Тhе hаnd on her stоmасh stiffеnеd slightly, and the реrson behind hеr said cаlmlу, "Whу аrе уou like а cat? Can't even tоuсh yоur bellу."
"Тhаt's nоrmal. Маnу реoрle feel tiсklish whеn their stоmach is touсhed." Feng Yuе casuаllу ехрlаinеd, smackеd hеr lips, аnd lеаned intо his embrасe, clоsing hеr eуes.
Yin Gezhi fell silеnt, his eyes ореn in the dаrkness, somewhаt bеwildеred.
Тhе nехt dау, Feng Yuе rоse еarlу and went tо pау hеr resресts tо Nanny Xun.
"Тhis servant will definitely gо to the plаce уou mеntiоned tо find A Hu." Bowing to her, Feng Yue said earnestly, "If I learn any news, I will report it to you."
"Good, good." Nanny Xun nodded, her eyes glistening faintly. "It’s enough that you have this intention."
But intention alone isn’t enough—one must act on it. Even if only for the sake of that plate of sesame balls, she had to make a trip to that village.
Thus, after bidding farewell to General Yi’s eldest daughter and enduring a round of persuasion and refusal, Feng Yue happily hopped onto the carriage.
"Does your bottom not hurt anymore?" someone behind her said coldly.
Hearing this, Feng Yue immediately let out an "ouch," grabbed the carriage shaft, clutched her waist, and crawled into the carriage with great pain.
With a scoff, His Highness Yin also boarded the carriage. Glancing sideways at her, he said, "Your act is too fake."
"Of course, how could this humble one compare to Your Highness in acting?" Feng Yue pouted.
The person sitting beside her gazed at her calmly.
Sensing a hint of murderous intent, she turned her head and immediately smiled like a winter jasmine flower. "This humble one meant that in every aspect, Your Highness far surpasses me. You are the example I follow, the direction I strive toward!"
With a light hum, Yin Gezhi turned his head away, sitting upright as he said, "Just do what you’re supposed to do. No need to say anything more."
Though he said so, he clearly still enjoyed hearing the flattery! Feng Yue pouted, lifted the curtain to look outside, and as soon as they neared Flamboyant Street, she immediately called for the carriage to stop and slipped away like a nimble old cat, disappearing without a trace.
Watching her, Yin Gezhi truly couldn’t understand—why did the teaching nanny think so highly of such a wild girl who ran like the wind?
Feng Yue ran extremely fast, slipping into Dream Return Pavilion through the backyard as usual. She found Mama Jin and asked, "What’s the situation?"
Mama Jin was cracking sunflower seeds. Seeing her, she showed no alarm and pulled her into the room, handing her a handful of spiced seeds. Sitting on the soft couch, she said, "Something big is about to happen in Wu Kingdom."
"I know," Feng Yue nodded. "I’m asking about General Yi’s situation."
"By the time he receives the news, it’ll be half a month later. Half a month is enough for our Crown Prince to cut off all his limbs." Mama Jin said, "Why are you in such a hurry? None of this concerns us. Let’s just crack sunflower seeds. Do you want tea-flavored ones?"
Seeing her so relaxed meant nothing unfavorable had happened to them. Relieved, Feng Yue glanced outside. "Why is business so good again?"
"Isn’t He Chou back?" Mama Jin said. "The title of the top courtesan is still hers, so naturally, more people come to join the excitement. I even wanted to give her a few days off to rest properly, but after chatting with Duanxian, that girl insisted on taking clients."
Duanxian? Feng Yue frowned. "Didn’t we forbid her from taking clients anymore?"The great revenge has been avenged, why not go live a good life instead of staying in this place?
"She said she wanted to wait for you to return. She's been resting these past few days, so don't worry." As Mama Jin spoke, she stood up, opened the door, reached out, and grabbed Duanxian, dragging her in like a chick.
"Boss." With all the makeup gone from her face, Duanxian actually looked somewhat aged, but she was wearing normal clothes now, which made her appear quite gentle. Especially the look in her eyes—it was full of unspoken words and gratitude, completely devoid of the previous sarcasm and mockery.
"Alright, stop calling me that." Feng Yue pointed to the stool beside her, signaling for Duanxian to sit down. She crossed her legs, adopting a roguish tone as she asked, "Your great revenge is avenged, yet you're still not leaving? What do you want?"
"...I, I wanted to see you one more time." Clutching her clothes, Duanxian looked at her, tears welling up as she spoke: "I wanted to thank you for your great kindness."
