The common folk had just seen Concubine Sha wearing her usual aloof, do-not-come-near-me expression when, all of a sudden, a smile curved her lips and her eyes filled with starlight.
“What brings you out of the palace?”
“I’ve grown accustomed to delicacies in the palace, so I came out to find some porridge to whet my appetite.” Yun Yaoyao lifted her bowl and pretended to bow in thanks. In reality, she leaned her upper body closer to him and added, “That’s the lie. The truth is…I missed you.”
The words struck his heart like a heavy club. A tingling numbness immediately spread through his entire body, accompanied by a maddening itch.
A dark look flashed through Tu Shanjin’s eyes. If his second brother were still around at this moment, he probably would have raised his head on the spot.
“Wait for me at the Lin residence tonight.” Tu Shanjin left her with that one sentence.
Their little exchange naturally failed to escape the notice of the commoners and beggars who had been watching them the entire time. Curious, they began whispering among themselves.
“Who’s that man? Why did Concubine Sha smile at him? Their eyes look like they’re pulling threads between them. I’m almost convinced they’re flirting!”
“I saw His Majesty outside the Du residence before. That man isn’t His Majesty either!”
“Then we must have seen wrong. How could Concubine Sha possibly flirt with some strange man…”
The Dragon Shadow Guard, who had been silently monitoring public opinion: No, you didn’t see wrong. Those two really are flirting! We’re all just props in their little game!
Though that was what they were thinking, they could only put on solemn expressions and lie through their teeth, desperately trying to muddy the waters.
“Concubine Sha is naturally fond of smiling. She even smiled at me before!”
“My ears are sharp. I just heard Her Highness discussing the welfare of the people with that man. She was happy because the common folk would be able to survive the winter. What nonsense are you spouting?”
“You’re all filthy-minded, so you assume everyone else is filthy-minded too! How dare you slander the Goddess? Aren’t you afraid Heaven will punish you?”
“Exactly, exactly!”
The commoners and beggars who had been gossiping moments earlier were overcome with shame after hearing those rebukes. Concubine Sha was noble and pure, personally handing out porridge in the dead of winter for the sake of the people. Yet they had dared to speculate about her and gossip behind her back!
They would probably wake up in the middle of the night remembering it and think, I really deserve to die!
After seeing Tu Shanjin, Yun Yaoyao left completely satisfied.
Since she had finally managed to leave the palace, she naturally had to indulge her appetite.
The food in the palace was excellent, but after eating too much of it, she always found herself longing for the snacks sold by the roadside outside.
And now she was occupying someone else’s body, so she didn’t have to worry about gaining weight or breaking out. Naturally, she could open wide and wolf everything down!
Thus, for the next half hour, the Dragon Shadow Guard watched their emperor eat like a madman, dumbfounded.
To make matters worse, His Majesty only took one bite of each item before tossing the rest to them.
The Dragon Shadow Guard, whose hearts were breaking from worry, had no choice but to urge him to stop while paying the bills.
“Your Maje—Young Master! The food sold outside isn’t clean! What if something harmful has been added and it hurts your noble dragon stomach?”
“Young Master, please stop eating!…Hic~ So delicious~~”
Yun Yaoyao and the Dragon Shadow Guard ate their way from East Street to North Street, eventually stopping at the Cup Immortal Winehouse.
Compared with a month ago, the Cup Immortal Winehouse had grown at least fivefold. Among the row upon row of shops lining the street, the Cup Immortal stood out as the most magnificent and eye-catching. Wine drinkers streamed in and out, and the fragrance of liquor hung thick in the air.
What she had dug up was no money-losing venture. It was clearly a clever, money-making lucky cat!
And as soon as she thought of her lucky cat, her lucky cat appeared.
Pei Qianhuo had just stepped out of the winehouse when he spotted a familiar figure. He hurried over and cautiously asked, “Would you accept ten thousand bushels without regard for ritual and righteousness?”
Yun Yaoyao replied, “Ten thousand bushels? I’d happily take them!”
Pei Qianhuo grew so excited that he cried out with deep feeling, “Young Master!”
Yun Yaoyao met his gaze with equal emotion. “Pei Qianhuo! No, my lucky cat!”
“But I’ve disguised myself. How did you recognize me?”
Pei Qianhuo’s face was filled with reverence and infatuation. “Young Master, you possess such extraordinary bearing that even from a distance, you seem touched by divinity. Your sharp, profound eyes appear to hold countless stories, leaving this subordinate yearning and captivated, and—”
“Speak plainly.”
Pei Qianhuo gave an awkward laugh. “The way you wave your folding fan is far more refined and distinctive than that of ordinary people, so I recognized you.”
