At the very bottom below the windowsill lay the tiled roof of a corridor. The ball of thread followed the wall and fell vertically into the gutter between the wall and the eaves of the corridor.
The gutter was dry and held no water. By the time the ball of thread reached the gutter, it had shrunk to the size of a quail egg.
Mu Aotie in the garden naturally noticed this. He clasped his hands behind his back and gave the prearranged signal.
Standing by the window, Yu Qing raised his hand to wipe his nose, signalling Mu Aotie to proceed with the plan.
He had previously explained several prearranged plans. Wiping the nose was one, touching the ear was another, touching the face was yet another, and crossing arms over the chest was one more.
Seeing Mu Aotie lower his head to look at his toes, Yu Qing turned around. He leaned his back against the window, supporting his arms on either side of the windowsill, looking as if he were bored to death while waiting. In truth, the fingers of one hand were secretly adjusting the thread at the corner of the window.
Although the thread was transparent, it was not truly invisible. If it was not pressed tightly against the edges and corners, it would be quite easy to spot. What he needed to do was to ensure the people inside the room did not notice it as much as possible, while also making sure it did not interfere with closing the window, otherwise it would definitely be discovered.
Qing Ya, seeing his restless standing, assumed he was truly getting impatient with the wait. He smiled without speaking and continued to slowly battle his peanuts. He crushed them slowly, peeled them slowly, rubbed off the red skin slowly, and then slowly placed the plump white peanut kernels into his mouth, squinting his eyes as he slowly and carefully savoured them.
In truth, he did not know how long they would have to wait for Wang Xuetang either. He was genuinely worried that if it took too long, the peanuts in his pocket would not be enough to eat, so he was taking his time.
It was obvious to everyone that he really liked eating peanuts, and it had become a special hobby of his.
Tu Xiukui, who occasionally observed from the corner of his eye, also noticed that Yu Qing seemed impatient with the wait. He ignored it, and a hint of mockery appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Mu Aotie slowly strolled around the garden, acting as if he were wandering about out of boredom, and eventually strolled into the corridor at the target location.
While observing his surroundings, he also noticed the thread hanging down into the gutter. As he swung his arms and walked, he casually hooked it with his finger. Channeling his energy, he pinched and cut the thread to prevent it from being too long, dragging away the excess portion. He coiled his fingers and rolled the thread into his sleeve along the way, intending to dispose of it later.
He walked to the corner of the corridor, reached out to hook a flowering branch and gave it a light sniff. He snapped off a twig, then sniffed it again as he turned and walked back.
Upon returning to the target location, he suddenly flicked his bent finger. A small piece of the branch shot out with a soft thud, nailing into the mortar joint of the wall, pinning down the end of the thread that was showing signs of fluttering gently.
The reason he shot it from a distance was that he did not dare to press his hand against the wall, fearing that suspicious movements would attract doubt. Who knew if there were other people watching in the dark besides the guards of the Zhe Luo Mountain? This was also something Yu Qing had repeatedly instructed.
In this way, unless one looked very carefully, the transparent thread would not be visible.
Mu Aotie walked over to check, then walked back to check again. After confirming it was not easy to be discovered and no further adjustments were needed, he left while maintaining his strolling pace. This time, he went straight to find the attendant of the Langhuan Residence. Seeing him, he directly called out, “Go and clean the room of Sect Master Wang of Zhe Luo Mountain.”
This was also one of the arrangements made after Yu Qing had deduced various possibilities.
The attendant did not know him. In truth, whether he knew him or not, he quickly agreed and promptly went to notify the relevant personnel.
As for whether doing this would cause any leaks, Mu Aotie was not worried. If something went wrong and he was suspected, Yu Qing had taught him the words to deal with it.
The excuse was very simple. Seeing that Yu Qing and Nan Zhu had gone to Wang Xuetang’s room for so long without any movement, he was worried something had happened. So, under the pretext of cleaning, he asked the attendants of the Langhuan Residence to go and take a look.
