Chapter 6
An Unexpected Twist
(1)
These developments were making Shen Ying apprehensive.
The yamen said there were no gang organizations established here. Gu Sinan studied the gold hairpin everyday but could not see anything the least bit special about it.
Shen Ying almost wanted to get Xiao Mu over here. In his mind Xiao Mu carried much more weight than Gu Sinan.
However, he finally gave up that idea, deciding to wait a few more days to decide his next move.
Solving a case sometimes cannot rely on one’s hard work a lone, often what is needed is time, because as time goes on the killer will unknowingly slip up. Now Shen Ying was waiting for the killer to slip up.
The fifth double-hour, the hour of the dragon, had just passed when someone from the prefect of Luoyang delivered an invitation requesting Shen Ying to attend a banquet.
This banquet was set up to honor the retirement of the presiding judge of Luoyang. This Assistant Prefectural Magistrate Shen’s office was a minor one, but he came from the same clan as Shen Ying and they were somewhat acquainted, so Shen Ying could not very well decline, so he went to the banquet by himself.
× × ×
After Shen Ying had been gone for the time it takes to eat a meal, Lang the Fourth sent word that Zhan Tianhong had just vacated his duty as head steward of Ouyang Manor and had left Ouyang Manor and was heading out of the city.
Gu Sinan put down the gold hairpin and picked up his weapon and sent someone to notify Shen Ying, then hurried out with Feiyan.
They didn’t know which direction Zhan Tianhong was leaving the city from, so Gu Sinan hurried toward the east gates and had Feiyan head to the west gates.
Less than a mile outside the east city gates, Gu Sinan heard Lang the Fourth shouting in a grove and the clanging of weapons.
He urgently used his lightness skill and bore into the woods. Sure enough he saw Lang the Fourth fighting with Zhan Tianhong, the latter’s sword quick and tight, Lang the Fourth’s steel sabre dancing up and down, strenuously fighting him off.
Gu Sinan brew his blade and leapt over, shouting, “Brother Lang, don’t be alarmed, Little Brother will take care of him.”
Zhan Tianhong was startled and anxiously thrust his sword and turn around and ran.
Gu Sinan was already blocking the way. “Steward Zhan, where are you going in such a hurry, you must have a guilty conscience!”
“Nonsense, what did I do to give me a guilty conscience?”
“In that case, Steward Zhan, please come back with me, what do you say?”
“Rubbish! Why should I go back with you? I didn’t break any laws, what does Shen Ying want me for?”
Gu Sinan stroked his sabre and said, “Looks like I’ll just have to retain Steward Zhan in Luoyang for the time being.”
“Insanity! A little boy like you can detain Daddy Zhan?”
“Wait and see just how insane I am.” He pulled back his sabre and said, dropping his voice, “Pardon the offense!” And chopped at his opponent’s chest. Though it was a bit of a wild slash, it was executed impressively, with the bearing of a great general.
Zhan Tianhong stepped in a seven star pattern, leaning to the side to dodge, and his wrist flicked up and the tip of his sword slanted toward Gu Sinan’s throat.
Gu Sinan didn’t move his feet, just brought his blade back to block, and with a turn of his wrist the blade skimmed along the spine of the sword to cut at Zhan Tianhong’s arm.
This stroke changed extraordinarily fast and without any warning at all, startling Zhan Tianhong, who didn’t dare underestimate him anymore.
His sword made a circle and countertwisted up toward Gu Sinan’s forearm. Gu Sinan let out a word of praise and swung his arm and took a step forward, ravengold sabre out in a flashing ray of light swiftly slashing at Zhan Tianhong’s chest. Before this stroke was barely finished a new one followed, the tip of the sabre suddenly flashing before Zhan Tianhong’s face before thrusting slantwise at his left shoulder.
Zhan Tianhong was greatly shocked and flew back three steps, sword circling to seal up the sabre’s advance, the move “Lone Wisp of Smoke Rising in the Great Desert” swiftly stabbing at Gu Sinan’s chest.
Gu Sinan could not endure a long battle and suddenly leapt up, slashing down in the air in a gust of wind, frightening forceful rush, like a ferocious tiger leaping down the mountain!
Zhan Tianhong held his sword crosswise to block and there was a loud clang, his wrist going numb, his sword nearly slipping out of his hand, but Zhan Tianhong as absolutely no slouch, it’s just that he was caught off guard, that’s all. He forced down his seething qi and blood, sword coming up from the below in a different direction, curring across Gu Sinan’s belly.
