১৩০তম অধ্যায়: নিখুঁত পূর্বাভাস

just a moment ago, although the biting winter wind had already begun to blow outdoors and the chill was quite severe, the indoor heating at che qian ju was actually quite well managed, and duan ye had never once considered the issue of cold or warmth back when he lived here.

yet at this very moment, duan ye distinctly felt a chill running down his spine! the look tuofa ling was casting at him from across the room was precisely like the gaze of someone watching their own cat that had snuck over to the neighbors for a stolen meal!

"ah, milord, let's step inside first. we can talk inside, shall we?" duan ping stepped forward at that opportune moment to smooth things over. his own boss had stirred up trouble, and two women who might potentially become his future mistresses were at each other's throats out of jealousy. although the most sensible course of action for him would have been to remain completely detached and watch the spectacle from afar, duan ping ultimately decided to step up and shoulder the blame.

"yes, yes, yes." duan ye nodded rapidly like a chick pecking at rice, hastily dragging lan xin into the room. yan sheng was even more quick-witted; he pulled the door shut from the outside for them right away and refused to step inside at all.

duan ye let out an internal sigh, thinking how utterly devoid of loyalty the fellow was!

at that moment, there were only four people left in the room: duan ping, tuofa ling, duan ye, and lan xin. duan ping had just rescued duan ye from a tight spot, so he neither could nor needed to say anything more; yet duan ye regarded him as his last straw of hope and naturally would not let him slip away.

"duan ping," duan ye and lan xin took their seats first. before tuofa ling could utter a word, duan ye spoke up directly to avoid being preempted by her. "last night, because yan sheng and i were outside and unable to react in time, we ran into a city-wide roundup and fish-tally inspection. fortunately, we had the help of immortal master changsheng, otherwise we might not have been able to escape unscathed last night. how did things go with you all last night?"

tuofa ling had been brewing her emotions for quite a while and was just about to erupt when she saw duan ye bring up official business instead. she couldn't help casting a resentful glare at lan xin, wishing she could bite her pearl-white teeth to pieces.

it's all because of this wicked woman! tuofa ling decided to use her gaze to threaten her, hoping best that she would know when to clear out sensibly.

meanwhile, although lan xin acted as docile as a newlywed bride in front of duan ye, she showed not an ounce of weakness when facing tuofa ling. the moment they entered, duan ye had played dumb the entire time, introducing neither her nor the other woman. and from the very beginning, that woman's gaze toward milord had been all wrong. hum, what kind of taste did milord have? someone with her entire head braided like that clearly wasn't a han person—could it be that milord fancied this sort?

although the two women remained silent, a fierce clash had already begun within their eyes...

duan ping watched the scene with cold detachment, quietly wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, and said to duan ye, "milord, some soldiers indeed came to che qian ju last night, but we had made preparations beforehand. moreover, the owner of che qian ju is one of our own people with extremely powerful connections, so we managed to stall them for a while. by that time, immortal master changsheng's men had already come to pass along the message and even brought a few fish-tallies, so we managed to muddle through safely."

"what about zhang meng and the others?" duan ye acutely noticed that only duan ping was present, while his other capable assistants were nowhere to be seen, causing him some concern.

"milord need not worry, zhang meng and the others are fine. last night they searched outside for milord without success, but thanks to their early preparations, they came to no harm. however, the hour was already late, and although they had received the notification, zhang meng ultimately decided not to return so as to avoid drawing attention. of course, he also sent someone in advance to inform me, which set my mind at ease," duan ping explained.

duan ye nodded. reflecting on the matter, zhang meng's situation at the time must have been quite complex, and this was most likely the result of a prompt decision on his part. after pondering for a moment, duan ye continued to ask, "then have you figured out what happened last night?"

just as duan ping was about to speak, four short and one long knocks were heard at the door. duan ping hurriedly said, "zhang meng is back."

at that moment, zhang meng pushed the door open with a creak and happened to see duan ye sitting there safe and sound. pleasantly surprised, he exclaimed, "milord!"

"zhang meng, you're back!" duan ye stood up quite happily as well, looking zhang meng up and down to make sure not a single piece of him was missing, before chuckling and saying, "you rascal, you're certainly sharp."

"thanks to milord's blessing, zhang meng exercised caution, and coupled with the fact that our brothers are well-trained and disciplined in their movements, fortunately no trouble arose."

actually, zhang meng had spent years working in intelligence; his eyes were sharper than most. before he had even fully stepped inside, he spotted lan xin, a woman he had never seen before. he was astonished at the time, but upon seeing tuofa ling locked in a glaring contest with the equally stunning girl in red, he very sensibly chose to keep his mouth shut.

by the way, when lan xin woke up in the morning, she had discarded that maid's outfit—she wasn't truly a maid anyway. now clad in a fiery red dress that was immensely eye-catching, even duan ye had praised it repeatedly. yet coincidentally, tuofa ling was dressed entirely in white today, making her appear somewhat cold and elegant, creating a striking contrast between the two women.

"that's right," duan ye patted his head, "look at me, i almost forgot. you've been outside all this time—do you know why liang xi made such a huge fuss and inspected the fish-tallies? what on earth happened last night?"

"milord," zhang meng's expression turned somewhat grave, "last night, our people inside the governor's mansion received no news whatsoever."

"what?" duan ye raised his voice considerably, drawing the attention of even tuofa ling and lan xin, who had been glaring at each other.

zhang meng gave a wry smile and said, "milord, it is indeed so. the people we dispatched are completely reliable, and their positions are already quite high—one of them is even the current inner steward of the governor's mansion. yet they received no wind of it at all. by the time they managed to smuggle the news out, the troops were already on the streets, and it was too late."

"could it be that... they were exposed?" duan ye said slowly. since ancient times, while moles could bring tremendous convenience, they also carried massive risks. moles were easily exposed and easily turned, especially since duan ye currently lacked sufficient benefits to ensure their loyalty, nor did he possess a related ideology to sustain their faith. very few of these moles had undergone his brainwashing, making their loyalty highly questionable.

"that's out of the question," zhang meng stated with certainty. "we guarded against such possibilities for these people and took some necessary measures; they wouldn't dare to turn traitor. moreover, nearly all of them maintain single-line contacts, and they themselves do not know who else around them is our man, so the possibility of exposure is very low. this subordinate believes the most likely scenario is that liang xi acted on a sudden impulse, issuing an order on the spot and executing it immediately, which caught us off guard. considering that fu luo is about to enter the city, his making such a decision is hardly surprising."

zhang meng's assessment was almost entirely spot-on; the reality was precisely like that! meanwhile, the other words zhang meng had mentioned—referring to special methods—seemed to duan ye to be roughly some form of coercive tactics, likely not entirely honorable. duan ye originally intended to voice this, but upon second thought, their enterprise was still in its infancy and they couldn't afford to be too picky, so he suppressed the thought and left it unsaid.

yet duan ye truly ought to have spoken up at that moment! if only he could have foreseen the massive losses that would follow later!