Chapter 1469: 717 Reunion (Part 1)

Xiao Hen had absolutely not expected there to be another person here, and thought about how his entire act of cool toughness, wall-pinning dominance, might all have been witnessed by this woman eating watermelon.

His handsome face flushed red in an instant!

Like a paper tiger that had been pricked, he deflated whoosh whoosh whoosh, unable to put on airs any longer.

Usually, in this kind of situation, both the caught and the catcher would feel equally awkward, but peculiarly, the woman didn’t seem embarrassed.

Gu Jiao… wasn’t that embarrassed either.

She always adhered to the principle “If I’m not embarrassed, the embarrassed one is someone else.”

As a result, in the end, Xiao Hen had to bear it all alone.

His face stayed red up to the roots of his ears, even the slender neck had a blush of rouge.

Xiao Hen went through a grand social death on the spot, wishing he could lose his memory right there and then!

However, compared to his own embarrassment, he had a more pressing concern to worry about.

The things he had just said to Gu Jiao–if the brocade guards had assassinated the Crown Prince’s Residence, and the enticement to kill Nangong Li–had this person heard any of it?

These were no little secrets; they could lead to fatal disasters.

“I think our current situation is not good,” Xiao Hen whispered to Gu Jiao.

“Indeed!” Gu Jiao’s expression turned serious, “Xun Fengxian is coming here!”

Xiao Hen: “…”

Are you sure that’s the point?

There were three jars of gold. Gu Jiao held one in her left hand, another in her right, and still another balanced on her head.

Just as she was about to leave the crime scene with the loot, Yuan Xiao came out looking for her.

His voice arrived before he did.

“Sixth brother! Where are you, sixth brother?”

Gu Jiao swore she walked very steadily, but just when her name was called, she slipped, fell face-forward, and sprawled on the ground.

The three jars of gold rolled out decisively, coming to a stop right at Xun Fengxian’s feet.

Xun Fengxian looked at Gu Jiao with a dark face, grinding her teeth, “Xiao… Public… Son!”

Gu Jiao: The name ‘sixth brother’ is cursed–

Gu Jiao’s plan to steal the gold ended in failure.

Life without gold was an incomplete life; Gu Jiao went upstairs devoid of spirit.

Xun Fengxian was so angry she could bite Gu Jiao, if only she was able to beat her.

Although Gu Jiao could beat Xun Fengxian, she also couldn’t openly steal; after all, the two of them were now somewhat partners.

Xiao Hen also planned to go upstairs.

Having visited the Tianxiang Pavilion before as Long Yi, and being friends with Gu Chengfeng, Xun Fengxian treated him with a measure of politeness.

She didn’t stop him from going wherever he wanted.

But the woman holding the watermelon also silently followed behind Xiao Hen.

“Stop right there for me!” Xun Fengxian barked harshly.

If she couldn’t afford to offend those two little ancestors, how could she not handle a woman picked up from the streets?

Rolling up her sleeves and with a face full of rage, she said, “Awake, are you? If you’re awake, then work for me!”

The woman, holding the watermelon, edged closer to Xiao Hen.

Xiao Hen glanced at her with a slight frown between his brows, thinking he still needed to take her away first and figure out whether she heard anything before letting her go.

“She’s coming with me,” Xiao Hen said to Xun Fengxian.

The woman bit down on her spoon, her melon-eating motion pausing momentarily, and looked up at Xiao Hen with stars flashing in her eyes for an instant.

Xun Fengxian stood with one hand on her hip and the other pinching her kerchief, pointing at Xiao Hen and Gu Jiao, who had already gone upstairs: “Don’t push it too far, both of you! Stealing gold is one thing, but now, what? Are you going to steal a person?”

Xiao Hen calmly said, “She’s not a person from Tianxiang Pavilion.”

No one from Tianxiang Pavilion would be dressed like that.

Xun Fengxian choked on her words: “Then, who is she…”

Without any rush, Xiao Hen said, “Many distinguished guests came to Tianxiang Pavilion today, I’ve heard even the Crown Prince’s people came. The Crown Prince is best at upholding justice. If he knows you’re forcing an innocent to prostitution, could your Tianxiang Pavilion still operate?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the woman tilted her chin up in agreement: “Hmph!”

Xun Fengxian: “…”

The woman was taken upstairs by Xiao Hen.

Xun Fengxian was irritated.

The gold was secured, but the beauty had slipped away.

This beauty’s charm had already been peerless when she was unconscious; now awake, she surpassed the fairies of the palace.

“What a pity, such a pity!”

…

Gu Jiao wasn’t surprised when Xiao Hen brought the woman over; after all, she had overheard their sensitive conversation earlier, and they needed to ensure she wouldn’t leak the information before they could let her go.

Upon entering the room, the woman didn’t exhibit any signs of guilt or unease, and the performance in the Grand Hall began.

Gu Chengfeng’s room was in a special location, with a balcony that was neither too big nor too small. Sitting on the balcony, one could overlook the entire stage with even a pretty good angle.

The woman holding the watermelon sat down on the chair on the balcony.

