Shangguan Jin lowered his brows and pulled aside the curtain. The person he had seized was a woman, plainly dressed, her clothes covered in blue patches. Murong Qing kept her voice low. “Who are you? Why are you watching us?”
“I... I want to save someone,” the woman explained.
Save someone? Murong Qing fell silent for a moment, then asked, “Someone beneath Wanhe House too?”
The woman glanced at the keen blade and drew a frightened breath. Shangguan Jin remained wary, vaguely uneasy. He merely lowered the knife and put his hands behind his back.
“It's a long story. A friend of mine is a dancer, an excellent one. But after she entered Wanhe House, she never came out.” She paused. “I've waited here so long. At last, officials have come.”
Troubled and surprised, Murong Qing rubbed her forehead. “Has nobody come to investigate?”
The woman looked awkwardly at Shangguan Jin. He had not moved aside. “Is someone interfering behind the scenes?”
Sudden resolve entered her eyes as she nodded.
“Yes. Nobody will take the case. Someone even secretly delivered letters threatening that if I kept investigating, I'd end up like Lord Li Ren.”
Li Ren? Lord Li?
Perhaps that wasn't surprising. If the people behind this had ordered the attack on Li Ren, and had made the connection so plain to this woman, his death must be linked to those at Wanhe House. Or perhaps... Li Ren himself had often come here for pleasure. It was only a guess. Murong Qing dared not voice it rashly.
“This is the letter.” The woman took it from her sleeve and handed it to Shangguan Jin. “Please see that justice is done, my lord!”
He opened it at once. Studying the handwriting, he frowned deeply, as though he understood what had happened. “You didn't see who delivered it?”
She shook her head. “I find it when I get up in the morning.”
An unusual stillness settled over Shangguan Jin.
“The Plum Blossom Thief sent it.” He looked at Murong Qing and mouthed the words to identify the sender.
She didn't understand. Why had the Plum Blossom Thief suddenly become involved?
“Don't worry, miss. I'll investigate and give you an answer. But this place is dangerous. You should leave first.” Shangguan Jin made the arrangements quickly and put away the letter.
“You really will?” she asked.
He nodded. She could scarcely believe someone would take up her cause, let alone that it was truly happening. The officials she usually approached paid her no attention. Now that someone finally did, it felt unreal.
“Thank you, my lord!”
As she began to kneel, Shangguan Jin immediately stepped forward to support her.
“I don't know how to repay you.” She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. “If you need my help, I can help you too.”
Murong Qing's expression shifted. “You should go home, miss. This is no place to stay.”
Night fell. On the surface, Wanhe House appeared peaceful. In the basement beneath it, things were only beginning.
Shangguan Jin said, “Deputy Minister Murong, I'll wait outside with men from the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice. If anything happens, come out at once. Don't force the issue.”
Murong Qing made a small adjustment to her appearance. Undertaking something like this for the first time was more nerve-racking than she had expected.
She wasn't afraid something would happen to her. She feared failing to catch the people they needed to arrest.
“Thank you for your concern, Lord Shangguan. I'll be fine.” She smiled, then paused. “Actually... even if something happens, it doesn't matter much. Apart from a maid, I have no one to worry about.”
It seemed that was indeed true. She had never asked for anything better. She only wanted Qiukui to be well.
Qiukui had been with her since childhood. Her father had rescued the girl during an epidemic that killed much of the population. Separated from it at her father's side, Qiukui had remained unharmed, so he brought her back to the capital. At their first meeting, Murong Qing had named her after something she loved and the circumstances of that day. Later, when disaster struck the family, Qiukui had stayed with her.
She was both a childhood companion and family.
Seeing Shangguan Jin's stunned expression, Murong Qing smiled helplessly. Probably nobody understood the feelings passing through her now.
After a moment, as she made to leave, Shangguan Jin's heart gave a jolt. He thought she had been right at the start: nobody would understand such circumstances. He had doubted her ability too. But then he thought of his own mother, seasoned by countless battles and still renowned far and wide.
He quickly came back to himself, only to find that Murong Qing had already entered Wanhe House again. The words caught in his mouth remained unspoken. He could only pray that she would be safe.
If she succeeded this time, his opinion of her would change. It would overturn his assumptions about women. Apart from his mother, she would become the only woman he admired.
With that thought, he hurried away.
...
Using her token, Murong Qing soon followed an attendant into a secret chamber. It was indeed inside Wanhe House, behind a cabinet. If her guess was right, the space beyond that cabinet accounted for the part of the building she had always found peculiar.
On entering, an inexplicable wave of oppressive heat struck her face.
The attendant suddenly smiled and spoke. “Sir, you mustn't wander about here. If you wish to bid on a woman, you may first visit the exhibition hall on the first floor. Once you've bought one, simply go downstairs.”
“If you wish to leave early, tell the guards at the entrance. They'll arrange a side room for you to rest in, then send you home once curfew ends.”
Listening to each rule, Murong Qing frowned, indignation rising. This place really was engaged in filthy business.
“Do you understand, sir?” The attendant began to sound suspicious.
Murong Qing immediately collected herself. “Of course.”
By then, they had passed through a narrow passage and stopped before a stone door.
The attendant halted. “Your name, sir?”
Murong Qing's heart lurched. “Wu. Mr. Wu.”
“Mr. Wu, here is the token for your resting quarters. Please keep it with you.” The attendant pressed another token into her hand.
Murong Qing took it. “Forgive another question. The person who brought me said there was also a charge for entry?”
The attendant wore a mask, making any expression impossible to read. Murong Qing could only judge by the person's tone.
The attendant merely smiled and pushed open the door, answering nothing.
Murong Qing feared she had said the wrong thing.
She wanted to ask more, but the attendant simply left.