The autumn rain grew heavier.
The Military Doctor rushed through the rain to the suburban inn carrying his medical kit, to examine the injuries of the Imperial Guard commander who had been attacked in the middle of the night.
The main hall was covered in blood. Yan Yilang lay on a hastily brought small couch, his face as white as paper, looking quite unwell.
However, he still had the strength to speak.
"Who called for a Military Doctor? Go back where you came from." He waved his hand in displeasure. "Someone is already taking good care of me here. No need to meddle."
Ying Xiaoman sat on a bench beside the small couch, pressing down the arm that had just been unbound and was now moving restlessly.
She felt Yan Yilang's burning forehead, then turned to call to the Military Doctor who was awkwardly standing at the door: "He's delirious with fever. Doctor, please come and take a look."
The Military Doctor examined the shoulder wound briefly. The dagger had stabbed deep, but fortunately, a thick layer of herbal powder had already been applied, and a cloth band had been tightly wrapped around the upper arm to stop the bleeding. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"Although it's not a fatal wound, the excessive blood loss is dangerous. It's good that some emergency measures were taken to stop the bleeding. The conditions at the inn are rudimentary, it would be best to move him back to the capital for treatment as soon as possible."
Yan Yilang's cheeks began to show an unhealthy flush. Ying Xiaoman fetched well water, soaked a fine cloth in it and wrung it out. As she placed the cool, damp cloth on his forehead, her slender fingertips touched his burning skin and lingered for a moment.
She frowned delicately and said to the Military Doctor, "He's getting hotter. We should move him quickly."
Yan Yilang felt like he was floating. Pretending to be in pain, he turned his head towards the inside of the couch where no one could see, and couldn't stop smiling.
Not only was Xiaoman worried about him, but she was personally taking care of him. Move? He'd rather die here in the inn than move!
Suppressing his smile, he let out two heavy groans and said painfully, "I can't be moved. Look how crowded the official road outside is. If we slowly move back to the capital, the journey will shake me to death."
The Military Doctor hesitated, "The jolting on the road would indeed be bad for the wound..."
Suddenly, the half-closed main door of the inn was pushed open from outside.
The autumn wind, mixed with cold rain, rushed into the hall, dispersing the gathered warmth.
Yan Yilang, with his head facing the inside of the couch, couldn't help but smile, yet pretended to be cold: "My body keeps alternating between hot and cold, am I getting a chill? Xiaoman, can you check..."
Ying Xiaoman draped a quilt over Yan Yilang, but her eyes were fixed on the door.
Sui Miao had left at the third watch of the night, and now it was nearly the end of the fourth watch. If he had ridden quickly to and from the capital, he should be back by now.
A flurry of footsteps approached the inn from outside.
Sure enough, Sui Miao was the first to enter.
Ying Xiaoman's heart leaped with joy, and she was about to greet him when Sui Miao stopped at the doorway and pulled both doors wide open.
Behind him, a tall figure wearing a large cloak, surrounded by more than ten of the Yan family's attendants, stepped into the inn.
A pair of eyes that usually held affection and smiles were now cold and sharp, scanning the room before settling on Ying Xiaoman sitting in the middle of the hall.
As their gazes met in mid-air, the sharpness in Yan Rongshi's eyes faded. He took off his soaked cloak and walked towards the center of the hall.
Ying Xiaoman was both surprised and delighted. She immediately sprang up from beside the small couch and ran to the door in a few steps, "Seventh Brother! How did you come here?"
Yan Rongshi opened his arms and steadily embraced the young woman who had rushed over to him.
His clothes, both inner and outer layers, were soaking wet. Having ridden quickly from the capital with Sui Miao, he couldn't avoid getting rained on. After holding her in his arms for a moment, he let go, "I'm wet. Be careful not to get you wet too."
Ying Xiaoman touched his face, then his hands. His face was cold from the rain, but his palms were warm. She held Yan Rongshi's hand and led him to sit on the bench beside the small couch. The two Imperial Guard captains hurriedly came to pay their respects.
Yan Rongshi lowered his head to examine the wounded man lying on the couch.
Yan Yilang had already turned over at the sound of "Seventh Brother", glaring towards the door.
Now he stared at the uninvited guest, forcing a smile while grinding his teeth.
"So late at night, you're quite busy, Seventh Brother."
"The same goes for you," Yan Rongshi casually brushed off some fallen leaves from the hem of his clothes. "First Brother specially came to the official road in the outskirts to cut trees, you're busy too. I heard you were attacked and injured in the middle of the night?"
