After preparing the medicine and giving it to Su Linzhou, Shen Chuyun coaxed him to sleep. She then gave Zhou Ziqing and Chang Shou a few instructions. Just as she was about to leave, Bao Butong suddenly came looking for her.
“Seventh Miss, I’ve gathered all the information you requested.”
Shen Chuyun was speechless. “…That fast?” It hadn’t even been half a day! Was the intelligence network her Sixth Senior Brother had built over the past few years really that powerful?
Bao Butong smiled and said, “A month ago, a new organization called the Cloud Phoenix Pavilion appeared in the capital. It specializes in buying and selling information, and its backer is extremely mysterious. I once investigated the pavilion and discovered that the information it sold was always accurate and reliable. So I decided to test its capabilities and purchased all the information they had on the Marquis of Anning’s household. To my surprise, I really did manage to get it. Seventh Miss, please take a look.”
As he spoke, he handed her a wooden box.
“I’ve confirmed that some of the information provided by the Cloud Phoenix Pavilion matches what we’ve discovered ourselves. The rest consists of information we haven’t uncovered yet, so I can’t verify whether it’s true.”
Shen Chuyun took the box and opened it. Inside was a booklet containing firsthand information about the Marquis of Anning’s household.
She flipped through it. When she reached the last page, her pupils suddenly contracted.
“The Cloud Phoenix Pavilion is remarkably capable! They even know that I was the one who destroyed the Immortal Cult’s branch, and they know the identities of Chunxiu and the others.”
Just this alone was enough for Shen Chuyun to know that the information sold by the Cloud Phoenix Pavilion was genuine.
Bao Butong was astonished by her words, his mouth falling open.
“The Immortal Cult’s branch?”
He knew about the Immortal Cult. It was an evil cult, and before Young Master left the capital, he had said that he would send people to deal with it upon his return. Bao Butong had never expected that Seventh Miss had already crossed paths with the cult on her way to the capital.
Despite her young age, Seventh Miss was truly capable. She certainly lived up to being Young Master’s junior sister.
However, the most impressive of all was the Cloud Phoenix Pavilion. To think they could uncover information like that!
With that in mind, most of the information they had sold about the Marquis of Anning’s household was probably genuine.
Shen Chuyun had a photographic memory. After reading through the booklet just once, she had memorized everything in it.
She said to Bao Butong, “Uncle Bao, thank you for bringing me this information. It will be extremely useful to me.”
Bao Butong cupped his hands respectfully. “Seventh Miss, you’re too kind.”
Fifteen minutes later, Bao Butong took his leave.
After he left, Shen Chuyun informed Chang Shou of her plans, left the white wolf in his care, and departed alone.
She did not return to the marquis’s residence. Instead, she went to a small alley and entered a modest house, where she found Miao Chunxiu and Miao Chuntao.
“Miss!”
Seeing that Shen Chuyun had returned safe and sound, the two women secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Miao Chunxiu asked, “Miss, did you find him?”
Shen Chuyun nodded. “I did. I’ve hidden him somewhere safe.”
The two women were delighted for her.
“That’s wonderful! Now you can finally stop worrying about that young man.”
They did not ask where Su Linzhou had been hidden. After their brief moment of happiness, Miao Chunxiu and Miao Chuntao began telling Shen Chuyun what had happened at the marquis’s residence after she left.
Before dawn, the effects of the drug had worn off, and Xu Yuru and the others had regained control of their bodies. However, they did not immediately go to Tingxuan Courtyard to look for anyone. Instead, they ordered people to watch the courtyard closely and waited for Su Zhen to regain consciousness.
Miao Chunxiu said with a mischievous grin, “Before you left, Miss, you told us that if you hadn’t returned by daybreak, we were to leave the marquis’s residence so those people wouldn’t settle scores with us later. You were worried we wouldn’t be able to handle them. So, as soon as it got light and we still hadn’t seen you return, we quietly slipped out through the back gate.”
Miao Chuntao continued, “Su Zhen still hadn’t woken up when we left, but judging by the time, he should be awake by now.”
