Chapter 66: Setting Out!

As midsummer approached, the weather gradually grew hotter. Shortly after the morning bell rang, the blazing sun climbed up to the windows, adding the sound of cicadas to the silent courtyard.

"Chirrup, chirrup—"
"Squeak—..."

Two miscellaneous books and a small wooden donkey bought on a whim as a toy lay on the windowsill.
The round little bird, feeling utterly bored, hugged the wooden donkey with its claws, rocking it back and forth while mimicking the summer cicadas' calls.

Ye Jingtang stood beside the wardrobe, facing the bronze mirror Luo Ning had used, carefully adjusting the black scholar's robe he wore.
Today, he and Third Mistress were taking a boat to West King Town to attend the mid-year meeting of all the branch halls of the Red Flower Mansion, and afterwards, they had to make a trip to the Shuiyun Sword Pool in Zezhou. The earliest he could return would be late May.

Leaving for such a long time, to prevent the courtyard from falling into neglect again, he had specifically told the old darting master Yang Zhao yesterday to come over every few days to water the plants and tidy up.
Otherwise, when the female knight-errant Luo returned next month and found that he had let the flowers and plants die, even if she said nothing, she would surely blame him in her heart for being irresponsible.

After tidying the courtyard, Ye Jingtang led his horse out of Double Osmanthus Lane and galloped to Tianshui Bridge a few streets away.

Having entered the capital for two fortnights, the twelve darting masters brought from Liangzhou had all settled down. The wives and children they brought along were even starting sideline businesses with the help of the Shao family, and the youngest one, Little Sixth, had even become the future son-in-law of the grain store manager thanks to Chen Biao acting as a matchmaker.

Regarding such trivial domestic matters, Ye Jingtang took quite an interest. He deliberately stopped outside the Zhenyuan Escort Agency, pulled Little Sixth out, and gave him earnest instructions:
"A real man must be able to hold his own facing the outside world and support his family within. If you slack off again and delay the young lady, I'll break three of your legs—"
"Young Master, rest assured, the moment old Yang leaves, I'll definitely be the head darting master—"
"Ha! You bastard!"

Before Little Sixth could finish speaking, the old darting master Yang Zhao strode out with his saber in hand, scaring Little Sixth into turning tail and running.

Ye Jingtang smiled and shook his head, grabbed back the bird that was trying to fly over to watch the show, and strode into the deep alley.

Inside the Shao family mansion, within the boudoir.
Cicadas chirped incessantly in the courtyard. Shao Xiangjun sat before the dressing table. Having just bathed, she wore only a goose-yellow bodice. Holding a slender lip brush, she meticulously adorned her cherry-red lips.

Shao Xiangjun's comprehension for martial arts was actually exceptionally good; otherwise, Shao Cang would not have taken her as his final disciple and successor as the Master of the Red Flower Mansion.
The reason she remained at the tail end of the Grandmaster realm and had yet to achieve resounding renown in the martial world was primarily because her physical attributes capped her upper limit.

This was not to say Shao Xiangjun's body was weak, but rather that the Shao Family Overlord Spear belonged to top-tier external martial arts—sweeping and forceful, carrying immense weight—which was fundamentally unsuited for women to practice.
A tall beauty like Dongfang Liren, whose height matched a man's and whose physique was well-proportioned, might achieve some success practicing the spear.

Shao Xiangjun, however, could not. Her mother was a renowned aristocratic lady from Jiangzhou known for her grace and delicate beauty. Inheriting this, she was not very tall; having been exceptionally well-nourished since childhood and practicing martial arts, her physique had developed to be extremely 'fertile'.
To put it simply, her hips were full and plump, and her chest was magnificent and upright.

Such a physique on a woman could be described as a natural femme fatale, but wielding a heavy spear looked truly awkward. Trying to push it to the pinnacle of perfection was far more difficult for her than for ordinary people.

