Chapter 9

In the quiet teahouse, Qin Jiu cradled her teacup and took two leisurely sips.

Through the half-open window, her gaze fell upon Xiao Ze, who had just stepped out of the teahouse onto the street below.

Calm and composed, Xiao Ze walked toward two constables patrolling the road and stopped to speak with them.

He carried himself with refined elegance and a gentle expression. Every smile, every gesture was impeccably graceful.

After chatting with the constables for a while, he smiled and discreetly slipped a small piece of silver from his sleeve into one of their hands before retracing his steps back to the teahouse.

Qin Jiu withdrew her gaze.

Aside from her, there were two others secretly watching Xiao Ze’s movements.

They were two young men—one dressed in gray, the other in blue—hiding in the corner of an alley. Their eyes were fixed tightly on Xiao Ze’s figure, their expressions dark and sinister.

“Lil Six, do you think Third Master has discovered us?” the man in gray asked thoughtfully.

“If he has, then he has. Let’s just make our move early and get rid of him!” Lil Six, the man in blue, snorted coldly and made a chopping gesture with his hand.

“No.” The man in gray hurriedly stopped him. “His Majesty is staying at the Jianglin traveling palace. If anything happens to Third Master here, it might alarm His Majesty. When that happens, security in this area will certainly be tightened. If the investigation traces back to us and implicates the Shizi (heir to a prince title/heir apparent), that would be disastrous.”

It was their own fault for losing track of him in Yaoqing County. Left with no choice, they had broken into smaller groups and acted separately. Otherwise, there would not be just the two of them here, forced to act with so many constraints.

“We can’t wait any longer!” Lil Six said impatiently, “If Third Master meets the Emperor and the Emperor issues an edict to depose the Shizi… it’ll be too late. Don’t wait for the others. Let’s strike first and gain an advantage. The credit will belong to the two of us alone.”

The man in gray frowned, deep in thought.

Though he did not agree with acting rashly, the way Third Master had spoken so familiarly with the constables just now made him uneasy. Could it be that Third Master had truly discovered them?

So were these constables now acting under Third Master’s orders, searching for the two of them?

At a time like this, they had to proceed with extreme caution.

“Lil Six, go back to the inn. I’ll keep watching him,” the man in gray said.

Lil Six wanted to argue further, but a look from the man in gray stopped him. He could only respond sullenly, “Yes.”

He returned to the inn alone resentfully, feeling that his companion was overly cautious.

So what if there were only the two of them? They could still dispose of Third Master quietly and without a trace. Wanted to lodge a complaint? Let him do it in the underworld!

Fuming, Lil Six entered the inn just as two constables were questioning the guests. Seeing him return, the innkeeper quickly said, “Officers, this gentleman is also newly arrived from out of town. He only checked in a few days ago.”

The two constables immediately turned their alert gazes toward Lil Six. One of them questioned: “Hey, where are you from? Do you have a travel permit?”

It was an entirely ordinary question, but to Lil Six it sounded somewhat loaded.

Especially since he and his companion had just seen Third Master chatting intimately with the constables outside the teahouse.

When Lil Six didn’t respond, the constable raised his voice and repeated, “Where’s your travel permit?”

“Officer, here is my permit.” Coming back to his senses, Lil Six calmly took out the document and handed it over as if nothing were wrong.

After examining it, the constable asked again, “When did you arrive in Qingyun County?”

“Five days ago.”

“What did you come for?”

“Just passing through.”

“Passing through?” The constable sized Lil Six up and continued, “Then where are you headed? The innkeeper said there are two of you traveling together. Where’s the other one?”

The smile on Lil Six’s face was beginning to falter. Why are these people so long-winded? Normally, aside from checking travel permits at the city gates, there wouldn’t be further questioning inside the city. So these constables must be investigating them, right? It had to be Third Master, using Qingyun County’s constables to get rid of them.

In your dreams! Lil Six ground his teeth inwardly.

Seeing that Lil Six remained silent for a long time, the constable grew impatient and barked, “I’m asking you—speak!”

Holding back his anger, Lil Six said, “Going to the capital to visit a friend.”

“Then when do you plan to leave Qingyun County?” the constable pressed.

“In a few days,” Lil Six replied offhandedly.

The constable eyed him suspiciously and asked irritably, “Exactly how many days is ‘a few days’?”

“Three.”

“Why stay in Qingyun County for three days?”

“To visit a friend!”

The constable’s face darkened. “Didn’t you just say you were going to the capital to visit a friend?”

“I…” After being questioned repeatedly, Lil Six finally lost his patience. “Are you done yet? I’ve got a permit—what more are you asking for?!”

Lil Six was convinced the constables meant no good, while the two constables found him increasingly suspicious. Setting aside his inconsistent answers, his arrogant attitude alone hardly belonged to an honest citizen.

Claiming he was going to the capital to visit a friend, yet not in a hurry to travel and insisting on staying in Qingyun County for several days—did he take them for fools?

This man was absolutely suspicious. He must be the one who, together with his accomplice, stole the jade pendant of the Second Prince’s fiancée!