"Enough of that." Feng Yue reached out with a handkerchief to cover Duanxian's face, curling her lip. "It's more comfortable when we just mock each other. Don't go on about great kindness and unforgettable gratitude—it's tacky!"
"But..."
"No buts. I just gave you a place to earn money and an opportunity to take revenge." Feng Yue said, "The money was earned by you, and the revenge was carried out by you. It has nothing to do with me. No need to thank me. If you really want to thank me, you can take out your life savings and buy me some snacks."
With the handkerchief covering her eyes, Duanxian didn't try to pull it away, letting Feng Yue press it there. Her mouth quivered, and two streams of snot dripped down.
"Ugh..." Feng Yue frowned in disgust and simply covered her nose as well.
"The silver I earned, I'll leave it all to you." Duanxian struggled to breathe as she spoke. "Anyway, it's useless for me to keep it. I don't have any family left."
Pausing slightly, Feng Yue frowned and looked at her for a moment before saying, "Don't tell me that now that your great revenge is avenged, you can't go on living, so you plan to thank me, leave me your inheritance, and then go kill yourself."
Duanxian: "..."
The boss is really amazing. How does she know everything?
"Take a break." Feng Yue rolled her eyes. "There are still many things you can do in this world. Could it be that after finally avenging your revenge, you're in such a hurry to go to the underworld and see Li Xun again, to be fried in the same oil pot as him?"
"Why would I go to the oil pot?" Duanxian grew displeased as she listened. "Apart from taking revenge, I haven't done anything bad."
"Alright then. You won't go to the oil pot, but you'll be reborn right after him." Feng Yue shook her head. "Using all these years of scheming just to end up in the same place as him—isn't that a loss?"
Thinking about it, that seemed quite reasonable. Duanxian reached out and removed the handkerchief. Her face was covered in tears and snot as she looked at Feng Yue. "Then where should I go? What should I do?"
"Go sleep with the men you want to sleep with, see the sights you want to see, eat the food you want to eat." Feng Yue waved her hand. "Those who no longer work at our Dream Return Pavilion are rewarded. All travel expenses for sightseeing can be reimbursed by Mama Jin."
Huh... Huh?! Mama Jin, who had been cracking melon seeds and watching the drama, widened her eyes. "The silver is all with you!""I know, I'll give it to you later. I don't have time to manage it anyway. Look how excited you are." Feng Yue pouted, pushing Duanxian toward the back door. "The world is vast. If we don't enjoy it properly, how can we make the most of our time in this world?"
"But..."
"No buts." Reaching the back door, Feng Yue unlatched it and flashed her a bright smile. "Those without hatred are the freest. The sea is wide for fish to leap, the sky high for birds to fly."
With that, she gently pushed Duanxian out the back door of Dream Return Pavilion.
Everything around her seemed to slow down. Duanxian widened her eyes, slowly turning back to see Feng Yue smiling happily at her, waving before slowly closing the door.
Her throat tightened. Steadying herself, she opened her mouth toward the closed door but couldn't utter a word.
Feng Yue, having closed the door, was in high spirits. She skipped back to Mama Jin's side.
Mama Jin spat out a melon seed shell, took Feng Yue's hand to examine it, and shook her head. "You really don't know how to take care of yourself. This injury wasn't properly tended to, was it? There's still such a large bruise on your hand."
"As long as the bones don't hurt, it's fine," Feng Yue said. "I don't feel it when I'm working."
Frowning slightly, Mama Jin sighed. "You should take better care of yourself."
"I have," Feng Yue replied with a roguish grin. "I've done plenty of things that are good for me."
At this, Mama Jin's expression turned serious. She led Feng Yue to the third floor and closed the door behind them.
"Everything you sent us, we've studied carefully. Among them, the letters with this handwriting had the most correspondence. We've already started investigating whose handwriting it is." Mama Jin took out a piece of paper and pointed. "But if it's someone we can't access, without a handwriting sample, we won't be able to trace it."
Taking the paper to examine, Feng Yue asked, "What was the content of the correspondence?"
"That's what's interesting about it," Mama Jin said with a smile. "Nothing important—just poetry and songs. It doesn't seem like they were passing messages, more like greetings between friends."
Greetings between friends? Feng Yue raised an eyebrow and took the original document to read.
"In the painted tower, a night of heavy rain,
Three palace chimes before sleep is gained.
Clear water and mild medicine coat the tongue,
Beef and mutton pastes are hard to swallow."
What on earth is this?
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