The reconstruction progress of Ranfang Street was very fast. In just four or five days, most of the road surface had been paved with large bluestone bricks. However, there were still few people along both sides of the street.
When Ye Jingtang rode back to Shuanggui Alley, Luo Ning jumped down first and kept a distance from Ye Jingtang to avoid being discovered by Xiao Yunli that her mistress was having an affair.
When Ye Jingtang came outside the small courtyard, he took a look around and saw that there was still a light in the house. On the window paper of the main room, the silhouette of a girl was reflected. She was holding a writing brush in each hand and writing rapidly...
As someone who had been through it, Ye Jingtang naturally understood why this was the case — when Miss Luo went out, she assigned homework to Yunli and said that she would be back in about five days. Xiao Yunli must have been having too much fun and was staying up late to catch up on her homework now that the deadline was approaching.
Luo Ning leaped over the courtyard wall. Seeing this scene, just like all mothers, her face darkened slightly:
"Yunli!"
"Huh? Mistress, why are you back now? I'm studying hard here..."
Luo Ning turned around and took a small wooden stick from outside the kitchen, ready to go in and discipline her "daughter".
Ye Jingtang felt sorry for Xiao Yunli and quickly stepped forward to smooth things over:
"Don't stay up late in the future. Your mistress is already angry."
Creak —
The door of the main room opened. Zhe Yunli, dressed like a delicate young lady with a knife hanging behind her waist, ran out. Her face looked a bit timid. When she saw that Ye Jingtang was helping to stop her mistress, she let out a sigh of relief and gave Ye Jingtang a look that said "You're so loyal!" Then she took out a small bamboo tube:
"Mistress, there was news from Nanxiao Mountain yesterday. Take a look. I'm going to feed the horse."
Luo Ning took the small bamboo tube used for carrier pigeon messages and grabbed Yunli:
"It's so late already. You go to bed first."
"I'm not sleepy..."
Dong dong~~
While Zhe Yunli was speaking, she was tapped twice on her back. A trace of helplessness flashed in her bright eyes. She slightly spread her hands and then fell straight down.
Luo Ning supported Zhe Yunli, picked her up horizontally, and placed her back on the delicate bed in the main room.
Seeing this, Ye Jingtang also understood Miss Luo's intentions. He put the bird in the main room to sleep, turned around, and entered the west wing.
Miss Luo covered Zhe Yunli with a quilt, and also covered the bird with a handkerchief. She closed the door of the main room, came to the west wing, and saw Ye Jingtang taking off his clothes in the room. She frowned:
"What's the hurry?"
Ye Jingtang stopped his movements and turned around:
"My robe is wet. I'm just changing into something clean. What news did you get?"
Luo Ning closed the door, came to the bedside, and sat down. She opened the bamboo tube and took out the note inside. There were tiny characters on it, and the first sentence was: Ning'er, how have you been recently...
Luo Ning's eyes moved. For some reason, she felt a strange sense of moral violation...
Ye Jingtang knew it was a private letter from the leader of the Pingtian Sect, so he didn't come over to read it together. He just waited beside her.
As the saying goes, "The most beautiful sight is a person's eyes in front of the lamp." Luo Ning leaned against the edge of the bed holding the note. Her enchanting peach blossom eyes reflected the light of the candlestick. Her skin was as white as jade, and with her cold expression, she looked like a fairy descending to the mortal world. Wearing a green dress, she exuded an otherworldly aura that made her seem untouchable and only worthy of being admired from afar.
Ye Jingtang raised his hand to help his wife take off her shoes. But looking at his hands that had held the reins all day, he stood up again:
"I'll take a bath first."
Seeing this, Luo Ning moved to the head of the bed, brought the candle lamp over, and carefully examined the paper.
The letter was personally written by the leader of the Pingtian Sect and had a lot of content. To prevent the message from being intercepted, the key content was encrypted.
At the beginning, it was just trivial family matters, talking about the situation in Nanxiao Mountain, reminding her to pay attention to safety in the capital, and telling her not to let Xiao Yunli be naughty.
The following content was about the origin and development of the "Roaming Palm":
Zhang Henggu of Nanshan Iron Divination was originally a young Taoist boy in the Imperial Astronomical Observatory of the previous dynasty, Dayan. His master was the state preceptor of the previous dynasty and often gave lectures to the last emperor of the previous dynasty, Emperor Yungong of Yan.
