Cang Lan Dao - Chapter 30.2

Chapter 30.2
Lord Zhang, buy a carriage!

Qin Jue saw her expression and knew she didn’t want to use the people from the Inspection Department. Pursing his lips, he said, “Right now, I have — in my hands.”

“Alright, I know.” Luo Wanqing raised her hand to stop him, glanced at Zhang Jiuran, and said, “Just take care of her; I’ll figure it out myself.”

Luo Wanqing turned around and left, heading out herself. She hadn’t been to Dongdu for many years, so she walked around and bought some things, and after inquiring about the location of Li Guiyu’s residence, she wandered over.

Li Guiyu’s mansion was given to him by the Emperor when he was only thirteen years old, preparing him to be a king, so it is evident that he is highly favored.

Luo Wanqing circled the royal mansion, and someone immediately followed her. She took one look and knew it was Jiang Shaoyan’s people; this place was more guarded than she thought. She pretended to loiter and left the royal mansion; before she left, she observed the entrance; there weren’t any vendors, and the homeless people at the side of the alley were all martial artists; she couldn’t even stick a needle in. It looked like Jiang Shaoyan was not having a good time in Dongdu. Luo Wanqing wanted to laugh when she thought about it. Standing on the street, for a moment, she didn’t quite understand what he was trying to do. Is this living better than when he was in Yangzhou? She remembered that when he was in Yangzhou, he smiled every day; his eyes seemed born naturally with smiles, bringing the spring light of Yangzhou. Now, she had fallen to this point, and he was worried about being assassinated day and night; what exactly did he want?

Luo Wanqing took a deep breath and turned to leave. Before she left, a gorgeous carriage stopped in front of the royal mansion; a youth with a weary look rolled the curtains, and the moment he stepped out of the carriage and looked up, he fixed his gaze on Luo Wanqing.

“Your Highness?” Uncle Zhang, the butler who served Li Guiyu, was worried when he saw Li Guiyu’s expression, “What’s wrong, Your Highness?”

The Empress had just beaten the Third Prince in Kunning Palace in front of the Crown Prince, so everyone knew he was not in a good mood.

Li Guiyu looked at the woman’s back; he didn’t say anything; he seemed to use a lot of strength to restrain his emotions, gazing at Luo Wanqing’s disappearing figure for a long time before forcing himself to move away.

“Your Highness?” The butler hesitated and said with some fear, “What did you see?”

“Nothing.” Li Guiyu answered faintly.

I didn’t see anything; I just saw her.
She really — returned as promised.
Her tablet is here, and she has returned. She could look for him whenever she wanted and knew where to wait for him.

Thinking of this, Li Guiyu lowered his eyes and walked towards the bedroom. He has always been like this. Every day, when he returns, he has to see Miss. He feared that Miss would get upset if she waited too long.

Luo Wanqing was oblivious to everything Li Guiyu did. She heard Jiang Shaoyan come back, but she didn’t dare to turn around for fear of attracting the attention of Jiang Shaoyan’s people. They had already discovered she had observed his residence. Thus, she couldn’t cause any more trouble. She calmly left, frowning as she pondered how to arrange for someone to monitor Li Guiyu. She wrapped her arms around her chest and tapped her fingers on her arms, thinking of all the possibilities.

Hire beggars?
A peddler?
Or — neighbors —
Neighbors?

Luo Wanqing abruptly realized something and looked at the row of houses in front of the royal mansion. One could see the entrance of the royal mansion from the backyards of these houses.

If Luo Wanqing remembered correctly, this location belongs to the officials. Officials above the sixth rank, who could not afford to buy a house in Dongdu, could rent here for only one or two pieces of silver per month. The cost was meager, and many poor ministers would live here. But, only a few sixth-rank officials cannot afford a house.

But there is someone —

Luo Wanqing remembered the youth and couldn’t help but laugh. She immediately scoured the row of mansions and finally found a ‘Zhang Mansion.’

This place was not as good as Li Guiyu’s gate; hawkers and vendors set up stalls along the street, and Luo Wanqing confirmed that this was Zhang Yiran’s residence once she inquired about it with the people around her.

