Ch. 11.2

Originally, Murong Feng was about to speak, but he began to lift his eyes up, and laughed a bit first. Yi Liankai said to Qin Sang: "It's the middle of the night and the people who have arrived are all exhausted. Bring them away to eat a bowl of hot wontons. Do not leave anyone upstairs."

Qin Sang had not spoken when Pan Jianchi had already said: "Master, this is not secure&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;"

Yi Liankai spoke: "This place is, in effect, surrounded by guards. What is so insecure about it? You shall withdraw and wait on your Mistress. Do not allow the shopkeeper to become suspicious."

Pan Jianchi had no choice, so he obliged and took Qin Sang's overcoat as he followed her out. Qin Sang was still natural and unrestrained. As she brought everyone downstairs, she met the two shopkeepers as they stood there. Thus, she smiled at them and said: "Excuse me. Today, these people have come out with me, and the night is cold. Make some wonton soup for them."

The two shopkeepers had already heard that this was Master Yi's wife. Seeing her speaking so amiably, they could not help but become overwhelmed by favor from their superior.¹ Thus, they spoke: "Madam, you may dispatch people down with a word. We will immediately go tell the kitchen to make it."

After a period of time had pa.s.sed, about ten bowls of wontons were pa.s.sed over. The guards all sat down and consumed their midnight snack.

¹ 受寵若驚 shòuchǒng ruò jīng: be overwhelmed by an unexpected favour; feel extremely flattered. If you’re not reading this at MerakiTranslations, you’re supporting bootleg websites that steal and reproduce our work without consent.

Qin Sang merely acted as if she was speaking to the two shopkeepers. She praised the wontons that they had made with expert skill and spoke airily of borrowing their chef for a few hours to work at the Yi residence. Those two shopkeepers laughed until their eyes became narrow slits. In succession, they spoke: "Madam, it is our shop's good fortune for you to look upon our humble craftsmans.h.i.+p. What borrowing do you speak of? Madam, whenever you want to employ someone, please feel free to dispatch people to come instruct us. I will tell them to go to your residence to wait upon you. I absolutely dare not delay Madam's proper business."

Thereupon Qin Sang smiled: "What proper business do you speak of? I only have dealings with my friends and relatives once in a while. They are always fed up with their own cooks, and thus borrow business from other great companies. It can be considered nothing more than changing up a person's preferences."

The two shopkeepers followed along with her words and spoke some more compliments. Qin Sang gossiped with them while being mindful of Pan Jianchi. Sure enough, he took unusual note of the activity upstairs.

Qin Sang thought: could it be that he had not dispelled his intention to a.s.sa.s.sinate Murong Feng? Simply, Murong Feng had come down to the South, and all were aware that if any mishaps were to occur, this matter could certainly become huge. Murong Chen only had one son, as he placed importance on the people's expectations. When the moment came, light fighting was most certainly a hair's breadth apart from the calamity which would befall Jiangzuo, and from creating chaos among the people.² She had to think of a way to hinder him. However, hindering him was easy, but she also had to make sure Yi Liankai was unaware of any mistakes. That was rather hard.

² 生靈塗炭 shēnglíng tútàn: people are in a terrible situation (idiom). Please consider reading from MerakiTranslations rather than from novelsc.r.a.ping sites. Thank you.

Her heart mulled over this, only then hearing Yi Liankai calling for someone. Thus, Pan Jianchi replied, and brought people upstairs.

Qin Sang planned for a while as she stood there. But then, she saw that Yi Liankai had already brought people back down.

Seeing her there, Yi Liankai said: "The bas.e.m.e.nt of this building is steeped in coldness. How come you are not even wearing your overcoat?" Someone had pa.s.sed her overcoat over a long time ago, so Yi Liankai personally put it on for her. The aide-de-camp paid the bill and also bestowed a few dollars in the bill. Those two shopkeepers were naturally very polite as they escorted them off. After seeing them enter their cars, they even bowed.

At this time, it was midnight. The roads in the city were extremely quiet. Only the car lights illuminated the snowflakes as they fell silently. Qin Sang's state of mind was extremely weary. The car was also very warm. She was almost about to fall asleep.

Yi Liankai lightly pulled on her lapel, originally wanting to help her b.u.t.ton up her coat. Contrary to what he expected, she awoke, opened her eyes and gazed at him.

Yi Liankai saw that she had awoken and thus gently chided her: "The lunar new year is almost here. The residence at Changye has been empty for this whole half year. I am thinking of how we should dispatch people to go over and take a look."

Qin Sang heard his puzzling words and thus softly spoke: "Why not dispatch Zhu Ma to go and take a look?"

Yi Liankai hesitated for a moment and said: "Let's put off this discussion until a few days later."

Though he had said this, Yi Liankai had much official business to attend to so he left early the next morning. When Qin Sang awoke, she thought of his words. Indeed, the more she thought about it, the more she felt was amiss. This day, Murong Feng raised the issue of returning to Chengzhou. Therefore, Jiang Jinyi arranged a feast for him. The excitement continued for two days before Murong Feng finally got onto a s.h.i.+p at the dock at Lake Fu. Later, he went by car up to Fuzhou then returned to the North by railway.

In response to Murong Feng's journey, the newspapers all felt that it was futile to make a round trip³ as he had achieved nothing.⁴ In Qin Sang's heart she understood that Murong Feng and Yi Liankai had conversed alone indefinitely to reach some agreement. With Murong Feng's departure, Qin Sang imperceptibly released a breath because Pan Jianchi was now incapable of acting against Murong Feng. No matter what, a scene of disturbance had already been avoided.

Yi Liankai had originally a.s.signed Pan Jianchi to follow her, but ever since his "serious injury", Pan Jianchi had not appeared in public. The guards all said that Adjutant Pan was recuperating.

³ 徒勞往返 túláo wǎng-fǎn: make a futile journey; hurry back and forth for nothing. If you’re not reading this at tranzgeek(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com, you’re supporting bootleg sites that steal and reproduce our work without our consent.

⁴ 一事無成 yī shì wú chéng: accomplish nothing; get nowhere. Please consider reading from tranzgeek(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com instead of from novelsc.r.a.ping sites. Thank you.

Qin Sang knew that his wound was not heavy. However, by evading the issue like this, it was very likely that Yi Liankai had given him a secret a.s.signment to complete.

Translated by Tranzgeek

Minor editing by 12