Like all emperors in previous dynasties, Emperor Yungong of Yan had a close attendant by his side. Since the Duke Wei of the previous dynasty was getting old, a young boy was selected to be castrated and enter the palace, and was given the name "Cao Qianqiu".
In addition to practicing the Minglong Tu (a martial arts diagram) treasured by the previous dynasty, Cao Qianqiu also went to the state preceptor to learn skills. Because he was the same age as Zhang Henggu, they often practiced martial arts together.
Although the two were young, they both had high talent. Zhang Henggu thought that the Bagua Palm taught by his master was not right, but he didn't dare to say it openly. So he discussed it privately with Cao Qianqiu. As a result, Cao Qianqiu thought the same way. The two of them then secretly studied the method of channeling qi in the palm technique.
Unfortunately, just as they had roughly figured it out, the flames of war began to rise across the land, and the war quickly spread to Yun'an.
Zhang Henggu fled with Emperor Yungong of Yan, while Cao Qianqiu, who was only twelve years old at that time, had been trained as a death soldier since childhood. After the country was destroyed, there was no meaning in living, so he chose to defend the imperial city and cover the retreat of Emperor Yungong of Yan.
After that, the two never saw each other again. In the war of subjugation, the state preceptor of the previous dynasty, Duke Wei, and other die-hard loyalists of the previous dynasty all died in battle. Cao Qianqiu was captured and was finally recruited by the founding emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty and became the "Inner Palace Guardian God", Duke Cao of the Great Wei Dynasty.
Zhang Henggu, together with others, escorted Emperor Yungong of Yan to Nanxiao Mountain. Protected by the Xue family's generals, he established the Pingtian Sect and secretly accumulated strength to try to restore the country. In the blink of an eye, it had come to the present day.
Zhang Henggu had accepted seven disciples in his life. Three of them had already passed away, and the remaining four were all in Nanxiao Mountain. If there were other people in the world who knew the "Roaming Palm", it could only be Duke Cao.
Luo Ning couldn't help but frown secretly when she read this — after the founding of the Great Wei Dynasty, many extraordinary martial artists emerged in the martial arts world. However, there was not a single person who could wield a three-foot sword and reach the emperor's bedroom. Just this alone was enough to show the weight of the name "Duke Cao".
Duke Cao never left the emperor's side for a single step, and no one knew his exact strength. He was not counted among the martial artists in the martial arts world. But if the martial artists in the current martial arts world really met Duke Cao, I'm afraid no one would dare to treat him as an insignificant figure.
Ten years ago, when the Empress ascended the throne, Duke Cao disappeared without a trace. It was said that he was killed by the death soldiers left behind by the previous emperor, but no one knew whether he was dead or alive.
Duke Cao was a person who had definitely practiced the Minglong Tu, and he had practiced more than one. Moreover, he was over seventy years old with extremely high talent and had practiced for a lifetime.
If the murderer she met last time was Duke Cao, it definitely wouldn't be the little rascal scaring people with a shout. Instead, Duke Cao would probably suddenly say, "Two young friends, what are you doing hiding in the mortuary in the middle of the night?"
The letter speculated that since she could still write a letter, the person she met must be an unremarkable disciple of Duke Cao.
Moreover, the leader of the Pingtian Sect also revealed a piece of news — last year, some forces came to visit and wanted to "work together on a great cause" with the leader of the Pingtian Sect, promising to confer the title of "Prince Zhennan" on the leader of the Pingtian Sect after the matter was completed.
The leader of the Pingtian Sect was the biggest rebel leader on the surface in the Great Wei Dynasty. The other party didn't think that the leader of the Pingtian Sect would inform the court, and the court wouldn't believe the words of a rebel trying to "sow discord". So they didn't keep their identity very secret. The leader of the Pingtian Sect could roughly guess that they were people from the "Prince Wu's faction".
Among the princes of the Great Wei Dynasty, the most powerful ones were Prince Liang and Prince Yan, who guarded the national border. They had military power in their hands. If these two princes wanted to rebel, the leader of the Pingtian Sect would probably have to consider it.
However, Prince Wu obviously had delusions of grandeur. Surrounded by the three major main forces of Yazhou Infantry, Yanzhou Cavalry, and Jiangzhou Navy, it would be impossible for him to succeed in a rebellion unless he developed an "air force" and carried out an air raid on Yun'an by taking a different approach.
