Song of Everlasting Regret - Chapter 50

After the sky cleared, warm sunlight shone down and melted the winter snow upon the rooftops. Clear droplets fell steadily from the eaves with a soft pattering sound.

“I do not mind telling you what I know. However…”

Zhan Sanxiao pressed a towel that had been soaked in hot water and wrung dry against her hand. Then she tossed it onto the maid’s tray and looked Lou Jing over from the side.

“Since you called it selling you a favor, have you decided how you intend to repay me?”

Lou Jing answered firmly, “As long as it does not violate my conscience, I will obey any instruction you give.”

“You truly know how to negotiate.”

Zhan Sanxiao said, “You already work beneath me and belong to Fengyu Tower. Whatever I order you to do is already your duty. Yet you wish to use that to settle a personal favor?”

“Tower Master, people of importance are often forgetful. I currently work beneath Madam Yan and belong to Apricot Blossom Heaven. You were the one who sent me there.”

Zhan Sanxiao froze.

Then she laughed.

“Yes. That is correct. I was the one who sent you.”

Lou Jing had left Zhan Sanxiao without a reply, but she felt little satisfaction.

She resembled a child playing general, wielding a wooden sword and riding a wooden horse as she charged through battle and conquered several of Zhan Sanxiao’s cities.

Yet once she considered it carefully, it seemed more as though Zhan Sanxiao had indulgently allowed her to play.

The force of Lou Jing’s manner weakened.

Zhan Sanxiao was only about ten years older than her. Yet whenever they spoke, her expression and tone made it seem as though she belonged to an entire generation above Lou Jing.

Most infuriating of all, Lou Jing had unconsciously accepted this.

“In that case, I happen to have a matter requiring attention…”

Lou Jing’s temple twitched.

A dark light flashed within her lowered eyes.

What does she mean by saying she happens to have something? It sounds as though she dug a pit long ago and has been crouching beside it, waiting for me to jump inside.

“Liu Zhaojin’s merchant caravan is traveling to Jiangnan,” Zhan Sanxiao continued. “Its original route passes through Xifeng Pass.

“There is a local gang there called the Azure Qilin Gang, a tiger blocking the road.

“Merchant caravans passing through are generally willing to pay for peace. They present some silver as passage money in exchange for a safe journey.

“Recently, however, the Azure Qilin Gang has become increasingly greedy. Ordinary payments no longer satisfy them.

“They now demand twenty to thirty percent of a caravan’s profits before allowing it to pass.

“If a caravan refuses, they kill its members and seize the goods…”

Lou Jing furrowed her brows.

She felt the matter could not be as simple as it appeared.

“Jiangnan belongs to the Feihua Alliance, and Fengyu Tower serves as its treasury. Since Liu Zhaojin conducts business with you, why would any gang dare target his caravan?”

Zhan Sanxiao rested one hand upon the tea table.

Against the dark, deep-colored wood, her hand appeared as pure as white jade, slender and straight.

“The Azure Qilin Gang originally depended upon Dingshan Sect and was one of Long Chou’s forces.

“After Long Chou died, most of his trusted followers were also killed or wounded.

“Dingshan Sect descended into chaos, its members running around like headless flies.

“The dozen or so large and small gangs beneath it have long since begun operating independently, with no one controlling them.

“The Azure Qilin Gang is one of those factions.

“Although all of us belong to the Feihua Alliance, its forces are complicated and divided. Not everyone is necessarily willing to respect me.”

“What do you want me to do?”

Zhan Sanxiao tapped her fingers against the tea table.

A smile appeared upon her face, and her tone carried unmistakable pride.

“Pull out the claws and fangs of this tiger blocking my road.

“Teach them the rules of doing business with Zhan Sanxiao.”

“Very well.”

“You agreed so easily?”

Zhan Sanxiao said, “I do not have many capable people available for you to command. Do not overestimate yourself.”

“Since you asked me to handle it, the task must be within my abilities.

“Otherwise, you could simply send Yan Bumei. There would be no need to involve me.”

“Lou Jing, you are very intelligent…”

Zhan Sanxiao sighed.

“Very well. We have settled the conditions. Let us discuss what you wished to hear.”

She rested her knuckles against her temple and closed her eyes in thought, seeming partly to recall the past and partly to organize her words.

After a moment, she said, “Last year, when Zhongwu Hall and Caoliu Manor formed their marriage alliance, I also traveled to Xuzhou City on the wedding day.”

Lou Jing’s heart stirred when Zhan Sanxiao finally approached the subject she wished to hear.

“What were you doing there?”

