Chapter 34

That shadowy figure rose like the tide beneath a moonlit night, gradually submerging Dai Li. In a fleeting moment, as if awakening from a dream, she hastily retreated two steps, moving herself out of the shadow's enveloping reach.

"How did you come to be here?" Dai Li initiated the conversation.

Her voice was soft and calm, the momentary panic that had flashed across her face now nowhere to be seen.

Dai Li had assumed Qin Shaozong would say something about the room being stuffy, prompting him to stroll outside, or perhaps that he had stepped out to relieve himself—safe topics that wouldn't disrupt the delicate balance.

But just as she had never imagined he would pursue her all the way to Taiping County back then, she now equally failed to anticipate...

"I came for you, my lady," the man's voice was low, carrying a hint of huskiness from the wine.

He didn't bother with trivialities, instead pinning the topic squarely on her. In the darkness, Qin Shaozong's brown eyes were far deeper than usual, like a vortex in the deep sea capable of swallowing a person whole.

Dai Li's breath hitched slightly, her sensitive nerves humming a warning, as if even the night breeze brushing her face had turned several degrees sharper. "I... I have eaten my fill and wish to return to rest. The banquet is not yet over; your subordinates must be waiting for you to preside. You should hurry back."

With that, Dai Li turned to leave.

As her sleeves fluttered, poised to slip away like a darting fish, a large, calloused hand reached out and precisely grasped her fair, soft hand hidden beneath her sleeve.

His fingers splayed, making his palm seem even broader, almost completely enveloping hers.

Qin Shaozong retracted his arm, easily pulling her into his embrace. The hand that had been holding hers loosened, only to circle her slender waist instead. "In all the land, those whose status surpasses mine can be counted on one hand. Why, my lady, do you resist me so?"

The world bustles, all for profit; the world hustles, all for gain. Qin Shaozong had always been acutely aware that many fawned over and attached themselves to him precisely because he was the head of the Qin clan, the Marquis of Wu'an enfeoffed by the imperial court, the man with the greatest influence in the northern territories—because the power in his hands could bring them benefits.

There was no reason to be annoyed by this, nor any need to take it to heart. After all, he likewise used and directed these followers, making them run his errands to seek even greater gains for himself.

In essence, it was a transaction.

He considered himself a man who never mistreated women. So why did she reject him time and again?

Dai Li was forced to turn, now facing Qin Shaozong. They stood extremely close, near enough for her to clearly smell the strong scent of wine on him.

He had drunk quite a lot at the banquet. He might not be as clear-headed as usual, or perhaps—

He was intentionally or unintentionally indulging his own actions.

The latter was more dangerous, for it meant he was fully aware of what he was doing from start to finish.

Dai Li raised a hand to press against his robust chest, preventing him from drawing closer. "Everyone has their own preferences. Some favor fine swords and despise paintings and calligraphy, while others are the exact opposite."

Qin Shaozong fell silent for a moment, then suddenly remarked, "Was your former husband, then, a scholar too weak to truss a chicken?"

Dai Li: "..."

There was no moon tonight. Dai Li was enveloped within his shadow, the surroundings dim, but it didn't hinder Qin Shaozong from seeing her expression clearly.

He chuckled abruptly, sounding rather pleased. "When you were in Taiping County, you told me you lived there with your young son. Your words made no mention of a husband. I surmise he is most likely no longer among the living."

As a man, if one possessed a great beauty of such breathtaking loveliness, one would never let her have the chance to leave.

Dai Li's pupils contracted slightly. She knew he was sharp, but this kind of insight—piecing together a rough picture from just a few careless words of others—was truly terrifying.

"He has not passed away. The reason I didn't mention him before was solely because we had a quarrel. My anger hadn't subsided, so I didn't speak of him at the time," Dai Li insisted, refusing to admit it.

Qin Shaozong offered no comment on this, leaving it unclear whether he believed her or not. He took the delicate hand pressed against his chest, his thumb rubbing heavily against the fine skin on the inside of her wrist. "My lady wishes to find your son. I can undertake that task. Back then, on the bed, you told me I must help you find him. If it was possible then, why is it not possible now?"

Dai Li couldn't help but regret uttering those few hasty words at the time. She tried to pull her hand free but couldn't, and anxiety began to rise.

Initially, she had thought that forging the dragon-bone waterwheel into a muzzle and fitting it onto this vicious tiger, then dangling a piece of rich meat before him, would be akin to dangling a carrot before a donkey—making him work for her.

But the plan had deviated somewhat from reality.

