An Jiu perched on a roof beam, watching the start of a new day at the Li mansion.
Li Ting left for the early morning court session at the end of the Yin hour every day. Since Tianshui Lane was some distance from the palace, he had to rise before dawn to prepare. His wife would get up early to help him wash and dress, personally seeing him off at the second gate.
Bianjing had quite a temperature difference between morning and noon. Summer mornings were slightly cool.
In the inner chamber, Li Ting sat before a mirror while his wife combed his hair.
The room was quiet. In the warm lamplight, the peaceful and intimate atmosphere between the two was something An Jiu had never witnessed before.
Li Ting’s hair was graying, but he still looked energetic. His wife appeared to be only in her thirties, likely younger than her actual age. Her features were regular, though not beautiful. Her overall demeanor of grace and dignity immediately marked her as a lady from a good family.
After dressing, several maids led the way with lanterns as the couple went out together.
Li’s wife always walked half a step behind him, while he frequently glanced back at her.
Neither spoke, but anyone could see their deep affection.
An Jiu quietly followed them to the second gate.
“Be careful on your way, husband,” Li’s wife said, taking a cloak from a maid and fastening it around Li Ting herself.
“Mm,” Li Ting replied, his tone caring despite his stern expression. “The dew is heavy. Go back inside quickly.”
His wife smiled and agreed, but didn’t return until Li Ting’s figure had disappeared from view.
An Jiu slipped out of the courtyard and waited by the main gate for Li Ting’s sedan chair to emerge, then followed him.
Li Ting had a fourth-level guard with him, making it convenient to strike. However, he traveled on main roads. Bianjing had an armory every 200 steps, storing weapons and housing troops. Though few and not particularly strong, alerting them would still be troublesome.
Assassinating Li Ting would be easy, but the five-day time limit made it challenging.
An Jiu followed him until he reached the Imperial Road before leaving. She then walked Li Ting’s route to court several times, identifying potential ambush spots.
The nearest city defense depot was only fifty steps from Li’s mansion. Given the mansion’s small size, the best time to strike without alerting the garrison would be at night when Li Ting was alone in his study.
Having chosen her spots, An Jiu lay in wait at one of the ambush points the next day, bow-ready for her prey.
However, as Li Ting’s sedan passed, she didn’t lose her arrow. Instead, she rushed to the second ambush point to wait.
Again, she only aimed at him without taking action. In the afternoon, she disguised herself and hired a sedan chair, riding from Tianshui Lane to Pan Lou Street.
Sedan chairs had curtains, and An Jiu needed to know how someone of Li Ting’s build would sit inside – where his head and chest would be positioned.
After nearly two incense sticks’ time in the chair, An Jiu’s expression grew serious. Leaning back versus sitting upright changed the chest position by about a foot, not to mention the head. From her observations, Li Ting seemed meticulous, likely to sit straight, but what if he didn’t?
To ensure success, ambushing on his way to court seemed unfeasible.
“Young master, we’ve arrived,” the sedan bearer called.
Alighting from the chair, An Jiu was greeted by the bustling market street. She tossed the bearer a small piece of silver.
“Young master, your change…” the bearer bent to count out the change.
His companion nudged him with an elbow. “He’s gone.”
In the blink of an eye, An Jiu had vanished into the crowd.
The bearers, assuming she was a servant from a wealthy household on an urgent errand, thought nothing of it and pocketed the silver happily.
Pan Lou Street was crowded. An Jiu blended in as an ordinary youth in gray clothes, utterly unremarkable. Even as she looked around, to others she seemed just an inexperienced boy.
An Jiu found a teahouse and sat by a street-facing window on the second floor, waiting to see if any good opportunities arose when Li Ting returned home in the evening.
If he took the same route and sedan chair back, she’d have to find an opportunity within his mansion. Recalling the couple’s behavior, An Jiu subconsciously preferred not to strike within their home.
An Jiu lifted her teacup, observing the street below. Everything was in her view.
As an assassin, An Jiu excelled at sniping, though her violent tendencies ensured she was no slouch in close combat either. She possessed exceptional eyesight and observational skills. In this chaotic environment, she missed nothing, quickly identifying anything unusual.
So when the man leading a horse entered her field of vision, she noticed him immediately.
His build was familiar. So familiar that she recognized him at first glance.
An Jiu flicked a peanut at his bamboo hat.
The man paused, slightly raising his head. Half his face remained in shadow, but An Jiu saw enough!
Hua Rongjian!
No, not Chu Dingjiang!
An Jiu was stunned.
Hua Rongjian’s gaze quickly swept over everyone seated by the windows, finally meeting An Jiu’s eyes.
An Jiu stared back unabashedly. This man was burly with hard facial features and cold eyes, vastly different from her impression of Hua Rongjian. Looking closely, he didn’t resemble Hua Rongjian much at all.
He frowned and walked towards the teahouse.
In that brief moment of eye contact, An Jiu was certain this man had a face very similar to Hua Rongjian’s, but he wasn’t that profligate playboy.
“Hua Rongjian” came upstairs, heading straight for An Jiu.
He didn’t remove his hat. After sitting down and ordering a pot of Tieguanyin tea, his gaze fell on her hands.
“You’re out?” Up close, An Jiu thought he looked more like Chu Dingjiang.
The waiter brought tea. He calmly poured a cup, drank it in one go, wiped his mouth, and grunted an affirmative.