Looking at the gleam in Han Shengyu’s eyes—a mix of rage and excitement—Han Jing swallowed his words of caution back down his throat.
Having stayed by Third Miss’s side for many years, he knew all too well that once she showed such an expression, even nine oxen couldn’t pull her back. Resigning himself to fate, he sighed and asked, “Miss, sneaking into the side estate carries extreme risks.”
A flicker of slyness flashed across Han Shengyu’s eyes as she lowered her voice: “Who said we’re sneaking in? We’re merely passing by and delivering a grand gift while we’re at it.”
Didn’t Han Jintang love playing sneaky tricks? She would play a scheme right in the open, leaving her to swallow a bitter pill with no way to speak of her grievances!
The moon was hidden and the stars were sparse, with the cold wind howling—a truly fine weather fit for night travel.
Han Shengyu changed into a crisp, dark-colored Hu suit with narrow sleeves, wrapped her hair with a cloth, and covered her face with a scarf, revealing only a pair of eyes that shone exceptionally bright in the dark night.
Looking at her practiced attire, the corner of Han Jing’s mouth twitched slightly; Third Miss’s preparations… were really far too thorough.
Evading the night-patrolling watchmen and the occasional passing patrol soldiers, the two used the cover of night to leave the city without a sound, heading straight for Yunbi Villa to the west of the city.
The villa was built against the mountain, its outline blurry in the dark night, with only a few scattered sparks of light, appearing extraordinarily serene—and even a bit eerie. Agile and nimble, Han Jing led Han Shengyu past the villa guards, creeping to a secluded corner on the outer edge of the estate.
“Miss, look, over there are the stables and the place where forage is stacked,” Han Jing pointed to a cluster of low buildings not far away.
Following the direction of his finger, a bright spark glinted in Han Shengyu’s eyes: “A fine place! The wind happens to be blowing right toward the main courtyard. Han Jing, go over there and make some noise to draw the guards’ attention—nothing too big, just enough to make them think stray cats or dogs are causing trouble. I’ll go prepare a warm gift for Han Jintang.”
Though Han Jing didn’t know what Han Shengyu planned to do specifically, he nodded without hesitation, his figure blending into the darkness like a phantom.
Before long, a few faint sounds came from the direction of the stables, and the muffled shouts and driving-away noises of the villa hands could be heard in the distance—their attention was indeed drawn over.
Seizing this opportunity, Han Shengyu darted to the side of the forage stack like a nimble cat. Well-prepared, she pulled a small leather pouch from her bosom containing lamp oil! With swift movements, she splashed the oil onto the dry forage, then pulled out a fire striker and blew on it lightly, causing an orange-red flame to dance to life.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she tossed the fire striker into the stack of forage.
*Boom!* The dry forage caught fire instantly, and borrowing the momentum of the wind, the flames surged up in a flash, greedily licking at the surrounding wooden structures.
“Fire! Fire!” Panic-stricken cries immediately rang out inside the villa, and gongs were struck in rapid succession, turning the once-quiet estate into a scene of utter chaos in an instant.
Han Shengyu and Han Jing, who had already returned to her side, quickly retreated to a hidden slope in the distance, watching the chaos below with cold eyes.
Flames soared into the sky, dyeing half the night sky red. The villa hands carried water buckets and fought the fire desperately, their shouts, the splashing of water, and the crackling of burning timber intermingling into a din.
Right at that moment, movement occurred in the direction of the main courtyard as well. Escorted by several maidservants and matrons, a figure draped in a cloak with slightly disheveled hair came hurrying out—it was none other than Han Jintang!
She had clearly been jolted awake by the sudden fire, her face filled with panic and rage as she directed the servants to hurry up and prepare the carriage, wanting to leave this place of trouble under the cover of chaos.
“Want to run?” Han Shengyu snorted coldly, pulling out a few small throwing darts from her waist.
Seeing Han Jintang helped onto a hastily brought carriage, the driver flicked his whip, and the vehicle was about to speed out of the villa.
Just at the moment the carriage was about to accelerate, Han Shengyu flicked her wrist. A dart cut through the air and struck the right hind leg of the pulling horse with pinpoint precision!
