Qiu Kui had already set up a charcoal basin for Jiang Yanyi in the room.

She wore a padded jacket over her skirt and rubbed her hands together, exhaling vapor as she said, “Hua Hua, it’s snowing, and it’s so cold.”

Since starting the shop with Jiang Yanyi, Qiu Kui had been eating well and sleeping soundly.

She had noticeably gained weight, and the winter clothes Jiang Yanyi had bought for her earlier were now a bit tight, making it inconvenient for her to work.

“I’ll have Chen Niangzi make you a thicker winter coat later. You should go back and sleep now; we’ll have a lot to do tomorrow,” Jiang Yanyi said, rummaging through the room to find a pair of knee pads.

These knee pads were originally made for Chu Changping, but with Feng Shuo’s birthday today, she didn’t have time to prepare any expensive gifts, so she could only make do with this.

Though not valuable, they were handmade by her, lined with rabbit fur for extra warmth.

“Aren’t you going to sleep yet, Hua Hua?” Qiu Kui asked while yawning.

“I’m just finishing the soup I need for tomorrow. You go ahead and sleep,” Jiang Yanyi said, placing the knee pads on the bedside.

Jiang Yanyi made soup every night, and Qiu Kui didn’t suspect anything.

She just thought, “What does Hua Hua need the knee pads for?”

“I’ll sew up these last two stitches while I check the fire. Having something to do will help keep me awake.”

“Then I’ll sleep first. Hua Hua, don’t stay up too late. If you need help, just call me.” As she spoke, Qiu Kui yawned again and turned to return to her own room.

Perhaps feeling a bit guilty, Jiang Yanyi sighed in relief as she watched Qiu Kui leave.

Now that the weather had turned cold, she placed a charcoal basin in her room and had moved the parrot into her space.

At this hour, the parrot was already asleep on a small branch in its cage.

Jiang Yanyi tossed a grain of rice into its food trough, but it merely fluttered its eyelids before continuing to sleep.

Seeing the parrot inevitably made her think of its owner, and a smile unconsciously appeared on Jiang Yanyi’s lips.

She wrapped up the knee pads and placed them on the table corner, then closed the door and headed to the kitchen.

Before kneading the dough, Jiang Yanyi first simmered a soup of scallops, pork ribs, and bamboo fungus in a clay pot.

The scallops enhanced the flavor, and the bamboo fungus, known as one of the “Eight Delicacies,” had high nutritional and medicinal value.

The soup would serve as the base for the longevity noodles, rich and fragrant, and the flavor was naturally exceptional.

The reason longevity noodles are called “longevity noodles” is that the noodles are a single continuous strand and cannot be broken in the middle.

Jiang Yanyi’s dough-kneading skills were impeccable.

She could always get the texture and strength just right, and mastering the basic technique in kneading dough was about being able to stretch it thin enough to resemble a strand of hair.

While Jiang Yanyi had this skill, there was no need to show off by making the noodles that thin for everyday dishes.

The soup needed some time to simmer, and Jiang Yanyi worried Feng Shuo might come too early and find nothing to eat.

After she finished making the noodles, she kept an ear out for any sounds outside.

However, aside from the occasional distant bark of a dog, there were only sounds from the patrolling guards passing by.

Feng Shuo had said he would come; could it be that he was just trying to coax her back and tricking her?

Jiang Yanyi glanced at the bubbling clay pot on the stove and felt a bit flustered.

---

In the Feng residence dungeon.

A gust of wind blew in through the skylight, causing the oil lamp hanging on the wall to flicker.

A figure in black stealthily approached and stopped in front of the cell where Fan Yaonian was imprisoned.

Fan Yaonian had been severely punished and was curled up in a pile of straw, disheveled and dirty.

Upon noticing someone outside the cell, he was first startled, but when the figure in black pulled down their mask, his expression turned to wild joy.

His feet were bloodied, and unable to stand, he almost crawled toward the cell door, pleading, “Quick, get me out of here!”

The man in black looked at him with eyes as if he were a lifeless object.

Sensing the other party’s indifference, Fan Yao Nian quickly realized something was off, a flicker of terror crossing his eyes: “No… it’s impossible… The emperor still needs to rely on the Fan family; he wouldn’t kill me…”

He pushed himself up, trying to retreat, but the man in black tightly grasped the iron chain around him.

Fan Yaonian was dragged back like a dead dog, the cold iron chain, tainted with the smell of blood, coiling around his neck.

“Save—”

He had only managed to shout one word when the man in black suddenly tightened the chain.

Grasping the chain around his neck with one hand and reaching back to claw at the man in black with the other, he opened his mouth but could not make a sound.

A wave of whiteness washed over his vision, and his strength to scratch faded.

In his last desperate attempt, he accidentally tore a token off the man in black.

At that moment, chaotic footsteps echoed from outside the dungeon: “An assassin has infiltrated the dungeon!”

Fan Yaonian was now completely motionless.