This move was unusually sinister, Gu Sinan in midair not able to retract his sabre in time to block, and the momentum of the fight instantly shifted.
This Gu Sinan! Not flustered in a time of crisis, his right foot suddenly sank and kicked the spine of the sword which was immediately knocked away, and he dropped to the ground.
Zhan Tianhong was seeing red. Not waiting for Gu Sinan to get his footing, he pounced, and in the blink of an eye loosed seventeen sword thrusts.
Gu Sinan met the attack calmly, and once Zhan Tianhong’s seventeen strokes were over, Gu Sinan took advantage of his chain of old, predictable moves to slash through a seam in his sword onslaught, the tip of his sabre swiftly thrust into his face.
Zhan Tianhong sunk his back and shoulders to let it pass, but Gu Sinan’s wrist dropped and he went from a thrust to a chop, the blade aimed at his head.
Trouble close at hand, Zhan Tianhong was scared out of his wits and dropped to the ground and rolled, then sprang up and took off running.
He had lost the will to fight, only hoping that he could escape Gu Sinan’s pursuit.
Gu Sinan hollered, “Brother Lang, stop him!” And he gave chase himself.
Lang the Fourth’s nickname was “Flying Sparrowhawk”, and though the rest of his martial arts were not at a high level, his lightness skill was quite advanced. He flanked and cut off Zhan Tianhong.
Zhan Tianhong saw that Gu Sinan was not giving up the chase and suddenly got an idea. He pulled back a tree branch and waited for Gu Sinan to get close, then he let it go, the branch whipping back like an arrow loosed from the string at Gu Sinan’s face.
Gu Sinan was furious and swung his sabre and the branch broke in two, but Zhan Tianhong had pulled farther ahead.
Lang the Fourth, due to having to circle around, naturally had a longer distance to cover, so he was not able to intercept Zhan Tianhong in time.
He bent over and picked up a few rocks and with a raise of his hand yelled, “Watch our for these dart!” Three small rocks flew at the back of Zhan Tianhong’s head and back.
Zhan Tianhong turned sideways, pace not letting up, and he was pulling farther and farther ahead. Running out of time, an idea flashed through Gu Sinan’s mind and, copying Zhan Tianhong, his left hand pulled back a tree branch and let go, flinging himself forward like a n arrow.
This method was quite effective. Lang the Fourth’s relentless onslaught of rocks was after all affecting Zhan Tianhong, and after flinging himself three times with a branch, Gu Sinan had closed in. Once more and Gu Sinan’s drove his sabre at Zhan Tianhong’s back. He was really afraid of killing Zhan Tianhong like this and was about to call out to warn him, but Zhan Tianhong was already aware and leaned over to dodge it.
Gu Sinan drew in a sharp breath and spun around in the air, ravengold sabre sweeping. Zhan Tianhong backed away in a hurry, but then was startled as his back slammed up against a tree.
Gu Sinan pushed off with the tips of his toes and with the move Swallow Trice Scoops Up Water, raised his arm, sabre coming on fast, only three or four spans away from Zhan Tianhong, murderous intent overflowing his body.
Zhan Tianhong, back pressed against the tree trunk, soared up into the sky. He was quick, but Gu Sinan was not slow either, driving his sabre in hot pursuit!
Zhan Tianhong was really anxious now, his perfected qi getting out of rhythm, and he sunk down, tiptoes about to touch down on a tree branch.
Gu Sinan swung his sabre and kacha chopped the branch in two and followed at a soaring slant.
Zhan Tianhong’s feet touched air and his decent sped up, a black blur flashing through the air. His vision blurred, but Lang the Fourth, ambushing from the side, kicked at him in midair.
This kick was an unusually heavy one. Zhan Tianhong couldn’t help but cry out in alarm, and his sword flew out of his hand.
He hit the ground awkwardly, feet unsteady, and fell down. Gu Sinan’s blade was immediately at his neck.
“Sorry, but I have to ask Steward Zhan to accompany me back to Luoyang!”
(2)
This matter with Zhan Tianhong came as a big surprise to Shen Ying. After he heard the news he hurried back to see about it, but then had a thought and changed his mind.
