At this point, there was no other choice.
Tonight had been a roller coaster for him. Compared with his earlier despair, when he had believed his wife and child had fallen victim to Guo Baokun, at least he now had a lead on their whereabouts and could cling to a little hope.
"Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I'll take my leave." Wang Qinian rubbed his hands, then cupped them with a miserable expression. "Ah, I sneaked out tonight. I'd better think hard about how to explain myself when I get home..."
Fan Xian and Teng Zijing both solemnly returned his salute.
Though Wang Qinian's "kindness" had caused them quite a few complications, he had meant well.
And now he had given them a lead.
As Wang Qinian vanished into the darkness, Fan Xian let out a long breath.
He turned to Teng Zijing with a smile. "I'd better hurry back too. Right now, 'I' am still sleeping with the top courtesan in my arms at the Drunken Immortal Residence. If I get back too late, it'll be hard to talk my way out of beating up Guo Baokun."
"The Drunken Immortal Residence? The top courtesan?" Teng Zijing abruptly turned toward him.
"Don't get the wrong idea." Fan Xian chuckled. "I only used a little drug to make her sleep more soundly. Ah, old Teng, I've sacrificed so much for you. A beautiful night, a lovely setting, yet I've left a beauty alone in her room..."
"Are you sure it was the Drunken Immortal Residence? Was the top courtesan Si Lili?" Teng Zijing's pupils contracted slightly.
Fan Xian paused, then raised an eyebrow. "Well, well! Look at you, Teng Zijing! You even know all about the Drunken Immortal Residence's top courtesan! Everyone said Si Lili was famous, but I didn't believe it. Now... I really have no choice."
Teng Zijing's face took on a sickly hue. "It really was Si Lili?"
Noticing something wrong with his tone, Fan Xian asked curiously, "Why are you so worked up? Don't tell me... you're secretly in love with Miss Si Lili?"
That was as good as confirmation.
Teng Zijing's heart sank. He gave Fan Xian a long look, but Fan Xian merely looked bewildered.
Teng Zijing understood that Fan Xian had no idea Si Lili was the woman Prince Cheng had his eye on.
He opened his mouth to tell him the truth, then forced himself to hold back.
At this point, telling him would accomplish nothing. It would only give Fan Xian more to worry about.
His clenched knuckles turned slightly white.
At that very moment, who knew how many eyes in the Capital were watching Fan Xian spend the night in Si Lili's room?
Whether Fan Xian was putting on an act or doing it for real, he had already gravely offended Prince Cheng.
Having angered Prince Cheng, how could Fan Xian go to his residence tomorrow and demand their release?
If he really went, it would be generous of Prince Cheng not to beat him to death.
Teng Zijing forced the corners of his mouth into a faint smile. "Nothing. I'm just surprised. Si Lili's beauty outshines every other courtesan, and her fame extends throughout the Capital. To have her keep you company for a night-you must have earned that blessing over eight lifetimes!"
"Come on! Why do you sound so jealous? I told you, it's only an act. We'd only just met. How could I really do anything to her?" Fan Xian waved a hand, looking a little embarrassed.
Then Fan Xian hurriedly cupped his hands. "I've got to go! Remember to come find me first thing tomorrow. We'll go to Prince Cheng's Residence together!"
"All right!" Teng Zijing nodded firmly.
Before turning away, Fan Xian grinned and raised his fist for a fist bump. Teng Zijing hesitated, then helplessly raised his own fist. Their knuckles touched lightly.
A moment later, Fan Xian had darted several yards away. A few more bounds took him out of sight around the street corner.
Teng Zijing stood alone in the cold night, the smile he had been forcing instantly fading.
The likeliest reason his family had been taken to Prince Cheng's Residence was their connection to Fan Xian.
But Fan Xian was a good man. He could not simply blame him for this.
Now Fan Xian had unwittingly touched Prince Cheng's sore spot again. If Prince Cheng took his anger out on them...
He dared not follow that thought.
With his wife and child at stake, he dared not gamble on Prince Cheng's moral restraint.
"I can't wait until the rumors spread tomorrow..."
Teng Zijing's gaze hardened. Tonight, he would infiltrate Prince Cheng's Residence.
He had withheld the truth from Fan Xian precisely because he did not want to drag him into this again!
Inside Prince Cheng's Residence, Zhou Cheng inwardly cursed as he rose from his lover's embrace and stepped out of the Bedchamber in a thin robe.
"That bastard Fan Xian! Won't sleep in the middle of the night, so he has to disturb everyone else!"
Glancing at the negative notifications from Fan Xian and Teng Zijing that had appeared simultaneously on his system panel, he could roughly guess what was happening, even if he could not be certain.
"Summon Chen Quan," he instructed the guard on night duty.
Within moments, Chen Quan stood rigidly outside the door in light armor.
Rubbing his temples, Zhou Cheng got straight to the point. "On a sudden whim, I had a premonition in a dream. I suspect some scoundrel is coming to harm his imperial majesty. Take some men and keep a close watch. If anyone does come, 'invite' him to see me."
"Yes!" Chen Quan cupped his hands and accepted the order, showing no reaction to Zhou Cheng's casual use of an emperor's form of address.
In his mind, Zhou Cheng was a martial arts Grandmaster. His succession to Qing's imperial throne was both inevitable and entirely proper.
