Cipher

A chilling wind swept across the snow piled on the eaves of the yamen hall, sending it drifting before his eyes in wisps like white mist. Xu Yuan admitted that for a brief moment, he had genuinely believed the man before him. The man was simply too dignified in appearance, his presence far too upright and awe-inspiring—so much so that one subconsciously assumed he had to harbor some dark flaw. And also because of a certain twisted anticipation hidden deep within Xu Yuan's heart. Xu Mengxi was like an upright little white blossom, always tempting one to stain it with other colors. Because she strictly disciplined herself and devoted herself to public duty, she was ostracized, isolated, and slandered by nearly all her colleagues. In fact, if not for her master backing her, she would likely have found it difficult to take a single step in anything she tried to do, or even had traps secretly laid for her. In such an isolated, friendless situation, a trustworthy senior who shared her aspirations was unquestionably vital for supporting Xu Mengxi spiritually. And if such an upright, stern senior whom she admired turned out to be a lackey of that "traitor who stole the state" in secret... Just thinking about it filled Xu Yuan with an inexplicable sense of delight. Yet pleasure aside, the man couldn't truly become an insider of the Prime Minister's Manor just because of his wishful thinking. If this burly man surnamed Huang, with his face full of righteousness, were really a mole planted by his household, would he use voice transmission to say such trivial, inconsequential things? Xu Mengxi had already said he could be released after going through the formalities. Would an insider risk exposure inside the Secret Investigation Bureau's headquarters just to bring it up to him specifically? What was the point? To purposely make a familiar impression in front of him? Still, Xu Mengxi's temper was truly stubborn. At the slightest hint of suspicion, she would latch on and dig relentlessly; when she couldn't dig any further herself, she called someone else over to keep at it. With these thoughts in mind, Xu Yuan cast a strange look in the direction Xu Mengxi had gone, chuckling softly: "It seems Commander Xu is truly persistent when it comes to the Third Young Master of the Prime Minister's Manor. Does Mr. Huang know what happened between the two of them in the past?" Xu Yuan did not transmit this via voice, but spoke it aloud. His voice was neither loud nor soft, yet several Secret Investigation Bureau inspectors nearby overheard, casting curious, ambiguous glances in their direction. Once the burly man surnamed Huang swept his gaze around, however, the owners of those glances tactfully turned back to attending to their own duties. Turning his gaze back, the burly man nodded in apology with crisp directness: "My apologies. Mengxi entrusted me with a task just now, and it was inconvenient to refuse." As he spoke, he walked toward the interior of the yamen, continuing in a deep, heavy voice: "However, Young Master, I do have a question in mind." Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow and fell into step beside him. "Feel free to speak." The burly man spoke deliberately, yet his tone carried a vein of solemn gravity: "Judging by the cause of your clash with Qin Weishu, your temperament ought not to be refined or gentle. With Mengxi testing you like this, you should have been angry. Isn't your reaction right now a little too calm?" Saying so, he glanced back at Xu Yuan, his sharp sidelong gaze seeming capable of seeing through a person's heart. Hearing this, the corners of Xu Yuan's lips curved slightly. "You want to know why?" "I would ask the Young Master to enlighten me." "Because Xu Mengxi is quite polite. Even when she misunderstands, she still makes me feel respected." Xu Yuan spoke at an unhurried pace, pausing slightly before continuing: "Besides, she shines brightly, so she's very captivating." "Shines brightly..." The burly man narrowed his eyes. Xu Yuan smiled faintly, chuckling in a leisurely manner: "In this murky world, don't you find her dazzling?" "..." The burly man averted his eyes, his tone dropping slightly: "That is... indeed true." "Well then, I've answered your question." Seizing the initiative, Xu Yuan turned the question back on him: "Shouldn't Mr. Huang enlighten me on my question as well?" As they walked, they turned a corner and arrived before an office door. Pushing open the closed door, the burly man said calmly: "That Third Young Master of the Prime Minister's Manor was the first person Mengxi ever failed to catch, and he humiliated her repeatedly in the past." "Humiliated her?" "He had his guards restrain her and forced her to watch with her own eyes as he dismembered several scholars holding imperial examination degrees in a bustling street, then strutted away under the respectful escort of City Defense Bureau powerhouses." "Oh... now that's quite interesting." "..." As they spoke, both men stepped into the room. Rather than an interrogation room, this secret office resembled a yamen hall for handling official business. Aside from a desk facing directly opposite the door, the rest of the room was filled with