When Shen Ying got back to his nest it was already the 11th double-hour, the hour of the dog.1 Gu Sinan unsealed Zhan Tianhong’s mute acupoint and upper limb numbing acupoints at once.
Zhan Tianhong blurted out, “What’s the idea arresting me?”
Shen Ying glared, sharp as blades, at his face for a full half the time it takes to have tea, getting Zhan Tianhong all flustered and antsy. Tianhong said in a low voice, “Do you all have evidence?”
Shen Ying sat in his chair, extended a hand, and Lang the Fourth handed him his pipe at once, then struck a flint and lit it for him, smoke wafting out.
Shen Ying puffed on it twice, eyes sharp as knives slicing through the smoke.
“If you don’t have evidence, how can you take someone into custody?” Zhan Tianhong muttered.
Shen Ying said coldly, “They didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Zhan Tianhong said, then shook his head.
“This old fellow just told them to ask you to come here and have a seat. It was a request, not an arrest. If it were an arrest would you be so comfortable right now?”
“My leg numbing acupoints are sealed too, how is that comfortable?”
“That’s because you have a guilty conscience and have not been honest, so we had to resort to such lowly means.”
Zhan Tianhong said nothing for a long time, then repeatedly said, “Do you all have evidence?”
Shen Ying bellowed severely, “Spit it out, why did you kill Ouyang Changshou?”
Zhan Tianhong’s tone suddenly calmed. “Who said I killed Manorlord?” Manorlord’s martial arts is more than twice as good as mine, how could I have killed him?”
“Hard to say!” Shen Ying’s face darkened. “He took you for a trusted subordinate, was not on his guard, so he was taken advantage of.”
“Ridiculous!” Zhan Tianhong said coldly, “Since Manorlord took me as a trusted subordinate, what reason would I have to kill him? Are you telling me I killed him to take over as manorlord of Ouyang Manor?”
“You didn’t kill him necessarily to become Ouyang Manor’s manorlord, but on behalf of a gang. With Ouyang Changshou dead, Luoyang would be the gang’s world now!”
“I’ve been in Luoyang for seven full years and have never heard of any gangs in Luoyang! Since you sound so sure, let me ask you what the name of this gang is, and who is in it?”
Shen Ying was could say nothing to that.
Actually, all this was just talk to intimidate Zhan Tianhong, hoping he might stumble onto something, because he felt that Zhan Tianhong’s sudden departure as head steward of Ouyang Manor was really suspicious.
But why didn’t Shen Ying say that Zhan Tianhong had killed Ouyang Peng? Because that night Zhan Tianhong was with Ouyang Changshou, so he couldn’t have been able to get away to the inner chambers to kill anyone.
After a long while, Shen Ying said, “Why did you leave your post as head steward?”
“I’ve been with Ouyang Manor for seven years. If not for my gratitude for Manorlord I would have left years ago. Now that Manorlord has died, and I have a bit of money now, of course I want to leave!”
“Where do you plan to go?”
Zhan Tianhong said furiously, “Do I need Your Excellency Shen’s permission to go where I want? I want to go back to my hometown to seep the tombs, because it will be Double Ninth festival in half a month. What of it? Your Excellency Shen, is that alright with you?”
Shen Ying suddenly said, “This Excellency is drunk right now. In two days I will examine the case and give you an answer! Go on to sleep.”
Gu Sinan and Lang the Fourth dragged him away at once.
Zhan Tianhong stayed there three days. Not only did they not learn anything, Zhan Tianhong’s attitude became more and more natural, his tone more and more unyielding, not the least bit of a flaw in his testimony to be found.
Shen Ying couldn’t’ help but get a bit discouraged. He thought he’d give it another three days, and if no clues turned up, he’d release Zhan Tianhong.
(3)
This time Sima Cheng went traveling disguised as a scholar seeking knowledge, riding a pony stepping slowing to Zhengzhou. Using marvelous disguise cosmetics from Yun Feiyan, he reached Zhengzhou without rousing anyone’s suspicion.
When he entered the city it was the time of day for lamps to be lit. Sima Cheng ate supper at a little eatery and entrusted his pony at an inn and strode over to Cui’s house.
The Cui residence was located in the busy market district. Sima Cheng had been there dozens of times so he was like an old warhorse that knows its way. He could practically find it with his eyes closed.
This area was usually ablaze with lights, people going about to and fro, but today it was abnormally gloomy. Sounds of dogs barking continued nonstop and a feeling came over Sima Cheng as if he were wandering around in the countryside.
