"If we fail to complete the task within a month, twelve thousand taels will be delivered to your residence." The clerk pocketed the ten taels of silver, cupped his hands in farewell, and left.
An Jiu watched him depart, lost in thought. After all this time she and Chu Dingjiang had been surveilling the place, they'd never seen this man come or go. How had he suddenly appeared? She wasn't sure if Chu Dingjiang would be able to keep track of him.
After sitting for a while longer, An Jiu left the teahouse. A light drizzle had begun outside, darkening the sky.
She headed straight out and found an inn at random to stay while awaiting news.
Chu Dingjiang, hidden in the shadows, knew the plan had succeeded when he saw An Jiu leave. He focused intently on monitoring the teahouse. Half an hour later, two customers exited together.
He'd tailed these two before. While there was no direct evidence proving they weren't from Misty Villa, years of mission experience told him to trust his instincts and keep waiting.
If he lost them this time, he'd simply wait at Cuilinglong instead - Misty Villa's assassins would inevitably go there after accepting a contract.
As for who to hire as the assassination target, Chu Dingjiang had weighed all factors before settling on Zhu Pianxian. Whether Zhu Pianxian survived would depend on her own luck. Chu Dingjiang never cared about the wishes of those he used - especially when, like Zhu Pianxian, they'd accepted two thousand taels while loudly proclaiming they'd take responsibility... With such perfect justification, he'd naturally exploit her to the fullest.
The fine rain hung like mist, blurring the twilight over Yangzhou City.
Two lanterns were lit outside Liu Shi's teahouse.
Chu Dingjiang's eyes gleamed. In all their time observing, this teahouse had never once hung lanterns - this had to be the signal.
He scanned the surroundings. Only nearby houses could see the lanterns, but their doors and windows remained tightly shut.
About fifteen minutes later, the sound of cart wheels echoed on the stone-paved road, growing louder until stopping near Liu Shi's teahouse.
The man was hunchbacked. Bent over, he slowly entered, emerging shortly after with a large wooden bucket. Throughout, he paid no attention to the lanterns.
His complete lack of suspicious behavior was precisely what made him suspicious. Among all the ordinary people Chu Dingjiang had observed, only this hunchback remained utterly impassive, displaying an aloofness subtly different from normal solitude.
When the cart departed, Chu Dingjiang moved as well.
...
Yangzhou's outlines gradually vanished into darkness, scattered lights twinkling like stars against the black velvet night.
The four-story Yunlai Inn blazed with light, its main hall alive with music and dance performances as most guests reveled there.
In a pitch-black corner room on the third floor, a slender figure stood by the slightly ajar rear window overlooking the street - An Jiu's preferred method of observing the outside world.
By day, this spot offered a clear view of Qingfeng Restaurant. Now, only hazy white fog pierced by faint orange lights was visible, with occasional footsteps sounding on the stone pavement below.
The lively bustle outside created stark contrast with the absolute stillness within.
Footsteps passed outside the door - six skilled individuals among them catching her attention.When the footsteps paused, a man's weary voice said, "Bring two buckets of hot water."
An Jiu was slightly taken aback—Hua Rongjian?
She turned her head toward the tightly shut door. The faint light outlined her delicate profile. After a brief moment of contemplation, she leaped out through the window, following Hua Rongjian's scent, and climbed beneath the window of that room.
The sound of a door opening and closing reached her ears, followed by Lu Danzhi's heavy sigh.
"Danzhi, what happened?" Hua Rongjian asked anxiously.
An Jiu was somewhat surprised. Yangzhou wasn't particularly large, but it wasn't small either—yet they had crossed paths again! Upon reflection, though, this so-called coincidence was almost inevitable. The Yunlai Inn was the most renowned government-run inn in Yangzhou, and given Hua Rongjian's personality, if he were traveling, he would undoubtedly stay at the best place.
A long silence settled inside the room, but An Jiu had nothing better to do and had plenty of patience.
A waiter came in to deliver water, and the sound of splashing water soon filled the room.
An Jiu's expression turned slightly odd as she realized there were two men—Lu Danzhi and Hua Rongjian—inside.
"Danzhi, did something happen to Cui Yichen?" Hua Rongjian had already heard about the massacre of over a hundred people on a ship. To avoid trouble, he hadn't investigated, but he had long suspected it was related to the "Madman" Cui Yichen.
Silence was the only reply.
Hua Rongjian suddenly kicked the bathtub and cursed under his breath, "Did you drag me all the way here just to watch you take a bath?!"
"He's dead." Lu Danzhi's voice was hoarse, like that of an old man.
This time, it was Hua Rongjian who fell silent.
After a long pause, he finally asked softly, "What happened?"
"I used all my connections and finally found him in Bianjing, but..." Lu Danzhi's voice choked, and he suddenly broke into sobs.
He couldn't forget—the once-promising prodigy, the pride of the Cui family, tugging at his sleeve like a child begging for candy. Precocious children often matured early, but even at three or four years old, the Cui Yichen in his memories had never done such a thing.
He also couldn't forget that Cui Yichen, though only around twenty years old, had already aged prematurely, resembling a man in his thirties or forties.
"The person I've wronged most in this life is my elder brother. This time... I thought I could save Xiao Chen..." Lu Danzhi took a deep breath, forcing himself to regain a shred of rationality from the depths of his pain, and began recounting his journey to Hua Rongjian.
Lu Danzhi had found Cui Yichen in Bianjing and discovered he was afflicted with a strange poison. Remembering a highly skilled witch doctor he knew, he coaxed Cui Yichen into traveling south with him for treatment. Never in his wildest dreams did Lu Danzhi imagine that the Liao woman would dare to enter the Song territory—not only that, but she had even boarded a passenger ship at Bianjing's docks in broad daylight.
Everything afterward spiraled out of Lu Danzhi's control. When he saw Cui Yichen take an arrow for that woman, he was both shocked and grief-stricken.
So that woman was undoubtedly Yelü Huangwu... Hua Rongjian was also deeply astonished, but seeing Lu Danzhi in such a state, he refrained from pressing further and only said, "Danzhi, it was all fate."
Hidden beneath the window, An Jiu thought silently: If Hua Rongjian knew his birth mother had been murdered, yet the killer had also given him his current wealth and status, would he still be able to console himself with those words—"it was all fate"?
"Perhaps." Lu Danzhi's face was ashen, his despondency even more pronounced than before.
Seeing him like this, Hua Rongjian reached out and patted his shoulder."I urgently asked you here to tell you a few things and also to ask for your help with one matter," said Lu Danzhi. (To be continued...)
PS: This afternoon, I accidentally dropped my computer and bruised my foot. Luckily, the computer wasn't damaged... I was desperately trying to update tonight but couldn't log in no matter what. Right after midnight, it suddenly worked smoothly. What kind of luck is this... Honestly, when things aren't going well for you, even the heavens won't give you a break...
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