Three quarters past the hour of the Monkey.
A youth carrying a sword case on his back arrived at a small courtyard. Weeds grew thick along the low wall, and few wheel ruts marked the dirt road outside the gate. This desolate, quiet spot was an excellent place to hide.
He knocked gently, slipped a folded sheet of red paper through the crack in the gate, and quietly left.
A short while later.
Inside the courtyard, a man in close-fitting martial attire picked up the red paper. He was hideously ugly, with a horrifying scar stretching across his face like a coiled snake, the flesh curling outward on either side. This was the ninety-first man on the Dragon-Tiger Ranking, the Scarface Fiend!
"Husband, is it a message from the Misty Rain Tower?"
The woman behind him stared at the image of an osmanthus tree on the red paper. Her forehead jutted out, and her eyes were vicious. In the Jianghu, she was known as the Mother Yaksha.
"Ha ha ha ha! This court lackey has no idea how close he is to death!"
The Scarface Fiend suddenly gave a savage laugh and handed the paper to his wife.
The Mother Yaksha skimmed it, her expression turning utterly incredulous. Finding it absurd beyond belief, she laughed.
"Second from the bottom on the Dragon-Tiger Ranking, and he's barking madly about fighting us to the death? Has he even weighed himself to see whether he's worthy?"
The Scarface Fiend spoke in a chilling tone.
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard has been hunting us all this time. Now the cornered dog is jumping over the wall!"
"There must be an ambush!" the Mother Yaksha blurted out.
The Scarface Fiend tore up the red paper and said gravely,
"The Misty Rain Tower knows where we're staying. Since they've made this move, it means they're strictly following their rules and haven't leaked our whereabouts to the authorities."
"The letter says the Little Butcher deliberately spread the news and stirred up a storm. If we refuse to fight, we'll become broken-backed dogs everyone in the Jianghu curses and drives away, subjected to every kind of ridicule!"
A person lived by his reputation. If their dignity was trampled into the dirt, how could they walk the Jianghu afterward?
"I'm just worried the Embroidered Uniform Guard has cast a net over heaven and earth," the Mother Yaksha said anxiously.
The Scarface Fiend had thought it through and calmly explained,
"If some powerful figure in the upper ranks of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had given the word, we'd already be suffering torture in the Imperial Prison. He's only a petty General Banner. The Misty Rain Tower won't break its rules for him."
"With all this publicity, the Misty Rain Tower will be even less willing to smash its own reputation. They'll certainly ensure the Little Butcher has no reinforcements."
After a brief pause, he demanded,
"Do you wish to avoid the fight, wife?"
The Mother Yaksha's eyes gradually turned cold and sinister, like a beast choosing someone to devour. She snarled,
"We'll slaughter that presumptuous court lackey!"
Avoiding a fight with an equally powerful opponent was sensible. At worst, the Jianghu would brand them cowardly rats.
But avoiding a fight with someone weak meant having neither shame nor backbone, nor the slightest shred of self-respect. They would disgrace their martial lineage with the skills they had learned and drag their followers into the ridicule as well!
The Scarface Fiend instructed her,
"Wife, spread the word yourself. If the Embroidered Uniform Guard surrounds and hunts us down, then the Misty Rain Tower is nothing but a pack of shameless hawks and hounds that any court official can command. They'll never have the face to meddle in Jianghu affairs again!"
Over the next two days, Jia Huan led his team to arrest five criminals.
His Experience Points had originally been [689/1000]; now they were [712/1000], and his strength had risen to the seventh level of the postnatal realm. As for the martial arts awarded to him, Jia Huan no longer thought much of them. He wrote down their formulas and sword manuals and gave them to Fathead Fish, Twin Whips, and the others.
He had just stepped out of the Imperial Prison when he saw Hundred-Household Commander Yan Pu looking frantic.
"Little brother, word is spreading through the streets. You've been utterly foolish!" Yan Pu rushed over and said anxiously,
"I asked you to find their whereabouts. How could you put yourself in danger? If anything happens to you, my conscience will torment me for the rest of my life. Listen to your older brother and hurry to the Misty Rain Tower to settle this. They're merely two Vicious Fiends. How foolish it would be to stake your life against theirs!"
"Lord Yan, my mind is made up." Jia Huan looked at him and said gently,
"Please trust me."
"No!" The more Yan Pu thought about it, the guiltier he felt. "I'll ask the higher-ups to deal with those two Vicious Fiends. If the Misty Rain Tower wants to maintain its footing in the capital, it won't dare refuse an important figure."
"Brother Yan!" Jia Huan's tone grew firmer.
"If I were truly reckless, could I have risen from Strongman to General Banner so quickly? Since I issued the challenge myself, I have complete confidence!"
He needed merit, and even more than that, he needed the rewards for capturing the Vicious Fiends. Once the office's higher-ups intervened, he would receive no credit at all, much less any participation.
"I can't put my mind at ease. Listen to me..." Yan Pu broke off halfway.
"Brother Yan, when I return victorious, be ready to treat me to wine! Say no more about anything else. I've already given my word. If I take it back now, I'll lose all face!"
Leaving no room for argument, Jia Huan cupped his hands and took his leave.
"Ah!" Yan Pu heaved a heavy sigh.
When Jia Huan returned to the Geng-Character Office, his six subordinates stood in a row with solemn expressions. Apparently, they had heard the news too.
"Keep quiet. No fussing." Jia Huan waved a hand at once.
"Boss..." Scholar looked uneasy.
"Go home after work and sleep peacefully. Just trust me."
After putting the case files in order, Jia Huan left with perfect composure.
Watching their boss's retreating figure, the six men exchanged glances. His tremendous confidence seemed to have rubbed off on them, easing some of their worry.