A vicious tiger, after all, is a vicious tiger. He was cunning and unpredictable, with a profound, scheming mind, worlds apart from a docile donkey.

Perhaps it was because women of this era generally lacked access to education, and because he had personally heard her say the creator of the square-pallet chain pump was named Ma Jun, not Dai Li herself. Thus, even though she promised a reward and specifically guided the description of that reward towards something beneficial to his regime, he still remained somewhat unconvinced.

It was like hiking in the modern wilderness when suddenly a stranger appears, telling you there are ten tons of gold hidden in a cave on the mountain ahead, urging you to hurry and bring it home to make your fortune. He shows you a gold ring as proof.

Do you believe it, or not?

Most likely, you don't.

In a socialist environment, not only are all mineral resources state-owned, but even if there were a gold deposit, it couldn't possibly exist in a place that isn't truly remote—as if the prospectors were incompetent.

Yet Dai Li understood perfectly well that she absolutely must not, due to his suspicion, blurt out everything she knew at once. The situation awaiting her then would be nothing short of a nightmare.

Dai Li's heart gradually tightened. "My lord, when I said earlier that if you had news of my son, I would surely repay you handsomely, those words were no empty promise. Countless young ladies in this land admire you. Among the dancers at the banquet just now, which one would not be willing to offer you pleasure and charm if it pleased you? Why must you endure the cold shoulder from another?"

With one of his arms circling her waist and the other gripping her wrist, Dai Li's only free limb was her left hand. But she dared not struggle forcefully now, fearing it might provoke the ferocious nature of this tiger.

Qin Shaozong gave a slight smile and was about to speak when he suddenly heard voices in the distance.

"Where has the lord gone?"

"Seems to be near the gardens. What do you need him for?"

"An urgent letter from Yuyang has arrived. I must present it to him immediately."

...

The smile in Qin Shaozong's eyes deepened. He looked down at the woman in his arms. "My lady, a letter has come from Yuyang."

Dai Li didn't possess his keen hearing. From the distant voices, she only caught fragments—"the lord," "gardens," "present it"—but couldn't make out the specifics.

Now, hearing him mention Yuyang, Dai Li was stunned.

She remembered him saying his ancestral home was in Yuyang, and remembered even more clearly that today he had mentioned a branch of the Qin family that had moved to Yangzhou years ago. He had already sent a message back to Yuyang to have that branch's movements investigated, and said they would receive a reply in at most another day.

Had the reply... arrived already?!

"Quick, go and get it." In her excitement, Daili completely forgot all else. She used her left hand to push aside his large palm, then grabbed the area near the girdle at his waist, trying to make him turn around.

Qin Shaozong raised a brow slightly, turning with her motion and taking two steps forward under her pushing force. "Why is my lady in such a hurry? That letter won't grow legs and run away."

Daili retorted, "The letter won't run, but the soldier carrying it might. Please hurry."

She told him to hurry, yet he seemed to do the opposite, slowing down deliberately, moving lazily, taking only one step for each of her pushes.

Daili gritted her teeth secretly, thinking this man was utterly detestable.

However, the delay wasn't long, as Qin Shaozong soon returned to normal because the soldier carrying the letter found them.

"My Lord, a letter from Yuyang." The soldier presented the letter with both hands.

Qin Shaozong took it.

The soldier's eyes flickered quickly to the side, catching a glimpse of the person beside him, then wisely took his leave.

After the soldier departed, the surroundings returned to silence. The earlier undercurrent that had been so unnerving seemed to swell again with the departure of the third party.

Both now faced the carved standing candlestick. Daili clearly saw the wax seal on the letter and also a small moth fluttering its wings, flying towards the candle flame in the distance.

The moth flew into the flame. With a faint, almost imperceptible sizzle, only a speck of ash remained in the carved candlestick.

Daili stood frozen in place.

Qin Shaozong raised his hand to wrap around her shoulder, drawing her into his embrace. She had also drunk wine at the banquet—a whole pot, which was rather much for a lady.

Although the wine she drank was the same as his, both millet wine, Qin Shaozong detected a different scent. The aroma of wine was blended with several strands of an elegant fragrance. The two scents intertwined like vines, making her distinct from anyone else.

Life on campaign was austere. The vast majority of people were dusty and grimy. Even those who loved cleanliness couldn't bathe daily. For the rougher sort, going days without water was common, and the less fastidious might go even longer...

One only had to see how some large camps reeked to the heavens—enough to make dogs vomit, horses bolt upon passing, and even mosquitoes and flies steer clear in disgust.

