Official business had drawn to an end.
Dropping their veiled exchanges, the two men chatted casually about trivial rumors around Di'an as the burly man surnamed Huang personally escorted Xu Yuan out through the Dongqin Gate of the Secret Investigation Headquarters.
The moment they stepped past the entrance, before they could even exchange parting words, the burly man saw a woman in purple silk, her face veiled in light gauze, briskly crossing the snow-dusted grounds to meet them. In her hands, she carried several wrapped packages purchased from Huaijiu Lane.
At the sight, the stern, solemn expression on the burly man's face softened into a faint smile. He cupped his fists in salute.
"Young Master, official duties beckon, so Huang must take his leave here."
Xu Yuan offered a faint smile and replied half in jest, "Naturally. But do remind Commander Xu to keep her word, Master Huang. This matter touches upon the Qin family, and I have no desire to get too deeply entangled."
A wry look crossed the burly man's face as he gave a gentle nod.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan bowed with an easy, fluid grace. "Farewell."
"Take care."
Standing before the yamen gates, the burly man watched until the carriage carrying Xu Yuan and Bai Muxi vanished at the far end of the street. Only then did he turn and slowly make his way back inside.
Just as he stepped over the threshold, his peripheral vision caught sight of a stunning young woman in purple-red official robes, her hair pulled back into a high ponytail, waiting in silence.
A voice carried over, laced with complicated anticipation. "Brother Huang, how did it go?"
The burly man glanced back, amusement and fond indulgence mingling in his eyes. Without breaking his measured stride, he replied calmly, "The sound-transmission formation in my office seemed to have been activated earlier. Someone ought to know full well what I said to him."
"......"
Caught red-handed, Xu Mengxi wore an embarrassed look on her fair, delicate face. Yet this was hardly unexpected; given Brother Huang's cultivation, it would have been strange if he hadn't noticed.
Still, the formation had only let her hear what was said inside the office. She had heard nothing of their conversation along the corridor.
Xu Mengxi fell into step beside him and lowered her voice. "I was just curious. How did your voice-transmission probe go, Brother Huang?"
The burly man pondered for a moment, then chuckled softly. "His reactions were entirely natural, though he did slip up in one regard."
Xu Mengxi's beautiful eyes widened at once. "In what way?"
"Like Xu Changtian, he seems quite fond of your temperament."
*Thud!*
Before he could finish, Xu Mengxi couldn't hold back a sharp jab straight toward his flank. The burly man caught her fist squarely in his palm, the mild shockwave stirring a drift of snow piled beneath the eaves.
Xu Mengxi stamped her foot, half-petulant and half-furious. "What are you talking about, Brother Huang?! What do you mean that playboy Xu Changtian likes me?!"
"Didn't you say so yourself when you came back back then?"
The burly man feigned deep thought for a brief second before murmuring, "How did it go again? I don't recall the exact words, but didn't Xu Changtian say you were an indispensable, outspoken official whom the dynasty couldn't afford to lose? Doesn't that mean he likes your temperament?"
"My point back then was what right did someone like Xu Changtian have to comment on that!"
Her voice rose in exasperation, drawing curious glances from several onlookers nearby.
Knowing full well that the woman was genuinely nettled, the burly man swept a glance over the prying eyes and promptly held up both hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, my fault. But that young gentleman just now meant the exact same thing."
He paused, a glint of amusement in his fierce eyes. "He said that in this turbid, murky world, you shine very bright."
"......"
Xu Mengxi exhaled a few ragged breaths and glared at him. "Aside from that, was there nothing else amiss?"
"From what I observed, nothing for now."
Releasing his grip with a smile, the burly man continued forward, speaking as he walked: "If you truly want to investigate him, wouldn't it be better to haul in that female companion of his and interrogate them separately to see if their testimonies match?"
Xu Mengxi pursed her thin lips and murmured, "I can't do that... After all, that young gentleman is my savior. Targeting his female companion purely on a hunch would be far too offensive."
The burly man shook his head lightly, a complicated look settling in his gaze.
A nightmare.
Piece by piece, the third young master's actions had built themselves into a tormenting inner demon within this girl's heart.
With a soft sigh, he gently advised, "Don't be so stubborn, girl. Even if Xu Changtian isn't dead, what could the current you possibly do to him?"
Reaching into his robes, he produced the box of rouge. "Here, the gentleman left this for you. You must have overheard earlier, so I won't waste my breath."
Xu Mengxi stared at the rouge in silence for a second, then shook her head. "I have no use for such things. You'd best take it back and give it to sister-in-law, Brother Huang."
"It's his good intention—"
"I said I don't want it, so I don't want it. I'm leaving."
"Heh... stubborn girl."
***
The streets of Di'an City bustled as loudly as ever.
Evidently, the slow spread of word-of-mouth among commoners had not yet carried the disturbance in Huaijiu Lane toward the streets surrounding the Imperial Prison, though the City Defense Bureau soldiers patrolling the avenues were noticeably stricter.