Never mind calling himself emperor in private-even putting a dragon throne in his residence would count as keeping a low profile!
Only after Chen Quan turned away to arrange the guards did Zhou Cheng head back inside, yawning.
Fan Xian took off his night clothes and changed back into his original outfit. Avoiding the lights along the bank, he used his lightness skills and a plank to return to the pleasure boat.
Carefully avoiding the pleasure boat's attendants, Fan Xian silently returned to Si Lili's door. One glance told him someone had been there.
When he left, he had deliberately left the door ajar by about half a finger's width. Now it was shut tight.
His expression unchanged, Fan Xian slowly pushed the door open without making a sound.
He walked slowly toward the bed. Si Lili still lay there quietly, her dark hair spread over the pillow, like a sleeping crabapple blossom.
Fan Xian spoke softly. "Before I left, I tied a knot in your hair and placed it on your shoulder. Your position hasn't changed, but the knot is gone. You've been awake!"
Si Lili did not move.
Fan Xian gently shook his head. "You can control your breathing, but not your pulse. One check will tell me whether you're awake. Miss Lili, must I take your pulse myself?"
Si Lili finally opened her eyes and slowly sat up, without a trace of sleepiness in her gaze.
Fan Xian watched her. "An ordinary person couldn't possibly wake up after taking my sleeping drug, unless they'd trained by taking such drugs over a long period and developed resistance. Who exactly are you?"
"Resistance?" Si Lili gathered her long hair, apparently finding the term novel. Instead of answering, she asked, "Where did you go so late at night, young master?"
They stared at one another in silence.
After a moment, Fan Xian looked away. "How about this? I won't ask about your background, and you know nothing about me leaving. That way, neither of us gets into trouble. Agreed?"
Si Lili studied Fan Xian so closely that his skin crawled. Only then did she say with a faint, ambiguous smile, "No trouble? The moment you stepped aboard this pleasure boat, you brought enormous trouble on yourself-and on me! And now you're talking about avoiding trouble. How amusing!"
Puzzled, Fan Xian frowned. "Why do you say that, miss?"
Si Lili sighed. "Still playing dumb? Everyone knows I'm the woman Prince Cheng has his eye on. I foolishly turned him down back then.
No one has dared pursue me all this time. Yet you dared send a poem to the pleasure boat-and an excellent one at that!
You put me in a dilemma and forced me to make a choice. At this point, won't you speak frankly, young master?"
Fan Xian was now dumbfounded. "What? You're the woman Prince Cheng has his eye on?"
Seeing Fan Xian nearly leap into the air, Si Lili froze. "You didn't know?"
"Know what? Was I supposed to know?"
"Well... practically everyone in the Capital knows, don't they?"
"I-I've only been in the damn Capital for three days! Even counting tonight, it'll only be four! How was I supposed to know?"
Fan Xian paced back and forth before the bed, tugging hard at his hair.
He had planned to take Teng Zijing to the residence tomorrow and demand the release of his family, only to discover that he had unwittingly offended the man terribly!
Now Si Lili was dumbfounded too!
"You knew nothing, yet you dared come to the Drunken Immortal Residence to sleep with a courtesan?"
"I-I was set up!"
Fan Xian nearly coughed up blood!
He thought of Li Hongcheng! He was the one who had invited him to the Glazed Crystal River!
Thinking back over Li Hongcheng's behavior throughout their outing...
That fucking bastard! With those thick brows and big eyes, he looked so honest, but his heart was rotten too!
Si Lili was speechless. She could see it now: the fellow before her had no powerful backing at all, much less the ability to stand against Prince Cheng. He had simply been played!
Her expression grave, Si Lili suddenly stood. She needed to consider whether to flee under cover of night.
"Everyone in the Capital knew except me!" Fan Xian muttered as he paced in circles.
Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him!
Everyone in the Capital knew! Then Teng Zijing, who had been secretly gathering intelligence lately, could not possibly be ignorant of it.
Recalling their parting just now and Teng Zijing's unusual reaction, he instantly understood what Teng Zijing was thinking!
Panic seized Fan Xian!
"Miss Lili, I need to go out again! I'll be back before dawn. Please, you must cover for me!" Fan Xian hurriedly cupped his hands, then looked up. "After all, we're in the same boat!"
With that, Fan Xian vaulted straight out the window. A few bounds carried his figure into the night.
Si Lili reached out, then lowered her hand again.
She had no time to worry about Fan Xian's affairs. What mattered now was whether she herself was in danger, and whether she should remain in the Capital!
Si Lili stood still for a while, then summoned the undercover agent disguised as an attendant. "Watch the entrance to Prince Cheng's Residence. Report to me immediately if anything unusual happens!"
The undercover agent accepted the order and withdrew.
Si Lili sat back down beside the bed. Watching the beaded curtain still swaying gently, she pressed a hand to her forehead and murmured with a bitter smile, "What a mess this is!"
Outside the high walls of Prince Cheng's Residence, a dark figure swept past like a night owl and landed soundlessly on the corner of a roof.
Teng Zijing crouched and surveyed the grounds carefully. Most of the residence lay in darkness. Only a few patrols of guards carried lanterns, their faint lights unusually sparse.
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