As the tea slid down her throat, she praised, “Good tea.”
Every gesture was exceedingly alluring, yet also very elegant.
However, by the woman in red’s hand lay half a mask. The mask was lacquered a blood-like red, rather demonic, and seemed quite ill-suited to her own visage.
The others, seeing the woman in red drinking tea, drank along with her.
Drinking while thinking: The Deputy Pavilion Master truly loves tea. To be able to praise even such a strong, bitter tea without changing expression.
The woman in red watched her subordinates drinking tea with her and nodded approvingly, then asked, “The messenger said Prince Yan is about to arrive. What are your thoughts?”
One person stood up.
He first cupped his hands to everyone present, then smiled and said, “Deputy Pavilion Master, this subordinate believes we must show Prince Yan our power, let him know the might of our Blood Rain Pavilion, so he’ll be sensible and return our Yard Master!”
The woman in red clapped and laughed. “Well said. Just like a fart.”
That person: “…”
The woman in red sighed. “This Seat is beginning to suspect whether you’re a mole planted by some other organization.”
“The Pavilion Master already said we cannot make a move against Prince Yan, and yet you still want to give Prince Yan a show of power. Looks like… someone wasn’t paying attention during the assembly, were you?”
The crowd roared with laughter.
The person who had proposed the idea, however, turned pale.
Seeing her subordinates laughing so happily, the woman in red was very gratified. “Not listening carefully to the Pavilion Master during an assembly—normally, the punishment would be severing your own meridians.”
“But since you made everyone laugh, this Seat will spare you today. When you get back, cut off one of your own ears.”
The proposer looked at the smile on the woman in red’s lips, trembling all over.
He knew in his heart that because of the last assassination attempt on Prince Yan, the Pavilion Master had begun to suspect that unclean elements had infiltrated the Blood Rain Pavilion.
Greatly enraged, the entire organization had undergone a major purge.
Although his earlier remarks were entirely hinted at and instructed by another Yard Master Shen, since the Deputy Pavilion Master had seen through it, he naturally couldn’t escape punishment.
Each Yard Master had their own faction—it was a common occurrence.
But as of late, the Pavilion Master and Deputy Pavilion Master did not like it, so it should no longer exist.
The proposer gritted his teeth and acknowledged, “Thank you, Deputy Pavilion Master, for your instruction.”
After that, naturally, no one dared to speak.
Except for the man sitting at the lower seat beside the woman in red.
He toyed with a folding fan and said with a smile, “This little student has some thoughts.”
The woman in red looked at him. “Yard Master Shangguan, please speak.”
“I have heard that Prince Yan’s poetry is quite good. That line he chanted in the Jade Splendor Tower is also rather catchy… especially the last line, that ‘new peach’ and ‘old charm’—I liked it very much.”
Listening to the man speak, the man in black sitting beside the woman in red spoke coldly. “‘Always replace old charms with new peaches.'”
The fan-holding man smiled and cupped his hands towards the man in black. “Exactly that line! So Brother Shen also possesses keen insight and greatly admires this poem by Prince Yan.”
The man in black had a cold face, not wanting to exchange one more word with him.
A man who couldn’t even remember a line of poetry, yet was so shameless as to pretend to appreciate the finer arts.
Truly ridiculous.
The woman in red turned her gaze to the man in black and smiled gently. “Oh, right, I haven’t asked Yard Master Shen yet. You and Shen Lan are blood brothers. For this meeting, we should certainly hear your thoughts.”
The man in black spoke calmly. “Shen has no thoughts whatsoever.”
“It is simply a matter of failing to comprehend the Pavilion Master’s intent and doing the wrong thing. We brothers are willing to accept punishment.”
The woman in red waved her hand dismissively. “It’s fine. The organization had been infiltrated by the forces of the Qi Kingdom’s royal family earlier. No wonder you accepted a bounty involving Prince Yan.”
“Besides, some time ago, the Pavilion Master not only purchased a large batch of ‘Spring Mountain Void’ from the Misty Rain Pavilion but also made those death warriors consume Fragrance Pills laced with Gu poison. Let alone you two—even this Seat thought the Pavilion Master intended to make a move against Prince Yan.”
The man in black said expressionlessly, “As it turned out, the Pavilion Master did not. So we all misinterpreted the Pavilion Master’s meaning.”
The woman in red gave the man in black a meaningful glance. “The Pavilion Master’s intention is likely to support Prince Yan in ascending the throne.”
“But as everyone knows, Prince Yan’s legs are crippled. According to the laws of the Qi Kingdom, a person with physical defects has absolutely no chance of ascending the throne. So… what exactly is the Pavilion Master thinking?”
The fan-holding man smiled. “If we could fathom the Pavilion Master’s thoughts, then the Pavilion Master wouldn’t be the Pavilion Master.”
“Deputy Pavilion Master, rather than spending effort guessing here, you might put more effort into preparing the grand gifts to be presented to Prince Yan and the Princess Consort later.”
Thinking of the grand gift she had meticulously prepared, the woman in red seemed filled with eager anticipation. “We must be careful. The person can be mad, but absolutely cannot die.”
“This gift is a welcoming present from the Pavilion Master and myself to the Number One Beauty of Great Yao.”
