Having learned fragmented pieces of information, Shi Buyu was not in a hurry to act; life went on as usual.

But living under the same roof, Yan Shian knew she hadn’t been reading many storybooks lately. Most of her time was spent at the innermost bookshelf, where he kept the collection of gathered intelligence from various sources.

Meanwhile, Qi Qi had already disappeared from the capital city according to plan. The mass grave was used once again to dump bodies, but no new information was gained. It was known that the person covering for Zhu Ling was a certain deputy general from the Forbidden Army, who in the dead of night disguised himself as a night incense vendor to smuggle corpses out of the city, stopping for a day not far from the mass grave before dumping the bodies there at night.

Digging deeper, it turned out to be someone from the Grand Tutor’s faction.

But with what had happened with Cheng Jing before, the two no longer jumped to conclusions easily. They kept investigating to verify if this person truly belonged to the Grand Tutor’s camp.

After some time, the study room in Shi Buyu’s courtyard had several large sheets of untrimmed xuan paper pinned to the walls — some with diagrams, others covered in dense handwriting. Occasionally, she would add another stroke to them.

Wan Xia pushed open the door and entered. “Miss, Young Master Qi Qi sent someone with a letter.”

Shi Buyu clicked her tongue. “Qi Qi surely isn’t inviting me to enjoy his sour poetry. I’m not going.”

“It looks like it’s Young Master Wu’s handwriting.”

Young Master Wu?

Shi Buyu quickly took the letter. The characters on the envelope indeed matched Young Master Wu’s handwriting, and the seal was intact — which meant Qi Qi hadn’t opened it.

She carefully slit it open with a small knife and pulled out the thin sheet of paper inside.

“小十二，近安。听小七说了你的近况，吾甚安心。你所问之事是愚兄所为，不必追查。京中表面平静，实则处处暗礁，不可大意。若遇难事不必退却，兄十一人皆是你的靠山。兄：旷景。”

“Xiao Twelve, greetings. I’ve heard from Xiao Qi about your recent situation, and I am very reassured. The matter you asked about was done by your foolish elder brother, no need to investigate. Though the capital appears calm on the surface, it is actually full of hidden dangers, so be vigilant. If you encounter difficulties, do not retreat — all eleven of us brothers are your backing. Brother, Kuang Jing.”

Shi Buyu read the letter over several times, then slowly smoothed out the folds and folded it back.

Wan Xia, standing nearby, saw this and smiled. “Miss, you can rest assured now.”

“It’s not him.” Shi Buyu shook her head slightly. “Young Master Wu never says extra words — that phrase ‘no need to investigate’ is superfluous.”

Wan Xia took the letter to read it again, and knowing Young Master Wu’s personality, agreed it was indeed unnecessary. But she added, “If Young Master Wu says so, then he’s on our side. Miss, you don’t have to worry about this.”

Shi Buyu walked over to look at the map silently, a vague guess forming in her mind.

Wan Xia lowered her head, glancing at the letter again. “Young Master Wu said the eleven brothers are your backing, doesn’t that mean…”

Here lay the question.

Shi Buyu looked at the new Xinfuzhen (New Axe Town) marked on the map in vermilion. Not all her brothers had come out into the world yet. Four still stayed with the White Beard, and the eldest among them, the Third Brother, was already over forty. She had once asked White Beard why he still didn’t allow Third Brother to leave; White Beard only said the time hadn’t come.

Young Master Wu’s words — has the time come? Is their stepping into the world connected to her? Or… connected to Yan Shian?

“A’Gu.”

Wan Xia walked behind her. “I’m here.”

“I think I have, somehow, stepped into the very center of this game.”

Wan Xia smiled, unable to hide her pride. “When are you not?”

Shi Buyu seemed to smile slightly. White Beard’s game was a large one, and he had placed her right at the vital point.

“Guess, after this is all done, will White Beard still dare to meet me?”

Wan Xia stifled a laugh. “For the sake of his beard and hair, he’d better hide from you.”

“Where can he hide? I’ve burned his old nest down.” Shi Buyu slammed the letter down on the desk and turned to leave.

Wan Xia walked to the door, watching the girl who went out to the covered walkway, sitting down and leaning on her arms. She started to understand something.

In this game of wits with the old master, it looked like the girl had lost — which was why she was upset now.

These moments were frequent; Wan Xia was used to it and expertly began to comfort her. “Manager Yan just brought fresh tuna. How about some sashimi for dinner?”

Shi Buyu raised a hand to nod. She decided to pretend to be angry more often from now on — that way, she could eat sashimi more times. Her knife skills were even better than Zhu’s family’s cook; the slices were truly as thin as cicada wings, and when eaten — wow — tender!

---

By early July, Shi Buyu had been in the capital for a month and a half, but all the ongoing investigations seemed stuck, with no progress at all.

Luo Bo was getting anxious and finally couldn’t hold back. “Young Master, are we perhaps overestimating her?”

“What do you mean by overestimating? Or underestimating?” Yan Shian dipped his brush in ink and continued writing. “We’ve been in the capital for years, have planted many spies, and have opened several routes, but how many achievements have we truly made? She’s only been here a short time. If she were the kind to rush for results, then yes, we’d be overestimating her. But she is patient, and I believe more in her ability to succeed. Compared to when I was her age, I’m not as good as her.”

“But we can’t just do nothing.”

“How do you know she’s doing nothing? Wan Xia has gone out several days in a row.” Yan Shian put down the brush. “We can wait.”

Just as they spoke, a report came from outside: “Miss Shi has arrived.”

Yan Shian glanced at Luo Bo. Luo Bo understood the warning in the look and quietly knelt to the side. He was getting anxious — after all, he was no longer young.

“Busy?” Shi Buyu knew the study well and went straight to sit opposite him.

“The autumn imperial exams are next month. The teacher gave some homework.” Yan Shian wiped his hands with a handkerchief and looked at her. From the day they met, she had always been calm and composed, never changed.

Seeing what she held, he asked, “What is this?”

Shi Buyu spread the drawing paper. “I tried to reconstruct the appearances of the seven people dumped at the mass grave and want to find some skilled artists to help paint several copies.”

“You want to investigate their identities?”

“Seven people dead in less than a month — that calculates to at least sixty or seventy dead per year.” Shi Buyu looked at the fully packed bookshelf. “To avoid panic, these people can’t all be from the capital. I wrote to acquaintances outside the city to inquire if any good-looking missing men or women had been reported. Just got a reply. There are some.”

She looked up to meet Yan Shian’s gaze. “The quick reply is because not long ago, an incident happened: a young girl selling embroidery in the street was abducted in broad daylight. Because she was pretty, many were interested, and they suspected each other, causing a big commotion and even alerting the officials.”

“You want to have them recognize these drawings to find families of missing children? Even if they really are their children, before Zhu Ling slips up, we still wouldn’t know who’s behind this. What use is it to us?”

“I have suspects.”

Yan Shian glanced at Luo Bo. He had said Shi Buyu would never do nothing.

Pressing his hand on the sketches, Yan Shian didn’t ask who she suspected but said, “I will have more copies made and order our men to investigate.”

“Send your men beyond Luxi County.”

Again, Luxi County.

The rebellious river pirates were in Luxi County; the dock where Shi’s family left, and the mountain hideout where they hid — all were in Luxi County.

Yan Shian felt that in this county, there must be people Shi Buyu was very familiar with.