“All right, I’ll focus on reducing their combat ability; you handle taking them out!”
Lan Shuang dug through her space and pulled out a handful of medicinal powder.
“Got it!”
Pei Yanzhou glanced at her. Even with her altered voice, he could still recognize her figure—she was the little money-obsessed girl who had saved him last time.
Why was she here in the palace? Who exactly was she?!
There was no time for him to ponder, because Lan Shuang had already tossed the powder behind her.
The palace guards, who had been moving swiftly just moments ago, suddenly covered their eyes.
Soon after, their lightness skills seemed to fade, and some even stumbled and fell to the ground.
“Ah!”
Pei Yanzhou quickly lifted his sword and dealt with the guard nearest to Lan Shuang.
“Thanks!”
Lan Shuang’s silver needle appeared in her hand, flying straight into another guard, who immediately collapsed.
Twenty-one guards in total fell in less than half an hour. Lan Shuang and Pei Yanzhou moved in perfect synchrony, like old comrades, and emerged unscathed.
“Good swordsmanship.”
Lan Shuang praised him with a glance. Pei Yanzhou’s gaze fixed on her eyes—the only part of her face that was visible.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Who I am isn’t important.”
Lan Shuang’s guard went up. “This is just a temporary partnership—mutual benefit. I have other matters to attend to. If fate allows, we’ll meet again in the martial world!”
“Wait!”
Pei Yanzhou called out to her back. “We have a common enemy!”
Lan Shuang paused but didn’t turn around. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“The new Emperor!”
Pei Yanzhou spoke boldly. Lan Shuang, who had been about to leave, glanced at him in surprise.
Even though only his forehead was visible, she clicked her tongue. “Although I can’t see your features, just looking at your forehead, you’re destined for wealth and high position… oh wait, you look like an Emp—”
She didn’t finish the sentence. One forehead alone didn’t prove anything. In her previous life, Lan Shuang had learned a little physiognomy from her masters, but rarely showed off.
Yet her words caused Pei Yanzhou’s face to change drastically. This time, the one on alert was him.
“Who exactly are you?!”
“Does it really matter who I am?”
Lan Shuang gave him a long, steady look. “Let’s leave it at that for now—we’ll meet again if fate allows!”
This man was far too dangerous. Her current identity was not suitable for dealing with someone like him.
“Wait…”
Pei Yanzhou wanted to call her back, but Lan Shuang was already slippery and fast, disappearing into the night.
“Your Highness.”
The palace guard quickly knelt before Pei Yanzhou, apologizing, “Your servant is late.”
“Fifteen, go receive your punishment!”
Pei Yanzhou gazed into the night sky. Little money-obsessed girl, I will find you…
“Ugh…”
Pei Yanzhou pressed at his wound. The guard panicked, “Your Highness, with your internal power, the wound must be bleeding badly!”
…
Lan Shuang returned after midnight. She quietly entered her room. Luckily, it was summer, so she could take a casual shower.
Then she went into her space. Over the past few days, she had raided several storehouses and the national treasury, finding plenty of medicinal herbs.
She planned to make some life-saving medicine. By the time she finished, it was late at night, and she collapsed into bed, half-asleep.
She woke the next day to the voices of Xu Chahua and Min Ruolan outside.
“Dàsǎo, Shuang’er came back very late last night. Maybe you shouldn’t disturb her.”
“No! People can’t skip breakfast. I have to wake her up.”
Min Ruolan was stubborn. Lan Shuang groaned, rubbing her forehead, and opened the door, only to see the two of them standing there, trying to avoid taking responsibility.
“Two sisters-in-law, could you speak a little quieter?”
Min Ruolan and Xu Chahua: …
“Shuang’er, it’s Dàsǎo. She just wanted to see if you came back and was too shy to ask,”
Xu Chahua spoke honestly, immediately exposing Min Ruolan’s intentions.
Min Ruolan: …
Lan Shuang glared at Xu Chahua. “Shuang’er, our rice and supplies are running low.”
“All right, I’ll change clothes first.”
Lan Shuang understood Min Ruolan’s meaning—they couldn’t just eat away their resources.
After washing up and having breakfast, the family gathered for a small family meeting.
Lan Shuang first placed two silver ingots on the table.
“Dàsǎo, one ingot is for daily necessities, the other is to send Sùgē’er to school.”
“To school?”
Min Ruolan made a sour face. “Shuang’er, it’s not that I don’t want Sùgē’er to learn, but I’m worried he might be in danger.”
“I checked. There’s a xiucai in Xu Family Village. We can hire him to tutor Sùgē’er at home; he doesn’t have to go to school.”
Lan Shuang shared the same concern, especially now that even Ji Yunqian had agreed to help deal with Sùgē’er’s safety.
“We’re all women at home. Having the xiucai come over alone might not be appropriate.”
Min Ruolan, raised strictly as a noblewoman, cared deeply about reputation.
“Dàsǎo, the xiucai is already married. If you’re worried, I’ll have his wife accompany him when he comes over.”
Xu Chahua nodded; in rural areas, having a fixed source of income was rare, so the xiucai likely wouldn’t refuse.
“All right, then we’ll follow Shuang’er’s plan.”
Min Ruolan was touched—at a time like this, Lan Shuang still thought about Sùgē’er. She truly cared for her nephew.
“As for earning more silver, don’t worry, Dàsǎo. I’ll check the shops in Kyoto again.”
Lan Shuang hadn’t had time to explore the shops since crossing over. She needed to think of things that didn’t exist in the ancient era.
“All right.”
Min Ruolan smiled and nodded. Perhaps even she hadn’t noticed that she was gradually relying on Lan Shuang’s judgment in everything.
Lan Shuang went into the city alone, dressed plainly, without bringing anyone.
Kyoto was vast, divided into east, west, south, and north streets. The east street had many nobles; the west street was crowded with mixed crowds.
Lan Shuang’s first task was to buy some ordinary medicinal herbs she was still missing.
At the pharmacy, Lan Shuang handed the prescription to a young apprentice.
“Get ten portions of each herb.”
“Yes, guest.”
The boy’s movements weren’t very quick but were careful, likely a trainee at the pharmacy.
Lan Shuang kept her eyes on him to make sure there were no mistakes.
Soon, the boy handed over the packaged herbs.
“Here are your herbs, a total of eight taels of silver.”
“Mm.”
Lan Shuang pulled out silver from her sleeve and placed it on the counter. After all, whether in modern or ancient times, medicinal herbs were expensive.
As Lan Shuang was about to leave with her herbs, a woman wearing a veil entered, followed by a familiar little girl—Xiao Tao.
Ah… it must be Zhou Ruyan.
Zhou Ruyan saw Lan Shuang as well and tried to pretend she hadn’t, not wanting her to see her in such an awkward state.
“Oh, Sister Ruyan… how embarrassing!”
Lan Shuang’s tone carried some surprise as she quickly approached Zhou Ruyan.
“Sister Ruyan, why are you hiding?”
“Lan Guniang.”
Xiao Tao blocked Zhou Ruyan. “You’ve got the wrong person; this isn’t my mistress.”
“No way, aren’t you Sister Ruyan’s maid?”
Taking advantage of the moment, Lan Shuang bypassed Xiao Tao and reached for Zhou Ruyan, who angrily tried to dodge.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, knocking Zhou Ruyan’s veil to the ground.
“Ah!!”
Zhou Ruyan crouched in fear, and despite her attempt at concealment, many people got a clear look at her face.