Although she had promised Lin Fei, she finished work very early today. It was only past noon when she left the Jingyun Marquis’s residence. The sun was high in the sky, and the streets were bustling with people.

Wen Mingtang thought for a moment and decided not to return to the Dali Temple immediately. Instead, she continued walking forward. At the end of the street was a bookstore, considered one of the top bookstores in Chang’an. Almost all the popular storybooks could be found there.

The main street where the Jingyun Marquis’s residence was located was the busiest in Chang’an. There were always pedestrians coming and going, so it was unlikely that any villains would choose to commit a crime in broad daylight. With this in mind, Wen Mingtang headed towards the bookstore.

Once inside, since she wouldn’t be coming out for a while, Wen Mingtang picked out a few more books. After paying and picking up the stack of storybooks, she realized that they were quite heavy. The stack of storybooks even blocked her view.

Fortunately, her usual practice of lifting pots had given her considerable strength. Wen Mingtang weighed the stack of storybooks in her hands, found a comfortable position, and carried them out of the study.

Having bought quite a few storybooks, Wen Mingtang didn’t visit the mule market or pharmacy as usual. Instead, she hurried towards the Dali Temple with the stack of books in her arms.

As she walked towards the end of the street, about to step onto the main road leading to the Dali Temple, a carriage suddenly darted out from around the corner.

Looking past the stack of storybooks, the coachman frowned, seemingly unprepared for Wen Mingtang’s sudden appearance. He didn’t move the reins at all, and the carriage hurtled straight towards Wen Mingtang.

Wen Mingtang froze, watching the coachman let the carriage hurtle towards her without pulling the reins, and instinctively dodged to the side against the wall.

But a startled horse wasn’t so easily stopped. The coachman’s hands remained still, and the carriage continued to hurtle towards Wen Mingtang. Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Wen Mingtang, pressed against the corner of the wall, her expression changed slightly. Instinctively, she dropped the storybook in her hand and turned to climb over the wall. The wall wasn’t very high, and Wen Mingtang was just about to use it for leverage to get to the top when she heard a horse’s neighing behind her. A gust of wind flashed past, followed by a heavy thud. Then, a familiar voice rang out from behind her.

“Master Wen, are you alright?”

That voice… Wen Mingtang loosened her grip on the tile, her momentum to climb over the wall dissipated, and she slid down the wall to the ground. Once she was steady, she immediately turned around to look at the person who had come.

A few steps away, Zhao You, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time and who was recuperating from his injuries, was grinning foolishly at her. Behind Zhao You was Lin Fei, who should have been at the Marquis’s residence with the Hou Furen.

Even a maddened horse could be knocked down; Zhao You didn’t seem injured at all. Wen Mingtang was puzzled. She greeted Zhao You and Lin Fei, took the storybook Lin Fei had picked up, and, while brushing the dust off her clothes from the wall, glanced at the coachman standing in the overturned carriage.

Zhao You was exceptionally skilled; he had knocked down the maddened horse, causing it to stumble heavily, dragging the carriage behind it towards the corner of the wall.

The force of the impact naturally overturned the carriage as well.

The chaotic collision happened in an instant; most people probably didn’t even have time to react. The coachman, who had been driving the carriage, stood unharmed amidst the chaos, his brows furrowed deeply, seemingly very displeased.

Looking at the coachman’s muscular physique, barely concealed by his tight-fitting clothes, standing in the mess, Wen Mingtang’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly realized she had probably made some kind of enemy.

This driver didn’t look like an ordinary driver like Old Yuan, Tangyuan’s father. Someone with such quick reflexes must be an extremely skilled martial artist.

She felt that ordinary people, no matter how urgent their business, would never leave the reins unattended when passing through street corners. Even the most skilled driver could be in danger doing so.

Only someone with exceptional skills, capable of escaping at any moment, would dare to do that.

Furthermore, such a reckless journey usually indicates an urgent matter requiring the master’s attention. In that case, the carriage behind should contain the master’s passengers, but this one was empty. It didn’t seem like they were in a hurry at all.

Perhaps their urgency was a pretense; they were truly eager to send her on her way. Wen Mingtang subconsciously glanced at the wall beside her. Just moments before, she had been preparing to climb over it, and perhaps it was just her imagination, but she seemed to hear a faint commotion from within, mixed with the slight clash of weapons.

She was familiar with the sound of metal clashing, even though it wasn’t a weapon, as she routinely used a kitchen knife.

Wen Mingtang frowned at the coachman.

The coachman, standing amidst the mess, spoke first: “Who are you? Attacking the carriage without provocation! If my master were inside…”

Before he could finish, Lin Fei interrupted: “Who is your master?”

Lin Fei was dressed casually, and his Dali Temple badge wasn’t hanging from his waist, making it difficult for the coachman to determine his identity.

However, judging from Lin Fei’s bearing and the skill of his accompanying guards, the coachman sized him up and concluded he was likely from a powerful family.

Today’s attack had failed…

Glancing at the young woman beside him, who was covered in wall dust from brushing against the wall and looked thoroughly bedraggled, the coachman’s brows furrowed even tighter. Before long, however, they relaxed again.

Forget it. With outsiders present today, let it go for now. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

With that thought, he gave a light cough and softened his tone as he addressed Lin Fei.

“My master is the Liyang Junzhu. She was anxious to return and report back, which made her act rather hastily. Please accept our apologies, Young Master.”

Invoking Liyang Junzhu’s name was also intended to intimidate Lin Fei. Liyang Wang was the late Emperor’s tangdi¹. During the reign of the previous Emperor, although he had not schemed and curried favor like the Emperor’s other favored courtiers by pursuing “the path of immortality” alongside those Daoist priests, he had nevertheless enjoyed the trust of both the Emperor and the Daoist masters. At the same time, precisely because he had not become obsessed with seeking immortality, many of the officials who had opposed the practice at the time also held him in high regard.

He was adept at navigating social situations, and even the powerful members of the imperial family who had fallen from grace during the “Beauty Lantern Case”² were on good terms with him. It could be said that Liyang Wang had mastered the art of social maneuvering and was extremely shrewd.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, Liyang Wang continued to live a good life and still held considerable influence in court.

Taking the initiative to apologize was a form of concession, demonstrating that not only Liyang Wang, as the master, was adept at navigating social situations, but his daughter, Liyang Junzhu, and even the servants in the mansion were equally so.

Unfortunately, he encountered Lin Fei today.

“Why are you apologizing to me? You drove your carriage recklessly and almost crashed into her,” Lin Fei said, glancing at the guard, his words cold and bluntly shattering the facade of harmony. “Did you drive so fast without your master’s permission, or were you ordered to eliminate someone?”

Wen Mingtang, who was brushing plaster off the wall, froze upon hearing this but wasn’t surprised at all: their Lin Shaoqing of the Dali Temple was always such a straightforward person, wasn’t he?

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Footnote

1. Paternal Cousin
2. I have listed the chapters for this case on the main novel page for Small Canteen; if you want to read it, you can go back and check.