Zhan Sanxiao opened her eyes.

They resembled a cold, deep pool, with dark ripples moving through them.

“Caoliu Manor possessed a rare spiritual medicine.

“The master of Zhongwu Hall was once gravely injured while encircling and attacking Long Chou.

“I guessed that since the two families were becoming connected through marriage, Caoliu Manor would most likely present that medicine as part of the bride’s dowry to Hall Master Mu.”

“The Jade Buddha’s Hand?”

Lou Jing remembered immediately.

“The person who stole the Jade Buddha’s Hand that night belonged to you?”

“Yes.”

“Then Cao Ruxu…”

The closer Lou Jing came to the truth, the faster her heart beat.

“My only objective that day was to steal the Jade Buddha’s Hand.

“I never intended to lure Cao Ruxu away. His life was of no use to me.

“However, I did know that Long Chou’s trusted subordinate and lover were staying at Apricot Blossom Heaven at the time.”

Lou Jing’s thoughts surged.

She forced them down and stared directly into Zhan Sanxiao’s eyes.

“Besides you, were any other members of the Feihua Alliance present?”

“To the best of my knowledge, only Shen Zhongyin.”

The matter had returned to its original point.

According to Zhan Sanxiao, she had no direct involvement in Cao Ruxu’s death.

She had created the initial cause by stealing the Jade Buddha’s Hand and drawing Cao Ruxu out, but she had neither participated in nor known about the events afterward.

It was like the two ebony chairs before them: positioned near each other, yet never touching.

A sudden thought interrupted Lou Jing.

Long Chou’s trusted subordinate and lover had both been staying at Apricot Blossom Heaven.

Since they all belonged to the Feihua Alliance, why had Zhan Sanxiao not protected them?

Why had she allowed the righteous factions to hunt them down?

Before Lou Jing could examine the matter deeply, Zhan Sanxiao interrupted her.

“Tell me what happened to you that day.”

Lou Jing recalled the events and described everything she had experienced in the abandoned garden.

She concealed none of the details she could remember.

She also explained how she had infiltrated the cemetery behind Caoliu Manor, dug open Cao Ruxu’s grave, and examined the wound upon his corpse.

Zhan Sanxiao narrowed her eyes and considered it carefully.

“A wound upon the chest that was wider in front and narrower behind…

“The murderer killed him with a sword thrust from the back.”

Lou Jing leaned closer.

“What have you thought of?”

Zhan Sanxiao beckoned to her.

“Come here.”

Lou Jing was already standing beside her but moved one step closer until she was very near.

Zhan Sanxiao then said, “Bring me the account book from the table.”

Lou Jing found this strange.

They had been speaking perfectly well. Why did Zhan Sanxiao suddenly want an account book?

And if she wanted Lou Jing to retrieve it, why had she first summoned her closer?

Nevertheless, Lou Jing obeyed and turned toward the shelves.

With her back facing Zhan Sanxiao, she displayed no vigilance whatsoever.

It was like leaving an open gate behind her.

She had only taken one step, her foot still suspended before landing, when an extremely strange impulse arose.

She wanted to turn and look back.

At that moment, something lightly poked the center of her back.

The force was so gentle that it neither hurt nor itched.

Yet Lou Jing’s entire body shook, and her heart leaped in alarm.

She turned around and stared at Zhan Sanxiao in surprise.

Zhan Sanxiao’s finger remained extended in midair, pointing toward the exact spot in the center of Lou Jing’s back.

“If I had been holding a dagger just now,” Zhan Sanxiao said, “I would have pierced your chest in the same manner as Cao Ruxu’s murderer and taken your life.

“You asked what occurred to me. That is what I thought of.”

Lou Jing stared at Zhan Sanxiao’s teasing expression and opened her mouth, but no words came.

She had not guarded against Zhan Sanxiao.

Furthermore, Zhan Sanxiao had emitted no killing intent whatsoever.

That had provided her with the perfect opening.

As Zhan Sanxiao said, had she held a dagger, the blade would already have passed through Lou Jing’s chest.

Lou Jing understood the comparison.

Only someone close to Cao Ruxu could have made him completely lower his guard and stab him from behind.

Lou Jing had considered this possibility before.

But at the time, she had still belonged to the Qianyuan Sect and possessed little understanding of the wickedness within the human heart.

She also regarded the Feihua Alliance as evil.

Thus, she had been more inclined to suspect that members of the Feihua Alliance had ambushed Cao Ruxu than to suspect internal conflicts and competing interests among the righteous factions.

Zhan Sanxiao was different.

