CHAPTER 72: CHAPTER 70: NIGHT MEETING

Song Xian’s gaze remained on the letter, glancing past the mention of Mr. Dongli.

Mr. Dongli was willing to become Chen Zigeng’s tutor, which showed that he had made up his mind not to involve himself with the court.

Song Xian pondered the time Mr. Dongli left the Emperor’s side. Had the Emperor done something that contradicted his ideals?

Assisting should inherently lead to mutual prosperity, so avoiding it indicates a rift in the heart.

Now it seems that Chen Zigeng apprenticing might not be a bad thing, at least Mr. Dongli, when beside the Emperor, did not offer advice that was against morality.

Song Xian’s gaze landed on the name Wang Jian. Having spent a long time in the North, he wasn’t familiar with the eighth-rank official of Military Equipment Supervision, but since Xie Liangchen said so, she must be very sure of the person’s identity.

A merchant involving himself in military affairs suggests hidden agendas no matter how one looks at it.

Xie Liangchen suspected Wang Jian, yet continued to buy wool from him, naturally to uncover Wang Jian’s true intentions by this means.

She executed both matters skillfully. If he had been the one to handle them, the result would have been the same; he didn’t need to teach her anything.

Song Xian brought the letter close to the lamp and burned it, prompting Cheng Yanzhao to come over and ask, "What happened?"

Song Xian replied, "I might have discovered a planted spy."

There must be outsiders’ spies in Zhenzhou, but it was unclear who would reveal themselves first.

Cheng Yanzhao asked, "Was it Miss Xie who found out?"

Not exactly her discovery, Song Xian said, "She encountered it."

Chen Family Village has recently been quite noticeable. It wouldn’t be surprising if someone targeted it, but the important thing is whether we can immediately detect it, so we can trace it back to the source promptly.

Cheng Yanzhao’s eyes lit up, "Indeed impressive, before you even noticed an anomaly, Miss Xie had already become aware." His admiration for Miss Xie was climbing, starting from her perceptiveness to her intelligence.

Upon thinking of this, Cheng Yanzhao’s stomach grumbled, unable to think too much, the more he thought, the hungrier he got.

"With such a big issue, how about we ask around at Chen Family Village?" Cheng Yanzhao suggested, "Most in Chen Family Village are old, young, women, and children. Isn’t it dangerous if someone targets them? Don’t think that the crossbow arrows you gave before are enough for protection."

Cheng Yanzhao was used to speaking aloud without expecting Song Xian to respond, but he didn’t expect that after just a couple of sentences, Song Xian raised his eyes to look at him.

"Do you want to send a troop of guards there?" Song Xian said in a calm voice, "Rather than worrying about others, think about yourself, I entrusted Zhenzhou City’s affairs to you, yet you can’t even identify a spy. If you truly feel guilty, then donate all your court stipend to Chen Family Village."

Cheng Yanzhao was taken aback, wanting to argue back with Song Xian, but Song Xian’s words... seemed correct.

If Song Xian had a few more mouths, perhaps they wouldn’t even need to lead troops into battle, Song Xian cursing would be enough to solve skirmishes large and small.

"Who is it?" Cheng Yanzhao asked, "I’ll send someone to keep an eye on them and see when they slip up."

Song Xian said, "There’s no rush to alert the enemy, see clearly first before making a move."

Capturing just one spy is of no use.

Cheng Yanzhao was no fool; upon thinking carefully he said, "I’ll have people watch over Xiao Xingzong and make additional arrangements with Henghai Jiedu Envoy and the Northwest."

After the conversation, Chang An instructed someone to bring in meals.

Looking at the food set on the table, ordinarily it seemed fine, with both vegetables and meats, and the chef’s skills were decent, but now Cheng Yanzhao felt something was missing, making the food appear bland and insipid.

Cheng Yanzhao said, "I’ll go back to work, won’t stay here to eat."

Song Xian didn’t persuade him to stay.

Once Cheng Yanzhao had left, Song Xian looked up at the food on the table, Cheng Yanzhao who stayed around for meals every day, was now being picky.

But today Song Xian didn’t seem that hungry either.

