Chapter 45: Chapter Forty-Five: Lady Hero, You Don

The west wing room had originally been tidied up for Uncle Hu to stay in, but it was clean and neat.

Although she had agreed reluctantly, Zhen Qing's body and thoughts were still quite honest.

This trip down the mountain was originally meant to find clues to the Great Zhou treasure, but now the Southern Wu rebel lead has also been cut off, so I can only wait for my master's news while investigating from the imperial court.

And Jiang Yunzhou is a renowned physician in the city, with many officials and nobles coming and going, and he is also familiar with the Zhenning Office, so the information he has is naturally more concentrated.

But the problem is, how do I get this profit‑driven fellow to help me?

Those three treasures might not attract him, and even if I really found them I could only turn them over to my master—I couldn't possibly deceive him against the righteousness of the jianghu.

So far I've only told this trip's purpose to that Young Hero Yan, and now I regret not asking him where he's staying.

By the way, that Young Hero Yan is from the Zhenning Office—maybe I'll run into him while working on a case.

But the fact that I've been infected with a love gu must never be told to anyone—it's simply too embarrassing.

"Miss Zhen?"

It took Jiang Yunzhou calling her twice before she came to her senses.

"How do you find this place, Miss Zhen?"

"All right, then I'll stay here temporarily to help you solve the case—but what if someone asks about it?"

"No problem, just say I'm your patient, staying here briefly for treatment. Come on, I'll fill you in on the case details."

Returning to the main house, Jiang Yunzhou told Zhen Qing all of today's findings.

"It really is a strange case, and regarding your guesses, Zhen Qing added:"

"Suspecting a ghost or monster isn't unreasonable—soul‑summoning and corpse‑driving methods do exist—but from your description I don't think it's like that, because in such cases the scene usually gathers corpse qi."

"Moreover, normally ghosts don't have that much actual destructive power. Junior sister, you agree, right? Come out and rest here for a few days—you'll surely be found eventually, so don't end up scaring Young Master Jiang."

As she spoke, Su Tao's all‑black‑silk little‑girl form appeared once more from the black cloth.

Although his heart felt no ripple, Jiang Yunzhou cooperated by widening his eyes, stepping back two steps, and feigning shock:

"What is this?!"

"Hello, Young Master Jiang! I'm Su Tao, a fellow disciple of Senior Sister Zhen—my soul normally resides in the black cloth, and this is the appearance of a ghost."

Jiang Yunzhou still pretended not to believe it, stepping forward to pinch it—but as soon as he touched the rather elastic black silk scarf, Su Tao jerked her arm back as if burned by fire.

"Ahhh, it's hot, it's hot!"

Su Tao's voice was already pleasant to hear; this soft cry made the listener's body go a little weak.

In the dead of night, Jiang Yunzhou hastily raised both hands to proclaim his innocence:

"Miss Su Tao, I just gave it a casual pinch—surely it shouldn't provoke such a strong reaction?"

Su Tao rubbed her arm, which was covered in black silk, and said:

"It's fine—it's because Young Master Jiang's yang energy or yang force is too strong! In a soul‑body state, what's feared most is pure yang objects; fortunately, the master's black cloth also bears talismans, so it can't really hurt me—it just feels hot, even hotter than Young Hero Yan."

Nonsense—the yang force on the paper figure is all infused by me, so my amount is naturally greater than his.

"All right, Su Tao, don't make a fuss—didn't the master say that tempering your soul body helps with returning the soul? Young Master Jiang, then tomorrow I'll accompany you back to the scene to have a look."

"Thank you, um... Miss Zhen, you come from Kunlun Lingxiao Palace—what brings you to Shangyang City this time? Is there anything I can help with?"

Jiang Yunzhou naturally knew all of this, but to avoid revealing his identity he could only play dumb at the moment.

Zhen Qing had already steeled herself just now—she still hadn't found any clues about those three treasures, and telling others would only increase the risk of being caught as a former dynasty rebel; otherwise it wouldn't matter much.

Moreover, I had already reported my sect to Jiang Yunzhou; if he had any designs on me, he would have long since informed the Zhenning Office of my situation.