He called the Military Doctor over and inquired, "Have you opened the bandage to check? Is the wound on Yan Commander's shoulder real or fake?"
The Military Doctor, unsure of what was happening, told the truth: "It's a real injury. A dagger wound, stabbed four inches deep into the shoulder blade, bleeding profusely. He's still not out of danger."
"Did you hear that? Encountered bandits, got injured during the chase and fight. Who would fake an injury to deceive people?"
Yan Yilang sneered coldly, then turned to Ying Xiaoman and whimpered, "Xiaoman, I'm still in danger, I need someone to take care of me..."
Ying Xiaoman asked in confusion, "Isn't there a Military Doctor?"
"That doctor's rough hands! How can they touch me?" Yan Yilang turned his head, deliberately exposing his pale face in the lamplight to show his weakness from blood loss. "Xiaoman, I'm in so much pain. Your movements are gentle, the Military Doctor isn't as good at taking care of people as you are."
Yan Rongshi glanced at him briefly, then stood up from beside the couch. His shadow directly blocked Yan Yilang's face as he said gently to Ying Xiaoman, "You must be tired too? Look at the dark circles under your eyes, didn't you sleep well last night?"
Ying Xiaoman raised her hand to cover a sleepy yawn, her eyes watery as she said, "I only went to sleep at the second watch, and was woken up at the third watch. I'm so tired..."
"Go and rest. I'll take care of things here in the main hall. Where's your room?"
"On the first floor, to the west."
Yan Rongshi gently squeezed Ying Xiaoman's fingertips, which had grown cold in the night wind, holding them in his warm palm. They walked side by side towards the wooden stairs to the first floor.
With no one around, he said softly, "The two old books that the old servant from Hetong Lane gave you, keep them hidden and don't mention them to anyone. When you have time, bring them to me to look at."
"Mm. They're safely stored at the bottom of my trunk."
Ying Xiaoman walked up the wooden stairs to the first floor, turning back to look before entering her room.
Yan Yilang had somehow sat up on the small couch, one long leg half bent, half stretched, looking up from the lower hall. His lips were pale and he looked weak, no longer as spirited as before, appearing somewhat listless.
She hesitated, "Yan Yilang's wound..."
Yan Rongshi: "I'm here. We've known each other since childhood, I can't just watch him die in front of me. I'll look after him."
The Seventh Brother always handled things properly. Ying Xiaoman smiled at him, feeling reassured as she entered her room to rest.
Yan Rongshi walked down the wooden stairs to the main hall, standing in front of Yan Yilang and examining him again.
Yan Yilang lay back on the small couch. Facing inward, his back to the outside.
"Watching so closely, Seventh Brother." In a bad mood, and with Xiaoman gone, there was no need to mince words. Yan Yilang opened his mouth with sarcasm.
"Rode hard for an hour to get here? It's almost the fifth watch, you'll be late for the morning roll call at the government office. Not investigating cases at the Ministry of Justice anymore? Trying to hold onto both Xiaoman and official duties, wanting both. Can you manage it?"
Yan Rongshi soaked the fine cloth in well water, wrung it half-dry, and placed the cool, damp cloth on the burning forehead. Yan Yilang shivered all over from the cold, turning outward and cursing.
"Couldn't you warn me before putting that on my head?!"
"You should be grateful someone's looking after you. One should know contentment, First Brother," Yan Rongshi calmly continued wringing the cloth:
"There are some things in this world you can't do, don't assume others can't either. There are some people in this world with whom you're destined to be mere acquaintances, don't force it." Yan Yilang sneered. "I admire your way with words. Now that you've checked on Xiaoman, why don't you ride quickly back to the Ministry of Justice for roll call?"
Not only did Yan Rongshi not leave, he found a clean table and chair in the main hall and sat down.
"A serious case of bandits attacking a government official occurred at the inn last night. One Imperial Guard captain lightly wounded, one commander seriously wounded. I'll investigate the case here today."
He instructed the Military Doctor: "Commander Yan has been talking nonsense for a while, he seems to be in good spirits. Find a clean room upstairs and move him there. Whatever treatment methods you have, you can start immediately. Only let him out when he's cured."
There were three empty rooms on the east side of the first floor. They immediately moved Yan Yilang into the largest room for treatment.
In the center of the cleaned main hall, all the lamps were lit.
