Less than two hours later, Song Qin returned to the Shelves Library.

Feng, the eunuch, and Lord Liu, the manager-on-duty of the Shelves Library followed Song Qin like two limp lettuces. Lord Liu was holding a new roll of feather brocade.

Zhao An leisurely sat on the chair, shaking his legs.

"So, did you make it?"

Song Qin walked in like a cork. Her pretty face looked complacent. Zhao An knew that she made it but still put on an act.

Song Qin raised her brows and gave him a bright smile,

"In the Imperial Ceremonial Service, I roundly abused them and ordered them to take another roll of feather brocade to have a careful look. This roll is intact, but it's not pink. It's champagne. Do you think it's alright, Lord?"

"Well..."

Zhao An slowly got up from the chair and took the brocade from Lord Liu. He looked over and over and finally nodded, saluting to Lord Liu reluctantly,

"That's about it. If Her Ladyship is not satisfied with this color, we have to bother you again, Manager Liu. Now, I can go back to report on my mission."

"Please watch your steps and put in a good word for me to Her Ladyship, Lord Zhao. Thank you, thank you very much..."

Things were solved, but Lord Liu was still upset. He kept bowing and scraping to see the four devils of Xiaoye Chamber off and let out a long sigh of relief behind them.

On their way to Xiaoye Chamber, Song Qin walked by Zhao An's side and couldn't help laughing at Lord Liu's performance,

"Lord Zhao, you are so clever to come up with such a good idea! Lord Liu was so scared that he almost wet himself! Coward!"

Zhao An didn't answer. He looked serious and only spoke two words,

"Hurry up!"

They speeded up and soon returned to Xiaoye Chamber.

Zhao An went directly to the desk as soon as he entered the room. He grabbed the pen brush, dipped it with ink, bent over the blank paper, and wrote quickly.

He stopped after writing for two full pages and collapsed on the chair as if his energy was all cleaned up by writing.

Gu Yunyao paced over, patted his shoulder to comfort him, and asked a maid for a cup of tea.

She took the paper and read these two pages from above to below.

"You are not mistaken, are you? We can't afford a mistake!"

She read this and looked at Zhao An. Although she knew he had some extraordinary talent, this matter was so serious that she had to ensure repeatedly.

Zhao An took sips of tea and gradually calmed down.

He got up and replied firmly,

"Don't worry, Your Ladyship. In the Shelves Library, I read it many times, so I won't make a mistake. Your Ladyship, I suggest you quickly send our informants out of the Palace to send this list to Lady Yunxi."

"Okay..."

Gu Yunyao looked directly at Zhao An and nodded. Her eyes were bright because of a mixed feeling including appreciation and affection. It made her pretty face more beautiful and charming.

Zhao An was looking at her as well. He was also touched by her silent expression of feeling. But there were so many servants here that he couldn't reply to her. He gently urged her,

"Your Ladyship, you should hurry up..."

...

Leng Qingtang had been resting in his mansion for days. Thanks to Imperial Doctor Jiang's unique unguent and his profound foundation of Kungfu, although his wound hadn't healed, he wasn't so hurt.

When he felt his muscles were flaccid, he would ask young eunuchs to help him lie sideways and exercise by pushing up on the bed's edge.

During the day, Yanwan would stay in Leng Qingtang's room to serve him drink and food personally. She was kind to the servants in the mansion and treated them equally. Therefore, many servants liked her good temper.

Gu Yunxi waited for Zhaoyi Yu to send information from the Palace and took care of Leng Qingtang's every meal. She didn't show up in his courtyard all day except paying respects in the morning.

And Leng Qingtang didn't invite her again after the day she refused to eat with him.

Their relationship became abnormal alienate. Others could not understand why they were so distant to each other in a short period.

Servants dared not gossip about it, and Qinger was quite anxious at this. If Gu Yunxi had not rebuked her every time, she would have already gone on the roof to uncover the whole Master's Mansion.

Gu Yunxi appeared calm and indifferent to favor and humiliation, but secretly, she kept thinking about Leng Qingtang.

It was just that Yanwan came so soon and Master soon made a decision to keep her. Both these matters caught her off guard. She felt she couldn't change this situation, and this helplessness greatly affected her sentiment of missing for Leng Qingtang.

Every time Gu Yunxi saw graceful Yanwan walking in the Master's yard, she couldn't help feeling jealous.

The naturally revealed beauty was a blow to her self-confidence. Gu Yunxi wondered if she stood in the yard in women's dress, could she seem magically charming as Yanwan?

And when she saw Yanwan put on a smile to chat with servants, Gu Yunxi was slightly alarmed.

This beauty was pretty and kind. She was soft and kind like crystal clear water. Was this soft water permeating everyone's heart, especially Leng Qingtang's heart?

It was dusk now. Twilight turned dim, and the Milky Way appeared in the sky and lit thousands of miles. It was a cool day.

Yanwan ran into the yard with excitement. Her footsteps were light, and her green gauze skirt swayed as if green lotuses were blooming on her each step.

She came into the Master's room and saw two servants helping Leng Qigntang to lean sideway. She gracefully saluted and held a rosewood cane over her head.

"Master, please accept this cane."

"What do you mean?"

Leng Qingtang fixed his eyes on Yanwan, who was keeping the saluting posture, and glanced at the cane on her hand. His gaunt handsome face showed no obvious surprise.

Yanwan responded calmly,

"I found it in a shop on the street. Master, I think you will soon get up from the bed, and it will help you with exercise."

"It's considerate of you to do so. Get up."

Leng Qingtang smiled. His tone wasn't very distant that others could not tell whether he was praising her or not.

Suddenly he asked,

"What is Yun Guaner busy with recently?"

Yanwan had just stood straight. She answered before the servant,

"These days, Lord Yun is with Chiliarch Cheng. I think there's something important."

