Inside a private room at Hundred Flowers Tower.
"Both entering the Purple Palace?"
At those words, Min Ming's eyelid twitched, and panic filled her peach-blossom eyes.
Min Ning pressed her lips together and managed a strained "Mm."
Her elder sister, an unsullied courtesan, felt dizzy, the color draining from her lovely face.
"And he... he also has... Grandfather's Fist Manual."
Min Ning spoke hesitantly.
Min Ming recovered somewhat and looked at Min Ning with a complicated expression.
"Min Ning, do you really want to... give yourself to him?"
Min Ning bit her lip and said:
"Sister, I don't want to either... but if I don't do this, if I don't get close to him, he'll go after you. Then both of us will fall into his demonic clutches."
Min Ming said bitterly:
"Ning'er, but you aren't really... you're only a woman dressed as a man."
At those words, a bitter smile curled Min Ning's lips.
"Yes, that's why I have to approach him myself, hold his attention, and maneuver around him. Otherwise, if he forces us... we won't have any room to maneuver at all."
How could Min Ming fail to understand? Chen Yi now had his eye on both sisters, but he was especially taken with her younger sister, Min Ning. Min Ning knew this too. She wanted to draw all of Chen Yi's attention to herself. Not only could this secure some protection for the sisters, but with Min Ning willingly submitting, the man would also find it difficult to seize an opportunity to make trouble.
But understanding did not mean Min Ming could accept it. Looking at her resolute younger sister, Min Ming felt her eyes sting. She raised her sleeve to cover her face, nearly shedding tears.
"Sister, don't worry. I'll take care of myself."
Min Ning stepped forward and gently put her arms around her sister's shoulders.
"Ning'er..."
Min Ming did not know what to say. After a moment's thought, she said in a trembling voice:
"...Don't ruin yourself."
Min Ning nodded slightly and lowered her spirited eyes, filled with sorrow that would not fade.
Before long, Min Ning left Hundred Flowers Tower.
Min Ming did not rise to leave the private room. She turned her face toward its shadows.
"Granny Qingmei, come out."
An old woman with a head of white hair and a stooped back slowly emerged from the shadows. There was no telling how long she had been in the room, but however long it had been, Min Ning, a Chief Constable of the Eastern Depot, had never detected her presence.
"What deep affection between sisters."
The old woman spoke in a hollow voice.
Min Ming suddenly felt a bone-piercing chill.
"You previously sent word to the master that the Western Depot's Thousand Household wanted to work with the Do Not Use Tower?"
The old woman asked for confirmation.
Min Ming nodded her lovely head lightly. She would never forget that day.
"Now that Xue Youge is dead, Grand Secretary Lin has no one to use. His becoming Acting Depot Lord should be a nail hammered into the board."
As the old woman spoke, she turned her gaze toward Min Ming.
"Tell him the Do Not Use Tower wishes to establish ties with Thousand Household Chen."
This outcome did not surprise Min Ming. Even if Chen Yi did not become Acting Depot Lord, the Do Not Use Tower would not pass up an opportunity to draw in a Thousand Household of the Western Depot.
"Then... Granny, what gift should we prepare to establish those ties?"
Min Ming asked.
When the Do Not Use Tower established ties with people of standing, it would usually prepare a carefully chosen introductory gift. Such gifts often combined favor with intimidation: they forged ties, delivered a warning, and served as a pledge of allegiance.
As her words fell, the old woman stared fixedly at her.
Min Ming's skin instantly crawled.
"Miss Min, you are Hundred Flowers Tower's foremost unsullied courtesan. The Do Not Use Tower spent no small sum of silver over more than a decade to promote you and make your name resound throughout Capital City. You also swore before me that even if you had to become an ox or a horse in your next life, you would repay the Do Not Use Tower's kindness."
The old woman said slowly:
"Doesn't he want you as his Bedchamber Attendant? Then go to him and let him take your maidenhead."
Min Ming began to tremble all over.
Over the years, she had passed hundreds of pieces of intelligence, great and small, to the Do Not Use Tower. Even without merit, she had labored hard. Yet she had never imagined the Do Not Use Tower would squeeze every last use out of her like this. The introductory gift for the Western Depot's Thousand Household... was to be her!