Better to arrest the wrong person than let a guilty one go!

With that thought, the two constables exchanged a look. One of them—a burly man with a bristling beard—said sternly, “You. Come back to the yamen with us.”

Without another word, the two constables stepped forward to seize him.

Already at the end of his patience, Lil Six’s anger flared instantly. He sneered, “You think you can arrest me?”

With a swift motion, he grabbed the bearded constable’s right arm and hurled him to the ground, knocking nearby tables and chairs askew in the process.

The innkeeper and the waiters were terrified and shrank back behind the counter.

The situation descended into chaos at once.

The constables had only been mildly suspicious of Lil Six before, but now their suspicion surged. The other constable, who had triangular eyes, drew the saber from his waist and rushed forward, cursing.

Lil Six’s skills far surpassed those of the two constables. In just a few moves, he disarmed the man. A vicious glint flashed in his eyes as he swung the blade and slashed at the triangular-eyed constable’s thigh. Then he casually tossed the saber aside and strode toward the exit.

He knew he had gotten himself into trouble, but so what?

Since Third Master had already pulled strings in Qingyun County and set these constables on them, they couldn’t have stayed here long anyway.

“Quick! Catch him!”

Just then, another patrol of constables passed by. The two from the inn immediately shouted for help.

Noticing the mess inside the inn, the patrol rushed over aggressively and surrounded Lil Six.

At that point, whether Lil Six was truly a “thief” no longer mattered. With His Majesty staying at the Jianglin temporary palace, anyone daring to cause trouble in Qingyun County could not be shown leniency.

The squad leader barked an order at once: “Seize this suspicious villain!”

A dozen or so constables responded and swarmed around Lil Six, drawing their long sabers and pointing the blades straight at him.

Two fists were no match for four hands.

Before long, Lil Six was subdued. Two gleaming blades were pressed against his neck.

“Search him!”

At the squad leader’s command, one constable began frisking him. Lil Six’s face darkened as he struggled violently and shouted, “Let me go!”

Clang!

A bronze token fell from his person to the ground. Another constable quickly picked it up.

His expression changed instantly.

This was clearly the token of the Prince of Duan’s heir apparent!

Every constable present looked at Lil Six differently now.

It felt as though the very air in the street had frozen.

Since Lil Six was no ordinary criminal, the squad leader naturally did not dare handle the matter lightly. He quickly ordered, “Take him back to the county yamen!” This hot potato had to be handed over to the magistrate as soon as possible.

The group of constables immediately escorted Lil Six away. As they passed by the teahouse, Qin Jiu saw them from the second floor.

She cast a sidelong glance at Xiao Ze, whose smile was as gentle as a spring breeze, and felt that from the outside in, from skin to bone, he was black through and through.

“This is the one who’s been tailing you, isn’t he?” Qin Jiu asked with certainty.

Xiao Ze nodded with a faint smile, not explaining that this man was merely one of them.

After traveling together with Qin Jiu, he had indeed shaken off those pursuers at first. However, on the very day they entered Qingyun County, he noticed that two men had begun tailing him again. Perhaps due to a lack of manpower, they had not made a move right away.

Since that was the case, it was his turn to act.

With His Majesty present here, it was a perfect opportunity. He had originally planned to drive these two “nails” in before the imperial presence.

Now it served two purposes at once.

Xiao Ze lifted his white porcelain teacup and took a light sip. The amber tea reflected in his eyes, making them appear even brighter.

“Pleasant cooperation,” he said warmly. Like a refined young nobleman, he was elegant and composed, every movement pleasing to the eye.

Qin Jiu didn’t dare take credit, “I didn’t do anything.”

“The constables were here because of you,” Xiao Ze said with a smile.

“That’s true,” Qin Jiu nodded solemnly, her brows curving as she smiled.

Xiao Ze lowered his head and chuckled softly, his faint smile lighting up his features.

In an excellent mood, Qin Jiu turned to look out at the street again. With her slender finger, she pointed at the man restrained by the constables and asked, “What will happen next?”

Xiao Ze merely smiled without answering and resumed drinking his tea.

Qin Jiu watched him curiously.

He leisurely took several more sips. Just as she thought he would not reply, he suddenly spoke: “Next, your trouble will also disappear.”

There was an unfathomable air about him.

Qin Jiu was completely baffled, her bright almond-shaped eyes blinking.

She had no idea how much Xiao Ze knew, nor did she care to ask. Even if she did, he likely wouldn’t tell her.

Well, so be it!

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Translator’s Note: Tbh I’m not very satisfied with the translation quality so I’ll probably start human-translating again for the next chapters. The first few chapters had AI do the first translation while I did the second translation, while these few chapters I’ve simply edited it and compared a few lines to the Chinese version. For the most part it’s correct, but there’s a few places where the nuance is lesser. I probably won’t go back and retranslate the previous chapters (including this one, which is an edited AI-translation), but going forward I’ll do an AI base + a second human translation.

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed reading so far, and thanks for reading my ramblings!