Return of the Swallow c1-644

by Edited by Deyna up to chapter ~100.

  A wet handkerchief had been gently laid on née Sun’s forehead, and she lay peacefully between the pale-green satin sheets, despite the unnatural red of her cheeks. The senior madame was wearing a snow-white undergarment.

  It pained Qin Yining to see her mother thus. She quietly greeted her father and pressed Jin-mama for specifics. The girl was finally put at ease after she’d heard the old servant’s reassurance that the madame wasn’t in any danger, then having Bingtang diagnose her mother, and finally confirming everything multiple times. Keeping her voice low, she told Qin Huaiyuan that she would stand vigil throughout the night, and that he should spend in the night in the outer study.

  Née Sun’s fever ran hot as the night progressed during the night, so an exhausted Qin Yining didn’t dare close her eyes until the fever broke just before dawn. When the madame awoke from her fevered sleep, the sun was shining brightly in the sky. A twinkling ray of sunlight caught her eye, and she followed it to find Qin Yining sprawled on the edge of the bed from her position on the low step.

  The girl’s hair had cascaded messily down her lower back and half her face was buried in an arm. Her eyelashes looked quite long from this angle, casting delicate shadows onto her cheeks. She seemed more like a child when asleep, like a cute and delicate porcelain doll.

  Née Sun was taken aback at first, but quickly felt a rush of gratitude. It felt as if every vein in her body had been enveloped with warmth, like soaking in a hot spring. This girl, no matter what, was true to her.

  The truest of hearts were seen with the passage of time, and what the duo had weathered together was enough to prove Qin Yining’s filial piety. The madame’s hand rose shakily to stroke the girl’s head. Qin Yining woke up at the first hint of her mother’s touch. She smiled to see née Sun awake and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, busily taking her mother’s temperature.

  “You’re not feverish anymore. How are you feeling now, mother? Jin-mama’s prepared plain congee and some small plates for you. Let’s eat some before you take your medicine, alright?”

  Née Sun nodded and pushed herself upright, settling against the large cushion that Qin Yining placed behind her mother’s back.

  “I’m alright. I just got caught in the sudden downpour on my way back from the Garden of Loving Piety yesterday. Look at how deep the circles beneath your eyes are! I’m fine here, go back and rest!”

  “I’ll leave when I see that mother’s taken your medicine. I’ve already sent word to the old dowager just now and she’s exempted you from morning and evening greetings. She tells you to rest well.”

  Née Sun’s genial mood was slightly despoiled by the mention of the old dowager, and so merely nodded in response.

  Qin Yining kept her mother company until her mother had eaten both her breakfast and her medicine before returning to Venerable Study Hall for a nap. The next time her eyes opened, she’d slept clean through lunch. She was hesitating over whether to rise and eat something when a visitor came calling.

  “Miss, runners have come from the inner door to report that Grand Steward Zhong has some urgent matters to discuss with you. He’s waiting for you outside the manor right now.”

  This chased away all sleepiness from Qin Yining’s eyes, and she hastily rose to have her servants help her wash up. Steward Zhong was a great business partner and wouldn’t come find her for some little thing. Only the most serious of matters would summon him to her door.

  Normal noble daughters didn’t even set foot out of the inner door, but for Qin Yining, her business on the outside made it a common occurrence. She notified née Sun that she was making a trip out and ignored the old dowager entirely before leaving with Bingtang and Jiyun.

  She’d wanted to bring Songlan as well, but the maid had declined her with a smile. “It’ll become inconvenient if you bring too many people with you. Jiyun knows martial arts and Bingtang knows medicine. They’re perfect to go with you, miss.”

  That seemed to make sense to Qin Yining, so she left Songlan and Qiulu with standing orders to look after things at home, and to take care of Riceball. The group of three saw Steward Zhong’s carriage as soon as they set foot outside the manor. She had the two maids remain outside while she climbed into the carriage.

  “Steward Zhong, what brings you here in such a hurry?”

