Chapter 241: Shadow Division Urgent Order

“Deep in the night, where are you going?”

“To the Law Academy.”

“To the Law Academy?”

“Yes, I haven’t seen you for a few days, so I was planning to go take a look.”

At the beginning of the 7-9 am (Zi hour) period, Ding Suian, who had just stepped out only to be blocked by the female rogue, turned around and walked back with Xu Jiuxi.

He couldn’t expose the Estate, as Old Man and Zhao Ning were there.

“Heh, is that so?”

Xu Jiuxi didn’t bother to dwell on whether Ding Suian’s words were true or false. She placed her slender hand on his lower back, caressing it lightly, and smiled charmingly, “The Duke of Chu County is full of vigor. That woman Lin Hansu spends her days revolving around Princess Xingguo; how could she spare the time to satisfy you?”

I just casually used ‘going to the Law Academy’ as an excuse, but she actually played along.

She spoke as if she were a female Bodhisattva bestowing her Physical Body upon Ding Suian.

“Then I must thank Old Xu.”

“Thank me for what?”

“For the long night, thank you for helping me dispel my loneliness.”

“That’s unnecessary, it’s what This Seat wanted~”

“.”

Old Xu, you’re straightforward!

After a dozen breaths, the two stopped in front of the mansion gate that had just been closed.

Ding Suian looked at the top of the wall, then at Xu Jiuxi.

The latter looked calm, standing still in front of the mansion gate.

It was obvious that Old Xu had no intention of climbing the wall; she wanted to go through the front gate again.

‘Knock, knock~’

‘Knock, knock~’

“Who is it!”

“Me!”

“Eh? Why is the Lord back again?”

Hu Couhe’s puzzled voice rang out from behind the door. As the mansion gate creaked open, Hu Couhe saw not only Ding Suian but also Xu Jiuxi.

“Ahem, I and…”

“This little one knows! The Lord has brought a colleague back to the mansion to discuss official business!”

Yo, not bad, little Hu has learned to preempt the answer.

Ding Suian nodded with satisfaction and walked in, followed by Xu Jiuxi.

After walking three or five steps, he suddenly felt uneasy. He stopped and turned his head. Before he could speak, Hu Couhe, who was bowing his head to one side, had already said, “Don’t worry, Lord, I didn’t see anything!”

“Hmm~”

Little Hu, you have a bright future.

At the end of the 7-9 am (Zi hour) period.

After a bout of training, Ding Suian got out of bed, stepped into his wooden clogs, and clattered into the courtyard.

As for that colleague, based on previous experience, she would be “dead” for a while and wouldn’t be able to recover for at least the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

After entering summer, a large black-painted copper bucket was supported on the flower trellis on the west side of his inner courtyard, connected by a hollow bamboo tube, with a water ladle full of small holes fixed underneath.

He skillfully pulled out the soft cork at the end of the bamboo tube. The warm water, which had been exposed to the sun all day, poured down the bamboo tube and was dispersed into fine droplets by the ladle, showering down on his head.

They say labor makes one happy, and Ding Suian deeply agreed.

Even the after-bath was more comfortable than usual.

Ding Suian closed his eyes and showered in the warm water, thick soap foam running down his face, when he heard a faint sound of footsteps.

He wiped his face and turned his head.

He saw Xu Jiuxi, who had been “dead” for a while, walking out from the room barefoot.

She was wearing nothing but one of Ding Suian’s summer shirts, draped loosely over her, without even tying the sash, revealing her mountain peaks and valley floor completely.

Sweat-dampened hair clung to her flushed cheeks, and the corners of her peach blossom eyes still held a lingering, lazy spring desire.

“Pfft~ You’ve come back to life?”

Ding Suian paused his head-scrubbing and looked sideways.

Xu Jiuxi raised her willow eyebrows, “Who are you ‘pfft-ing’ at!”

“I was spitting out soap foam. Old Xu, can we not be so sensitive?”

“What is this thing you’re using to bathe?”

“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”

“How do you know I won’t understand if you don’t tell me!”

“This is called solar energy, do you understand?”

“.”

She sat slowly on the threshold, the hem of the summer shirt parting, no different from being naked.

In the moonlight, her fair, petite feet stepped on the ground, her ten toenails red and dripping, like ten lovesick beans.

She noticed the gaze Ding Suian cast, raised the corners of her mouth in a slight smile, deliberately tensed her steps, curled her toes, and made a stiff posture that only appears at certain moments, asking a question she already knew the answer to: “What are you looking at?”

“I’m looking… I’m wondering, how exactly did that big tail of yours turn into two legs? Does it hurt when it changes? Do you usually like to slide with your tail or walk with your legs? How do you go to the restroom when you use your tail?”

“.”

Xu Jiuxi rolled her eyes at him, and suddenly said, “Did you have a falling out with Chen Yi a few days ago?”

“We made up today.”

Ding Suian continued to scrub his head, but Xu Jiuxi said, “So what if you made up? The Prince Yinyang’s heir dislikes you, and since you are both under Chen Yi’s command, if there is a conflict in the future, Chen Yi will still favor Jiang Jing.”

“I am not under anyone’s command.”

“Oh? Now that you have offended Chen Hong, if Chen Yi no longer protects you, your situation will be dire. Heh~”

“If I can’t afford to offend them, can’t I just hide? At worst, I won’t stay in Great Wu.”