So upon hearing this, she went on to tell Jiang Yunzhou about the Great Zhou Three Treasures and her purpose as well.

"If it's just looking for clues to these items, I can help too."

"If that's really the case, then I'm truly grateful."

"Don't thank me so quickly, Miss Hero—I naturally have conditions as well."

I knew this guy wasn't that kind‑hearted.

"First, you must share with me all information about these treasures; second, hearing you speak has sparked my interest in them—if we really do find them, I hope I can also make use of them, I won't keep them for myself—isn't that reasonable?"

What I truly want is, of course, information about the Formless Dark Paper—but if I only asked for information, they'd surely suspect I had ulterior motives; better to say outright that I'd like to borrow the treasure for a use, to avoid suspicion.

"Fine, it's settled."

As for cooperating in the treasure hunt, this is indeed a fairly basic condition—I had thought this guy would make lion‑sized demands, but he's actually rather righteous.

Jiang Yunzhou heard this and laughed:

"All right, since Miss Hero has agreed, let's talk about the rent."

Zhen Qing: I take back what I just said—this fellow is still a broker.

"How much?"

"What's there to talk about money with Miss Hero? Since you're staying next door, when I need help with my medical practice you can come over promptly, and when I need care you can come over promptly as well."

"That's basically becoming a maid, isn't it?"

Zhen Qing furrowed her brows, gave a cold stare, and her angry face looked even more striking under the lamp.

Beside her, Su Tao also felt it was a bit excessive, and spoke up on behalf of her senior sister:

"Young Master Jiang, how can you rely on......"

Before Su Tao could finish, Jiang Yunzhou added:

"Oh right, Miss Su Tao, as a lone wandering ghost you need extra care when you go out, and I'll do my best to meet your requests when you're out and about."

Upon hearing this, Su Tao, who had no particular stance, turned her head and said:

"Senior sister, I think Young Master Jiang's request is fine—it's just helping out, which counts as doing good deeds."

"Wallflower! Young Master Jiang, let's still talk about the price."

"All right, then—1,000 taels per month."

"What? This shabby house costs 1,000 taels?"

Su Tao also tilted their head in shock.

Jiang Yunzhou casually took out from his sleeve the 500-tael silver note that Zhao Zhinan had paid in advance for buying a poem, and said:

"This is a fair price; just charging the princess for looking at her eye today is five hundred taels, staying next door and receiving my twelve hours of meticulous medical care costs one thousand taels for a heroine—this is absolutely a friend's price, okay!"

Zhen Qing really wanted to get up and leave directly, but they had already told Jiang Yunzhou all the information about the purpose of this trip, and both sides had also reached an agreement.

At a time like this, leaving in anger would naturally cause the cooperation just mentioned to fall through.

This person is doing it on purpose, right! They had already settled the cooperation earlier and now they're trying to negotiate terms with me.

Although I feel resentful at being ordered around, I don't know if it's because of the love gu, but just helping and even taking care of them, I surprisingly feel no disgust at all.

For now I'll agree to him, treating it as cultivation to temper my mind.

Taking a deep breath, suppressing all negative emotions, Zhen Qing looked up and said:

"Okay, I agree."

At least it's just verbal help and care; out of face, he couldn't really let himself......

"Great, please help tidy up the bowls and chopsticks here, heroine. I'm really tired, then I'll rest early; tomorrow I'm afraid there will be a lot to do."

"???"

That night, although Zhen Qing still felt some resentment, the distance with Jiang Yunzhou drew closer, and they were finally able to sleep well.

The irritation of the love gu burning through the body turned into the comfort of guiding the blood flow, with only occasional bouts of heat.

Jiang Yunzhou actually just wanted to bind more closely with this heroine, after all she is currently the only person who knows the Formless Dark Paper.

Of course, who would refuse free beautiful labor?

Early the next morning, the door to Jiang Yunzhou's small courtyard was knocked on.

And outside the door was Zou Zhen, who had come rushing over.

"So early, what's up, Brother Zou?"

"Qin Gui is dead."