Chapter 51: Feigning
Fu Tingyun felt as if she were sitting on pins and needles.
She thought it necessary to remind Zhao Ling and asked A Sen, "When are you going back? Could you take a message to Ninth Master for me?"
A Sen's mood instantly soured again. "Ninth Master said I should stay here with you for now and not go back."
Fu Tingyun was surprised. "Then who will attend to him?" The moment the words left her mouth, her heart skipped a beat.
Zhao Ling was alone at Rising Joy Inn.
With Mo Yi, who was monitoring him.
Even A Sen, who could run errands for him, had been sent to Willow Lane.
And Yang Yucheng had rented a courtyard next to theirs...
What... what was he planning?
The thought sent a chill down Fu Tingyun's spine.
She hurried out of the hall and called loudly, "Zheng San! Zheng San!"
Her voice was sharp and piercing.
Zheng San rushed over from the eastern passageway. "Miss!"
Before he could even bow, she spoke urgently, "Go quietly and see what Yang Yucheng and Jin Yuanbao are up to."
Zheng San was stunned but quickly regained his composure. Without asking any questions, he turned and left.
A Sen ran out after her. "Miss Fu, what's wrong?"
Fu Tingyun didn’t know either. She just felt an uneasy premonition.
She wanted to question A Sen in detail about what Zhao Ling had said when he sent him here, but seeing the boy’s nervous expression, she suddenly realized—this household was full of the elderly, the young, outsiders, and servants. She was the only one who could make decisions.
She couldn’t panic. If she lost her composure, A Sen and the others would be even more at a loss.
Steeling herself, Fu Tingyun quickly calmed down.
"What could be wrong?" She smiled at A Sen. "I was just thinking—since we’re all here, what about Ninth Master? I sent Zheng San to see what Young Master Yang is doing. If he’s not busy, I’d like him to visit Ninth Master more often so he doesn’t get lonely staying there alone."
A Sen’s eyes flickered uncertainly, but he pressed his lips together and said nothing.
Suspicion stirred in Fu Tingyun’s heart, but she showed none of it. Smiling, she walked back inside with A Sen.
After freshening up and having lunch with Madam Lu, she learned that Zheng San still hadn’t returned. She went to her room to rest.
Though she lay down, her mind whirled like a revolving lantern.
They say a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Zhao Ling, moving through the jianghu, might not compare to a rabbit, but given the unpredictability of the world, a man as shrewd as him would surely have backup plans.
Willow Lane was a place he had cultivated for five years—not only supporting two people there but also setting up a shop, ensuring the place appeared flawless. The effort and resources he must have poured into it were unimaginable. If this wasn’t his escape route, she couldn’t believe it.
Yet now, he had settled her here... A Sen, who had grown up with him, was treated like family despite their nominal master-servant relationship. But she was neither kin nor acquaintance to him...
At this thought, she turned over in bed.
Before, unaware of his intentions, she had assumed he was avoiding impropriety and had judged him harshly. Now, it seemed she had wronged him.
Yet he hadn’t offered a single word of explanation.
If she hadn’t casually asked A Sen on a whim, would he have kept it from her forever?
Fu Tingyun thought of his solitary figure and the profound, distant look in his eyes when she left Rising Joy Inn. Her heart ached, and her eyes grew moist.
He was always like this—saying nothing, yet considering everything for her.Only six years older than her.
Yet so composed and restrained.
At this thought, something welled up inside her, warm and fuzzy, making her cheeks burn.
Outside, Linchun's giggles mingled with Zheng Sanniang's amused scolding, "Stop fooling around, you'll wake the young mistress—she hasn't slept a wink in two days and nights."
Had it really been that long since she last slept?
Yet she didn't feel the slightest bit drowsy!
Fu Tingyun pondered for a moment before rising to push open the window and look outside.
A Sen had somehow caught a caterpillar, alternately placing it on Linchun's tiny arm and then her little leg. Linchun couldn't shake it off nor catch it, and the two children were having a grand time, much to Zheng Sanniang's exasperated amusement.
"A Sen!" Fu Tingyun beckoned to him.
Both A Sen and Zheng Sanniang hurried over.
"Take Linchun and go rest," Fu Tingyun instructed Zheng Sanniang, then turned to A Sen. "I have something to ask you!"
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling with a mix of radiance and shyness, like a peony on the verge of blooming. A Sen was momentarily spellbound before snapping back to reality and dashing into the hall. "What is it?"
"Sit down," Fu Tingyun said, pointing to a chair beside her and handing him a cup of tea. "There's something I want to ask you." Her tone carried a hint of hesitation.
A Sen, already nervous, showed signs of apprehension. "W-what is it? There are things I know, and things I don't."
Preoccupied herself, Fu Tingyun overlooked the obvious flaws in his response. After biting her lip and thinking for a long while, she cautiously asked, "You've been with Ninth Master for so many years, even knowing places like Willow Lane. Have you ever met his family?"
"Never!" A Sen blurted out without hesitation.
His quick answer betrayed his guilt.
Fu Tingyun didn't believe him for a second and said coldly, "Don't play dumb with me. I know Ninth Master is a salt smuggler."