She had experienced far more and had already witnessed deceit, manipulation, and the hidden cruelty of human hearts.

She knew that people would commit anything for fame, authority, and profit.

Her first thoughts naturally turned toward schemes, conspiracies, and secret struggles.

“I heard that Caoliu Manor has a young master named Liu Qingyun…”

Zhan Sanxiao deliberately lengthened the final syllable.

The name sounded familiar to Lou Jing, as though she had heard it somewhere.

“He is the child Cao Bo fathered with a mistress outside his household.”

Cao Bo’s son?

Lou Jing suddenly remembered.

He was the man who had stood beside Cao Bo and slapped her when she was brought to Caoliu Manor.

“This son possesses a lowly status. His appearance and talent are far inferior to Cao Ruxu’s, so Cao Bo has never valued him.

“He is not even permitted to bear the surname Cao.

“He behaves with extreme caution and treats his elder brother and father with the utmost respect, constantly flattering and obeying them.

“That is the only reason he has been allowed to remain at Caoliu Manor.”

Lou Jing thought that Zhan Sanxiao knew Caoliu Manor’s affairs remarkably well.

She even knew Cao Bo had fathered a son with a mistress and understood that son’s temperament.

Zhan Sanxiao glanced at her indifferently, seemingly reading her thoughts.

“All of this was preparation for stealing the Jade Buddha’s Hand.

“Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated.”

“…”

Zhan Sanxiao continued meaningfully, “Both men were Cao Bo’s sons.

“One was loved by his father, obeyed by everyone in the manor, and destined from birth to become the next manor master.

“The other endured cold looks, bowed and scraped, and could obtain only a small place of security within the manor.

“How could an ordinary person calmly accept such different fates?

“Liu Qingyun, moreover, is not someone willing to submit.

“He climbed from a position in which Cao Bo barely noticed him to becoming half a manager of Caoliu Manor. That alone demonstrates his ability.

“Now, apart from the daughter who married away, Cao Bo has only Liu Qingyun beneath his knees.

“Even if he dislikes the man, after his death, the position of manor master will most likely pass to Liu Qingyun.

“Tell me, after Cao Ruxu died, who benefited the most?”

Lou Jing remained silent for a long time.

“Liu Qingyun truly was part of the bridal procession when the two families formed their marriage alliance.

“But to murder one’s own blood relative merely for personal benefit…”

She found it difficult to imagine.

Her gaze became cold.

Yet she also understood it was not entirely impossible, and her sentence ended halfway.

Zhan Sanxiao raised her brows lightly, her voice becoming more relaxed.

“I am only speculating.

“You must investigate the truth yourself.”

She had only just finished speaking when the heavy curtain was lifted, revealing a square of brilliant daylight.

A man dressed in close-fitting black clothing entered.

His presence was restrained, while his steps were steady and light.

He approached Zhan Sanxiao, knelt, and offered a brocade box about the size of his palm.

“This is the spiritual jade the Cult Leader obtained for the Tower Master.”

Zhan Sanxiao opened the box.

Inside lay a bracelet of red jade.

The jade was fine and delicate, each bead full, smooth, and lustrous.

It grew warm upon contact.

When held, threads of heat seemed to travel upward through the meridians of her arm, creating an indescribably comfortable sensation.

“Thank her for me.”

The man bowed and withdrew.

Zhan Sanxiao held the bracelet in both hands.

After a long while, she released an almost inaudible sigh.

Shao Yan treated Zhan Sanxiao very differently from everyone else.

After spending so much time at Fengyu Tower, Lou Jing had begun to notice it.

Shao Yan was the leader of Chaosheng Sect and a disciple of Qiu Zhaoyi.

People in the martial world called her the Steadfast Star.

Most of the Feihua Alliance’s territory lay south of the river, while only Chaosheng Sect stood on the opposite bank in Huainan.

It served as the first barrier between the martial world of the Central Plains and the Feihua Alliance’s territory.

That was the origin of the title.

Lou Jing had seen Shao Yan only a few times.

Whenever she did, Shao Yan was with Zhan Sanxiao.

Before Zhan Sanxiao, she behaved gently and attentively, smiling and speaking pleasantly.

Toward everyone else, however, she was cold and arrogant.

At heart, she was a cruel, bloodthirsty demon who killed without blinking.

Before reaching the age of twenty, she had single-handedly slaughtered the entire Paisha Gang.

Lou Jing did not feel disgust.

Because of what had happened to her mother, she instead felt satisfaction over what Shao Yan had done and could finally release a long breath.

Villains would always encounter someone even more vicious who could punish them.