"Young master, how did you learn that I was skilled at the qin?"
Dongfang Bai studied Wang Hao and could not resist asking.
She knew that her identity as Liu Rushi was a complete fabrication. She had chosen to call herself the greatest beauty in Chuanshu because Shuzhou was a long way from the capital, and the roads through Shu were difficult and treacherous. Even if someone wanted to check her story, they would not return for months.
That was enough time for her to complete her mission.
"Such a coincidence? I only said it offhand earlier. If I'd actually said I wanted to spend a wonderful night with you, Mistress Liu, I'm afraid the ten thousand taels I brought wouldn't have been enough!"
Wang Hao replied with a chuckle, then walked straight over to the couch in the room and reclined on it. His gaze was unhurried, and there was no telling what he was thinking.
Although Wang Hao was panicking like crazy inside, he did not show the slightest sign of it on the surface.
And the act of courting a beauty at the risk of his life gave him a strange thrill, leaving him inwardly excited.
He also gave the room's furnishings a mental thumbs-up, especially the gauze curtain, which was simply perfect.
Even if he slipped up, it could conceal the flaw and keep Dongfang Bai from noticing it from behind the curtain.
Of course, his request to hear her play had not been made at random. Years ago, the Blood Robe Tower had sent his predecessor undercover in the Dongfang Lineage, telling him to find a chance to secretly drug their food so the Blood Robe Tower could wipe out the entire lineage.
His predecessor had spent more than a month in the Dongfang Lineage back then. Almost every day, Dongfang Bai played the qin in a pavilion. She clearly loved it, and her skill was exquisite.
That was why he had casually used listening to the qin as his excuse.
"..."
Behind the gauze curtain, Dongfang Bai was surprised. Clearly, she had not expected Wang Hao to respond like that.
"Then it really was a coincidence!"
Dongfang Bai pursed her lips and chuckled. She relaxed considerably and held Wang Hao in much less regard.
Earlier, she had thought Wang Hao had seen through her identity and deliberately said it!
Now it seemed it really was a coincidence.
"Since it's such a coincidence, why don't you play a piece for me, Mistress Liu?"
Wang Hao thought it over. He felt he should first listen to a piece to calm his nerves and ease his excitement and tension. Otherwise, if this went on, he was bound to give himself away.
After all, he was no actor, much less an award-winning one. His acting skills were still very rusty.
"Very well!"
Dongfang Bai readily agreed. After all, Wang Hao's current identity made him a suitable target for her to act against. Before long, she might just be able to learn the information she wanted from him!
"Young master, here is your wine!"
Just then, the beautiful woman from before entered with a pot of fine wine. She glanced at Dongfang Bai behind the gauze curtain, then withdrew, thoughtfully closing the door behind her.
"Plink..."
Slender, pale fingers lightly touched the strings, and a melodious tune drifted out, making Wang Hao tremble in body and mind.
The music seemed to possess a certain magic. At first, he noticed nothing, but as time gradually passed, Wang Hao's consciousness grew increasingly hazy.
When it reached a certain threshold, the cry of a sword suddenly rang out in his mind. His spirit jolted, and his consciousness cleared.
This is bad. There's something wrong with this girl's music!
Wang Hao kept his expression unchanged, but inwardly he cried out in alarm.
If his True Spirit Sword Intent had not been stirred just then, his mind would have fallen under the music's spell. Clearly, it had an effect similar to hypnosis.
Let's see what you're really planning!
Steeling his heart, Wang Hao decided to keep up the act and use it to investigate why Dongfang Bai had come to the capital.
After all, this girl would not have come to the capital for no reason. She had to have some purpose, and that might well be his opening to win her over.
As the saying went, how could one catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger's den? For the sake of his wife, he had decided to risk it all!
"Young master, what is your name? Are you a member of the imperial family?"
Seemingly certain that Wang Hao had fallen under her control for the moment, Dongfang Bai asked in a soft voice tinged with a mesmerizing quality.
"Zhu Yanzu, tenth-generation descendant of Hongwu Taizu and a member of the Zhu family's hidden branch."
Wang Hao put on a vacant expression and answered in a daze.
"The Great Ming imperial family's hidden branch? Could you tell me about your hidden branch?"
Dongfang Bai was taken aback. It was the first time she had heard of any hidden branch of the Great Ming imperial family, but after a moment's thought, she understood. It was probably a force the imperial family kept concealed, an unseen power to secure their realm.
