Chapter 98 (2/2)

Jun Huang nodded. It was late. The gate had already been shut. They couldn't leave the city even if they wanted to. Their only choice was to rest and leave tomorrow.

The clerk waited for a long time for Nan Xun and Jun Huang to return. He quirked his lips into a wicked smile. They must have been caught by the prefect! Tomorrow, he would go to the prefect's manor for his reward. In his excitement, he failed to notice the dull pain in his body.

He happily returned to his room. The moment he came in contact with the bed, a sharp pain shot through his body. He couldn't help crying out. His scream was so loud it cut through the night sky. One after another, the customers in the inn cursed out loud. Jun Huang opened her eyes without getting off the bed.

The innkeeper knocked on the clerk's door, cursing and muttering. No one responded. He forced the door open and there the clerk was. The man who had been alive and well during the day now lay dead on his bed with a terrified look on his face. Blood gushed out from all seven of his orifices, and his limbs were twisted into unnatural angles. His eyes were wide and the eyeb.a.l.l.s had rolled back into his skull. Under the candlelight, he painted a horrifying picture.

”He's dead! He's dead!” The innkeeper cried out as he ran outside. Hearing the commotion, Nan Xun walked out of his room and followed the crowd to the scene. He was a soldier who had fought in many battles. He was no strangers to broken limbs and dead bodies. The way the clerk's body looked, however, still managed to make him frown.

He thought back to the needle Jun Huang had thrown. His expression stilled. He didn't expect Jun Huang to be capable of cruelty such as this. Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to question Jun Huang now. He pretended nothing had happened and returned to his room.

Jun Huang lay on the bed with a blank face. Her heart was numb. It was as if she hadn't been the one who had caused all the chaos. She slowly closed her eyes. Tomorrow, there would be a storm awaiting her.

When the prefect came to, he was still on the floor. His forehead was throbbing in pain. He touched the skin and felt the half-dried blood. He gasped as a stabbing pain spread from the wound. He cursed out loud. He looked over at where he had kept the doc.u.ments. Nothing was there. The fire had been put out. And the things he was trying to destroy had disappeared as well.

Before his anger could register in his brain, he felt panic rising from his heart and his clothes were drenched in cold sweat. The evidence must not be delivered to the emperor! He quickly recovered and rushed outside. He summoned his confidante and ordered him to shut down the entire city.

The confidante didn't know what had happened yet. He frowned. ”You must not do this, sir. Yangzhou is the biggest city in Northern Qi. The emperor has decreed that the gate must be kept open unless there is no other choices…”

”What does it mean to have no other choices?” the prefect said through clenched teeth. ”If we don't act now, the sc.u.ms who attacked me will escape. Then what awaits us will be the army the emperor send in to arrest me.”

The confidante quickly grasped the situation. The records of Yangzhou's tax revenue must have been stolen. That was a disaster waiting to happen. They couldn't afford to waste any more time. He rushed to send a messenger to the guards stationed at the city gate. They were to shut the gate immediately and to search through every inch of the city.

Fortunately, the clerk had reported to the prefect earlier. He said that there were two handsome men asking questions about the prefect. They appeared to be from outside Yangzhou. They were likely to be investigators from the imperial city.

”As expected, they shut down the city with no concerns to the law,” Nan Xun said with a serious expression. Now that the gate was closed, they would have to go through thorough questioning in order to leave the city.

Jun Huang's eyes were dark. She huffed. ”He is getting desperate. If the news reached the imperial city, do you think Qi Chen would be able to protect him?”

Nan Xun was surprised by her att.i.tude. Her calm smile puzzled him. Why could she maintain her composure no matter what she was faced with? He had never seen her lose her cool.

Jun Huang had noticed his odd look, but she didn't explain. Her smile dropped from her face as she looked out at the unusual number of soldiers walking the street. She sighed. ”Let us leave immediately. They will find their way to this inn in no time.”

”However, we will have a target on our backs if we leave the inn looking like this,” Jun Huang said with a smirk. ”Wait for me outside. I'll put on some disguise.”

Nan Xun didn't know what she was planning, but he left without a word. From the rucksack Little Girl had packed for her, Jun Huang pulled out a dress she had told Little Girl to prepare. She did so just in case an emergency arose. She hadn't been sure she would need it.

Little Girl was young. She preferred light yellow and pink. Jun Huang huffed out a laugh at the light yellow dress. She supposed beggars couldn't be choosers.

She put on the dress and took off her white jade cap, letting her hair fall on her shoulders. Looking at the young woman in the bronze mirror, Jun Huang felt lost in time all of a sudden. When she dressed as a woman in the brothel, she hadn't had the time to really look at herself. Now, seeing her own reflection, it felt more like she was looking at a stranger.

She didn't have time to dwell on her feelings further. She made her hair into a bun and put on a hair pin. Then she put on some makeup before walking outside.

Nan Xun stared dumbly at Jun Huang. He had had the honor to listen to Jun Huang perform that time in the brothel, but now he was given the opportunity to spend time with her when she was dressed as a woman.

There was a faint smile on her face, but her eyes remained distant. The way she moved her body was elegant, but there was also an air of determination about her that ordinary women did not possess.

”Is something wrong?” Jun Huang asked with a frown. Nan Xun had been staring at her in silence for too long.

Nan Xun came to his senses and gave her an awkward smile before looking away. ”Nothing.” He coughed. ”I'm just wondering what you're planning…”