Leaving the Qianying Pavillion, Qingge exited the manor, wandered around the streets to remove her disguise and black clothes, and then quietly slipped back in. Ning Wang Manor was heavily guarded, making it difficult to sneak in. However, as a member of the Qianying Pavilion, Qingge naturally had her own tricks.
She successfully returned to her courtyard without being detected and first checked on Luo Momo and the maidservants, confirming that they hadn’t noticed her absence. The younger girls were busying themselves with needlework, with Luo Momo instructing them, emphasizing the need to properly look after the Wangfei.
Observing from the shadow, Qingge knew Luo Momo wasn’t being kind—this woman was actually keeping a close watch on her, having realized that the fake Wangfei they had hired was no longer within their control.
Qingge’s gaze fell on Luo Momo’s face, though her mind was preoccupied with the looming crisis—how to play two roles at once?
The best solution, in theory, would be to find assistance. It would certainly simplify matters if Luo Momo and the others could align with her—at the very least, they could cover for her when needed. Unfortunately, she absolutely couldn’t expose her secrets to anyone, especially not to the Xiahou people.
She had privately taken on side jobs to earn silver and had inadvertently gotten involved in a scheme to deceive her master. This was already an unforgivable crime. But even after getting herself to this point, she could swear that these missteps had been unintentional; she had simply been swept along by the circumstances.
But revealing her true identity to Luo Momo and Mo Jingxi would mean surrendering complete control to them, leaving her vulnerable to manipulation. It would only be a matter of time before she was compelled to expose all the secrets of the Qianying Pavilion. The consequences would be unimaginable.
Pursuing personal gain was one thing, but actively harming the master she had sworn loyalty to was something she could never bring herself to do, nor did she wish to truly betray Ye Min. Moreover, Mo Jingxi was no ordinary man. With his sharp mind, any hint of unusual behavior would instantly arouse his suspicions.
But without help, how could she play two roles flawlessly? She had to deceive Ning Wang with his sharp perceptions, and the cunning Ye Min who knew everything about her. All she wanted was to earn her silver, safely extricate herself from the Xiahou clan’s treacherous scheme, and retire from the Qianying Pavillion, and yet…
“Brilliant! Just look at the mess I’ve gotten myself into!” Qingge rubbed her throbbing temples, wishing she could somehow split herself in two.
Lost in her thoughts, Qingge’s sharp ears continued to pick up the maidservants’ idle conversation. Doing needlework was their chance to relax a little. Their conversation drifted from mundane topics like the weather to gossip about Ning Wang, noting that he hadn’t visited the Wangfei’s chambers in several days. Eventually, the discussion shifted to which guards were the most handsome and which servants had the finest skills.
Their conversation was nothing more than idle chat, lacking any significant focus. But as Qingge watched the warm yellow light streaming from their window, she couldn’t help feeling envious. Once upon a time, she too had been a carefree secret guard. Aside from committing murder, spying on people, and completing other missions, all she needed to do was follow orders and survive. She didn’t need to strain her mind so much.
But her momentary greed had landed her in this predicament.
Mo Jingxi, Ning Wang, and Ye Min—each of them was sharp and astute. Maneuvering among them was an almost impossible challenge!
…
After a moment, Qingge leaped again and stealthily returned to her room—not Ning Wangfei’s chamber, but a room assigned to ‘Qingge.’ Behind the main building of the Qianying Pavilion lay a wide courtyard housing the secret guards. The layout of the rooms appeared chaotic, like scattered rocks, but in truth, it was carefully designed to form a metaphysical effect that would confuse intruders. Each secret guard was provided a private room, and the strict rules ensured that no one could enter without permission. Even among the secret guards, boundaries were clear, and they never pried into each other’s affairs.
Qingge knew she had been pushed to a desperate point. She had to take a gamble, using everything at her disposal to perform the impossible feat of playing two roles by herself. If she failed and was exposed, there could be no hesitation—she would have to cut her losses like a lizard shedding its tail and escape immediately. At that point, silver, gold, jewels, her sla∨e status, and household registration—all would be meaningless. Her only choice would be to flee and live as a fugitive for the rest of her life.
With this in mind, Qingge returned to her room, planning to retrieve her stash of gold and silver, along with some rare medicines and useful items she had hidden, and move them to a secret location outside Ning Wang Manor.
She activated her lightness arts, moving as gracefully as a leaf on the wind. With a few nimble leaps, she arrived at her quarters. At first glance, the place assigned to her looked no different from any quarters in the manor, similar to those used by ordinary servants. Yet it was eerily silent. In the damp and dark of the night, only the distant sound of a watchman’s clapper could be heard. There were no lights, no voices, and no movement.
In this seemingly lifeless cluster of rooms lived over seventy secret guards of the Qianying Pavilion. Each was highly skilled and guarded their secrets, coexisting as silent neighbors who never interfered with one another.
With a single leap, Qingge entered her room. She had been gravely injured before, staying bedridden for half a month before leaving. Now, as she pushed open the tightly shut door, she was greeted by a faint smell of blood.
The night was pitch black, with no hint of light inside. However, Qingge had used this room for years and was intimately familiar with every secret mechanism and passage. She quickly found her hidden compartment and retrieved a small bundle wrapped in blue printed cloth, tied using a special knot that she had personally marked. Upon touching it, she immediately confirmed it hadn’t been tampered with.
Though the bundle wasn’t large, it contained almost everything Qingge had accumulated in her fourteen years at the Qianying Pavilion—her life’s possessions.
Just as she was about to open it, she suddenly heard footsteps outside, approaching her room. Instantly alert, she quickly returned the bundle to its hiding spot and leaped onto a roof beam, perching in a corner and suppressing her breath to wait silently.
The footsteps arrived almost immediately, steady and deliberate, the sound of shoes on the damp ground echoing faintly.
Qingge recognized the steps Baizhi’s. Baizhi should still be quite young, probably just past twenty. From what she remembered, when she was four years old, Baizhi was only half a head taller than her, meaning he couldn’t be much older than she was.
Watching Baizhi approach her door, Qingge felt a mix of suspicion and caution. She suppressed her breath and carefully concealed herself to avoid being discovered.
But Baizhi simply stood at the door, gazing out at the misty rain in the courtyard. He stood as still as a spear—sharp and imposing, yet silent and unmoving.
Qingge could leave if she wanted. Her lightness arts were far superior to Baizhi’s, and he likely wouldn’t notice her departure. However, his strange behavior gave her pause. If she were discovered, it would raise suspicion, and if Baizhi reported anything unusual, the increased security around the secret guards’ quarters would make it impossible for her to retrieve her belongings later.
So she decided it was better to confront Baizhi directly, at least to dispel any possibility of suspicion. Stepping out of the shadows, she called out: “Waiting for me?”
Just three words, but in the cold rain, her voice cut through like a blade. Baizhi’s expression shifted slightly before he slowly lifted his eyes to look at her.
Qingge lightly touched her toes to the ground, landing gracefully by the window. Staring intently at her face covered by black gauze, Baizhi asked, “When did you return?”
Qingge raised an eyebrow, returning his question with a silence.
Baizhi pressed his lips together. “Fine, I shouldn’t have asked.”
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