Past noon, the warm late-winter sun hung high in the sky, slowly melting the white snow along the roadsides into dirty slush soaked with mud.
Having stepped out of the Secret Investigation Headquarters, Xu Yuan had no intention of rushing straight back to the Prime Minister's Manor.
He was far too conspicuous right now.
Though formalities with the Secret Investigation Bureau were settled, that hardly meant no one would look into him.
While the second son of the Qin family was publicly known as a spoiled dandy, and his defeat at the hands of a peer might not draw excessive scrutiny, the bizarre, profound soul mist Xu Yuan had unleashed during the fight would certainly leave plenty of people curious about his identity.
Acting like an ordinary traveler visiting the capital, he strolled along the market street, eating, drinking, and idling away the time while waiting for people from the manor to pick him up.
After finishing lunch at the well-known Yuanweiju and returning to the carriage, Xu Yuan dabbed at the grease on the corner of his lips with a silk handkerchief and asked Bai Muxi via voice transmission, "Muxi, how many tails are following us now?"
Softly closing the carriage door, Bai Muxi shut out the bustling noise of the street in an instant.
Peering through the carriage window at the stream of traffic outside, she whispered, "Four."
"Another one showed up just while we were eating?"
Confirming the count with Xiao Bai, Xu Yuan put down the handkerchief and chuckled as he looked out the window. "I didn't expect quite so many people to be tracking us."
Shifting his tone, he instructed in a low voice, "Still, by my estimate, the people from home should have arrived by now. Keep heading down Feizi Street. Past this road lies the district where high court officials reside. It's much quieter there, and our tails will have far more reservations. They won't dare follow this closely."
"Understood..." Xiao Bai answered softly, hesitating for a moment before asking, "Young Master, do you need me to warn them off?"
"Warn them?" Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow.
Bai Muxi quickly explained, "We bear no grudges with them. I could pick one of the hidden scouts and release my qi dynamic to scare them away."
Xu Yuan smiled and shook his head. "If our pursuers were merely Grandmasters, that approach might work. The trouble is, Grandmasters aren't the only ones trailing us."
Bai Muxi's brows knit instantly. "An Origin Realm expert?"
Xu Yuan tapped his finger lightly against the carriage window. "Yes. That plump middle-aged man sitting opposite us during lunch was in the Origin Realm."
Though his spiritual vision possessed extraordinary penetration, its range remained limited by his cultivation; he couldn't detect observers lingering far behind. He had only noticed that Origin Realm expert because the man was daring enough to disguise himself as a traveling merchant and dine directly across from them in the eatery.
*Just one?* Bai Muxi weighed the matter in her mind.
Seeing through her thoughts, Xu Yuan cautioned, "Don't invite unnecessary trouble. The people from home will have accounted for this."
"...Understood," Bai Muxi lowered her gaze in compliance. "Still, to mobilize such forces—could it be the imperial family, or the Sect Alliance?"
Factions ran deep and tangled within Di'an City, but only a handful could mobilize an Origin Realm powerhouse on such short notice.
Xu Yuan smiled faintly and murmured, "It could also be the Qin family. For a direct-line genius like Qin Weishu to undertake such a perilous mission, it's unlikely he had only two Grandmasters as escorts."
A trace of confusion flickered in Bai Muxi's bright eyes. "Yet earlier, Young Master, you nearly killed Qin Weishu. If an Origin Realm expert had accompanied him, how could they have stayed their hand?"
Xu Yuan gave her a deep look and grinned. "Which means that person's cultivation might exceed the Origin Realm."
"......"
A wave of lingering fear crept into Bai Muxi's chest. She muttered under her breath, "Young Master, could you be mistaken...? Qin Weishu had his dantian shattered by you, after all."
"Perhaps." Xu Yuan shrugged, offering an ambiguous answer. "It's mere conjecture. Maybe such a person doesn't exist at all, or maybe they have some way to restore him."
With that, both fell silent.
Xu Yuan reclined comfortably against the soft couch, sipping his wine, while Bai Muxi remained on edge, cautiously monitoring the carriage's surroundings.
Sure enough, an unexpected hitch had cropped up right on cue.
Once the third young master returned to the manor, he would surely have pressing business to handle—not to mention that dull girl surnamed Ran knew of his ghostly mist technique.
After such an incident, once that woman found out, she was bound to come looking for him.
Bai Muxi had known it all along: if she missed the chance in this carriage, tonight's prospects would almost certainly go up in smoke.
Her canine teeth lightly bit into her red lip as her gaze drifted toward the garments and accessories the young master had bought for her.
Yet that single glance caused her dark pupils to contract violently.
She saw a fair, slender hand unwrapping the gifts the young master had purchased for her.
Without time to think, Bai Muxi snapped to full alert. Circulating her cultivation technique, her eyes followed the fair arm upward.
What met her sight was a lotus-root arm draped in translucent green silk, beneath an impossibly bountiful bosom.