Zhang Yiran’s residence faces a small vendor selling wontons; Luo Wanqing sits in place, eats wontons, and begins to wait for him. After waiting for an afternoon, when the vendors were about to close their stalls, Luo Wanqing finally saw Zhang Yiran walking back.

That’s right, he is ‘walking’ back.

Luo Wanqing looked at him wearing a scholar’s green clothes, with mud on his body. Obviously, he went out to do something in the countryside. However, he still couldn’t hide his clean and upright demeanor even if he was like this.

Luo Wanqing watched him walk to the door and knock on it; she hurriedly put on her mask and chased after him; she still had wontons in her mouth and vaguely said, “Lord Zhang!”

Zhang Yiran heard the voice and turned around in confusion. He saw a girl wearing a long blue dress with a peach blossom mask covering her face trotting toward him. He was bewildered and respectfully said, “Miss is?”

Luo Wanqing swallowed the wontons. Seeing Zhang Yiran’s appearance, she instantly felt as if she had returned to the past when she was still Luo Wanqing. She was embarrassed, fearing that the wontons would have an odor after she ate them; she stepped back and said softly, “It’s me.”

Zhang Yiran listened to her voice, and after a moment, he reacted before opening his mouth and saying, “You ……”

Before the words fell, the door next to him opened, and a woman’s voice rang out, happily saying, “Yiran is back ……”

“Mother, you quickly ……” Zhang Yiran hurriedly went to pull the door, wanting the woman to hide inside.

“Madam!” As soon as Luo Wanqing thought about it, she knew that Zhang Yiran would reprimand her. She hurriedly squeezed through the gate with one foot. When she entered the house, she told Mother Zhang, “I’m a friend of Lord Zhang.”

“You get out!” When Zhang Yiran heard this, he immediately went to pull her. But he was a scholar; how could he pull Luo Wanqing? Instead, Luo Wanqing dragged him in.

Luo Wanqing raised her hand to close the door and respectfully said to the stunned Mother Zhang, “Madam, I have something to say to him; please wait a moment.” Without waiting for Mother Zhang to reply, Luo Wanqing tugged him inside.

Zhang Yiran’s face reddened as he spoke out in agitation, “Let go of me! Pulling and tugging is inappropriate! You death row prisoner ……”

“Keep your voice down, and don’t scare your mother!” Luo Wanqing softly said.

Zhang Yiran froze. When he saw Mother Zhang still looking at them, he finally endured a breath and was pulled by Luo Wanqing to the backyard.

This courtyard was small; Luo Wanqing pointed her toes and leaped to the tree to look, and then she confirmed that this was an excellent location to observe Jiang Shaoyan’s residence.

When she landed from the tree, she heard Zhang Yiran say coldly: “Don’t you join the government? You still dare to come to my place?”

“I did,” Luo Wanqing told the truth and smiled, “I’m an official in the Inspection Department now, so don’t call me a death row inmate in every breath.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yiran froze and looked at her suspiciously, “Inspection Department? You entered the Inspection Department?”

“Yes, that’s right.” Luo Wanqing nodded her head and reached out towards him, “Where are my things?”

Zhang Yiran sniffed and pursed his lips, seemingly unwilling, but still said, “Follow me.”

Luo Wanqing was slightly surprised; she followed him and said, “You still keep it?”

“It’s not my stuff, and I can’t throw it.” Zhang Yiran opened his mouth with a stern face, and Luo Wanqing was curious: “Then what if I never came?”

“Then I’ll store it for the rest of my life.” Zhang Yiran glared at her.

Luo Wanqing felt amused; she followed Zhang Yiran into a storehouse.

Zhang Yiran rummaged through the things and said coldly, “Here, don’t come back.”

“That won’t do.” Luo Wanqing immediately smiled and said, “I came to ask for your help.”

“I don’t have …… anything to do with you.”

“Do you remember that you have a sister?” Luo Wanqing asked, and Zhang Yiran’s movements lurched as he raised his head and frowned, “What are you trying to say?”

