Mo Sigui waved his hand to disperse the smoke, carefully observing Chu Dingjiang. “Something has happened to you… your aura has weakened.”
Before, Chu Dingjiang’s fierce aura would surround his body, making it difficult to approach him. Now, that feeling had noticeably diminished.
His aura suddenly flared up, swirling around his body, then dispersed just as quickly. Chu Dingjiang calmly said, “As you can see, I intend to be more approachable.”
“Haha, haha.” Mo Sigui laughed dryly, “Very good, very good.”
“Anything else?” Chu Dingjiang asked.
Seeing Chu Dingjiang’s clear “get lost” expression, Mo Sigui angrily thought, what happened to being more approachable?
“Speak.”
Mo Sigui cleared his throat, “If you have time, could you go catch two more people for me – one from the Liao who has had their cultivation forced, and one assassin who has been poisoned.”
“Don’t you already have one?” Chu Dingjiang asked.
“Uh, well…” Mo Sigui shifted uncomfortably, “I accidentally broke that one.”
“Insane.” Chu Dingjiang commented.
Mo Sigui complained, “Hey! How can you say that when you’re the one who kills people left and right!”
“I’ve never dismembered corpses.” Chu Dingjiang said, “And why should I help you with this?”
“Just consider it repaying a favor, okay?” Mo Sigui pleaded.
“These two types are not easy to find.” Chu Dingjiang leaned against the desk, resting his face on one hand.
“If they were easy to find, would I come to you?” Mo Sigui thought for a moment, then held up three fingers, “Consider it three favors owed.”
Chu Dingjiang was satisfied with this, “Deal.”
Mo Sigui asked, “Can you get them soon?”
“You can find those kinds of people in Xijin Prefecture right now.” Chu Dingjiang said casually, “Ning Yanli is currently close with Ye Liezhi, and he has many assassins who have had their cultivation forced under his command. The ones poisoned by the Poison Crane Technique will be summoned to Xijin Prefecture. If you change your mind and want to capture them yourself, consider it one favor owed to me.”
“Creepy bastards, the lot of them.” Mo Sigui was already used to this, “I don’t like owing favors, but two is two, three is three – the debt keeps piling up. It’s better if you just catch them yourself.”
“I’ll go in a few days,” Chu Dingjiang said.
“Why a few days?” Mo Sigui was very curious and eager to find out.
“I need to settle An Jiu first.” Chu Dingjiang replied.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help settle her!” Mo Sigui offered.
Chu Dingjiang gave him a sidelong glance, “I don’t trust you to.”
Mo Sigui slammed the table, “What’s the big deal about moving a household? How could that be untrustworthy?”
Chu Dingjiang lowered his eyes back to the account book, speaking softly, “Our An Jiu can’t live the same chaotic life as you.”
“What do you mean, my life is chaotic?” Mo Sigui huffed indignantly.
Chu Dingjiang sat up straight, jotting down a few words in the account book, then ignored him.
Feeling that the conversation had become boring, Mo Sigui waved dismissively, “Fine, go whenever you want, I’ll find something more interesting to do first.”
“Safe travels.” Chu Dingjiang didn’t even look up.
“Hmph!” Mo Sigui stuffed his anger and left.
At this time, outside the county yamen, several horse-drawn carriages had stopped.
A small servant descended from one of the carriages and inquired of the old gatekeeper, “Good sir, is the Madame of the Mei family here?”
The old gatekeeper, seeing the distinguished appearance of the group, politely asked, “And which family are you from?”
The servant replied, “My master is the Dowager Madame of the Mei family.”
The old gatekeeper, hearing that they were from the Mei family, warmly said, “They have a big household, living in the western manor. During the day they’re all out working, not at home. But the Fourteenth Young Miss is inside the yamen.”
The servant bowed, “Then may I trouble you to please inform her.”
“Not at all, not at all.” The old gatekeeper went back into the courtyard and told the gatekeeper woman at the second gate.
That woman quickly found An Jiu, who was assembling the people Chu Dingjiang had brought. “Fourteenth Miss, your family’s Dowager Madame has arrived and is waiting outside the gate.”
“The Dowager Madame?” For a moment, An Jiu couldn’t even remember which Dowager Madame it was!
“Ah.” An Jiu suddenly recalled – the Mei family had two Dowager Madames. The Second Dowager Madame had fallen gravely ill when the Mei family was exterminated and had been bedridden since then. This time, she had urgently come to Hexi County to seek Mo Sigui’s help in resolving the poison transformation issue but was unable to bring her along, so she had left a few loyal servants to care for her, waiting for the situation to improve before making further plans. As for the First Dowager Madame, she had gone missing on that day and her body was never found, nor had she reappeared since then. How could she suddenly show up now?
An Jiu turned to the group she had just assembled and said, “I’ll go take a look, you all continue with your work.”