Daili woke up and overheard some gossip at Lin Erniang's doorway:
Last night, there was a major search through the guesthouses of the commandery, apparently because the commandery office was looking for a fugitive.
Street rumors were plentiful as always. Some claimed with certainty that the authorities were searching for a female fugitive, a woman with dark skin and an ugly face, frightening enough to make children cry.
As for her crime, it seemed she had stolen a precious family heirloom from a noble, hence the warrant.
Daili held a bowl of porridge but had lost her appetite, her heart sinking steadily.
It sounded very much like Qin Shaozong had come looking.
Regardless, it was best not to go out these days. Fortunately, Lin Erniang, planning to focus on seclusion in the coming days, had bought three days' worth of groceries yesterday, so there was no need to venture out today.
Daili stayed indoors at Lin Erniang's house for two days, playing with Lin Erniang's four-year-old child, Shangnu.
Lin Erniang lived in a commoners' district, a place somewhat like a later-era urban village. Almost every household had a single-courtyard home, and the houses were relatively close together. Standing by the Li family's courtyard wall, one could hear the conversations of the Wang family next door.
Daili had planned to stay in on the third day as well, but after finishing breakfast and taking a stroll in the courtyard, she suddenly heard voices from the other side of the wall:
"When I went to the East Market today, I saw the east city gate is still heavily guarded from afar. It seems that female thief hasn't been caught yet. Who knows how long this search will go on?"
"It should end soon. Speaking of which, about an hour ago, I saw soldiers heading toward Hemin Street with household registers. They're probably going door-to-door for verification. Once they finish that area, it'll be our turn. Screening every household like this without missing a spot, how could they not catch that female thief?"
"Notices are posted in the city offering rewards for any information about the female thief..."
Daili lowered her gaze, turned, and went back inside. She said to Lin Erniang, who was engrossed in her embroidery, "Madam Lin, I'm going out to look for my elder brother. I'll be back by dusk at the latest, no need to prepare dinner for me."
Shangnu also wanted to go out; he wished to find his friend Tieshuan at the end of the street to fight crickets.
Daili gently nudged the child back inside. "Be a good boy and stay home, Shangnu. If you stay home today, Auntie will bring you a flatbread when she returns."
Hearing there would be food, Shangnu nodded repeatedly.
Daili put on a veil hat and went out.
Yesterday, while chatting with Lin Erniang, she had already inquired about the general layout of this area.
The streets here crisscrossed, somewhat like a zigzag shape. Lin Erniang's house was at the easternmost end, while the Hemin Street mentioned by the neighbor was on the western side.
Daili walked into an eastern alley. Just as she was about to exit the alley mouth, she suddenly spotted a group of people ahead.
Among them was actually a familiar face.
It was that square-faced soldier captain; Daili remembered his name was Hu Bao.
So it was indeed Qin Shaozong who had come!
Daili's breath hitched. She immediately pulled back, turned without hesitation, and headed into another alley. Turning left and right, she narrowly avoided another group of people and finally left the commoners' residential area.
Although the city's thief hunt was causing quite a stir, daily life for the common people was largely unaffected. Shops operated as usual, and vendors still peddled their wares by the roadside.
The streets were bustling with people. Apart from the occasional patrols of soldiers passing through, everything else seemed normal.
Daili entered an upscale teahouse, paid for a small private room on the second floor by the window.
The young attendant left after setting down a tray of dried melon slices and closing the door.
Daili took off her veil hat, opened the window just a palm's width, and then began to brew tea.
Teahouses were places for conversation and gossip; one could hear all sorts of rumors here. If one had the money for a private room, sitting idly for an entire afternoon was perfectly acceptable.
People came and went on the street. Daili had intended to observe the frequency of soldier patrols, but instead, she saw... Qin Shaozong.
Daili's hand holding the teacup shook, spilling tea onto the table.
On the street.
Qin Shaozong and Mo Yanyun were strolling through the market.
"My Lord, it seems the conflict between Yan Province and Qing Province is fierce, and this battle won't end quickly. Otherwise, river pirates wouldn't have ventured near Zhuya Ford," Mo Yanyun remarked with a sigh.
Qin Shaozong said, "The friction between them had been long-standing; an open conflict was only a matter of time. This time, using the Green Lotus Sect as a pretext, it's just the right opportunity..."
Suddenly, he stopped walking.
Mo Yanyun asked, puzzled, "My Lord?"
The imposing man in black robes stood at the crossroads, his gaze sweeping from east to west—the vendor smiling behind his stall as he collected payment, the group of children playing with mud by the alley entrance, the teahouse attendant welcoming guests inside...