“She’s in Dongdu.” Luo Wanqing calmly answered.

Zhang Yiran froze, and Luo Wanqing whispered, “I need to do something right now. Please help me do it; I’ll have her return to you after that.”

“What are you talking about?” Zhang Yiran was doubtful, “She’s in Dongdu?”

“En.” Luo Wanqing didn’t dare to say more as she nodded, “Don’t worry, she’s fine.”

“She’s fine but not coming to see us?” Zhang Yiran stared at Luo Wanqing, “Does she know how long mother has been waiting for her? Mother thought about her every day and every night until her eyes hurt. She didn’t know where she was and fear of disturbing her. Now that you told me she is in Dongdu, you can find me, but she didn’t come to see us?!”

Facing Zhang Yiran’s questioning, Luo Wanqing was momentarily at a loss for words. As she thought about how to lie, she heard Zhang Yiran say, “She’s not doing well, is she?”

Luo Wanqing gave a start, and when Zhang Yiran saw her reaction, he knew the outcome. He said no more, his hands trembling slightly, and after a long time, he calmed down and only said, “What do you want me to do?”

“Don’t let them find out; keep an eye on the King Guang An Mansion.”

Luo Wanqing didn’t dare to think deeply about Zhang Yiran’s emotions and said softly, “Notify me if they are traveling at night in an ordinary carriage.”

“How can I notify you?” Zhang Yiran raised his eyes to look at her, “Go to the Inspection Department to look for you?”

“No.” Luo Wanqing immediately refused, “Don’t get involved with me. As of today, don’t let a third person know about you and me knowing each other. This flute is unique; its sound can reach fifteen miles.” Luo Wanqing pondered momentarily and handed over the flute that Cui Heng had given her.

She had tried it; this flute has a unique sound that ordinary people couldn’t hear, only martial artists. So, if Cui Heng could listen to it, she could too. This type of flute should not only be available to Cui Heng, so the focus was the signal.

The secret signal that Cui Heng agreed with her was three consecutive sharp and long sounds. If she changed the secret signal, Cui Heng wouldn’t alarmed. Even if he was —

It’s no big deal. Just say that she lent it to Zhang Yiran. Once Luo Wanqing thought about it, she said, “If he goes out, use this flute to play a song called ‘West Lake Willow,’ I can hear it.”

Zhang Yiran sniffed, glanced at the flute in his hand, pursed his lips, and said, “What is your relationship with her?”

Luo Wanqing paused; after thinking about it, she softly said, “A friend.”

She glanced around; Zhang Yiran was the poorest official she had ever seen. Thinking of the way he walked back today, she couldn’t bear it and took out two gold beads from the bag, putting them in his hand, persuading, “Buy some better herbs for Aunt, and ……” she looked up, hesitantly opening her mouth, “Buy a carriage.”

When Zhang Yiran heard the words, he instantly became furious, immediately saying, “I don’t want ……”

Before he finished the words, Luo Wanqing hurriedly hugged her things, went out the door, and flew out with a point of her toes, panicking and hastily left, only saying, “I’m leaving.”

“Come back!” Zhang Yiran grabbed the gold beads and rushed out, angrily saying to Luo Wanqing, who flew away in the sky, “Take your money away! I don’t want it!”

Luo Wanqing didn’t expect him to be so angry; how could she dare to go back?

Hugging her things, she flew back to the Inspection Department, jumping through the window into her room.

Once inside, she saw Cui Heng waiting in the room. The table was full of dishes; Cui Heng raised his eyes and looked, his eyes swept in Luo Wanqing’s arms, and laughed, “Quite a harvest; where did buy these things?”

Luo Wanqing hugged the things and hesitated, “I didn’t buy it.”

Cui Heng came forward and took over the things in Luo Wanqing’s arms to look at them, puzzled: “This is all I gave you before; you’re not …….”

The words ended abruptly; Cui Heng seemed to understand something and turned to her meaningfully: “Lord Zhang, ah?”