Chapter 369: Wanzhuang Is Here

Chapter 369: Evening Makeup Arrives

After barely making it to the next evening, Tang Wanzhuang did not come.

Zhao Changhe let out a huge sigh of relief, changed into a simple cloth garment, wiped off the knife scar, shouldered a basket of ducks, and with an honest, simple demeanor, arrived at the back gate of the city lord’s mansion.

The gatekeeper had no doubts about the unfamiliar face, merely asking casually: “New guy?”

Zhao Changhe forced a smile: “Yes, several have enlisted.”

The gatekeeper, finding this gossip hitting close to home, sighed with boredom: “Hmm, short on hands everywhere... Do you know the way? If not, go in and find someone to guide you. Follow the rules inside, don’t look around or wander, deliver the goods to the back kitchen and return the same way.”

Zhao Changhe replied very obediently, and upon entering, he even properly asked a servant for directions, then was led straight to the back kitchen to hand over the ducks.

Along the way, he kept his eyes and ears open, but found nothing unusual, only noticing that the internal security was absurdly strict.

Just on this path, he encountered several patrols of guards, and occasionally heard faint, prolonged breathing—a sign of experts, not just ordinary watchmen with a few years of training.

From a single glimpse, one could see that the strength of this rear courtyard alone would be enough for an average gang to establish a sect.

Although it was understandable for a city lord’s rear courtyard to have strict security, the intensity of guards every few steps was still abnormal, especially since Lü Shiheng had not yet returned to the mansion—what were they guarding?

Upon reaching the back kitchen, a steward complained: “Why are the ducks so late today? Huh, new guy?”

Zhao Changhe forced a smile: “Not familiar with the roads, so I was a bit late...”

“Put them here.” The steward said, “Go back and tell Dazhou to double the duck delivery tomorrow. The guests especially love his ducks; Dazhou is really doing us proud.”

Zhao Changhe scratched his head with a simple look: “Our boss’s ducks—who in Xiangyang doesn’t love them?”

“What Xiangyang? These are guests from the north—it’s a hit both north and south.” The steward didn’t say more, waving his hand: “Go on, go on. Do you know the way back now? Don’t wander off; if you barge into somewhere and get yourself killed, no one can save you.”

Guests from the north...

Zhao Changhe leisurely left the back kitchen, and once out of the guards’ sight, he suddenly sped up, slipping toward the guest courtyard.

Who said I’d go back the same way? Carrying the ducks in was just in case something went wrong—I could use the excuse of not knowing the way and getting lost...

Even if Evening Makeup didn’t arrive today, she would surely come tomorrow... It didn’t matter if I couldn’t find out the situation; at least I had to rescue Li Si’an first. Otherwise, with a hostage in enemy hands, we’d be constrained, and things would be hard to manage.

The guest courtyard where Li Si’an was under house arrest was easy to find, because with his keen ears, Zhao Changhe often overheard servants chatting about the Mr. Li who had been locked in yesterday.

“They say the city lord ordered that Mr. Li can do whatever he wants with the maids—what a lucky guy.”

“But he hasn’t touched a single one; he drove all the maids away... Not just maids—don’t they say scholars often exchange concubines as a sign of refinement? They say the eighteenth concubine was sent to accompany Mr. Li. I wonder how that’s going now—has she been driven away yet?”

“Tsk... if that eighteenth concubine’s seductive glance could land on me, I’d gladly lose eighteen years of my life. I don’t believe Mr. Li would have the heart to drive her away; he must be in heaven!”

“Do you think everyone’s like you? He’s the big boss of brothels all over Jingchu—what beautiful woman hasn’t he seen?”

“I don’t believe anyone’s prettier than the eighteenth concubine!”

Amid the chatter, Zhao Changhe slipped to the entrance of Li Si’an’s guest courtyard. Under the wary gazes of a group of guards, he darted like the wind past a corner of the wall, landing lightly behind a clump of flowers, silently observing.

From inside the house came a seductive murmur: “Why must you be like this, sir? The city lord doesn’t mind giving away his concubines...”

Li Si’an’s voice replied: “I mind.”

“You’ve played with many unattached women—isn’t a taken one more fun?”

“...I’ve never played with unattached ones either.”

“You run brothels...”

“Yes, I don’t like women. Madam, please return.”

The door opened, and a charmingly seductive woman was thrown out, stumbling a few steps before steadying herself.

The door slammed shut, and the woman’s pretty face flushed with anger: “Damned eunuch!”

Zhao Changhe held his breath tightly, his heart pounding violently.

He couldn’t identify other schools’ techniques, but he could sense the traits of the ones he had practiced—like the bloodthirsty aura of the Blood God Sect and the decadent atmosphere of the Extreme Joy Technique. These were typical markers distinct from other cultivations.

A Celestial Maiden of the Maitreya Sect!

No wonder Lü Shiheng was so generous, actually offering his own concubine as a guest—so there was a purpose... If he slept with a Maitreya Celestial Maiden, he wouldn’t even know how he got controlled.

But wasn’t Lü Shiheng’s attitude quite resistant to Maitreya? In Xiangyang, cursing the emperor was fine, but mentioning welcoming Maitreya was taboo.