bookshelves holding dossiers, some of which still gave off the fresh scent of ink. In the four corners of the room hung ink-wash landscape scrolls depicting lifelike birds and beasts, with faint formation patterns flickering across them. Taking a seat, Xu Yuan glanced around and asked softly: "This... should be Mr. Huang's office, right?" The burly man retrieved a blank dossier from a bookshelf, walked back to sit behind the desk, spread open the file, picked up a weasel-hair brush from the side, dipped it in ink, and said softly: "Mengxi instructed that since the Young Master is her savior, taking a statement here will suffice; there is no need to visit the interrogation hall." "I see." Xu Yuan withdrew his gaze, resisted the urge to cross his legs, and sat upright. Having prepared what to say in his mind, he spoke in a measured tone: "Ask whatever you wish, Mr. Huang. If it's something I can share, I will certainly tell you everything without holding back." "..." The burly man raised his eyes to glance at Xu Yuan, but said nothing. He simply began writing on the Xuan-paper dossier himself. ? What did this man mean? Seeing this, Xu Yuan was slightly puzzled. Leaning forward slightly, he glanced at what the man was writing, and his eyebrows twitched upward. This burly man surnamed Huang had actually taken it upon himself to fabricate his fake name, native place, and background entirely. Was the preferential treatment for an acquaintance this generous? Without even asking for his surname, he was providing full door-to-door service? The burly man wrote rapidly, clearly well-versed in churning out official bureaucratic prose. In moments, over a hundred characters flowed smoothly across the page. In Great Yan, the standard formatting for official dossiers was vertical columns, written from left to right. When Xu Yuan looked to the seventh column, his eyes shifted imperceptibly. Due to habits ingrained in his past life, even after so long, he still instinctively scanned horizontally across lines first. And that horizontal glance revealed an acrostic name written by the burly man that was both familiar and strange. Tang Weijun. The Young Celestial Master of the Celestial Master Manor, Xu Changge's lover. A coincidence? A strange feeling spread through his heart, yet doubts lingered. But his subsequent downward glance instantly dispelled all hesitation. Because offset in the bottom row, directly corresponding to Tang Weijun, three characters were written: "Young Celestial Master." And below that: "Someone watching." After his brain blanked for a second, it immediately rebooted and whirred into motion. Countless thoughts gathered and sorted themselves in his head. Xu Changge's relationship with Tang Weijun was an extremely closely guarded secret. If Xu Yuan hadn't broken the ice and exposed it back then, even their old man would have thought his eldest son would remain single for the rest of his life. Which meant... This upright-faced burly man surnamed Huang was truly a lackey of that "traitor who stole the state" back home? The ponytail-wearing constable's trusting gaze from earlier subconsciously surfaced in his mind. Xu Yuan pressed his lips together to stifle a smile, but that twisted sense of pleasure had already welled up in his chest. Even though he had confirmed the other man's identity, Xu Yuan did not act rashly. Earlier, Xu Mengxi had mentioned that this burly man and she were both raised by the Director of the Secret Investigation Bureau. His rank within the bureau was bound to be very high. And using Tang Weijun's name as a cipher meant this was in all probability arranged personally by Xu Changge or his old man. With that thought, a question arose in Xu Yuan's mind. Huaijiu Lane was far from the Prime Minister's Manor, and conveying information took time. He had barely arrived at the Secret Investigation Bureau when this man came looking for him; it was a little too fast. Looking at the timeline, unless his family had responded the very instant he unfurled his soul mist and immediately contacted this hidden agent planted inside the Secret Investigation Bureau... To contact an insider of this rank in such a rush—what did his family want him to help this man do? Looking at the brush strokes dancing across the Xuan paper, Xu Yuan suddenly spoke softly: "Mr. Huang, is this... also at Xu Mengxi's behest?" A few breaths after his words fell, the burly man's deep voice slowly sounded: "From what the Young Master said, it seems certain details are inconvenient to disclose. And since the Young Master is Mengxi's benefactor, it is only right that I handle it on your behalf. If the Young Master is willing to cooperate..." Saying so, the burly man casually tore off the half-written sheet from the desk. Without waiting for Xu Yuan's reply, a burst of flame ignited in his hand, reducing the paper to ashes. Narrowing his eyes, Xu Yuan waved a hand with a smile: "Mr. Huang misunderstands. Since you're willing to write on my behalf, let's stick to what you were writing just now. My identity really is rather inconvenient to disclose." Hearing this, the burly man naturally began writing on a fresh sheet of paper. The contents were almost identical to before, but the acrostic cipher had vanished. *Tap, tap...