Each scene entered his eyes, imprinted in his mind like frozen paintings.
The bustling market had many shops. Eateries and teahouses had their doors wide open, with people coming and going. Buildings with two stories were everywhere. Some private room windows were opened wide to let in sunlight, some were tightly shut as if unused, and others were only open a crack the width of a palm.
Everything seemed normal, utterly unremarkable.
"My Lord?" Receiving no response, Mo Yanyun called again, "What is it? Is something amiss?"
Qin Shaozong turned and beckoned to the commandery office guards following at a distance. "Search this area. Focus on eateries and teahouses. Ask the attendants if there are any private rooms used by a single person, or by two or three people."
The guards acknowledged the order, scattered, and quickly headed toward different shops.
"My Lord, you think she would come out onto the streets?" Mo Yanyun was astonished, his first reaction being it was unlikely. "The thief hunt is all the rage in the commandery now. Not only are the common folk discussing it fervently, but patrols have also increased severalfold. Lady Dai must know you are searching for her. How would she dare show her face?"
Qin Shaozong gave a cold laugh. "What wouldn't she dare? Beneath that fox's skin lies the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard. There's nothing she wouldn't dare do."
Mo Yanyun knew his superior was still simmering with anger. Only by apprehending the culprit could those ever-rising flames be quelled.
...
A little over a quarter of an hour later.
A soldier hurried back. "My Lord, a private room at the Jade Bamboo Teahouse matches the description. Furthermore, an attendant in the main hall said the guest who booked the room was a woman alone, wearing a veil hat when she entered, making her features hard to distinguish."
As he spoke, the soldier gestured a height. "The attendant also said she was about this tall, roughly seven chi and three cun. The height matches."
Qin Shaozong abruptly looked toward the building to the side.
Jade Bamboo Teahouse.
Mo Yanyun quickly asked, "Are the front and back doors of the teahouse covered?"
The soldier nodded immediately. "The lady's room is on the second floor. I've already stationed two men to guard each staircase. Unless she jumps out the window or grows wings, there's absolutely no way for her to leave."
Qin Shaozong strode into the Jade Bamboo Teahouse. The attendants and the manager all wanted to approach, but were stopped by the soldiers. "Just have the attendant who served her come forward."
The teahouse had two staircases, their entrances located on either side of the main door like two massive arms encircling the building.
Qin Shaozong casually chose one to ascend, the tea attendant following behind him, speaking as they walked. "That female guest arrived alone roughly half an hour ago and ordered the 'Blossoming Wealth and Honor' tea set. When this humble one entered the private room a second time with the tea set, her veil hat was still on. At the time, I merely thought her character shy and retiring. How could I have guessed she might be the female thief..."
The entire city was searching for someone. In principle, a thief should lie low, so why would one brazenly stroll the streets?
"Creak—"
With a push of his hand, Qin Shaozong abruptly opened the unlocked door to the private room.
It was a small room, barely five paces from the door to the window. With no screen inside, everything was visible at a glance.
A window open just a palm's width, a tea cauldron boiling water, some scattered dried melon strips, a small incense burner in the corner, and a low table with a small puddle of moisture on its surface.
Everything was there, except for a person.
Mo Yanyun was dumbfounded. He immediately turned to ask the soldier who had earlier thumped his chest guaranteeing he'd guarded the staircase, "Where is she?"
"She runs faster than a rabbit." Qin Shaozong clicked his tongue lightly.
"I... I really had men guard the staircases immediately," the soldier stammered, his face flushing red. He had secured the staircases first, then rushed back to report his success, so he hadn't had time to verify the situation upstairs.
Mo Yanyun thought to himself that these soldiers from Taiping Commandery were all useless fools, unable to handle even this small task properly, letting the Marquis get his hopes up for nothing.
Qin Shaozong suddenly furrowed his long brows. "There's a medicinal smell?"
Mo Yanyun was taken aback, sniffing hard, but only caught the faint fragrance drifting from the incense burner.
"She hasn't been gone long and surely can't have gone far. Keep searching," Qin Shaozong ordered.
...
The moment she saw Qin Shaozong, Dai Li knew things had gone wrong.
This feeling was hard to describe precisely, like a taut string in her mind humming and vibrating, making it impossible for her to stay seated.
Her previous successful attempts at deceiving him had all relied on Qin Shaozong's belief that she would inevitably cling to his lofty branch. Under that blind assumption, many things remained unclear to him, allowing her to slip past.
But times had changed. Dai Li dared not relax for even a moment, so she swiftly left through the teahouse's back door.