Song Xian instructed Chang An, "In the future, don’t have the kitchen prepare so much."

Chang An responded, thinking that lately, the master had a good appetite, so he didn’t stop the kitchen from making extra, not expecting the situation to change so quickly.

"Master," Chang An said, "Old Mrs. Chen had someone ask which restaurant made the stewed lamb sent before, those prepared in the manor seem off in taste compared to the medicinal meals from a few restaurants."

Chang An paused before continuing, "How should I reply?"

Song Xian didn’t stop his hand holding the writing brush, "Just say it was a chef who recently isn’t in my courtyard, when there’s time, I’ll have her make some to send to Grandmother."

Song Xian was typically laconic, and disliked explaining. Once he said something, the people of the manor, even if puzzled, wouldn’t ask further questions.

Chang An obliged and withdrew.

Song Xian finished the documents in hand, and once again turned to look outside the window.

...

Chen Family Village.

Before bedtime, Xie Liangchen and Chen Zigeng practiced boxing and kicking with Chen Yongsheng.

After encountering Wang Jian, Xie Liangchen became more vigilant, having expected trouble once Chen Family Village gained fame, yet not expecting it to arrive so quickly.

The situation in the North was indeed more tense than she thought.

Was it the Liao people, remnants of the previous regime from the Northwest, or the Henghai Jiedu Envoy?

Eliminating the Song Family would benefit them most.

Especially the Liao people, as the biggest obstacle they faced in crossing the Juma River was the Song Family, and Song Xian was the one they detested the most.

Xie Liangchen considered this, remaining sleepless for a while, and when Old Mrs. Chen and Chen Zigeng were asleep, she walked to the courtyard and practiced the boxing techniques Chen Yongsheng had taught her from start to finish.

In her past life, she had also learned some boxing and kicking skills, superficial as it may have been, but it helped, so Chen Yongsheng praised her rapid progress.

No match for those who had trained from a young age, but it was useful for self-defense.

Xie Liangchen took a deep breath to ease her fatigue, just when she was about to step back to rest, she noticed a shadow leaping into the courtyard.

Xie Liangchen instinctively opened her mouth, but swallowed back the sound. There weren’t many who could enter while avoiding Chang Yue silently.

Upon seeing his agile movements... she immediately thought of someone, Song Xian.

The person walked forward a few steps, his face emerged under the moonlight, confirming Xie Liangchen’s guess.

"Master." Xie Liangchen approached to greet, Song Xian’s night visit surely pertained to Wang Jian.

Song Xian looked at the neatly dressed Xie Liangchen, he had seen her practicing martial arts upon his arrival, each move and stance extremely proper, resembling the set of routines drilled in military training.

Having heard from Chang Yue that her archery and martial arts were decent, he had deliberately stopped to watch from beginning to end.

Chang Yue might have overly lauded her, as in his eyes, this skill set was useless, only beneficial for fitness at best.

"Everything prepared?" Song Xian’s voice rang out, colder than the moonlight above.

Xie Liangchen replied, "The gift is prepared; I will go to Wang Jian’s side again in a few days."

"If Wang Jian is truly a spy, he might set eyes on Chen Family Village," Song Xian said, "before figuring out his background, even if I discover his movements, I won’t be hasty in taking action."

Was this a caution for her to be wary?

Xie Liangchen responded, "Thank you for the advice, Master. I will be cautious. If I recall anything more regarding Wang Jian, I will report it to you."

Song Xian did not reply further.

Xie Liangchen speculated if Song Xian had other questions for her, then heard him continue, "Practicing martial arts so late, fearing Wang Jian might attack you?"

Xie Liangchen indeed thought so, even if not Wang Jian, there could be others.

"No need to keep practicing," Song Xian said mildly, "it’s useless."

Not knowing how she managed against Ji Yuan back then, but as of now, without an all-or-nothing approach, otherwise...

Song Xian stated directly, "Spies typically have some martial arts foundation, with that, you wouldn’t manage to get near them with an ambush."

He didn’t wait for Xie Liangchen to respond and continued, "Your stance is unstable and full of flaws, quite lacking in talent."