The accompanying Ministry of Justice clerks laid out long case files and prepared paper, brush, and ink stone. Yan Rongshi sat behind the long black lacquered wood table, quietly waiting for the first batch of people to arrive from the capital.
News of an Imperial Guard official being seriously wounded in an attack in the suburbs couldn't be suppressed, it would certainly be reported to the capital overnight.
Moreover, the seriously wounded wasn't an ordinary Imperial Guard commander, but the eldest son of the Marquis of Xingning, a descendant of the Empress Dowager's maternal family, and the Emperor's nephew.
A unit of eight hundred heavily armed Imperial Guards arrived from the capital in the morning, surrounding the inn. From the innkeeper to the smallest servant, and even the hundreds of guests, all were detained for questioning.
However, the choice of the military officer leading the Imperial Guard reinforcements was unexpected - it turned out to be Wu Xun himself, the fourth-rank Commander of the Palace Guard.
— Wu Xun was ordered to protect the Eleventh Prince and rarely left the capital.
When Yan Rongshi welcomed him in, he asked, "Why did you come? Did the Eleventh Prince send you?"
Wu Xun bowed towards the Imperial City: "It's by order of His Majesty."
The news had reached the palace early in the morning. At that time, the Emperor had just risen, with Prime Minister Zheng in attendance.
"Prime Minister Zheng mentioned before His Majesty that two assassins from Yuqing Tower are still at large, fleeing in all directions around the capital. The attack on the military officer in the suburbs last night, which left Commander Yan seriously injured, could very well have been carried out by these fugitive assassins."
"His Majesty was furious. As I happened to be accompanying the Eleventh Prince to an audience, His Majesty pointed to me."
Wu Xun had come in a hurry, intending to say a few words and leave: "Now that the case has reached the Emperor, it must be solved. His Majesty decreed that the two fugitive assassins must be captured, dead or alive. A newly built rain shelter was just discovered in the fields. I'm going to investigate it now."
Yan Rongshi raised his hand to stop him: "There's no rush. I also have quite a few leads. This major case is not simple; there are hidden factors behind it. If you want to thoroughly solve the case and gain merit before the Emperor, Commander Wu, there's something I'd like to discuss with you..."
He beckoned Wu Xun to come closer and whispered a few words in his ear.
Wu Xun's shoulders shook, and he exclaimed, "How can this be done!"
Yan Rongshi continued whispering detailed instructions. As Wu Xun listened, his whole body trembled once, then again. He was nearly dumbfounded.
Finally, he hesitated and said, "Previously, secretly monitoring Prime Minister Zheng was one thing... but this matter is even more serious. I must report this to the Eleventh Prince."
Yan Rongshi said leisurely, "Precisely because the situation is serious, if you report it to the Eleventh Prince, he will be the one to bear responsibility. I am in charge here. Do as I say, and if anyone seeks accountability later, I'll take responsibility. If we indeed achieve great merit, the primary credit will go to you."
"..."
After a long hesitation, Wu Xun gritted his teeth and agreed.
*
Ying Xiaoman had just woken up when she was summoned by the Palace Guard from the capital for a detailed questioning. She told the truth.
"The old man did indeed ask me questions in the rain shelter."
"There were originally two men, but the old man sent them away."
"He didn't say anything important. The old man was an old friend of my father's. He asked many casual questions about how my father lived in our hometown, how he passed away, and how our family usually gets by..."
Wu Xun questioned her in detail. The scribe drew three small portraits based on Ying Xiaoman's description.
"The old man's appearance is about right," Ying Xiaoman pointed at the portrait. "I didn't pay attention to those two men, so I can't be sure about their looks."
Whether accurate or not, the three portraits were immediately distributed, and the elite Palace Guard began searching everywhere for the men.
When Ying Xiaoman was escorted back to her guest room, she asked in confusion, "Can't we leave yet? We've been delayed for half a day already. Our hometown is in Jingzhou, which is very far."
The guard who escorted her back politely said, "The fallen big tree hasn't been moved yet. We need to continue sawing and clearing the road."
However, by evening, although the fallen tree had finally been moved and the civilians stranded on both sides of the official road had gradually set off, the Ying family still couldn't leave.
"How did we become witnesses again?"
That night, the three members of the Ying family came down to the main hall for dinner. They occupied a clean table and chairs in the empty hall. The food on the table was quite sumptuous. As she ate, the foster mother sighed:
"I always feel that our luck in the capital this year isn't very good. We seem to encounter misfortune everywhere..."
Yan Rongshi happened to be coming down the wooden stairs from upstairs.