Rongguo Mansion.
He returned to his own courtyard.
Hearing footsteps, Qingwen hurriedly stuffed her sewing and fabric beneath her pillow.
"Where are the others?" Jia Huan entered the inner room and found only Qingwen, sitting on the couch and admiring her fair, delicate face in a bronze mirror.
Qingwen drawled, "Caiyun went shopping with your mother. That girl Xiangling is at Xiaoxiang Hall in the garden, learning poetry from Sister Daiyu."
Jia Huan nodded. "So you're the only one with nothing to do."
"You..." Furious, Qingwen flung down the bronze mirror and turned her face away.
If I'd known, I wouldn't have made you clothes! I've pricked my fingers several times with the needle, and you still have to come and needle me with your words.
Jia Huan continued, "You should go to Xiaoxiang Hall with Xiangling and learn poetry too. It's lively over there."
"I won't. I'm stupid, all right?" Frost covered Qingwen's face as she glared at him.
"Whenever you speak to me, it's Xiangling this and Xiangling that. We're both your maids, but in your heart, I'm somehow a rank beneath her."
"That's not what I meant." Jia Huan truly had no idea what had gotten into her. "Help me change."
Qingwen did not move an inch. With her eyes lowered, she said stubbornly,
"Call Xiangling. I'm clumsy and only fit for sweeping floors and rough work."
"So I can't ask you to do anything now." Jia Huan stepped closer, about to ask what was troubling her.
"Brother Huan!"
A booming voice came from outside the courtyard.
Xue Pan came running in, panting. He was so frantic that even his headpiece sat crooked.
"What is it?" Jia Huan walked outside.
Burning with anxiety, Xue Pan shouted,
"Brother Huan, you've been reckless! Against those two murderous scoundrels, you have no path but death! Let's hurry and go back on your word. Don't throw away your bright future. You haven't even married yet!"
"How did you find out?" Jia Huan was rather curious. It made sense for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to know about Jianghu affairs, but how had a wastrel heard the news?
Seeing him still acting as though nothing had happened, Xue Pan stamped his foot in agitation.
"The Xue Mansion hired two martial instructors. I told them to inquire about your heroic exploits. At noon today, they told me about this. I was so worried I couldn't even eat!"
Jia Huan nodded.
"Thank you for your concern, but there's no turning back now. If I become a turtle hiding its head, I'll have no face to remain in the Embroidered Uniform Guard Office."
"Ah!" Xue Pan was bitterly disappointed. "You'd throw away your life for your pride? I really misjudged you!"
What a waste of all my effort building this connection. Since ancient times, a gentleman has never stood beneath a crumbling wall. How could someone who stakes his life over a few provocative words and blindly overestimates himself ever amount to anything?
Fortunately, Mother was wise. I even tried to have Baochai betrothed to him. What an utterly stupid idea.
"I'll take my leave!" Xue Pan flicked his sleeve and walked away.
In just a few days, Rongguo Mansion will be hanging white mourning silk. Concubine Zhao will probably cry her heart to pieces. When the time comes, I'll wear mourning hemp and pay my respects too.
Jia Huan chuckled softly, turned, and returned to the inner room.
He found Qingwen's lips drooping slightly, her eyes red and already brimming with tears. She said in a trembling voice,
"Master, I heard everything. I don't want you to die."
Jia Huan snapped,
"What's all this talk of dying? How unlucky! Don't listen to that Foolish Tyrant's nonsense!"
Qingwen suddenly clutched his arm tightly. Tears rolled down like pearls from a broken string, and her face looked fragile and pale.
"The eldest young master of the Xue Family said you have no path but death. I'm scared. Please don't go."
Jia Huan took a handkerchief and wiped away her tears. Both exasperated and amused, he comforted her gently.
"Why are you crying like this? It isn't that serious!"
"I'm afraid you'll die." Qingwen looked pleadingly at him and sobbed softly.
That day in the Old Matriarch's courtyard, her master had said, "I want Qingwen," without the slightest hesitation. No one had ever chosen her with such certainty before.
After she came to his rooms, he never lost his temper even when she acted petulantly. Whenever he returned from the office, he brought food, rouge, or jewelry, and in his spare time he even taught her to read and write. Her master was nothing like the coarse, ill-tempered person the household described. He was always gentle and courteous.
The thought that her master might die made her heart ache faintly, and the tears fell beyond her control.
Looking at the kindhearted, pitiful girl before him, Jia Huan deliberately sighed.
"Let me taste your rouge, and I'll report to the office that I'm withdrawing from this case."
Qingwen smiled through her tears, rubbed her eyes, and pattered over to fetch her rouge box. Just as her fingers touched it, she abruptly turned and scolded him,
"You're shameless! Don't you have any decency?"
Clever as she was, she immediately guessed her master's filthy intentions. Her exquisite face flushed red at once, like a ripe cherry.
Jia Huan gazed at the rose-red Lip Rouge on her lips and insisted,
"Let me taste it, and I won't risk my life. If you dislike me, I might as well fight those Vicious Fiends to the death. No one cares about me anyway."
"Shameless master," Qingwen muttered. She lowered her head and pinched the hem of her skirt, her fingers alternately twitching and clenching as nervousness filled her heart. Only after a long while did she squeeze her eyes shut. "You promised me. You won't put yourself in danger."
Jia Huan stepped forward. At such close quarters, he watched her thick, trembling lashes, took a gentle taste, then a much deeper one.
"Have you no shame?" Qingwen's cheeks burned crimson. She pushed him away and ran out of the courtyard.
Jia Huan was thoroughly satisfied.
Before you continue