Only after seeing the cleaning staff actually heading towards Wang Xuetang’s quarters did Mu Aotie leave with peace of mind. The remaining matters inside Wang Xuetang’s room were none of his concern, nor could he worry about them. Old Seven and Old Fifteen would handle it themselves.
Turning away, he had other things to do and continued to stroll around the Langhuan Residence. Last night, Yu Qing had made two similar specially crafted fire starters. He was to place one in Wang Xuetang’s living quarters, and the remaining one was for Mu Aotie to place in another location.
Knock, knock, knock. The knocking sound rang out. Tu Xiukui, who was sitting in peaceful meditation, raised his eyes to look and responded, “Come in.”
The door opened and Sun Jiu walked in. He walked up to Tu Xiukui, bowed, and reported, “Elder Tu, the cleaners from the Langhuan Residence are here. Should they clean now?”
Tu Xiukui frowned slightly, turned his head to look at the sky outside the window, and was somewhat surprised that the cleaners had come so early today.
He waved his hand, but before he could speak, Yu Qing seemed to perk up and shouted as if snatching the words, “Then let them come in and clean. Give this place a good clean.”
Tu Xiukui immediately turned his head to look and reprimanded, “Do you have a say or the right to make decisions here?”
Yu Qing was left speechless, his face showing an awkward expression.
Nan Zhu, who was present, rolled his eyes around, his gaze flickering constantly.
He had witnessed with his own eyes the process of Old Fifteen giving secret instructions to Old Nine. He naturally knew that the arrival of the cleaners was part of the plan of Old Fifteen.
Qing Ya smiled gently, seemingly seeing that Yu Qing was impatient with the waiting and wanted to use the cleaning as a way to force Wang Xuetang out of the inner room.
Tu Xiukui obviously did not let someone get their way. He immediately turned his head and said to Sun Jiu, “Tell the cleaners that without our summons, there is no need for them to clean.”
“Yes.” Sun Jiu responded and left. Before leaving, he could not help but secretly glance at Yu Qing. He had also been present on the night something happened to Wang Wentian, and the mere thought of it still left him with lingering fear.
Yu Qing, however, frowned slightly. The response of Tu Xiukui to the cleaners was the one he least wanted to hear.
The purpose of this design was to ensure the hidden thread on the windowsill would not be discovered.
The reasoning was simple. Whether it was the earlier deduction and prediction, or the current onsite test, the hidden thread he had set up would not be easily discovered if the Zhe Luo Mountain did not deliberately inspect it and was not vigilant. The ones most likely to discover it were actually the cleaning staff of the Langhuan Residence.
As far as he knew, this upscale inn would have dedicated staff to clean the guest rooms every day. The better the inn, the more carefully they cleaned, which was exactly what he was most worried about.
Once that thread was discovered, following the clues to the source was almost inevitable. It would definitely implicate the specially crafted fire starter behind the chair. Although they might not be able to pin it on him afterwards, it would be enough to render all his hard work in vain.
By proactively summoning the cleaning staff of the Langhuan Residence, he wanted to create one of two outcomes.
One outcome was timely cleaning. With him on the scene, guarding the window to create obstacles, he could easily prevent the cleaning staff from discovering the hidden thread. After cleaning today, even if the subsequent guests of the room requested cleaning, the possibility of them wiping the windowsill again was basically zero.
The other outcome was to bring the cleaners over at this critical moment of receiving guests, hoping Tu Xiukui would say that there was no need to clean today. To prompt the other party to say this, he had been reading the room just now. Seeing that Tu Xiukui seemed not to want people cleaning, he deliberately shouted that, putting on an act of wanting to use this to see Wang Xuetang, trying to provoke the other party into saying the result he wanted.
However, Tu Xiukui disappointed him. The decision of Tu Xiukui added variables.
This was just plans failing to keep up with changes. However, he had already brewed a backup plan. Even if Tu Xiukui said there was no need to clean today, his backup plan had to be ready. He would have someone guard nearby. Once he discovered that the cleaning staff had been summoned to clean here, he would immediately create interference.
