QYT - 19

The banquet in the front courtyard was in full swing. Besides the estate’s regular patrons, several noble young masters from the capital were also attending tonight.

He Hongyun was toasting when a servant from the front gate suddenly reported, “Fourth Young Master, Young Master Jiang from the Jiang family has arrived.”

He Hongyun was startled. He turned his face and saw Jiang Cizhou, still in his official attire, a purple gauze Black Eagle robe covered by a crow-black thin cloak, had already stepped into the courtyard.

He Hongyun went to greet him, delighted, “Didn’t Ziling say he wasn’t coming? Why the sudden change of heart?”

Jiang Cizhou chuckled lightly, “Staying at the yamen is boring, and I’m tired of home too. After much thought, I realized only your place, Nianxi, is interesting. Not to come and join in on the wild fun would truly be a pity.”

He Hongyun heard this and merely assumed Jiang Cizhou couldn’t suppress his romantic nature. He laughed, “Ziling should have done this sooner! We, among our peers, are unrestrained by the world; why adhere to worldly customs?”

Today, he had taken in the courtesans from Shifang Pavilion, essentially receiving an immense favor from Jiang Cizhou. It was a matter of reciprocation, and now that Jiang Cizhou had arrived, he should definitely give him full face.

A stage had been set up in the flower pond in the front courtyard. After a dance by the dancing girls on the stage, He Hongyun waved to the lead dancer: “Fudong, come here.”

Fudong was the newly arrived courtesan queen of the estate, who had not yet shown her face in public. All the guests looked over as He Hongyun beckoned Fudong to Jiang Cizhou.

He Hongyun said with a smile, “Young Master Jiang just got married and couldn’t resist coming to see you. You mustn’t refuse to show face; quickly offer Young Master Jiang a toast.”

“Yes.” Fudong curtsied to Jiang Cizhou, removed her veil, took wine from a nearby tray, and softly said, “Your humble servant toasts Young Master Jiang.”

Though it was late autumn, Fudong was dressed thinly. Beneath the sheer veil, her snow-like skin was faintly visible. She had a graceful figure, and a pair of eyes that seemed to hold deep affection with just one glance. Her cherry lips parted slightly, and her voice was soft and melodious. For those with weak resolve, a mere listen would make their bones melt.

Truly a peerless beauty.

Jiang Cizhou gazed at Fudong without blinking. After a moment, he took the wine and said with a chuckle, “I’m not well-read, so I don’t know how to describe a beauty. I’ll just ask Young Master He, how about leaving this beauty to me tonight?”

“It is often said that a gentleman does not take what others love.” As Jiang Cizhou’s words fell, someone at the banquet immediately retorted, “Miss Fudong has only been at Zhuning Estate for a few days. Young Master Jiang is the first to admire the flower, must he also be the first to pluck it? Is that not inappropriate? Didn’t Young Master Jiang just get married?”

Jiang Cizhou shifted his gaze. The speaker was Zou Ping, whose father was the Minister of the Court of the Imperial Guards and also a Gentleman of the Palace. Zou Ping had originally achieved nothing, but recently, leveraging his father’s reputation, he had landed a position as a captain in the Patrol Division, and his conduct had become increasingly arrogant. Wherever he went, he always brought a retinue of patrol guards.

Recently, the rivalry between the Zhang and He factions in the imperial court has intensified, and these noble young masters in the capital are also assessing the situation, gradually showing signs of forming alliances. Since He Hongyun is referred to as “Young Master He” and is somewhat opportunistic, compared to the aloof Young Master Zhang, he is more approachable. Thus, Zou Ping and a few others particularly enjoy associating with him.

However, although they associated with He Hongyun, they looked down on Jiang Cizhou.

He Hongyun’s father held the second-rank official position of Minister of the Central Secretariat, and his aunt was the current Empress Dowager. What was the He family’s status? They were practically half royalty. As for the Jiang family? Jiang Zhunian was merely a county magistrate back then, who later moved to the capital and held idle positions for a long time, and is still only a sixth-grade editor in the Imperial Academy. To be fair, the Jiang family was just lucky to have climbed up the ranks by associating with Princess Ronghua and Prince Xiao Zhao in earlier years. Now that Prince Xiao Zhao is in trouble, it has instead caused the Empress Dowager to dote on Jiang Cizhou like a beloved nephew, and the He family, by association, also treats the Jiang family with courtesy.

