'The year-end is approaching, it's really lively.'
In the carriage, Mu Qinglan withdrew her gaze, stretching lazily.
The time was afternoon, and she was taking a carriage to the Six Bureaus, passing through the marketplace, hearing the especially lively sounds, which made her somewhat curious.
On the main street, vehicles and pedestrians came and went, shouts were incessant, and looking around, vendors lined the road from west to east, perhaps even allowing for a round trip.
A scene of prosperity.
'It's the early twelfth month, now is the time for big business. By the year-end, when many people have returned home, the streets might not be as lively as now.'
'And after the New Year, that incident should also happen... the demon attack…'
'I remember the game saying many people died. With advance knowledge, I could consider whether it's possible to take a piece of meat from the demons during the chaos.'
'But that would require careful planning.'
Sighing, Mu Qinglan pulled the carriage curtain closed.
On the second day after returning from the Heyang hunting grounds, the name of the person protected by the divine dragon spread to every corner of the Heyang power circle, causing an immediate sensation.
Whether they knew her or not, everyone couldn't help but wonder why this princess had caught the eye of that second-rank expert.
What qualified her?!
After transmigrating, Mu Qinglan had used just over two months to successfully make her name resound through the streets and alleys.
Previously, she did have some reputation, but it was a bad one, saying she was domineering, spoiled, and ill-tempered. Now, only solemnity remained—after all, for a magic talent, as long as she wasn't too outrageous, most personality flaws could be forgiven.
Now it was the third day.
The news was still fermenting, spreading at an extremely fast rate to the counties surrounding Heyang.
And Mu Qinglan sat in a carriage, bringing Ah Qi, and also bringing the previous assassin's corpse, heading towards the Six Bureaus for a visit.
The liveliness in her ears lasted only a moment. After passing those few streets, the sound suddenly diminished.
By the time she reached the Six Bureaus' location, it was even quieter.
A place of case-solving and legal solemnity, even from outside the gate, black-clad constables could be seen coming and going inside, all with serious expressions, meticulous in their work.
"Please announce us."
Zhu Yan approached the gate guard, announced the identities of the two, and almost as soon as the words fell, Mu Qinglan received two slightly surprised gazes.
"Please wait a moment, I'll go find Constable Shen right away," the gate guard said respectfully.
Obviously, he had read the morning paper.
This time, she hadn't hidden herself, nor entered through a side door, but chose to make a formal visit.
Because Mu Qinglan was now somewhat famous, easily recognizable, and having recently gained attention, hiding and being discovered would instead arouse suspicion.
Her close relationship with Shen Yao, not convinced?
"Please enter, both of you."
The gate guard removed his staff.
The Six Bureaus headquarters was quite large, covering half a district, or about three hundred mu if calculated by acre.
With white hair, red eyes, sitting in a wheelchair—this combination of eye-catching features meant that as they walked along, distant gazes occasionally fell on her, accompanied by faint whispers.
"Is that Princess Mu?"
"Is she the one from Prince Qi's family? So cute!"
"A magic talent! I wonder how she compares to Constable Shen in terms of talent."
"Princess Mu, little rich girl, small, fragrant, hehe!"
"So cute, one punch would probably make her cry for a long time!"
Mu Qinglan's eyelids twitched twice. She ignored those who were acting crazy and headed straight for Shen Yao's location.
All along the way, discussions were unceasing.
"Everyone is looking at Sister Mu..."
Pushing the wheelchair along the bluestone path, Zhu Yan lowered her eyebrows, feeling unhappy.
Sister Mu was so impressive, and she knew that eventually, such a perfect Sister Mu would be recognized by people. But when it actually happened, she found herself feeling a bit uncomfortable.
It felt like a little secret being shared with others.
"But at least only I can always stay by Sister Mu's side."
Zhu Yan thought, her steps becoming lighter.
Mu Qinglan observed her movements but said nothing.
After a while, they finally reached Shen Yao's place. Mu Qinglan left Zhu Yan outside and alone pushed open the door to Shen Yao's office, like a hero attacking the demon king on her own.
Shen Yao's office was cold, unlike home where incense burned.
Upon entering, one could see puffs of ice-blue mist rhythmically swirling with her breath. Beyond the mist, Shen Yao sat kneeling, hands together, fingertips lightly touching the blade of the black sword on her thighs, from hilt to tip.
Most of the mist in the office came from Shen Yao's breath, with a small part coming from the sword.
'A golden weapon, a mystical weapon?'
