Chapter 1211: You Really Are Suspicious!

A letter? Zi Pingxiu had been summoned here in such a hurry just to look at a letter? What letter? Whose letter?

Questions crowded his mind, but he was in no rush. As Chancellor of a state, he possessed at least that much composure. He accepted the letter and slowly opened it.

Jia Wuqun, meanwhile, picked up an ink stick and began grinding ink at an unhurried pace, preparing to answer whatever questions came.

As Zi Pingxiu read, his brows gradually knitted in puzzlement. His gaze reached the bottom, lifted again, and he carefully read the entire letter from the beginning a second time.

When he finished, his eyes lingered on the signature: the three characters "Shang Chaozong." His gaze flickered before he slowly raised his head. "This is a personal letter from Shang Chaozong?"

Jia Wuqun nodded, took up his brush, and wrote on the board: The letter arrived. I had doubts. I found correspondence exchanged between Shang Chaozong and the State of Song and compared the handwriting. It is indeed Shang Chaozong's own hand.

After Jia turned the board toward him, Zi Pingxiu nodded, but his hesitation remained. "Shang Chaozong has invited several states to send representatives to discuss resisting Jin. The court has already selected the people who will go. Yet he privately sends you another letter inviting you as well, and even asks that you go in secret. What does he mean by this?"

Jia Wuqun shook his head to indicate that he did not know.

Zi Pingxiu considered the matter before asking, "Since Shang Chaozong has invited you, what does Sir intend to do?"

Jia Wuqun wrote: This Jia has neither authority nor power. Behind me stands only the Chancellor. If he has invited me, it must concern the Chancellor. Presumably there is some secret matter he wishes to convey to you. Since it is secret, correspondence by letter would be inappropriate, and given the Chancellor's position, it is inconvenient for you to travel there yourself. Thus he has invited me. I may as well go and investigate on the Chancellor's behalf.

Zi Pingxiu nodded faintly, but still looked worried. "Such a sudden invitation makes me fear a trap. What if they mean to harm Sir?"

Jia Wuqun wrote: The Chancellor worries too much. I have thought it over carefully. There is no reason for them to harm me. There should indeed be some secret matter to discuss. The Chancellor may set your mind at ease and make the arrangements.

Zi Pingxiu fell silent and weighed the matter for a long while. At last, he slapped his thigh. "If Sir says it is safe, then there should be no cause for concern. Very well. I'll trouble Sir to make the journey personally!"

Jia Wuqun nodded. He slowly set down the brush and stroked his beard in contemplation. His beard had long since grown back, and grown quite long.

...

Knock, knock.

Niu Youdao, sitting cross-legged in meditation, called, "Come in."

Guan Fangyi pushed open the door, entered, and set an intelligence report beside him. "News collected by Wuliang Mountain. Monkey had me pass it to you."

Wuliang Mountain received a great deal of intelligence every day. Naturally, not every scrap of information could be sent to Niu Youdao. Back when Niu Youdao was still openly alive, Gongsun Bu had always forwarded important reports to him promptly. As for the rest, Monkey would usually sort through them and pass along anything he thought might be useful.

The reason Guan Fangyi was delivering this one now was that this place was Yun Ji's residence. Whether at Maolu Villa or Zijin Cave, Yuan Gang had rarely had much direct contact with Yun Ji. If he kept running over here now, it would look strange and might arouse suspicion.

Niu Youdao picked up the report and read it. Suddenly, his brows furrowed. "Chuan Ying..."

Guan Fangyi had already seen the report. When she noticed that Yuan Gang had forwarded news concerning Tang Yi, she found it amusing and had been watching Niu Youdao's reaction. At once she asked, "Something wrong? You've already broken things off with Tang Yi. Are you saying she isn't allowed to have contact with other men?" She bent closer and added in a peculiar tone, "I hear this Chuan Ying is one of the rarest handsome men beneath Heaven!"

Niu Youdao looked up at her, struck by the urge to fling the report straight into her face. "Hongniang, Hongniang. Tell me, can your mind think of anything besides affairs between men and women all day long? Have you forgotten who Chuan Ying married? Would he dare fool around?"

Guan Fangyi chuckled. "Then why are you making such a fuss?"

Niu Youdao looked baffled. "Where am I making a fuss?"

"Mm... like this." Guan Fangyi put on a solemn expression and imitated the way he had just frowned.

Niu Youdao was thoroughly defeated by her. "I say, Hongniang, have you become addicted to picking fights with me lately?" He made to rise.

Guan Fangyi immediately pressed a hand down on his shoulder and kept him seated. "Fine, fine. What's strange about it? Tell me. I don't see anything strange at all."

Niu Youdao said, "You spend all your attention watching what you shouldn't. How would you notice anything strange? You know everything about my dealings with Linghu Qiu. Let me ask you: what kind of relationship do I have with him?"

Guan Fangyi thought for a moment. "Not much of one. Things went sour at Fufang Garden. Later you tried hard to repair the relationship, and he softened somewhat. Neither good nor bad, I suppose."

"A Xiaoyue Pavilion alone was enough to leave Linghu Qiu battered and miserable, let alone the Sacred Realm. What kind of place is the Sacred Realm? Whoever goes in, even people from the major sects, do you really think someone outside would naturally think of entrusting another person to carry a letter into the Sacred Realm? Most people wouldn't even think in that direction."