The imperial families of practically every dynasty played the same trick.
She grew curious about it. Secrets like this were rare, and with such a fine opportunity before her today, she naturally could not miss it.
"Of course I ca... no, that's top secret. I can't tell you!"
Wang Hao maintained his entranced appearance, but halfway through his answer, his expression suddenly showed a hint of struggle, as though he were resisting something inside.
Dongfang Bai was alarmed. Her tender, scallion-like fingers rapidly plucked the strings to strengthen the hypnotic effect, while she soothed him. "If you can't tell me, then don't. I'm not interested in knowing anyway."
There was nothing else she could do but give up on that piece of information.
After all, this fellow had an extraordinary identity. If he woke up and realized something was wrong, she would no longer be able to stay in the capital, let alone pursue that other objective.
"Then can you tell me what plans or moves the Great Ming imperial family has made recently?"
Dongfang Bai thought for a moment and asked a fairly important question.
"A few days ago, I heard an imperial uncle discussing sending people to infiltrate and monitor the major forces in the martial world. The Sun Moon Holy Cult was the main focus. I heard they were starting with those left and right envoys or whatever they're called."
Wang Hao answered in a trance, as though Dongfang Bai really had hypnotized him.
He did not directly mention Dongfang Bubai. Instead, he used the forces of the martial world as a whole to divert Dongfang Bai's attention and keep her from growing suspicious.
After all, she had only asked casually. If he immediately steered the subject toward Dongfang Bai, she would inevitably grow suspicious. If this girl saw through him, he would be in for a miserable night.
This warning was also very necessary. Although he had done away with Yang Lianting, the Blood Robe Tower and even the Eastern Depot had designs on the Sun Moon Holy Cult, so they would surely not give up. They would find someone else to infiltrate the cult, and this warning could help Dongfang Bai stay on guard.
His answer made Dongfang Bai's body stiffen, and a hint of anger appeared on her flawless, jade-like face. Clearly, she was truly furious.
Her current position was the Sun Moon Holy Cult's Right Envoy of Light. The imperial court had set its sights on her, so how could she not be angry?
"Do you know of the Blood Robe Tower?"
Dongfang Bai forcibly suppressed her anger and asked another question. She could not help growing tense.
This was her true purpose in coming to the capital!
"Not much. I heard the Blood Robe Tower is an assassin organization under the Eastern Depot."
Wang Hao again answered in a trance, but inwardly he had begun to understand why Dongfang Bai had come to the capital. She was most likely investigating the hidden reason behind the massacre of the Dongfang Lineage.
"When you return, secretly investigate all information about the Blood Robe Tower's extermination of the Dongfang Lineage three years ago."
Forcibly containing her excitement, Dongfang Bai used a voice filled with boundless enchantment, together with the qin music, to plant a hint of suggestion in Wang Hao's mind and indirectly control him.
"When I return, I'll begin investigating the Dongfang Lineage massacre."
Wang Hao maintained his entranced expression as he replied. At last, he fully understood the girl's purpose. Sure enough, it was just as he had thought.
"Very good. Right now, you feel very tired and want to sleep."
Nodding in satisfaction, Dongfang Bai changed her tune, preparing to end today's hypnosis.
After all, the pawn had been planted. As long as nothing unexpected happened, it would not be long before she could obtain all the information she wanted through him.
"I'm very tired. I want to sleep!"
Wang Hao murmured the words after her, then fell onto the couch, secretly breathing a sigh of relief.
To fool Dongfang Bai, however, Wang Hao began to meditate, making his body appear to have fallen into a deep sleep. At the same time, he worked to keep the force of the Thousand Faces Divine Technique circulating so he would not give himself away.
Once she had confirmed that Wang Hao had truly fallen into a deep sleep, Dongfang Bai stopped playing. Fine beads of sweat had appeared on her fair forehead, and her breathing had grown much quicker. Clearly, what she had just done had taken a considerable toll on her.
The bewitching qin music had been driven by her formidable internal force. Even though she had swallowed a Great Rejuvenation Pill and gained sixty years of cultivation, it had left her exhausted.
Without another word, Dongfang Bai sat cross-legged and circulated her cultivation to recover what she had expended.
Two hours later, Wang Hao ended his meditation and opened his eyes. He looked around and rubbed his somewhat sore neck. "What's going on? How did I fall asleep?" he asked in confusion.
