Acquaintance

The main hall of Aurora Pavilion was exceptionally spacious. Nine vermilion pillars carved with lifelike exotic beasts towered high, holding up the dome of an entire cloud palace painted in brilliant colors, lavish beyond measure.

Wind blew in through the hollow-carved wooden windows, setting the splendid hanging drapes fluttering. The young people standing throughout the hall were all silent and solemn.

Now and then, someone would speak in a low murmur. From what reached Li Musheng's ears, he gained a rough understanding of some of the recent events at Aurora Pavilion.

"The deaths of those five were likely caused by Northern Qi Meditation Qi. It seems Aurora Pavilion has been anything but peaceful."

Li Musheng withdrew his gaze from the woman in the hall. The corner of his eye glanced toward a certain spot as he fell into thought.

Once everyone had arrived, a middle-aged man clad in a black dragonfish uniform, along with four eunuchs wearing purple silk robes, strode swiftly inside.

A group of young eunuchs and armored guards followed behind the five men, surging into the center of the hall. Their footsteps abruptly ceased, and a stern, imposing air descended.

All the young people turned their eyes toward them at once, and the atmosphere in the hall grew somewhat heavy.

"Gentlemen, I trust you all know of last night's events. We have now found clues regarding the culprit. Please cooperate with the Heavenly Brocade Guard's upcoming investigation."

Commander Yu Jin did not waste a single word. The moment he opened his mouth, he went straight to the point.

At those words, everyone in the hall wore different expressions. A young man in a scholar's robe was the first to cup his hands and bow to Yu Jin.

"Thank you for your efforts, Lord Yu. So long as the perpetrator can be rooted out, we will naturally give our full support to any arrangements made by the Heavenly Brocade Bureau."

As soon as he spoke, several others hurriedly voiced their agreement, their words all earnest and sincere.

Li Musheng swept his eyes over those competing to speak. Every one of them carried himself with an extraordinary bearing, clearly of no humble birth, and each possessed considerable martial cultivation.

At the same time, Chief Eunuch An Quan's gaze passed over the crowd and covertly settled on Li Musheng in the corner.

When he saw Li Musheng's face, An Quan's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of strange emotion appearing within them.

At that moment, Yu Jin turned back and cupped his hands.

"I'll have to trouble you eunuchs to inspect the Heavenly Spring Acupoint of each young master. But take utmost care—do not let yourselves be contaminated by the Northern Qi Meditation Qi."

Hearing this, An Quan imperceptibly withdrew his gaze. He and the other three chief eunuchs gave slight nods, then walked toward the young people in the hall.

Li Musheng, standing in the corner, raised an eyebrow to himself.

"That old eunuch was staring at me. He's probably that little eunuch's godfather."

He recalled Little Anzi's earlier questioning and could only hope these Heavenly Brocade Guard people were not foolish enough to mistake him for the so-called culprit.

Just then, Li Musheng suddenly noticed that the woman disguised as a man was looking at him as well.

And after seeing him, she seemed to have discovered something to her delight and walked straight toward him.

Before long, she stopped in front of Li Musheng and smiled as she clasped her hands in greeting.

"My name is Li Yuan. May I ask this brother's name?"

Li Musheng looked her over. Her face was handsome and refined, but there was bluish stubble on her chin, an Adam's apple at her throat, and even her voice was that of an ordinary man.

Yet he could be certain that she was a woman. The aura of men and women differed; even eunuchs were vastly different.

Perhaps others could not sense it, but Li Musheng could clearly perceive the distinction.

This showed just how superb her disguise technique was. It did not merely change clothing and appearance—it could alter certain obvious external traits as well, making truth and falsehood impossible to distinguish.

"Li Musheng."

Li Musheng gave her a slight nod, then lowered his voice and asked with a smile.

"Is Li Yuan your real name, miss?"

The handsome young man before him was visibly stunned by those words, standing there blankly for a moment.

Yet she did not seem flustered. Instead, a glint of unusual light rose in her eyes as she quietly transmitted her voice with true qi.

"How did you learn my true identity?"

Li Musheng shrugged.

"I could naturally tell at a glance."

But after looking at her again, he asked curiously.

"You admitted it so readily. Aren't you afraid I'll expose this matter?"

However, the young man before him did not answer his question. Instead, she fixed her blazing gaze on him and asked.

"Would you do that?"

Li Musheng stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"I admit that I'm rather handsome, but do I really look that much like a good old man?"

Li Yuanling blinked and seriously examined Li Musheng from head to toe for quite some time. Then her brows relaxed, and a smile spread across her face.

"Brother Li is quite interesting, unlike anyone I've ever met."

As she spoke, she swept her gaze around the hall before them.

"Aurora Pavilion is far too dangerous at present. Brother Li would do best to stay by my side. I can protect you."

This time, Li Musheng was genuinely puzzled. He asked with a suspicious expression.

"Miss, did we know each other before?"

"We didn't before, but don't we know each other now?"

Li Yuanling drew a folding fan from her waist and gave it a light flick. It opened to reveal a painting of returning birds beneath the setting sun, and she looked truly dashing.

"Brother Li, I feel as though we met too late in life."

Li Musheng's face took on a contemplative look, and he slowly nodded.

People who spoke in riddles were truly interesting.

Still, he could clearly tell that the woman disguised as a man before him probably "knew" him.

But he had never left Shun'an City in over ten years. Aside from Cang Yinyue, how could he possibly have any acquaintances in Shangyang City?

Thus, it was highly likely that the person she knew was actually this face of his.

As Li Musheng pondered this, a burst of startled cries suddenly rose in the hall.

One of the chief eunuchs had discovered Northern Qi Meditation Qi within a young man. Immediately afterward, several more people were found to have the same condition.

For a time, no small commotion broke out.

The one examining Li Musheng was Chief Eunuch An Quan. Naturally, he could not possibly find any Northern Qi Meditation Qi within Li Musheng's body.

However, when he inspected Li Musheng's meridians and found not even a trace of true qi, he was visibly astonished.

Of course, he did not make a public fuss. He merely gave Li Musheng a startled, doubtful glance before returning to the center of the hall.

In the end, including the young man discovered earlier, a total of ten people had secretly been injected with Northern Qi Meditation Qi.

That meant these ten people would very likely, like the previous five, suddenly drop dead in their own rooms tonight.

"We must identify the culprit who tampered with them as soon as possible. Otherwise, more people will fall victim."

Yu Jin's expression was grim. That person dared to kill freely beneath the Heavenly Brocade Guard's very eyes—this was a blatant provocation against both him and the entire Heavenly Brocade Guard.

Moreover, the real Seventh Prince was very likely among the people in Aurora Pavilion. If anything happened to him, Yu Jin himself would likely lose his head as well.

Just then, a guard hurried into the hall and reported.

"My lord, the Imperial Secret Police have arrived."