The next morning.
Lin Xiaofei woke up late and found that Qu Xing Xu left early this morning. As the maids helped her wash up and changed into a new dress, Lin XIaofei couldn't help but ask them, "The Duke left so early… Did he say where he went before leaving?"
Bai Lu moved the water basing for washing her young mistress' face and answered, "He didn't say. However, he did say that you must not forget to take your breakfast before going out."
Lin Xiaofei was silent and was thinking about where he went. However, how did he know that she planned to go out today?
"Have the table prepared and served some simple food for me to eat." Lin Xiaofei told the maids who were waiting for her, and when they left, she changed her dress into a darker color.
Her maids initially dressed her in a light blue dress with blossom flower patterns on the hem of the skirt. It looked great on her and made her look graceful, but Lin Xiaofei liked darker colors even more. Light colors were not suited for someone who planned to bathe the Zheng Empire with the blood of her enemies.
It was about half an hour when the maids finally returned to the room with piping hot dishes of food. Despite Lin Xiaofei telling them not to bring a lot of food, they still carried two trays full of mouthwatering food.
After eating and resting for a little bit, Lin Xiaofei walked out of their courtyard and head outside the Qu residence.
While walking, she noticed that the servants working on the corridors and pathways of the residence did not bump into her. Usually, servants would wake up early and tidy up whatever mess the nigh wind has done to the surroundings and make sure that it will be cleaned before the night arrives. It was such a tiring chore, but it was what gave them money to pay for whatever they needed to buy.
"Young miss, do you want to go to the central market to buy some lanterns for the Moon Lantern Festival?" Su Tang asked her as they were aboard the carriage.
"Moon Lantern Festival?" Lin Xiaofei asked, and when she saw the little maid nodding her head, she drew her eyebrows into a frown.
Moon Lantern Festival was one of the biggest festivals in the Zheng Empire. Not only will the people watch as the moon rises above the sky, but the markets, the residences of the noblemen, and the palace would also open their doors to let anyone join in the festivities.
But, of course, the palace may say that 'anyone could join in, but in truth, only people from the noble family would be able to get inside the palace. Thus, any commoner's chances of getting inside the palace were the same as nonexistent.
"Yes, I heard that the envoys from the Chu are leaving soon, and they will live on the night of Moon Lantern festival." Bai Lu opened the window slightly and looked outside.
Upon hearing her, Lin Xiaofei paused and looked at Bai Lu in surprise. But the maid was not looking at her face, and before they could even see the emotions on Lin Xiaofei's face, she already wiped them away and returned to an odd calmness.
The Chu Envoys…. The Moon Lantern Festival. Was she right to think that something big was about to happen during the festival?
…
Inside a tea house in the market of Jing Capital.
"There's still no sign of it?" Lu Yan asked.
Jiang Ruan shook his head and flipped open his fan as he said, "I don't sense anything. It must have been hidden before we could track it. However, we must find it before the other sects could take an interest in our appearance in the mortal world."
Lu Yan thought that the other sects must have already heard of it from his Brother Xie, but in order not to anger his master, he didn't try to voice his thoughts out and nodded in agreement to his master's words.
"What about you?" Jiang Ruan suddenly asked. "What did you found while strolling around this place?"
"Nothing of any sort that could lead me to what we sensed that night. However, I heard that a festival would soon take place here and people will begin to celebrate it the whole night. It'll be great for us to use this chance to sneak up on some places and find whoever or whatever possessed that dark energy I and Brother Xie sensed."
Jiang Ruan deeply looked at his student and stroke his beard, thinking about this. Although it was troublesome and unbecoming of them to lurk around and act like a thief in the middle of the night, he couldn't disagree with his student. The mission was too sensitive and complicated for them to act out in the open. It would attract too many troubles.
While the two were planning inside the small room, in another place, others were planning something big during the Moon Lantern Festival.
And these were the nobles who were planning to eliminate Qu Xing Xu for the sake of their own goals.
"Before the Moon Lantern ends, we must collect the Duke of Xin's head and exterminate the whole Qu elders." Song Lan discussed with the other head nobles.
The others nodded in agreement as if their plans were almost hole-proof, and nothing could stop them now.
"But wouldn't the people of the Zheng Empire rage on when they find out of the Duke's passing? What if the Lin family starts an investigation?" One of the nobles, who was a bit afraid, asked.
When Qu Xing Xu married Lin Xiaofei, it was quite a headache on the nobles' part as they didn't think that Qu Xing Xu would unexpectedly marry into the Lin family, one of the strongest families in the Zheng Empire.
At first, the nobles thought that Qu Xing Xu might have been planning to rebel by getting the Lin family's army under his banner, but after a month of the wedding, the Duke didn't do anything and seemed to have no plans to do anything with the Lin family army.
Hence, everyone was confused and alarmed by the Duke's actions.
Before Song Lan could respond to him, another noble interjected and said, "We can spare the lady from the Lin family and just blame the Chu Empire. With the prince of Chu missing and the death of Qu Xing Xu, both empires will surely not act directly without thinking of the consequences. After that, we can make use of the Lin family by remarrying Qu Xing Xu's woman to one of our sons."
When everyone inside the room heard this, they were all shocked by his words. They all knew what he meant by this and couldn't stop beating their heads for not thinking of this solution.
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