Chapter 319: 319. Exposure

Translator: 549690339

When Su Liang and Gu Ling arrived at Xiaoyue City, the northernmost part of Yin Country, they secretly inspected the city’s defense deployment.

Then, they rushed back to Jiaye City on a clear morning at the end of March.

However, they didn’t return to the Lin’s family. Instead, they disguised themselves as travelling merchants from the northern part of Qian Country, purchased a small house, aiming to secretly investigate the previous incident of Lin family members being arrested and to confirm whether there were any traitors amongst them.

If there truly were any traitors, they would go deeper into hiding once Su Liang and Gu Ling exposed themselves.

As for the funds, Su Liang had a Jade Token that could be used to withdraw silver notes from any money house in the large cities. To avoid her identity as the Ning Family’s head being discovered, she used the card belonging to Li’s Family, the largest pottery merchant in Qian Country, and the money belonged to Li’s family as well.

In fact, Li’s family had already fallen under the control of three families, led by Wan Ning, in the past two years. The original head of the family, Zhengzheng’s biological father Li San, had died in a drunken fall. Although the current head of the Li family still had the surname Li, he was Wan’s secretly adopted son.

From the beginning, the head of the Wan family had said that their revenge against the Li family was to release Wan Hui’s anger, and to ensure Zhengzheng would stop being bothered, but the Li family’s property which they acquired in retribution was given to Su Liang, as a gesture of gratitude for saving Zhengzheng and for preventing the Li family members from snatching the child away during the confrontation.

However, Su Liang never concerned herself with how the Wan Family dealt with the Li Family, nor did she have the energy to handle business matters. She merely accepted the Jade Token given by Wan Hui for convenience in her operations.

The amount of money that she and Gu Ling actually spent from the Ning or Li Family was merely a fraction. Besides their fondness for purchasing houses, hoping to have a private, undisturbed space outside, they didn’t have any other extravagant habits.

They cleaned up the purchased small house together. The courtyard contained a well, a grinding stone, a lush tangerine tree, and a vibrant kapok flower.

“Great God, do you know what the flower language of the kapok is?” Su Liang asked smilingly.

Gu Ling, who was fetching water, shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know.

“It’s ‘cherishing the person in front of you’,” Su Liang said, breaking off a branch and carrying it to Gu Ling.

Gu Ling put down the water bucket, stood on the stone platform of the well, leaned over to kiss Su Liang and said, “A person is more tender than a flower.” Su Liang:…Great God’s mouth is getting sweeter.

The two of them cooked lunch together. After lunch, Gu Ling took Su Liang to sleep, and naturally, couldn’t spare themselves a little fun and pleasure.

After all, they had been traveling day and night without proper rest. It is not appropriate to stalk and spy on others in broad daylight. Su Liang said she was tired, and Gu Ling said that exercise aided in sleep and exhaustion…

By the time Su Liang woke from her sleep, it was already dark.

Just when most of the people in Jiaye City were about to fall asleep, Su Liang and Gu Ling got up, took a bath, tidied up and ate, getting ready to start their work.

The first suspect was Lian san’s fiancé and Yuan Ye’s grandson, Yuan Pei.

At this point, Su Liang and Gu Ling still didn’t know that Lian San and Yuan Pei had already called off their engagement shortly after they left last time.

In the quiet of the night, Gu Ling and Su Liang set out, secretly heading towards the General’s Mansion in Jiaye City.

This was previously inhabited by the Lin family. After the death of Lian Shun’s grandfather, the Lin family moved out. The Yuan family had been living there for many years. Now only Yuan Pei remained. He was not a military commander and wished to move out after Yuan Ye’s burial, but he was stopped by Lian Shun. Lian Shun told him not to rush to move out as the emperor had not yet decided who would succeed Yuan Ye as the general in the south.

There was light in Yuan Ye’s study. The silhouette of a man was reflected on the window. It was Yuan Pei.

Gu Ling and Su Liang waited for a quarter of an hour. The door of the room opened, and Yuan Pei took a pot of alcohol and two cups, and went to the garden.