So the leader of the Pingtian Sect ignored them and directly drove them out.
After analyzing the situation, the leader of the Pingtian Sect told her that if she wanted to investigate this matter, she could start with Prince Wu.
However, this was a hidden danger for the Great Wei court. She was reminded to keep in mind her identity as the "Lady of the Marquis of Zhennan of Dayan" and not to lose her mind and go to help the Empress defuse the hidden dangers.
After reading the letter, Luo Ning put down the note and fell into deep thought.
This matter was definitely not a small one. If the little rascal managed to solve it, the Princess would probably regard the little rascal as a god...
Xue Baijin was right. She was a member of the Pingtian Sect. If she went to help the court punish the wicked and remove the evil, wasn't she sort of betraying her own side?
What does it matter to me if the little rascal wants to earn merit and win the favor of the Princess? If I get involved, I'll end up losing both my husband and other things...
Oh, right. I need to help Yunli save Qiu Tianhe. I almost forgot about that...
After considering for a moment, Luo Ning suppressed her distracting thoughts and looked up towards the door. Then she heard the sound outside:
Hua hua~~
The little rascal was taking a bath.
Luo Ning blinked her eyes and looked at her clothes — it was inconvenient during the few days she was out, and she didn't have a chance to take a bath. Later, the little rascal would definitely kiss her randomly, so she also needed to take a bath...
After a moment of hesitation, Luo Ning stood up and walked out of the west wing.
It was drizzling outside, and it was already early morning. It was pitch-black in the courtyard, and there was only a little light at the corner between the main room and the west wing.
There was a small well in the corner of the courtyard, and under the wall of the west wing was a laundry pool. To take care of women, Ye Jingtang had also set up a cloth curtain under the eaves, and the inside was clean and tidy.
At this moment, Ye Jingtang was standing inside the curtain. There was a bucket in front of him, and he was using a ladle to pour clear water over his head.
Although the environment was simple, the little rascal was rather extravagant. He directly used a piece of "Osmanthus Soap" worth one qian of silver to take a bath, making his body covered in bubbles.
Luo Ning stood in the corner, lifted the cloth curtain with her finger, and looked inside, from head to toe:
"Aren't you done yet?"
Ye Jingtang, who was washing his face, replied:
"Don't worry. I'll be done soon."
"Who's in a hurry? It's almost dawn. You've been washing for so long... Can I take a bath or not?"
Ye Jingtang stopped his movements, turned around, and tentatively said:
"I can't reach my back. Well... how about we take a bath together?"
Luo Ning's eyes turned cold. However, after a moment of silence, she still walked into the curtain and untied her belt:
"Don't turn around."
"Okay."
Xi xi su su~
Luo Ning hung her clothes on the wall, walked behind Ye Jingtang, took the Osmanthus Soap, and rubbed it on his broad back:
"Stand still."
Ye Jingtang stood up straight and asked:
"What did the letter say?"
"The murderer is somewhat related to Duke Cao..."
Luo Ning told him the news in the letter, helped Ye Jingtang scrub his back, and then scooped up some clear water and poured it over herself.
Hua la la~~
With the intention of taking care of his wife, Ye Jingtang came behind her, took the fragrant soap, and scrubbed her. Then his hand slid up from her waist:
"Miss Luo, you can analyze it carefully. I can do this kind of thing."
Luo Ning's face quickly turned red. She pressed Ye Jingtang's hand and said in a low voice:
"I'll do it myself~"
"Don't be polite. We should help each other."
"Sigh... There's also something wrong with Prince Wu..."
Ye Jingtang was very quick in his actions. He covered her front with soap, and his hands started to move around.
After Luo Ning finished telling the story, her breathing was already a bit unsteady. To prevent the little rascal from noticing anything, she turned her head and made a look that said "I'm being forced into this".
"I think you're suitable to be Eunuch Ye in the palace. You have high martial arts skills, good talent, and you like to serve concubines when they take a bath."
"Concubines in the palace can't enjoy this kind of service."
"You're just naive. I heard from the old maids in the Pingtian Sect that this is how concubines in the palace take a bath... Oof~ I'll do this myself."
Ye Jingtang smiled, hooked his foot around Miss Luo's ankle, and spread her legs a bit to the side...
Luo Ning held Ye Jingtang's very attentive hand, but she couldn't stop him, so she gave up struggling...