He couldn’t believe his eyes, and looking around, he used the pillars and other objects for cover as he made his way toward the Cui residence.
The Cui residence’s main gates were shut tight and there were no gatekeepers outside. All was quiet within the perimeter walls and Sima Cheng suddenly had a bad feeling.
He swiftly doffed his jacket, revealing dark blue tightfit clothes. He shot forward and pressed his left palm against the wall gently and leapt up and over the wall, landing without a sound. He quickly hid behind a large tree, watching, eyes piercingly bright in the gloom.
A night breeze blew by and the flowers and tree branches swayed, leaves rustling. His heart continued to sink. He was sure now that something bad had happened at the Cui residence recently and his blood was instantly up. Heedless of his own safety, he passed through the courtyard and into the inner hall.
His left foot just touched down on the stone steps when he suddenly felt a gust from behind at his side. He was already fully alert and leaned to the side to dodge, at the same time kicking with his right foot His reaction couldn’t be called slow, but his ambusher was faster.
A white flash of light, the person’s sword circling, flying toward his thigh!
Sima Cheng’s right foot quickly lowered and retracted, left fist punching. The person’s face was just under the eaves, but the starlight did not shine upon his face. Sima Cheng shouted, “Who dares get violent here?”
The person didn’t respond, sword pointing, the tip thrust straight at Sima Cheng’s fist. It was a swift stroke and Sima Cheng dropped his wrist in alarm, index and middle fingers erect, and flicked at the sword’s spine.
Unexpectedly, this person’s swordplay was utterly mysterious. The tip of the sword quivered and changed direction, now in a slanting thrust at Sima Cheng’s face. His sword was long and Sima Cheng was not expecting this, so he immediately fell into a hopeless situation.
Suddenly, he shouted, “Thief, I’ll have it out with you!” His right fist utilized his Hundred Steps Divine Fist technique and a blurred mass of fists shot out, fist forcewind punching through, straight at the person’s chest.
If the person did not retract their sword they could of course stab Sima Cheng fatally, but they would also be pounded by Sima Cheng’s fist forcewind.
Sima Cheng suddenly felt a chill on his face and he closed his eyes, thinking, “I’m done for!”
The person suddenly jumped away and with a startled yelp said, “Who are you? How do you know the Hundred Steps Divine Fist?”
Sima Cheng opened his eyes, and said furiously, “A real man doesn’t change his name, I am Sima Cheng. Thief, who are you?”
“Ah! So it’s Worthy Nephew Cheng, surging waters nearly flooded the Dragon King temple, I almost failed to recognize you!”
Sima Cheng recognized his voice. “Is that you, Uncle Cui?”
Cui Yishan smiled wryly. “It is indeed this old rotter!”
“Uncle, what happened here?”
“Worthy Nephew come inside, it’s a long story.”
Sima Cheng felt a chill in his heart and asked urgently, “Auntie?”
Cui Yishan was silent for a long time, then let out a miserable wail, the wail filled with boundless misery and grief.
× × ×
The tragedy at the Cui residence took place three days before.
In the middle of the night, a stream of masked men in black poured in suddenly, killing everyone they saw, not sparing anyone. Cui Yishan had just gone to his paternal cousin’s place for a banquet. He hurried back when he heard the news, but the place was already littered with corpses, an unbearable sight.
Cui Yishan hastily buried his family and hid himself straight away in a secret place. He knew full well that the killers had come for him. His family had just been killed on account of him.
Last night, as expected, twenty to thirty masked men in black came again. Cui Yishan had seen a lot in his day, and due to their individual skills and ability, he feared he was outnumbered, so he remained hidden.
The group of masked men in black could not find him.
Cui Yishan still did not come out, stating hidden in his secret place. Only once his enemies thinned out and separated by themselves did he come out and kill them off one by one to give vent to his hatred.
Tonight sure enough only one person came, but it was unexpectedly Sima Cheng.
× × ×
Sima Cheng listened to Cui Yishan tell his story, then urgently asked, “Does Uncle Cui knew where those villains hailed from?”
Cui Yishan shook his head. “I only heard one of them call their leader, a tall, lanky man, Number Four.”
“Number Four?” Sima Cheng blurted out. His mind was jarred and he remembered, hadn’t the man surnamed Yi had called his companions by numbers back at the restaurant in Luoyang?