Gu Jiao noticed that the watermelon in her hand was no longer the half she had before; it was a whole new half, bright and red, and it looked as if one could see the icy bits, extra sweet and refreshing.

Gu Jiao looked at Xiao Hen, when did she get another half of the watermelon?

Xiao Hen indicated he had no idea.

He walked in front, and she followed behind.

He hadn’t noticed her leave at all.

However–

There were indeed two maids, each carrying a large tray covered with cloth, who brushed past them earlier.

Could it have been then that she handed it over?

And she not only handed it over, but she also put her half-eaten watermelon rind under the silk cloth.

It’s anyone’s guess which unlucky individual will end up eating that empty half rind of watermelon.

–The unlucky one was Prince Ming of the region.

…

She sat on the terrace, vigorously scooping out watermelon.

Her back was to Xiao Hen and Gu Jiao; the two couldn’t see her expression.

But her doing nothing else but focusing on eating the fruit somehow reassured them, giving the impression that she wouldn’t reveal what she had just overheard.

“Maybe she didn’t hear anything at all,” Xiao Hen said, sitting beside the Eight Immortals table, to Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao sat next to Xiao Hen, resting her chin in one hand as she contemplatively watched the woman’s back.

Normally, anyone who heard such a big secret wouldn’t be so calm, at least they would worry whether they might be silenced.

It’s not like everyone knows Nangong Li is a big scoundrel; the people of Shengdu think Nangong Li is a good man, so naturally, having killed a good man, they would be deemed villains.

Killing to silence someone is all part of a villain’s standard operating procedure.

The fact that she dared to follow them meant she wasn’t afraid at all.

She didn’t think they were villains.

Gu Jiao said, “Perhaps.”

Whether she heard or not wasn’t important; the important thing was that Gu Jiao also felt she wouldn’t divulge what happened.

It was an intuition.

On the stage, the erhu’s strings resonated, the singing began, and the voices of the entire Tianxiang Pavilion were drowned out.

Gu Jiao and Xiao Hen were some distance from the terrace, and with the sound of the opera, she wouldn’t have been able to hear their conversation.

Xiao Hen removed his mask and started inquiring about Gu Jiao’s disappearance for several days, and Gu Chengfeng said she was all fine, but he didn’t believe it.

She was the kind of person who would brave a snowstorm and traverse mountains to get home; there was no way she would stay away for seven days without something happening.

“It’s alright now,” Gu Jiao said.

“Where were you hurt? Let me see,” Xiao Hen said.

Gu Jiao showed him the healed cut on her arm.

Xiao Hen knew the injuries she sustained were much more than this little one. He held her hand in his and asked in a hoarse voice, “Why did you insist on going after the people from the Crown Prince’s residence?”

“I had a question in my heart that I wanted to verify with the Princess.” That’s why she couldn’t let the Princess be killed by them, she explained, “But I still haven’t seen the Princess.”

Xiao Hen didn’t need to ask to guess that the question was about him.

He felt very displeased, “Don’t do anything so dangerous in the future.”

Gu Jiao looked at him steadily, “Do you also have that doubt in your heart?”

Neither of them spoke out about what exactly the doubt was.

Xiao Hen was silent for a moment, then nodded, “Yes. I came here today to find that answer too.”

As they talked, they didn’t notice that the woman had stopped her watermelon scooping.

Suddenly, a troop of imperial guards rushed in downstairs, halting the performance on the stage.

Xiao Hen moved to the terrace and looked down, his brows furrowing, “It’s people from the Jingzhao Residence.”

No sooner had he spoken, he turned to grab the mask on the table.

The woman extended her hand as if to casually grab his sleeve.

But she didn’t apply any force, and the cool, broad fabric slipped through her fingertips.

Xiao Hen put the mask back on his face, “Strange, what are the Jingzhao Residence’s people doing here?”

Gu Jiao looked down and said, “From their looks, it seems like they’re searching for someone. Has someone important gone missing in Capital City again?”

It had to be someone quite significant to have the Jingzhao Residence personally conduct the search.

Gu Jiao said, “I’ll go down and take a look, you wait here for me.”

Her identity was fairly aboveboard, while Xiao Hen’s “Long Yi” was unregistered, best not to confront the official government directly.

Gu Jiao went downstairs.

Xiao Hen returned to the terrace, rolled down the hanging screen, and peeked through the gap at the commotion in the Grand Hall.

Beside him, the woman continued sitting on the stool, but her aura had changed slightly.

It seemed… somewhat displeased.

Xiao Hen glanced at her before shifting his gaze back toward Gu Jiao and the government officials.

Suddenly, he felt a tug on his sleeve.

He looked down at her, “What’s the matter?”

The woman held out to him the watermelon she had scooped.

Only then did he notice that the woman sitting on the terrace had been scooping for a long time but hadn’t eaten a single bite.

She was using a new little golden spoon, which she must have also snatched earlier.

The watermelon balls she had scooped out were round and very uniformly shaped.

“For me?” he asked.

The woman nodded, her gaze towards him innocent yet profound, but also tinged with a trace of helplessness, like a child afraid of being rejected.

A difficult-to-describe feeling surged in Xiao Hen’s heart.

It was as if something had fiercely tugged at his heart.