“Young Lady. Young Lady Qing.”

Qing Meilin slowly woke up from the call in her confinement. She thought it was from her dream but then she heard the whisper calling for her again.

“Young Lady Qing, over there,” her handmaid pointed at the planked window.

They could see a man with his face covered anxiously looking around. Seeing the two of them awakened, he broke off the planks covering the window.

“Young Lady, we don’t have much time,” the agent saluted briskly. “We can only leave in this next shift rotation.”

The familiar bell rang from the watch tower and the man urged the two of them to jump out the window.

“The Emperor’s mind is muddled. Master is worried that you will end up executed like the 4 consorts,” the agent guided them out. “I’m tasked to hide you in a safe house in case the Emperor label you as a fugitive after this.”

Remembering the severed heads of the 4 consorts, Qing Meilin trembled and nodded. She obediently followed the agent’s lead and instructions. Every time a guard passed by, she instinctively held her breath.

This was the most thrilling thing she had ever done in her life. If they got caught, there was nothing but death waiting for them.

“How did father know about this matter so fast?” Qing Meilin asked as they waited for the right time to pass the guards behind the bushes.

“Every family has a spy or two here,” the agent gave the signal and they continued their advance.

He led them to leave through a side passage where it was usually used by servants to go to a stream uphill to wash their clothes. They hadn’t quite left the palace ground yet until they stepped out of the outermost fortress wall.

Qing Meilin couldn’t sigh her relief until they finally reached a small logistic cart. She and her handmaid were stuffed into the antique-filled cart which mostly was borderline trash.

“This will brings you to your temporary hideout,” the agent covered them with a sheet. “Stay hidden until you hear 4 rhythmic knocks from the coachman. Once you get into the house, don’t turn on any lights and go straight to a red closet. It will lead you underground for you to stay out of sight.”

“Wait,” Qing Meilin fearfully stopped the agent from leaving. “Why are you leaving us? You should escort us until the end.”

“I’m reaching my time limit. Rest assured, the coachman is also hired by your father,” the agent promptly disappeared into the shadows.

“Young Lady, we should hide,” the handmaid quickly pulled Qing Meilin in when she saw a light coming towards them.

Heavy footsteps of the city patrol were heard intermittently. When the two of them started to feel anxious, they heard a lighter footstep coming to the cart. The cart shook slightly as the person sat down and they heard them whipping the horse to move.

The coachman greeted the guards they encountered, sometimes having a little chat. It sounded like the coachman was quite known by the guards. He referred to them as his usual loot.

He disguised himself as a scavenger.

The cart stopped a few minutes later and they heard the 4 knocks the agent told them. When they uncovered themselves, the coachman was nowhere to be found. They were also stopped in the middle of an eerily deserted neighbourhood.

Qing Meilin entered the door to see that it looked as abandoned as its exterior despite its size.

“Young Lady, this must be the red closet he mentioned,” the handmaid found the red closet in one of the empty rooms.

They opened the door and indeed found that the wall behind it was hollow.

But once they descended down, they were welcomed by a group of unsightly men who smiled at them lecherously.

In his room, Xue Lan looked at the list of sex fiends in the city and burned them in the brazier.

“I have returned, My Lord,” Mo Shen appeared by his side and lowered his mask. “Good grief, I became fond of acting because of you.”

“What about the other matter?”

“It has been delivered,” Mo Shen held Xue Lan from behind. “We’ll see if they have another clue piece.”

“All that left is the Empress,” Xue Lan leaned on Mo Shen. “The others are not worth the time and effort.”

“Afterwards, we can focus on preparing the main dish,” Mo Shen raised an eyebrow. “Or is the Empress a part of the main dish?”

Xue Lan gave a nod, “Qi Ming would definitely be delighted to have her.”

“By the way, I am feeling quite hurt, My Lord,” Mo Shen suddenly said.

Xue Lan turned to look at Mo Shen strangely, “You? Out of all creatures?”

“Ouch,” Mo Shen chuckled, “I have been waiting for anyone to reach out to me to buy off my service from you, but why does nobody come? My self-esteem is being tested here.”

“I thought it was rather strange as well,” Xue Lan crossed his arms, “but then it became clear when you see it from an outsider's perspective.”

Mo Shen thought about it, clearly not understanding what Xue Lan meant.

“If you’re in their shoes, do you think you can buy off someone who is willing to fight a sea predator to free his master, kill anyone who hurt or attempt to harm his master, and tailor magnificent clothes for him every day?” Xue Lan raised an eyebrow.

“I guess that is how loyal I am,” Mo Shen smooched Xue Lan’s cheek peskily.

Xue Lan shoved him away in disgust, “I bought your loyalty with my soul. It is my right to have it.”

“Yes, My Lord. Likewise, your soul is my right to have it.”

Mo Shen’s eyes turned red with his slit pupils becoming gold. His fangs elongated into sharp blades as he smiled.

“The day your wishes came true shall be a joyous day for both of us,” he hissed and licked Xue Lan’s neck with his long, split tongue.

“…”

Xue Lan stared at Mo Shen’s devilish features and inexplicably raised a finger to touch his teeth. Without any warning, Mo Shen suddenly bit down his finger and sucked his blood.

He winced slightly and shuddered when his finger was wrapped by Mo Shen’s tongue.

“I hope you’ll spare me this…awkwardness and pain when you devour me,” Xue Lan curled his finger and stroked the slippery tongue.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make it enjoyable for the two of us,” Mo Shen let Xue Lan’s finger go and smirked. “Look, I gave you a lovely ring.”

Xue Lan looked at the bleeding cut encircling his index finger, “…”

Should he be grateful that Mo Shen didn’t bite his finger off?

***

The news of Qing Meilin’s disappearance was heard in the morning after the guard in charge of her meal went to deliver her breakfast and found her gone. They conducted a search but she was nowhere to be found and nobody had seen her or her handmaid.

Li Feng thought he could explode anytime because of the imperial harem recently. Ever since Xue Lan came, they kept making trouble for themselves.

He was the one who must handle them, damn it!

The consort position kept decreasing and the concubines were getting both hopeful and fearful.

On one hand, they wanted to get promoted as a consort by the Emperor and receive his favour and benefit. On the other hand, they didn’t want to become a consort hearing all the incidents that had befallen upon them.

It wouldn’t be strange if they died the day after their promotion.

From the initial total of 19 consorts, there were currently 10 left of them. And out of the 9 consorts reduced, only Xue Lan had a good ending.

The mid-autumn festival would be a good chance for them to get promoted. They were tasked to entertain the Emperor and his guests that day every year. If the Emperor was satisfied with their performance, they could get promoted within the week.

Those who were lucky enough might even be graced to his bed the same night.

But with the Emperor’s current fondness towards the Qi Ming Prince, that luck seemed more like an unattainable mirage.

“My Lord,” Mo Shen entered with Xue Lan’s lunch, “Qi Ming’s convoy is confirmed to visit during the mid-autumn festival. They will be staying for 3 nights.”

Xue Lan put down his brush and nodded, “It’s the same then.”

“The circumstances in here is…rather different though,” Mo Shen set up the table.

“Regardless, the past event is certain to replay and the one who will emerge victorious is set in stone. What shall be changed is the outcome afterwards.”

“Our bait caught what we need. All that is left to do is reel it in.”

“We still don’t know how true it is. We must be careful not to be misled by false clues,” Xue Lan warned. “Does it have any correlation with the other 2 clues?”

“Not as strong as the book with the painting I believe,” Mo Shen rubbed his chin. “We’ll just have to find out ourselves.”