A-Heng, I Can Only Help You With This Bit
The foot that Bai Fu Rong had raised remained in midair without being put down. Looking toward where the sound had come from, she saw Bai Ze looking at her through the flames. The cold light that came from his gaze leaped out at her. When the moonlight lit up his face, his appearance was quite frightening.
Bai Fu Rong’s heart went “thump” before she quickly managed to recover. She knew that Bai Ze had been sitting beside the fire the entire time, thus she let out an exaggerated sigh and patted her chest while gesturing for Bai Ze to keep quiet. She then tiptoed over to the entrance of the cave and quietly said: “Don’t wake his Highness up.”
Bai Ze raised an eyebrow, “Where are you going?’
Bai Fu Rong glared: “What’s it to you!”
Bai Ze squinted his eyes and looked at her for a while then stood up to follow her. Bai Fu Rong angrily raised her foot to kick him, but Bai Ze avoided this.
“You damn woman, are you insane?” Bai Ze patted the robes that had become covered in dirt. His face was filled with fury, as he glared at Bai Fu Rong, “Me following you is for your own good. What would we do if you were carried away in the middle of the night by a hawk?”
“I am not a small chick!” Bai Fu Rong also became angry, “It’s the middle of the night, and I want to go and relieve myself. If a grown man like you came with me, that would truly be too much! If you want to handle things like this, I won’t take care of this job.”
Bai Ze was speechless. His goodwill had been treated as ill intent, “Go on, go on! I can’t be bothered with you.” He sat back down in an annoyed manner and pouted while stoking the fire with a piece of wood.
Bai Fu Rong let out a “hmph” then quickly stepped out.
Not long after she stepped out of the cave, the once angry Bai Ze that was stoking the fire suddenly stopped. A sly thought appeared in his mind, and he threw down the piece of wood before sneaking out to follow behind her.
Bai Fu Rong moved through the tents and occasionally looked at the sky. The goshawk circled for a bit then went one way to land. She increased her pace and climbed up a stretch of a hill before ducking into some woods and heading in the direction that the goshawk had flown.
She did not know martial arts. Even if she was alert and knew to pay attention to her surroundings, she was still unable to notice Bai Ze trailing behind her. But at the same time, Bai Ze could not do anything to get closer. After all, Bai Fu Rong would be easy to deal with on her own, but he did not know where the person that sought her out in the middle of the night was hiding, nor did he know how many were present.
Like this, they continued forward for roughly half a stick of incense in time before Bai Fu Rong suddenly had her mouth covered from behind and was dragged off to the side. Her forehead became soaked in a cold sweat in fear, and she struggled a few times before hearing a voice come from behind her head: “Don’t move.” She was startled then immediately realized that the person was the one that had called her out. Calming down slightly, she did not continue to struggle. When the other side let her go, she turned around to look and found that it was a person in black clothes that had their face hidden. Only a pair of long and thin eyes could be seen.
That person stared at Bai Fu Rong for a while then coldly said: “Did anyone follow you out?”
Bai Fu Rong revealed an irritated expression, as she angrily said: “Whether or not someone followed me out, that sort of thing should be handled by you guys! I don’t have the ability that you do. How could I know if anyone followed.” She was filled with anger and had no place to vent. Upon seeing these black clothes, the anger began to pour out.
The other side did not lower themselves to her level, as they continued to use a cold tone to ask: “Are you certain that imperial daughter Ji An went to the North ahead of them?”
Bai Fu Rong asked: “Are you guys only relying on me? Do you not go and investigate on your own?”
That person said: “We investigated but did not find anything.”
Bai Fu Rong’s heart was moved, but she still snorted coldly, saying: “Then that’s about right.”
“What did you find out? Speak quickly.” That person began to press her, “Now is not the time to chat. There is also no need for you to be difficult with me. I am just an underling with orders. If you have anything to say, bring it to the master to say it.”
Bai Fu Rong waved her hand, “I know. I have managed to find out imperial daughter Ji An’s movements. You guys have gone in the wrong direction. She did not go to the North. Rather, she has gone back to the capital.”
“Returned to the capital?” The person in black clothes was startled. It was clear that he could not believe it, “How could she have returned to the capital. Are you certain?”
“Either way, his Highness the ninth prince said it like this.” Bai Fu Rong furrowed her brow and said: “I spend my entire time in the army, and this is the news that I heard. If you don’t believe it, just go and investigate yourself. Also, I have no reason to lie to you. I know how to tell what is important.”
The person in black looked at Bai Fu Rong for a long time and seemed to be determining whether she was telling the truth or a lie. After a long time, he finally said: “I only hope that you are able to tell.” He then leaped up and disappeared into the night.
Bai Fu Rong, who had been on edge the entire time, finally calmed down slightly. Her legs gave out, and she fell to the ground.
She was too lacking in spirit. She secretly complained about herself. She only said a few things, yet her legs were trembling; however… “A-Heng, I can only help you with this bit. Although after they have turned around and realize that they cannot find you in the capital, they will still turn back and chase you to the North. But in any case, I can buy you a bit of time. A-Heng, do what you need to but be quick about it. If you are late, I am also powerless.” Bai Fu Rong sighed bitterly then stood up using a nearby tree for support. After looking around and determining that there was nobody around, she quickly began to walk back.
At the same time that the person in black left, Bai Ze also turned around and returned to the cave. He had seen Bai Fu Rong speak with the person in black, and he had heard what was discussed. He just could not understand, why had Bai Fu Rong told a lie? She was already acting as a spy, so why was the report that she provided false?