Shen Chuyun chuckled softly. “Xu Yuru and the old madam will definitely go to Su Zhen and cry to him, badmouthing me. Once Su Zhen learns what I’ve done, he’ll be furious and come straight to Tingxuan Courtyard looking for me.”
Miao Chunxiu grinned slyly. “That’s exactly what we’re hoping for. Otherwise, the things Chuntao and I prepared would go to waste.”
Shen Chuyun raised an eyebrow. “You two left something behind as a little surprise when you escaped?”
Miao Chuntao giggled. “We certainly did! I guarantee the people in the marquis’s household will suffer quite a bit.”
Shen Chuyun sneered. “Making them suffer a little is far too lenient. Even death wouldn’t make up for the wrongs committed by those two vile creatures, Su Zhen and Xu Yuru.”
Seeing the change in Shen Chuyun’s expression, Miao Chunxiu and Miao Chuntao grew concerned.
“Miss, is the heir’s condition very bad?”
Shen Chuyun nodded. “Very bad. But now isn’t the time to talk about it. I’ll explain everything to you later. For now, I need you two to help me track down someone.”
Miao Chunxiu immediately grew serious.
Not long afterward, the two sisters left the small house.
Meanwhile, back at the marquis’s residence, the household physician had exhausted every possible method before finally managing to revive Su Zhen during the Chen hour that morning.
Xu Yuru and Madam Su immediately began crying and complaining to Su Zhen about everything Shen Chuyun had done.
When Su Zhen learned that Shen Chuyun had not only injured him but had also poisoned Xu Yuru and the others, even going so far as to target the old madam, his anger caused a sharp pain to shoot through his head.
“That unfilial wretch! She’s truly vicious! She’s barely returned, yet she’s already caused so much trouble. She really is a jinx!”
A murderous glint flashed in Su Zhen’s eyes.
“She thinks that knowing a few insignificant martial arts tricks and having a couple of skilled fighters protecting her gives her the right to run wild in the marquis’s residence?”
“Dark Nine!” Su Zhen shouted.
An assassin leaped through the window and landed on one knee before him.
“What are your orders, Marquis?”
The hidden guards of the marquis’s household had all been personally trained by the late marquis. There were thirty of them in total.
Every one of these guards was highly skilled in martial arts, and they answered only to Su Zhen, the man who had inherited the noble title. Without that title, he would have had no authority to command them.
Su Zhen spoke coldly. “Pass on my order. Assemble all the hidden guards and have them accompany the household guards to surround Tingxuan Courtyard. I will personally deal with this rebellious daughter and purge the family of this disgrace!”
Dark Nine was startled.
Was it really necessary to mobilize such a force to deal with a nine-year-old girl?
After all, she was still a direct descendant of the marquis’s family.
Although he felt uneasy and thought Su Zhen’s actions were unreasonable, Dark Nine said nothing. After his initial shock, he accepted the order and left.
Before long, all thirty hidden guards had assembled. They abandoned their concealment and joined the household guards. Under Su Zhen’s leadership, they surrounded Tingxuan Courtyard.
“You unfilial wretch! Get out here!” Su Zhen shouted, supported by Manager Luo as he pointed toward the courtyard.
There was not the slightest sound from within. Not even a single servant could be seen.
Su Zhen immediately found this strange and led the hidden guards inside to investigate.
The courtyard was eerily quiet. Every room had its doors shut. Shen Chuyun and her two maids had already driven all the servants out of Tingxuan Courtyard.
Su Zhen stopped outside the room where Su Ming’an had previously lived and turned to Dark One, the leader of the hidden guards.
“Go open that door.”
Dark One stepped forward and pushed the door open. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise, and a foul stench began spreading from above his head.
Splash!
A bucket of manure water came tumbling down from above the door.
Dark One was horrified and dodged as quickly as he could, but the manure water fell too fast. Some of it still splashed onto him.
The filthy liquid spilled across the ground, filling the courtyard with a nauseating stench.
Before Su Zhen and the others could even begin to vent their anger, a round object flew out of the room.
Dark One immediately swung his blade and struck it down.
The object was hit and suddenly exploded.
A cloud of choking chili powder instantly engulfed everyone present.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
“What is this stuff? I can barely breathe!”
“It’s chili powder!”