For example, visiting again, or stopping the cleaning staff on the way to say something to make them clean faster. In short, he had to create various kinds of interference and adopt various means to ensure the cleaning staff could not discover that hidden thread.
This was also one of the important reasons he wanted to spend tens of thousands of taels to open a room here, so he could correct the plan at any time within the inn.
Once the door was closed, the hall became quiet again, with only the occasional sound of Qing Ya crushing peanuts.
Yu Qing finally did not have to guard the windowsill anymore. He would pace back and forth in the hall from time to time, walk back to the windowsill to look outside from time to time, and also sit down and lean back in the chair to wait in vain from time to time, showing all sorts of restless and impatient behaviour.
Only Nan Zhu on the scene knew his true nature. He knew that the crucial first step for this fellow Old Fifteen should have already been successful, and he was beginning to have the leisure to stroll around.
He found that being young was truly great, being so bold in thought and action. He actually dared to run under the nose of the Sect Master of Zhe Luo Mountain to plant a killing device, and moreover, do this trick upon their very first meeting. If it were him, he would not even dare to think in that direction. The problem was that this fellow Old Fifteen had actually pulled it off.
Thinking about the process just now, he had been absolutely terrified and his heart pounding. Even now, his nervous emotions had not subsided.
Strolling, walking, and sitting again, two hours quietly passed.
Yu Qing, who kept looking back at the door of the inner room from time to time, actually wished he could have someone light a few incense sticks in the room, so he could use the word observing technique to see whether Wang Xuetang was sleeping inside or sitting in meditation, actually being able to keep him waiting for so long.
As he waited and waited, the time for lunch passed.
The time spent waiting for someone seemed somewhat hard to endure, yet Yu Qing, despite being impatient, ultimately managed to hold on.
The sun slanted westward, and it was not until the middle of the afternoon that the door to the inner room opened with a rumbling sound. Wang Xuetang, dressed in gorgeous brocade and luxurious clothes, finally strolled out with his hands behind his back. He looked quite imposing, but his gaze, locked onto Yu Qing, contained a murderous intent.
Neither Yu Qing nor Nan Zhu had seen him before and did not know him, but they could guess who he was.
Tu Xiukui was the first to stand up and cup his hands. Qing Ya quickly threw down the peanut shells, hastily put his feet down, put on his wooden clogs, and stood up to pay his respects.
The two martial brothers naturally followed suit and paid their respects.
Wang Xuetang walked forward with his hands behind his back and sat down in the main seat. Tu Xiukui walked over and stood to the side. He pointed at Yu Qing and muttered, “It is this one.”
Wang Xuetang’s gaze locked onto Yu Qing again. After giving him a thorough once over, he asked in a deep voice, “Are you A Shiheng, son of A Jiezhang?”
What could Yu Qing say? He could only reply respectfully, “Indeed.”
Wang Xuetang said, “Back in the capital of the Jin Kingdom, your father was quite a figure. Your father and I were also old acquaintances. I truly never expected A Jiezhang to give birth to a rebellious son like you!”
The corner of Yu Qing’s mouth twitched. He did not know if this man was referring to him throwing down his crown and leaving, or to him harming Wang Wentian. Not knowing what to say, he could only listen attentively first.
Wang Xuetang changed the subject. “Speak, what do you want with me?”
Yu Qing did not believe Qing Ya had not told him, but he said respectfully, “This junior has come to report to the senior that the incident between Wentian brother and myself at the Langhuan Residence that day was truly a misunderstanding…”
Wang Xuetang seemed not to like hearing this and directly raised his hand to stop him. “If it is about this matter, then do not speak of it. I am already clear about the whole process. It was my son who was absurd and at fault first. You were not wrong, and the Underworld Envoy was not wrong either. Everything was brought upon himself, leading to this calamity. You, the Tanhua, need not blame yourself. The past cannot be recalled, it is all over. As long as everyone is well, that is enough.”