Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Disguise
Action was quicker than thought.
By the time Qu Fulan realized it, she had already turned around, facing Pei Ji’an directly.
"Heir, save me..."
Qu Fulan’s mosquito-like voice came out of her throat, not daring to speak aloud.
Seeing Qu Fulan suddenly face him, with a somewhat panicked and pleading look, Pei Ji’an was momentarily stunned.
He glanced at Xiao Shiqing’s direction, his eyes flickered, then he lowered his gaze, took out a mask from his sleeve, and handed it to her.
Qu Fulan hastily took it and put it on; such an action could be completely understood as a woman’s way to avoid suspicion.
After all, the reputation of a woman abducted in the middle of the night is very important.
As long as she didn’t speak, it was basically stable.
Indeed, Xiao Shiqing only glanced at the woman in Pei Ji’an’s arms before looking away.
He had already heard about the Pei Family’s people being caught.
The purpose of this mission was that both he and Pei Ji’an were ordered by the emperor to attack from north and south, targeting remnants of the former dynasty. He was responsible for the south, and Pei for the north.
Unexpectedly, a fish that escaped the net would invade Hanshan Temple in the south to take hostages and attempt blackmail, saying he was derelict in duty.
Xiao Shiqing said no more and was about to lead his troops back to the capital.
"Heir, something bad happened, someone escaped, they fled to Hanshan Temple, the person is the Thousand-faced Monster Hand..."
As soon as these words were said, everyone was shocked.
Thousand-faced Monster Hand, as the name suggests, is someone extremely adept at disguise; even the old, weak, sick, and pregnant in the crowd could be him, easily unnoticed by others, especially since he has accomplices.
Moreover, Hanshan Temple is originally a large temple, and with the approaching Mid-Autumn Festival next month, there were many more pilgrims than usual. If he managed to blend in, it would not only increase the difficulty of capture but if anyone were harmed, it would be hard to explain to the emperor.
"Immediately send people to lock down Hanshan Temple; no one is allowed in or out!" Xiao Shiqing said while turning and instantly heading back to Hanshan Temple.
With the task incomplete, Heir Pei naturally couldn’t leave either, and took Qu Fulan back to Hanshan Temple.
When they returned to the temple, it was still the middle of the night, and everyone was asleep, unaware of what had happened.
Pei Ji’an called back the four great guards and punished them.
It turned out they had been lured away by a diversion tactic.
Even so, in Heir Pei’s eyes, it was still a dereliction of duty.
Qu Fulan returned to her room, cleaned up once more, and lay back in bed.
Xiao Shiqing also had to stay in the temple and wouldn’t leave until the culprits were caught.
After that day, she had to be cautious about her travels.
She had worked hard for so long, with dawn in sight, and didn’t want any mistakes to occur.
But how could she travel normally without arousing suspicion, and without worrying about being recognized?
Qu Fulan pondered over this and finally thought of a perfect solution.
The next day, the ladies gathered and all said they had slept exceptionally well last night, much better than in the hot city.
Only Qu Fulan, wearing a veil, with a throat hoarse as if with a cold, sounded completely different.
"Fulan, what’s wrong with you?" the Third Miss asked.
Qu Fulan lightly coughed and softly explained, "Maybe I had an allergic reaction to something I ate, and a rash appeared on my face. I didn’t want to scare anyone."
Saying that, she gently pulled the veil aside, and the ladies quickly saw the rash on her face and immediately offered soothing words.
With this, Qu Fulan’s disguise was both successful and reasonable.
Heir Pei saw it, and naturally understood everything, but was puzzled by another issue, "Why are you so afraid of being recognized by Xiao Shiqing?"
Qu Fulan didn’t directly answer him but first apologized and then countered with a question.
"Heir, if one day you were down and out, reduced to a prisoner, would you want to see a gloriously shining rival?"
Pei Ji’an was momentarily speechless, his expression vivid and varied.
However, Heir Pei’s composure was not something ordinary people could match, soon returning to his usual calmness as he inquired about what had happened at Pei Mansion after he left.
"Nothing much, just Master Lu initially refusing to accept Miss Cheng as a student, which displeased the old lady, so I went over to play some chess and finally convinced him."
Master Lu is a female scholar.
Pei Ji’an picked up his teacup and glanced at her upon hearing this, "Did she give you a hard time?"
"Not really, she just always had a stern face, looking like she didn’t like anyone." Qu Fulan replied truthfully.
In fact, she had sensed Master Lu’s rejection, especially regarding the matter of learning chess for half a year, perhaps she didn’t believe it and thought she was lying.
"Heir, I heard Master Lu is very skilled at chess?" Qu Fulan seized the opportunity to immediately ask.
Pei Ji’an put down the teacup, indifferently said, "That’s correct, why?"
Qu Fulan found it unbelievable, "But I tied her in two consecutive games..."
Could it be that she let her win?
"What does it matter?" Pei Ji’an curled his lips, his tone disdainful yet confident, "I’ll teach you a few more days, and you’ll surpass her."
"Cough cough cough." Qu Fulan felt startled.
Just as she was about to ask more, someone came over, whispered something to the Heir, causing Pei Ji’an to frown and then get up to leave.
*
By this time, Hanshan Temple was surrounded by guards, making it impenetrable; outsiders couldn’t get in, insiders couldn’t get out.
Nevertheless, there were inevitably some who were dissatisfied, but in front of the soldiers, no one dared cause trouble, at most venting with a word or two before moving on.
There was a procession arriving at the temple’s pathway, and from the gilded, jade-inlaid carriages, it was clearly an unusual Marquis Mansion.
Yet they too were stopped by the guards sealing off Hanshan Temple.
The servants stepped forward to negotiate, but the guards still wouldn’t let them pass.
The person in the carriage, seeing it motionless for a while, lifted the curtain and asked, "What’s going on?"
The servant returned to the carriage, explaining apologetically, "Madam, the guards said Hanshan Temple is sealed off, no entry or exit allowed, we can’t go in."
"What kind of reasoning is that? Who ordered the closure? Who dares to stop the Xiao Family from entering?"
"Those people said they were following the order of Heir Pei."
Mrs. Xiao frowned but insisted on entering, even asking the guards to send a message inside.
The Xiao Family, unlike others, couldn’t be easily offended, so the guards went inside to report.
On reporting, someone in the carriage seemed to have seen something, and said to Mrs. Xiao, "Aunt, doesn’t that person look like Cousin’s follower? Could Cousin also be inside?"
Mrs. Xiao took a look, and indeed, wasn’t that her son’s bodyguard? She immediately called out to him.
In the end, the Xiao family’s carriage rumbled, entering Hanshan Temple from another direction.
Meanwhile, a body was found in the roadside grass.
Someone recognized it as a maid from the Xiao Family, Chun Chan.
"Oh no, the Thousand-faced Monster Hand must have disguised as Chun Chan and snuck into Hanshan Temple. Quick, report to the Heir!"
"Prince Xiao is currently tracking the villain somewhere; the Xiao Family has already gone inside; only by reporting to Heir Pei can the capture of the Thousand-faced Monster Hand proceed in time."
"Clearly we found the person, if Heir Pei takes credit..."
"This is no time to fight for credit; if something major happens, we’ll all lose our heads!"
Qu Fulan, upon hearing that the Xiao Family had smoothly entered Hanshan Temple, couldn’t help but frown.
If the Thousand-faced Monster Hand infiltrated the Xiao Family’s ranks and entered Hanshan Temple, it would indeed be troublesome.