In pain, the horse let out a shrill whinny, raising its front hooves and violently swerving to the side! Caught off guard, the driver was thrown off the carriage, and losing its balance, the carriage box crashed sideways onto the ground!
“Ah—!” Han Jintang’s scream pierced through the night sky.
This commotion was massive; the people who were fighting the fire and those from neighboring estates who were alarmed and came over to help all had their eyes drawn toward the scene in unison.
“What happened?”
“It seems a carriage overturned!”
“Hurry over and take a look!”
The crowd gathered around, the bright light of their torches clearly illuminating Han Jintang as she scrambled out of the overturned carriage in utter disarray. The hairpin atop her head was crooked, her cloak was stained with mud, her face was deathly pale, and her soul was still shaken.
“Huh? Isn’t this the Eldest Miss of Master Han’s family?”
“Han Jintang? Why would she be here?”
“Isn’t this the Second Prince’s estate? Didn’t they say she was severely ill and recuperating at the Han Manor?”
“That’s right, and they said the Second Prince despised her… In the dead of night, how could an unmarried girl like her appear on the Second Prince’s estate?”
Discussions rose like a surging tide, filled with suspicion and probe.
Listening to the pointing and hushed whispers all around, Han Jintang was as embarrassed as she was furious, wishing she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Yet her legs were so weak she couldn’t even stand firm, looking utterly wretched as she was supported by her maidservants.
Han Shengyu saw everything clearly from the slope, a cold arc curling at the corner of her lips. It was a pity Li Chengyan wasn’t at the estate, so catching them together in bed was out of the question, but having Han Jintang exposed in the Second Prince’s estate in such a manner before everyone’s eyes would likely produce a far more sensational effect than catching them in bed!
“Let’s go,” Han Shengyu whispered to Han Jing. Having achieved her purpose, this was no place to linger.
Those who could reside around Yunbi Villa as neighbors to Li Chengyan were hardly ordinary people.
Just now she had been thinking that if no one recognized Han Jintang, she would blend into the crowd to expose her identity, but who knew that a few matrons had recognized her at a single glance.
Heaven was truly helping her.
Just as when they arrived, the two vanished into the night without a sound, leaving behind the soaring flames, the clamor of fire-fighting, and Han Jintang’s wretched, retreating back.
By the time they returned to the residence in Jincheng, it was already the latter half of the night.
Han Shengyu felt no sleepiness whatsoever, immediately instructing Han Jing: “As soon as day breaks, have people spread the news. First, Han Jintang is not gravely ill, but staying at the Second Prince’s Yunbi Villa; second, question whether Han Yingquan was aware of this—if he knew, why did he indulge his daughter like this? If he didn’t know, what was the Second Prince’s intention with this move? Is he placing the daughter of a court official under house arrest?”
Han Jing looked at Han Shengyu in absolute astonishment; she was trying to sweep them all up in one net.
Meeting Han Jing’s gaze, Han Shengyu held her head high and said, “What, you think I’m ruthless and heavy-handed?”
“No,” Han Jing immediately shook his head. “The First Branch of the Han family acts improperly and harbors malicious intentions toward you three young ladies. There is nothing wrong with Miss protecting herself.”
Han Shengyu nodded in satisfaction; she liked Han Jing precisely for his quick-witted tact.
The next day, news regarding Han Jintang staying overnight at the Second Prince’s side estate and making a wretched appearance during the fire spread through every street and alley of Jincheng as if it had grown wings. Combined with the old news of the palace banquet drowning incident, all sorts of speculations and spicy associations emerged endlessly.
“Didn’t they say the Second Prince wanted to kill her? How come she moved into his estate instead?”
“Could it be hatred born of love? Unable to possess her, so he imprisoned her?”
“Does Master Han know about this? If he doesn’t, then the Second Prince is committing kidnapping!”
“Eighty percent chance he knows—it might very well be a show put on by both families together! But why do this?”
Han Shengyu sat in her own reception hall, slowly sipping tea as she listened to the street rumors Ruyi had gathered.
This time, let’s see how Han Jintang and her mother can sit still!
That fox’s tail—she was going to drag it right out.