But Qin Shaozong had always felt she carried a very special fragrance, like flowers, or like the rich aroma of ripe fruit. It seemed to seep from her very skin and flesh, present as long as she herself was present.

And now, the source of that fragrance was in his arms. Qin Shaozong felt himself drawn to bend slightly, his chin brushing against her cloud-like hair. He asked a question he already knew the answer to, his tone carrying a hint of coaxing. "Does my lady wish to see this letter?"

The stubble on his jaw wasn't completely shaven. Daili felt as if her temple had been lightly scraped by sandpaper. She snapped back to her senses instantly, her previously agitated and swollen head cooling rapidly.

Daili didn't hurry to move. Instead, she said, "Naturally, I wish to see it. However, letters are important items. It's best to be prudent. Why don't we go to the study? What does my lord think?"

The surroundings were dim, the light from the carved standing candlestick too faint. The atmosphere here was disadvantageous for her.

Footsteps of a patrol team sounded in the distance, growing from soft to heavy, from far to near. They were approaching this area.

Qin Shaozong straightened up and released her. "Very well."

Inside the study.

Breaking the wax seal, the mulberry paper was spread out on the low table.

The letter was a scroll bundled into a cylinder. Upon unrolling it, Daili saw two letters. Before she could examine them closely, the top one was taken by Qin Shaozong.

With the upper layer removed, the one beneath was revealed.

Having been rolled up for too long, it tried to curl back upon itself after being spread out, but was pressed flat by a delicate hand. Daili smoothed it out again and used the tiger-head paperweight on the table to hold it down.

The writing on the letter was in Zhangcao script.

Zhangcao script evolved from the cursive clerical script of the Qin Dynasty and was also the precursor to Xiaocao (modern cursive). Traditional characters combined with Zhangcao script, the two layers stacked together, made Daili's head ache slightly.

So, by the time Qin Shaozong finished reading that not-so-brief report and pondered how to reply, he looked up to see Daili frowning delicately, still utterly focused on the mulberry paper before her.

His gaze lowered, sweeping over the letter. He raised his brow in some surprise.

Just three lines, and she had been looking at them for half the night. And judging by her expression, she truly hadn't finished reading. Could it be she needed to recognize each character one by one?

Qin Shaozong placed the letter in his hand casually to the side. "Has my lady understood? If there are characters you don't recognize, you may ask me."

Daili didn't lift her head. "Thank you, but your esteemed assistance is not required."

Qin Shaozong chuckled softly, letting her struggle with the few characters on her own. He took a fresh sheet of paper from beside him, ground the ink, lifted the brush, and wrote his reply in one smooth flow.

In mere moments, a letter destined for Yuyang was complete.

Qin Shaozong set down his brush and looked up; he happened to catch sight of Daili smoothing his brow, wearing an expression as if he had solved a great dilemma.

Placing the wolf-hair brush on the brush rest, the man turned the jade thumb ring on his finger, then suddenly leaned back against the chair behind him, returning to his earlier languid demeanor.

When Daili looked up, Qin Shaozong pointed to the paper and brush beside him. "Paper and brush are here, the ink is ground for you. My lady, please proceed at your convenience."

Daili: "..."

Their eyes met. In this stare-down where neither looked away, Daili clearly saw the corner of his mouth slowly curve upwards.

This fellow was doing it on purpose. He clearly knew during the day that she couldn't use a brush pen.

Qin Shaozong smiled. "If my lady requires a scribe, I am willing to serve. However, even Confucian scholars in the marketplace can earn a few copper coins. I, a Marquis officially enfeoffed by the court, surely cannot work for free. Wouldn't you agree, my lady?"

Daili stared at him for two beats, then suddenly snatched up the mulberry paper containing the information about the Qin family in Yangzhou. Without a word, she turned and walked out.

If he wouldn't help her write it, she would find someone else. There was more than just Qin Shaozong in this residence who knew how to write.

Yet she had only taken two steps when the man behind her spoke again. His tone was as lazy as he himself appeared at the moment, without much pressure. "You may certainly try to find someone else. See if they will write it for you, and see if this letter penned by another's hand can ultimately leave Ying Commandery."

But just that one sentence made Daili stop dead in her tracks.

Only a small panel of the window in the room was open. The wine fumes that had permeated the room hadn't dissipated much; instead, they seemed to grow heavier as time passed.

Daili took a deep breath, then turned around, her tone displeased. "What do you want?"

"My lady, come here." He beckoned to her.

Daili pressed her lips together but ultimately went back, though she stopped on the other side of the long table, facing him.

