Crisis Strikes

Outside Yujing City, the imperial estate.

The steward eunuch Jia San was the adopted son of Jia Jin, the ninth chief of the Black Cloaks, and had a powerful backing.

In truth, Jia San was already forty-six, while Jia Jin was only thirty-two.

Jia San reclined on a soft couch, surrounded by beauties. Two maids massaged his legs, while another held a purple grape between her red lips and fed it into Jia San's mouth.

The scholar Xiao Sanchuan stood below with his head lowered cautiously, reporting to Jia San about the Dongan Escort Agency.

"After Zhao Xuan was beheaded, Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine stitched him up and gave him an intact corpse. Madam An Ya has now buried him."

Jia San spat out a grape seed and frowned in disgust. "Where did these grapes come from? Why do they still have seeds?"

Xiao Sanchuan hurriedly replied with a flattering smile, "They were sent from the Western Regions. They said they were this year's finest grapes, exceptionally sweet."

Jia San did not even raise his eyelids. "They are sweet, but they have seeds. Can His Majesty eat grapes with seeds? Wouldn't spitting out seeds damage the dignity of the Son of Heaven? Have the person who delivered these grapes beheaded."

"Utterly outrageous!"

Xiao Sanchuan bowed in acknowledgment.

Only then did Jia San wave his hand again. The maid placed a lychee in her red lips and fed it into Jia San's mouth. He rolled it around in his mouth, spat out the pit, and the maid caught it with her lips before spitting it aside.

"Hasn't this Corpse Seamstress Workshop been disbanded for some time now?"

"How is there still someone stitching corpses at Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine?"

Xiao Sanchuan explained, "This lowly one looked into it. The Corpse Seamstress at Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine borrowed fifty taels of silver from relatives and bought the place from a minor official at the Ministry of Justice, turning it into a business for stitching corpses."

"Not only that, sir, this lowly one uncovered a great secret."

"The mother and daughter, Li Lan'er and her mother, who escaped from our estate back then, are hiding in Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine."

"I heard that mother and daughter sold themselves at the Caishikou Execution Grounds, then were bought back by that Corpse Seamstress from Number Nine as wives."

Jia San, who had not opened his eyes until now, finally did so. He looked at Xiao Sanchuan with a smile that did not reach his eyes. "Sanchuan, are you saying that someone our household has yet to claim became the wife of some little Corpse Seamstress?"

Xiao Sanchuan smiled carefully. "How could he have such fortune? Originally, he bought the Corpse Seamstress Workshop, and it was sold by the Ministry of Justice, so it was inconvenient for us to interfere. But since he is harboring the wife and daughter of an imperial estate tenant, that is a grave crime. We can take him in with our men, and it would be perfectly justified. No one could find fault with it."

Jia San chuckled and waved his hand. "Go."

He truly did not regard a mere Corpse Seamstress as worthy of his attention.

Xiao Sanchuan hurriedly withdrew as well.

Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine had gained a little reputation after stitching up Zhao Xuan.

Quite a few people now knew that among the row of Corpse Seamstress Workshops at the Caishikou Execution Grounds, there was another Corpse Seamstress.

Wen Qingkong had effectively done some marketing, so he would not have to worry about business in the future.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

Little Nine flew in through the second-floor window, then descended to the first floor. It cried incessantly at Wen Qingkong and hopped urgently back and forth along the branches set up in the corner, appearing extremely anxious.

Wen Qingkong's brows furrowed slightly.

He hurried to the second floor and looked out through the window.

At that moment, Little One beat his wings and let out a harsh caw.

Wen Qingkong followed the roof ridge where Little One stood and looked down. His pupils contracted. It was the scholar who had appeared in Zhao Xuan's life's flashback, the trusted confidant of Eunuch Jia, the imperial estate's steward.

Wen Qingkong's heart stirred, and he immediately deduced that the scholar had come for him.

