The commotion at the Mu family’s gate once again became the talk of the capital. In Marquis Zhenbei’s study, Xiao Liu relayed the events, “This Eldest Miss Mu really doesn’t allow herself to be disadvantaged. Whoever tries to trouble her ends up having to clean up their own mess.”
Seated at his desk, Xie Heng carefully inspected the tip of a sleeve arrow while casually inquiring, “Where has she been these past few days?”
“Nowhere, my lord,” Xiao Liu replied. “She hasn’t left her house; probably got scared that day. I think she doesn’t know about her mother’s affair; otherwise, she wouldn’t have produced the Ox and Horse Token under such circumstances.”
In fact, the Ox and Horse Token wasn’t a mere token of favor or reward, but a command token for the captain of a secret guard unit under the Northern Frontier Army. This unit, which performed covert operations, answered only to the late Duke Zhenguo. Xie Heng himself only knew about its existence and nothing more, let alone the fact that the leader was actually a female merchant.
Three years ago, Duke Zhenguo lost his life on the battlefield, and Lady Xu also passed away around the same time. If Mu Wan was aware of Lady Xu’s secret identity, she should have contacted Xie Heng as soon as possible or investigated the cause of her mother’s death, instead of being forced to take out the Ox and Horse Token as a last resort to save her life.
“Maybe she saw the Ox and Horse Token by accident. Lady Xu casually lied that it was a gift from the Duke, and after Lady Xu’s death, it was kept as a memento,” Xiao Liu speculated.
Xie Heng remained noncommittal, focusing intently on the sleeve arrow in his hand. Seeing this, Xiao Liu became curious, “Is it really a weapon made by Wandering Sage Tsinghua?”
Xie Heng pushed a porcelain bottle across the table, “And there’s also medicine from Medicine Valley.”
Xiao Liu was astonished, “Truly extravagant.” Both items were hard to come by, and their sources had dried up after the late Duke’s death, leaving them with very little.
Xie Heng continued, “She was chased unexpectedly, yet she was well-prepared and even managed to flee to the deep mountains despite being pursued and surrounded by the Wu’s guards…”
“My lord, do you suspect her identity?” At this, Xiao Liu grew suspicious as well. “A typical young lady wouldn’t be so capable. In retrospect, Lord Wu getting stung by bees might not have been an accident either. Even if we hadn’t been there, Lord Wu wouldn’t have been able to do anything to her—not with his face swollen like a pig’s head.”
“My lord, Xie Tian has returned,” in the middle of the conversation, someone reported.
“Good timing,” Xiao Liu remarked.
Xie Tian entered to deliver his report, and sure enough, he indeed brought back the investigation result about Mu Wan’s life in Shangliu.
As Xie Heng unfolded the written report, his expression became more intriguing. Xie Tian reported, “This subordinate conducted an investigation at the neighborhood of the Xu residence in the eastern part of the city. From a young age, Miss Mu has been known for her love of pleasure. She is famous for her endless ideas for entertainment and particularly enjoys outdoor activities such as mountain climbing and swimming. Any outings or events she planned were always guaranteed to be great fun.”
“Besides that, the neighbors’ biggest impression of her was that she greatly valued her life; she never left home without self-defense weapons, and it was said that she even hid blades in her shoes when visiting temples, claiming she was prepared for the risk of being kidnapped.”
Xie Heng’s eyes briefly paused on the passage detailing Mu Wan’s upbringing, “…she preferred leisure over studying, so her academic performance was lackluster at best. But she shows a strong interest in mechanism design and pharmacology, calling them essential for survival in troubled times.”
“So, even though Lady Xu has never revealed her second identity to Miss Mu, she’s been secretly training her in self-defense.” Xiao Liu speculated. That would explain why Mu Wan was completely unlike any typical boudoir young lady. As for the unusual items in her possession, those were likely also left to her by her late mother.
Xie Tian reached the same conclusion, “The Mu family was never within our investigation’s scope before. Given the limited time, our men could only investigate so much. However, since Lady Xu was the captain of the secret guards, she might have been in charge of transporting the missing will and the vanished military provisions. Even if Lady Xu disclosed nothing to her daughter, there might still be some leads with Miss Mu.”
“But how do we investigate?” Xiao Liu pondered. “Should we invite her over for a talk, or make friends and slowly draw information?”
Xie Tian rejected this idea, “Now that Yinghong is missing, the palace is keeping a close eye on us. They’d rather kill mistakenly than let someone slip through. Direct contact will only alert them of her existence.”
Xiao Liu scoffed coldly, “They have done plenty of underhanded things. They ignore the rotting court, yet keep breeding spies and secret guards.” He knew Xie Tian was right, though; if they acted openly, their opponents might target Mu Wan first, pre-emptively eliminating her to silence potential threats. There were enough precedents for this.
“Perhaps we could wait until Miss Mu marries and moves away?” Xie Tian suggested. “Once she is far from the capital, we can start approaching from her husband’s family’s side. It might be more troublesome, but safer.”
Even Xie Heng looked up from the document, and Xiao Liu immediately exclaimed, “You’re planning to marry her off somewhere distant? That’s too ruthless, isn’t it?”
Xie Tian quickly clarified, “I’m not forcing her to marry; that’s apparently her intention.” He pulled out another piece of information, “Last time we met, she mentioned going to Qingfeng Pavilion. I looked into it and found she had the manager in charge inquire about local provincial and prefectural officials. I thought it was for choosing a match for the Mu family’s second daughter, but now it seems she had been planning to break her engagement with the Li family and marry far away.”
Xiao Liu glanced over the list and let out a sigh, “This girl is clearly after wealth and status.” Suddenly recalling something, he teased Xie Heng, “My lord, do you remember? Her dream was to marry into Marquis Zhenbei Manor and become the lady of the house, but your name isn’t even on this list—did she get scared off last time?”
“If she approached us first, it would have made things much simpler.”
Xie Heng twirled the prayer beads, seemingly contemplating.
Xiao Liu was shocked, “My lord, you’re not seriously considering this, are you?! It was just a joke.”
Xie Heng had made up his mind, “Tell them to cease investigations on those families.”
After he finished observing the mourning period this year, Xie Heng’s marriage had been the focal focus of many people, each with their own purposes and schemes. The forces behind the scenes were complicated, especially the one from the palace. To Empress Dowager Wu, the household of Marquis Zhenbei was a big piece of delicious meat she wanted to claim at all costs—if she could control his household, she would be able to take Xie Heng into control, consolidating her power. As such, for the stability of his family, and also to prepare a nurturing environment for the little prince who would be soon brought back, Xie Heng had secretly made preparations in the dark, selecting girls from modest backgrounds with clean reputations to assess their character.
Recalling Mu Wan’s statement about exerting the influence of her husband’s family without the hassle of serving a man, Xie Tian frowned, “My lord, please reconsider! There are many other ways to start our investigation.”
Xiao Liu was nearly in tears, “You’re just in a bad mood today, trying to scare us, right?”
Choosing a girl from a non-prominent family was already wronging their lord. It was obvious that the free-spirited Eldest Miss Mu, with her unusual mindset, was far away from the ideal image of a marchioness.
“Don’t you despise those who fear death and chase only after pleasure?!”
That’s precisely who Eldest Miss Mu is!
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Alright! Let the marriage proposal start!
And interesting info about her mom’s secret identity. Her death may not be just an accident, then. 🤔