Zou Ping couldn’t stand the Jiang family’s sycophantic behavior and despised Jiang Cizhou even more. Moreover, Jiang Cizhou had recently been personally appointed by the Emperor as the Marshal of the Black Eagle Division. Zou Ping’s eyes were so red they almost bled, and his words were laced with sarcasm: “Or perhaps Young Master Jiang is now soaring to success, thriving in officialdom, and no longer puts us common folk in his eyes wherever he goes. What is a courtesan queen to him? Anything Young Master Jiang fancies, if he doesn’t win the top prize, he won’t be satisfied.”

These words were a bit excessive. He Hongyun was about to mediate when he suddenly heard the sharp whistle of an arrow. Simultaneously, fireworks soared into the night sky, blooming high above.

It was a whistling arrow.

He Hongyun’s face instantly changed. He quickly ordered his attendant beside him: “Go and see.”

The attendant rushed back in less than a quarter of an hour and reported to He Hongyun, “Fourth Young Master, this is bad! There’s a thief who entered the estate and broke into Fuxia Pavilion!”

He Hongyun, upon hearing it was Fuxia Pavilion, actually felt relieved. Fuxia Pavilion was filled with mechanisms; how could an ordinary person who broke in possibly get out alive?

Though he thought this, he expressed concern on his face: “Is Fuxia well?”

The attendant’s anxious look did not diminish: “Miss Fuxia is still well, but this female thief who snuck into the estate is extremely fierce, and her lightness skill is exceptional. She has already escaped the pavilion courtyard and is heading towards the front courtyard. Liu Chang led over a dozen elites, but they simply can’t stop her!”

Over a dozen elites couldn’t stop her?

He Hongyun was about to dispatch his four personal attendants as well when he suddenly heard a commotion. He looked around and saw a woman in a black cloak break out of the camphor forest, running directly towards the front courtyard. Outside the camphor forest, several guards lunged at her. The woman neither dodged nor avoided, instantly rushing in front of one person, then ducking down to seize the steel saber from his waist.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the saber unsheathed with a clang. She turned and leaped, slashing horizontally through the air. Several guards, before they could react, were forced back several steps by the fierce momentum of the saber. Simultaneously, as if she had eyes in her back, the saber hilt instantly slipped from her hand and was thrown, lodging itself in the foot of the person who had tried to ambush her from behind.

He Hongyun was so stunned by the sight that he swallowed hard, then quickly ordered his personal attendants nearby: “Quick, quick, stop her!”

The four attendants responded, “Yes,” and rushed towards the woman in black.

Jiang Cizhou stared intently at the fight ahead. A moment later, a breathless voice sounded beside him: “Young Master.”

It was Chaotian, who had rushed back.

Chaotian glanced around, and seeing no one noticed, he quietly reported to Jiang Cizhou, “Couldn’t find anyone. Triggered a mechanism. Messed up.”

Jiang Cizhou’s gaze remained fixed ahead, and he said blandly, “It’s fine.”

Chaotian immediately said, “Yes, it’s fine, Young Master, don’t worry. I ran into this female thief midway and blamed her for breaking into Fuxia Pavilion. I’m sure no one will suspect me.”

Jiang Cizhou froze for a moment. He stopped looking at Qing Wei, turned his head, and looked at Chaotian.

For some reason, even through the mask, Chaotian could still feel that his master’s gaze seemed displeased.

Chaotian thought Jiang Cizhou was reprimanding him for being careless, so he explained, “This female thief is highly skilled in martial arts and extremely good at lightness techniques. She had been following me, and I hadn’t noticed at all. These people probably won’t be able to handle her for a while. Let me go assist them!”

Saying this, he adjusted the hilt of his saber at his waist and was about to charge forward when he was unexpectedly stopped by Jiang Cizhou:

“Come back!”