* Lightly rapping the desk, Xu Yuan asked as though making small talk: "Mr. Huang, you arrived so quickly earlier. Did Commander Xu notify you in advance?" The burly man replied as he wrote: "No. She launched the operation on her own. However, as for this Qin Weishu, we began investigating him quite some time ago." "Because he slaughtered court officials?" "Yes. He murdered a county magistrate. The moment he entered the capital, we began setting up surveillance. Unfortunately, the Celestial Chancellery never issued an arrest warrant." "I see..." Hearing this, the doubt in Xu Yuan's mind was resolved. The burly man's answer sounded very official and seemed seamless on the surface, but in truth it couldn't withstand scrutiny. Slaughtering an official was indeed a grave crime, but unrest had already broken out across the realm. If the Secret Investigation Bureau went to such great lengths over a seventh-rank county magistrate against someone like Qin Weishu, even doubling their armed personnel wouldn't be enough to handle everything. Therefore, the "we" the burly man spoke of referred to the Prime Minister's Manor, not the Secret Investigation Bureau. The Black Scale Guards had laid their plans long ago... Still, what was the inner court of the Prime Minister's Manor aiming for by having this high-ranking bureau official hastily contact him at this specific moment? As he pondered, the burly man's voice drifted over slowly, carrying a faint, subtle trace of anger: "Qin Weishu attacked Mengxi in the street and attempted to strike a lethal blow. For him to act so brazenly, there must be a reason behind it. However, this matter still requires further investigation." Leaning back against the chair, Xu Yuan pondered slightly before murmuring: "Could he have wanted to be captured on purpose?" The burly man looked up, his sword-like brows furrowing, tiger eyes gleaming as he feigned ignorance: "Captured on purpose?" "Do you have any other explanation, Mr. Huang?" Resting his clasped hands upon the desk, Xu Yuan said thoughtfully, "That Commander Xu is your Director's disciple is no secret. If he severely wounded or even killed her, the Celestial Chancellery would have no excuse whatsoever to shield him, so he would inevitably be thrown into prison. "Unfortunately, it's unknown what his goal is in going to prison. Perhaps someone important is locked away in your Imperial Prison?" The burly man pondered briefly. Instead of answering who was imprisoned in the Imperial Prison, he murmured under his breath: "The Imperial Prison is heavily guarded ground. How could a mere Body Integration cultivator stir up any trouble?" With that, he looked up at Xu Yuan and asked in a low voice: "Could Qin Weishu's reliance be his Dao Charm?" "..." Hearing this question, Xu Yuan instantly understood why the burly man had taken the risk to seek him out. Qin Weishu possessed high status. Once the burly man became involved in this case, he would hardly have another opportunity to safely transmit information to the Prime Minister's Manor. He needed to obtain all intelligence regarding Qin Weishu beforehand. Yet the Second Young Master of the Jiangnan Qin family had always maintained a low profile, acting just like an ordinary playboy, offering no leads to investigate. Right now, the only person who might possess intelligence on him was Xu Yuan, who had just fought Qin Weishu in life-and-death combat. Weighing his words, Xu Yuan said softly: "His Dao Charm is related to slashes." "Slashes?" "Slashes with tremendous penetrating power." As he spoke, Xu Yuan casually stroked his Sumeru ring right under the burly man's eyes. Spatial arts... Seeing this, the burly man understood, saying solemnly: "Since the Young Master treats it so solemnly, it seems Qin Weishu's slashing Dao Charm is truly terrifying." With that, he gently set down the brush: "Thank you for this. Before departing, would the Young Master like to see Mengxi?" "The statement is already finished?" Xu Yuan asked with a chuckle, his fingertips still gently stroking the Sumeru ring. The burly man's eyes flickered with slight confusion, but he still replied: "It was merely a formality to begin with, so there isn't much fuss." Xu Yuan pondered slightly, extended his intent-soul into his Sumeru ring, and retrieved an expensive box of rouge, placing it on the desk. The burly man narrowed his eyes: "Young Master, this is..." Xu Yuan rose slowly and said in a low voice: "I won't disturb Commander Xu's interrogation. Please pass this box of rouge along for me, Mr. Huang, as a meeting gift from me to her." Saying so, Xu Yuan gave a light chuckle. "Honestly, your Director holds such a lofty station, yet he hasn't even thought to equip his disciple with a Sumeru ring..." At this point, Xu Yuan paused slightly, chuckling under his breath: "Then again, items like Sumeru rings are quite rare. Earlier, it seemed Qin Weishu didn't have one on him either, though I can't say for certain." The burly man felt a slight jolt in his heart, but kept his expression normal. Putting away the rouge on the desk, he also stood up: "Rest assured, Young Master. I will certainly deliver this rouge for you."