Gu Moran was about to speak.
A very slight noise came from the beam outside; a wooden strip had been moved slightly.
Lin Qingdai lay prone on the beam, following the usual night patrol procedure: walk along this beam to the west wing and then climb over.
Unexpectedly, the two people inside the room immediately started talking about the couch.
She acted quickly; it was better to leave now than to stay. Her fingers had just braced against the beam.
The door opened, and a copper coin brushed past her ear before hitting a pillar.
It hit the piece of wood she was supporting with her left hand, causing it to jolt and Lin Qingdai's hand to slip, tumbling off the beam.
She could have landed steadily, but an arm suddenly reached out from below, wrapped around her waist, and pulled her into its embrace.
" Qingdai," Gu Moran whispered in her ear, "Are you staying up so late because you miss me?"
The white layer on Lin Qingdai's neck instantly turned red.
"Put me down."
"I won't let go."
Gu Moran!
"Don't rush, let's go back inside and rest together."
Gu Moran a playful grin, carried Lin Qingdai into Murong Xue's house and closed the door.
Murong Xue stood to the side, adding insult to injury with a cold laugh.
"Master Lin did his duty diligently, patrolling the roof beams at night."
Lin Qingdai was held tightly by Gu Moran and could not break free; her voice was muffled and inaudible.
"You don't know anything. I'm patrolling the entire prefecture."
"Ladies, please be patient. Tonight, let's thoroughly inspect this room together. We'll start with the bed."
"Pah, who wants to sleep with you?"
"Oh? Qingdai, you don't like the tatami? That's alright, we can go somewhere else first!"
"Hey! You guys are going too far! This is my room. Can't we go back to Lin Qingdai's place?"
" Xue'er, don't rush, it'll be warmer if we hug."
Gu Moran used one hand to dim the lamp and pulled Murong Xue over.
The wind picked up again outside, sweeping away the thin layer of snow on the eaves, causing it to fall with a soft rustling sound.
The old woman on night watch in the courtyard heard a noise coming from the east wing. She was about to ask if they needed more charcoal when she reached the corner of the corridor and saw that the door latch was closed. She could also faintly hear the lady and the prince whispering to each other.
He turned and walked back the way he came.
The accounts of that night were never fully settled.
All that was known was that as dawn approached, Murong Xue didn't even have the strength to lift her hand to brush her hair. She leaned against the pillow, staring at the ceiling without saying a word.
Lin Qingdai found her knife still by the bed. When she got up, she held onto the bedpost for a while before she could stand steadily.
Gu Moran, sitting on the edge of the couch, couldn't help but speak.
"Alright, Xue'er, everything in this room is fine, except for that chair. I'll have Uncle Fu bring over some cushions later; it's a bit uncomfortable."
Let's meet at Qingdai's house tomorrow night.
Murong Xue threw the pillow at him, her voice hoarse.
"Get out."
Lin Qingdai had already dressed, but after taking two steps, she stopped, glanced back at him, said nothing, covered her face, and walked away with difficulty.
As dawn broke over the roof tiles of the old prince's mansion, the lights were already on in the front hall.
Uncle Fu stood at the foot of the steps, a letter without a signature tucked in his sleeve. When he saw Gu Moran, he hurriedly went to greet him.
"Your Highness, it was delivered last night by a personal attendant from the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's office. He said he wanted to hand it to this old servant personally."
Gu Moran opened the letter by the light from the corridor.
Yun Zhengze's handwriting was always thin and strong. On the paper were the pseudonym used by Pu Yunshan, Jiren Medical Hall, and the whereabouts of eight guards unknown. The last sentence was: Zhao Wuxu still thought that his men had only disappeared. This clue can be left.
At the end of the letter, a line of smaller writing was added, the pen strokes softened.
It's better for the Yue'er.
Gu Moran smiled when she saw these five words, folded the letter, and handed it to Uncle Fu.
"Burn it."
Uncle Fu was carrying the letter toward the charcoal brazier when he was stopped halfway there.
Gu Moran looked out of the courtyard, "Have the kitchen stew a chicken for Yun Shuyue today; her legs have gotten so thin from running around these past few days."
Uncle Fu agreed.
Just as I dropped the letter into the charcoal brazier, a series of hurried footsteps came from the stone steps in the front yard.
Xue Huan arrived with his men.
The eight people were escorted in pairs, with chains around their necks. Their clothes had been rubbed with soap and changed, but the smell still lingered and could be smelled from five or six steps away.
Xue Huan stood downwind, raising his hands in a fist salute.
"Your Highness, these eight men are not behaving themselves. Although they don't speak, they keep exchanging glances. I was worried, so I arrested them as well."
Gu Moran took half a step back upwind, pulling the fox fur collar up to her nose.
"You're not behaving yourself while digging rocks? Did you even interrogate me?"
"The interrogation lasted half the night." Xue Huan was a little embarrassed. "They wouldn't even say their place of origin; the leader only said four words."
Which four characters?
"Kill me if you must."
Gu Moran nodded.
He recognized the phrase; it was a common saying among those in the underworld who were always stubborn. It became as ubiquitous as a restaurant sign, used to maintain appearances.
He glanced at the eight people.
The one in the lead, though chained by the shoulders and elbows, stood straight, his eyes fixed on the floor tiles, not looking at anyone.
These assassins trained in Mount Qingcheng might not be able to get their mouths out through torture, and even if they were, they might not tell the truth.
They were only worried about the young master.
"No more interrogation." Gu Moran pulled his hand out of his fox fur coat and pointed to the other end of the dungeon. "Send them to the dungeon, one rope each, hang them upside down with their feet facing upwards."
Xue Huan was taken aback.
"Hanging him upside down... is the prince going to use this to force a confession?"
"What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think I'm such a treacherous person? Everyone knows I've always been benevolent."
Gu Moran covered his nose, remaining calm and composed.
"The smell from them lingered on their legs and wouldn't dissipate, so if you hung them upside down, the smell would dissipate from the top and fly away faster."
Xue Huan was taken aback, opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing and simply clasped his hands in response.
As the leader of the assassins was dragged across the threshold, he finally raised his head and looked at the white fox fur coat on the steps.
He was searched, drugged, and taken to a quarry where he swung a stone hammer all day. He thought he would be interrogated when he returned to the palace, but they didn't even ask him his surname.
That's incredibly insulting!
Gu Moran waited until they were taken far away before calling out to the side courtyard behind the corridor pillars.
" Old Tuo."
Half an hour later.
Tuoba Mang emerged from behind the pillar, hurriedly wiping the lipstick off his face while fastening his belt.
"Hehe, Your Highness, that... that newly acquainted Sister-in-law Hua is quite interesting. Hehe."
After saying that, he scratched his head sheepishly.
Gu Moran smiled.
"Let's get down to business. How's Pu Hua doing? Is he feeling better?"
"The doctor said he's mostly recovered, but his face is still a bit pale. Yesterday, Sister-in-law Sun wanted to give him another bowl of soup, but I stopped her."
"Go and drag him out." Gu Moran tightened his fox fur coat around himself. "We've just taken in a few latrine thieves in the dungeon. The latrine buckets down there haven't been emptied for two days, so we're just short of someone with all their limbs intact."
Tuoba Mang fastened his belt and thought for a moment.
"Your Highness, that's a dungeon down there. Aren't you afraid he'll see something if you let a scholar like him go in?"
"What can he see?" Gu Moran walked back. "A few thieves hanging upside down, buckets all over the ground. If he can't understand it, he can take a few more glances."