“Young Master?”

Jiang Cizhou seemed to hesitate, about to speak, then suppressed it. Finally, he only asked, “Where’s the ‘Fresh Fish Comes’?”

Chaotian was utterly confused. What delicacy hadn’t the Young Master eaten? At such a critical moment, why care about that ‘Fresh Fish Comes’? He instinctively felt there was a deeper meaning to Jiang Cizhou’s words. As he pondered, he heard Jiang Cizhou order, “Go fetch the ‘Fresh Fish Comes’ first.”

“But—”

“Go quickly!”

“...Yes.”

He Hongyun’s attendants surrounded Qing Wei from all four directions—front, back, left, and right. Qing Wei immediately became wary. Judging by their postures, these four were far more skilled than the other guards on the estate. If she were to fight them on the spot, she might not lose, but she currently had no weapon in hand, and her goal was to escape the estate, not to engage in a life-and-death struggle with these people, which would not benefit her.

Qing Wei’s eyes gleamed as she quickly surveyed the four attendants. By chance, one of them wielded a nine-section whip.

Although the nine-section whip wasn’t identical to a soft jade sword, compared to swords and sabers, it was quite handy for her.

Time was short; she had only one chance to strike. Qing Wei seized the moment, and in an instant, before anyone could react, her body moved like a shadow. She pushed her speed to the limit, becoming almost a black blur, launching a surprise attack on the attendant holding the nine-section whip. Her fingers curled into a claw, aiming directly for his face.

The attendant was deterred by Qing Wei’s unusually fierce move and for a moment dared not counter. He crossed his arms in front, adopting a defensive stance.

However, when Qing Wei suddenly approached, the expected palm strike didn’t arrive. Qing Wei’s target abruptly changed. She grabbed his wrist, twisted it back, and with a scream from the attendant, the nine-section whip flew from his grasp. Qing Wei instantly caught it, swung it rapidly through the air, creating several silver streaks in the night, and once again repelled the surrounding guards who had just formed their formation.

With a silver gleam, Qing Wei did not hesitate. Seeing an opening in the encirclement, she coiled the whip and lunged at the remaining three attendants. She did not attack directly. Upon reaching them, she lowered her arm, and the nine-section whip instantly transformed into a venomous snake slithering through the grass, coiling around the calves of two of them. Qing Wei used her leverage, leaping up, and the whip was lifted high with her. With two “crack” sounds, the two attendants fell forward onto their knees, their leg bones fractured.

Qing Wei broke through the encirclement, but her heart felt little relief.

She knew that one person’s strength was truly limited. As more and more guards arrived, there would inevitably be a moment when she couldn’t hold on. Even if she successfully hijacked a horse and escaped the estate, she would still need strength to deal with the pursuers later. She couldn’t afford to get entangled in a fight here; she had to conserve her energy.

And the best way to conserve energy—Qing Wei’s gaze swept over the guests at the banquet—was to take a hostage!

The guests at the estate saw her so fierce, some had even hidden on the water pavilion. Near the estate gate, only He Hongyun, Jiang Cizhou, and a few young masters like Zou Ping remained.

He Hongyun was surrounded by numerous guards, and Zou Ping also had patrol guards protecting him. Several young masters looked panic-stricken and retreated under the cover of their guards. Only Jiang Cizhou stood still.

Qing Wei didn’t know why he was still standing there.

He looked as if he hadn’t reacted, but the night wind blew, fluttering his thin cloak. Beneath the cloak, his posture was as straight as a pine, making her feel that he wasn’t unaware of the danger, but simply unafraid.

Until Fudong called out, “Young Master Jiang, quick, get away—”

Jiang Cizhou seemed to come back to his senses, saying “Huh?” He glanced at her, then at Qing Wei, and belatedly began to retreat.

However, it was already too late. Qing Wei was already by his side.

She reached out and grasped Jiang Cizhou’s right arm, twisting it behind his back. At the same time, she moved behind him, pressing tightly against his back, and raised her hand to grip his throat: “Don’t come any closer!”