Xiao Yuan’s eyes were fixed on the urgent secret report, his deep, ink-dark eyes suddenly turning colder.
They already knew that the secret imperial edict had been leaked, and Beidi had received the news long ago as well.
But they had not expected that this matter had already spread completely through the capital, thousands of li away.
“Someone… deliberately let this news ‘become known.’”
Xiao Yuan spoke coldly.
Xia Lanshi gave a slight nod, his fingertips pressing against the edge of the secret report.
“What is being spread in the capital now is not ‘Prince Su has received a secret imperial edict to reclaim the three lost territories of the Northern Border within three months,’ but rather it has been stripped down to ‘reclaim the lost territories of the Northern Border within three months.’ Besides that—”
He pulled out another secret report that had been delivered at the same time, the corner of his lips curling into an amused arc. “What’s interesting is that there are other rumors as well.”
Xiao Yuan took the report and quickly scanned it. Two lines of small characters were written on it:
“Recently, there has been little warfare in the Northern Border.”
“Prince Su has led fifty thousand elite troops north.”
“Fifty thousand elite troops?”
The moment he heard that number, Pei Yi immediately let out a cold, disdainful laugh. “Absurd. Utter nonsense!”
As a battle-tested general, Pei Yi knew the current strength of Linbei City all too well.
The emperor had originally assigned Xiao Yuan a total of only thirty thousand troops, and that number even included Xiao Yuan’s own direct forces. The actual capital troops accounted for only a pitiful eight thousand.
That amount of manpower would struggle even with a frontal assault on any Beidi city, so where had these “fifty thousand elite troops” come from?
When Xia Lanshi had first seen this number, he had merely chuckled.
“Fifty thousand… That number is rather interesting.”
He restrained his smile and said seriously, “Your Highness, I believe the person who released these latter two pieces of information may not necessarily be part of the same group as the person who leaked the secret edict.”
Xiao Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze deep.
He rapidly ran through all the various factions in the capital in his mind, yet he could not find a single person who might help him spread these latter two pieces of information. His foundation in the capital was weak, and there was practically no one at court who dared openly stand on his side.
Xia Lanshi had clearly thought of this as well.
What was the purpose of the person releasing this information?
What benefit did they gain?
These latter two seemingly absurd rumors not only did not have any negative impact on Prince Su, they actually interfered with certain people’s judgment.
Seeing a trace of barely perceptible amusement in Xia Lanshi’s eyes, Xiao Yuan asked in a low voice, “What is it?”
“I was only thinking that His Majesty’s secret edict may have affected more than just Your Highness.”
Xia Lanshi’s gaze was distant as he said calmly, “Perhaps, unintentionally, it awakened something that had been lying dormant in the shadows all along.”
After saying this, Xia Lanshi picked up the wolf-hair brush on the table and swiftly wrote three lines on the white paper:
“Reclaim the lost territories within three months” — truth with something missing.
“Fifty thousand elite troops” — falsehood containing truth.
“No warfare in the Northern Border” — false.
Xia Lanshi held the brush suspended for a moment, not immediately adding the final stroke.
“The first sentence looks like a leak.”
“The second sentence… the truly interesting thing about the number fifty thousand is not whether it is true or false. It is… who will be the first to become restless after hearing it.”
“As for the third sentence, it seems to be deliberately creating another false perception.”
“Not one of these three sentences is clean.”
“Yet they happened to spread throughout the capital at the same time, with astonishing coordination.”
He raised his eyes, his cool gaze meeting Xiao Yuan’s.
“Exactly who is probing, and who is covering something up, cannot yet be determined. We cannot even be certain that these three sentences came from the same person.”
The study fell silent for a moment. Even the faint crackling of the burning lamp wick could be heard clearly.
“The most frightening thing about these three sentences is—” Xia Lanshi paused. “They are all ‘genuinely possible.’”
Xiao Yuan stared at him.
Pei Yi frowned tightly, his face full of confusion. “Chief Secretary Xia, what do you mean? How can something false become genuinely possible?”
