Shi Yu’s heart skipped a beat. Wei Qingyan used to curse him like this too.
The curse was swallowed by the water, leaving only the gurgling of bubbles.
Wei Qingyan was gambling.
Shi Yu was the Late Emperor’s youngest and most beloved son, with a somewhat unruly temperament. He delighted in teasing her, and once, in a fit of rage, she had cursed him as a bastard.
Her father had been so frightened that he immediately pulled her down to kneel and beg for forgiveness. Yet the Late Emperor had only laughed and said, “Well cursed!”
With the Late Emperor’s indulgence, she became the only person in the world who dared to call Shi Yu a bastard to his face.
Shi Yu had privately dispatched troops to Huangshaling to rescue her. She was gambling that this single curse of “bastard” might make him dive into the water.
She could not die yet—she had not uncovered the truth of what happened back then, nor had she avenged the twenty thousand Huguojun soldiers.
The sound of splashing water reached her ears. She opened her eyes and looked up. Through the translucent hot spring water, she saw Shi Yu’s breathtakingly beautiful face.
Wei Qingyan grabbed him, wrapping herself around him as if he were her lifeline. Her lips pressed against his.
She wanted to draw the Gongdeyin back.
Shi Yu’s brows suddenly furrowed. Seeing the woman sink into the water, an inexplicable panic seized him, as if some unknown force was compelling him to save her.
But the moment he entered the water and the woman kissed him, he sobered up.
Wei Qingyan would never kiss him. This was a completely unfamiliar face—not her.
He raised his hand to tear away the person clinging to him, but she only tightened her grip around his neck.
Indeed, this woman’s fragility was an act.
Shi Yu’s expression turned cold and severe as his hand moved to grip the back of her neck.
The moment Wei Qingyan kissed Shi Yu, she felt a faint stream of vitality flowing into her body. The Gongdeyin was indeed within him.
But no matter how hard she tried to draw it out, the Gongdeyin remained unmoving, as if it had recognized its master.
Years of honed instincts made her immediately sense Shi Yu’s killing intent. She quickly released his lips, surfaced, and gasped, “You injured me when you hit me, and I choked on water. I couldn’t breathe just now.”
She offered an excuse to explain why she had kissed him.
As for the Gongdeyin, she would have to find another way to retrieve it. Fortunately, through their brief contact, her martial skills had returned.
She turned to swim toward the shore, but Shi Yu grabbed her hand. “Who are you?”
The Fat Monk had said that he had taken her away before Prince Rong’s army arrived. Since Shi Yu had never seen her body, he should not have known she was a woman.
Moreover, the mask on her face was incredibly lifelike and would not give her away even in the water.
Shi Yu should not recognize her.
“Chang Qingnian.”
“He Qing Hai Yan?” Shi Yu tightened his grip on Wei Qingyan’s hand.
A storm of emotions surged within him.
On the back of this woman’s neck, he had felt the scar he himself had stitched closed.
Wei Qingyan’s heart raced.
Her father and the Late Emperor were as close as sworn brothers. He had pledged that the Wei family’s sons would guard the Shi family’s empire for generations, yet he had fathered four daughters in a row.
After his first wife passed away, the Empress Dowager arranged a match for her father, who married her mother as his second wife. Her mother then gave birth to twin daughters.
By then, her father was no longer young, and both the general’s estate and the hundred thousand Huguojun soldiers needed an heir. As the elder twin by a moment, she was raised as a boy.
Afterward, her father confessed his deception to the Late Emperor. Far from blaming him, the Late Emperor bestowed upon her the name Qingyan, with the courtesy name Suifeng.
He Qing Hai Yan, Shi He Sui Feng.
It signified peace under heaven and prosperity for the nation.
Thus, he tacitly allowed her to disguise herself as a man to fulfill her father’s legacy and continue serving Dawei.
When the Late Emperor fell gravely ill, he revealed her true identity to the New Emperor, instructing him to keep it secret.
At fifteen, after her father died in battle, she became Dawei’s youngest Huguojun general. The New Emperor placed great trust in her.
Yet in the end, she was ambushed, her pleas for help went unanswered, and her identity was exposed to the enemy.
Shi Yu’s question—did he know something? Or was he involved in some of these matters?
Wei Qingyan’s eyes darkened as she smiled and said, “I am merely a woman, so it’s the ‘qing’ for guest official and the ‘nian’ for obsession. Why would you think of those other meanings?”
The Fat Monk gave her a new life, passed on his legacy to resolve grievances and dispel demons, and named her Chang Qingnian.
