Outside the window, the north wind howled, but the room was filled with a warm, gentle light that dispelled the chill of the cold night.
Xie Zheng gazed at the young woman, her bright eyes clear in the candlelight, and the dark, scarred emotions in his heart were miraculously soothed. He slowly raised a hand and, under Fan Changyu's stunned gaze, pressed her into his embrace.
His dark eyes stared calmly in one direction, but beneath that calm, more chilling emotions seemed to be hidden. "It's just the Han Family. There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with them in the future. Tonight has already alerted the soldiers of the Court of Revision, so it's not advisable to go to the Han Family's residence now. You should get some sleep. I'll send you back to the Office of Presentations at the fifth watch of the night."
Living in the Office of Presentations undoubtedly meant exposing her every move to the imperial family's sight.
Fan Changyu had only managed to get out tonight by repeating her old trick of disguising herself as a guard from the Office of Presentations on a procurement trip. At the fifth watch of the night tomorrow morning, the kitchen staff of the Office of Presentations would go out again to purchase ingredients, and Fan Changyu could change her clothes and blend in with them then.
Fan Changyu was half-leaning against Xie Zheng's chest. Having just broken someone out of prison this night, she wasn't sleepy at all. It was just that the way Xie Zheng was holding the back of her neck made it a bit difficult for her to look up. She could only tilt her head up at an awkward angle and say, "I'm not sleepy right now. Since the steward of the Changxin Prince Manor is also in the great prison, why don't we strike while the iron is hot and break him out too?"
When she said this with her large, clear eyes full of sincerity, she looked rather like a teacher's most diligent and earnest student suddenly announcing with a straight face that he was going to commit murder and arson.
Xie Zheng's hand, which had been stroking her long hair, paused. He was silent for several breaths.
Fan Changyu asked awkwardly, "Is that not possible?"
Xie Zheng raised a hand to press his temple. When he looked down at her, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly without him realizing it. "Not tonight. The Court of Revision is unlike the prisons of other yamen. Once it's on high alert, not even a fly can hope to get out. Although many soldiers are out searching the city for the prison breakers tonight, most of them are from the Five Cities Patrol Command. The Court of Revision will not weaken its defenses. To attempt another prison break now would be walking right into a trap."
Fan Changyu said sheepishly, "Alright then."
She wasn't very clear on the deployment of military forces in the capital and had thought that since many of the Court of Revision's soldiers had been lured away tonight, it would be a perfect, unexpected opportunity for another prison break.
Xie Zheng glanced at her and asked, "It seems you haven't been studying your art of war very diligently?"
Fan Changyu scratched her hair. "How long have I been back in the capital? I'm trapped in the Office of Presentations every day, so I'm just not very clear on the respective duties of the Capital Offices. In the army, I would naturally not be so rash. A single battle concerns the lives of hundreds, even thousands of soldiers! I wouldn't have even suggested this if I weren't certain that with our skills, even if we failed to break the steward out, we would never fall into the hands of the soldiers."
Xie Zheng then asked, "Have you finished reading those books on military strategy I gave you?"
Fan Changyu unconsciously straightened her back, like a student being quizzed on poetry by her teacher. "I've finished two. I've just started the third one."
"Which two have you read?"
Just as Fan Changyu was about to answer Xie Zheng's question, a clamor erupted outside.
"Open up, open up!"
"Officer... this... this won't do! The guests staying at this humble inn are all resting. How can we disturb their sweet dreams in the middle of the night?"
"The Court of Revision has lost a major criminal of the court, and we must now conduct a house-to-house search. If any of you dare to obstruct us, you will all be treated as accomplices of criminals designated by the Emperor!"
Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng were both martial artists with extremely sharp hearing. The moment they heard the commotion outside, their expressions turned grim.
The soldiers had already entered the courtyard. If they went out now, they would surely be discovered. If they were recognized, all their previous efforts would be for naught.