Xia Lanshi slowly explained:
“If we didn’t know that our troop strength was only thirty thousand, and saw fifty thousand, we would assume the imperial court had placed great hopes in us.”
“If we didn’t know that Beidi had already been secretly preparing for war for more than a month, and saw ‘there is no warfare in the Northern Border,’ we would assume someone was deliberately underestimating the enemy situation and numbing the court.”
“If all we knew was that the secret edict had been leaked, then naturally, we would attribute all the rumors to the result of that leak.”
He lifted his head, wisdom that saw straight through people flickering in his eyes.
“Looking at all the clues together—it appears that someone is deliberately mixing true and false intelligence together, disrupting everyone’s line of sight.”
The capital’s intelligence network was now like a gigantic vat of dye, with someone quietly dropping different colors into the water.
One drop true, one drop false.
One drop half true and half false.
In the end, everything was stirred into muddy water.
And what they truly wanted to see had never been what color the water would ultimately become.
It was… exactly who would reach out and stir it first when the color of the water changed.
Xia Lanshi was extremely curious who the person behind this was.
Anyone capable of doing something like this clearly already possessed control over a specific intelligence network, allowing them to react immediately.
His fingertip lightly tapped the line reading “Reclaim the lost territories within three months,” and he slowly analyzed, “This piece of information has already spread through the circle of influential nobles in the capital. High officials, nobles, and the princes’ residences must all have heard of it. And these two—”
His finger moved toward “fifty thousand elite troops” and “no warfare in the Northern Border.”
“Their sources are unknown, but they have appeared overwhelmingly through civilian channels such as restaurants and merchants. And they also exist within the circle of influential nobles.”
Xia Lanshi put down the brush, wisdom that saw straight through people flickering in his eyes.
“Someone is taking the same war and breaking it into different versions, feeding different versions to different people.”
“The only place where the two overlap is the circle of influential nobles in the capital. This means the disseminator has at least the ability to come into contact with the nobility, or… he is himself a noble.”
Chi Banyue’s eyes narrowed slightly as he immediately understood.
“So there are at least two, perhaps even several, forces in the capital secretly muddying the waters?”
Xia Lanshi nodded. “And the most troublesome part is that we don’t even know which force is secretly monitoring which other force.”
Xiao Yuan’s eyes darkened slightly, his knuckles tapping lightly against the tabletop.
After a long while, he suddenly gave a low laugh, that laughter carrying an imposing, icy authority.
“Since someone likes throwing information into the capital so much… then let them keep spreading it.”
Xiao Yuan reached out and pulled out the sheet of paper bearing the words “fifty thousand.”
“Whether it is true or false is unimportant.”
His fingertip landed on the writing, and he curled his lips coldly.
“What matters is—whether Beidi believes it. If they believe it, then I truly have fifty thousand. At least in their judgment—‘yes.’”
Xia Lanshi looked at him. Their gazes met in the air, understanding each other without words.
“Since someone in the capital has created another twenty thousand soldiers for Your Highness, then those twenty thousand soldiers cannot go to waste.”
Xia Lanshi smiled faintly. “Starting today, spread word that Prince Su’s army is investigating Baishui Pass. General Pei can even begin moving some grain carts and siege equipment westward. There is no need to make it too deliberate. Simply proceed according to normal procedures.”
They had originally planned to pretend to attack Baishui Pass in order to pin down this shield.
Now that someone was spreading information for them, they could simply go with the flow.
Pei Yi’s eyes brightened slightly. “Have Beidi see us preparing to attack Baishui Pass right now?”
“No.”
Xia Lanshi calmly corrected him. “Let them see that we are preparing for a large-scale siege. As for whether it is Baishui Pass… let them fill in that part themselves.”
Xia Lanshi’s fingertip lightly tapped the western side of Linbei City on the map, his gaze growing deep.
“If we want Beidi to believe that Linbei City truly has tens of thousands of troops stationed here, a few rumors alone are far from enough. Beidi’s commander, Helian Cang, is an old hand on the battlefield. His scouts will not merely look at written reports. They will also look at cooking smoke, tents, horses, and construction.”