The man in black nodded. “Rest assured, the person is still alive. According to the arrangement, once the play is over, we can let that madwoman take the stage.”
The woman in red’s mood was somewhat excited.
She closed the lid of her teacup and smiled. “After all this preparation, this Seat truly hopes… the Princess Consort will like it.”
…
Contrary to Xiao Jin’s expectations, the Sunrise Pavilion chosen by the Blood Rain Pavilion was not at all bustling at this moment.
On the contrary, the venue was very quiet. Presumably, all irrelevant personnel had already been cleared out.
But Xiao Jin was not surprised.
Because the Blood Rain Pavilion’s way of doing things was fundamentally incomprehensible to her.
Logically speaking, the Blood Rain Pavilion clearly had a grudge against her. Yet, they had blatantly disclosed their own base of operations to her.
She didn’t know whether it was sheer recklessness or some other scheme.
The Head Manager attended to Xiao Jin and Chu Shao, leading them through a lush bamboo grove.
Passing through winding corridors, they finally reached the entrance of the Sunrise Pavilion.
Worth mentioning was that to facilitate Xiao Jin going upstairs, the Blood Rain Pavilion had—like the Misty Rain Pavilion—hurriedly constructed a “Cloud Ladder” just for this occasion.
The Cloud Ladder rose.
Xiao Jin observed the scenery inside the Jade Splendor Tower, some conjectures forming in her heart.
Some time ago, she had Ye Juege investigate the buyers of “Spring Mountain Void.”
Among the names listed, there were no forces belonging to Xiao Shuang or the Fourth Prince, not even a single one from the Crown Prince’s faction.
She only knew that there was a certain hidden force that even Ye Juege could not trace.
At the time, Xiao Jin had speculated that the Blood Rain Pavilion was likely that mysterious force.
If the Jade Splendor Tower was the Blood Rain Pavilion’s base, and it even had a Cloud Ladder installed…
Xiao Jin recalled the “Spring Mountain Void” Bai Zheng had sent throughout the Imperial Palace that day and reasonably suspected the other party had wanted to use it to cover something up.
But given Bai Zheng’s identity and stance, she clearly had no reason to assassinate her.
That being the case, Bai Zheng was likely unaware of the true situation.
Unaware, yet clearly not implicated, yet still choosing to help the hidden Blood Rain Pavilion cover up the truth.
This meant Bai Zheng was also a member of the Blood Rain Pavilion.
Thinking this way, everything made sense.
The Misty Rain Pavilion’s rise from obscurity to great fame—if it had the support of the Blood Rain Pavilion behind it, it became much more reasonable.
Bai Zheng was merely the daughter of a Minister, yet inexplicably knew someone was going to assassinate the swordsman’s family. Moreover, she had very kindly sent her a warning note.
That sort of behavior, now, also seemed reasonable.
Xiao Jin suddenly felt a chill throughout her body.
Because she couldn’t distinguish between enemies and friends. In this world, the boundaries between friend and foe were not clear-cut.
This meant enemies were still enemies.
And friends… could also be enemies.
Xiao Jin was pondering this when the Cloud Ladder came to a stop at the landing.
Chu Shao used her hands to steady the wheelchair, pushing her forward.
Looking at Chu Shao’s pure white sleeves, and the flute at her waist—somehow, Xiao Jin inexplicably felt a trace of reassurance.
As if she could draw warmth from those lifeless objects.
Chu Shao pushed the wheelchair and turned her head, saying to Xiao Jin with a smile, “My Prince, we’re almost there.”
Xiao Jin nodded.
Indeed. The Sunrise Pavilion was just ahead.
Her enemies were seated inside, yet she suddenly felt the chill on her body lessen.
Perhaps because lurking within the bamboo grove near the Sunrise Pavilion were the most elite Garrison troops of Prince Yan’s Manor.
Juege and Suyu were probably at this very moment standing on some rooftop of the Jade Splendor Tower, wiping their sword blades by the silver moonlight.
Rain drifted through the streets. Xia Sanniang had cried herself to exhaustion and collapsed into bed, entering a dream.
She wondered if the dream would feature Qin Xueting raising her sword, tracing out a blooming flower of sword light.
Tomorrow when she awoke, the morning breeze would brush the willows, and the rain traces on the tombstone would have dispersed.
Sunlight would shine upon the little girl’s name. All things would revive, and it would be a brand-new day.
Xiao Jin suddenly laughed.
Caught off guard, she unintentionally let out the sound of her laughter.
Chu Shao lowered the hand she had raised to knock on the door and looked at Xiao Jin with gentle eyes, waiting for the other to offer an explanation.
This laugh lasted a long time before Xiao Jin reined it in.
She raised her eyes to look at Chu Shao, knowing she was waiting for her to explain why she had laughed.
But her laugh just now was simply because she felt happy.
Because in that moment, Xiao Jin felt as if everyone was by her side. She felt very warm.
And also because, at this very moment, someone was at her side, gazing at her with tender eyes, also making her feel warmth.
But Xiao Jin did not speak the thoughts in her heart.
She only smiled faintly and said to Chu Shao, “I wonder if it’s snowing in the Capital City.”
