Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

"Let go!" Qingdai caught up from behind, panting, wiping her sweat with a handkerchief in her hand, and shouted at the two servants.

"Don't hold the girl down! She's having an attack and needs acupuncture. Come with me to the clinic at the street corner, and the doctor will give her a couple of acupuncture needles. If you keep her like this, what if she gets seriously injured? Who can take the responsibility?"

The two servants exchanged a glance. The young lady had run away on a whim. If they simply tied her up and sent her back to Jinxian Courtyard, they wouldn't be able to afford the consequences if something happened to her on the way. Sending her to the clinic for acupuncture, with Qingdai accompanying her and watching over her, would be a satisfactory solution.

The leader released his grip and instead gently supported Xi Yueli's arm as they walked out: "Alright, alright, let's go to the clinic. Behave yourself, young lady."

Xi Yueli was flanked by two servants on either side as she left the mansion. After turning two corners, they arrived at a clinic with a sign that read "Jishengtang".

Qingdai ran ahead and whispered a few words to the attending physician. The physician nodded and instructed the servants to help Xi Yueli into the inner room.

Qingdai turned to the two servants and said, "You two wait here. No one is allowed to watch while the doctor is giving acupuncture. The young lady will be fine in a little while. One of you should go back to the manor and inform the master, so he won't worry."

The servant hesitated for a moment, but Qingdai's words made sense. Besides, there were many people and eyes in the clinic, and the young lady couldn't possibly run away.

One of the servants turned and left the clinic to return home and report the news, while the other sat down on a bench in the hall, crossing his legs and waiting.

As soon as the door to the cubicle closed, Xi Yueli sat up from the soft couch.

The doctor glanced at her, asked nothing, and simply took a set of clean coarse cloth clothes from the cabinet and handed them to her, then pointed towards the back door.

Qingdai quickly helped Xi Yueli change her clothes, folded the original gray cloth dress and stuffed it into her bundle, then took out a veiled hat from her sleeve and put it on her head.

"Miss, how long are you going to be gone? I'll stay here and keep you company."

Xi Yueli adjusted the brim of her veil, which draped down to cover most of her face, revealing only the thin curve of her jawline. "I'll definitely be back before dark."

She slipped out through the back door, disappeared into the narrow alley behind the clinic, and after winding through three streets, finally stood in front of the dusty little door. There was no signboard above the door, just like the last time she passed by.

She took out the black iron token from her sleeve, hesitated for a moment while holding it in her hand, and then raised her hand to knock on the door.

She didn't know why she was tapping like that; her fingers just did it automatically.

The door creaked open a crack, revealing an old man's face.

Her face was full of wrinkles, her hair was gray, and her eyes were cloudy as if covered with a layer of fog, but when her gaze swept over the black iron token in her hand, it suddenly sharpened by three points.

"Who is it?" the old man asked in a hoarse, low voice.

Xi Yueli revealed the front of the token, her voice low and deliberately enigmatic, "I came to check in case someone took my spot."

The old man stared at the token for a full five breaths, then opened the door and stepped aside to make a crack. Xi Yueli stepped across the threshold, and the door quickly closed behind her.

Inside was a very narrow courtyard, piled with several bundles of scrap iron and rusty farm tools; it looked like an ordinary blacksmith shop.

But the old man led her through the courtyard and pushed open an inconspicuous hidden door, revealing a stone staircase leading downwards.

"Please follow me." The old man's attitude became more respectful, but his pace remained unhurried.

At the end of the stone steps was a small, dark room with stone walls on all four sides, a square table, and two unlit oil lamps on the table.

The old man lit the lamp, and the orange light danced and reflected on the stone wall. Xi Yueli saw several rows of wooden shelves nailed to the wall, on which were placed files and iron plaques.

The other iron plates looked very similar to the one in her hand, except they didn't have the character "渊" and had different numbers engraved on the back.

She didn't know what kind of place this was, what it was for, or which faction it belonged to, but the token in her hand could open this door, and the things behind the door looked well-organized and had been operating for many years, indicating that this organization was still alive.

"Is the person in charge here?" she asked.

The old man lowered his hands: "The person in charge is out and hasn't returned yet. Does the young lady have anything to say?"

Xi Yueli hesitated for a moment. The assassin had left when he saw a token in her hand, which meant that the assassin who came to kill her last night was one of her own men.

But she didn't know what the organization was called. The more she knew nothing, the more she had to pretend to know everything. She put the token back into her sleeve, looked up at the old man, and her gaze seemed particularly deep behind the veil.

"Send someone to kill me again."

The old man bowed and replied, "Yes."

Xi Yueli did not linger in the dark room and turned to walk up the stone steps.

The old man escorted her to the door. When he opened the dusty little door, it was already getting darker, and the light in the alley became ambiguous. The twilight painted the gray walls a lukewarm dark gold.

She stepped out of the door, the veil of her hat swaying gently in the evening breeze. She walked along the alley, her pace neither fast nor slow, like someone who was simply passing by.

But as she turned the corner of the alley, she caught a glimpse of a peddler squatting under a tea stall across the street, tying shoelaces, who looked up at her.

The vendor selling candied hawthorns on the street corner was originally facing the opposite side of the street, but after she came out, the man's back slowly turned around and faced away from the alley entrance again.

She gripped the token in her sleeve tightly, her feet never stopping. She wanted to take a detour to shake off her tail, but the street was a straight alley with no forks in either direction; she could only turn at the end.

She quickened her pace, and the evening breeze lifted a corner of her veil, revealing her tense jaw.

Then she heard the sound of horses' hooves coming from the direction of the alley. As the horse turned into the street, the curtain of the carriage was lifted by the wind, revealing a face she didn't really want to see.

Helian Jing leaned against the car wall, his elbows resting on the window sill, his chin on the back of his hand, and his lips curved into a smile when he saw her.

"Skillful," he said.

Xi Yueli stood rooted to the spot, the veil of her hat obscuring most of her face, yet the expression hidden behind it was incredibly complex. A coincidence? From the Prince Chen's residence to this alley, one had to cross half the capital. She didn't believe it.

Helian Jing had already lowered the carriage curtain, and the door opened from the inside. He tilted his head slightly to indicate, "Get in."

Xi Yueli glanced back at the tea stall at the alley entrance, gritted her teeth, lifted the curtain, and got into the carriage.

The carriage was lined with dark blue brocade cushions, and a brazier sat in the corner, its flames faint, casting a pale orange glow on her veil and gauze curtains.

Helian Jing sat opposite her, one leg bent, elbow resting on his knee, tilting his head to look at her, his lazy posture concealing an undisguised scrutiny.

"Where did you go?" he asked.

"Let's go out for a walk."

"Turn this far?"

"Your legs are strong."

The smile on Helian Jing's lips deepened slightly. He didn't press further, but simply knocked on the carriage wall. "To the West Market."

Xi Yueli thought he was just going to take her back to her residence, but the carriage stopped on the most congested section of the street in the bustling city.

Helian Jing got out of the carriage first, turned to the side and extended a hand to her. The carriage curtain was lifted, and outside, people were bustling about, the lights were just coming on, and the lanterns hanging in front of the silk shops and jewelry stores along the street had just been lit, spreading a warm yellow light all over the ground.

"Get down," he said.