The next day, Governor Xu invited Xiao Jin and Chu Shao to go to the Purple Bamboo Forest together. By then, Xiao Jin had already arranged everything from the previous night.
The two Qin sisters followed Xia Sanniang to temporarily stay at a mansion in Qingzhou.
The house was arranged before Xiao Jin’s trip, and Old Zhang was always reliable in handling things, so she could rest assured.
At the same time, there were also garrison soldiers responsible for guarding, with strict precautions and unlikely to make any mistakes.
However, Xia Sanniang’s mother-in-law was old and inconvenient to ride on a boat.Â
So Xiao Jin transferred her to another private mansion in Xinyang, also under the care and guard of garrison soldiers.
Before transferring them, Xiao Jin interrogated the assassin and the Qin family trio and found no other answers than what she had previously guessed.Â
Although the assassins were sent by the Fourth Prince, their previous loyalty was to Xiao Shuang. The key to this matter lies in whether Xiao Shuang knew or not.
Based on Chu Shao’s previous description, Xiao Jin could basically conclude that Xiao Shuang should know.Â
However, the assassination she encountered that day did not target her with the poisoned blade, but rather Chu Shao. This indicates that the person Xiao Shuang wanted to kill was Chu Shao.
At this moment, Xiao Jin listened absentmindedly to Governor Xu’s introduction of the origin of this bamboo forest, wondering why Xiao Shuang wanted to kill Chu Shao.Â
Chu Shao accompanied the two of them to play and looked at the lush bamboo forest with great interest.Â
The bamboo forest was dense, with occasional light breezes disturbing the birds on the branches, creating a wave of green.Â
Looking at the slender bamboo leaves, Chu Shao suddenly remembered the two figures standing on the boat last night.Â
At that time, she was leaning on the red lacquered railing, listening quietly to Xiao Jin telling strange stories to Qin Xueyi.
A smile played at the corners of her lips, like the silver moon hook in the sky.
Xiao Jin’s voice was low and ethereal, softer than the breeze that brushed across the lake.
Her slender figure was reflected in the lake, the colors faint and hazy in the moonlight.
Chu Shao stood on the pavilion, gazing intently at Xiao Jin as if looking at a painting.
A scroll slowly unfolded before Chu Shao’s eyes, and she knew that this painting was rare and elusive, always belonging only to the gentle breeze on the boat and the bright moon in the sky.
She knew that she was only a viewer of the painting, and this fact was clear to her.
However, when Xiao Jin placed the bamboo leaves between her lips and played a hoarse melody, Chu Shao looked at the slight furrow in Xiao Jin’s brow, as well as the row of willow trees swaying in the night wind beside her.
For a moment, she was unwilling to only be a viewer of the painting.
Then, Chu Shao remembered the jade flute hanging from her waist. She had just discovered it on the boat, and perhaps she had not played a tune on the flute in a long time.
Looking at Xiao Jin and Qin Xueyi on the boat, Chu Shao was suddenly struck with the idea that such people against such a backdrop, if stained with blood, would only defile the beauty of the night.
It seemed that Xiao Jin’s words were correct – blood did not always bring pleasure.
So, Chu Shao took out the jade flute from her waist and, in the moonlit lake, placed it against her lips and played a melody.
She had almost forgotten the name of this tune, but the night was beautiful and the scattered dark hair on the bamboo chair was beautiful.
She felt that she should play a beautiful tune to complement these heart-stirring things.
It wasn’t until Xiao Jin looked up and met her gaze that Chu Shao remembered that the piece she played was called “Chang Xiang Si” (Longing for the Lover).
…
The Lantern Festival was approaching.
In theory, it was time for Xiao Jin to return to the capital. After all, a significant festival like the Lantern Festival would surely require a banquet to be held in the palace.
However, it would seem suspicious for her to leave so soon after just saving the swordsman’s family.
To fully establish her reputation as a “pleasure-seeker” and to take the opportunity to win over Governor Xu, Xiao Jin decided not to return to the palace but instead celebrate the Lantern Festival in Qingzhou.
However, staying in Governor Xu’s mansion and communicating with Jue Ge would be inconvenient.
So, Xiao Jin decided to leave the mansion for a day or two under the pretext of pleasure-seeking, and after Jue Ge had investigated everything, she would return to the magistrate’s mansion to discuss the cooperation.
Governor Xu felt that Xiao Jin was testing him, so he did not try to keep her and only respectfully escorted her out of the mansion with his family.
However, he was somewhat anxious behind the scenes and occasionally asked his guests: “Do you think Prince Yan is really just here to sightsee in Qingzhou? Why does he refuse to give me a definite answer, despite my showing good intentions in public and hinting at her in private?”
In reality, Xiao Jin was indeed testing Governor Xu.
If he showed his goodwill towards her, she would immediately ally with him. However, this alliance would come too easily and could reduce her value.
Xiao Jin knew that Governor Xu urgently needed someone who could rival the Mu family. This person could be the Crown Prince or herself.
In other words, Governor Xu had many potential allies, and she was not the only one.
If Governor Xu could easily ally with her now, then he could easily betray her in the future.
The food server shook his head and said to Governor Xu, “My lord, I think the Prince of Yan is probably waiting.”
Governor Xu asked, “What is the Prince of Yan waiting for?”
The food server smiled and replied, “Perhaps the Prince of Yan is waiting for you to propose a condition… a difficult problem that is sufficient to bind you to him and that only he can help you solve.”
…
Xiao Jin waited for several days, but she was not anxious when Governor Xu did not come to propose a condition.
She believed that he would come sooner or later.
So now she was very relaxed, and even had the leisure to arrange matters related to the Lantern Festival.
In these few days, Xiao Jin completed several additional tasks that were relatively easy, and basically earned the life span allotted for this month.