He turned to the others and laid out a plan:
“First, the eight thousand capital troops in the western camp will, starting today, be divided among three locations: the northwest camp, southwest camp, and a new southern camp. Officially, this will be explained as being ‘for convenient rotation and logistical deployment.’”
Su Muchen immediately understood and picked up the thread. “That works perfectly. The military camp sanitation reforms already require us to reduce dense gatherings to prevent epidemics. Changing the original eight men per tent to four men per tent, then adding isolation tents, supply tents, and reserve tents—the number of tents alone will instantly more than double.”
“General Su is right.”
Xia Lanshi smiled. “With a troop strength of eight thousand, as long as the number of tents and the area of the camps are expanded, in the eyes of scouts observing from a distance, there will be the foundation of an army two or three times that size.”
“Second, movement.”
A trace of coldness flashed through Xia Lanshi’s eyes.
“No matter how well eight thousand people are hidden, their movements cannot be concealed. Rather than hide them, let them see it openly. Have one thousand cavalry from the Xiaoqi Camp leave the western camp in the morning and patrol around the northern city. In the afternoon, change the banners and enter the city from the southern side, then return to the western camp in the evening. Coordinate this with different bugle calls, so that enemy scouts believe there are at least three different cavalry units constantly moving around Linbei City.”
“Third, construction.”
Xia Lanshi looked toward Pei Yi.
“Have every camp make a great show of expanding the stables outside Linbei City, digging drainage ditches, constructing new training grounds, and expanding the granaries. These large-scale projects are the most straightforward language. They are telling Beidi that Dasheng’s rear is continuously receiving large numbers of troops.”
Xiao Yuan said, “Even if it appears insufficient to make fifty thousand, it will still be enough to confuse their intelligence.”
After hearing this entire series of arrangements, Pei Yi could not help sighing.
“This way, no matter how Beidi’s scouts investigate—whether they count cooking smoke or watch the firelight—everything they see will point to ‘a large army gathering.’ Even if Helian Cang has doubts in his heart, he absolutely won’t dare gamble!”
Xiao Yuan looked at the map on the low table, the corners of his lips curling into a cold arc.
“Make the false seem real, and the real seem false. These fifty thousand capital troops… I’ll take them.”
His fingertip struck the tabletop heavily.
“Let them believe that I truly intend to throw everything I have into attacking Baishui Pass. As for what I truly intend to do…”
His finger traced a cold arc, moving directly from Baishui Pass to Duanyun Fort.
“The fewer people who know, the better.”
“I have one final matter.”
Xia Lanshi’s expression immediately turned solemn. He took out another dossier. It was a report on the irregularities within the capital troops that he had secretly investigated in the past.
“Dead soldiers in the military registers, inflated troop numbers, irregular military pay, falsified battle reports…”
Xia Lanshi slowly raised his eyes, his cool gaze sweeping over everyone present.
“What I am least willing to believe now is that the ‘corruption in the capital troops’ and ‘Beidi’s preparations for war in advance’ just happen to have absolutely nothing to do with each other.”
The atmosphere throughout the study suddenly changed.
The air seemed to freeze into ice.
“If it is merely internal corruption within the capital troops, at most they are parasites.”
Xia Lanshi’s tone was calm to the point of cruelty.
“But if someone is using these parasites to gradually send military supplies, troop numbers, deployment orders, and battle reports beyond the Northern Border… then they are no longer merely parasites. Someone is using Dasheng’s own army to raise another intelligence network.”
Pei Yi was having trouble following and hurriedly asked, “Beidi’s preparations for war—couldn’t that be because the secret imperial edict was leaked from the capital, causing Beidi to react in advance?”
“That is another matter.”
Xia Lanshi’s tone remained calm to the point of cruelty.
“Beidi began purchasing large quantities of military supplies outside the passes more than a month ago. We can only infer that the secret edict had already been leaked while it was still in the capital. However, Beidi’s sudden increase in patrol cavalry and its full elevation of defensive readiness only happened three days ago.”
“Three days ago.”
