Chapter 173: A Family Letter Worth Ten Thousand Gold

Night fell.

The Imperial City was ablaze with lights; carriages and horses constantly headed toward the Palace City along Tianjie. The sounds of hooves and carriage wheels never ceased, yet there was hardly a word spoken.

Xie Jinhuan held an oil-paper umbrella, standing outside the palace gate and waiting. He understood this scene well; when he was born, the Qian Emperor had already ascended the throne, and for over ten years prior, every day had been like this. Now that the Emperor had suddenly passed away, it truly felt as though an entire era had come to an end.

After Bing Tuotuo went to bathe that afternoon, knowing that the transition between old and new might bring turmoil, he rushed back to Wang Fu, only to happen upon the convoy of Princess Changning and the Crown Prince heading toward the Palace City.

Although he had been enfeoffed as Marquis of Danyang, his official post as the Princess's halberd-bearer had not been removed, so he followed directly to the Imperial City. Along the way, no words were exchanged; the Princess had already entered the palace.

By now, after waiting half a day, the rain had not lessened but increased. Liu Qingzhi and others who had accompanied him stood near the carriages, waiting.

Butler Hou had been a guard for the Prince of Dan in his youth and actually knew the Qian Emperor since childhood. At this moment, he unusually refrained from talking nonsense; instead, he pinched the two small mustaches under his chin, gazing at the Imperial Palace with deep thought, pondering: The Emperor died, so the Crown Prince succeeds; if the Crown Prince dies, then wouldn't...

Of course, this was just Xie Jinhuan's wild guess. Butler Hou's soul had been injured during the Wu Sect uprising, so all sorts of bizarre thoughts could arise in his mind.

As the Princess's close friend, Linghu Qingmo also accompanied them. Because this was a public occasion, she dared not be too intimate with a man, so she stood on the other side of the carriage, holding a small booklet and flipping through it.

It had been nearly half a month since they last met. Mo Mo had changed into a new outfit, a reward from the imperial court for the case of the He family's rebellion. The top was white, embroidered with some cloud patterns; the fabric was soft yet retained texture, likely a 'cloth armor' with considerable defensive power.

The skirt resembled a horse-face skirt, with a wide hem embroidered with a qilin pattern bearing a metallic sheen. Paired with her already tall figure, she looked valiant and spirited. Hmm... a female Jin Yi Wei?

Or perhaps the Iceberg Goddess Detective of the Six Fan Gate.

The Goddess Detective defeated...

Xie Jinhuan expressed deep sympathy for the Qian Emperor's death, but his servant, the Little White Horse, had all died at San Cha Gang in Weizhou, and the father and son had nearly died suddenly. This matter made it hard for him to feel grateful toward the imperial court; he stood here merely waiting for his generous landlady.

Seeing the valiant Goddess Detective Mo Mo secretly looking at something, Xie Jinhuan held his umbrella and slowly approached. He quietly glanced over and saw that the booklet recorded several newly discovered mummies in a neighboring county. The government office suspected the work of Mingshen Sect remnants, but no clues had been found yet.

Drip-drop~

Noticing the faint sound of rain striking the umbrella surface approaching from a distance, Linghu Qingmo raised her eyes, saw her boyfriend leaning in, looked left and right, then narrowed her cold, beautiful eyes. Her meaning seemed to be:

Why are you leaning in?

What kind of occasion is this? What if someone sees us...

Xie Jinhuan was just bored. Seeing Mo Mo's little expression of fear of being discovered, he tilted his head and leaned close to her ear:

"The skirt looks really nice."

"?"

Linghu Qingmo shifted a tiny bit to the side, holding the booklet and continuing to examine it, ignoring him.

But before she could even glance at it a few more times, she noticed a hand reaching in front of the booklet, holding a white jade tassel hairpin!

The jade hairpin was slender and soft white in texture; the tassel was also very fine. Though not magnificent, it exuded a cold, ethereal air that suited her temperament perfectly...

?

Linghu Qingmo blinked her eyes, quickly took the hairpin and hid it in her bosom, then looked left and right, acting very furtive.

"Why did you buy these? I don't usually wear jewelry; I have no use for them."

"I ran back to Danyang yesterday to buy them for you. Do you like them?"

"..."

