He Lingchuan caught a whiff of sweet fragrance—whether pear or grape, he couldn't tell. There seemed to be fruit juice in the cup after all, but the color was rather strange, and turbid suspended bits floated within.
It reminded him of the brook he had passed on his way here, its surface slick with a greasy sheen.
"No thanks." He lacked the courage to touch a liquid of unknown origin. "How do we stay in touch after this?" He had no desire to keep trekking all the way out here.
"That's easy." Old Ge stepped outside and gave two loud calls toward a nearby tall tree.
When he returned, a dark, furry creature sat perched upon his shoulder.
He Lingchuan had assumed it was a black rat, but looking closer, it was actually a hefty squirrel with a bushy tail and long tufts of fur behind its ears.
"Take it and leave it in a tree near your dwelling. If anything comes up, just call it down," Old Ge said with a grin. "From here on, it's our messenger."
He Lingchuan nodded, and the squirrel hopped over onto his shoulder.
"Right. How much do you know about Fang Canran, the head manager of Dun Garden?"
"Manager Fang?" Old Ge replied without a second thought. "He's General Jinjiao's most trusted, most capable chief steward, running virtually every enterprise belonging to the Jinjiao clan with his own two hands. Out in the world—ha!—he's a prominent figure in his own right. Why ask about him?"
"He looks a lot like a friend of mine," He Lingchuan said. "Do you know anything about Manager Fang's background? I wanted to see if there's any connection."
"His background?" Old Ge hissed through his teeth. "I think he's a native of Lingxu City, or at least he was here before I arrived."
"Tell you what, I'll ask around. But anyone employed by the Jinjiao clan ought to have a clean background."
He Lingchuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "When did I say his background wasn't clean?"
Old Ge held out a hand unabashedly.
He Lingchuan passed him another silver ingot.
Old Ge weighed it in his palm. "I'll get word to you as soon as possible."
"One more thing. I'd like to take a trip to Mount Xu. Are you still running tours?"
"Of course I am." Coin was coin, no matter where it came from, and routine business had to go on. "There's a tour heading for Mount Xu in two days."
"Count me in." He Lingchuan set down a silver ingot as a deposit and rose to leave.
Once his figure vanished from sight, Old Ge pocketed the silver, seized the wooden cup from the table, and downed it in one gulp, letting out an enraptured sigh.
Wonderfully tart!
Humans truly had no taste.
From behind the door, a large macaque scrambled in:
"Brother Ge, I happen to know the two men he was talking about! They live in Baijia Village up the Li River to the east. Surname Chen, make a living fishing—a pair of brothers, sure enough. Last year they hauled a king grass carp out of the Li River and sold it for a handsome sum, but before the coin even got warm in their pockets, they blew every copper at the gambling den." It scratched its cheek. "Both of them have fish-scale disease. Whenever they're idle, they scratch—scratching themselves even worse than I do!"
"Then what are you still standing around for?" Old Ge swung a paw and sent it flying out the window with a slap. "Go find out where those brothers are right now! Make sure our guest can find them in two days!"
***
The next morning, He Lingchuan awoke once again in his grand residence spanning five mu.
The first thing he saw upon sitting up was the gradient of red maples in the garden outside the window, along with long-tailed golden pheasants pecking at fallen fruit beneath the trees.
The first time he had an estate this vast all to himself, it had turned out to be in Beijia.
Oh, wait—no. He had an unwelcome guest who shamelessly insisted on staying here.
He had barely gotten out of bed when a servant brought warm water, preparing to wash his face.
"No need." He snatched the towel away.
He Lingchuan would never let anyone get that close, let alone block his line of sight.
His injuries weren't severe; there had been no need to swallow the Jade Restoration Pill, and he was already capable of running, jumping, and fighting.
Yet He Lingchuan was in no rush to head out. Instead, he asked the goshawk to run another errand for him.
This time, the goshawk demanded half a Xitan sheep. He Lingchuan had paid up promptly last time, but it had grown sick of rabbit meat. For the past few nights, the two men and a tiger had been roasting mutton around the campfire, making its mouth water incessantly.
"No problem."
Yet before the guest he was waiting for arrived, He Lingchuan unexpectedly received a gift:
A piece of treasure armor sent by Nian Zanli's men.
It was an inner vest meant to be worn directly against the body. Woven in four sheer layers inside and out, its weight was nevertheless comparable to ordinary silk garments. The craftsmanship alone was exceedingly valuable; when He Lingchuan executed his Swallow Return movement technique, carrying as little weight as possible was naturally best.
Not to mention the material of this soft armor: it was interwoven entirely from black gold thread and burrow spider silk!
He Lingchuan was intimately familiar with burrow spider silk; a single touch told him what grade of material it was. He conjured a flame and burned the vest for over a dozen breaths. The inner armor did not discolor in the slightest, remaining soft and warm to the touch rather than scorching hot.
It possessed the power to ward off blades, spears, water, and fire.
He Lingchuan had originally commissioned Songyang Mansion to craft a suit of soft armor for him using Zhu Erniang's spider silk. But weaving armor took the longest time, and Songyang Mansion had limited manpower here, so the armor had yet to be finished.
To his surprise, Nian Zanli had delivered one to him first.
He Lingchuan recalled casually remarking during his chat with Fu Shanyue at the Dun Garden auction that he was looking for an inner vest; who would have thought Nian Zanli had taken note?
Even less did he expect the gift to use burrow spider silk, and Zhu Erniang's cloud brocade at that!
Which meant this inner vest was almost certainly made by Songyang Mansion.
Had Nian Zanli purchased the inner vest from Songyang Mansion, only to send it to him at the Panshan Residence?