He had not settled into a good position earlier, and after lying there for two hours, he had ended up with a crick in his neck.
"Young master, perhaps you've been too tired lately. You fell asleep yourself after listening to my qin for only a short while, leaving me to play for nothing!"
Still kneeling behind the gauze curtain, Dongfang Bai spoke reproachfully, as though it were true.
Sure enough, the prettier a woman was, the better she was at lying!
"Is that so? There have indeed been a lot of things going on lately, but getting such a lovely sleep here with you, Mistress Liu, made those ten thousand taels worth spending."
Wang Hao nodded thoughtfully, putting on an expression of understanding.
"I have important matters to attend to, so I won't stay any longer, Mistress Liu."
Wang Hao glanced through the window at the night outside and spoke regretfully before rising and walking toward the door.
"I'm feeling unwell, so I won't see you out, young master."
The gentle words came from behind the gauze curtain. Dongfang Bai could not be bothered to see a man like him out!
In fact, if this fellow had not been somewhat useful and possessed an extraordinary identity, she would not even have bothered to look at him.
And she really was feeling unwell. After all, as a woman, she had a few such days every month.
"Then have a good rest. I'll come back tomorrow night to listen to you play again, Mistress Liu!"
After replying with concern, Wang Hao pushed open the door and stepped out.
Without any reservations, he went straight downstairs to the first-floor hall. Seeing the beautiful woman from earlier standing there, he walked over and said domineeringly, "From now on, I am to be Mistress Liu's only guest. I don't want a second person entering her room, and I especially don't want to see her dance for anyone else. Otherwise, there will be no need for this Listening to Rain Pavilion to exist."
With that, he strode away without looking at the beautiful woman's expression.
"What a domineering man!"
The beautiful woman stood stunned for quite a while before pursing her lips and laughing coquettishly. Then a thought occurred to her, and she went to a chamber in the Listening to Rain Pavilion's rear courtyard, changed into black night clothes, and slipped into the darkness.
She was also very curious about this man. Moreover, since her young mistress had chosen him as a pawn in this plan, she naturally had to investigate him thoroughly. At the very least, she had to learn where he was staying!
The beautiful woman sped along the rooftops on both sides of the street, using her lightness skill and Movement Method. The black gauze clothing perfectly blended her graceful figure into the night, making her difficult to detect.
As she traveled, she swept her gaze over several dark corners nearby, her delicate brows knitting slightly.
"It seems I'm not the only one interested in that man!"
The beautiful woman chuckled. She knew she had encountered others in the same line of work, but she had no reservations and continued swiftly following her target.
Their goals were the same, so there was no conflict between them. There was naturally no need to interfere with those fellow practitioners, and a few more people could share the risk!
But just as the beautiful woman and the others secretly following him turned another street corner, their bodies suddenly stiffened. The hairs all over them stood on end, and horror appeared on their faces.
The beautiful woman seemed to have discovered something terrifying. Without thinking, she turned and fled, no longer even bothering to hide her movements.
The other figures hidden in the shadows also beat hasty retreats, none daring to follow any farther.
Quite a while after they had left, a burly figure emerged from a dark corner by the street. Who else could it be but Wang Hao?
"This True Spirit Sword Intent is pretty good for scaring people!"
Wang Hao chuckled as he looked in the direction they had fled.
That was right. He had just unleashed his True Spirit Sword Intent to lock onto them with its presence, making it feel as though they had been targeted by a Grandmaster-level expert of the sword.
The strongest of those followers was only First-Rate, so they naturally fled in terror. After all, that was a Grandmaster!
A Grandmaster who had cultivated such powerful Sword Intent was absolutely not someone they could contend with. Faced with his subtle warning, they naturally knew better than to continue following.
Otherwise, what awaited them would not be a warning, but his deadly Sword Qi!
Wang Hao had secretly learned this trick from Zhao Fengxue through his True Spirit Sword Intent. Earlier, Zhao Fengxue had repeatedly faced Fu Lin and several other hall masters with swords drawn and crossbows bent, instinctively releasing his Sword Intent. Even Wang Hao had been caught in it.
After experiencing it several times, he had naturally discerned some of its workings. It was also one of the main reasons he had felt confident enough to come looking for Big Sister Dongfang this time.
Although the move had little killing power, it was still very effective for bluffing people.