Hearing about seven or eight tenths of what was said, he interjected: "But the Ying family has remained safe and sound so far. It shows that good fortune is with you, turning danger into blessing, and the worst has passed."
Ying Xiaoman's eyes curved into crescent moons as she waved and called out, "Seventh Brother, come sit, eat with us."
The foster mother ate while asking worriedly, "Seventh Brother, you've been staying at this inn all day. Just accompanying us, don't you need to return to the Ministry of Justice to attend to your duties?"
Yan Rongshi sat down beside Ying Xiaoman, putting a piece of tender perch meat in her bowl, and calmly said, "I'm not here specifically to accompany the Ying family. I came here this time to investigate the case of the attack on the Imperial Guard, mainly to accompany the injured Yan Yilang."
Pfft, Ying Xiaoman tried to suppress a smile, but since someone had actually been injured, she managed to hold it back.
She ladled half a bowl of the fresh, sweet fish soup that Yan Rongshi loved for him: "That's right, you're mainly accompanying Yan Yilang. Is he still doing alright upstairs?"
"Hmm, he's still alive," Yan Rongshi scooped some of the milky white fish soup. "It's very fresh."
After drinking a few sips of the soup, he casually mentioned during the chat, "An unexpected situation was discovered during the investigation this afternoon. The tree that fell on the official road didn't break naturally; it turns out it was deliberately cut down."
"...What?!"
As the Ying family continued eating while vehemently cursing the person who cut down the tree to block the road for being too unscrupulous, night fell outside. A messenger from the Palace Guard hurriedly ran into the inn.
"Commander Wu orders me to relay a message to Junior Lord Yan. Three suspects have been spotted eleven li southwest of here, and a night operation to capture them is underway. Junior Lord Yan should be cautious here."
Yan Rongshi said, "Relay my words to Commander Wu: everything is fine at the inn. Tell him to proceed according to the original plan."
Seeing that it was getting late, he got up to escort the three members of the Ying family back to their first-floor guest rooms.
Ying Xiaoman, as a witness, was again staying separately in "Room A16", while her foster mother and Zhi stayed next door in Room A17.
"Auntie, rest assured," Yan Rongshi stood calmly by the door. "I'll stay with Xiaoman tonight. Nothing will happen."
The foster mother entered her own guest room, looking back repeatedly.
Ying Xiaoman called for a pot of hot tea and two plates of desserts, then closed the door. Yan Rongshi carefully inspected the walls and floor, making sure there were no means of eavesdropping, and brightened the oil lamp on the table.
"Take out the two old books the old servant gave you. Let's have a look."
Ying Xiaoman opened the trunk in the corner, flipped through the clothes, and took out two worn book rolls from the very bottom, placing them on the table under the lamp.
"The rain shelter leaked, and the edges got wet. These two books look quite old. Old Man Sheng gave them to me very solemnly, so they must be quite valuable. See if you can dry them out."
Mentioning "Old Man Sheng" made her heart twinge a bit.
"Why are the Imperial Guards looking for him with those portraits? He's an old man already, what crime could he have committed?"
Yan Rongshi thought of the corpse in the shed in Frog Alley, its neck broken by bare hands, eyes wide open in death.
"This Old Man Sheng is no ordinary old man," he said, casually opening the first scroll and looking through it while advising Ying Xiaoman:
"Although he's said to be an old friend of your adoptive father, seemingly with some lingering friendship, who knows if he might turn hostile in the next moment. You'd better be careful. Don't go out with someone in the middle of the night anymore..."
The beginning of the old, yellowed scroll recorded a few lines of blurred text, along with an illustration. As Yan Rongshi looked, his voice trailed off.
He moved the oil lamp closer, pulled the scroll further back, and spread it out on the wooden table, beginning to flip through it quickly.
After skimming through several passages, he opened the first scroll again, rapidly scanning key phrases and sentences.
He usually moved unhurriedly, and such rapid browsing was rarely seen.
Ying Xiaoman stood nervously by the table, staring at the two old scrolls now fully opened and spread across the wooden table.
Her eyes met densely packed small characters, interspersed with occasional illustrations. Many parts near the edges were blurred, while the middle sections had clear handwriting, yet were difficult to read.
She stumbled through reading a passage: "...On the third day of the first month in the Bingyin year, Zheng Yi, the Registrar of the Bureau of Operations of the Ministry of War, visited and brought... a cannon diagram. I gifted him thirty taels of gold and a bag of bright pearls. The authenticity of the cannon diagram is unknown, so I've recorded it for now."
