"Hey, Xiaoxiao, what are you throwing a tantrum for? Twelve can still be considered your master," Shi Muyuan said with a smile as she poked Xiaoxiao on the forehead.
The little girl puffed up her cheeks angrily, as if accusing Shi Muyuan of siding with an outsider instead of her. This made Shi Muyuan laugh so hard that she clutched her stomach for a while before she could calm down.
"Twelve, you came here because you have something to tell me, right?" Shi Muyuan remembered the main thing only after she stopped laughing.
"This is a letter from the master for you," Twelve took out a letter and handed it to her.
Shi Muyuan was curious. She opened it and saw that the characters were written in a gentle yet elegant style, flowing like clouds and water with a unique charm. She couldn't help but compare it with the calligraphy on the table. Both were beautiful, but they each had their own styles and couldn't be compared directly.
However, Shi Muyuan preferred the calligraphy on the table more. It was domineering and powerful, with an air of looking down on the world.
After reading the content of the letter, Shi Muyuan frowned. Huo Qizhou said that there would be an event in the black market in two days that she might be interested in. What kind of event could it be? Why was he suddenly being so kind as to inform her?
"Did Huo Qizhou say anything else?"
Twelve was a bit unhappy to hear her call his master by his name directly, but he still answered truthfully, "The master only said that we would know when the time came."
It seemed that Huo Qizhou had found a way to deal with Zhang Yuan'an.
A faint sense of anticipation welled up in Shi Muyuan's heart.
"The master and Yan Shaoqing sealed up the House of Blossoms today," Twelve thought for a while and then said. The master had blocked this news quickly. People like the Empress Dowager probably didn't know about it yet.
"What?" Shi Muyuan was shocked. Although she knew that Huo Qizhou would surely take some actions, she didn't expect him to take such a drastic one and directly seal up the House of Blossoms! Wasn't he afraid of tipping off the enemy?
But the Grand Tutor surely wouldn't be unaware of such a simple truth. He must have some other arrangements. Shi Muyuan comforted herself.
Two days later, Shi Muyuan dressed in a neat men's outfit. After getting ready, she set off with Yao Kun while Xiaoxiao stayed in the palace to watch over it.
The little girl pouted her lips so high when she knew she couldn't leave the palace, but she still couldn't persuade Shi Muyuan to change her mind.
After all, Huo Qizhou had said that this trip out of the palace was to the black market. In her impression, it wasn't a good place. It was better for her and Yao Kun to go.
Facts proved that the black market was indeed not a good place. As soon as Shi Muyuan stood at the street corner, she smelled a disgusting odor.
Huo Qizhou was wearing black again today. Shi Muyuan noticed that he always changed into black clothes when doing such things. Was there some special significance to it?
"You're not afraid at all," he said.
"Isn't the Grand Tutor here?" Shi Muyuan replied with a big smile, looking anything but serious. "By the way, what exactly is this all about?"
"The people we caught from the House of Blossoms said that the people they captured were all sold in the black market. That Lvsu only provided information about the goods," Yan Mo popped his head out from the side door.
"But won't sealing up the House of Blossoms alert them? Wouldn't our trip be in vain?" Shi Muyuan voiced the doubt that had been bothering her for two days.
"Zhang Yuan'an is a suspicious man who loves to second - guess others. So we'll do the opposite," Yan Mo whispered Huo Qizhou's plan to Shi Muyuan.
"I see. I've learned something," Shi Muyuan said.
"Let's go. It's time to go in," Huo Qizhou interrupted their conversation.
The roads inside were bumpy. From time to time, one could see pools of blood or dried bloodstains. Most of the eaves were hung with dirty rags fluttering in the wind.
Shi Muyuan walked carefully. To be honest, as soon as she entered, she felt as if she had entered a slaughterhouse.
There were all kinds of illegal trades in the black market. Most people covered their faces or wore straw hats to hide their identities.
Huo Qizhou and Yan Mo were both eye - catching, especially the Grand Tutor. Almost everyone in the Great Liang Dynasty knew him. So both of them wore pure black masks, and even the holes for the eyes were covered with a layer of thin gauze.
Shi Muyuan had already dressed up when she came out. But seeing their appearance, she still bought two green - edged masks as soon as she entered the black market. She and Yao Kun each took one.
Yao Kun was easy to coax. As long as it was related to green, things would surely be twice as effective with half the effort in front of her.
There were mostly slave trades, weapons, iron armors, and some strange things on both sides of the black - market streets. To Shi Muyuan's surprise, there were even stalls selling daily necessities, but they didn't look very good and the prices were not high.
The four of them strolled leisurely on the black - market streets. They looked like people of wealth and status, which attracted many stall owners to come forward and promote their goods.
Huo Qizhou couldn't stand it. He frowned and snapped his fingers, and a black - clothed man appeared. He was as cold as Twelve when Shi Muyuan first met him.
As soon as someone came forward, this man would step forward to separate them. The small stall owners saw that he was not easy to mess with and stopped pestering them.
Shi Muyuan guessed that this might be one of those "Shi - generation" people that Twelve had mentioned!
Finally, the group stopped in front of a dark store.
The store was pitch - black inside, with only a weak kerosene lamp that was about to go out. There were a few antique vases sparsely arranged on the two walls of the store, and most of the space was empty. The only waiter inside was lying on the counter, snoring loudly.
Yan Mo stepped forward and knocked on the table. The waiter actually turned his head impatiently and then didn't respond. Yan Mo knocked again, and the waiter finally woke up.
"Sir, have you taken a fancy to any of them? Just leave a hundred taels of silver if you like it and take it away," the waiter said.
Was this store run so casually?
Yan Mo took out four silver ingots and put them in front of the waiter. Then he leaned over and said something to him. Shi Muyuan didn't hear clearly. She only knew that the waiter's attitude changed 180 degrees. He stopped looking sleepy, picked up the four silver ingots, and looked at them. "Sir, there are five of you here, but there are only four silver ingots." The waiter put on a fake smile.
Yan Mo looked back in confusion and saw the dark figure beside Huo Qizhou. He couldn't help but roll his eyes. It was really hard for the waiter to have such good eyesight. He could actually see such a dark - looking person in this dark store.
Helplessly, Yan Mo took out another silver ingot from his bag and gave it to the waiter.
After the waiter received enough money, he lifted the red carpet on the wall behind him, reached in and felt around. With a few "rumbling" sounds, an antique cabinet in the corner slowly moved. Shi Muyuan walked over and saw that it was actually a door. The waiter came over, unlocked the door, and made a gesture of invitation.
Behind the door was a long and narrow passageway with torches on both sides to light it up. One could only see the darkness in the depth of the passageway at a glance.
Shi Muyuan was a bit scared. She shrank her body and hid behind Huo Qizhou, clutching his robe tightly with her small hands.