“Are you really not going to reconsider Chen Hong? With This Seat mediating, he will surely let bygones be bygones.”

“Let’s just forget it.”

Xu Jiuxi was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, “Then be careful recently.”

“Careful of what?”

“Careful that he takes the opportunity to find trouble for you.”

Take the opportunity? What opportunity?

This sounded vague and without context, and Ding Suian fell into deep thought.

Just then, a firefly with a faint fluorescent light on its tail flew into the inner courtyard, but for some reason, it was attracted by Xu Jiuxi and kept flying around her.

Xu Jiuxi stared at it for a while, then suddenly opened her sandalwood mouth, and without warning, spat out a bifurcated, slender tongue over a foot long, curling it up out of thin air.

The firefly disappeared.

“Old Xu! Are you disgusting or what! Who knows where this firefly flew from! What if it just finished touring a latrine?”

“Get out! It wasn’t disgusting before, but now that you said it, it is! Heh~ tui~”

“This is what they call a dog can’t change…”

“What?”

“A dog can’t change its loyalty!”

“Leave some of that solar energy thing for me, I want to rinse off too.”

“You should have said so earlier, it’s almost out of water!”

“.”

Xu Jiuxi didn’t dwell on it, stood up directly, and hooked her slender fingers lightly on her shoulder. The wide men’s summer shirt slid off her white, greasy skin without any resistance, “Then let’s wash together.”

“Together it is.”

Ding Suian yielded half the space.

The shower space under the flower trellis was already cramped. With you squeezing me and me rubbing against you, what good could come of it?

In any case, until the warm water ran out, neither of them was able to walk out from under the flower trellis.

The next day, Xu Jiuxi left before dawn.

Ding Suian went out at 7-9 am. As soon as he stepped onto the street, he vaguely sensed that the atmosphere was wrong.

Early in the morning, squads of Soldiers were passing by in a hurry, and from time to time, he could see bailiffs and runners from the Tianzong Prefecture Yamen asking the common people about something along the street.

Once they saw ruffians or beggars, they would lock them up and take them away without a word.

Passing through Baihua Alley, Ding Suian saw a surprising scene. There were many brothels in Baihua Alley. Early in the morning, a group of yamen servants drove out countless hungover patrons who had sold their bodies, and the patrons were all disheveled and looked angry.

Although this place was only a medium-consumption level, this was Tianzong after all!

Which brothel that could operate normally in Baihua Alley didn’t have the shadow of a big shot behind it?

Why would the Tianzong Prefecture Yamen offend them for no reason?

Ding Suian, out of curiosity, dismounted and approached.

“Stop! No idlers allowed!”

A Squad Leader of the Tenglong Army in charge of the outer perimeter shouted to stop him.

Ding Suian took out his Nine Gates Patrol Yamen badge and handed it over. When the Squad Leader saw it, he hurriedly returned it with both hands, cupped his fists, and saluted, “Greetings, Lord of Chu County!”

The Patrol Inspection Office was tasked with supervising the Imperial Army; nominally, he could inquire about anything the other party did.

Ding Suian returned the salute and said in a low voice, “Brother, what’s going on? Catching fugitives?”

The Squad Leader shook his head and said, “Reporting to the Lord of Chu County, this subordinate is not sure either. Before dawn this morning, my superior ordered my unit to obey the orders of the Prefecture Yamen; it seems they are looking for someone.”

The other party didn’t know much either.

Ding Suian nodded, said “Hard work,” and then mounted his horse.

At 7-9 am sharp.

Ding Suian arrived at the Patrol Inspection Office. Just as he sat down, Gongye Ni hurried in. Before he could speak, Ding Suian said first, “Gongye, you send someone to find Inspector Ruan and ask what happened in Tianzong again.”

Gongye, Chest Hair, and the others had already been recruited by Ding Suian into the West Yamen Shadow Division when they were in Lanyang.

Asking him to obtain intelligence did not count as overstepping.

Gongye Ni heard this and said, “Reporting to the Lord, this subordinate was on duty at the Yamen last night. At the end of the Yin hour this morning, the Shadow Division had already sent a secret letter.”

“Oh? Does it have anything to do with the situation in Tianzong right now?”

Ding Suian asked while reaching out to take the secret letter from Gongye Ni’s hand.

“Yes. The secret letter says that a noblewoman went missing last night. It orders us to pay extra attention.”

“A noblewoman went missing?”

Ding Suian was stunned. No wonder they were arresting ruffians for questioning everywhere and searching in places like Baihua Alley where human trafficking easily occurred.

To cause such a big stir, the other party’s family background was definitely not bad.

And the reason why the Tenglong Army didn’t know anything was probably because their superiors were protecting the reputation of the noble. After all, it’s hard to explain a noblewoman going missing for the whole night.

Either she was abducted, and after a whole night, her chastity was hard to guarantee.

Or she was meeting a lover in private and didn’t return all night, which was even more shameful.

While thinking, Ding Suian unfolded the secret letter.

‘Urgent Order: Keep an eye on a missing woman, eighteen years old, oval face, willow-leaf eyes, wearing a light apricot-colored ru skirt. Her surname is Yu, given name Ruiyan. If found, do not make a scene, secretly send her back to her mansion.’

Yu Ruiyan. Lost?