Put that way, something did seem slightly off. Guan Fangyi hesitated. "His circumstances were different, though. Chuan Ying was marrying Xue Luo'er, so Linghu Qiu happened to have a channel for reaching you. What's strange about asking Chuan Ying to carry a letter while he was going in anyway?"

"That's exactly where the problem lies!" Niu Youdao held up two fingers and pointed toward his own eyes. "How much do people outside know about the Sacred Realm? I only learned anything about it after I went inside and saw things for myself. Linghu Qiu knew nothing of conditions inside, yet he casually entrusted someone with looking after me?"

Guan Fangyi tilted her head this way and that. She felt he had touched on something, yet not quite pinned it down. Finally she smiled bitterly. "But wasn't there Chuan Ying?"

"Chuan Ying? He'd never been inside the Sacred Realm either. At most, he might have heard a few things from Xue Luo'er beforehand. How much could he truly have known? By ordinary logic, he himself should have been anxious and cautious on his first trip in. If he didn't even know what he was walking into, how could he dare promise Linghu Qiu, before ever entering the place, that he would look after me?"

Guan Fangyi folded her arms across her chest. "If you insist on putting it that way, then yes, it does sound a little strange."

Niu Youdao stood and slowly moved both hands before his chest as he laid out his reasoning. "He was going to marry Xue Luo'er, but he'd never been inside the Sacred Realm. He should have been uneasy. If his relationship with Linghu Qiu was truly close enough for that sort of trust, then when he met Linghu Qiu before entering the Sacred Realm, he should have expressed some of that unease, and Linghu Qiu should have worried about him too. Normally, even if Linghu Qiu wanted him to look after me, he should have waited until Chuan Ying had been inside once and knew what he was dealing with."

"Maybe that was exactly why I started scrutinizing the enthusiasm Chuan Ying showed me. His warmth seemed designed to put me at ease, to make me treat him as one of my own. Later, when he and his wife left the Sacred Realm, the two of them even made a special visit to see me together. He was still extremely warm and even volunteered to carry a letter out for me. That made me think too much. Given what I know of Linghu Qiu, he has almost never contacted me on his own all these years. It even made me wonder whether Chuan Ying himself had prompted Linghu Qiu to write that first letter."

Guan Fangyi said, "If that's what you think, why not ask Linghu Qiu and verify it?"

Niu Youdao shook his head. "Precisely because it feels wrong, I can't rashly ask Linghu Qiu. I don't know what really exists between the two of them, so I have to be cautious. If there is something behind it, asking might alert them. Especially given my present situation, can I ask? None of you can ask either. Otherwise, how would you explain knowing the circumstances under which that letter reached me?"

Guan Fangyi hesitated. "It does sound as though there may be something wrong. But I still don't hear what the actual problem could be."

Niu Youdao sighed. "That's exactly what puzzles me. If there really is a problem, why would he do this? There's no motive I can see. I've turned it over a hundred times and still can't understand it. I've even wondered whether I'm simply thinking too much." He lowered his gaze to the intelligence report. "And now he's made contact with Tang Yi? Is it connected to me? If it is, I'm already dead. Why would he still be approaching Tang Yi?"

Guan Fangyi suddenly snorted. "You really are suspicious!"

Niu Youdao ignored the jab. He seemed to reach a decision. "Something about this keeps feeling wrong. Find a way to learn what he and Tang Yi talked about. The more information I have, the better chance I have of figuring out what's going on."

Guan Fangyi spread both hands. "And how exactly am I supposed to find that out? Their conversation was private. Should I ask Chuan Ying, or should I ask Tang Yi? You tell me!"

That was indeed difficult. Niu Youdao fell silent for a moment. "Have Monkey come over. He has a way to handle it."

"Tch!" Guan Fangyi gave a disdainful sound. She hated the way he made Monkey sound more capable than she was. Clearly displeased, she turned and stalked off.

Niu Youdao left soon afterward as well, coming out from the inner room of the upper floor. Yun Ji was still standing watch by the window.

Before long, Yun Ji glanced back and said, "The red-faced monkey is here."

The door opened. Yuan Gang walked up to Niu Youdao and stood straight before him without saying a word, waiting.

Niu Youdao held up the report. "You've read this?"

Yuan Gang glanced at its contents. "Yes. I was the one who had Hongniang pass it to you. Is there a problem?"

"I want to know what the two of them said."

"Not easy."

"Contact Zhao Xiongge. He's always kept secret contact with people inside the Shangqing Sect. If he speaks, whoever is in contact with him will go and find out."

"All right."

Just then, Guan Fangyi hurried in again. Niu Youdao seemed to realize something from her expression, and his brows tightened.

She stepped forward and reported, "The Prince sent someone with word. The man from Song you wanted to see, that Hidden Chancellor, has arrived!"

Niu Youdao nodded. "Good. I'll go over now. You make the preparations first."

Guan Fangyi immediately turned and left to arrange for Niu Youdao to go out.

Niu Youdao looked back at Yuan Gang. "Prepare a detailed dossier on Shao Pingbo."

Yuan Gang asked, "How detailed? Should I include matters involving you?"

"The more detailed, the better. I'm already dead. It doesn't matter if it involves me, aside from the most sensitive secrets."

"Understood." Yuan Gang turned and left.

Niu Youdao looked back toward Yun Ji. "The two of them can't keep openly coming here all the time. I want a tunnel."

[End of Chapter 1211]