Thinking back to the request Li Qingge had sent someone to make of him at Dun Garden, could there be something between her and Nian Zanli...?
Fu Shanyue was not around today, but the guards mentioned that Nian Zanli had also sent condolence gifts to the Crown Prince.
The Chiyan Kingdom and the Governor of Xunzhou previously had no dealings whatsoever. Most likely, after the Dun Garden auction, the full story of the elixir of immortality case had finally reached Nian Zanli's ears. Learning that the guesthouse had been bombed and the Chiyan Crown Prince's entourage attacked, he had prepared gifts of condolence.
In Lingxu City, dignitaries were as thick as clouds. One could not wait until a favor was needed to build goodwill; broadening one's network of connections had to be cultivated constantly. A six-hundred-year-old imperial capital, a six-hundred-year-old bureaucracy—the customs, etiquette, and sheer scale of social reciprocity had long since reached the pinnacle of sophistication.
If Nian Zanli wanted to secure a firm footing in Lingxu City, he could afford neither a shortage of friends nor patrons. A friendship with the crown prince of a vassal demon kingdom was well worth cultivating.
Compared to Fu Shanyue, He Lingchuan received far fewer gifts, being virtually unknown—even though he was the true "victim" of the bombing.
***
In the evening, the honored guest arrived.
Dressed in opulent robes, Li Qingge walked through the maple woods and into the rear garden just as dinner was being laid out in Luyu Hall.
"This residence of yours truly is splendid," she remarked, clicking her tongue as she looked at He Lingchuan. "Refined and elegant throughout, an oasis of calm amid the clamor."
"'An oasis of calm'—is that your polite way of saying it's small?" In any case, no one would ever describe Dun Garden like that.
Li Qingge chuckled. "Don't twist my words. Hmm? You don't seem very pleased?"
The woman was remarkably perceptive.
He Lingchuan pulled out a chair for her. "Please, take the seat of honor."
As Li Qingge leaned forward to sit, He Lingchuan did not even need to lower his head to spot the fiery-red coral beads in her cloud-like chignon or catch the faint scent of yunhu fragrance wafting from her neck.
Today, her lips were painted in bold crimson, richer and more dazzling than the late-autumn maples outside.
Yet she sat with solemn propriety.
"How are your injuries?"
He Lingchuan poured her some wine. "Minor injuries. Won't kill me."
He knew full well how powerful the blast had been. His injuries were all on his back; protected by his gangqi at the time and shielded by the mirror, he had suffered only superficial wounds while his internal organs remained largely unharmed.
He had to have injuries, or it wouldn't look real.
Li Qingge glanced at the wine cup. "So you're still able to drink wine?"
"Doctor's orders," He Lingchuan said, taking another cup for himself. "So mine is tea."
"You truly are blessed with luck. Have they caught the culprits?"
He Lingchuan shook his head. "The table and chairs in my guest room were poisoned as well. A bailiff searching the scene touched them a few times and collapsed on the spot from the poison, nearly losing his life."
Li Qingge's delicate brows furrowed. "They poisoned the room and still chose to bomb you? Why go through the trouble twice?"
"Either they wanted to make doubly sure I was dead, or..."
Li Qingge had already caught on. "Or it was the work of two different groups?"
"That's what the authorities suspect," He Lingchuan said with a smile. "At present, the poison offers a few leads, and they're looking into them."
"The authorities are under immense pressure; the higher-ups have likely set a strict deadline to solve the case." Li Qingge picked up a morsel of braised venison with her chopsticks. "You've curled up in your little pavilion in splendid isolation, oblivious to the storm brewing outside. This bombing was like pouring oil on fire—in an instant, you and Fu Shanyue have become the talk of Lingxu City, hotter than anyone else."
He Lingchuan smiled without speaking.
Commanding such intense exposure, this was precisely when he was safest; anyone wishing to cause him trouble would have to think twice and then think again.
Before he could ask, Li Qingge spoke up: "By the way, my people set out long ago. By now, they should have passed Bailing Valley, and in a few more days, they'll reach their destination."
She did not spell it out, but He Lingchuan understood her meaning:
In a few more days, the people she sent would reach Wange Marsh and trigger the Dragon-Torture Pillar.
This was news He Lingchuan had been yearning for. May everything go smoothly without any unexpected hitches.
"Many thanks, My Lord. You've truly done me a great favor." He placed the inner vest sent by Nian Zanli onto the table. "By the way, this gift from Nian Zanli came from Songyang Mansion, didn't it?"
Li Qingge merely glanced at it before nodding. "It was only finished the night before last. Eldest Young Master is formidable indeed—meeting Nian Zanli just once was enough to have him taking the initiative to send you a gift and curry favor."
Facing her, He Lingchuan always chose his words carefully. "How much did you sell this vest to him for?"
Li Qingge slowly set down her chopsticks, took another sip of wine, and said:
"I didn't take a copper."
"He asked me for it directly, and I gave it to him."
He Lingchuan waited for her explanation. Coming to this dinner, the woman must have thought through what she wanted to say long in advance.
Li Qingge looked at him and bit her lip. "Songyang Mansion has an important item in his hands. I would like you to help me take it back!"
So direct all of a sudden, with no beating around the bush? He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
"What item?"
"That object was originally in Sun Fuping's hands. He used it to extort Songyang Mansion for years, demanding money and goods to satisfy his endless greed," Li Qingge said in a deep voice. "I thought that with Sun Fuping dead, Songyang Mansion would finally be freed from those shackles. Who could have expected that it would fall into Nian Zanli's hands!"
"The moment he arrived, he demanded an exorbitant price. I truly did not want to yield, but..."
At this point, she sighed softly.
He Lingchuan's eyes flickered. "Is it that mottled bamboo cylinder?"
Chapter 571