A few guards rushed in, scanning the surroundings.
Turning his head and mimicking Muhang’s steady, reassuring tone, Yu Xingliang whispered close to Fang Qiongya’s ear, “Don’t be afraid.”
At the same time, he tightened his grip around Fang Qiongya’s arm, pulling their bodies even closer together.
After the guards entered, silenced the ringing bells, and thoroughly inspected the room without finding anything unusual, they left one by one.
Holding Fang Qiongya, Yu Xingliang carefully descended back to the floor and said with lingering fear, “My goodness, there are way too many bells here. It seems you really shouldn’t go touching things at random.”
The pink-clothed maiden raised a hand to gently wipe the sweat from Yu Xingliang’s temple, nodding submissively.
“Thanks!” Yu Xingliang looked around the room and finally let his gaze rest upon the beautiful maiden in pink.
“Miss, do you happen to know which bell holds the information about Yichuan?”
For some reason, Yu Xingliang’s heart felt completely certain that the pink-clothed maiden knew exactly where Yichuan’s information was hidden.
Yu Xingliang continued, “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Gu Shaoyuan, the head constable of the Yichuan Yamen.”
When you drop the protagonist’s famous name, what young woman wouldn’t go crazy?
This was a harem stallion novel, after all! As long as they were female, especially beauties, they were bound to fall hopelessly in love with the male lead!
The pink-clothed maiden’s expression did not show a single trace of surprise. Yu Xingliang’s sensitive reflexes registered this immediately, yet his intuition didn’t find it strange at all.
Seeing this, the pink-clothed maiden slowly weaved through the white jade bells and came to a stop among the cyan jade bells.
Then, she turned and looked at Yu Xingliang thoughtfully. After a brief moment, she slowly made a graceful gesture inviting him forward.
Happily, Yu Xingliang walked over. This time, his body felt no hesitation whatsoever; his fingers shot out with the speed of a bullet, plunging directly into a cyan jade bell before instantly pulling back.
Sure enough, this time the bell emitted no sound at all.
Quietly watching the busy Yu Xingliang search for information, Fang Qiongya curved the corners of his lips upward into a faint smile.
“Haha, I found it!” Yu Xingliang finally located the information regarding Yichuan. Just as he turned around to share the good news with the pink-clothed maiden behind him, a heavy blow struck the back of his neck. Everything went black, and he collapsed forward, losing consciousness.
Yu Xingliang had a long dream. In the dream, someone who felt just like Muhang gently picked him up and carefully laid him down on a soft bed.
Immediately afterward, he felt his belt being unfastened, his outer robes stripped away completely.
A cold sensation spread across his entire body.
When Yu Xingliang regained consciousness, he found himself inside a carriage.
Vigilantly sitting up, Yu Xingliang checked his clothes. He discovered that he was dressed neatly with no abnormalities whatsoever.
Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.
Damn it, why did he feel like he had just been violated?
Rubbing his sore lower back, Yu Xingliang realized this was an official carriage and called out through the curtains to the driver outside:
“Is that you driving, A-Ren?”
“Whoa!” Meng Ren brought the horses to a halt, lifted the carriage curtain, and poked his head inside. “Boss! You’re awake!”
Confused, Yu Xingliang asked, “Where are we?”
Meng Ren replied, “We’re about to enter Yichuan.”
“Yichuan?” Yu Xingliang thought for a moment before asking, “Where, and when and where did you find me?”
Meng Ren pondered briefly and answered, “About the time it takes to burn a stick of incense ago. I was following your orders, hiding inside a merchant caravan, when a woman dressed in black came to find me. She actually knew I was a constable from Yichuan, which scared the living daylights out of me.”
“A woman in black?” Yu Xingliang thought to himself: Could it be the pink-clothed maiden?
“That woman in black told me you were in the carriage outside.”
“Told?” Yu Xingliang interrupted Meng Ren, confirming repeatedly, “Are you sure she spoke? She can talk?”
“Yeah. I heard it with my own ears, how could it be fake?” Meng Ren patted his chest to guarantee it.
