As the sky was gradually getting dark, at the same time, a black figure flashed past the window. Without even thinking, Gu Jiangyue directly said,
"Come in."
The black - shadow hesitated for a moment. Instead of coming in through the window, he directly pushed open the door and leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded across his chest. Looking at Gu Jiangyue's worried face, he asked,
"What's up? Got troubles in love?"
The black - shadow's voice was hoarse, but he laughed. Gu Jiangyue thought to herself whether it was that obvious.
"Besides this matter, I can't think of a second thing that could puzzle you."
Gu Jiangyue had no time to listen to what the black - shadow said. She had known the black - shadow for a long time and they were quite familiar with each other. Gu Jiangyue casually nodded and then asked the question that had been buried in her heart.
"What on earth is the relationship between Xie Jiuan and Mu Xia?"
The black - shadow answered almost instantly.
"The relationship between the master and the subordinate."
Gu Jiangyue was too lazy to confirm the truth of this matter. She always felt that the black - shadow knew Xie Jiuan better than she did. Moreover, the black - shadow had never told her a single lie. After hearing what the black - shadow said, Gu Jiangyue felt a little better. Then she blinked at the black - shadow, and finally there was a smile in her eyes.
"If I do something to Mu Xia, will Xie Jiuan get angry?"
"Definitely not. She has been getting very close to Xie Chengrui recently. She deserves to die. You can do whatever you want to her."
The black - shadow looked at Gu Jiangyue's smiling face and answered quickly. His tone was extremely definite. Gu Jiangyue looked at him and actually had a feeling that he was Xie Jiuan. But Gu Jiangyue quickly threw this absurd thought out of her head.
"The most urgent thing now is to waste Xie Chengrui's position of the main wife, so that she can't win over the powerful ministers."
Gu Jiangyue voiced her thoughts, and the black - shadow answered resolutely.
"Mu Xia has always been by his side. She is the most suitable candidate now."
Gu Jiangyue nodded. She and the black - shadow had the same thought. Mu Xia always loved to climb up the social ladder. Now that Xie Jiuan was already engaged, the most promising person for her to succeed with was Xie Chengrui.
"Then how can we make Xie Chengrui marry Mu Xia now?"
Gu Jiangyue raised her hand to stretch her body and murmured the question in a low voice. She couldn't come up with any ideas at all.
The black - shadow looked at Gu Jiangyue and also fell silent. This was indeed a thorny problem. They just stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Gu Jiangyue decided to let the black - shadow go back and think about it another day.
"It's getting late. You can go first. We'll discuss it another day."
The black - shadow didn't refuse and disappeared into the night under the moonlight.
But even after the black - shadow left, Gu Jiangyue's mind didn't stop. Finally, Gu Jiangyue decided to follow Xie Chengrui first to see his movements.
Having come up with a plan, Gu Jiangyue called for Zhiyuan.
"Zhiyuan, help me prepare a set of men's clothes. I'll need it tomorrow."
Zhiyuan scratched her head in confusion.
"Miss, are you going out again?"
Gu Jiangyue nodded. With her skills, it should be no problem to avoid Xie Chengrui and not let him see her. But if she was discovered, dressing up as a man would be the best way for her to get away. She had to be extremely careful when dealing with Xie Chengrui.
After getting Gu Jiangyue's answer, Zhiyuan exhorted Gu Jiangyue a few more times to pay attention to her safety and then went to prepare the clothes. Just as Zhiyuan was about to leave, Gu Jiangyue called her back.
"Don't tell anyone about this."
Zhiyuan replied with a soft "um" and left. Gu Jiangyue never had to worry about Zhiyuan's work. Although she was a bit careless in personality, she was extremely meticulous in doing things. So Gu Jiangyue simply went to sleep and waited for tomorrow to come.
Early the next morning, Gu Jiangyue saw the clothes prepared by Zhiyuan on the bedside. She put on the clothes and went in front of the dressing mirror. Gu Jiangyue painted on her face for a while. When Zhiyuan came in, she was shocked by what she saw.
Zhiyuan looked at Gu Jiangyue's face from left to right. She only recognized Gu Jiangyue by the clothes on her body.
"Miss, you've painted so realistically. I bet even the Ninth Prince wouldn't recognize you." Zhiyuan joked with a smile.
Gu Jiangyue had good - looking features. Even when painted like a man, she was still extremely delicate and good - looking. Gu Jiangyue smiled and said,
"He should be able to recognize me."
Gu Jiangyue's slender figure carefully poked out of the door. Then she closed the door and hid among the crowd. She followed the flow of people towards the busy market and her figure completely disappeared.
After leaving the Gu Mansion, with her current dressing, she had no more concerns. She walked freely on the street without noticing the figure that appeared behind her at all. Xie Jiuan was wearing a black robe and hiding at a corner, watching Gu Jiangyue.
He originally planned to find Gu Jiangyue to continue thinking about countermeasures today, but just happened to see Gu Jiangyue going out in men's clothes. He didn't know what Gu Jiangyue was going to do. Since Gu Jiangyue didn't tell him, he didn't ask either. But for Gu Jiangyue's safety, he still followed her.
Gu Jiangyue just walked forward. Xie Jiuan hid extremely well behind her and observed her movements. An ordinary person would never notice him.
Gu Jiangyue went to several places where Xie Chengrui often stayed according to her memories of her previous life. But for three consecutive days, she didn't see a single trace of Xie Chengrui. During this period, the black - shadow also kept following her.
Finally, Gu Jiangyue decided to follow Mu Xia first. Just because she couldn't find Xie Chengrui didn't mean Mu Xia couldn't.
Early the next morning, Gu Jiangyue went straight to the brothel. Fortunately, her current men's clothing wouldn't cause any impropriety.
Seeing Gu Jiangyue enter the brothel, Xie Jiuan squinted his eyes. He also went to change into a set of clothes, put on a mask, and then entered the brothel.
As soon as he stepped in, some women with revealing clothes and heavy makeup rushed up, constantly shouting,
"Is this your first time here, sir?"
Although Xie Jiuan was wearing a mask, his aura showed that he was either rich or noble. The woman's tone rose slightly with a seductive meaning, and one of her hands had already touched Xie Jiuan's body.
Xie Jiuan wasn't here for the first time. He recognized at a glance that this was the brothel where Mu Xia was. Thinking of Mu Xia and what Gu Jiangyue wanted to do, he understood most of it. After all, they still had to rely on these women to gather information. Xie Jiuan put on a smile on his face and quietly broke free from their hands. Then he found a place to sit down.
As soon as he sat down, Xie Jiuan looked around to find Gu Jiangyue's figure.
Gu Jiangyue was sitting in a corner. She was simply dressed and there weren't many people around her. Gu Jiangyue just sat there quietly drinking tea. Her eyes were fixed on a certain place, looking extremely focused.
Xie Jiuan followed Gu Jiangyue's gaze and sure enough, at the end of her sight, he saw Mu Xia's figure.
Mu Xia was still wearing a conspicuous red dress. At this moment, she was sitting on a high platform, playing the pipa, which made countless audiences in the audience clap and cheer.
A woman who was pouring wine for Xie Jiuan noticed that Xie Jiuan was looking at Mu Xia. She said,
"Sir, that Miss Mu Xia is the top courtesan in our brothel. She has been getting very close to the Second Prince recently. She only performs arts and doesn't sell her body to outsiders."