He was completely unable to understand this matter. Bai Fu Rong returned and continued to be careful and continued to show an ugly expression to Bai Ze. Bai Ze glared at her and did not speak. Only after seeing Bai Fu Rong lie down did he add another two pieces of wood to the fire, causing it to burn brighter.
At the same time, Xuan Tian Ming suddenly opened his eyes, and a clarity could be seen in his eyes. There was not the slightest bit of drowsiness that could be seen. He stared at Bai Fu Rong’s back, and the purple lotus flower on his forehead became a little darker with the change in his mood.
At night, the winds on the river were fierce and cold. Even if they were living in a private room, a bit of wind would still get through the cracks.
Feng Yu Heng hugged her knees and sat on the bed while wrapped in a woolen blanket. Huang Quan had already become completely accustomed to seeing the strange sight of her young miss pulling three large blankets from her sleeve. She then received a request from Feng Yu Heng to send one to Wang Chuan and Yuan Fei’s side. The other one would be sent to Chou Shu, who had been separated and sent to the common room.
The two just sat side by side on the bed. Huang Quan felt the blanket with her hand and was completely unable to figure out what it was made of and asked Feng YU Heng: “On such a cold day, young miss take a guess, do you think that Wang Chuan and Yuan Fei are doing like us and sitting together under the same blanket?”
Feng Yu Heng saw that there was a desire to gossip in this girl. She nodded vigorously, “Un, it’s definitely like this.”
Huang Quan slapped the bed and laughed, “Sure enough, a grown daughter must not remain at home. Sure enough, a grown daughter must not remain at home!”
Feng Yu Heng, however, did not like this pairing, “In truth, I was planning to pair Wang Chuan with Ban Zou.”
“Hm?” Huang Quan was startled and subconsciously shook her head, saying: “No good, no good. Those pairing is not suitable.”
Feng Yu Heng blinked, and a glimmer of getting what she wanted flashed through her eyes. This was not seen by Huang Quan, as she just asked: “What about it is not suitable?”
Huang Quan could not say for certain what was unsuitable, but she just said: “Ban Zou does not like Wang Chuan.”
“Then who does he like?”
“He…” Huang Quan opened and closed her mouth but no sound came out. She did not know who Ban Zou liked, but this question was itself a contradictory opinion, “How could a hidden guard have feelings?” She told Feng Yu Heng: “All of us are parentless orphans. Only by having no attachments in this life can we remain at our master’s side and live entirely devoted to our master. That’s why it’s impossible for Ban Zou to like anyone. Even if he was truly moved by anyone, he… he definitely could not say it because once it was said, there is only one outcome. That is death.”
The more Huang Quan said, the more depressed she became. The sadness in her eyes was something that could not be hidden, but Feng Yu Heng did not go and expose it. She just patted the back of Huang Quan’s hand and said: “There is nothing in this world that is guaranteed. You are currently following me, and I am your master, thus the rules that I make are the ones that count.”
Huang Quan’s eyes lit up then immediately calmed down. She said: “This servant knows that young miss treats us well, but this is our duty. We cannot allow ourselves to forget that we are servants just because our master treats us well.” She thought a little and added: “Perhaps… it’s not that we cannot have feelings. It’s just that these feelings can only be directed toward one person. That would be our master.”
Feng Yu Heng felt touched; however, she only let out a sigh and waved her hand: “Forget it, let’s not talk about this. We pretended to be family members of Prime minister Fung. It would be best if we did not expose the truth.
“Young miss, don’t worry.” Huang Quan told her, “We have done this sort of thing a few years ago. At that time, it was his Highness that advocated it, and lord prime minister knew about it as well. That’s why whenever someone outside pretends to be related to him, he would first go and inquire with his Highness. If it’s our people, he would naturally cooperate.”
Feng Yu Heng nodded, “That’s good.” She rubbed her forehead and wanted to lie down, but she also felt that she could not fall asleep, thus she said to Huang Quan: “I’m going up to the deck to look around. Go ahead and sleep. There’s no need to follow.”
How could Huang Quan be fine with this. If she went, she would need to follow; however, she was stopped by Feng Yu Heng, “You shouldn’t go. How could two maidservants go out onto the deck at the same time. One must remain to look after the master. Don’t worry, I will go find Chou Shu to talk to.”
Huang Quan could not outdo her, thus she could only remind her to be careful before letting her go.
The wind on the deck was so fierce that it could cause one’s face to hurt. Feng Yu Heng stood next to the railing for a while and calmed her senses, doing her best to take in all of her surroundings. Only after verifying that there was nobody hidden did she turn and walk toward the common area.
Chou Shu had been left by them in a common room. The reason for this was to monitor everyone on this ship. Once they found any suspicious targets, they would think of a way to either kill them or avoid them.
The common rooms were toward the back of the boat, and they were a few steps lower than the private rooms. They were divided by a storage room in the middle. Just as Feng Yu Heng walked past the last private room, she suddenly heard a familiar voice.
She was capable of martial arts and had good hearing. Upon hearing this voice, she was able to guess the identity of the person inside the room with great accuracy. She heard one of the women say: “Master, what are you afraid of. Whether or not the son of the prime minister’s family is real or fake is still unknown. Also, even if he is the prime minister, he needs to give leader Duan Mu some face, right.”