  “Miss, we found some clues about the group of assassins that attacked the Celestial Nunnery,” the steward responded lowly.

  “Really?” Qin Yining was immensely surprised. Although she’d asked the steward to discreetly investigate the matter, it’d been a while since that affair. Combined with her ignorance of the Institute’s information network, it was no wonder that she was very surprised when something had actually been found.

  The steward explained, smiling at her. “Our people are good with the city coroner and learned a few things from him. The group that attacked the nunnery has the same origin as one of the groups that attacked the emperor when he welcomed back the Marquis of Anping. The coroner said that the same poison was present in both groups, and that both groups had the smell of water tobacco in their mouths.”

  “Water tobacco?”

  “Indeed. It’s different from the loose leaf tobacco that’s more common hereabouts. Water tobacco comes from the north and has a stronger taste and kick to it. The northerners smoke it more, and it’s not as popular around here. Add the long distance and higher prices, there’s even fewer who regularly use it in the south. There’s only one store in the entire capital that sells water tobacco. When the coroner said that the assassins smoked water tobacco, I had some men stake out that shop. But to think that we really did find some clues!” The steward unconsciously hushed his voice even more at this point.

  “Those who came to purchase water tobacco are all tall and brawny men. They don’t talk much, but when we heard them speak, they spoke the language of the Tatars. They seem to have a leader, and he looks very different from us of Great Yan. Naturally, he’s tall and muscular, but his eyes have flecks of light grey in them. You wouldn’t notice without taking a close look, however.”

  Qin Yining nodded. “What else?”

  “Our men kept watch at all hours and saw them purchasing tobacco again yesterday, so they followed the foreigners and found their base. I didn’t know what to do from there and so came to you for advice. Do we continue surveilling them, or do you have other plans, miss?”

  When the steward saw Qin Yining’s lack of surprise at the word ‘Tatars’, he knew that the owner had long since had her suspicions. And to be frank, it was a very logical conclusion after a superficial analysis of current politics.

  Great Zhou was to the north of Great Yan, and the Tatars to the north of Great Zhou. The Tatars had been at war with Great Zhou for many years, and the latter finally could free up some time and energy to deal with the Tatars after the successful peace negotiations with Great Yan. This was undoubtedly a very bad outcome, which was why the Tatars had tried their best to ruin the peace talks.

  Now that her speculations had been verified, Qin Yining frowned in deep thought. “Where is this base? Let’s go take a look.”

  Steward Zhong nodded after a brief moment and called out to the groom. “Head for Good Health Alley next to the Northern Gathering of Sages.”

  The groom made an affirmative noise and had the maids climb onto the carriage seat. He cracked the whip and quickly steered the carriage to the northern part of the city.

  * * *

  Chapter 151: Deciding Upon Strategy

  Chapter 151: Deciding Upon Strategy

  The Northern Gathering of Sages was an establishment located in the north side of the city, close to the northern gate also called the Exalted Peace Gate. Going any further north would mean exiting the city. It wasn’t a busy section of the capital, but there were several large families who called this area home.

  Steward Zhong led Qin Yining to Good Health Alley, a quiet street near the Exalted Peace Gate. There weren’t any large manors present he
re, just some typical houses. A black lacquer door hid itself in the wall at the end of the alley, and two bored men were stooped in front of the door, cracking nuts as they whiled away the time.

  The mere sound of the carriage wheels rolling by the alley caused the men’s heads to whip towards the head of the alley. This startled Qin Yining into tightening the crack between the window curtains.

  “They’re certainly alert.”

  “That they are. Thankfully, my men are equally cautious and avoided detection. These two men are their guards.” Steward Zhong pointed at a few places outside the carriage. “Those people randomly wandering the street are probably also their men. Even though this manor seems to have a small entrance, it’s very deep inside. It’s two large houses deep, and it wouldn’t be a problem to house roughly a hundred people.”

  Qin Yining nodded. “Something is definitely off here. Is this the only exit? Are there any other doors?”