As the soldiers' footsteps approached, Xie Zheng moved with extreme speed. With a flick of his sleeve, he extinguished the candle and looked up at Fan Changyu. "Pour the hot tea from the teapot into the washbasin and replace it with the cold water from there."
Fan Changyu picked up the teapot from the table, poured all the tea into a potted plant in the room, and then filled the pot with the cold water from the basin.
The tea had been brewed by the old man at the inn when he showed them in. Fan Changyu didn't know what Xie Zheng was up to, but with the situation so urgent, she didn't have time to ask and simply did as she was told.
By the time she placed the teapot back on the table, Xie Zheng had already fumbled with and activated some mechanism at the head of the bed. Fan Changyu heard the faint, muffled sound of a stone slab sliding.
By the torchlight shining in from the door and windows, she could just make out that one side of the bed platform had sunk, revealing a hidden compartment barely large enough for two people to lie down in.
Xie Zheng looked at her. "Hide inside."
Just as Fan Changyu lay down, Xie Zheng also activated the mechanism and stepped in.
In a space the size of a coffin, the addition of another person instantly made it as cramped as could be.
Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng were practically neck to neck, shoulder to shoulder. The sound of each other's breathing became clearly audible in the confined space.
Thankfully, it was pitch black inside the hidden compartment, so neither could see the other's face. Staring at each other like this, one on top of the other, would have been far too awkward otherwise.
Fan Changyu caught the faint scent of soap beans on Xie Zheng's clothes, which was tinged with the sharp chill of ice and snow, perhaps due to the harsh winter. He didn't dare put his full weight on her, using one hand to prop himself up slightly, but in this narrow space, the position was undoubtedly strenuous.
Fan Changyu hesitated for a moment before saying, "Why don't I be on top?"
Even though she couldn't see her hand in front of her face, Fan Changyu felt Xie Zheng seem to turn his head sharply to look at her. Because she couldn't see, her perception of her surroundings relied solely on instinct, and the feeling of being stared at by a wild beast in the dark grew more and more distinct. The fine hairs on her arms stood up involuntarily.
When Xie Zheng gripped her waist, her entire body tensed up.
After they had switched positions with some difficulty, both of them were sweating. Fan Changyu thought it must be due to the lack of air circulation; the small, hidden chamber was hot enough to make one's heart race.
She pricked up her ears, trying hard to listen to the commotion outside, but her heart was beating faster at an inopportune moment. She didn't know if it was because her nerves were too taut or for some other reason.
But the drum-like heartbeat was so loud that Fan Changyu suspected Xie Zheng could hear it.
However, it seemed Xie Zheng also had a drum tucked inside his chest; she could hear it with particular clarity as she lay on him.
It wasn't beating as fast as hers, but each beat was extremely heavy, as if it were trying to pound on someone's heart.
Xie Zheng's breathing remained steady, but the breath he exhaled against her ear seemed to have grown hotter.
Fan Changyu's ears were very sensitive, and she subconsciously tried to pull away.
But she had only moved her head a tiny bit when Xie Zheng pressed down hard on her shoulder. His voice was very calm, but in order to keep it low, it was much huskier than usual. "Don't move."
At that very moment, a loud bang came from outside. The door had clearly been kicked open violently.
Fan Changyu instantly dared not move again. She remained lying on Xie Zheng, concentrating on the sounds from outside.
"Officer, this room is empty, no guests are staying here yet!" The innkeeper, who had been following them with a pounding heart, saw that the room showed no signs of being occupied. His eyes flickered, and he immediately began to wail and plead poverty.
The minor officer leading the search ignored him, letting his subordinates roughly open every box and cabinet in the room. After feeling the bedding on the bed for any residual warmth, they yanked it all onto the floor.
Seeing them start to handle the vases and jars on the shelves, as if looking for hidden mechanisms or secret compartments, the innkeeper cried out, "Aiyo, Officer, gently, please! Those are porcelain from the Ge Kiln! If they break, this humble one won't be able to answer to the owner..."
