"Spit it out. How did you latch onto the Third Prince?"
The two sat across from each other at the table. Qian Xingzhi somehow dared not meet Lu Yu's eyes. "I was planning to jump into the river, but I ran into the Third Prince instead. I tricked him by saying my divination showed he would ascend the throne someday. He must have thought I was a good liar, so he shoved me into the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. Oh, and he thought I was good-looking and even wanted to..."
Lu Yu raised an eyebrow. "So you're saying your appointment as Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau was purely accidental? Then how did you find out about the Third Prince's involvement with Full Moon Tower?"
"...I guessed." Seeing Lu Yu frown, Qian Xingzhi quickly added, "I heard from a teahouse waiter that the Third Prince had visited Full Moon Tower, and then I remembered he kept asking me for those three hundred thousand taels. If he was found to have ill-gotten money, that would free him up from harassing me."
"So you also guessed that the Third Prince was locked in the secret passage?"
Qian Xingzhi swallowed. "If I said yes, would you believe me?"
"Qian Xingzhi, do you take me for a fool?"
Lu Yu was so angry his vision darkened. He took a deep breath, wanting to crack open her head to see what was inside.
"Heaven knows," Qian Xingzhi cried out in injustice, never expecting that being too lucky would land her in such trouble. "If I were sent to deliberately get close to you, how could I be so full of holes? Why would I suffer so much?"
"Then what happened back at Chengxin Temple?"
Qian Xingzhi's fainting had been genuine—both Wei Yang and Lu Yu had verified it. There was no faking that.
"It's an old ailment of mine, incurable," Qian Xingzhi continued to fabricate. "I just use it as an excuse for spirit communication."
Lu Yu seemed amused despite his anger. "Fine, Qian Xingzhi. Then tell me, how did you know about the secret passage in Chengxin Temple?"
She couldn't possibly claim she'd guessed that too, could she? Qian Xingzhi confessed everything: "My father brought me here when we were fleeing. I had something important that I thought I left behind, so I wanted to use the excuse to search the passage. Who would've thought the Third Prince would be chained up inside?"
Lu Yu choked on her words. "Was your father also among the victims back then?"
This touched on Qian Xingzhi's blind spot. Thinking that Lu Yu might reveal more, she gritted her teeth and answered, "Yes."
Whether because he was too furious or not, Lu Yu's face flushed with a hint of red. His usually affectionate eyes, now devoid of their earlier malevolence, held a trace of melancholy. "You... don't hate me?"
What was this all about? Eight years ago, Lu Yu was only fifteen, a pampered young master of the Lu family, far away in Shengjing. What could he possibly have to do with Yan Zhaoshuang?
Qian Xingzhi didn't understand, but she immediately soothed him. "You weren't even of age back then. It's irrelevant."
Lu Yu finally calmed down. He sheathed his sword. "Although I didn't do it myself, I benefited from everything the Lu family gained. It's only right for you to hate me."
The Lu Family Textiles dealt in arms trade. Could they have dug a secret passage in Chengxin Temple to smuggle weapons as their start? But what kind of weapons could they store in a place that tiny?
"Since we're being open with each other," Qian Xingzhi pressed her advantage now that he had backed down, "my father did mention that incident, but I don't know the details. Could you enlighten me, Lord Lu?"
Lu Yu seemed to feel guilty. "Back then, before the Lu Family Textiles was designated as an imperial merchant, my father used a distant aunt's connection to get close to the Yan family. At Consort Yan's behest, he built extensive secret passages in Nanchuan to smuggle weapons. When it was almost exposed, Consort Yan ordered all the passages to be abandoned and commanded my father to execute every commoner who knew about it."
Even though the Lu family hadn't orchestrated it, they were inextricably involved. If his father hadn't been so insatiably greedy, he wouldn't have committed such a crime.
The secret passage at Chengxin Temple, for some reason, hadn't been completely buried. No wonder Lu Yu had looked so grim after Qian Xingzhi opened it, and had resorted to intimidation and interrogation upon returning to the city.
"Lu Yu, you have a fever."
Watching his face grow redder, Qian Xingzhi finally realized something was wrong.
The reddened corners of his eyes, the slightly heavy breathing, the scorching palms... Suddenly, Qian Xingzhi remembered how she had stripped off his shirt to apply medicine before. At the time, she had been single-mindedly afraid he might die on the spot. Now, seeing his "ready for plucking" demeanor, she recalled the visual and tactile stimulation, and her fingertips trembled.
Lord Lu was indeed delectable to the eye.
"It's just a lingering injury. Nothing serious." He forced himself. "Consider this another debt I owe you. You may go."
Qian Xingzhi sighed. "I happen to have a medicine pack I bought earlier. Wait here; I'll get it for you."
As soon as she left, Yuan Bai climbed in through the window. "My lord, it's done. As for Qian Xingzhi...?"
"I'll take his word for now," Lu Yu said, his demeanor now calm and composed, a world apart from moments ago. "We've already set up a dead end. Even if he's deliberately approaching us, he has no leverage against me at the moment."
*
Qian Xingzhi returned to her room and rummaged through her luggage, eventually pulling out a small porcelain bottle.
It looked very familiar. She puzzled for a few seconds, shook out a black pill, and after five seconds finally remembered what it was.
On the twentieth of the first month, Lu Yu had fed her a "poison pill." This was the one she had gotten in advance in the second month. Now that the third month was already half over, she had completely forgotten about it.
Could it really be an all-purpose tonic pill?
She picked up the medicine pack and this poison pill and sneaked back to Lu Yu's room. Pushing open the door, she found him leaning against the bed, looking frail and delicate.
He didn't seem like a martial artist at all. Where did he learn to put on that 'pleasure house' look? Qian Xingzhi grumbled inwardly as she placed everything on the table. "Here's the fever reducer, and your all-purpose tonic pill."
"The rice paste you made last time was delicious."
What? That unidentified goo? Qian Xingzhi was bewildered. "Huh...?"
"When I was sick as a child, my mother used to make food like that."
Lu Yu's most captivating feature was always his eyes. Now they were shimmering, full of tender emotion, as if pleading, 'Please take care of me.' Qian Xingzhi was thunderstruck. "Lord Lu, have you fried your brain?"
This scene was so bizarre she wondered if Lu Yu had already died of fever and been replaced by a new soul, just like her.
"If I could eat that again, I'd willingly spend thirty thousand taels."
Qian Xingzhi's expression changed instantly. Her eyes gleamed, and she recited like a slogan: "It's no trouble at all. I'll go right away."
Seeing her scurry out the door, Lu Yu couldn't help but laugh. Teasing Qian Xingzhi was always entertaining.
The chirping of birds could already be heard; Qian Xingzhi knew she'd pulled another all-nighter. Finding the kitchen wasn't hard. The thought of thirty thousand taels of silver lifted her spirits completely. If Lu Yu got a fever a few more times, what would she have to worry about being trapped?
After clattering around, she even thoughtfully decocted the medicine for him, then cheerfully carried the paste and bitter soup back.