Within all of Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine, the ones most likely to be controlled by the imperial estate eunuch were Li Lan'er and her mother.

Wen Qingkong immediately said to Li Lan'er, "Come with me."

Time was pressing. He had no time to send Li Lan'er and her mother elsewhere. He tucked the two women under his arms, one on each side, sprang onto the roof ridge, went along the riverbank behind the building, slipped into Corpse Seamstress House Number One, and instructed them not to make a sound.

If they were truly caught, they were not to resist. They only needed to obediently go with the scholar.

He would find a way to save them.

Li Lan'er nodded urgently.

She had not expected that even while staying in the Corpse Seamstress Workshop, the eunuch from the imperial estate would still come looking for them.

After settling Li Lan'er down, Wen Qingkong slipped back into his own Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine.

Not long after he returned, he heard the door being pounded heavily.

Wen Qingkong opened the door and looked at the scholar and his group.

"Are you here to have a corpse stitched?"

"Get lost!"

One of the imperial estate's thugs kicked Wen Qingkong to the ground, and the group swiftly began searching.

Unfortunately, they did not find Li Lan'er and her mother.

The scholar Xiao Sanchuan frowned. That should not have been possible. The information he had gathered could not be wrong.

Soon, Xiao Sanchuan found Li Lan'er and her mother's room on the second floor, along with their clothes.

Xiao Sanchuan sneered and carried the clothes over to Wen Qingkong.

"Where are they?"

"You dared lay hands on Eunuch Jia's people?"

"Young man, a newborn calf truly does not fear the tiger."

Wen Qingkong feigned terror. "Someone came to take them away this morning. They even gave me a fifty-tael banknote."

As he spoke, he took a fifty-tael banknote from his robes and shakily offered it to Xiao Sanchuan with both hands.

Xiao Sanchuan's brow tightened. Someone had taken them away?

He carefully inspected the fifty-tael banknote. It was genuine.

Fifty taels was no small sum.

A Corpse Seamstress would not have that much money.

Who would take Li Lan'er and her mother away?

Li Lan'er and her mother knew about the four brothers from the imperial estate suing Eunuch Jia. Could someone be planning to make an issue of it?

At this point, Wen Qingkong, this little Corpse Seamstress, had become of little use in Xiao Sanchuan's eyes.

"What did the people who took the mother and daughter look like?"

"They were powerfully built, with especially fierce eyes. Just one look from them made sweat pour all over me."

"They were just like those military gentlemen whose corpses I used to stitch."

Xiao Sanchuan's heart skipped a beat, and he pressed, "Which way did they leave?"

"Very strange. They left by water behind the house. A boat was waiting especially for them."

Xiao Sanchuan's heart sank.

Because Wen Qingkong was merely a little Corpse Seamstress, Xiao Sanchuan had not taken him seriously at all. He had not even sent anyone to watch Wen Qingkong, which meant he had no way to verify whether Wen Qingkong's words were true.

Likewise, precisely because Wen Qingkong was only a little Corpse Seamstress, Xiao Sanchuan did not believe Wen Qingkong had the ability to fabricate such a lie.

Military men, traveling by water, secrecy...

Several key words swiftly connected in his mind.

Xiao Sanchuan's expression darkened further.

He thought of someone—Marquis Fubo Ma Guangyuan.

As the only marquis besides Marquis Wu who held military authority, Marquis Fubo was not merely formidable in battle; he was equally well versed in affairs of the imperial court.

Marquis Fubo Ma Guangyuan must have noticed Zhao Xuan's imprisonment and execution.

If he could investigate Li Lan'er and her mother, then Ma Guangyuan could naturally do the same. Taking them away beforehand was clearly meant to deal with Eunuch Jia.

Xiao Sanchuan could not remain any longer.

He immediately led his men back to the imperial estate to report this matter to Eunuch Jia.

As for Wen Qingkong, he was only a little Corpse Seamstress. Why bother caring about him?