Hidden Shadow – CH 197

Chapter One-Hundred-Ninety-Seven: Sister-in-Law

Chu Dingjiang took out another item and placed it on the table.

Mo Sigui quickly put it away. He thought Chu Dingjiang would ask him if he could cure her, and if so, he could use that as a pretext to continue scavenging the herbs.

“Does it hurt?” Chu Dingjiang asked softly.

Mo Sigui covered his face and jumped back a step, looking at him in astonishment. After a long while, he realized that he was not asking if he was in pain from the beating, but rather about An Jiu. He could not help but sigh. “Her internal organs and flesh were torn apart. Guess how painful it is? But do not worry, she’s very resilient. She can even endure the excruciating pain of a slow slicing during a physical regeneration process. This little bit of pain is nothing.”

“It’s easy for a Divine Physician to talk when he’s not in pain. I am just kindly reminding you to be careful; otherwise, one day you will not only have back pain, but you might even break your back.” Chu Dingjiang casually tossed out a sentence and disappeared from the room.

Mo Sigui pouted, tugged at the wound on his face, and hissed.

…

The caravan stopped at the post station for three hours before setting off before dawn.

Initially, due to several men still recovering from serious injuries, their pace was slow. Later, once they were more healed, they quickened their pace.

Far from Yangzhou, the group slowly recovered from their near-death experience—they had survived! And over twenty men had taken down the stronghold of the Piaomiao Mountain Mansion! They felt they would never again achieve such a feat.

Those who survived looked at Chu Dingjiang with awe and admiration, even the usually aloof Lou Mingyue. This battle made her acutely aware of her own shortcomings; without Chu Dingjiang, they would have perished long ago.

An Jiu, who had previously attracted attention for her blind shooting in the Funiu Mountains, delivered an unforgettable performance this time.

Before even entering Bianjing, Gu Jinghong and Chu Dingjiang received a secret audience with the Emperor. After entering the city, they parted ways, with Sheng Changying leading the remaining people back to the Konghe Academy.

Sheng Changying was reliable and meticulous; this matter would not go wrong. However, his personality was somewhat questionable.

Mo Sigui’s medicine was very effective; the bloodstains on Sheng Changying’s face from being pinched by someone were long gone. But whenever he saw Zhu Pianxian in front of him, his face felt burning and a little painful.

“Lord Sheng.” After observing for a few days, Zhu Pianxian decided to curry favor with this powerful figure. She held a bowl of bird’s nest soup, her smile cloyingly sweet. “I just made this; would you like to try some?”

As she spoke, she scooped a spoonful, blew on it, and offered it to him.

Sheng Changying’s fair face flushed red, covered in sweat as if he had just washed. “Madam Zhu…”

Zhu Pianxian seized the opportunity to shove the spoon into his mouth.

Sheng Changying swallowed quickly, the sweetness causing him to cough repeatedly.

Zhu Pianxian quickly put down the bowl and spoon and went to massage his back.

Sheng Changying’s ears and neck turned bright red, his narrow eyes welling up with tears, like a shrimp just blanched in boiling water.

“Luzi!” An unassuming middle-aged man rushed in, stunned by the scene.

The man was Xu Zhi. This was the first time Sheng Changying had traveled so far in years, and upon hearing of his return, Xu Zhi had hurried over to see him. But to his surprise, he found a strange woman in the house, and that woman was wearing a matronly hairstyle…

Xu Zhi stood there dumbfounded for a while until Sheng Changying had almost caught his breath before approaching him with a joyful expression. “Oh my, this must be your wife, Luzi. No, Changying, you are something else! You have not traveled far in over ten years, and you’ve brought back a wife on this one trip.”

“No…”

“Sister-in-law, Changying and I grew up together. My surname is Xu, and I am a few years older than him. Changying usually calls me ‘Brother.'” Xu Zhi pulled out a purse from his pocket. “I came in a hurry and did not have time to prepare anything, but for our first meeting, a small gift is essential. This is a little trinket I got from the west; Sister-in-law, take it and play with it.”

Zhu Pianxian wanted to explain, but seeing the heavy purse and being greedy, she hesitated about whether to accept it.

Xu Zhi, thinking she was embarrassed, shoved the purse into her hand. “Sister-in-law, please do not mind.”

“She…”

“Luzi, you are really not righteous! How could you bring your wife back without telling me beforehand!” Xu Zhi interrupted him unhappily.

“I…”

“What ‘I’?! Hurry up and introduce me to her; we will be family from now on!” Xu Zhi rubbed his hands, more excited than if he were getting married himself.

Zhu Pianxian gasped when she saw the contents of the purse. “Such a huge bag of top-quality jade seeds!”

Jade seeds were not rare these days, and ordinary-quality ones were not worth much, but this bag was incredibly valuable!

Even though Zhu Pianxian was greedy, she remembered she was not anyone to Sheng Changying. She reluctantly handed the bag back, her heart breaking. “This… how can I accept this…”

“I am glad you like it, Sister-in-law,” Xu Zhi said. “My friendship with Luzi is nothing compared to this.”

Sheng Changying finally calmed down a bit. Seeing the two chatting happily, completely ignoring him, he did not interrupt. He sighed and began working on his official duties. During his absence, a mountain of work had piled up, and those acting in his place probably had not handled a single one.

As Xu Zhi spoke, he kicked the leg of his chair but received no reaction for a while. Turning his head, he saw him engrossed in writing.

The room was bustling with activity, while outside, the dark clouds gathering finally brewed a heavy snowfall.

An Jiu sat by the brazier in the darkness for a while, thinking about many things.

The path to Mei Yanran was actually very short; she had simply pretended not to see her.

They had made a great contribution to the attack on Piaomiao Mountain Mansion, and they would surely be able to easily infiltrate the Konghe Army.

They were about to take that step, but unfortunately, she still did not know anything about Mei Yanran.

The Konghe Army was not large, but everyone’s movements were extremely secretive. Unless one was the commander of the Konghe Army, it was difficult to know anyone’s whereabouts. Even Chu Dingjiang, who had once been a high-ranking officer in the Konghe Army, knew very little. An Jiu had been in such an assassin organization and knew that finding someone inside was no easy task.

An Jiu’s condition had improved, and she had regained hope for life, so she still needed to find a way to get Mei Yanran out as soon as possible…

Go ask Gu Jinghong! It was worth the gamble.

After making her decision, An Jiu got up and went out.

Gu Jinghong’s house was adjacent to the garden where the Academy Heads rested, not shrouded in darkness.

The wind and snow were fierce, and An Jiu saw a solitary figure leaning against the eaves from afar. His dark hair flew wildly in the wind and snow, his face was covered by half a ghost-face mask, and he was drinking wine from a jar with his head tilted back. Even in such a bold posture, he was as elegant as a crane about to take flight.

The lanterns hanging from the corner of the house swayed, and the bells below jingled urgently.

In An Jiu’s memory, Gu Jinghong had always been calm and gentle, but beneath this appearance seemed to lie a monstrous, murderous aura.