Even more absurdly, Zhao Changhe had firsthand information that Maitreya was joining forces with the Blood God Sect to attack Xiangyang from both sides! He had personally seen the Maitreya envoy enter the Blood God Sect—there could be no mistake.

What the hell was going on?

Zhao Changhe looked up; the sun had completely set.

The Maitreya Celestial Maiden was now summoning her maids: “Go tell Lü Shiheng that he can’t keep hesitating. I’m going to take forceful measures—any delay and it’ll be too late.”

...

Just after Zhao Changhe entered the city lord’s mansion, Tang Wanzhuang, stepping on the sunset, arrived in Xiangyang, travel-worn.

She wouldn’t go through the city gates; she floated lightly over the high walls and headed straight for the Celestial Palace.

In fact, Lü Shiheng hadn’t expected Tang Wanzhuang to arrive so quickly. His ideal plan was to control or turn Li Si’an, letting Li Si’an himself trap Tang Wanzhuang—that would be foolproof.

That was why Lü Shiheng hadn’t directly acted against Li Si’an; he needed Li Si’an to do the work.

But Li Si’an was stubborn as a rock, making no progress all day, and now Tang Wanzhuang had already arrived.

Fortunately, the Celestial Palace had already been staffed with replacements, preparations were thorough, and Tang Wanzhuang couldn’t possibly know what every subordinate far away in Xiangyang looked like—she could be fooled for now.

The steward Lü Shiheng had arranged wiped his sweat as he greeted Tang Wanzhuang: “First Seat, why have you come?”

Tang Wanzhuang looked around, frowning slightly: “Why are all the faces new? Where’s Si’an?”

“Fourth Brother has some business outside; he should be back by evening. First Seat, please rest a while and have a meal?”

Tang Wanzhuang squinted at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled radiantly: “Alright, bring something light.”

That smile left everyone around half numb.

Some said that if there were a contest for the most beautiful woman under heaven, First Seat Tang would likely top the list. Those who hadn’t seen her thought it was hype, but upon seeing her, they knew the reputation was well-deserved—they immediately felt that every woman in this entire Celestial Palace was just common vulgarity. Even the Maitreya Celestial Maidens Lü Shiheng had secretly replaced, famed for their enchanting allure, were nothing compared to her.

The steward arranged a light meal but dared not drug it. The third-ranked on the Earth List, First Seat of the Great Xia Demon Suppression Bureau—ordinary drugs wouldn’t work on her and might even be detected.

Unfortunately, Tang Wanzhuang had arrived too quickly; many arrangements couldn’t be set up in time.

He handled everything normally, carefully attending to her: “First Seat, what orders do you have? Should I inform City Lord Lü?”

Tang Wanzhuang sipped her congee leisurely, smiling: “Yes, pass word to City Lord Lü to come here for a meeting...”

The steward didn’t notice anything wrong with this request, smiled, and withdrew to report to Lü Shiheng—though he didn’t need to; the moment Tang Wanzhuang arrived, someone had already rushed to inform Lü Shiheng.

Tang Wanzhuang watched his retreating back, a shadow passing through her eyes.

Something was wrong here...

A true Demon Suppression Bureau spy would be shocked by the order to “have the city lord come to our secret base for talks”—wouldn’t that expose our hidden outpost, built over years, directly to the city lord?

But this steward hadn’t thought of that at all...

It could only mean that either this place had long been exposed, they all knew, and had turned traitor... or this man was simply Lü Shiheng’s man, not Li Si’an’s.

Tang Wanzhuang’s expression remained unchanged as she calmly drank her congee, thinking to herself that she had still arrived a step too late. If Li Si’an was captured, she would be constrained, making things difficult.

Unfortunately, in this situation, no one could help rescue Li Si’an... Even if she could secretly send a message to Dazhou, Dazhou lacked the strength and would only expose themselves.

Forget it, she would take it step by step. First, meet Lü Shiheng and see what he was up to.

A knock sounded at the door, and Lü Shiheng entered with a hearty laugh, striding in: "The First Seat honors Xiangyang with a visit, yet why not the City Lord's mansion, but a brothel? Word of this would not sound well."

Tang Wanzhuang smiled faintly: "No particular reason, merely that Master Si'an is an old acquaintance of the Tang family, so I came to visit an old friend. Please be seated, Governor."

Governor—that was the true official title; the Great Xia had no such post as "City Lord."

But Lü Shiheng, whether intentionally or not, only let people call him City Lord, and as time passed, people even forgot that he was the Governor of Xiangyang of Great Xia, as if he truly were the lord of this city.

Tang Wanzhuang's first words seemed to make the atmosphere in the entire hall stagnate.

Yet Lü Shiheng acted as if he felt nothing, naturally cupping his hands with a smile: "The First Seat shattered the Maitreya at Lake Tai yesterday, and today you have already arrived in Xiangyang. Such nonstop haste—is there some urgent military matter?"

"Indeed," Tang Wanzhuang said coolly. "Had I arrived a day late, I fear this fine Xiangyang would no longer belong to Great Xia."