However, these tasks were too simple, and she began to suspect that the system was accumulating big moves, setting up a few simple tasks first to confuse her, and then dealing with her properly later.
But the system’s intentions had nothing to do with her. At this time, Xiao Jin received a batch of goods that were delivered from the Prince of Yan’s mansion a few days ago, ready to be used during the Lantern Festival.
At the same time, Jue Ge also sent a letter.
The content of the letter was very simple; she listed the customers who had bought “Spring Mountain Wind” in the past few months.
Xiao Jin finished reading the names one by one and was somewhat puzzled.
Because the people listed on the paper did not include the power of Xiao Shuang and the Fourth Prince, and even the power of the Crown Prince was not included.
Xiao Jin believed that Jue Ge’s investigative ability was basically infallible.
Since it was not purchased by any of the three, it means that neither the Fourth Prince, Xiao Shuang, nor the Crown Prince had given the assassin the “Gu worm”.
Therefore… there is another person hiding in the shadows.
However, at the end of the letter, Jue Ge added a sentence.
She said that this was all the power she could investigate within her ability. But she discovered that there was another organization in the martial arts world that seemed to have purchased the Spring Mountain Wind a few days ago.
However, no matter what means she used, she couldn’t find any clues about that organization.
Xiao Jin burned the letter.
She could basically guess the name and background of this mysterious martial arts organization.
In the original work, the largest organization in the martial arts world was called “Blood Rain Pavilion.”
No one knows who Blood Rain Pavilion is loyal to. People only know that Blood Rain Pavilion is ruthless and has spies all over the world.
Behind all major events, there is basically the involvement of Blood Rain Pavilion.
But Blood Rain Pavilion comes and goes without a trace. Apart from the blood-red mark on the necks of the corpses, there are almost no clues.
And the identity of the owner of Blood Rain Pavilion is even more mysterious. Although this person has never appeared in the martial arts world, it is said that this person knows everything, knows all secrets in the world, and controls all intelligence.
It started to rain outside.
Xiao Jin sat in a wheelchair by the fire, thinking that if even Blood Rain Pavilion had to target the original owner, it seemed that the original owner was indeed a remarkable person.
After a moment, her eyebrows became tighter and tighter.
No, Blood Rain Pavilion might not want the original owner’s life.
But want Chu Shao’s life.
…
Today is the Lantern Festival.
The people of Qingzhou are celebrating the first full moon of the lunar year and it is very lively.
Governor Xu invited Xiao Jin and Chu Shao to the governor’s mansion to gather. Xiao Jin readily accepted after drinking some good wine and standing on the bridge watching the floating lanterns on the river.
The lights of thousands of households turned day into night, and fireworks bloomed in the sky above Qingzhou, exploding with such force that the entire city’s inhabitants could only hear the sound of firecrackers echoing in the sky.
This atmosphere was not suitable for discussing political matters, so Governor Xu and Xiao Jin tacitly avoided mentioning the alliance.
As the fireworks died out and the crowds dispersed, the two bid farewell on the bridge and returned to their respective mansions. The Lantern Festival was originally a very festive holiday.
While watching the fireworks on the bridge, Xiao Jin caught a glimpse of Chu Shao out of the corner of her eye.
She noticed that although Chu Shao had a smile on her face, the curve was very deliberate and did not come from the heart. It turned out that Chu Shao did not like the excitement.
Realizing this, Xiao Jin suddenly remembered the boatload of goods that Old Zhang had sent, wondering if her decision was unwise. But since everything was already arranged, there was no room for regret.
As they approached their temporary residence in Qingzhou, Xiao Jin remained calm on the outside but felt a little nervous inside.
Perhaps because she had seen too much excitement in Qingzhou today, Chu Shao seemed a little tired, and her smile on her face didn’t seem worth maintaining.
Xiao Jin guessed correctly that Chu Shao really didn’t like the excitement because it was only temporary, noisy, and never lasted long before it dissipated. Even after seeing the spectacular fireworks in Qingzhou, Chu Shao felt bored as everything seemed no different from before.
With this sense of weariness, Chu Shao slowly pushed open the door of the mansion and then stopped in her tracks because her eyes were flooded with colors.
Hundreds of lanterns were hanging on wooden frames in the courtyard, tightly clustered together, looking as beautiful as butterflies about to take flight. In Chu Shao’s eyes, hundreds of splendid butterflies were burning.
Chu Shao remembered the snowy night when a girl selling bean curd stood on a stool and tiptoed to hang a small lantern among many snow lanterns.
The colored lights were dim at that time, but now they were bright and dazzling, like the Milky Way pouring down from the sky.
Under that colored light, Xiao Jin told her an extremely touching lie: “There will be another chance, come see it next time.”
But now, it was not just a joke.
Seeing Chu Shao’s expressionless face, Xiao Jin felt like she had messed up.
However, since she had promised this before, regardless of how awkward it was, she naturally had to follow through.
Xiao Jin cleared her throat, preparing to say a few words to ease the awkwardness, but she didn’t expect an electronic sound from the system to suddenly sound in her ear.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host – the affection level of Chu Shao has been successfully unlocked.]
[It should be reminded to the host that Chu Shao’s current affection level is only open to you alone, so the system cannot detect whether this content is good or bad.]
[Please weigh it yourself.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s Note: I originally wanted to write until the end, but I really don’t have enough time today, so I’ll have to write more tomorrow. Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or watered me during the period from 23:58:16 on 2022-03-12 to 23:59:25 on 2022-03-13!
Translator’s note: Aw… I thought this chapter was the one I was waiting for. 🙂 Maybe the content I’m looking for is in the next chapter? It could be!
TO BE CONTINUE…
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