Zhang Yuehui stood on the rooftop of Huachao Pavilion, gazing into the distance. The Li Du Mansion, having fallen into night, was already shrouded in a blanket of ink-black darkness, with only the southeastern corner brilliantly lit.
That was the Bureau of Shipping.
In this enormous city, plans and accidents always occurred in fierce competition against time.
Even with his meticulous mind, he hadn’t anticipated that someone would confess at this critical juncture the information that the leader of the Bingzhu Division was within the Bureau of Shipping.
Wanyan Puruuo was the catalyst among them. Her arrival represented the will of royal authority, and the ministers of Great Qi would work even harder to compete for control of this city.
For the first time, Zhang Yuehui felt a sense of powerlessness in his heart.
In the past, filled with the desire for destruction, he had been fearless—he had nothing to fear, at worst it would just mean death. But now he had a weakness. This powerlessness came from the fact that he had begun, like everyone else, to crawl forward on this land.
Wanyan Puruuo forced him to take sides, and he was clear about his own insincerity.
But where did his heart want to go? He had no answer. Someone as rebellious and treasonous as he couldn’t suddenly develop a heart of patriotic righteousness.
More than anything, it was for Nanyi.
When he said he would give all of Guilai Hall to the Bingzhu Division, that was just a word game. What he was thinking was to flee far away with Nanyi. Without him, Guilai Hall would just be an empty shell—whoever wanted it could take it.
Behind him came subtle movement—the light and cautious footsteps of a woman, neither an ordinary maidservant nor possibly Wanyan Puruuo.
Without showing any reaction, he touched his thumb ring, the hidden weapon on it ready to spring out at any moment. He vigilantly turned to look, but what he saw was Nanyi. He suspected he was seeing things. The wind pulled the lanterns into chaotic swaying, and her shadow swayed along with them, falling on him—only then did he feel a sense of reality.
“Zhang Yuehui, help me.”
She spoke before he could say anything. She had run all the way here; her hair was disheveled, loose strands brushing across her brow and eyes, creating a somewhat pitiful appearance.
For her to actively seek him out and even swallow her pride, what she was asking for must not be an easy matter.
Zhang Yuehui rarely became serious: “Speak slowly.”
“Song Muchuan is in danger. Xie Queshan was taken away by Gusha, and he left this note telling me to find you.”
Nanyi didn’t avoid anything. She guessed that Zhang Yuehui should know what he needed to know. She handed over the paper.
This thin slip of paper felt somewhat burning to the touch.
—Xie Queshan had Nanyi come find him, Zhang Yuehui, to save Song Muchuan.
Just speaking of this matter was filled with absurdity and strangeness—people who had nothing to do with each other were forcibly brought together.
But the person before him was Nanyi, so Zhang Yuehui still took it and unfolded it to look.
Just four characters: “Fish that escaped the net.”
Zhang Yuehui suppressed his urge to curse—if you, Xie Queshan, had just written a few more characters and clearly explained your plan, he could have considered helping out as a favor to Nanyi.
But immediately he understood. Xie Queshan hadn’t expected him to help at all, so naturally he wouldn’t tell him so clearly. Writing these ambiguous few characters was actually just to keep Nanyi safe.
His heart felt a bit sour.
For the first time, he felt that Xie Queshan was really something.
Nanyi anxiously stared at Zhang Yuehui. He had already looked at these four characters several times over.
“What does Xie Queshan mean?” she finally couldn’t help but ask.
Zhang Yuehui vaguely had a guess, but he didn’t intend to think deeply about it. This was too risky—if he took one step in that direction, he would be shattered to pieces. Wanyan Puruuo had already warned him.
He only replied regretfully: “I don’t understand.”
Nanyi was disappointed for a moment, but stubbornness quickly surfaced on her face: “Impossible, you must know.”
Xie Queshan couldn’t possibly do useless things. For these four characters to be delivered to Zhang Yuehui’s hands, there must be his meaning.
Zhang Yuehui thought to himself that anyway, he was just a shameless scoundrel. Since Xie Queshan had sent the person over, he would go with the flow and forcibly take her away—that would be very reasonable.
But he just stood there, doing nothing, with two little people fighting in his mind.
Nanyi became anxious and took out a bracelet from her sleeve, holding it up in front of Zhang Yuehui.
“If you help me with this favor, I’ll wear the bracelet you gave me.”
Zhang Yuehui hadn’t expected Nanyi to use this as a condition. He instinctively thought toward that good possibility, his heart suddenly leaping violently, even his thoughts freezing, and he asked a stupid question: “Wearing the bracelet—what does that mean?”
“What do you think it means?”
Nanyi had come prepared and threw the question back at him.
Zhang Yuehui was immediately speechless, then understood in a flash.
Anyway, it definitely wasn’t the meaning he wanted. But cleverly, she hadn’t admitted anything, nor had she denied anything. As long as there was the slightest possibility, he would climb up that pole—who told him he owed her.
Zhang Yuehui was once again forced to reassess Nanyi. He felt like he had been outmaneuvered, using exactly his old tricks, even quite in his shameless style.
Nanyi was someone with extremely strong learning ability. She would quickly absorb some outstanding qualities from the people she encountered.
For example, Xie Queshan’s cunning, Zhang Yuehui’s shamelessness. Then she would apply what she learned and give it back to them.
The pretentious sentiments of romance could all be thrown away when facing important matters. As long as she could force Zhang Yuehui to help now, she could wear ten bracelets. She didn’t care what Zhang Yuehui would think, whether he would consider this a sign of reconciliation—she hadn’t said anything. If everyone insisted on arguing about it afterward, a bracelet was just a bracelet. When you gave it, you only said it was a gift; you never said it was a love token.
He had left a bracelet without clarity, causing her to harbor thoughts for several years. Now she was using it to make a case for saving someone—that wasn’t excessive at all.
Zhang Yuehui also knew she was openly and honestly using him, but he was precisely susceptible to this approach. He truly had no way to deal with it.
People who wanted to be pursued had to be properly pursued. With sincerity, even metal and stone could be moved.