The minor officer still showed no intention of restraining his men. He sat down on a stool with his legs wide apart and lifted the lid of the teapot on the table.
Lying on Xie Zheng, Fan Changyu had just breathed a sigh of relief when the footsteps of the soldiers searching by the bed moved away. But then, a loud crash of shattering porcelain came from outside, followed by a soldier's sharp shout, "How audacious!"
Her heart gave another jolt, and her fingertips unconsciously clenched Xie Zheng's lapel.
As if sensing her nervousness, Xie Zheng's hand on her shoulder moved to the nape of her neck, pressing her to stay as close to him as possible. His scorching fingers made contact with her delicate skin. Though there was no further transgression, the heat still made Fan Changyu instinctively shrink her neck.
The tip of her nose lightly brushed against the side of Xie Zheng's neck, and his breathing instantly grew heavy.
Fan Changyu felt as if heat was constantly radiating from his body. Her hand was on his chest, and through his not-so-thick arrow-sleeved long robe, she could even feel the sweat underneath.
Why was he still sweating?
Was it because the space was too small and they were squeezed together, making it too hot?
Fan Changyu thought about discreetly moving a little farther away from him to give him more room to breathe, but the hand on the back of her neck was like a branding iron, holding her firmly in place, even showing signs of tightening its grip.
Outside, the innkeeper's terrified voice rang out, "Officer, what's wrong?"
Fan Changyu no longer had the mind to move and just listened intently.
The minor officer slammed his fan-sized palm heavily on the round table. "I've been searching for a criminal late into the night and came here wanting a sip of hot tea. Not only is the tea in your pot cold, you old man, but it has no tea flavor at all. How dare you show such disrespect?"
How could the innkeeper not understand the officer's underlying meaning? Those soldiers from the Five Cities Patrol Command often used various pretexts to extort money from merchants. A search like tonight's would certainly yield nothing from ordinary households, but in a place like an inn or a restaurant where all sorts of people gathered, even if no one was found, the head officer had to be shown some respect.
The innkeeper's face remained terrified, but his eyes had already calmed. He immediately cursed, "Where has that lazy waiter slacked off to again? He didn't even change the pot of cold tea in the room?"
Then he bowed and scraped to the minor officer, "Calm your anger, Officer, calm your anger. This humble one will have someone brew the best tea in the inn for you right away."
While flattering him, he didn't forget to slip a purse into the officer's hand.
The minor officer weighed the purse in his hand, and the anger on his face finally dissipated a little. "Alright, this officer still has important search duties to attend to. I don't have time to drink your tea!"
With that, he stood up to leave. The subordinates who had been rummaging through the room and found nothing followed him out.
The innkeeper glanced at the space under the bed from the corner of his eye before bowing and closing the door as he left, continuing to speak flattering words to see the officer off.
Inside the room, Fan Changyu heard the soldiers' footsteps fading into the distance and let out a huge sigh of relief. Her forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat, whether from the stuffiness or the heat, she didn't know.
She whispered to Xie Zheng, "They're gone."
The man beneath her didn't answer.
Finding it strange, Fan Changyu reached out a hand to fumble along the stone wall, trying to find the switch to open the hidden compartment and get out. But the hand on the back of her neck suddenly exerted force, a force so fierce and imbued with such resolution that it inexplicably struck a chord of fear in her.
But in the tiny space, even struggling was impossible. She could only be forced to lower her head as her lips were captured in a somewhat savage kiss. It was the kind of kiss that seemed to want to tear her apart and devour her whole. Her teeth were quickly and roughly forced open, and a tongue invaded.
Xie Zheng was like a wild wolf that had starved through an entire harsh winter, then stared at a piece of plump meat for three days without taking a bite. The moment his reason gave out, he could finally no longer suppress the hunger rising from his very bones and bared his sharp teeth to tear into his prey.
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