Tracking

Early the next morning, when Li Nuo woke up, he found that the bedding on the floor beside the bed had been put away. Song Jiaren was gone, too.

After a quick wash, Li Nuo sat before the mirror and deftly fixed his hair. He also memorized the steps. Doing a man's hair was much simpler than doing a woman's, and he was sure that even when his ability expired tomorrow, he wouldn't need to trouble the maids at home.

Another day had passed, and only twenty-four days of life remained in the Code of Law.

Li Nuo looked pale, with deep circles under his eyes. You really couldn't judge a book by its cover. Song Qian's husband, who looked as if a breeze could knock him over, had been anything but weak last night.

Li Nuo privately called him Bro the Beast.

As he walked out of his room, two figures emerged from the room next door at the same time.

Song Qian glanced at Li Nuo. Her gaze was complicated, but she said nothing and left at once.

Li Nuo gave Bro the Beast an admiring look. Song Qian's husband was bewildered, with no idea where Li Nuo's admiration came from, but he politely nodded in response before following Song Qian away.

Standing in the courtyard, Li Nuo stretched. He was about to leave Song Manor for Chang'an County Office when someone came running in from outside.

Song Mu'er grabbed Li Nuo's hand and said, "Brother Li Nuo, my hair's all messed up. Can you braid it for me again?"

After a night, the Flying Immortal Hairpin Li Nuo had done for her was a complete mess. Braiding her hair wouldn't take long, anyway. Song Mu'er had just sat down on a stone bench in the courtyard when another figure came running in.

Seeing Li Nuo doing Song Mu'er's hair, Song Ninger immediately said, "I want one, too!"

"I got here first!"

"No way. You went first yesterday, so I'm going first today!"

"I'm first!"

"I'm first!"

The two identical little girls argued over whose turn it was. Li Nuo was getting a headache, so he had them play rock-paper-scissors. Song Mu'er won in the end. Song Ninger was younger, but she accepted the result, sitting to the side with a dissatisfied pout. "Next time, I'll definitely beat you!"

Two maids from Song Manor stood behind Li Nuo, carefully studying how he braided their hair.

Once they learned, they could do the two young misses' hair themselves. They couldn't ask their young miss's husband to come over every time.

The two maids chatted now and then. From their conversation, Li Nuo learned that the previous night, Song Manor had searched for the thief who had stolen the birthday gifts, but apparently they hadn't found him.

Li Nuo did have a way to identify the person behind it, with almost one hundred percent certainty. But it wasn't a murder case. There was no way they could lock up everyone who had been there last night in the county jail over two Jade Ruyis.

After braiding the sisters' hair in order, one of them ran off excitedly without saying a word. The other stayed behind and sweetly thanked him. "Thank you, Brother Li Nuo."

Needless to say, the one who stayed was Song Mu'er.

Li Nuo couldn't tell them apart by their looks, but their personalities made it easy.

The sisters were the same age, looked exactly alike, and even dressed the same, but their personalities were quite different.

Song Mu'er was sweet, adorable, sensible, and polite. Song Ninger, on the other hand, was a little headstrong and willful. That was Li Nuo's first impression of the sisters, based on the short time he'd spent with them.

Song Mu'er took a soft, sweet pastry from her little bag and fed it to Li Nuo herself to thank him. Then she pulled out a small box and began dabbing its contents on her face.

Curious, Li Nuo asked, "What are you doing?"

Song Mu'er raised a finger to her lips and whispered, "Shh, keep your voice down. I finally managed to steal this rouge from Mother..."

A love of beauty was a woman's nature, and it had no age limit.

But makeup took skill, too. In just a few strokes, she'd turned herself into a little tabby cat.

Watching the little girl smear things across her face, Li Nuo felt that strange sensation rise in him again.

He'd felt it before when he played shuttlecock with her and when he did her hair.

To test his hunch, Li Nuo picked up the box of rouge and said, "Let me help you."