Xia Lanshi’s gaze shifted toward Xiao, who had remained silent the entire time.
“It was also not long after you entered the heart of Beidi.”
Xiao slightly raised his eyes, his gaze crossing with Xia Lanshi’s.
After entering Beidi, he had already noticed many abnormalities.
Su Muchen frowned tightly. “You think someone leaked the fact that Xiao had infiltrated Beidi for reconnaissance?”
“Uncertain. It may be, or it may not.”
Xia Lanshi answered quickly.
“Beidi suddenly increasing its patrols three days ago does not necessarily mean they were guarding against Xiao. It could also simply be because… they believed His Highness had already begun to act. In other words, they know that ‘the chessboard has begun moving,’ but they may not know exactly which chess piece Your Highness has in his hand.”
“So what you mean is…”
Xiao Yuan’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“There is someone around us—even within Linbei City—who is leaking information.”
Having Beidi spies was nothing unusual, but a spy capable of accessing core intelligence was another matter entirely.
“Based on the integration of all the information we have uncovered so far—it is highly likely.”
Xia Lanshi admitted honestly. “However, this case involves an extremely high level and a very broad scope. The trail was severed midway, and we have yet to find the true source behind it. So for now, it is only a hypothesis.”
This case involving the Dasheng military was currently being secretly investigated by Qu Detao, who was skilled at solving cases.
Although Qu Detao was exceptionally capable and highly experienced, investigating a case this deeply tangled obviously required time.
Chi Banyue slowly narrowed his eyes. “Qu Detao is investigating this case now. Chief Secretary Xia, do you trust him?”
Xia Lanshi did not answer immediately.
After a moment, he only said, “I trust his abilities. Whether I trust him as a person is another matter. If there is anyone in Linbei City who can directly mobilize the capital troops without obstruction, it is also only him. I hope he will not disgrace the name of the ‘Iron-Faced Imperial Censor.’”
“There is someone in the Northern Border preparing for war.”
Xia Lanshi said, “And in the capital, someone is preparing an army that does not even exist for this war.”
“Now there is also a ‘nail’ within Linbei City. The battlefield of this war is not merely on the surface.”
The six people stood inside the study, realizing for the first time with absolute clarity—
This war had never been limited to the Northern Border.
The atmosphere in the study was heavy to the extreme.
Amid the dead silence, Xiao remained expressionless, but a deep, dark glint passed through his eyes.
An inside agent in Linbei City…
Who would it be this time?
In the past, there had even been several occasions when, before they reached this war, the matter had already “ended.”
There had also been several times when the war had come to nothing, and the door had reopened.
He had not even had time to confirm it.
He quietly lowered his eyes.
He did not dare make a reckless guess.
Because he knew that guessing the wrong person might mean merely wronging an innocent life.
But guessing the right person… did not necessarily mean that the person in this lifetime was still the same person from his memories.
“Since we still can’t find the person hiding in the shadows,” Xiao suddenly spoke, his voice low and calm, “then let him tell us himself.”
Xia Lanshi turned to look at Xiao, the corners of his lips curling into an understanding smile.
“I was thinking the same.”
He picked up the brush again and drew several different routes across the white paper.
“Send out several pieces of forged intelligence that appear authentic but actually lead in completely different directions. Give them to different camps and feed them different ‘bait.’ Whichever bait Beidi bites, whichever route the information leaks along… the rat hiding among us will naturally have nowhere left to hide.”
“Fishing is only one method.”
Xiao continued after him, his cold gaze sweeping across the entire military map.
“From now on, all intelligence must be strictly managed. The first level, ‘core strategic intelligence,’ is shared in full among the six of us. There will be no intelligence blind spots.”
“The second level, ‘internal military intelligence’—those who know the objective of the operation, those who know its direction, those who know the specific timing, those who know the troop movements… all of it must be separated. No one is permitted to possess the complete battle plan. They will know only what is necessary for their own task.”
The study was silent for a moment.
“Furthermore, starting today, every military arrangement, every deployment order, even who has handled which piece of intelligence, must leave behind a duplicate record and be handed to me. I want to ensure that once Beidi reacts ahead of time, we can immediately trace exactly what the enemy knew.”
