It seems his uncle will soon share his feelings, but—
Looking up at the sky, Xiao Kuang let out a bitter smile.
How long will this rain stop?
…………
The rain kept falling, landing on the stone boat in the middle of the lake like a crystal curtain.
"That's strange. The newly widowed Mrs. Man isn't keeping vigil at the mourning hall, but is waiting for me here." Looking at the woman who had been waiting for a long time in the stone boat, Webber sneered.
The other party wasn't annoyed, only glancing at him slowly. "Judging from how leisurely Master Wei is, the case of my deceased husband will surely be solved within three days."
"Stop being so smug!"
"Smug? This young woman has just arrived in your esteemed land and her husband has already died. She is too grief-stricken to talk about being smug. Master Wei, please do not lose your composure."
The old man's eyes suddenly darkened. "Speaking of 'little woman' over and over again is grating. How long are you going to keep up this act, Master Liu?"
"Master Liu?" A clumsy look of surprise appeared in her beautiful eyes. "Has Master Wei gone mad?"
"Hmph, even if you disguised yourself back then, I would still recognize you. Leader Liu, don't you know you have this strange habit of touching your face?"
The slender fingers that were touching her cheek stiffened slightly, and the beauty sneered. "No wonder you tried so hard to get rid of me."
“Master Liu is no less impressive. Her ‘sacrifice a pawn to save the chariot’ move caught me completely off guard.” Wei Baizhong glanced at her with his hands behind his back. “Tell me, what is your purpose in waiting for me here tonight?”
Her red lips curved slightly. "I have come to reconcile with the Master of the Manor."
"Reconcile? Does Leader Liu think I'm some naive child, so easily fooled?" Wei Baizhong said as if listening to a joke. "Back then, our scheme failed, and the Weiming Sect was wiped out. Leader Liu should hate me to the bone."
With a pair of sharp eyes piercing through him, Liu Xiang made no attempt to hide his true feelings and said coldly, "I will naturally not forget the grudge of our downfall, but there are always some things that need to be done, and I can distinguish between what is important and what is urgent. The officials who came last night were clearly not well-intentioned and wanted to interfere. Rather than letting others benefit from this, I think it would be better to join forces with Master Wei to defend against the thieves first, and then settle old scores."
Seeing that Wei Baizhong was slightly relenting, she continued, "If Master Wei cannot find out the truth in three days, then the government can openly intervene in Jade Sword Manor. Not to mention the secret treasure, even the position of Alliance Leader might be in jeopardy."
Weber frowned deeply. "What can you do?"
Liu Xiang tilted her head slightly, exuding a charming and delicate air. "If I were Master Wei, I would rather use someone else to do the dirty work and take the opportunity to eliminate this threat."
"Calamity?" Webber narrowed his eyes.
"What? Didn't you notice, Master Wei? My niece, the Master's new daughter-in-law, is quite dependent on her master."
Seeing his expression, Liu Xiang knew she had touched a nerve, so she continued.
"Back then, I tricked Liu Ti into coming up the mountain, and orchestrated a deadly battle between Yu Zhanyuan and the old sect leader who had gone mad with internal energy. At the same time, Master Wei cleverly set up a scheme to find out where Yu Zhanyuan was hiding his daughter. It was a perfect collaboration. I never expected that you and I would become suspicious of each other because we couldn't find the little girl, which led to a rift between us, allowing Sanqing to take advantage of the situation. Now the little girl is very respectful of her. If we don't get rid of this person, I'm afraid we will repeat the same mistake—all our efforts will be in vain."
Liu Xiang raised an eyebrow. "In that case, the Master and I have a common enemy."
"What brilliant plan does Master Liu have?" Wei Baizhong frowned for a long time, and although he sat down, he still maintained a defensive posture.
"While I wouldn't call it a brilliant plan, eliminating Sanqing and resolving the current predicament of Jade Sword Manor would be a piece of cake." Seeing that he was interested, Liu Xiang couldn't hide his smile. "As long as Manor Master Wei says three days later that her deceased husband was struck by the Nine Heavens Rakshasa Palm of the Unnamed Sect, and has her servants identify the murderer as Abbess Sanqing, that will suffice."
"What kind of lousy trick did Sect Leader Liu use! How could Sanqing know the Nine Heavens Rakshasa Palm?"
"She won't, but I will."
"What's the use! She's not a member of the Unnamed Cult." Suddenly, Webber seemed to realize something. "You mean—"
"If it can be proven that Sanqing is a member of the Weiming Cult, even if she doesn't know the Nine Heavens Rakshasa Palm, everyone will assume that she does."
"But how do we prove it?" Weber asked, his tone softening.
"Everyone in the martial world knows that joining my Weiming Sect requires planting a Gu poison. This Gu is called Yingluo. As long as you circulate your internal energy, a tassel-like pattern will appear at the Taiyuan acupoint on your wrist. This has almost become the only way to identify a member of my sect. However, what people in the martial world don't know is—" Her beautiful eyes sparkled with cunning, "This Gu must be planted on the fifteenth of each month. There is no strange feeling when it is first planted, and tomorrow is the fifteenth."
"But it is not easy to use a Gu poison on Sanqing."
"You don't need to worry about that, Master. I, the apothecary, will take care of it."
"Master Liu is truly a man of great wisdom and intelligence."
"You flatter me, Master Wei." Liu Xiang gave a slight curtsy, her waist swaying gently.
After examining the scene for a while, the two finally smiled with delight and looked together at the misty lake.
"Even the location of the secret meeting was carefully chosen by Master Liu."
"oh?"
"This Spring Water Boat is surrounded by the lake on all sides, with its carved windows wide open. Even if someone wanted to eavesdrop, they would be detected by you and me before they even reached the top of the boat. Master Liu's meticulousness is truly admirable."
"Master Wei is too modest."
"I hope that Leader Liu will not hold back and betray my trust."
"That's natural."
Both harbored their own secrets, unaware that, just like that night ten years ago, a slender figure remained hidden in the water from beginning to end. Only when their schemes were about to culminate did she silently slip beneath the surface. In the dark lake, shrouded in a fine drizzle, she left behind only a shallow ripple, like a falling raindrop.
…………
A fine line connects heaven and earth, and milky white mist drifts on the eaves, it's hard to tell if it's rain, dust, or smoke.
"It's been raining for two days and two nights straight, I feel like I'm going to get moldy."
Entering the kitchen in the west courtyard, the head maid complained. She opened the water vat, looked at her reflection, and carefully dabbed at her face with raindrops, afraid of smudging her freshly applied rouge. After finishing her makeup, she realized she was alone in the kitchen.
I opened a steamer on the stove; the water in the stew pot had almost boiled dry.