Mu Qinglan raised an eyebrow.
In the late game, when Shen Yao reached the third rank, not yet second rank, but already known as [Ice Calamity], she wielded a divine artifact.
But now, she certainly didn't have that fortune yet.
As if sensing the visitor, the ice-blue mist in the room quickly receded, pressed by Shen Yao into the black sword on her knee.
The black sword trembled slightly, emitting a clear sword chime.
Then it was raised by its master, drawing a cold sword flower in the air, sliding back into its sheath with a "tsing."
"I was practicing just now and couldn't end immediately, making you wait a while."
Shen Yao maintained her sitting posture from before, removing the scabbard and placing it flat in front of her, briefly explaining before calmly looking up at the girl.
"You haven't come to see me these past few days."
Looking at the white-haired girl's interested expression, Shen Yao's voice was calm, her gaze cold, not letting anyone detect the slight resentment hidden in her voice.
Such a big event, why didn't she come to discuss it with her?
Didn't she say she wanted me to work for her? But now this half-close, half-distant attitude, what was it about? Not even seeking my help, as if I'm of no use...
Shen Yao knew her thoughts were somewhat strange and improper, but she couldn't help thinking them.
When she closed her eyes, all she could see was the face of the girl before her, with that "everything under control" expression.
It made her heart chaotic.
So today, Shen Yao had taken some free time to fully run through her ice system heart method, wanting to calm herself and not think about so many things.
But before she could succeed, the culprit who made her restless came again.
In an instant, all her efforts were wasted.
"I've been too busy!" Mu Qinglan counted on her fingers: "The Bai family had business, then I went to the full-month celebration, encountered an assassin, the autumn hunt, the demon clan attack—with this string of events chasing after me, how could I have time to find Miss Shen for flirting?"
"It's not flirting, it's serious business."
Shen Yao seriously refuted, her expression slightly relaxing.
"Alright, alright, when I find Miss Shen, it's always for serious matters. Then guess what matter it is this time?" Mu Qinglan asked.
Shen Yao was silent for a moment.
Today's Constable Shen wore clothes of a deeper color, which, although she probably didn't need them, looked quite warm.
It especially accentuated her slightly cold cheeks and that cold temperament.
But it also made Mu Qinglan feel that such a Miss Shen was even more interesting—teasing such a cold girl gave her a strange satisfaction, after all, this was gap moe.
"The assassin matter? This should be concluded now."
"Correct guess!"
Mu Qinglan snapped her fingers frivolously, her tone slow:
"The vicious demon assassin, relying on her cunning, wanted to strike at Great Xia officials at night, but unexpectedly, our foresighted Miss Shen Yao had already been waiting in the night, capturing her."
"How's this script? I spent several minutes coming up with it."
Shen Yao listened, pondering for two seconds:
"Demon assassin?"
"The assassin is already dead, it's that person. You just say she was instructed by demon race, and no one can criticize you," Mu Qinglan said. "Unless the demons themselves come forward to die."
"But why demons?"
Mu Qinglan smiled, explaining: "Because they offended me, is that enough?"
"Besides, from what I know, they're planning to do something big in the future. At this time, planting such a thing on them, there definitely won't be a mistake. After all, with the demons' abilities, they could indeed accomplish these things."
There was another reason Mu Qinglan didn't mention.
After the New Year, the Bai family would be framed with false charges because the court wanted to go to war with the demon race, making them scapegoats.
Now, providing some excuses for attacking the demons was also a way to shield little Bai.
Shen Yao didn't ask further. She knew Mu Qinglan always had her reasons, and anyway, having boarded the pirate ship, she couldn't resist the bad woman's will.
The two briefly discussed the details.
"So tonight, will the 'assassin' take action?" As she said this, Shen Yao's eyes stared steadily at Mu Qinglan, clearly knowing that the assassinations of the past few days were her eliminating opponents and striking at enemies.
For Mu Qinglan to do such things, she naturally had cleared it with Chief Constable Su He.
Seeing that those being killed were all scoundrels, not important figures, Su He let her proceed, considering it as preemptively sending these social degenerates to prison, denying them the opportunity to harm others.
Preventing future troubles, so to speak.
"Of course she will, but she'll be easily defeated by our righteous Constable Shen!"
Mu Qinglan raised her little hand excitedly: "Tonight, in Huaiming District in the south of the city, Great Constable Shen will take action. Evil cannot triumph over good, right?"
"Perhaps."