"Really?"

Leng Qingtang looked on her beautiful oval face. His eyes were as dark as obsidians that contained many deep and elusive thoughts.

She was indeed a thoughtful person who had paid attention to lots of things.

Yanwan noticed his look and paused. She seemed to realize something and quickly fell in silence.

Leng Qingtang looked down and covered his eyes with thick eyelashes. His complexion was misty.

"Yanwan, call Yun Guaner here. Tell him I have something to ask him."

"Yes."

Yanwan went out of the room. She dared not delay.

...

Gu Yunxi was conducting a secret talk with Cheng Wanli in her room.

Two hours ago, Cheng Wanli found her in haste and took out two pieces of paper as soon as he entered the room. Joy and anxiety occupied his dark face.

"The roster of Apsara Dance?"

Gu Yunxi grasped a page each hand, ecstatically happy.

"This is the list of the damsels entered the Palace recently, and this is the roster of Apsara Dance on the Spring Banquet. They had just come out of the Palace..."

Cheng Wanli sat down, wiped his face, and relaxed a little,

"Yunxi, you spent the longest time in the Garden. Carefully check this list and see if there is someone you recognize."

Gu Yunxi put the two pages on the table. She checked the list with a pen brush in her right hand and said,

"Right. The seven dancers' names are on the list of damsels, so there's no doubt that they came from the Garden..."

Gu Yunxi marked three names and said with surprise,

"Uncle Cheng, look! There is a 'Baoting' and a 'Shuyi' on the list. I'm much familiar with them! And I have also seen 'Lvning', the dance leader. I remember the outline of her face!"

Cheng Wanli nodded hard. He said with hatred,

"So that's it! The assassin who framed Master substituted this 'Lvning'!"

"Yes!"

Gu Yunxi verified this and also felt hatred. She folded these two pages and spoke to Cheng Wanli,

"Tomorrow morning, I'll fetch a painter to paint portraits of the three dancers and find witnesses as soon as possible."

"Fine!"

Outside the door, Qinger shouted,

"Hey! You are going to the wrong yard! Why are you sneaking outside our yard?"

Gu Yunxi and Cheng Wanli stopped talking and pricked up their ears.

Yanwan sounded innocent. She spoke with her dulcet voice, quivering,

"No, I... Master asked me to fetch him..."

Gu Yunxi opened the door and saw aggrieved Yanwan and angry Qinger on the porch.

“What happened?" Gu Yunxi was confused.

"Lord Yun, Master has something to ask you..."

When she was speaking, she secretly cast a glance at Cheng Wanli in the room and soon focused back on Gu Yunxi.

"I know. I'll go now."

Gu Yunxi replied to Yanwan, and Cheng Wanli strode into the porch,

"I'll take my leave. Go ahead."

When he passed by Yanwan, she smiled and saluted this Chiliarch. But Cheng Wanli ignored her and directly left the yard.

Gu Yunxi closed the door and told Yanwan,

"Go ahead. Take me to the Master."

Gu Yunxi didn't know why Leng Qingtang called her after a ten days' cold shoulder.

On the way to the Master's yard, Gu Yunxi looked calm and indifferent as if she had no expectation for the coming communication between the two of them.

Even if she was surprised and expected to see him, so what? Another woman had made the feeling of missing and happiness into plain water.

Mannered Yanwan stopped in front of the door of Leng Qingtang's room, letting Gu Yunxi knocked on the door and went in alone.

A pretty and evil smile flashed on her delicate face.

She gently walked away, called the nanny in the wing-room who also belonged to the Palace, and whispered to her.

The nanny saluted her and hurriedly left the yard.

Yanwan watched the nanny disappeared behind the corner with a pair of cold eyes.

She sneaked into the study alone, lighting the oil lamp in silence, and wandered here and there. The study was clean and tidy. There were writing materials and stationery on the desk.

Finally, she rested her sharp eyes on a red sandalwood cabinet with four drawers beside the desk.

She paced over and opened the first drawer and found a magnifying glass decorated with enamel butterfly and some interesting tea pets.

She curved her lips, took a folded new handkerchief to hide it in the corner of the drawer, and then pushed the drawer back.

Out of curiosity, she didn't leave at once and pulled the second and the third drawer to have a look.

There was nothing special. Some paper, gold-traced stick ink, and two boxes of red ink paste.

She pulled the last drawer open only to find a rectangle green brocade-cover box with dark peony patterns.

Slightly frowned, Yanwan was more curious.

She quickly took it out on the desk and opened the box.

A paperback book with a blue cover lay in the box, wrapped by a piece of red silk. Yanwan was disappointed to see this.

She rolled her eyes impatiently, cast a glance at the white bookmark on the cover, and saw a list of graceful characters,

The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies

It was a handwritten copy!

A quick suspicion flashed across her.

Judging from the character, the book should be written by a woman.

During these days in Leng's Mansion, Yanwan never saw Leng Qingtang's handwriting, but she was sure that these characters wouldn't be his.

Was this book hers? That was impossible.

To confirm her thought, Yanwan opened its cover and saw another list of characters in the same style,

"The mountain has trees, and the trees have branches."

"Pei Rushi"

Yanwan's pupils shrank. Her eyes fixed on the "Pei Rushi" and stuck onto it.

As she had expected, it was Pei Rushi's book!

Yanwan was terribly shocked. She found something significant. She cast her sharp look at that sentence on the first page again.

"The mountain has trees, and the trees have branches!" (Note: The first sentence of a poem expressing a girl's implicit affection for a man.)

Haha...

Her finger touched and smoothed on the handwriting. Her face lit up, as well as her cold eyes. A seductive and evil smile appeared on her red lips, which looked like a mandragora blooming in hell.