“Little Nephew knows a bit about this. We should head back to Luoyang at once, maybe Senior Shen might know something!”
(4)
The room was dimly lit by just one lamp.
Gu Sinan’s eyes had not left the gold phoenix hairpin for one moment.
These few days, as soon as he closed his eyes he saw an image of that gold phoenix hairpin in his mind.
“What’s so peculiar about this gold hairpin? What’s so special about it?” He racked his brains nonstop. Besides its exquisite craftsmanship, and the fact that the phoenix was a bit larger than others, there was nothing at all peculiar about it.
But these two points could not be considered unusual. A wealthy person’s goldware naturally will be larger and more finely made. That was normal.
Tomorrow was the tenth day. The deadline Shen Ying had given him was up. If he couldn’t make a breakthrough now, important assignments in the future would go to someone else.
Now he thought of what Shen Ying had said: “Chao Xiaoyan’s gold hairpin ending up on a roofbeam in Ouyang Changshou’s study proves there is something secret going on, and it’s the key to this case. If we can see through this key, the case will be mostly solved!”
Shen Ying also said something else: “This gold hairpin was definitely put in the roofbeam by Ouyang Changshou. If Ouyang Changshou’s killer had planted it then it would have been planted somewhere conspicuous, or else they would have destroyed the gold hairpin after the murder.”
It was a bit stuffy in the room, so Gu Sinan pushed the window open. A cool breeze entered, stimulating and refreshing his mind.
There was rustling rain outside the window. In the lamplight, the raindrops resembled millions of silver threads, intertwining with the thoughts in Gu Sinan’s head.
A cool breeze blew against his face and a wave of thoughts rose and fell in his mind. He suddenly made a decision.
He trimmed the lampwick brighter, then took a small knife and poked at the jadeite gems making up the phoenix’s eyes. He poked and nothing happened, then he poked again, still nothing.
Gu Sinan was Shen Ying’s master locksmith and wooden mechanism master. That the tip of the knife was not able to dislodge the jadeite gems gave him an idea. He used his finger to gently turn little gem on the right. After one turn it began to move, and five turns later the jadeite gem dropped out, revealing a tiny word no bigger than the head of a fly.
Gu Sinan looked at it in the lamplight. It was the character Yang (陽).
Then he turned the little gem on the left side and underneath it was the character Ou (歐).
Gu Sinan’s mind was blown. The two characters put together spelled Ouyang, and there was only one meaning for the word Ouyang, It was a compound surname!
The artisan who’d made the gold hairpin was either surnamed Ouyang, or it had been given to someone surnamed Ouyang. Could that person be Ouyang Changshou?
If it were Ouyang Changshou, then how did the gold hairpin end up as Chao Xiaoyan’s mother’s keepsake? Could it be that her mother had some connection to the Ouyang family?
Since it was Chao Xiaoyan’s treasured possession, how did it end up in Ouyang Changshou’s study?
Gu Sinan’s emotions were reeling, and his hands began to tremble slightly. He wasn’t about to stop there, for fear that his train of thought would be broken.
Had this gold hairpin been given to Chao Xiaoyan’s mother by Ouyang Changshou? If so, then wouldn’t that mean that Ouyang Peng and Chao Xiaoyan were…”
Gu Sinan didn’t dare carry that thought through to completion. His mind suddenly sparked and a thought entered his mind. He kept on crying out, “So that’s it, so that’s it!”
The gold hairpin had been taken by Ouyang Changshou out of Chao Xiaoyan’s hair. When Zhao Siniang saw her son and daughter-in-law suddenly dead, she was out of her mind and crying uncontrollably, so she did not notice Ouyang Changshou do it. Then thinking back on it, she assumed that the coroner had made off with it!
Why would Ouyang Changshou take the gold hairpin?
Because he was very familiar with the gold hairpin, so much so that he couldn’t help but take it to get a good look at it!
He was about to carry this thought a step further when Shen Ying and Yun Feiyan hurried over at the same of his exclamations. Yun Feiyan asked him urgently, “What are you making such a fuss about?”
“Chief, look!” Gu Sinan pointed to the phoenix’s eyes. “There are words here!”
Shen Ying took it and examined it and blurted, “Ouyang! What’s this about?”