Pei Yi frowned slightly. As a traditional military commander, he could not understand this approach.
“Why?”
Xiao did not answer immediately.
After a moment, he said, “The six of us are responsible for piecing all the intelligence together. Intelligence can be classified, but those responsible for judging the entire situation cannot be deprived of the whole picture and instead have a black cloth placed over their eyes right in front of them.”
Xia Lanshi’s gaze shifted slightly, and he looked deeply at Xiao.
“You’re worried about more than just leaks.”
“It is for verification.”
Xiao lowered his eyes, perfectly concealing his extreme vigilance toward the “unknown fate” beneath the reasonable guise of counterintelligence.
Only by establishing an absolutely clear record of the flow of intelligence could he quickly detect exactly where the deviation had occurred.
Chi Banyue was responsible for gathering external intelligence, Xia Lanshi was responsible for analyzing the authenticity of intelligence, and he was responsible for ensuring that the overall situation continued along the path it was supposed to take.
After hearing this, Xiao Yuan did not raise any objections. His knuckles struck the tabletop heavily, making the final decision.
“Proceed with this method.”
His voice was as sharp and cold as a blade.
“Besides that—everyone will know only what they need to know. Anyone who wants to know more can come ask me first.”
◇◆◇◆◇
Xiao Yi was unusually meticulous in his attire today.
He wore a heavy rattan-vine purple princely python robe, a jade belt cinched around his waist. Even the folds of his hem had been arranged without a single flaw, and his hair had been properly bound with a crown.
It restrained some of his originally suave and elegant air.
But those affectionate, peach-blossom eyes remained unchanged.
Once a prince reached adulthood and established his own residence, entering the inner palace to pay respects to his birth mother was naturally no longer as casual as it had been in childhood.
Especially for an adult prince, entering the inner palace was governed by rules. He had to submit his tablet in advance, then pass through layer upon layer of approval from the relevant palace gates and palace attendants.
The real trouble was never whether he could enter.
It was that every step he took would be known by someone.
The news of his entering the palace today had probably already been known by three or four people the moment he stepped through the palace gate.
But as long as it did not involve violating regulations, the inner court usually allowed such visits according to precedent, and there was normally no need to alarm the emperor.
He had asked the Chief Secretary of Prince Yi’s residence to submit his tablet early. On that petition, which ought to have been dignified and solemn, he had written an extremely improper line:
“I have no important business. I’m simply craving something delicious and missing Mother Consort, so I have come especially to pay my respects.”
The reason was absurd yet utterly confident, and it perfectly matched Prince Yi’s usual image of being “unambitious and concerned only with pleasure.”
He entered the palace frequently, and his hands were generous with money, so the guards at the palace gates along the way all greeted him with smiles.
The jade tablet was checked as it should be, and the necessary questions were asked, but every procedure was simply completed a little faster.
His trip into the palace today was naturally not merely for the sake of “missing Mother Consort.”
When he arrived outside Jinglan Court, Xiao Yi’s footsteps paused slightly.
Before the eunuch leading the way pushed open the vermilion wooden door, he gave his usual glance.
His trusted attendant immediately understood. With extreme discretion, he slipped a heavy purse into the sleeve of the waiting eunuch, who was already bowing and scraping.
The eunuch quietly gathered his sleeve and smiled even more obsequiously.
One of the unspoken rules of the palace was this:
Once you accepted Prince Yi’s money, you knew which things should be recorded and which things did not need to be remembered too clearly.
What Prince Yi wanted was never “not to be watched.”
It was “selective amnesia.”
For example: where His Highness stopped for an extra quarter of an hour, which unfamiliar palace maid he spoke a few words with, or which side gate he happened to look back at…
None of these trivial details would be written down.
In the Inner Attendants’ records, there would ultimately be only one rigid line:
“Prince Yi entered Jinglan Court during the Hour of the Rooster, remained for one hour. During this time, he chatted with Consort Wan about family matters and rewarded several palace servants. No abnormalities.”