Biting his thumbnail, Yu Xingliang muttered inwardly, “It would be normal for the pink-clothed maiden to change into black clothes to avoid drawing attention. But why would she pretend to be mute if she could speak? Her identity is definitely far more than just a captured beauty.”
“Boss!” Meng Ren waved his hand back and forth right in front of Yu Xingliang’s face. “Boss, did you find anything?”
Snapping back to his senses, Yu Xingliang recounted everything he had seen in the Wind Bell Tower to Meng Ren: “I found it, but we won’t be able to catch the culprit.”
“Huh? Why?” Meng Ren asked, burning with a sense of justice. “Could it be because the North Prison Hall has the imperial court backing them up, so they’re untouchable?”
Yu Xingliang let out a dry laugh. “From what you’ve seen, as the dignified protagonist, I mean, do you really think I would let the culprit off so easily?”
Scratching his head and grinning foolishly, Meng Ren said, “Naturally, Boss wouldn’t let the culprit off easily. Then why on earth is that?”
“The culprit is dead.”
“Dead?” Meng Ren’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“That’s right, dead,” Yu Xingliang said calmly. “Killed by Fang Qiongya’s own hands.”
Because the Maple Mist Terrace of the North Prison Hall was Fang Qiongya’s sleeping quarters, it had always been kept luxurious and immaculate, after all, Fang Qiongya was someone who could not tolerate even a speck of untidiness.
However, today the Maple Mist Terrace not only had a messy bed, but stains also marred the pristine white silver-fox fur carpet.
Disheveled, Fang Qiongya sat cross-legged with bare feet on the soft tiger-skin lounge chair facing the bed. An emotion never seen before flickered in his eyes.
“Hall Master, Gu Shaoyuan has already returned to Yichuan,” Rongzhi reported respectfully to Fang Qiongya from outside the door.
Seeing that Fang Qiongya gave no response, Rongzhi raised her voice, “Hall Master, should I have someone come in and clean the room?”
“No need,” Fang Qiongya spoke slowly, his tone surprisingly gentle. “Just leave it a mess.”
“Hall Master, this subordinate is incompetent,” Rongzhi knelt outside the door to plead guilty. “I searched everywhere, and indeed only Gu Shaoyuan is the most suitable vessel.” Rongzhi bit her lip. “If we could find a suitable woman, the Hall Master wouldn’t have had to…”
“That’s enough,” Fang Qiongya cut her off, having no intention of listening further. “Where else could we find a woman with Gu Shaoyuan’s cultivation? Having him act as my transit medium was a last resort, but also the most appropriate choice.”
Arranging his robes, Fang Qiongya stepped to the doorway and helped Rongzhi to her feet.
“You don’t need to blame yourself.”
Lowering her head, Rongzhi muttered, “But for the Hall Master to fully recover, you still need to, you still need Gu Shaoyuan to perform the transition two more times.”
Fang Qiongya placed a hand on Rongzhi’s face. “Cultivating the Divine Star-Devouring Orchid Art requires paying a price.”
Surprised, Rongzhi looked up and grabbed Fang Qiongya’s hand. “Hall Master! Your hand! It has warmth!”
Pulling his hand back, Fang Qiongya said flatly, “This transition was very successful.”
Trembling slightly with joy, Rongzhi said, “Congratulations, Hall Master! In that case, the Hall Master won’t need to spend all year shut away in the North Prison Hall anymore.”
A faint smile touched Fang Qiongya’s lips, and he nodded. “Indeed.”
Years ago, by a stroke of rare fortune, Fang Qiongya had managed to cultivate the Star-Devouring Orchid Art. While transcendent, this cultivation method caused the practitioner’s blood to become as cold as ice. Without control, a practitioner would not live past two years.
Therefore, Fang Qiongya had been forced to soak in the medicinal pools of the North Prison Hall for three hours every single day to alleviate the freezing chill in his blood.
Through the intelligence gathered by the North Prison Hall over many years, Fang Qiongya learned that the freezing blood caused by the Star-Devouring Orchid Art actually had a method of resolution: it required a vessel of pure disposition and profound internal cultivation. The practitioner of the art then had to merge their vital essence with the vessel three times, after which they could recover completely.
