Next, someone sighed, "Alas, what's the use of reading books? The Marquis doesn't allow the young master to go out and be an official; he has a full head of knowledge."
Cui Zhu, however, said with a smile, "What do you know? The Marquis is cherishing the young master. If anything were to happen to him in office, the Liu family would be left without an heir!"
"Yes, originally the second young master fought side-by-side with the Marquis in campaigns, but who would have thought that in the end..."
"That's right. If the second young master were here, the young lady wouldn't have to work so hard, nor would she have to travel all the way to Great Tugu, leaving her fate uncertain."
As the maids spoke, tears even began to fall. Duobang, who had been listening from the rooftop for a long time, heard no mention of Chen Xiaobei. From this, he could infer that Chen Xiaobei was not in this household.
From their words, Duobang also learned that this Liu Yuanwen held no official position. Having lost interest in such a person, Duobang quietly left the Liu residence and returned to his own lodgings.
Duobang had returned, but that night, Qingguang City was once again thrown into chaos.
Liu Rumei's martial arts were by no means comparable to ordinary people; she had studied under renowned masters since childhood.
While her skills might not match those of the Lotus Cult Master Shen Ziyan, they were not far behind.
Overnight, Liu Rumei, accompanied by Xiao Qing, assassinated three more officials of Great Tugu.
The next day, at dawn, Qingguang City was once again abuzz with explosive news, as if the days of fear from before had returned.
Emperor Qiaopusen was dumbfounded. "How is this possible? Aren't they hundreds of miles away? Didn't Qiaona already take people to pursue them?"
But whether he believed it or not, it was the truth. Qiaopusen thought long and hard and finally ordered Qiaona to be recalled immediately.
Upon receiving the order to return to the city, Qiaona was bewildered. How could the remnants of the Great Chang kingdom, whom he had been desperately searching for, reappear in Qingguang City?
To his surprise, Qiaona quickly led his men to retreat to Qingguang City. At the same time, he ordered Yelü Chuang to rush with his men to converge on the capital, abandoning the banks of the Xiaoqing River.
The next morning, Zheng Hai had just woken up when he heard a commotion outside. Looking through the window, he saw a vast expanse of cavalry, stretching as far as the eye could see, passing by at high speed. Seeing this, Zheng Hai knew that Liu Rumei's plan had worked. He immediately ordered his men to make secret contact, and as soon as the troops outside had passed, they would march towards the Xiaoqing River.
Meanwhile, in Qingguang City, Liu Rumei had also changed her hiding place. She checked out of the inn early in the morning, and with Xiao Qing, she wandered for a long time. It wasn't until after noon that she chose another inn to stay in.
This was to give the innkeeper the impression that she had just arrived in Qingguang City from out of town.
As soon as the two of them settled in, government troops arrived and surrounded the inn. The leader said to the innkeeper, "Call out all your lodgers. I need to question them one by one!"
The innkeeper dared not offend the officials and immediately called everyone out, handing over the registration form.
The leader looked at the form and said, "Those who checked in today can go back for now."
Xiao Qing and Liu Rumei exchanged glances, then silently turned and returned to their room. Inside the room, they looked at each other and smiled. Xiao Qing gave Liu Rumei a thumbs-up.
It was clear that a search like this would yield nothing.
Soon, the troop of government soldiers left.
Seeing the soldiers leave, the innkeeper breathed a long sigh of relief and bowed to everyone present, saying, "Everyone, something major happened in the city last night, someone was assassinated, so please bear with the disturbance."
After hearing the explanation, the guests in the inn dispersed.
Xiao Qing nervously asked Liu Rumei, "Miss, are we still killing tonight?"
Liu Rumei smiled calmly, "Of course, we have to. After killing, we'll change our lodging again."
That night, at the second watch, Qingguang City suddenly became lively.
Prince Qiaona returned with his men. As soon as he entered Qingguang City, he immediately went to see his father, Qiaopusen.
Upon meeting, he urgently asked, "Father, what exactly happened?"
Qiaopusen sighed, "Last night, three people were killed in succession, with the same methods as last time. I suspect the same people have returned."
"That shouldn't be the case. A few days ago, I arrived at the scene and ordered the soldiers to search outwards from the incident site, not even sparing a single tree."
"Yes, you were searching there, but they jumped out of your search radius and came to the capital."
Qiaona clearly sensed his father's dissatisfaction. He cupped his fist and said, "Please rest assured, Father. I have already ordered Yelü Chuang to abandon the Xiaoqing River and return to Qingguang City. This time, we will dig three feet deep to find these murderers."
Qiaopusen nodded. "It's late today, so there will be no large-scale search, but the city's guards will be strengthened."
Qiaona agreed and turned to make arrangements.
After the third watch, Liu Rumei and Xiao Qing left the inn and walked on the rooftops. They could clearly feel the strengthened defenses.
Patrolling teams were constantly moving about, but these posed no threat to Liu Rumei.
Liu Rumei assassinated two more officials in succession and then quietly returned to the inn with Xiao Qing.
After returning to the inn, Liu Rumei did not rush to rest. Instead, she took out paper and a brush and drew a rough sketch. She said to Xiao Qing, "We passed by a temple just now. I saw that the incense was not strong, and only a few meditation rooms had lights on."
"Tomorrow morning, we will leave the inn and approach this temple, find a way to hide inside. I think they won't search this quiet place so quickly, and even if they do, the search won't be very thorough."
Xiao Qing nodded and looked at the map twice, memorizing the route to the temple. Then Liu Rumei rolled up the paper and burned it over the oil lamp.
The next day, at dawn, Qiaona received a report that two more people had been killed. Enraged, he immediately ordered a search.
At this time, Liu Rumei, with Xiao Qing, hurriedly left the inn. Not far from the inn, they parted ways.
On a winter morning, there were few pedestrians. The two hid in a small alley and changed their disguises, changing their clothes.
This was to conceal their tracks to the greatest extent possible.
Because they had been in the inn as a mistress and a servant, if they were seen on the street, it would be easy to find clues. By changing their attire and separating, they could hide their whereabouts as much as possible.
Liu Rumei's inference was correct. The temple they passed was the Xiangguo Temple in Qingguang City.
Xiangguo Temple was built by Qiaopusen's father, but Qiaopusen himself was not particularly interested in it, so the temple was not very prosperous.