Shi Yu released her hand, his expression cold. “I must have misheard. I thought it was the same name as a friend of mine. I dislike people sharing her name. You may go.”
It was just like his domineering nature from before. But having died once, how could Wei Qingyan dare to trust lightly?
After emerging from the water, she picked up her outer robe and put it directly over her damp undergarments.
The feeling was unpleasant, but over the past three years, she had grown accustomed to bathing while clothed.
It was only because her body was covered in terrifying scars that would distress those who truly cared for her.
Once the city gates opened, she entered the city and found an inn to settle in.
After having some food and changing into men’s clothing, she went to the liveliest teahouse in the capital, spending the day drinking tea and listening to storytelling. In the evening, she visited the capital’s most famous brothel, Yanyu Lou.
The next day, she strolled leisurely through the capital until dusk before returning to the inn.
After that, she did not go out again.
“You’ve been discovered,” Shi Yu said calmly after listening to the report from his shadow guard. “There’s no need to follow her any longer.”
The shadow guard had just found Shi Yu at the hot spring last night when he was assigned to keep an eye on Wei Qingyan. Seeing her exceptional skills, they had followed her with extreme caution.
Surprised by their master’s claim that they had been discovered, they dared not ask further.
Shi Yu stood up and walked to the window. The lamplight from the corridor cast a gentle glow on his cool face, softening his features.
He pressed a fist to his chest. Even after two days, the turmoil in his heart had yet to settle.
She had returned. She must have returned.
After standing there for a long time, the drum signaling the curfew sounded. Shi Yu changed into night attire and left Rongwangfu.
After a brief pause, he headed directly to the residence of the Minister of War.
Minister of War Wu Yuchu left his study and went to his principal wife’s courtyard.
He had originally been the military governor of Ganzhou and owed his transfer back to the capital to his principal wife. Even though she had aged and he had long grown weary of her, he still had to maintain appearances and uphold their marital bond.
After leaving his principal wife’s courtyard, he eagerly made his way to the rear courtyard.
To curry favor with him, his subordinates had sent the courtesan from Yanyu Lou into his rear courtyard. After a night of passion, the mere thought of her today made his heart itch with desire.
Entering the room, he saw a graceful figure lying on her side behind the lightly draped curtains. Outside the curtains, a pink gauze covered the lampshade, casting an ambiguous glow throughout the room.
Women from such establishments were, after all, more skilled in their tricks than those from respectable families.
And he happened to have a taste for this.
Waving away the servants in the room, he quickly untied his belt and threw himself onto the beauty, just as he had done the day before.
A gleaming dagger pressed against his throat.
Beside the reclining beauty lay a woman with a cold expression, holding the dagger.
Wei Qingyan pressed the dagger a little harder against Wu Yuchu’s throat. “Three years ago, when Huguojun was trapped at Huangshaling, why didn’t you send reinforcements after receiving the letter?”
The woman’s expression was calm, and her question was spoken softly, yet it sent a shock through Wu Yuchu’s heart. “You… who are you?”
“Wei Qingyan.”
“Impossible. Wei Qingyan is dead.” Wu Yuchu was terrified, his fearful gaze falling on the woman’s chest. “You’re a woman.”
But Wei Qingyan was a man.
In moments of extreme terror, one’s subconscious reactions are the most genuine. Wu Yuchu did not know Wei Qingyan was a woman.
Having obtained her answer, Wei Qingyan continued softly, “One last chance—why did you not send troops?”
The woman’s eyes were as cold as ice, and Wu Yuchu was shaken by her gaze.
But after all, he was a man who had navigated the officialdom for over a decade. He quickly composed himself and steadied his nerves. “This official does not know who you truly are, nor why you ask about matters from three years ago. But three years ago, I never received any plea for help…”
His words came to an abrupt halt.
Wu Yuchu stared wide-eyed, dead with unclosed eyes.
This… this did not follow the interrogation process. He had intended to prevaricate and buy time, but the woman had acted directly.
She… she had no regard for martial honor!
Wei Qingyan gently wiped her dagger and said calmly, “This general issued an order to mobilize troops, not some plea for help. Master Wu, you may now tell your lies to my twenty thousand patriotic soldiers.”
Once the bloodstains on the dagger were wiped clean, Wei Qingyan tucked it back into her boot. Then, she clasped her hands together, her expression devout. “Amitabha, may the Buddha show mercy!”
As her words fell, a wisp of black energy slowly drifted from Wu Yuchu’s head toward Wei Qingyan…