Gu Shaoyuan of Yichuan was the absolute best candidate for this vessel.
Upon returning to Yichuan, Yu Xingliang gave Jiang Taoyue a full, detailed account of everything he had witnessed inside the Wind Bell Tower, while keeping silent about the pink-clothed maiden.
Stepping out of Jiang Taoyue’s study, Meng Ren eagerly caught up with Yu Xingliang and asked, “Earlier I wanted to bring up the woman in black, Boss, why did you stop me?”
Slowing his pace and imitating the mannerisms of a heroic swordsman from a television drama, Yu Xingliang said slowly, “Now is not the time.”
Meng Ren asked again, “Boss, according to what you said, the culprit was killed by Fang Qiongya himself. Then why did the official notice state that the victim in Yichuan was killed by a fierce beast?”
Stopping in his tracks, Yu Xingliang inexplicably began his habitual thumbnail-biting. “You know, this North Prison Hall really does have some tricks up its sleeve.”
Puzzled and wanting to get to the bottom of it, Meng Ren was suddenly interrupted when Jiang Yuhan popped out from the side door, cutting off their conversation.
“Shaoyuan-gege, a maid told me you were back, but I didn’t believe it, you literally only left for a day.” Jiang Yuhan happily hurried forward and linked her arm through Gu Shaoyuan’s. “I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.”
Seeing Jiang Yuhan, a natural sense of closeness welled up in Yu Xingliang’s heart. Smiling, he pinched Jiang Yuhan’s chubby little cheek and, imitating how he used to coax Fan Ruyi, pouted and said, “Still, I wasn’t back in time for Han’er’s birthday.”
Seeing Gu Shaoyuan’s self-reproachful expression, Jiang Yuhan felt secretly delighted: Shaoyuan-gege really does care about me in his heart.
Sweetly smiling, Jiang Yuhan said, “Shaoyuan-gege, this isn’t your fault! Han’er received the little bird you sent, and I’ve already had the happiest birthday ever.”
Yu Xingliang blurted out, “Thank goodness Han’er is so understanding.”
As soon as he said it, Yu Xingliang was startled. This wasn’t his usual tone of voice, and the habit of biting his thumbnail whenever he thought deeply wasn’t his either! A terrifying realization hit Yu Xingliang: he might actually be getting assimilated by the original host!
What in the world is this Black Lotus Upgrade System upgrading anyway?
Not noticing Yu Xingliang’s anxiety, Jiang Yuhan happily continued, “Mother heard you were back and has already prepared food and wine in the main hall to welcome you home.”
Hearing that there was good food, Yu Xingliang clutched his rumbling stomach and feigned reluctance, “Oh! How could we possibly trouble Master’s wife like this?”
“Aiyah, we’re all family, what trouble is there?” Jiang Yuhan tugged and pulled at Yu Xingliang. “Let’s go, it was specially prepared just for you.”
Throwing his worries to the back of his mind, Yu Xingliang let Jiang Yuhan push him along, not forgetting to turn his head to wink and smile at Meng Ren before turning back to Jiang Yuhan to say, “Then I must respectfully obey.”
Left standing in place, Meng Ren shook his head and muttered, “Boss is getting free food and drinks again.”
Why did he say again? Although Yichuan was a very prosperous city, Jiang Taoyue was an upright and honest official; all the imperial reward silver was entirely used for the common people, meaning the monthly stipends distributed to head constables and constables naturally weren’t much. Coupled with the fact that Gu Shaoyuan was extremely supportive of relief work for impoverished commoners and voluntarily reduced his own stipend, Yichuan’s head constable had essentially become the city’s poorest resident.
Fortunately, the head constable of Yichuan had been blessed with a handsome appearance and was deeply beloved by the locals. Thus, despite being dirt poor, he lived quite comfortably, his home was piled high with new clothes and shoes sewn by various young maidens, and wherever he went, he always had free food and drinks.