14 - Monitored

Chapter 14 – Monitored

This night, he could not sleep and kept on wondering if the woman beside him is her. He tossed and turned and noticed that no matter how much he moved, he could not wake her.

Initially, when he noticed this, he felt a little irritated, and then suddenly he felt better again. He remembered that when he shared the bed with Shui’er, she could fall asleep easily the same way as well.

He sat up and stared at her. He was thinking that if Bai Liangdi is truly Shui’er, he would have a way to expose her. Thinking up to here, he smiled and his mood became better. He lay down, stretched out his hand, and pulled her into his arms. The long-lost feeling indeed resembled her. Anyway, he would just take her as Shui’er and hugging her, he finally fell asleep.

The next day, Bai Yuxiao waited on Si Liujing to help him clean up and change his clothes. After sending him out of the door, she went back to sleep on the bed and continued to live her life of eating well and sleeping well.

However, from this day onwards, female guards monitored her every move and kept note of everything she did every day……..the food she ate and the things she said. All the details were reported to Si Liujing.

Bai Yuxiao already knew that Si Liujing had begun to suspect her and she could even guess someone would be sent to monitor her in secret. Thus every day, she would put on a pretense and even the two maids, Zhaolu and Shuang’er, secretly got her hints. They would speak cautiously and stopped mentioning the things outside the royal mansion.

Two months passed and Si Liujing received reports that showed nothing unusual. Bai Liangdi’s actions were as expected of her status as a concubine and all the topics of discussions would revolve around her husband, hoping that the Wangye would visit her courtyard again.

Si Liujing could not find anything suspicious and could not help but doubt his judgment.

Can it be he had made a mistake?

He started to feel irritable again as there was no news of Shui’er at all. He even suspected that Shui’er might just be a woman who mingled in Jianghu . After saving him, she had left without saying goodbye and continued to wander around in Jianghu. So no matter how many spies he dispatched, he could not find any clue relating to her.

In the study, he was deep in his thoughts while the secret guard who reported to him was still quietly waiting for his instructions.

Suddenly, Si Liujing gave a solemn order.

“Tell the people to withdraw and stop monitoring.”

“This subordinate will obey.”

“If there’s nothing else to report…….withdraw.”

“Yes.”

After Si Liujing withdrew the secret guards, he stopped visiting Bai Liangdi ’s courtyard.

When the other concubines first discovered that the Wangye went to Bai Liangdi ’s courtyard, they frequently inquired and paid attention to this matter. Later, when they found the Wangye had turned cold towards Bai Liangdi , they felt that the Wangye would not favor any particular person. It seemed that Bai Liangdi was just lucky at that time.

Bai Yuxiao could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

In the past, she could feel that every move of hers was being monitored but today, this feeling had disappeared. That means the Wangye had finally given up on investigating her and was no longer suspicious of her.

After being stifled for more than two months, she should venture out and get some fresh air. However, it is better to proceed with caution, so this time, she decided against sneaking out but to go out openly.

She requested permission to leave the royal mansion with the excuse of going to the temple to offer incense. This is a very common request as other concubines had done it before, so it did not seem too obtrusive.

Soon, she got the approval and the Chief Steward arranged for a carriage and two royal guards to accompany her. She took her maid, Shuang’er, with her and both got into the carriage.

When she arrived at Ning’an Temple, she lighted the incense. She prayed to the Gods and after putting the incense into the incense burner, she also wanted to seek a spiritual sign*.

(Spiritual Sign – The actual Chinese words used here are Qiu Qian and it is the act of requesting a divine guide or spiritual sign using a wooden or bamboo cylindrical container with wooden or bamboo sticks marked with numbers. Questions asked can be on work, love, children, marriage, etc., and the answers will be on the slips of paper corresponding to the number on the stick. The explanation is usually written in the form of a poem and there will be a person sitting nearby to explain the poem for a small fee. At present, there are still temples that offer this kind of service.)

“What does this benefactress* wants to ask?” The nun asked.

(Benefactress in Chinese is ‘Nu Shizhu’ meaning a female donor or female alms giver.)

“This humble one seeks family luck.”

The nun nodded and gave her a wooden container filled with wooden sticks. After letting her take out one wooden stick, the nun said to her. “The person who will help to explain the spiritual sign is in that room. Please enter.”

“Thank you, Shitai* .”

(Shitai is a female master, female teacher, or female expert. The male version will be the Shifu that is usually mentioned in martial arts novels.)

Bai Yuxiao took the spiritual sign and walked towards the room that the nun pointed out to her. After she had entered the room, the nun outside closed the door.

Bai Yuxiao peered inside the room and noticed a Shitai sitting in front of the altar chanting sutras intently. She knelt on the ground and called out affectionately………

“Disciple Yuxiao pays respects to Master!”

The nun in front of Bai Yuxiao is called Jingzhuang Shitai. She is not an ordinary nun but a woman with high martial arts skills and she is also the Master who taught Bai Yuxiao martial arts.

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Master Jingzhuang slowly turned around and looked at her disciple Bai Yuxiao with love in her eyes.

“Get up…….stop pretending to be serious!”

Bai Yuxiao raised her face. When she saw her Master squinting at her, she showed a mischievous smile and immediately stepped forward to lay on her Master’s lap, at the same time, she said coquettishly. “Master, did you miss disciple? This disciple misses you!”

