CHAPTER 47: CHAPTER 47: OUTSHINING MISS TANG

Tang Xiaobai shivered suddenly.

Just then, a familiar voice came from the side, "The Second Miss’s attendant seems to know quite a bit about incense!"

Tang Xiaobai turned her head at the sound, seeing Yao He smiling meaningfully at her through the guards of Duke Yan Mansion.

Why is it him again?

Seeing her look over, Yao He chuckled, "Don’t look at these illusion techniques too much, it’s not good for here!" He pointed to his head.

Tang Xiaobai’s face changed, and she quickly pulled Ah Xiao to hide outside.

"No need to be so tense, it’s fine to watch once or twice occasionally," Yao He added.

"What kind of incense is that?" Tang Xiaobai stopped to ask.

Yao He also left the crowd, standing with his arms crossed on the street, and gave her a knowing glance behind her, "Doesn’t this little scholar’s attendant also know?"

Tang Xiaobai frowned, just thinking about how to cover for Qin Xiao, but the little master blurted out, "There’s a scent of Mandala Flower in it, and Mandala Flower can cause hallucinations." His tone was indifferent, seemingly not minding others knowing this.

"They dare to use poison?" Tang Xiaobai looked at Yao He in surprise, "Aren’t you a government officer? Why don’t you manage it?"

Yao He laughed, "It’s not exactly poison, just a very small amount, those worldly society illusion techniques are always played like this, if it were truly harmful, would I be watching here?"

Tang Xiaobai thought it made sense, this was probably just an ancient version of hypnotism.

So she put aside the topic of illusion techniques and turned to ask, "Why are you here? Are you following me?"

She couldn’t be blamed for being suspicious, as the frequency of encountering Yao He had been quite high recently.

Yao He grinned lazily, "Second Miss, you’re just a little girl, not a grown lady, why would I follow you?"

Tang Xiaobai frowned, "So it’s okay to follow a grown lady? Are you an officer or a thief?"

Yao He laughed heartily, "I’m neither an officer nor a thief, I’m just a little constable!" Suddenly his smile changed to a more secretive one, "I really did follow a grown lady here!"

Tang Xiaobai looked at him in surprise, "Aren’t you afraid my elder sister will throw you out of the Capital City?" Daring to follow even Miss Tang? What a brave man!

Yao He was dumbfounded, hurriedly waved his hand, "How would I dare offend your family’s eldest Miss!" As he spoke, he glanced around, fearing that Miss Tang might suddenly appear.

"I was talking about a girl living next to Wulou Temple," Yao He pointed in the direction, his face filled with admiration, "This girl just came from Jiangnan, living alone in Jinchang Village, seldom shows up, I’ve only seen her three times... truly the kind of beauty that puts to shame the autumn moon and flowers - the most beautiful I’ve ever seen."

"More beautiful than my elder sister?" Tang Xiaobai gave him a sidelong glance.

Scorn!

Her elder sister was indeed the first beauty of the Capital City!

Yao He chuckled without answering, yet took a glance behind her.

Tang Xiaobai turned back and indeed saw Tang Jiaojiao with a less than pleasant expression.

"I have matters to attend to, so I won’t disturb you!" Not knowing if it was because of fear of Tang Jiaojiao, Yao He didn’t finish his sentence before slipping away.

Tang Xiaobai ran to Miss Tang, half soothingly and half disbelievingly said, "Elder sister, don’t listen to him, what does he know about beauties?"

Appreciation of beauty isn’t something everyone possesses, and my sister’s beauty couldn’t be casually overshadowed by any Jiangnan woman!

At least not before the female lead arrives in the capital—

Wait!

Tang Xiaobai’s heart trembled.

A Jiangnan woman?

More beautiful than Miss Tang?

Could it be...

...

"Jinchang Village? Next to Wulou Temple?" Su Shunqing stood up in shock, "Why go there?"

