Chapter 230: The Squad Sets Off!

It was 10 PM sharp.

On the second floor of Ji Pavilion, Lin Hansu faced south, while Zhao Yan and Ruan Ruan sat solemnly on either side of her.

The candlelight was bright, illuminating a single, slender strand of black hair that lay conspicuously on the pure white silk handkerchief placed between the three of them.

“Sister, what should we do?”

Zhao Yan was brimming with Aura.

Ruan Ruan, however, felt a bit uncomfortable. It was one thing to bother Sister with trivial daily matters, but seeking her advice on a matter like this didn’t seem appropriate, did it?

Lin Hansu stared at the hair for a long time, having already guessed who it belonged to.

Who else could it be but that flirtatious Head of the State Religion, Xu Jiuxi!

No wonder Young Master had suddenly praised her to the heavens a few days ago, talking about how broad-minded and reasonable she was…

Though she was seething with anger inside, she put on a worried expression for Zhao Yan and Ruan Ruan. After a moment of contemplation, she looked at Ruan Ruan and said hesitantly, “Ruan Ruan, strictly speaking, this is your family affair, and I shouldn’t interfere.”

Seeing her solemn expression and low tone, Ruan Ruan, who hadn’t originally thought it was a big deal, began to feel nervous. “Sister, I don’t dare tell my parents about this, nor do I dare ask Uncle Ding. Please, give me some advice.”

Her words inadvertently reminded Zhao Yan that telling on Uncle Ding seemed like a pretty good idea!

But since Ruan Ruan said she couldn’t tell Uncle Ding, Zhao Yan didn’t understand the logic and couldn’t help asking, “Why can’t we tell them?”

“If I tell my parents, I’m afraid they won’t like Ding Suians courtesy name; if I tell Uncle Ding, Ding Suians courtesy name will get beaten~”

Even now, Ruan Ruan was still thinking about how to protect Ding Suian.

Lin Hansu was slightly touched. After a moment of thought, she lowered her voice and said, “Since Ruan Ruan has asked me, I will share my thoughts. The Duke of Chu County is young and promising, and now that he holds the Patrol Inspection Office, it is inevitable that he will be targeted by women with ill intentions. Some women look dignified and noble on the surface, but in reality, they are promiscuous and shameless.”

Hearing this, Zhao Yan looked at Lin Hansu in confusion. *Eh? ‘Looks dignified, actually promiscuous’… Sister, why are you scolding yourself?*

But Lin Hansu did not feel she was talking about herself. “…The Duke of Chu County is young, and I fear he might be deceived by the schemes of that woman with ulterior motives.”

“Then what should we do?”

Ruan Ruan unconsciously clenched her small fists.

Lin Hansu raised her hand, gently stroked Ruan Ruan’s forearm, and quickly comforted her before turning to Zhao Yan. “Zhao Yan, you possess the art of shapeshifting, which is most convenient for secret investigations. Tomorrow… you should wait early near the Patrol Inspection Office. When the… when the Duke of Chu County leaves work, you can transform into a peddler or a waiter and follow him quietly.”

“Got it!”

Zhao Yan immediately accepted the order, her small face tightening with extreme seriousness. “Once I catch that bad woman, I’ll kill her!”

“…”

“…”

Ruan Ruan and Lin Hansu simultaneously opened their mouths wide and stared at Zhao Yan.

The former hadn’t expected that this matter could involve taking a life.

The latter was stunned by the little fox’s intense murderous intent and quickly said, “Don’t do anything reckless! Just note down the place where the Duke of Chu County meets that woman privately, and then come back and tell me. Uh, tell me and Ruan Ruan, and we will go there together.”

“Why is it so much trouble?”

Zhao Yan tilted her head, looking at Lin Hansu in confusion.

She still seemed to think that her ‘once and for all’ plan was more straightforward.

But Lin Hansu didn’t dare let her be so reckless. With Zhao Yan’s amateur skills, she wanted to single-handedly take on the seemingly formidable Xu Jiuxi?

However, her advice to dissuade Zhao Yan went like this: “Silly girl, if the Duke of Chu County is meeting that woman in private, he must have some feelings for her. If you kill her now, she will truly become the indelible cinnabar mole in your husband’s heart.”

Ruan Ruan and Zhao Yan didn’t understand, and eventually, the latter asked in confusion, “Sister, what does that mean?”