The man in black, in a panic, glanced outside, reached out to check Fan Yaonian’s breath, confirming he was truly dead before retreating.

The guards rushed into the cell, only to see Fan Yaonian’s neck wrapped in an iron chain, lifeless.

Having dealt with Fan Yaonian, the man in black headed straight for the western courtyard of the Feng residence.

After crossing this courtyard, there was another target waiting to be eliminated.

However, upon entering the western courtyard, the man in black abruptly halted, staring at the person sitting in the pavilion as if facing a formidable enemy.

He weighed his options for a moment, then turned to flee, but Xing Yao had already brought the guards to seal off all escape routes, with archers stationed on the other two walls as well.

Tonight was a trap set for the emperor.

The man in black, like a cornered beast, was driven to desperation.

His eyes filled with hatred, he dashed straight toward the wall that separated Jiang Yanyi’s courtyard from the western courtyard.

If he could scale that wall and capture the Jiang woman, there would still be a glimmer of hope.

His lightness of foot was extraordinary.

Just as he prepared to leap over the wall, a teacup lid was suddenly thrown from the pavilion, striking him squarely on the back.

Though the lid was smooth and not sharp, at that moment, it pierced through skin like a weapon, delivering a force that felt as if it shattered his spine.

The man in black fell straight down, crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

The snow was falling heavily, and by this time, a thin layer had already accumulated on the ground.

Blood poured from beneath the man in black, staining the snow a vivid red.

Feng Shuo walked slowly out of the pavilion, glancing at the lifeless man in black.

Xing Yao stepped forward, handing Feng Shuo a token: “Master, this person is an imperial guard.”

The cold wind had blown for quite a while today, and Feng Shuo coughed softly, covering his mouth: “The Fan family’s eyes have certainly seen this.”

Xing Yao nodded: “I’m afraid that at this moment, the emperor has dispatched someone to assassinate Fan Yaonian, and the message is already on its way to the capital.”

Feng Shuo replied, “Let them fight among themselves for a while.”

Fan Yaonian had fallen into his hands, and Xie Zhizhou was already imprisoned.

The Turkic prince was currently under tight pursuit.

How could the new emperor not be anxious?

If Fan Yaonian revealed that colluding with the Turkic people was the new emperor’s order, the new emperor’s throne would be truly unstable.

The only way was to ensure that Fan Yaonian could no longer speak.

The new emperor wanted Fan Yaonian dead, but Fan Wei had already lost his younger son.

If his eldest son died too, he would be left with no sons and would naturally seek ways to protect his remaining son.

If Fan Wei saw that it was the new emperor who killed Fan Yaonian, the hatred of losing two sons would make it difficult for him to remain loyal to the new emperor.

Once chaos erupted in the capital, the new emperor would be too preoccupied to extend his influence to the western province, allowing his people to seize the opportunity to rescue the Chu family and Jiang’s mother and son amidst the turmoil.

…….

While waiting for the soup to simmer, Jiang Yanyi brought the knee pads to the stove and embroidered a few delicate cloud patterns on them.

When a loud noise suddenly came from outside the courtyard wall, she was startled.

She listened intently for a moment, but no further sounds followed.

Feeling uneasy, she took the lantern and went outside to check around.

Qiu Kui always slept soundly; in her own words, even a thunderstorm at midnight wouldn’t wake her.

So this noise hadn’t disturbed Qiu Kui.

Not finding anything unusual, Jiang Yanyi returned to the kitchen.

The soup was nearly ready.

Jiang Yanyi was unsure if Feng Shuo would come, but noticing there was still an hour and a half until midnight, she decided to continue making the noodles.

Whether he came or not was his business; cooking was her way of showing her feelings.

After boiling the noodles in clean water, she scooped them into a large bowl with the scallop, pork rib, and bamboo fungus soup as the base.

She topped it with a fried egg, a few blanched greens, and a sprinkle of chopped scallions, completing a bowl of longevity noodles.

Still, Feng Shuo hadn’t arrived, and Jiang Yanyi couldn’t help but run to the front of the shop to peek outside through the slightly opened door.

Could it be that Feng Shuo had already come and she just hadn’t heard him knocking while she was in the kitchen?

As various thoughts raced through her mind, she realized what it felt like to miss someone.

Not having waited for Feng Shuo, she walked back feeling a bit disappointed.

As she passed through the courtyard, she suddenly noticed a figure standing on the wall.

Raising her oil lamp for a closer look, she saw the figure was dressed in a python robe with a jade belt—none other than Feng Shuo.

Feng Shuo hadn’t expected to run into Jiang Yanyi while climbing over the wall.

Feeling a bit awkward, he lightly jumped down to the ground and coughed, saying, “I’m trying to be discreet by coming over like this.”

Jiang Yanyi glanced at his clean, elegant cloak and quickly noticed it wasn’t the one he had been wearing before.

Holding the oil lamp, her expression was somewhat complicated.

Could that loud noise earlier have been him accidentally falling while climbing the wall?

Was that why he went back to change his clothes?