But before he finished asking, the quick-tempered shadow guard of the Crown Prince was already gone.

"Next to Wulou Temple? Is it that Ruoye Creek girl?" A plainly dressed man nearby raised his head, his half-face covered in a beard, his eyebrows ruggedly groomed, yet his eyes bright and appealing.

Su Shunqing nodded, "That Chief of Evil Yao has also been frequenting Jinchang Village recently, suddenly instructing the Tang Sisters to find that Ruoye Creek girl, not knowing what his intention is."

"Did you have someone keeping an eye on them?"

Su Shunqing suddenly remembered something, called someone to inquire, "Where is Zhao Jing?"

"Entered Jinchang Village at the first quarter of hour Miao."

Su Shunqing’s face changed slightly.

The man stretched lazily, smiling, "Let’s go take a look too, the Crown Prince is there!"

...

Although Li Mu was in Jinchang Village, he was ordered by Miss Tang to stay at the alley’s entrance.

It wasn’t just him, all the servants of Duke Yan Mansion were left at the alley’s entrance.

Even though the alley’s entrance wasn’t far from that private residence, watching the backs of the two girls, he felt uneasy and secretly signaled Mo Huan to approach and observe.

When Yao He spoke earlier, he was right next to the Second Miss Tang, naturally hearing every word.

Each sentence sounded harmless, yet he happened to know who lived next to Wulou Temple.

On Dragon Boat Festival day, Su Shunqing led Zhao Jing here, thereby gaining leverage over Zhao Jing for future use.

Yao He leading the Tang Sisters to meet that woman, what could be his reason?

Unfortunately, if Miss Tang weren’t present, he might have been able to dissuade the Second Miss.

Strangely, the Second Miss is not a particularly curious child, but today she seemed quite interested in that woman...

...

Tang Xiaobai had to admit, standing here now, there was a bit of being half-willing involved.

After all, the person living in this private house could very likely be the female lead Ye Qingrong.

In this novel, only Ye Qingrong’s beauty could rival that of Tang Jiaojiao.

As for why Ye Qingrong would appear in advance, she was unsure, even though the original book’s start was two years later, it didn’t say Ye Qingrong never secretly visited the capital before.

Looking at this seemingly ordinary but distinctly extraordinary private residence, Tang Xiaobai couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe, increasingly tightening her grip on the malicious supporting character beside her, softly advising, "Elder sister, you must know, beyond people there are others, beyond the heavens—"

But before the words were finished, she was glared at by Tang Jiaojiao: "You’re intimidated even before seeing her?"

"That’s not it, what do you intend to do by meeting her?" Tang Xiaobai’s heart was pounding.

She recalled the book described the first meeting of Tang Jiaojiao and Ye Qingrong as full of tension.

At that time, Ye Qingrong had followed Ye Family’s women into the capital due to Ye’s father’s reassignment as a capital official.

Just as Ye Qingrong’s carriage was passing through the city gates, she encountered Miss Tang wanting to go out of the city.

What kind of temperament did Miss Tang have? Without any explanation, she demanded they make way.

The Ye family servants, not recognizing this domineer of the capital, only argued a word, and Miss Tang’s whip lashed out.

The whip struck no one, but startled two horses.

One was Ye Qingrong’s, the other Ye’s mother’s.

Of course, later the male lead stepped in heroically to save the beauties.

As a malicious supporting character, Miss Tang would not reflect or repent. She even became jealous after seeing the female lead’s stunning beauty—

Now Tang Xiaobai was very worried that Miss Tang would feel jealous prematurely.

"What can I do?" Miss Tang cast her a sidelong glance, "I just want to see what kind of beauty she is, am I going to eat her or what?"

Tang Xiaobai thought it made sense, maybe she was just too tensed. Miss Tang didn’t even bring any servants, so she likely wouldn’t make a move.

"When I speak later, don’t interrupt!" Tang Jiaojiao reminded, holding her hand and walking towards the private residence—