  “In response to you, miss, I had some men explore the area. There’s only a front and back door to the manor, and a narrow dog hole that leads to a side street. There are no other exits.”

  “Mm.” The girl nodded slightly. The carriage had wheeled past the alley, and the groom was hesitatingly slowing down. He was unsure whether or not to turn around, but Qin Yining spoke, “Don’t turn back. Keep driving straight ahead and take a longer way around to the back of the manor.”

  The groom assented, and drove the horses forward.

  The two men at the door and others on the street had taken careful notice of the carriage. They relaxed only when the carriage rolled past without stopping, taking it as someone just passing by.

  Qin Yining was deep in thought. This place is definitely strange. Judging from the presence of guards and Steward Zhong’s investigations, there were definitely Tatars living in that manor.

  But this was the Great Yan capital, a place where security was paramount and the emperor cast a watchful eye over everything! Was there really no one who’d discovered the Tatars taking up residence here? Not to mention, the northern commander of Warden’s office was stationed at the Northern Gathering of Sages, and the northern Bureau of Fire Control had their office close by. These two were solidly aboveboard government offices. Would Tatars spies really pick a stronghold so close to enemy agencies? Wouldn’t that be asking to be exposed?

  But there truly were Tatars in that manor. There’s just something very odd about all this.

  As she pondered the oddities, the carriage had looped around the huge manor and reached its back door.

  The rear wall of the manor was noticeably taller than its two neighbors. Thankfully, there weren’t any men guarding the back door. Perhaps this was out of conscious imitation of their neighbors. No one else had guards posted to their back door. If only this manor had guards, that would actually appear more suspicious instead.

  “This looks like a regular residence, but its defenses are airtight. There’s no place to begin if we wanted to investigate it.” Steward Zhong sighed. “I’d wanted to send people in, but was afraid of alarming the target. It’d be bad if we were exposed.”

  “Indeed.” Qin Yining nodded. “We can’t forcefully investigate this place. Think about it, this manor is so close to the yamen, and the warden’s soldiers patrol the surroundings everyday. Can they really have no idea of the situation? If they do and still allow it, then there’s something much deeper at play here.”

  The steward was a smart man. He immediately caught the owner's drift with just those few words. His expression grew grave as well. “If this is the case, then we really can’t investigate directly.”

  Qin Yining nodded. There’d actually been a split second where she wanted to give up investigating this matter. The Tatars had been involved in an assassination attempt, so the emperor would naturally send his elites after them.

  But if they didn’t follow the clues they’d gathered now, greater trouble might appear in the future. The Tatars had threatened the Duchess of Ding, her, and her father. Things weren’t as simple as they seemed. The fact that these people yet remained within the city indicated that they had more missions to carry out. Who knew? Maybe next time they’d make an attempt on her family.

  Qin Yining mentally dismissed any ideas of taking a step back when her thoughts reached that final point. She lifted her eyes in time to see a patrol from the Warden’s Office walk by. She recognized the leader as Xu Mao, the East Area Commander of the Warden's Office from the Celestial Nunnery attack.

  Although she was puzzled why he would be patrolling the northern part of the city, she didn’t think much of it. Instead, she had the carriage stop and lifted the window curtain to give Bingtang some instructions.

  The maid jumped off the carriage seat and headed to Xu Mao, but the steward didn’t understand, looking inquiringly at the Qin fourth miss. But Qin Yining was intently focused on seeing Xu Mao’s reaction.

  The commander followed Bingtang to the carriage before long. Qin Yining didn’t put on airs and lifted the curtains to nod a greeting to the man. “Long time no see, Sir Xu.”

  “So it’s Miss Qin.” Xu Mao was a lot more respectful to the girl than before, an obvious indication of how high Qin Huaiyuan’s new position of marquis was.

  “I have something to trouble Sir Xu with, and apologize for the hassle.”

  “Not at all! Please speak of whatever you need, Miss Qin.”