Her maid, Xiuhe, stood behind her, combing Shao Xiangjun's hair. She glanced sideways at the chest that was much larger than her own, a trace of envy flashing in the depths of her eyes. After pondering for a moment, she asked:
"Mistress, what do you think of what the Madam mentioned?"
"What matter?"
"Why, keeping the fertile water within our own fields! The young master is handsome and dashing, and the Mistress is naturally gifted with peerless beauty—you are simply a match made in heaven..."
"What fertile water? Am I fat?"
"Heehee~ The Mistress is slim where she should be, and full where she should be. If you took off your clothes, you'd make the young master's eyes pop straight out..."

Shao Xiangjun let out a light "Pfft~!" When a maid ran in to report that Ye Jingtang had arrived, she reined in her thoughts, stood up, put on a light and thin spring gown, and stepped out of the Shao family's front gates.

Seeing Ye Jingtang waiting at the door, Shao Xiangjun revealed a smile:
"Jingtang, let's go."

Ye Jingtang glanced at the Third Mistress. Though he found her makeup stunning and alluring, he showed no unusual expression. He raised his hand to lift the carriage curtain, ushered Third Mistress and Xiuhe inside, and then sat outside the carriage, holding the reins and gently flicking them:
"Giddy-up!"

Rumble, rumble~~
The carriage rolled forward, heading toward the riverbank wharf...

-----

Guantou Town, situated over ten miles east of Yunzhou City.
In the courtyard of a town livery stable, Blood Bodhi, who had been pursued by the authorities for many days, was disguised as an ordinary elderly man. Holding a purple clay teapot, he leaned back in a reclining chair, basking in the sun with his eyes closed in concentration.

Tramp, tramp...
As a gentle breeze swept past, two figures landed in the courtyard. Both were dressed as martial artists wearing bamboo hats, one holding a spear, the other empty-handed.

The speartoxin-wielding figure walked up to Blood Bodhi, cupped his fists in a salute, and said:
"I am Lu Ruan. Young Master Yan sent us here to await your esteemed orders from now on."
"I am Chen Ming."

Blood Bodhi lifted his eyelids, reminisced briefly, and asked:
"'Heart-Plucking Hand' Chen Ming, and 'Seven-Foot Spear' Lu Ruan?"

The tall and slender Lu Ruan said admiringly, "Senior has not walked the paths of Great Liang for many years. I never expected you would still know my moniker."
"It is no surprise to have heard of outstanding juniors in the martial world."

Blood Bodhi rose, leaning on his walking cane, a trace of a smile on his face. However, this smile was certainly not out of appreciation for the rising generation.
Ever since his clash with Ye Jingtang, Blood Bodhi had discovered clues regarding the Dragon-Roaring Map, and his objective had shifted—he no longer wished to risk his life assassinating Prince Jing for the green-clad bandits, but instead intended to find a way to obtain the Dragon-Roaring Map from Ye Jingtang. After all, Ye Jingtang was much easier to deal with than Prince Jing.

As a top assassin, how to assassinate Prince Jing was naturally arranged entirely by Blood Bodhi, while his employer was responsible for providing him with information and manpower.
Through this convenience, Blood Bodhi had recently investigated Ye Jingtang's identity—an adopted son of the Shao family at Tianshui Bridge in the capital, who likely learned martial arts at the Dark Yamen and maintained an ambiguous relationship with Prince Jing. The Shao family had arranged vessels to go to West King Town for business dealings recently, and Ye Jingtang would be accompanying them.

The son of a merchant, traveling alone without experts from the Black Cliff accompanying him, this was undoubtedly the best opportunity to strike.
However, he was entirely no match for Ye Jingtang alone. To avoid simply throwing his life away, Blood Bodhi used the pretext of assassinating Prince Jing to get his employer to send him two helpers.

Both Chen Ming and Lu Ruan were notorious, fierce bandits in the martial world who accumulated wealth through murder and pillaging. Their martial arts had both entered the first-rate realm, and either one could exchange blows with Ye Jingtang for several rounds.
With the three of them joining forces, they were confident in breaking Ye Jingtang's transcendent saber technique. Afterward, if he wanted to monopolize the *Dragon-Roaring Map* and treacherously eliminate his two teammates to silence them, it would be effortless.