“Ying’er has arrived.”
The moment he entered the main hall, the faint scents of sandalwood and fruit mingled and drifted into the air.
Consort Wan was sitting on a heated couch. When she saw her son, the beautiful brows and eyes that looked almost carved from the same mold as Xiao Yi’s instantly curved into gentle crescents.
Time seemed to have been particularly kind to her. Even though she was nearing forty, she remained as beautiful as warm jade, without the slightest trace of aggression.
Within the deep palace, Consort Wan was an anomaly.
She neither fought nor competed. Every day, she prayed to Buddha, played the qin, and read books, rarely participating in the social contests of the inner palace.
When the emperor occasionally thought of her, she always merely smiled quietly, like a cup of lukewarm water.
Yet this cup of water had managed to exist peacefully within the treacherous inner palace all these years.
“Quick, bring out Ying’er’s favorite candied date and yam cakes.”
Consort Wan immediately smiled and instructed Nanny Zhang beside her.
Nanny Zhang happily acknowledged her. Before long, she brought out several plates of exquisite pastries.
The yam cakes were white as snow, the date paste fragrant. Consort Wan had risen before dawn to personally prepare them.
Outsiders only knew that Consort Wan’s maternal Lin family was merely a wealthy merchant family with no political foundation.
They did not know that it was precisely this “lack of power” that had become her greatest protective shield.
She was extremely clear-headed, deeply aware that “favor without power is a death warrant.”
The Lin family’s ancestral rule had always been to keep a low profile, protect themselves, and stay out of factional struggles, but that absolutely did not mean she was ignorant.
She never reached out to touch political power, but that did not mean she was willing to become a truly deaf and blind woman of the deep palace.
The Lin family’s merchant routes spread throughout Jiangnan. They were the pair of eyes she had quietly retained.
The seemingly insignificant personal connections in the inner palace were the ears she had kept for herself.
She paid particular attention to the Northern Border.
And to Prince Su.
Because she knew better than anyone.
As long as Prince Su remained alive, there would be someone standing in front of the Northern Border’s blade for them.
As long as that blade did not break, her Ying’er could continue peacefully being Prince Yi.
The most serious thing she had ever privately said to Xiao Yi was:
“Being alive is more important than anything. Mother doesn’t need you to make a name for yourself. I only want you to be safe.”
The bond between mother and son was extremely deep, but in front of outsiders, they tacitly maintained the ordinary distance of a royal mother and son.
Xiao Yi came to pay his respects every month as required, and the things he brought were always harmless little objects.
A few boxes of unusual pastries, several Huzhou wolf-hair brushes, or a few strange-tale booklets he had collected from among the common people.
Consort Wan also never asked, “What are you doing?”
She did not need to ask, because she trusted that beneath her son’s seemingly frivolous eyes lay enough prudence to protect himself.
“Mother Consort, try this tea. It’s this year’s newly tributed Junshan Silver Needle.”
Xiao Yi casually leaned against the back of his chair and began chatting idly about trivial matters as usual.
He talked about where in the capital the peonies were blooming most brilliantly, and about what trouble the several expensive cats in his residence had gotten into lately.
“Speaking of which, a few days ago I obtained a Chinese long-tailed tit from a traveling merchant friend.”
Xiao Yi picked up a piece of yam cake and smiled casually.
“It’s fluffy and tiny, and looks adorable, but it has quite a temper. That pampered peacock in the residence loves provoking it. As a result, the courtyard has been in complete chaos these past few days. The noise has given me a headache.”
Consort Wan lowered her head and took a sip of tea, smiling gently in agreement.
“Peacocks are proud, while tits are wild. If you put them in the same courtyard, naturally they will make a fuss. Keep an eye on them. Just don’t let them hurt each other.”
After chatting idly for a while, Xiao Yi slowly swallowed the pastry. Then, suddenly, the direction of the conversation changed, though his tone remained that of someone merely curious about food:
“Mother Consort, recently I heard from a traveling merchant friend about a pastry called ‘Naiwuta.’ I wonder if Mother Consort has ever heard of it?”