"Who is Zheng Yi?" she asked, puzzled.
Yan Rongshi's knuckle pressed on the clearly drawn cannon manufacturing diagram as he pondered, tapping on Zheng Yi's name.
"An acquaintance in the court."
*
The autumn rain continued to fall.
Cool raindrops drifted into the room from the half-open window.
Ying Xiaoman was drowsy, leaning on the table as she asked, "Aren't you going to sleep?"
Yan Rongshi wasn't sleepy at all. He had read through the two scrolls on the table, rolled them back up as they were, and placed them back under the clothes in the bottom of the trunk.
"The elite Palace Guard has been mobilized tonight. I'm waiting for news from them. What about you, why aren't you sleeping?"
Ying Xiaoman was pondering something.
"Is Yan Yilang in the room to the east still doing alright with his injury? I want to go check on him."
Hmm? Yan Rongshi put down the trunk lid: "I'll go with you."
But Ying Xiaoman had her own ideas. "I want to speak with Yan Yilang alone for a few words. Could you wait for me here in the room?"
Yan Rongshi walked back to the table and sat down next to Ying Xiaoman, taking both her hands in his. He gazed at her deeply for a moment without responding.
Ying Xiaoman tilted her head, affectionately leaning on his shoulder. She nuzzled her cheek against his beautifully contoured shoulder blade, finding a comfortable spot to rest, and murmured, "Your clothes are still a bit damp."
The slight frown on Yan Rongshi's face relaxed, and he reached up to gently pinch her rosy cheek.
"Why did you want to see him alone? Don't you know his feelings for you?"
"I know," Ying Xiaoman said, covering a sleepy yawn with her hand, her eyes brimming with tears. "It's precisely because I know that I wanted to speak with him alone."
Yan Rongshi had already guessed what she wanted to say. He carefully wiped away the alluring misty tears from her eyes and compromised, suggesting:
"It's good to clear things up privately. You can go with your grappling hook, and I'll escort you to the door."
Ying Xiaoman, with a grappling hook pouch at her waist and carrying a food container, entered the eastern wing's room number one, which was permeated with the smell of medicine.
Yan Yilang, weakened from blood loss, had just awoken from a hazy sleep and was staring at the ceiling. The charming face that had lingered in his dreams suddenly appeared before him without warning. He was momentarily dazed and abruptly tried to sit up.
Ying Xiaoman moved faster than him, immediately pushing him back down.
"Don't move."
She took out the mutton bone soup from the food container. Freshly made in the kitchen, its aroma filled the room.
"I have something to tell you. You drink the soup and listen to me."
Yan Yilang didn't respond immediately. He shifted slightly, first peering behind Ying Xiaoman.
"He didn't come with you?" he sneered. "He keeps such a tight watch on you, how did he suddenly allow you to be alone with me?"
Ying Xiaoman brought two pillows and helped Yan Yilang prop himself up halfway.
"I wanted to speak with you alone, so he's waiting for me outside," she said, scooping up a wooden spoonful of bone soup. "You've lost too much blood. Drink some meat soup to replenish your qi and blood. Drink more soup and talk less nonsense."
With the soup spoon at his lower lip, Yan Yilang lowered his head to take a sip, his eyes never leaving the person in front of him.
He scrutinized Ying Xiaoman's current expression, perfunctorily drinking two or three mouthfuls. As he drank, he became more alert, and after pushing away the wooden spoon, he raised an eyebrow, about to speak again.
Ying Xiaoman directly shoved the large wooden spoon into his mouth.
"I specifically chose such a big spoon and it still can't keep your mouth shut? Drink the soup!"
Yan Yilang: "..."
While he was drinking the soup and unable to speak, Ying Xiaoman began to talk to him.
"Actually, you're not a bad person. I've known you for so long and never seen you truly commit any evil acts of bullying men or women. I've slapped you twice before and schemed for you to receive family punishment, but I've never seen you seek revenge. This shows that your heart isn't narrow, and you can't be considered a villain."
Yan Yilang, with the large wooden spoon stuffed in his mouth, could only gulp down the soup while nodding repeatedly, using his eyes to express extreme agreement.
However, Ying Xiaoman hadn't finished her whole sentence yet.
After pouring a whole spoonful of meat soup down his throat, she scooped up two pieces of tender, fragrant mutton and stuffed them in: "But you're truly annoying when you start pestering someone."