Chapter 470: Lie to me once, I’ll count it as 100 times (2/2)

Han Yunxi didn’t rest beyond a few days before she once again was running back and forth all day long. Without a doubt, the Pill Fiend Pharmacy would be the start of her revolution in the future! She wanted to find Gu Qishao and Mu Linger to discuss employing them as pharmacists in the establishment, but then realized she had no idea how to contact either of them. Without a choice, she could only wait until Gu Qishao came to find her again. Anyways, it would take time before Pill Fiend Pharmacy was ready, so she was willing to wait.

Su Xiaoyu’s scalp had made a full recovery, but her hair had yet to fully grow back. Currently, she was sporting a crew cut like a little boy. After moving back into Leisurely Cloud Pavilion, she grew even more clingy to Han Yunxi than she had been before and accompanied her on her runs all over the city.

The second thing Long Feiye did upon his return was to have Chu Xifeng investigate Gu Qi Sha and his grudge against Medical City. Chu Xifeng was busy beyond belief, but couldn’t help but wonder if His Highness Duke of Qin remembered the last time Gu Qishao had come calling at the estate. Wasn’t he going to ask esteemed wangfei for an explanation? Despite this, Chu Xifeng wasn’t daring enough to bring up the subject, and thus he simply assumed his master had forgotten all about it.

On this day, Han Yunxi had just come back from outside. Baili Mingxiang received her before dismissing Su Xiaoyu to say in a low voice, “Esteemed wangfei, this servant found something. It might belong to little Yu’er.” So speaking, she took out a little wrapped object from her sleeves. Han Yunxi examined it and saw a bunch of small pearl-like objects in all the colors of the rainbow rather resembling signal flares.

“Where was it?” Han Yunxi asked, intrigued.

“In the banyan tree at the very border behind Leisurely Cloud Pavilion, hidden in a hollow in the trunk,” Baili Mingxiang said.

Han Yunxi fiddled with the items but couldn’t figure out how to use them, so she quickly delivered them to Long Feiye. Baili Mingxiang followed her up until they reached the door to his living quarters. Han Yunxi didn’t notice, but went inside and made a beeline for his study. She actually caught Long Feiye lying on his study table, fast asleep. The surface of the table was covered with various secret missives, some opened, some still shut. No matter how urgent her matter was, Han Yunxi paused at the scene, feeling distressed for his sake. She quietly sat on one side to wait, afraid to wake him up. Long Feiye hadn’t stopped telling her to rest over the past few days, but he had still exhausted himself to such a state.

In the end, she ended up waiting until night fell. Long Feiye’s quarters were lined with stone, so it was chilly to start with, but the temperatures dropped even further when the sun went down. Han Yunxi was still mistress of the house, so she went to his bedroom and found his cape before preparing to drape it over his shoulders. Unexpectedly, Long Feiye woke up as soon as she drew near and instinctively grabbed her by the throat.

Han Yunxi was dumbfounded, but Long Feiye withdrew his hand as soon as he recognized her face. “Does it hurt?” he asked pensively.

Han Yunxi coughed for a long time before she recovered enough to speak. It does! This fellow had so much strength. If he had held her any longer, she might have died for real. He was so on guard even when he was unconscious—no wonder he’d been so exhausted.

Does he ever allow himself to relax?

“It doesn’t hurt,” Han Yunxi said as she placed the cloak over his shoulders. “Your Highness, chenqie thinks you should let me take care of some things for you instead.”

“Why did you suddenly come over? Is something the matter?” Long Feiye asked worriedly. He knew that she rarely came unless she had business with him. Han Yunxi finally recalled the items in her possession and handed them over to Long Feiye.

Long Feiye was startled by the sight. “Where did these come from!?”

“Baili Mingxiang had found them in the hollow of a banyan tree at the Leisurely Cloud Pavilion. It’s very possible that they belonged to Su Xiaoyu,” Han Yunxi replied.

Long Feiye took Han Yunxi’s hand and led her into the courtyard. Then he placed one of the beads in his mouth and lightly spat it out. Immediately, the bead flew into the air and exploded in the sky, revealing a blinding white light! Though it only lasted for a few seconds, anyone keeping an eye out for it would notice it for sure! Next, he placed another bead in his mouth and spat it out the same way, this time releasing a dazzling explosion of red light.

“Your Highness, these really are signal flares!” Han Yunxi was astonished. Without a doubt, these belonged to Su Xiaoyu!

“These are the secret signal beads exclusive to Western Zhou’s imperial clan. Different colors signify different meanings, but only the guards of the royal family would understand what each one meant.”

Long Feiye had known Western Zhou’s princess, Duanmu Yao, since they were young. As children, Duanmu Yao had once played with these flares, so he recognized them even now.

“Western Zhou! Duanmu Yao?” Han Yunxi immediately thought of that woman. Western Zhou’s Princess Yao, Long Feiye’s junior sister, the woman who wanted in vain to marry into the Duke of Qin’s estate.

“It’s unlikely that she’s the culprit here.”

Because Duanmu Yao’s alliance with Jun Yixie had been exposed to the world, Western Zhou’s emperor had already cast her aside. She was currently hiding away in the Celestial Mountain Sword Sect, so it’d be difficult for her to arrange Su Xiaoyu as a spy in the Duke of Qin’s estate. Moreover, such careful, thorough planning didn’t seem her style at all.

“Your Highness, would Chu Qingge understand the secret signals of the imperial flares?” Han Yunxi asked. Aside from Duanmu Yao, that was the only person she could think of. Hadn’t she rescued Su Xiaoyu from Chu Qingge in the first place?

“It doesn’t seem like her style, either! But it’s definitely related to Western Zhou,” Long Feiye said as he used bead after bead, sending multiple colorful explosions in the air.

“If there’s a clue, we’ll definitely uncover something!” Han Yunxi knew that Long Feiye had a handle on things. She too, took a bead and imitated Long Feiye in spitting it out, but without her using any internal energy, it didn’t explode at all.

Meanwhile, a certain white-robed man standing on the rooftops near the Duke of Qin’s estate as he watched the colorful lightshow sparkling over the compound grounds. After a while, silence returned to the Duke of Qin’s estate as he muttered to himself, “The Nether Clan is finally here…”