These past few days, Linghu Qingmo had been in contact with the Flower Vase Sister, who could only sleep. Whenever the other person couldn't argue back, she would stick a peony flower hairpin in front of her to show off. That feeling was truly enough to disturb one's Dao heart. How could she not like this hairpin? She even wanted to wear it right now and go for a stroll at the Lin family's place...

"Hmm... it's okay. Don't buy them next time. Even if you've obtained a title and your family is wealthy and prosperous, your silver should be used for cultivation."

"If you like it, won't you show some appreciation?"

"?"

Linghu Qingmo actually wanted to show appreciation, but countless carriages and horses were parked around, with guards and drivers nearby. She couldn't possibly make an unseemly scene and kiss her boyfriend in public, could she?

Xie Jinhuan didn't say what it was; he ducked under Mo Mo's umbrella, his gaze solemn:

"What's the situation with this case?"

Seeing that he wanted to discuss official business, Linghu Qingmo secretly breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the booklet, and began to explain seriously:

"It's just that several mummies have newly appeared in the Dao Sect's jurisdiction. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau assisted the government office in the investigation. They only determined that the killer's cultivation is not high, and it's unclear whether they are He family remnants or newly arrived demon bandits... bandits..."

While she was speaking, her cold, stern boyfriend, using the carriage body for cover, silently moved his hand behind her waist and touched her horse-face skirt...

?!

Linghu Qingmo moved her hand to Xie Jinhuan's lower back and twisted his waist hard:

"Let go! Say 'don't be angry,' or face the consequences!"

After Xie Jinhuan's physical reinforcement realm ascended, his resistance increased accordingly. Such a small domestic violence incident no longer fazed him; he seriously examined the Juan Sect information, finding the amount of information truly vast, and it was also soft...

"You..."

Linghu Qingmo's face turned red, but she dared not beat up her boyfriend in public, so she could only quietly press her hand down. The result was that their fingers interlocked, and they stood hand-in-hand beside the carriage.

Linghu Qingmo tried to pull her hand back, found she couldn't, and helplessly let him hold it, pretending to be calm as she continued to recount the case details...

After waiting for half an hour under such circumstances, the court officials and nobles who had entered the palace began to return one by one.

Linghu Qingmo hurriedly pulled her hand back to avoid being discovered by passing nobles and their retainers.

Xie Jinhuan observed from the side and noticed that among those who emerged were many high-level experts from various sects and envoys from foreign nations.

Guo Ziyan, the envoy from Northern Zhou, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, chatting with accompanying shamans as he passed by from not far away.

Xie Jinhuan was just worrying about how to contact Northern Zhou. Seeing the Empress Dowager's uncle from Northern Zhou, he naturally couldn't miss the opportunity. After a brief glance, seeing not too many people around, he made an excuse to relieve himself, turned to a deserted spot, then emerged from between two carriages. Acting as if by chance, he approached and greeted:

"My Lord Guo? You're here too?"

"Sigh~"

Guo Ziyan had already spotted Xie Jinhuan earlier and deliberately walked toward the deserted area. At this moment, he was not at all surprised. Stroking his beard with a sighing expression, he said:

"The Qian Emperor ruled for twenty years. As an external minister, I should not rashly comment on his achievements, but the Southern Dynasty indeed enjoyed national prosperity and people's peace. Under his rule were countless talents like 'Young Master Xie,' making him worthy of being called a wise monarch of his generation. To pass away in the prime of life, I believe our court's 'Empress Dowager' would also find it regrettable..."

The pronunciation of 'Young Master Xie' and 'Empress Dowager' was quite heavy.

Xie Jinhuan, merely hearing the slightly sarcastic tone, knew Guo Ziyan knew something, but he could not state it openly. He only tested the waters:

"I am not worthy of being called a talent. My achievements today are inseparable from the help of 'a former benefactor'..."

Guo Ziyan gave a slight nod; the two of them understood each other without words.

Guo Ziyan had originally known nothing of Xie Jinhuan's situation; it was only after Xie Jinhuan's fame rose at Huaijiang Bay that he had sent intelligence to Yanjing.

The result was that the Empress Dowager replied, informing him that Xie Wen was currently serving at the Ministry of Justice in Yanjing as a Vice Bureau Director, and adding that she had some old affection with Xie Jinhuan, and asking him to deliver a letter to Xie Jinhuan.