“Master missed your sweet mouth. You haven’t visited Master for the last few months. Were you lovingly accompanying your husband?”

“This disciple is wronged! These past few months Wangye gave orders to monitor this disciple causing this disciple unable to find an opportunity to leave the royal mansion. Although the saying is married a chicken, follow the chicken*, Master is in this disciple’s heart and this disciple regards Master as mother………. Aiyo !”

(Married a chicken, follow the chicken means a woman should follow whatever the husband orders.)

“Stop blabbering, your Third Senior Sister is also here. She has news for you.”

When Bai Yuxiao heard, she was overjoyed. “Really? Third Senior Sister is here as well? Where is she?”

“Over here!” A charming voice floated over.

Turning her head around, Bai Yuxiao saw a secret door in the room opened and a delicate woman as beautiful as a flower walked into the room.

This woman is her Third Senior Sister, Hua Qianqian, a disciple of the same Master as her. She is a dancer in Yu Gui Fang and because she is a dancer, the way she walks is very graceful while her hand gestures are full of flirtatious expressions and at the same time, she exudes charm.

Bai Yuxiao immediately went forward to grab Hua Qianqian’s hand. She knew that Third Senior Sister must have gotten a lead after helping her with the investigation.

“Third Senior Sister, tell me quickly! Do you have good news for me?”

“Of course! If I don’t have any news, why would I look for you? I showed the clues that you gave me to the people who tread the same path* and found that the clues came from the Shadowless Gate.”

(People who tread the same path means people who are in the same occupation, have the same interest or mix in Jianghu as oneself.)

“They are assassins from the Shadowless Gate?”

Bai Yuxiao was surprised because ‘Shadowless Gate’ has a well-known reputation in Jianghu .

This sect specialized in training killers. They are elusive and appear and disappear unpredictably like ghosts. They do not have a permanent hideout and they mix in Jianghu without a name nor a surname and they are all referred to by code names. Although this Shadowless Gate is considered a martial arts sect, it is not an actual organization and thus there is no one at the helm. As such, their people are scattered all over the Jianghu .

If those assassins came from the Shadowless Gate, it would present a big headache to the imperial court because there was no way of capturing them.

“What’s the hurry? I haven’t finished talking yet.” She had just rushed over in a hurry to meet up with Junior Sister, so Hua Qianqian took a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Her smiling beautiful eyes looked charming and mesmerizing. After wiping the sweat off her forehead, she continued. “I only said that the clues came from Shadowless Gate but I didn’t say that those people came from there.”

Bai Yuxiao widened her eyes and immediately understood.

“Fakes?”

“Correct.”

“How can you be sure?”

“The people of Shadowless Gate told me.”

“What? You know someone from Shadowless Gate?”

“Actually, not very familiar.”

“Then how do you know the other party is telling you the truth?”

“That fellow won’t be able to deceive me. The chances of him getting deceived by me are higher.”

Fellow? Is that a man?

In her heart, Bai Yuxiao knew her Third Senior Sister is a natural beauty, both charming and captivating. She has an attractive figure, a captivating temperament, and a seductive voice. If she has the heart, she could even bewitch the Emperor and become his concubine, not to mention it is just to seduce a killer.

Bai Yuxiao was very clear about the abilities of her Third Senior Sister. If she said that the killers were not from the Shadowless Gate, then she is a hundred percent certain because Third Senior Sister is also a member of the secret service and she is highly skilled in gathering information.

“If they were not the assassins of Shadowless Gate, then where did they come from? Did you find out anything?”

“Those people were mountain bandits.”

“Mountain bandits? Then there must be something going on, right?”

“Come nearer………I’ll tell you.” Hooking her hand, Senior Sister gestured at her and Bai Yuxiao immediately leaned forward to place her ear near Senior Sister’s lips obediently.

How would those mere mountain bandits dare to attack a royal prince, the Wangye ? It is impossible that no one is working behind the scenes, so this must be a conspiracy!

The two sisters and their master held a secret discussion in the room. Bai Yuxiao absorbed all the information that her senior sister provided her and after talking for about a quarter of a sichen, her senior sister advised her.

“Alright, this is the only information I can give you for now. You should be a bit more careful in your dealings as this involves the royal family. The risks are great, so you have to practice caution.”

“I understand, thank you Senior Sister. Oh yes…….Master, this is a gift from this disciple in respect of Master. Keep it.” Bai Yuxiao took out two embroidered purses. She respectfully handed one to her Master and gave the other to her Senior Sister.

“Third Senior Sister, if there is an opportunity, please help me to pass this to Elder Senior Sister.”

Hua Qianqian opened the purse and found a silver banknote* inside. She smiled and said. “No problem, I’ll hand this over to Elder Senior Sister. Our business depends on Eldest Senior Sister, and she is indeed clever in doing business.”

(Silver banknote – In ancient times, it is cumbersome to carry large amounts of monies such as gold, silver, or bronze. As such, when banks were introduced, silver notes were used as a form of cash, and these were referred to as banknotes with the value in silver which is similar to cheques.)

“Alright, whatever both of you want to talk about should be completed. Yuxiao came out to offer incense, so she can’t stay here too long and it’s time for her to return. This is to avoid any suspicion.”

Bai Yuxiao nodded with a smile.

“Master, this disciple will be leaving now. When there is an opportunity, this disciple will come to see you again. Third Senior Sister, I’m leaving.”