The old woman spoke as though disposing of an object:
"If he wants to keep you as his Bedchamber Attendant, you must neither agree nor refuse. Once you become his Bedchamber Attendant, he'll tire of playing with you sooner or later. Just let him take your maidenhead and attend to him three or four times every five days. That is the best way to hold a man's heart in your grasp, and he'll come to see you often."
The more Min Ming heard, the colder her heart grew. She dared not speak.
The old woman paced about the private room, seemingly weighing matters for her master, then continued:
"Miss Min, the master values this Thousand Household and wants him to serve the Do Not Use Tower. When you find an opportunity, poison him. Use the Three Yang Qi-Dispersing Paste. With a slow poison like that, if he goes without the antidote for too long, he will inevitably lose all his martial arts and his meridians will rupture."
Shaking like chaff in a sieve, Min Ming said:
"But... how am I to administer it? In his tea? His soup? How could a martial artist like him not be cautious?"
The old woman sneered:
"Of course you poison a man when he is completely off guard. As a woman of a pleasure house, don't you know when a man is least guarded?"
Min Ming lowered her head and murmured:
"Naturally... at the moment of utmost bliss."
Suddenly, she realized something.
"Granny, you want me to..."
Her voice broke into fragments, and she could not continue.
The old woman closed her eyes indifferently.
"Conceal the poison in your body."
The Lin Residence.
An old man sat meditating on a cushion, dressed in Daoist robes with a horsetail whisk in hand, his eyes half closed. His aged, decrepit appearance made him look just like a Daoist priest accomplished in cultivation.
Grand Secretary Lin turned his head and called out clearly:
"Yan'er, add some incense."
Lin Yan emerged and added incense.
"Father, I still don't understand why you care so much about that Chen Yi."
Grand Secretary Lin did not answer directly, merely saying:
"Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is summoning him today."
The Empress Dowager was summoning him?
Lin Yan was startled.
"Father, why would Her Majesty the Empress Dowager suddenly summon him? Whatever else he might be, he's only a Thousand Household of the Western Depot."
Although the Empress Dowager now presided over court and ruled in the sovereign's name, she rarely summoned court officials individually. Even when she did, they were the grand secretaries of the Grand Secretariat. Yet now she wanted to summon Chen Yi, a fifth-rank official.
"Not only is the Empress Dowager summoning him, but a month ago, you gave him the position of Hundred Household. However highly you value him, none of this makes sense. Could there be something special about him?"
As the Lin family's second young master, Lin Yan associated with ministers at court and knew little about martial men like Chen Yi.
Without shifting his gaze, Grand Secretary Lin said:
"Do you know what happened that day?"
"What happened?"
"The household servants found a young man of unknown origins in Capital City. After questioning him carefully, they discovered that he claimed to be a descendant of the Chen Clan of Jin."
Grand Secretary Lin said evenly:
"That young man was named Chen Yi, courtesy name Zunming."
"The Chen family of the Jin Kingdom?"
Lin Yan drew in a sharp breath.
The Jin Kingdom and the Yu Kingdom had always been enemies, with far more war than peace between them.
And the Chen family of the Jin Kingdom and the An Household of the Yu Kingdom were hereditary enemies.
"After capturing Luoyong City, the Chen family of the Jin Kingdom slaughtered everyone in the city, old and young alike. Among them was the An Household's Main Line, whose members enjoyed high offices and generous emoluments in Capital City.
"How could Her Majesty the Empress Dowager ever forget such a blood-deep sea of hatred?"
Listening to Grand Secretary Lin, Lin Yan could not help speculating:
"Father, you mean,
"Her Majesty the Empress Dowager wants to use him to take revenge on the Chen family of the Jin Kingdom?
"But there are so many people surnamed Chen in this world. Is he really from the Chen Clan of Jin?"
Grand Secretary Lin gave a cold smile and waved his horsetail whisk.
"Yan'er, he doesn't need to be.
"As long as the Empress Dowager believes he is, then he is."
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