Song Mu'er trusted Brother Li Nuo completely. She sat beside him and tipped her face up toward him. "You have to make me prettier than Song Ninger..."

Li Nuo dabbed and smoothed her face here and there, then borrowed lipstick and flower ornaments from one of the maids. Before long, a brand-new Song Mu'er sat before him.

No wonder women used so many cosmetics. There really was a difference between wearing makeup and not wearing it.

With just a little rouge and lipstick, and a flower ornament stuck to her forehead, she went from a pretty little girl to a pretty little princess.

Of course, from the two maids beside them, whose mouths had fallen open in amazement, Li Nuo could tell that those seemingly simple dabs and strokes weren't something just anyone could manage.

That made him all the more curious about Steward Zheng's concubine.

Just how many things could that woman do?

She was proficient in several fields, and had reached master-level skill in every one. The maids at Song Manor were surely no ordinary women, yet even they were staring as if they'd witnessed a miracle.

No, when he went to the county office today, he had to ask carefully what other talents that woman had.

And not just her. From now on, whenever he came across a criminal whose portrait could be lit up in the Code of Law, he'd have to ask them on the spot, too.

"Young master."

Steward Wu came in from outside.

It was getting late. Li Nuo needed to go to the county office and earn himself more life.

With only a little over twenty days left, he couldn't spend all his time playing with little girls here.

Song Jiaren had gone off somewhere. Li Nuo asked a maid at Song Manor to tell her he had something to do and was heading back first.

After waving goodbye to Song Mu'er, Li Nuo left the Song Family with Steward Wu.

The moment he was gone, Song Mu'er ran to another courtyard. Song Ninger, who was swinging there, stared at her in a daze. Though they looked exactly alike, wore identical clothes and jewelry, and had matching hairstyles, Song Ninger couldn't help feeling that Song Mu'er looked a hundred times prettier than she did...

Song Mu'er grinned at her. "Pretty, right? Brother Li Nuo did it for me..."

Outside Song Manor, the carriage from Li Manor was waiting. Steward Wu sat on it, with four elderly men standing around it.

As Li Nuo walked out of Song Manor, he glanced back.

Maybe it had just been his imagination, but he thought he'd heard someone crying. When he listened closely, he couldn't hear it anymore.

He shook off the thought, climbed into the carriage, and told Steward Wu, "To the county office!"

Steward Wu, who had been about to head back to the Li Family, froze. "Huh? The county office again?"

The young master had been acting strangely these past couple of days. He wasn't staying at home; he kept going to the county office. Was he thinking of cultivating the Legalist school after all?

Though he was reluctant, Steward Wu still turned the carriage around and prepared to head for Chang'an County Office.

As the carriage turned, Li Nuo felt something stir in him. He suddenly lifted the curtain and looked back.

His gaze fell on the bustling crowds along Chang'an Street.

Steward Wu saw him staring and asked, "Young master, what is it?"

Li Nuo shook his head. "Nothing. Let's go."

The repeated attempts on his life had made Li Nuo jumpy. He couldn't shake the feeling that a pair of eyes was watching him from behind.

But even an expert like Steward Wu hadn't noticed anything unusual. It was more likely that his nerves were on edge.

Since the first two assassination attempts, his guards had been strengthened as well. It might look as if only Steward Wu and four other old men were around, but who knew how many were hidden nearby? Any passerby walking past the carriage might be a guard in disguise.

Steward Wu flicked the reins, and the carriage rolled slowly away.

Meanwhile, at a street corner not far from the Song Family, a figure wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still shaken. He muttered, "I almost got spotted. Damn it, how are this kid's senses so sharp? He's almost as sharp as Butterfly. Following Butterfly wasn't even this hard..."

A voice beside him asked, "So what now? Do we keep following him?"

The man waved a hand. "Forget it. This kid's got something weird about him. If he catches me and I end up in Li Xuanjing's hands, I'll wish I were dead. That incident was probably just an accident. Butterfly was just unlucky. Let's go back..."