A Sen was so shocked he slid right off his chair, pointing at her in horror. "H-how did you know?"
So it was true—he really was a salt smuggler!
She ought to be afraid, yet instead, she felt an odd sense of relief.Fu Tingyun muttered to herself, her expression growing even colder. "Throughout this journey, Ninth Master has only resorted to killing at East Peace Village and the City God Temple in Linchun. The rest of the time, he merely knocked out the Migrant Bandits who robbed us. This shows he isn’t the type to bully the weak. So how could he have a life-or-death feud with Feng Laosi? Aside from a conflict of interests, I can’t think of any other reason." At this point, she deliberately fixed A Sen with a sharp glare. "You must have defied the Feng family’s control, competed with them for business, or even targeted them directly—stealing their salt. That’s why Feng Laosi, disregarding his status as the family head, personally pursued Ninth Master." Then her tone shifted, becoming leisurely. "Shaanxi only has well salt in Lintong and Poutian. Poutian is less than a hundred li from Huayin. You must have stolen the Feng family’s Poutian Well Salt and then detoured through Huayin to Xi’an Prefecture. But you didn’t expect a flood of refugees to swarm in, stripping the area of food and supplies. Unable to enter Huayin city, you had silver but couldn’t buy provisions, so you set your sights on Azure Cloud Temple..."
A Sen leaped up and darted behind the table, staring at Fu Tingyun in shock.
"What are you afraid of?" Fu Tingyun scowled and snapped. "Come back and sit properly. I have serious matters to discuss with you."
"W-what matters?" A Sen eyed her cautiously, like a mouse cornered by a cat, dragging his feet as if they were weighed down with lead.
Fu Tingyun was torn between anger and amusement, barely managing to keep her stern expression.
"That Mo Yi is just a steward under Sixteenth Master, yet he not only provided us with good food and drink but also got us into the city. Even Ninth Master couldn’t have done much better, could he?" she pressed A Sen. "This shows he’s a capable man, yet he submits to that Sixteenth Master. Sixteenth Master’s status must be even more extraordinary."
A Sen had long suspected Zhao Ling’s motives for keeping him in Willow Lane. Now, hearing Fu Tingyun’s words, he realized how astute she was—without being told anything, she had pieced together most of their situation. If she spoke of Mo Yi this way, there must be a reason, and it surely involved Ninth Master.
He nodded involuntarily. "Mo Yi is a Guerilla General under Marquis Yingchuan, Meng Shu. He’s from the Mo clan of Luyi and has a clansman named Mo Shang, who’s currently the Guangdong General Commander."
Now it was Fu Tingyun’s turn to be stunned. "Who told you that?"
Though she didn’t know who Meng Shu or Mo Shang were, she was aware that the Gansu General Commander and Guangdong General Commander were both powerful military leaders.
"Brother Yuanbao told me," A Sen mumbled. "Ninth Master had him investigate."
Something flickered in her mind—something important—but before she could grasp it, it vanished.
"How could this be? How could this be?" Fu Tingyun, now pale, paced the room, forgetting her original purpose for summoning A Sen.
A Sen watched nervously. "Miss Fu, what... what have you figured out?"
Mo Yi, Sixteenth Master, Marquis Yingchuan, Mo Shang, Zhao Ling... They were like scattered beads. She struggled to string them together but couldn’t find the thread, leaving no room to spare a thought for A Sen.A Sen was restless with anxiety, sitting there muttering to himself, "I really haven't met Ninth Master's family... Ninth Master said his parents passed away long ago, and there's no one left in his family. That's why he came to the northwest to seek a livelihood..." As if only by saying this could he dispel the unease in his heart.
Fu Tingyun was drawn in by his fragmented words.
She stopped in her tracks and murmured, "Then... then he isn't married?" Her face flushed so deeply it seemed blood might drip from it, and she hastily added, as if to cover up, "You've been away for some time now, haven't you? With the famine and the world being so harsh, and us being kept under guard by Mo Yi and his men, unable to move freely, shouldn't we at least send word to Ninth Master's family to let them know he's safe or send some money for their livelihood?"
A Sen found Fu Tingyun's words a bit odd, but upon closer thought, her concern seemed reasonable.
"No, Ninth Master isn't married," he shook his head. "Many people on the road have wanted to arrange marriages with him, but Ninth Master said as long as he lives this life of licking blood off blades, he won't marry."
Like seeing spring flowers bloom or hearing summer insects chirp, Fu Tingyun felt the sky stretch endlessly, the clouds drift leisurely, and the world seemed so wonderfully beautiful.
An irrepressible smile blossomed across her face.
But isn't Ninth Master in great danger right now?
Why is Miss Fu so happy?
A Sen stared at Fu Tingyun in puzzlement. "What are you smiling about?"
"When did I smile?" Fu Tingyun didn't even realize it herself.
"If you don't believe me, go look in the mirror in your room," A Sen said, his eyes wide.
Fu Tingyun froze for a moment before dashing back to her inner chamber.
The red-lacquered, gold-traced dressing case held a palm-sized bronze mirror, reflecting a face beaming as brilliantly as summer flowers.
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Saw many old friends in the comments section... O(∩_∩)O~
(End of chapter)
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