Because of the delay in communication between the two places, by the time he received the news, the Night Banquet at the Palace of Qian had already ended!

Guo Ziyan could not figure out why the enemy nation's talented youth—who had roasted him into a grandson—had a father serving as an official in Yanjing.

Nor could he understand what sort of old affection the Empress Dowager had with this incomparably handsome young man.

Xie Jinhuan clearly regarded him as a mortal enemy of the rival nation, and he could not very well shove his warm face against a cold backside just to ask for trouble.

So he could only improvise on the spot, weaving together some completely unbelievable rumors and spreading them out, hoping Xie Jinhuan would come forward on his own to apologize!

The Guo family's meteoric rise was built on the merit their ancestors earned in protecting the nation during the Wu Sect Rebellion; within a hundred years, four of their women became Empress.

But Northern Zhou, founded three hundred years ago, had already reached the twilight of its dynastic life; all manner of chaotic signs had emerged. Since the late Emperor's death, a three-year-old child had ascended the throne. Though Northern Zhou's national strength remained formidable, it already showed the omens of a doomed state—power slipping from the throne, regional warlords carving up territory, and the various princes stirring restlessly.

And at just such a time, a great daughter returned to the Guo family, claiming to be a legitimate daughter of the clan. Guo Ziyan had no idea where she had sprung from, yet the family head acknowledged her.

Thereafter, this woman, relying on her faction's deep roots in the court, ascended to the position of Empress Dowager under the pretext of "a younger sister supporting her elder sister's orphaned child," and began to rule from behind the curtain.

What followed was a bloody purge of Yanjing, the pacification of the princes, and the sweeping clean of Mobei. Over the course of several years, she had thoroughly cleansed the interior; the grassland royal court would weep at the mere mention of her name, and of foreign enemies only the Southern Dynasty remained—and the Southern Dynasty, truth be told, treated her as a dire threat.

Such an iron-willed queen could never have taken a fancy to a wild brat like Xie Jinhuan; no one would believe the rumor if it were spread. And given the Empress Dowager's domineering temperament, she would not care about such gossip either.

But Xie Jinhuan, having been reported as "having an old connection with the Northern Zhou Empress Dowager," would surely feel guilty and grow anxious, right? After all, his father was in Northern Zhou's hands!

Hey! So guess what happened?

Xie Jinhuan's reaction was utterly unmoved, as if his father did not exist at all. He kept going off to help the Southern Dynasty slay demons and exorcise monsters, even leading men to surround the Four-Sided Hall, earning unparalleled merit, receiving a noble title, and falling just short of taking command of an army to launch a northern campaign.

Guo Ziyan had no idea what Xie Jinhuan was thinking. Xie Jinhuan was also terribly busy, and once he was done, he slept without waking; only now had they finally met face to face!

Seeing Xie Jinhuan take the initiative to approach, his expression no longer carrying the arrogance from the Night Banquet at the Palace of Qian, and even bringing up the old affection himself, Guo Ziyan knew the lad understood everything!

With many eyes around, Guo Ziyan said nothing. A letter slipped from his sleeve; he quietly passed it to Xie Jinhuan, then took his leave, led his men away, boarded his carriage, and departed.

After confirming no one was watching, Xie Jinhuan, without changing expression, made his way between the carriages, opened the letter with its wax seal still intact, and glanced over it:

Little Deng! So long as you're alive, that's all that matters. Your father's doing just fine over here—made it big as an official…

The Empress Dowager is a true saint. She told you not to worry or be afraid, saying that if you could return home after mastering your arts, she would certainly keep her promise—otherwise you could never have come back alive…

How's your Uncle Fei doing? When you come over in the future, bring that old fellow along too. And Dabiao—your father's finally holding his head high as a fifth-rank official, but sadly there's no one to drink with and brag…

I heard Bird-Deng's grown up—is he still pitch-black, grabbing anything he can to eat…

Has the Princess of Changning taken a fancy to you? The lad's done well for himself—bring her over too and let your father pay his respects…

Have you met the Sect Master of Mount Zihui? That's your "dream wife," I hear. They say she hasn't married yet. Now that you've grown wings, lad, you must seize the chance…

……

(End of Chapter)