“A living person can never compete for favor against a dead one. If that woman dies because of him, for the rest of his life, whenever the Duke of Chu County thinks of her, he will only remember her virtues and her grievances. As time passes, he will fantasize about a woman even more perfect than she was in life, and he will never forget her until his dying day.”

Ruan Ruan and Zhao Yan seemed to understand, but that didn’t stop them from feeling impressed by her profound wisdom.

The two little ones silently exchanged a glance and said in unison, “Sister really knows so much!”

The next day, May 13th.

It was 11:45 AM, and the weather was sweltering.

“Ice drinks, ice drinks! Three wen a bowl, refreshing ice drinks!”

At the corner of Sajin Street.

A short, thin vendor stood in the shade of a tree, fanning himself incessantly with a tattered straw hat while shouting to solicit business.

“Ice drinks, ice drinks! Three wen a bowl.”

“Hey, boss, give me a bowl of ice drink.”

“Ice drinks, ice drinks! Three wen a bowl.”

“Boss! Give me a bowl of ice drink! Are you deaf?”

“Go away, it’s sold out!”

“If it’s sold out, why are you still shouting!”

“I feel like it, what’s it to you!”

“You’re crazy!”

“Ice drinks! Three wen a bowl.”

Across the street, at a tea house.

Lin Hansu and Ruan Ruan, both dressed in men’s robes, sat on the second floor of the tea house. Seeing Zhao Yan driving away customers, they couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat for her.

“Sister, won’t Zhao Yan give herself away?”

Ruan Ruan, participating in the grand cause of ‘catching an affair’ for the first time, leaned forward, her face flushed with excitement.

At this moment, she felt no anger at being cheated on; instead, she felt mostly excitement.

“She shouldn’t.”

Lin Hansu was ninety percent certain that, given Ding Suian’s clever nature, if he had seen Zhao Yan and Ruan Ruan beforehand, he might have been able to discern something from their subtle changes in attitude.

But he hadn’t returned home all night.

Without meeting, there was naturally no risk of their ‘catching an affair’ plan being discovered.

To catch an affair, you have to catch them in the act! Lin Hansu had already figured out how she would berate Xu Jiuxi.

However, those words would have to be spoken by Zhao Yan.

“Sister, sister! Look!”

As she was thinking, Ruan Ruan suddenly shook her arm in excitement.

Lin Hansu turned her head and, sure enough, saw Ding Suian leading the Mythical Beast out of the Patrol Inspection Office.

He walked onto the surface of Sajin Street and habitually scanned left and right. Upstairs, Ruan Ruan, who felt guilty even though she had done nothing wrong, hurriedly shrank her neck, as if she were the one being caught in an affair.

Fortunately, it was the time when people were getting off work, and the street was bustling with people. With colleagues greeting him and distracting his attention, he did not notice anything unusual.

He mounted his horse, and the Mythical Beast slowly walked westward.

At the street corner, Zhao Yan glanced upstairs, then blended into the crowd of pedestrians and quietly followed him.

“Sister, will Zhao Yan be able to keep up?”

It wasn’t easy to follow someone inside the city, but once they left the city and he let the horse run at full speed, she might have trouble keeping up.

But Lin Hansu knew that Zhao Yan relied on her nose to track people.

This was hard to explain, so she only said, “Don’t worry.”

Zhao Yan might not be strong in other areas, but stealthy tracking was a skill she had mastered while hunting on Chongyin Mountain.

To prevent Ding Suian from discovering her, she sometimes transformed into a farm woman carrying a bamboo basket, and other times into a running child, always trailing more than a hundred paces behind him.

After leaving the west gate of Central Heaven, pedestrians became sparse. Far from rushing to catch up, she deliberately increased the distance, continuously twitching her small nose as she firmly locked onto that wisp of familiar scent in the wind.

The round trip took nearly an hour.

In the afternoon, at 1 PM sharp.

Zhao Yan returned to the tea house on Sajin Street. The sleepy Ruan Ruan immediately perked up. “Did you find their hideout?!”

“Don’t pull at me, let me have a drink of water first!”

Zhao Yan picked up the tea cups in front of Lin Hansu and Ruan Ruan one after the other, gulped down two cups, and then proudly wiped her mouth. She whispered, “Mission accomplished! Their hideout is in the west of the city! It’s such a huge mansion!”

Lin Hansu, who had been deliberately pretending not to care and acting like an outsider, finally revealed a trace of her true emotions. She stood up immediately and whispered, “Let’s go!”

The ‘catch an affair’ squad, set off!