This area was all shops. Dai Li walked and hid, her main strategy being to move against the expected flow. Perhaps her demeanor was too leisurely, or perhaps, like the tea attendant, many people thought a female thief would be busy hiding, not swaggering down the street.
In any case, Dai Li traversed two streets unharmed.
She went to each of the four city gates in turn, seeing from a distance that the guards at each had doubled compared to the day before yesterday when she entered the city.
There was no leaving for now.
Dai Li sighed and turned back. She had been wandering outside for two hours, and now dusk was approaching. She figured the area around Lin Erniang's place had probably been searched by now.
Returning now might be just right.
It would be false to say she wasn't worried at all, but if she didn't go back to Lin Erniang's, where else could she go?
Her travel pass bore the name "Dai Li," which couldn't be changed. Using that pass at an official hostel would be no different from turning herself in.
A faint sense of regret stirred within Dai Li. Had she known it would come to this, she shouldn't have disembarked at Taiping Commandery in the first place, and she resented the infrequent ferry schedule at Riyue Crossing.
After buying a flatbread from a street stall, Dai Li entered the alleyways. Bathed in the warm, lingering glow of the setting sun, she turned left and right, making her way back to Lin Erniang's home.
When she had left earlier, she had encountered two patrols in quick succession, nearly running right into them. Yet the return journey was strangely smooth all the way.
She didn't run into a single soldier.
That was a good thing.
"Knock, knock." Dai Li rapped on the door.
The door opened quickly. Lin Erniang stood behind it and smiled. "You're back!"
Perhaps it was because of the veil hat, or because the orientation of the house kept the evening sun from falling on Lin Erniang, but Dai Li felt the woman before her seemed somewhat unfamiliar at this moment.
Dai Li nodded and entered the house, carrying the flatbread wrapped in straw paper. "Where's Shangnu? I promised to buy him a flatbread before I left. It's still a bit warm; he should eat it while it is."
"Tieshuan from next door came by earlier looking for Shangnu, insisting they go out to play together," Lin Erniang explained.
Dai Li paused, handed the flatbread to Lin Erniang, and only then removed her veil hat. "Then he can eat it when he returns."
She had handed over the bread, but even after removing her hat, Dai Li didn't hear Lin Erniang's footsteps retreating. She looked up, meeting the other woman's eyes directly.
When they first met, Lin Erniang had been startled by the "black flame birthmark" on her face. Afterward, she had largely avoided looking directly at Dai Li, even when speaking, keeping her gaze on Dai Li's collar or letting it drift elsewhere.
This was the first time the other woman was staring at her so intently.
Feeling somewhat strange inside, Dai Li showed nothing on her face, merely returning the look with a smile. "What is it?"
"It's nothing. I just wanted to ask if you'd like fish for dinner tonight? The fish in the water vat won't keep much longer," Lin Erniang hastily averted her eyes.
Dai Li was stunned. That sense of strangeness suddenly intensified. She had clearly told Lin Erniang before leaving not to prepare a meal for her tonight.
Why was she asking if she wanted fish for dinner...
Dai Li shifted her gaze to the courtyard. Her original intention was to look at the earthenware vat where the fish were kept, to see how they were "not keeping well."
Yet, that casual glance felt like an ice-cold arrow shooting forth abruptly, piercing through her chest and pinning her rigidly in place.
Lin Erniang lived in the "city village," and most who resided here were of modest means. Their homes were single-courtyard houses with plain tile roofs, only slightly better than thatched huts.
Being financially strained, money was naturally spent on essentials. Therefore, many households, including Lin Erniang's, had courtyards without paved bricks.
The ground was simply packed earth, which would become muddy and difficult after rain. If the weather stayed clear, it wasn't too unsightly.
But regardless, anyone walking on it would leave footprints, deep or shallow.
And now, a series of footprints appeared in the courtyard.
There were only two women and one young boy in the house. None of the three of them could have made such broad, long footprints, let alone the fact that these prints were chaotic and dense, impossible for a single person to leave.
Dai Li felt her muscles trembling and spasming, her skin becoming hypersensitive. A mere cool breeze brushing past made her heart pound with fright.
She whirled around and strode rapidly towards the outside without a word.
"Creak—"
She pulled open the two wooden leaves of the door. From the moment the crack appeared, the first thing revealed was a swath of black.
At this moment, the scene seemed to slow down immeasurably. A cool wind lifted the hem of the towering man's black robe outside the door, like a vicious tiger raising its sharp claws, or a warrior's prelude to drawing his blade.
The sky seemed to suddenly darken, then was torn asunder by a claw-like flash of white lightning. Dai Li's pupils trembled with the crash of thunder, the color draining completely from her face.