Shen Yao said.
"Tonight, just show your presence, at most, use your abilities to make it look like you've fought. It can be in the morning papers tomorrow, don't delay."
Mu Qinglan said, then suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, do you want the corpse?"
"You're carrying a corpse?" Shen Yao's tone rose by a notch.
"Not exactly carrying it, but I can produce it if you want," Mu Qinglan said.
"Wait, let's go to the side to talk."
Shen Yao felt helpless, leading Mu Qinglan to a side room where people wouldn't come, before asking her to bring out the corpse. Otherwise, in her office, dragging a corpse would be inconvenient.
Friends who have killed people know, killing is easy, dragging corpses is hard.
Shen Yao was strong, dragging corpses wasn't difficult, but it would dirty her office floor, and more importantly—
The constables of the Six Bureaus headquarters were very shrewd, experts in searching for evidence and investigating situations. If too many traces were noticed by others, it would be difficult to explain.
"Put it here, I'll take it to the dungeon tonight."
Shen Yao looked at the unmarked corpse, frowning slightly, casting a wave of cold air to freeze it.
She would process it further tonight, otherwise, it would look too fake.
Wonder how she killed her...
"Well, remember to go out for a stroll tonight, and tomorrow, remember to coordinate with the testimony. You can handle the specifics, you understand these things better than I do," Mu Qinglan continued.
She was just the client giving opinions; the actual implementation was Shen Yao's responsibility.
"I know."
Shen Yao understood her meaning, knowing this was also creating momentum for herself.
With complex emotions, she found herself unsure of what to say next.
"That's it then, business is done, I'll head back first."
"Tomorrow, I'll be waiting for Miss Shen's good news!"
Mu Qinglan spoke while pushing her wheelchair, indicating she was leaving. Shen Yao's movements were half a beat slower, silently escorting the young girl outside.
After exiting and seeing Zhu Yan, Mu Qinglan closed her eyes.
'With this, the matter is almost concluded. But come to think of it, Shen Yao really is patient. Is it because she's not good with words, so she didn't speak up to keep me? '
'Or does she not know what to do if I stayed.'
Miss Shen, this won't do! The bad woman thought with frustration.
'If you continue like this, not taking any initiative, your position in my heart will be surpassed by little Miss Bai!'
○
The sun rose and the moon set, a day and night quietly passing.
It was an ordinary day.
But that morning, a piece of news published in the morning paper instantly ignited the teahouses and restaurants of Heyang.
"Did you hear? That assassin was caught!"
"Which assassin?"
"The one who killed many officials! The paper says she might be a demon spy!"
"A demon spy? The demons haven't been caught for so long! Their methods are so grand that they almost deceived even the Six Bureaus?"
"No, no, no, I see it says here that this person is a 'human traitor'!"
"Tsk, even those who defect to demons exist. This Heyang City is truly becoming more and more chaotic!"
"Indeed..."
And so on. The topics in the teahouses were varied, but all centered around that famous assassin lady who, in reality, didn't have much ability.
Of course, when mentioning her, one must also mention our righteous great constable, Miss Shen Yao.
Last night's battle was described vividly by many.
In simple terms, the two transcendent beings fought to the edge of the universe, even erasing the great Dao!
This was, of course, false, news secretly spread by Mu Qinglan, but unfortunately, people hadn't heard such descriptions before and enjoyed it. So whether true or not, the story spread wider and wider.
There were even versions of hand-supporting the Six Bureaus, still invincible in the world.
It made people forget to focus on what actually happened last night.
In the city, Prince Li's mansion.
Yun Juan's superior, Ruan Shan, wearing his signature black robe, sat in a chair.
He had been in a good mood these past two days. Although losing a sixth-rank subordinate was indeed painful, fortunately, that death warrior subordinate wasn't clever, and due to some external factors, was too conspicuous.
So losing her actually became a correct decision.
—This kind of reckless person, even if sent to Eastern Sea Province, would only cause trouble for Prince Li.
After estimating that Yun Juan was dead, Ruan Shan slept well.
Although she had lost contact for two days, Mu Qinglan's side showed no movement, which made Ruan Shan slightly uneasy.
But this wasn't a big deal.
Just a death warrior, who also had means of suicide. Could she possibly discover his relationship with Prince Li through a death warrior?
Ruan Shan thought, smiling as he picked up the newspaper.
But the moment he picked up the newspaper, his entire person suddenly became alert.
"?"
"What?"
"How did she become a demon spy?"