Blood Bodhi pondered in secret. Confident that his preparations had no flaws, a restless desire stirred within his heart. He sprang up, leaned on his iron cane, and walked out of the livery stable:
"Let's go."

-----

On the other side, the lower reaches of the Clear River.
A passenger boat sailed along the winding river channel, its deck crowded with merchants and travelers from all corners of the land.

In a second-floor guest room of the ship's cabin, the Mistress of the Overarching Heaven Sect, a dominant force in the martial world, stood by the river-facing window. Clad in green, hugging a small watermelon, her naturally dreamy, peach-blossom-like eyes gazed into the gloomy, overcast sky, lost in a daze.

The source of the Clear River was Tianlang Lake within the borders of Northern Wei, running straight across the territory of Great Liang from north to south until it flowed into the sea near Guancheng in the south.
Setting off from the capital, Luo Ning had sailed downstream along the Clear River, which led directly to the far south. By now, she had been traveling for four or five days.

Though it was also just a few days, returning home by boat compared to living in Double Osmanthus Lane was as different as heaven and earth.
If the few days in Double Osmanthus Lane were the most unforgettable days of her life, then the time spent on this boat was the most agonizing.

Luo Ning stood by the window, staring blankly at the riverbank. Beside her, a naturally peerless maiden was also lying listlessly on the couch, sighing repeatedly:
"Without the little bird, I'm almost going to die... Mistress, why don't I go back to the capital? As for offering birthday felicitations, you can go alone..."

Luo Ning reined in her thoughts and looked toward Zhe Yunli beside her:
"If you stay in the capital alone, how could your mistress rest easy?"
"There's Brother Jingtang, isn't there?"

Precisely because he is there, I cannot rest easy...
Luo Ning was completely unable to handle that shameless scoundrel and certainly did not want to find herself one day being held by Ye Jingtang—either one in each hand, or stacked together...

Such petty thoughts were things she dared not even entertain, let alone voice aloud. She simply comforted her:
"It's only about a month. Once we finish offering birthday wishes to the Zhou family, we will return to the capital. By then, Ye Jingtang should have already rescued Hero Qiu..."

Zhe Yunli rolled over on the couch, propping her chin in her hands while her fair feet swayed back and forth in the air:
"When we get to the capital and rescue Hero Qiu, won't we still have to return to South Xiao Mountain?"
"You and I are people of South Xiao Mountain to begin with. Do you wish to stay in the capital for the rest of your life?"

Zhe Yunli had no such intentions. She looked toward her mistress:
"I just think it's a pity. Brother Jingtang is so formidable, working for the imperial court. What if he achieves great success and turns around to attack us in the future? We need to think of a way to lure Brother Jingtang up the mountain."

Luo Ning sighed. "Great Liang is at the zenith of its power. How easy is it to restore the nation? Ye Jingtang's ambitions lie in the imperial court; how could he follow us in rebellion? How do you plan to lure him?"

Zhe Yunli pondered earnestly, blinked her large eyes, and came up with a sudden inspiration:
"Brother Jingtang isn't married yet. Why don't we try a honeypot trap?"

?!
Luo Ning's ethereal face chilled, and she irritably reprimanded:
"What nonsense are you spouting? I am your mistress!"

Zhe Yunli looked baffled: "Eh~! Mistress, what are you thinking? There are plenty of young and beautiful maidens in the Overarching Heaven Sect; how could something like this require the Mistress to take the field personally? Besides, no matter how much the Mistress is the number one beauty in the martial world, you are older than Brother Jingtang. How could he fall for your honeypot trap..."

??
Luo Ning took a deep breath—her small watermelon practically turned into a large watermelon. She looked left and right, then found a disciplinary ruler.
Seeing the impending danger from the blabbering Zhe Yunli, the latter sprang up and bolted out the door:
"I was wrong, I was wrong, I was just spouting nonsense, Mistress, don't take it seriously..."

Luo Ning bit her silver teeth. Not until Zhe Yunli had run out the door did she slowly suppress the annoyance in the depths of her eyes, turning her gaze toward the distant north—the direction where Yunzhou City lay—while a myriad of thoughts churned within her mind...