*Rip—*
Amidst the sound of a gift box being torn open, Bai Muxi met a pair of emerald-green slit pupils.
Their eyes locked for an instant.
The slit pupils narrowed slightly.
"......" Bai Muxi froze.
A shudder ran through Xiao Bai. Her technique dissipated, and she lowered her head in utter silence.
After a moment's hesitation, she tentatively reached out and poked the young master beside her as a warning.
"......"
Sipping his wine and humming a tune, Xu Yuan suddenly felt the nudge against his leg. Subconsciously glancing over, his pupils shrank as well.
Their gazes met.
Staring at his elder sister casually unwrapping the boxes, Xu Yuan remained silent for a good while before putting on a smile. "Sis, why didn't you say anything when you arrived?"
Lou Ji cast him a sideways glance, her crimson lips curving slightly. Unfolding a purple silk dress from the box, she remarked with a light chuckle, "I simply wanted to see what caused our Third Young Master to stir up such trouble."
With that, she tossed the dress to Bai Muxi and reached out to unwrap the next one.
Terribly rude, yet impossible to beat in a fight.
Watching Lou Ji's actions, Xu Yuan sat up straight. With an imperceptible wave of his sleeve, he swept all the unopened gift boxes into his Sumeru ring and said softly, "This incident had nothing to do with jealousy over Bai Muxi."
Lou Ji snorted, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Of course I know it wasn't over her. It was over Zhou Quanping's disciple, wasn't it? Quite impressive—saving a damsel in distress like a hero. It seems our Changtian's cultivation really has grown."
Zhou Quanping was the chief of the Secret Investigation Bureau.
Tossing aside a half-opened box, which Bai Muxi scrambled to catch, Lou Ji crossed her long, shapely legs, the tip of her purple crystal heel swaying casually. Her tone remained chilly.
"If you hadn't been loitering around buying her all these frivolous things, how could such a mess have happened? You even forced me to make a special trip just to fetch your young mastership."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan rose and sat down beside Lou Ji, clearing his throat. "Sis, trouble aside, the outcome turned out well in the end."
Steering the topic back onto track, he asked, "By the way, have you uncovered why Qin Weishu wanted to get into the Imperial Prison?"
"No."
Lou Ji crossed her arms over her chest, replying crossly, "This happened so suddenly. Where was I supposed to look?"
Xu Yuan let out a sheepish laugh. "Didn't we already start making arrangements earlier?"
"Making arrangements means we've figured it out? The forces behind the Qin family remain completely cloaked in shadow. All we know so far is that they sent that paramour of yours with the Bewitching Soul Fiend Physique, along with your Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's Saintess, to the Western Desert to snatch the Great Desert Divine Maiden."
"Wait, you—"
"Wait for what?"
"......" Xu Yuan fell silent.
Well then. It seemed his elder sister was genuinely furious.
Still, Xu Yuan knew Lou Ji was merely upset about the risks he had taken.
Leaning back beside her, he reached out to knead her shoulders, asking in a hushed tone, "Sis, I was wrong. I know I was wrong... But regarding this matter, should we maneuver Qin Weishu out of the Imperial Prison, or play along with his scheme and uncover his true objective?"
Lou Ji sat up straight, swatting away his hands that were busily massaging her shoulders. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she spoke with a stern voice.
"For now, we need to investigate it within the Imperial Prison. Since Qin Weishu went in willingly, he must have prepared a countermeasure against us in advance. Until we find out what that contingency is, even if we maneuver him out through the Court of Judicial Review, it will likely cause chaos.
"To hold his ground against you for so long, his strength must be considerable. Anything worth the Qin family risking such a direct descendant must be of vital importance."
She gave a slight shake of her head. "Still, we must go through the motions on the surface, or we risk raising unnecessary suspicions."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow and asked softly, "Will we leave this investigation to that Chief Huang in the Secret Investigation Bureau?"
Lou Ji nodded, her eyes half-lidded. "Changtian, you... gave him all the intelligence you had?"
"Yes."
Xu Yuan nodded and gave a brief summary of the events.
After listening carefully, Lou Ji's expression eased somewhat. "That will do. Huang Shiwei is exceptionally capable. With your intel, he should be able to handle this matter largely on his own."
"......"
Hearing such high praise, the upright, imposing figure flashed through Xu Yuan's mind. Curious, he asked, "Sis, for someone like Huang Shiwei, how did you plant him inside the Secret Investigation Bureau? Was he a seed sown by Father back in the day?"
At the mention of this, Lou Ji let out an ambiguous scoff.
"He's no planted tree seed; he was corrupted slowly, bit by bit.
"For him, we expended an immense amount of effort just to forcibly bind him to us."
Seeming to recall some past amusement, Lou Ji glanced at Xu Yuan, her eyes curving into smiling crescents.
"By the way, that case where Xu Mengxi personally sent her own benefactor to his doom—we were the ones who had Huang Shiwei arrange it. Hah... That man was far too much in the way, and we couldn't assassinate him, so that was the only way to see him dead."
Chapter 561