"The original poster is up."
"Hmm. What time is it?"
"It's just past Shenshi (3-5 PM). Would you like to eat something first? Oh, by the way, Young Master Lan asked me to tell you that he has something to do today and can't accompany you. He specifically instructed me to help you change your clothes."
As she spoke, the little girl happily unfolded the clothes on the bedside table:
"Tsk, so beautiful. My lady, Young Master Lan really dotes on you; he even personally picked out these clothes for you."
"……Um."
Hua Chongyang gave a vague reply, holding his teacup with a distracted expression.
Normally, if Lan Wuxie spent the night with her, he would never leave her alone the next day—at the very least, he would bathe and dress her before going out to take care of his own business.
Is something bad about Lanying Palace?
Preoccupied with her own thoughts and having slept too much during the day, she lingered in her room until almost midnight. Just as she was starting to feel sleepy, Huang San suddenly knocked on the door:
"Double Ninth Festival!"
Hua Chongyang suddenly sat up from the head of the bed and went to open the door. Huang San rushed in hurriedly:
"Something's happened."
"What's wrong?"
"Information from the undercover agents," Huang San patted his chest and sat down in a chair, "that Lan Wuxie also gave the Yellow Springs Martial Arts Manual to Bo Feng."
"Hasn't this news been circulating for several days already?"
Hua Chongyang didn't take it seriously.
"I haven't finished yet, don't rush me," Huang San lowered his voice, "and then tonight, just now, someone broke into Nan Chu Manor, killed four disciples, and ransacked Bo Feng's study."
"Who did this?"
"I don't know about anything else," Huang San said, his voice also trembling with emotion, "but all four of the dead disciples from Nan Chu Manor had the same maple leaf darts stuck in their bodies."
Yanzu Valley!
Hua Chongyang suddenly stood up:
"That means Bo Feng isn't the mastermind behind Goose Foot Valley—no, it could also be a smokescreen used by Bo Feng to deliberately clear his name."
Recently, Yanzu Valley has been making headlines in the martial arts world, especially at the martial arts tournament; if it really was Bo Feng who orchestrated this, then it's not impossible that he deliberately arranged this situation to use a self-inflicted injury to clear his name.
"No," Huang San shook his head and laughed. "At first, I thought so too. It's possible that Bo Feng used his own Yanzu Valley to attack his own Nan Chu Manor, deliberately diverting attention and clearing himself of the possibility that he was the boss behind Yanzu Valley. But after finding out something, I can be sure that Bo Feng didn't do it."
"how?"
"Because among the four disciples of Nan Chu Manor who died, there was a young man named Bo Yun," Huang San squinted, "you should have heard of him, right? Although Bo Yun is nominally Bo Feng's closed-door disciple, he seems to be his only biological son."
Hua Chongyang remembered this incident.
Although Bo Yun had never appeared in the martial arts world, she had heard that Bo Feng had a disciple with the same surname as him, and that Bo Feng was particularly fond of this child, personally in charge of his martial arts and studies, to a degree far exceeding his treatment of his adopted sons and daughters, Bo Qing, Bo Jiang, and Bo Hai. Therefore, many rumors circulated that Bo Yun was actually Bo Feng's illegitimate biological child.
Even a tiger won't eat its cubs.
If Bo Yun was killed, then it seems that this was not Bo Feng's doing.
So... Bo Feng has no connection with Yan Zu Valley?
"Master," Huang San said excitedly, "after this incident, even Nan Chu Manor is now at odds with Yan Zu Valley. Knowing Bo Feng's temper, he definitely won't let Yan Zu Valley off the hook; he might even investigate to the end. We'll just wait and see how things unfold. Anyway, it's a good thing someone is helping us find Yan Zu Valley!"
"Yes." Hua Chongyang nodded. "That's how it should be done."
Huang San was still excited and wanted to say something, but before he could speak, he heard light footsteps outside and a slightly hoarse voice:
"Double Ninth Festival?"
Hua Chongyang suddenly looked up.
Lan Wuxie was standing at the door. Outside was a corridor, with a lantern under the eaves. He stood with his back to the light, so his expression was not visible, but the voice calling her was extremely gentle, so gentle that even Hua Chongyang felt a little embarrassed to hear it in front of Huang San.
Fortunately, Huang San was perceptive enough to stand up immediately upon seeing Lan Wuxie, though his face was full of a sly smile:
"Ah, Pavilion Master Lan is here! -- Oh dear, what time is it? It must be past midnight! It's really so late, I'm so sleepy. You guys chat, I'm going back to my room to sleep. Anyway, it's not urgent, we can talk about it tomorrow."
"It's alright, Sister Huang," Hua Chongyang said, feeling even more embarrassed. "Let's talk first—"
"No, no, you're all busy!" Huang San took a step towards the door, then suddenly turned back, lowering her voice, "What are you pretending for? The whole brothel heard what was going on in your room last night. But it's Chongyang Festival, don't blame me for not reminding you. Although absence makes the heart grow fonder, you'd better tell him to be more restrained, otherwise he'll drive you crazy these next few days."
A small flame immediately ignited on Hua Chongyang's earlobe.
After Huang San finished speaking, he immediately covered his mouth with a handkerchief and walked out the door, chuckling all the way.
Lan Wuxie then stepped inside.
Hua Chongyang was still feeling awkward and didn't know what to say for a moment; fortunately, Lan Wuxie asked as soon as he entered:
"You also know about the theft at Nan Chu Manor?"
