A silver moon hung overhead as a small pleasure boat drifted slowly along the riverbank.
The guard Jia Zheng stood at the stern, diligently poling the boat and humming along with the music.
Lin Zisu had borrowed a pipa from somewhere and was strumming it in her arms, singing "Tears of the Dancing Girl" with such convincing expression and feeling that the maid Qinwen secretly marveled.
Long accustomed to that wretched girl, Lin Wanyi reclined against the curved railing, gazing at the cold river and chilly moon. A trace of boredom lurked in her eyes behind her gold-rimmed glasses as she pondered:
I wonder whether Xie Jinhuan has been keeping the Commandery Princess happy...
Sending a man to serve a powerful female official for a precious treasure... why does that sound a little like offering up one's wife for power?
If he sacrifices his looks and still doesn't get the Martial Dao Divine Canon, won't that be losing the wife and the troops as well?
Pah, pah, pah...
As these wild thoughts ran through her mind, a sound suddenly came from the distant River Bend:
Boom...
It sounded like muffled thunder. Between the distance and the interference from the fireworks, ordinary people would hardly notice it.
But floating on the river, Lin Wanyi could tell that the sound had not come from Peony Pond, nor had any fireworks lit up behind River Bend.
Boom, boom...
A short while later, two more muffled reports came from afar, quieter this time.
?
Lin Wanyi blinked and rose in slight bewilderment. She went to the bow and sniffed carefully, suddenly discovering a faint, unusual scent in the river breeze brushing her face.
As a witch of the Gu Poison Sect, Lin Wanyi was exceptionally sensitive to all kinds of toxins!
But the scent