Yan Mo still wasn't quite at ease with her. Right in front of him, Shi Muyuan demonstrated some grappling skills she had learned before.
Although Yan Mo exclaimed in surprise that the moves were really interesting and powerful, in his eyes, Shi Muyuan was just a novice who merely imitated the actions. He expressed even more concern. After rummaging through his whole body, he finally plucked a hairpin from Ziying's head.
Ziying pursed her lips, looking speechless. Fortunately, Yan Mo had a conscience and threw some silver coins in front of her.
Shi Muyuan was also speechless. Yan Mo's behavior was completely different from what she had imagined.
It couldn't be just because she hadn't practiced for a long time!
Shi Muyuan even began to suspect that his identity wasn't that of a junior official in the Supreme Court, but a wealthy merchant in the Great Liang Dynasty.
The Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion was huge. As soon as one entered, there was a golden nanmu screen embroidered with gold and silver threads. After bypassing the screen, one could see a magnificent two - story hall with a stage. There were many canvases embroidered with various colored threads hanging on the walls, and a lot of veils hanging down from the ceiling beams. Many graceful figures shuttled among them, half - hidden.
There were quite a few beautiful girls leaning on the railing on the second floor, smiling and waving to the people below.
After passing through the hall, there was a row of rooms, which were much more low - key and simple. But there were also many rockeries, strange stones, flower beds and potted plants here.
No wonder it was a money - squandering den where people could have fun.
The backyard wasn't as lively as the hall, but there were still people coming and going. It should be a more private place for those who didn't want to be seen.
Huo Qizhou came out of the private room on the second floor and covered his nose uncomfortably. Whenever a girl approached him, she would be scared away by his cold gaze.
Before coming, he had asked Sun Yu to investigate the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion. Besides some related officials and wealthy merchants, the biggest owner seemed to be related to the Duke.
Moreover, compared with the front hall, the backyard of the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion seemed to hide more secrets.
He came here tonight just for this backyard. So after avoiding the crowd, Huo Qizhou went straight to the backyard to check.
At this moment, a girl came out to perform on the stage in the hall, attracting a crowd to watch. Although there were many people, as soon as Shi Muyuan stepped out of the room, she keenly noticed a familiar figure.
It was Yin Muran.
One had to admit that she was really lucky. She had thought she would have to search for a long time in such a large place, but unexpectedly, she ran into him as soon as she came out.
He was scolding and hugging a girl, sitting in front of the stage. From time to time, he stretched out his walking stick to lift the veil of the girl on the stage.
That damned hooligan! At such an old age, he still didn't know shame. He had just escaped the pursuers yesterday, and today he had the audacity to come here to drink and flirt with girls. He deserved to be caught and thrown back into jail later.
After Yin Muran had luckily escaped yesterday, he had run back to the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion. His contact person was here. Every time he would leave here with a large amount of silver and then come back empty - handed to receive new tasks. He had been doing this for most of his life.
Yin Muran instinctively thought that this place of the organization was his safest haven. When he had done those big jobs before, the organization had also let him take refuge here. Naturally, this time was no exception.
After Shi Muyuan left the room, Ziying straightened her expression and no longer looked charming and coquettish.
Yan Mo wasn't surprised either. This woman had been constantly looking at him before and didn't even look at Shi Muyuan when she was talking. So he quietly waited for her to speak.
"Two young masters are really bold to bring a young girl here." Ziying said after a while.
"Speak up if you have something to say. I can't stand your round - about ways the most." Yan Mo was quite rude.
"Ziying naturally wants to make a deal with Young Master Yan."
"I didn't know I could make any deals with the Ten Thousand Flowers Pavilion."
"A person locked up in the Supreme Court's jail."
Yan Mo sneered, "It's really funny. Do you think it's that easy to take a person out of my jail just like this?"
"We also know it won't be that easy, so we'd like to discuss the terms with Young Master Yan."
"If I don't agree, are you going to cause trouble?"
"Of course not. One thing is one thing. Otherwise, if word got out that we did things like this, it would ruin our reputation."
Yan Mo held his stomach and laughed non - stop, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. It took him a while to calm down and look at her.
"Tell me then."
...
Outside the room, Shi Muyuan was in a dilemma when she saw Yin Muran. She was afraid that he would run away while she went back to find Yan Mo.
Since he dared to show up so brazenly here, it meant that his backer was also here. Otherwise, such a crowded and information - gathering place wasn't a good hiding place. So she didn't dare to act rashly.
Suddenly, Yin Muran squeezed out of the crowd. His lame leg made it very difficult for him to walk. He kept scolding and forced people to make way for him.
After squeezing out of the crowd, Yin Muran walked towards the relatively quiet area behind the hall. Shi Muyuan didn't have time to think and quickly went downstairs to follow him.
If she couldn't catch the person, at least she had to hear some important news.
Walking into the backyard, it was much quieter and there were fewer people. People were just going in and out of the rooms. There were almost no people on the second floor.
Shi Muyuan had to tiptoe to follow him for fear of being discovered.
Yin Muran walked up the stairs and entered a room. Before closing the door, he warily looked around. Shi Muyuan only approached the door and put her ear against it after he closed the door.
There came a rustling sound from inside, which should be Yin Muran's voice.
Shi Muyuan couldn't hear clearly, so she leaned her head closer to the door.
"What does this mean! I've worked hard for the organization for so many years, and this is all I get?"
"Lao Yin, be content. You've caused a lot of trouble for the organization. It's already good that they didn't abandon you."
"Humph, even if I've caused trouble, it's only in the past two years. Don't my previous merits count? Besides, why did I cause this trouble? Isn't it the organization's intention? If they didn't want me to cause trouble, why did they assign that task to me?" Yin Muran excitedly slapped the table.
"Hey, you can't talk like that." Another person comforted him.
"Where's my adopted son? Why isn't he the one coming to see me?"
"The young master has other important matters to attend to. He knew that I had a good relationship with you and specially sent me here."
"What, is the Duke up to something again?"
"Tsk, shut up. Can you mention this casually? Is this something we can discuss in private?" That person seemed very angry at his careless talk.
After listening for a long time, Shi Muyuan finally heard a useful word. It seemed that they were very strict in their daily management and didn't allow subordinates to talk casually. No wonder this case was so difficult to investigate.
"Alright, alright, I know. By the way, why didn't the higher - ups say anything about the failure of this task?"
"That person didn't really want to arrest anyone. He just wanted those two girls to get a little injured. I heard that this client is from the palace."
"Someone from the palace?"