Gu Sinan quickly told him his own thinking. Shen Ying nodded slowly, gaze landing on the phoenix’s mouth, a gleam coming into his eyes suddenly. Amazed, he said, “This phoenix’s mouth seems to have been closed originally. Why is it open now?”
Gu Sinan looked and sure enough, the phoenix’s mouth was open, revealing a very tiny tongue. He had been so absorbed with the phoenix’s eyes that he neglected the other parts and never noticed this before.
He received the gold hairpin back from Shen Ying and put the jadeite gems back in the phoenix’s eyes. Once he made the final turn, the phoenix’s mouth closed again.
Yun Feiyan blurted out, “Eh, that’s some real fine craftsmanship!”
Shen Ying muttered, “What is the function of the phoenix’s mouth opening? Is there some other secret behind it?”
Gu Sinan promptly unscrewed the jadeite germs again and the phoenix’s mouth opened once more. He used his finger to gently pull on the tongue, and it immediately came out of the phoenix’s mouth.
At the back of the tongue there was a fine gold thread wrapped around a teeny tiny thread piece of silk cloth. At first glance the silk cloth appeared to be gray, but actually it was snow-white, only someone had stained it by writing tiny words on it it ink.
The three of them’s hearts were all pounding, knowing they had made the first step toward a breakthrough. Even Shen Ying’s hands were shaking slightly. He opened the silk cloth and read it in the lamplight. “This girl’s father is Ouyang Changshou. I unfortunately lost my chastity and gave birth to this girl. Fearing being discovered, I placed her out in the countryside, in hopes that a virtuous passerby might take her and raise her.
“Though I lost my chastity to Changshou, I don’t blame him at all. I just that my father and mother cling to wealth and lust for power, all along intending to marry me off to the lordson of the assistant minister of the left. The wedding day is not far off, and I have no opportunity to hand the baby girl over to Sir Ouyang, which I really regret. Some day, should someone discovers the secret of this hairpin, please give it to Ouyang Changshou and ask him to treat my daughter well.” That was all it said and there was no signature.
The baby girl mentioned in the letter was obviously Chao Xiaoyan.
Yun Feiyan’s face blanched after reading it. She exclaimed, “In that case, weren’t Ouyang Peng and Chao Xiaoyan brother and sister? They spent the night in the bridal chamber…”
Shen Ying’s mind was blown as well. This was a great tragedy, a father’s womanizing ways leading to sibling incest!
Probably this was retribution for womanizing!
Yun Feiyan suddenly said, “You men are all awful. You see, isn’t this just what you get!” She gave Gu Sinan the side-eye. Gu Sinan had just so happened to turn to look at her and her cheeks flushed red.
The air became heavy in the room, and there was a moment of silence.
A good while later, Shen Ying finally heaved a long sigh. “Ouyang Changshou wasn’t murdered, he committed suicide! Because he couldn’t bear his own conscience, so he killed himself!” He paused, then continued, “Even though Ouyang Peng and Chao Xiaoyan were already dead, they still consummated their marriage before they died. How could Ouyang Changshou, over seventy, take so many repeated heavy blows? He didn’t dare tell the truth to anyone, so just before he killed himself, he made it look like there was a struggle in the room first and overturned the chairs one by one so that it looked like there had been a disturbance!
“Unfortunately, he still left behind too many holes. He always lived a life of happiness, all the pleasures of life coming to his like nature. He had no need to think hard about anything but what he obtained whatever he wanted, so even though he thought of putting up a false facade, he was very naive about it!”
Gu Sinan asked, “So them, why did he hang on to the gold hairpin and allow the truth to be discovered?”
“He put the gold hairpin in an inconspicuous place on the roofbeam believing that by the time the hairpin was discovered he would be long dead. By that time, even if someone exposed the secret, it would be unimportant—by that time Zhao Siniang might be dead already, even Ouyang Manor might have collapsed.”
Yun Feiyan sighed. “Who knew this case would be so complicated!”
Gu Sinan, rather, felt relieved. “The case has finally been broken!”
Shen Ying returned the gold hairpin to its original state. “Tomorrow morning I’ll go to Ouyang Manor and tell Zhao Siniang the truth. You all release Zhan Tianhong and say a few words of apology. Now you all go and rest.”
Gu Sinan suddenly felt tired, the God of Sleep assailing him at the same time, and he lay down with his clothes on.
Outside the window, the rain suddenly stopped.
It never rained much in autumn.