Qin Shaozong said nothing, but his gaze clearly lowered, resting on the mulberry paper in her hand for a moment, before he beckoned again.

Not close enough.

He wanted her to come closer.

Daili averted her gaze, no longer looking into those brown eyes, and slowly circled around the long desk. Behind the desk, the man sat with an imposing, domineering posture. From her lowered, narrowed field of vision, she could only see the edge of his black robe.

A deep, dark black, a heavy color, as inscrutable as the man himself, and carrying the same oppressive weight.

Her wrist was suddenly seized, her vision swaying violently for an instant. By the time Daili regained her senses, she had gone from standing to sitting. She was sitting sideways on his lap, her back supported only by the long arm encircling her waist.

Qin Shaozong wrapped one arm around her waist, his large hand first settling firmly at the small of her back. Once she was seated steadily, that hand slid along the curve of her waist to the front.

The moment the pressure was applied to that sensitive spot at the small of her back, Daili shivered reflexively. She instinctively tried to twist away in the opposite direction, only to collide with his solid chest.

All of Daili's thoughts of standing up or breaking free ceased with the words he spoke next:

"What would Madam like to instruct them to do in the letter? All the collateral branches of the Qin clan follow my lead without question. They will execute the orders in this handwritten letter meticulously."

Daili's eyelashes fluttered rapidly several times. A scale was tilting back and forth in her heart.

On one side was offering something like the "heavy bombshell" of the dragon-bone water wheel, using it as a bargaining chip to secure his help and escape her current predicament.

On the other side was enduring for now, not revealing another chip. After all, things were far from reaching the point of sharing a bed, and that Master Nalan, said to hold high prestige in the military, had not yet arrived in Ying County.

She needed someone else to help her check Qin Shaozong's power. Clearly, this potential ally had not yet arrived.

He had drunk a great deal at the banquet, and after the confrontation in the corridor, she realized this man did not play by conventional rules at all.

After the scale wavered left and right several times, the left side finally shot up high, while the right side sank down.

"Have them go to Qiantang to find a nine-year-old boy named 'Qin Yanzhou.' He..." Daili's voice trembled slightly.

The hand resting on her lap was taken by the large hand that had been circling her waist. The rough, thick calluses were overwhelmingly present, scorching hot and possessive as they encircled her wrist.

The dark hand moved up against the skin of her wrist, first hooking her index finger. A long finger slid into the space between her two fingers, slowly stroking the soft flesh on the inner side of her finger.

Daili instinctively wanted to make a fist, but the spaces between her fingers were successively filled by his.

With his right hand, Qin Shaozong picked up the wolf-hair brush from the desk. With swift, flowing strokes on the spread mulberry paper, he neatly wrote down the description of the boy's appearance Daili had just given.

"What else, besides your son's appearance? What else does Madam wish to say?" The tip of the brush, dipped in black ink, lifted and returned to the brush rest.

Qin Shaozong turned his head. The long arm holding Daili tightened, forcing the person in his embrace to lean closer.

Sitting on his lap, Daili was, for once, slightly taller than him. Now, pressed forward by the hand on her lower back, she had to raise a hand to brace against his solid shoulder blade.

"How about ordering them to search all of Qiantang and the smaller cities and counties within a hundred miles around it within a month? Have them comb through all the human markets and investigate every trafficker in Qiantang." With each sentence Qin Shaozong uttered, the resisting pressure against his shoulder blade diminished a fraction.

The slender, pale neck before him resembled the elegant neck of a white bird. Qin Shaozong pressed his lips against it, clearly feeling the slight tremor of her throat bone beneath his touch.

That unique, refined fragrance seemed to intensify in that moment. Qin Shaozong leaned in even closer, pressing the bridge of his nose against the expanse of skin before him, so fair and tender it seemed one could squeeze water from it.

He traced a path upward bit by bit, following the woman's involuntary tilt of her head, finally placing a kiss just below her lips. "What does Madam think of my suggestion?"

Daili's breathing grew somewhat heavy. "Setting out from Ying County, traveling day and night with fast horses to Yangzhou, one can definitely arrive within half a month. A month for the round trip. Within two months, I must know the results of the search."

Qin Shaozong chuckled softly. "Naturally. If they can't even handle such a small matter properly, it would truly disgrace the Qin name."

"Hurry up and write," Daili urged him to pick up the brush again.

Qin Shaozong did not take the brush. Instead, he leaned in once more and kissed her. Different from the last kiss placed on the tip of her chin, this time his lips met her crimson ones.