Yun Yaoyao suddenly understood and explained the purpose of her visit.
Pei Qianhuo said, “So you’re here because of Fourth Young Master Du, Du Huanshu. He’s in the Du Kang Pavilion across the street. After losing the drinking contest last time, he’s been trying to figure out how to win back his pride. You want to pry information out of him…”
At that point, Pei Qianhuo suddenly thought of something. He slapped his thigh and laughed. “Doesn’t the Cup Immortal have someone who knows Du Huanshu better than anyone? She might be able to help!”
Pei Qianhuo hurriedly led Yun Yaoyao and the others into the winehouse and arranged a fine private room for them.
Before long, a graceful figure arrived. She wore a simple lotus-colored dress that did nothing to conceal her poise and elegance.
“Greetings, Young Master.”
Pei Qianhuo introduced her from the side. “Young Master, this is Du Huanshu’s former wife, Mo Xiaozhi. She now manages the Cup Immortal’s front office. She’s very capable and thoroughly familiar with the laws of Yan Chi.”
Yun Yaoyao nodded. She knew this woman. She had been the one to authorize Mo Xiaozhi’s divorce from Du Huanshu back then.
At the time, Mo Xiaozhi had still been trapped within the Du residence, like rotting mud sealed in a bottle—withered and lifeless. Yun Yaoyao had merely extended a hand and pulled her out of that bottle. Mo Xiaozhi had then landed in fertile soil, absorbed its nourishment, and blossomed into a magnificent flower.
As Yun Yaoyao studied Mo Xiaozhi, Mo Xiaozhi was also observing the person before her.
She felt that this man looked somewhat familiar, but she had never seen his face before. Unable to figure out why, Mo Xiaozhi decided not to dwell on it.
At present, she had only two wishes. The first was to raise her daughter to adulthood. The second was to rely on her own abilities to build a career, then stand before that person and properly repay him for reaching out a hand and pulling her from the mud all those years ago.
When she heard that they wanted to coax information out of Du Huanshu, Mo Xiaozhi pondered for a moment before saying, “Du Huanshu is weak-willed and mediocre by nature, yet unwilling to remain where he is. At a time like this, if he has been entering Minister Du’s study, it must be related to the struggle for the empress’s throne. Perhaps he has devised a scheme or presented something valuable.”
“He will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. His heart is cruel, yet he believes in Buddhism. After committing some misdeed, he becomes especially devout, certain to burn incense and worship Buddha in hopes of lightening the burden of his sins. Perhaps you can approach him from that angle…”
As Mo Xiaozhi spoke, Yun Yaoyao’s mind began bubbling with all sorts of wicked ideas…
Half an incense stick later, a monk slowly approached from the far end of the street. He held a golden alms bowl and leaned on a nine-ringed monk’s staff before stopping at the entrance of the Du Kang Pavilion.
The young attendant at the door was just about to chase him away when he took a closer look and realized that the monk’s face was terrifying. The golden bowl in his hand was trembling violently, as though something inside was about to break free.
“Quickly summon the person in charge of this winehouse! This poor monk has a question to ask!”
The young attendant hesitated for a moment, then hurried inside to fetch someone.
A richly dressed young man soon emerged from the winehouse. He walked up to the monk with an expression that was both suspicious and respectful.
But in the next instant, golden light shot into the alms bowl from all directions, bursting forth in a dazzling radiance. Shadowy ghosts writhed within the bowl, accompanied by shrill howls and screams.
Then the golden bowl shattered right before their eyes!
The monk’s expression turned utterly horrified. Clutching his chest, he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed against the richly dressed young man.
The scene descended into chaos. The drinkers nearby were so terrified that the wine they had just swallowed spilled right out through their trouser legs. Seeing this, the richly dressed young master hurriedly had his men escort the monk into the back courtyard of the tavern.
Across the street, on the second floor of Cup Immortal, a group of people watched in utter amazement.
Pei Qianhuo was bursting with curiosity. “Young Master, how did you manage that? Could it be that you really found a venerable monk capable of subduing evil spirits to put on this act?”
Yun Yaoyao shook her head and smiled. “There are no ghosts in this world. Everything is done by people.”
“I arranged for several men to hide nearby with mirrors and reflect the light onto the golden alms bowl. As for the ghostly image, all they had to do was block parts of the mirror into certain shapes, and the forms would appear in the reflected light as well. And the ghostly cries? The monk can simply perform ventriloquism.”
Pei Qianhuo’s eyes lit up. “Brilliant—absolutely brilliant! There are no ghosts in this world, only the ghosts in people’s hearts. With this, how could Du Huanshu still refuse to confess?”
