Chapter 354 — The First Sign

Where there are rewards there are punishments. Tu Wei had committed the grave offense of losing his master; the emperor stripped him of the hereditary post of the Southern Office and ordered the three judicial offices to fix his crime jointly.

Hong Weiyuan had done many such things in recent years; Gong Ziming knew of it, but since nothing had blown up, he turned a blind eye and let him be.

After the midday meal, my great-grandfather and the others napped a while to gather their strength. In the afternoon they took Xiao Shiyi and Ghost Monkey into the mountains again.

"No need—I'm sure it will fit," Zhang Yanran said, paying no attention at all to the style of the shoes; she was looking at the delicious food.

In a short while they had cleared the things from the table and left quickly, even carrying off the scarecrow dressed in Great-grandfather's clothes; they went in a great fluster.

Liao Wanyu said nothing, only stared into his eyes, as though trying to tell how much of what he said was true and how much false.

Just then, a vast sea of red chrysanthemums swept past beyond the carriage window, and Long Xi smiled, her face like a blossom—lovelier far than the flowers themselves.

She committed the route the other had described firmly to memory, thanked them, and then set off in the direction of the Prince Regent's Manor.