s manor for the past year, and on the surface, this batch of silver notes has not been spent.”
“…!”
Shen Zhishu was truly astonished—
Wait, you can even check this???
Jiang Yu said in a faint voice, “Do I have to say this so bluntly?”
“No,” Shen Zhishu frowned. “I’m just being cautious and suspicious.”
“The relevant evidence is not convenient for the General to view,” Jiang Yu said. “It all depends on whether the General believes me.”
Shen Zhishu immediately replied, “I naturally believe you.”
“Why?”
Shen Zhishu raised an eyebrow slightly, stared at her intently, and suddenly leaned back in her chair:
“Your Highness’s question is quite interesting. You are telling me these things, isn’t it because you hope that I will believe you?”
As she spoke, she sat up again, leaned forward, and looked directly into Jiang Yu’s eyes, saying softly:
“If I’m half-believing and half-doubting, you won’t be happy.”
Jiang Yu sat there motionless, narrowed her eyes, and answered irrelevantly, “Are you flirting with others again?”
“…Slander,” Shen Zhishu smiled. “How would I have the guts to flirt with Your Highness?”
“That’s hard to say,” Jiang Yu said faintly. “After all, the General has always been brave and valiant.”
Shen Zhishu’s long and rough fingers idly rubbed the table, and she raised an eyebrow and said:
“Is Your Highness praising me?”
Jiang Yu narrowed her eyes and stared at her for a moment, then looked away:
“Yes, I am praising you.”
Their forms of address were already in a mess. Shen Zhishu hadn’t called herself “this subordinate” for a long time, and the Eldest Princess was calling her “General” one moment and “you” the next.
So a certain awkward sense of intimacy quietly emerged.
And at this moment, they were talking about serious matters, so this sense of intimacy seemed a little… strange.
Shen Zhishu frowned and was about to turn the conversation back when her wrist, which was about to reach for the teacup, suddenly paused.
She put her index finger to her lips, made a “shh” gesture, and said in a low voice, “There seems to be someone outside.”
Jiang Yu paused and asked in a low voice, “Aren’t our attendants guarding outside? Are they not people?”
“That’s not what I mean,” Shen Zhishu said. “That person… has a very strong killing intent. They should have taken countless lives. We who walk on the edge of the blade are more familiar with this kind of aura, so we can sense their presence.”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t know this person’s motive, but there’s no movement outside, so our attendants probably haven’t discovered them. They should be hiding somewhere, waiting for an opportunity to strike.”
Shen Zhishu was about to analyze further and say something like “Are they here to assassinate,” when she saw Jiang Yu, who was sitting calmly at the Eight Immortals table, suddenly stand up.
The next moment, Jiang Yu sat down beside her.
“I know where that person came from and why they are here,” the scent of cedar in the small space suddenly became strong, and along with it, Jiang Yu’s low and indifferent voice, “…Please help me one more time, General.”