Consort Wan’s fingers paused slightly as she played with the tea lid. Then her expression returned to normal, and she smiled.
“Of course I’ve heard of it. In my younger years, I was even fortunate enough to taste it once. It was made by simmering the finest cream with sugar, and it had to be made at night during the coldest weather. Once finished, each piece was only the size of a chess piece, shaped like a three-colored flower. It was quite beautiful.”
She paused, her tone becoming even gentler, as though she were truly savoring the memory.
“That pastry was as cool as condensed jade and as smooth as congealed fat. The most wonderful part was its refreshing chill. When you ate it, it was like chewing snow. With the slightest press in your mouth, it melted into a rich, fragrant stream of milk. Very sweet.”
Nanny Zhang appropriately joined in from the side.
“This old servant heard that it is a rare delicacy from the far north, something that can only be preserved in the bitter cold.”
“Yes.”
Consort Wan looked at Xiao Yi with affection.
“Ying’er, have you developed a craving for it? If so, Mother will have someone find out how it is made over the next few days. When you come next time, I’ll make some for you to taste.”
“I really have been craving it terribly.”
The smile in Xiao Yi’s eyes reached all the way to their depths. He lowered his head slightly, his tone sincere.
“Then thank you in advance, Mother Consort.”
“What is there to thank me for?”
Consort Wan straightened his slightly disordered sleeve for him.
“As long as it is something you want, Mother will do her best to find it for you.”
An hour later, Xiao Yi rose and took his leave.
As always, Consort Wan saw him all the way to the hall entrance, like the most ordinary mother in the world, carefully reminding him to put on more clothes after nightfall and not to drink too much during banquets at his residence.
Only after Xiao Yi’s figure had completely disappeared around the corner of the palace wall did the heavy wooden doors of Jinglan Court slowly close.
Consort Wan’s smile did not completely fade from her face.
But her originally gentle eyes slowly darkened.
“Go.”
Her voice remained calm.
“Use the merchant routes. Follow what Ying’er said just now and find out everything about ‘Naiwuta.’ And also—”
She whispered a sentence into the nanny’s ear.
Nanny Zhang immediately became solemn. Without asking a single unnecessary question, she silently curtsied.
“This old servant understands.”
◇◆◇◆◇
Xiao Yi walked briskly along the palace corridor.
When he turned past a corridor winding around an artificial rockery, the corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of a young eunuch carrying a thick stack of records from the Imperial Household Department, hurrying past from the direction of the side hall of Jinglan Court.
Xiao Yi’s footsteps paused almost imperceptibly.
The young eunuch walked extremely quickly, his head lowered, his shoulders and back habitually slightly hunched. At first glance, he was no different from the hundreds or thousands of obsequious low-ranking eunuchs in the palace.
Yet Xiao Yi’s originally somewhat languid peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly.
That build, the center of gravity while walking, the range of his arm movements…
Far too familiar.
Xiao Yi’s expression remained unchanged. He did not even turn his head, continuing at the same leisurely pace in the opposite direction from that person.
But his footsteps slowed by half a beat.
“That person” could not possibly have appeared here for no reason.
He had neither brought attendants nor deliberately changed into the coarse cloth uniform of the lowest-ranking eunuchs.
And furthermore… the direction from which that person had just emerged was not the place where the palace attendants were on duty at all.
It was the side hall behind Jinglan Court, a blind spot that could be used to monitor palace personnel entering and leaving.
Why had “he” appeared here?
And why had it happened precisely after Xiao Yi left Jinglan Court?
The smile in Xiao Yi’s eyes faded.
But he did not rush to guess.
Because in this “war,” the greatest taboo was taking a single silhouette and filling in an entire story on the other person’s behalf.
He only needed to remember one thing.
—Someone had once been here.
As for what they had come to do…
He would find out eventually.
“Looks like…”
Xiao Yi lightly toyed with the exquisite white-jade pendant at his waist and gave a soft laugh that only he himself could hear.
“There’s another fish to catch.”
He was rather curious to see exactly what medicine this mysterious person was selling in his gourd.