Volume 1, Chapter 27: Maximum Alert
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When Fan Xiu woke, he found himself tied to a chair in a dark, sealed room.
Three fierce-looking men stood nearby.
The sight frightened him so badly that he nearly wet himself.
“Gentlemen, please show mercy! I truly have no money. I’m only a poor scholar!” Fan Xiu hurriedly pleaded.
One of the men in black sneered coldly. “I’ve heard of impoverished scholars, but never of an impoverished Provincial Graduate. Provincial Graduate Fan, I hear you’ve met the Empress?”
“The Empress?”
Fan Xiu froze, then asked uneasily, “Which Empress?”
The man in black said grimly, “Didn’t you claim that the Empress ate three servings of your Top Scholar Fragrance and praised them without end? Where did you meet her?”
“Big brother, I only made that up to sell my Top Scholar Fragrance! How could the Empress possibly have come to my place?” Fan Xiu cried miserably.
If he truly knew the Empress, how could he have ended up in such a wretched state?
“You refuse to talk? Fine. Beat him!” the man in black barked with a cold laugh.
The other two immediately stepped forward.
Fan Xiu’s face changed drastically. He shouted in panic, “I’ll talk! I’ve met the Empress. She really did eat three servings of my Top Scholar Fragrance!”
He was completely bewildered.
What was wrong with these people?
The Empress’s men shouldn’t have this much free time, should they?
And if they were not the Empress’s men, then who were they?
“What does the Empress look like?” the man in black asked.
“She…”
Cold sweat broke out across Fan Xiu’s face. He had never seen the Empress in his life.
But facing these men, he did not dare admit that he had no idea. He could only recall the appearance attributed to the Empress in a popular legend and answer, “Her face was very dark, and she had a beard. Her waist was five feet around. As for the three servings of Top Scholar Fragrance, she gulped them down in a single bite!”
Just then, a white-robed man with his face concealed entered from outside and said in a low voice, “I told you this fellow made the whole thing up to earn money. How could he possibly have met the Empress? You refused to believe me. Do you believe me now?”
Hearing this, Fan Xiu wailed, “Big brother! I have no idea what you’re talking about! Please let me go! I have seven taels of silver in my pocket. You can have it all!”
The white-robed man waved his hand. “Let him go.”
“Big brother, aren’t we going to kill him?”
“Send him home. Whatever else he may be, he is still a Provincial Graduate. If he suddenly dies, it will cause us tremendous trouble.”
“All right.”
A moment later, one of the men in black came over to Fan Xiu and struck the side of his neck with his palm.
Fan Xiu’s eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
“Big brother, what do we do now? We’ve searched nearly the entire county town these past few days, but we haven’t found any trace of the Empress. Could she have already left?” the man in black asked.
The white-robed man shook his head. “Impossible. She was poisoned by me. She couldn’t have recovered so quickly. She should still be somewhere in Zhiyuan County. Tomorrow, I’ll try speaking with the magistrate and borrow the authorities’ power to search for her.”
“Big brother, isn’t that dangerous? What if word gets out that we’re trying to assassinate the Empress?”
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“I have my arrangements. Nothing would be more disastrous than news of the assassination leaking out—except allowing the Empress to return alive to the capital,” the white-robed man replied.
“Yes, sir.”
As dusk settled over the land, the Fan residence grew quiet.
Madam Zhou watched the darkening sky and said anxiously, “It’s so late already. Why hasn’t Xiu’er come home?”
Li Chuntao turned around with a smile. “Mother, don’t worry. That rascal Fan Xiu is clever as a fox. Nothing will happen to him. Perhaps Magistrate Zhao asked him to stay the night again.”
Madam Zhou sighed. “I hope so.”
“Mother,” Li Chuntao said with a smile, “I’m more curious about how much silver he managed to earn today!”
With that, she turned to Xiao Ruoqing and said, “Sister Liuqing, why don’t we make a wager? How much do you think Fan Xiu earned today?”
Xiao Ruoqing thought for two seconds before replying, “According to his agreement with Magistrate Zhao, he should have earned around seven taels.”
“What? Seven taels?”
Li Chuntao and the rest of Fan Xiu’s family stared wide-eyed in astonishment.
Even if the entire family worked tirelessly for half a year, they could not earn that much silver!
“Impossible!” Li Chuntao immediately shook her head. “How could he possibly have earned that much?”
“Why don’t you calculate it?” Xiao Ruoqing said matter-of-factly. “Each serving of cold rice noodles sells for roughly fifty to one hundred copper coins. The Top Scholar Fragrance tea and marinated eggs sell for twenty to thirty copper coins apiece. Add up how many you made, and the total will be clear.”
“Uh…”
Li Chuntao and the rest of the Fan family were utterly dumbfounded.
Fan Xiu was the only literate person in the family. Everyone else could barely recognize a single character.
As for arithmetic, forget it.
It took them half a day to work out three plus five by counting on their fingers.
Expecting them to solve such a difficult calculation was utterly hopeless. In fact, Li Chuntao had not understood a word of Xiao Ruoqing’s explanation.
In the end, Li Chuntao could only give Xiao Ruoqing a thumbs-up and say, “As expected of a young lady from a wealthy family—you’re truly impressive to have calculated all that! If that rascal really comes home with seven taels of silver, I’ll have to praise him properly.”
Ying watched the Fan family chatting so warmly with Xiao Ruoqing and felt a wave of helplessness.
Her Majesty was the Empress, for heaven’s sake!
And yet these people were overjoyed by a mere seven taels of silver.
What a sigh…
Just then—
Coo-coo. Coo-coo. Coo-coo.
Ying’s expression sharpened as she looked outside.
That was the special signal used by the Blood Feather Guards stationed outside.
They contacted her only when something had gone wrong.
One call meant an unusual situation.
Two calls meant danger.
Three calls meant extreme danger.
Ying glanced at the people inside the room.
Xiao Ruoqing had also heard the signal. She nodded at Ying, then began engaging the Fan family’s attention.
Taking advantage of the moment when no one was watching, Ying leaped into the air and slipped out of the Fan residence.
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Before long, Ying reached the meeting point. Xiao Wan emerged from the shadows and saluted her with cupped fists.
“Greetings, Commander Ying.”
“What happened?” Ying asked.
“Commander Ying, we discovered the movements of the Cheng family’s assassins. They have entered Qinglin Village and are heading toward the Fan residence,” Xiao Wan reported with another salute.
“The Cheng family’s assassins?”
Ying’s expression tightened. “Has the Empress been exposed?”
“Not exactly.” Xiao Wan’s expression was strange. “They’re carrying Provincial Graduate Fan. From the looks of it… they seem to be bringing him home.”
Ying: “...”
The Cheng family’s assassins were bringing Fan Xiu home?
Wait.
Why did those two facts sound so absurd when put together?
“How many of them are there?” Ying asked.
“Only two.”
“Take all the Blood Feather Guards and follow me to the Fan residence at once. Maximum alert. If they notice anything unusual, kill them immediately. Then we’ll escort Her Majesty out of the village tonight.”
“Yes, Commander!”
In the darkness, Ying and the seven other Blood Feather Guards concealed themselves around the Fan residence, fully prepared for battle.
Xiao Ruoqing also stared nervously outside.
Li Chuntao and Madam Zhou, however, remained completely unaware of what was happening. They continued chatting idly inside.
Behind a crooked-nosed tree outside the Fan residence, Ying tightened her grip on her sword. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she stared fixedly toward the road leading into the village.
Soon, two men in black came rushing toward the Fan residence with light, swift steps.
One of them had Fan Xiu slung over his shoulder.