"Yes." Hua Chongyang nodded. "Sister Huang just came to talk about this. It's really convenient that it happened like this. In this way, Nan Chu Manor and Yan Zu Valley will definitely be irreconcilable enemies in the future. Yan Zu Valley having another enemy is like the brothel having another friend. Even if it's not quite the same, it's better than nothing."
"That's true. With Bo Yun dead and the secret manual lost, Bo Feng might even follow the brothel to investigate the whereabouts of Goose Foot Valley in the future."
"Yanzu Valley must have some strength, otherwise how could it dare to make enemies everywhere, even daring to provoke Bo Feng?"
Lan Wuxie sat down at the table, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and chuckled softly:
"Chongyang is really naive."
Hua Chongyang looked at him with suspicion:
"You mean, Bo Feng did this himself? But he wouldn't be so heartless as to harm his own son next time—"
"Of course not." Lan Wuxie put down his teacup. "But it wasn't made by Bo Feng, nor necessarily by Yanzu Valley."
"……What's the meaning?"
"Why do you need to know this? In any case, it won't do any harm to the brothel."
"Tell me, tell me," Hua Chongyang said, his face full of curiosity. "I want to hear it."
Lan Wuxie burst into laughter at her expression, then gently pulled her onto his lap, hooking one arm around her waist and casually taking her hand in his other.
"The simplest tactic in military strategy is called 'using someone else's knife to kill someone.'"
He paused, then slowly continued:
"Assuming the person who stole the manual wasn't from Yanzu Valley, but someone in disguise, then this incident not only shifted the blame onto Yanzu Valley, sowing discord between Nan Chu Manor and Yanzu Valley; it also helped the brothel ascertain the relationship between Yanzu Valley and Bo Feng; and it allowed them to steal the Yellow Springs Martial Arts Manual from Bo Feng, severely impacting him. It's a triple win."
Hua Chongyang was stunned.
Lan Wuxie is right.
She had long suspected that Bo Feng might be behind Yanzu Valley, but she couldn't possibly imagine a way to test the relationship between Bo Feng and Yanzu Valley by pretending to be someone from Yanzu Valley to cause trouble for Bo Feng.
Hua Chongyang finally understood why so many people in the martial arts world were afraid of Lan Wuxie.
If Lan Wuxie hadn't never mentioned these things to her, if Lan Wuxie hadn't always been so good to her, if she were Lan Wuxie's enemy, if she had seen this side of him earlier—she probably would have been afraid of him too.
Almost at the same moment, Hua Chongyang thought of something else: Could this have been done by Lan Wuxie?
77. Situ Yebai
The next day at noon, as soon as Lan Wuxie left the brothel, Hua Chongyang consulted with Liu Da and Huang San about the matter. Huang San frowned for a long time before saying:
"Besides Lan Wuxie, I think there's a high probability that someone else would do this."
Hua Chongyang immediately guessed who it was:
You mean--
"Situ Qingliu," Huang San nodded, "He sowed discord between Yanzu Valley and Bo Feng, making them both enemies, killing Bo Yun, and severely damaging Bo Feng; now that Bo Feng is allied with Lanying Palace, he's essentially creating trouble for Lanying Palace; and he even stole the Yellow Spring Martial Arts Manual."
"If we analyze this carefully, this matter still benefits Situ Qingliu the most," Liu Da interjected. "Then it definitely wasn't Lan Wuxie who did it. Lan Wuxie dislikes Situ Qingliu so much, why would he do something that benefits him?"
"Chongyang, why don't you just ask Lan Wuxie if he did it?"
Hua Chongyang shook his head:
"If he won't tell me, why should I ask?"
Not telling her means he can't let her know; besides, given Lan Wuxie's temperament, if he doesn't want to tell her, he won't tell her even if she asks.
The three of them discussed the matter until dusk before finally finishing the letter to Chu San. Just as they were about to eat, Ye Laoqi suddenly knocked on the door:
"OP, someone wants to see you."
"who?"
"I don't know him."
Liu Da was impatient:
"Why are you talking if you don't even know me? You're a useless person, just get rid of you."
"Do you think I'm stupid? Don't I know how to get rid of useless people? The key is that this person has quite a background," Ye Laoqi said as he entered the room, "He was brought by Guard Pinlan."
Huang San and Hua Chongyang raised their eyebrows simultaneously. Hua Chongyang asked:
"Didn't you ask Guard Lan?"
"I asked him, but he wouldn't say. He only said he wanted to see you." Ye Laoqi leaned closer, lowering his voice mysteriously, "You're about to have another stroke of good luck with women, OP. This guy is incredibly handsome, absolutely gorgeous!"
Huang San and Liu Da simultaneously pouted:
"No matter how beautiful she is, is she more beautiful than Lan Wuxie?"
Hua Chongyang immediately added silently in his heart:
"that is!"
Ye Laoqi slowly straightened up, scanned the three of them, and finally fixed his gaze on Hua Chongyang's face:
"Seriously, OP, she's even prettier than Lan Wuxie."
This person is not in the lobby.
On the east side of Linchun Pavilion, in an open pavilion flanked by water on both sides, the dim light from the eaves illuminated the shimmering water, where the faint shadows of fish could be seen moving about. Ye Laoqi stood on the long corridor, pointing to a tall, slender figure inside the pavilion:
"It's him."
The man was wearing a jet-black cloak without a single pattern, and his jet-black hair hung down on the cloak, making it almost impossible to see its color. He was casually feeding the fish with fish food in his hand.
It's rare for me to be in such a good mood, so I ended up feeding the fish in the evening.