  “I just passed through the area with my servants and accidentally dropped a gold bracelet embedded with jade. The jade in the bracelet is of exceedingly fine quality and is highly valuable. But I saw a tall, large man pick it up. My servants called out to him but he ran off quickly, entering that manor.” Qin Yining pointed at the manor with the Tatars. “Therefore, I’d like to trouble Sir Xu to get my bracelet back for me.”

  Pfft. A girl alright. They only know to concern themselves with trifles like these. Xu Mao was first highly contemptuous as he listened to the story, then quickly turned grave when he heard that the bracelet had been picked up by a man of that manor. He thought for a while and then smiled apologetically.

  “A lost bracelet isn’t the most important of matters. If Miss Qin really likes that bracelet, then this official will buy another one for you. However, I can’t search that manor. Even if we had more concrete evidence than your words, I still don’t have the right to do so.”

  Qin Yining lifted her chin proudly. “But I saw the people of that manor take my bracelet. It’s a priceless piece of jewelry! Will Sir Xu still not help?”

  Impatience crept into Xu Mao’s tone. “It’s not that I don’t intend to help, but that Elder Statesman Cao gave instructions that great personages live in this manor. They’re not to be disturbed, so I recommend you let the matter rest.”

  A stroke of inspiration struck Qin Yining when she heard about Statesman Cao. The look of pride on her face instantly morphed to one of wariness, and she responded with a look of embarrassment. “Forget it, it’s just a gold bracelet. It’s nothing major.”

  The commander heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the Qin fourth miss was bending to the situation and not making a further fuss about her bracelet. He raised his hands in a salute and left to continue patrolling. Qin Yining let down the curtains and rushed the groom back to Cloudsoar Inn.

  ……

  The steward and Qin Yining took a seat each inside a quiet house. Jiyun and Bingtang were on guard outside, to keep from anyone eavesdropping on the conversation inside. The steward broached the subject worriedly when it was only the two of them inside. “Do you still wish to investigate, miss?”

  “Yes. These people have already attempted two assassinations, so there may be a third or fourth attempt. How can I let this latent threat continue brewing?”

  The steward nodded approvingly. “However, it won’t be easy to take them out. We can’t even investigate their manor.”

  Qin Yining found the task daunting as well. It wasn’t difficult to nab one of them for an interrogation, bu
t what if the other didn’t give them a chance to ask questions? If their captive committed suicide, it’d only alarm the enemy and make their own investigations more difficult in the future. Should I tell father about this?

  * * *

  Chapter 152: A Great Show (I)

  Chapter 152: A Great Show (I)

  Father was a court official and wasn’t free to do many things himself. His most likely course of action after learning about this would be to report it to the emperor. But this place was under Statesman Cao’s protection. It was a very complicated web of relationships. Who knew how that useless emperor would react? Her father might actually be accused in return, since she didn’t have any tangible evidence.

  She had to tell father about this, but only after obtaining concrete proof that these people were Tatar spies. Mere suspicions wouldn’t be convincing enough, and people would suspect Qin Huaiyuan of stirring up trouble instead.

  Qin Yining’s face grew solemn as she reached a decision, and she suddenly asked, “Steward Zhong, do we have anyone in the Bureau of Fire Control?”

  The Bureau of Fire Control was associated with the Warden’s Office and in charge of all fire-extinguishing efforts in the city.

  The steward’s eyes lit up as he understood her meaning. “We do have a brother, he collects night soil for the Bureau.”

  Qin Yining blinked and laughed with delight. “Perfect! A night soil collector. Hidden talents abound in the Institute alright! Our connections are exceedingly vast. Then, let’s do it this way. Please search out this brother and prepare 300 taels of silver. He can retire handsomely after finishing this job.”

  “What are your orders, miss?” The steward nodded.

  The girl had Steward Zhong scoot closer and whispered her plan to him. His head bobbed furiously and he sighed with admiration when she finished. “As expected, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. You truly deserve the title of the ‘Daughter of Wise Pan An’. I bow to your strategic prowess, miss.”