He sat alone in the pavilion and filled both cups with alcohol, one for himself and one for the one across from him.

“Grandfather, don’t worry about me. Lian Shun is always afraid that I’m not happy, but in fact, I’m doing alright. I’ve made a new friend named Nian Jincheng. He invited me to the capital city. I do want to go there and see the world outside,” said Yuan Pei as he raised his cup and toasted with the one in front, then drained his cup.

After only one drink, he didn’t drink anymore, and no one else appeared. Yuan Pei sat alone late into the night, poured out the alcohol that was meant for Yuan Ye on the ground, then returned home.

“It doesn’t seem to be him,” Su Liang said. Yuan Pei’s sorrow over Yuan Ye’s death was genuine. If it was a pretence, he might have escaped detection by performing an excessive display of sorrow.

Moreover, Yuan Pei is a scholar, not a military man. His selection as a spy by the Liang royal family wouldn’t make much sense.

Therefore, when leaving the General Mansion, Su Liang didn’t think it was likely to be someone from the Lin family involved.

“Lian Shun only joined the military in these past couple of years, and he was previously stationed in the northern regions. He could not have possibly been a spy, and the rest of Lin family members are even less likely to be,” said Su Liang, “I think we should directly investigate the current military commanders in Jiaye City.”

Gu Ling nodded, “Che Yun, who voluntarily requested to be transferred here at the end of last year, is the most suspicious.”

Su Liang was taken aback, “Che Yun? Could it really be him?”

The two of them could be considered friends, Su Liang still remembered the first time she met Che Yun in Xuanbei City. Moreover, Che Yun was a native of Xuanbei City, filial to his parents, family-oriented, and had been searching for his missing younger brother for many years.

“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Gu Ling didn’t consider Che Yun as a friend as they were not close, which allowed him to view Che Yun more objectively at this moment.

“He was seriously injured,” Su Liang frowned.

Gu Ling’s expression was plain, “A painful act, wanting to cover up makes it more noticeable.”

“He and Lian Shun are the best of friends, ” said Su Liang.

“Which is why all the Lin Family members returned alive, and Lian Shan was only injured, not killed,” Gu Ling said.

“You saw the black mist on his brow, indicating that if I didn’t save him, he really would die.” Su Liang had no doubt about this due to Gu Ling’s special ability. If Che Yun had an antidote, he wouldn’t see the black mist even if Su Liang didn’t save him.

Gu Ling shook his head, “Perhaps it represents that he had to kill someone, it just happened to coincide with his injury.”

“Coincidence? But indeed, there is such a possibility,” Su Liang frowned, “He always looks as if he’s carrying a great grudge, many of his actions show that he’s a good person, but on the other hand, being a good person and being a spy is not mutually exclusive. What if, he’s being controlled by someone because he has something they can hold over him…”

“His younger brother,” Gu Ling interjected.

Su Liang’s eyes hardened. They were merely discussing the possibility of Che Yun being a spy, not affirming that he was one. But as it stood, they couldn’t completely rule out his involvement.

In fact, Su Liang’s friendship with Che Yun was far removed compared to her close relationship with Lian Shun. She understood Lian Shun’s character, but could hardly claim to understand Che Yun. At first, she thought he was outgoing, but later discovered he carried many burdens.

As such, after leaving the General Mansion, the two of them secretly went to the Che family residence.

But everyone in the Che Mansion was asleep, and there was no light coming from Che Yun’s room. Su Liang and Gu Ling waited for fifteen minutes before departing.

The next day, they woke up around midday.

In the afternoon, they went out together for a walk. Su Liang disguised herself as a man while Gu Ling pretended to be her attendant.

After strolling around the streets, they entered a tea house and chose a private room facing the street. As they sipped their tea, they watched the pedestrians passing by below.

“If Liang Country had deployed spies long ago, it’s more likely that the original military commanders of Jiaye City are the ones spying. The notion of capturing and secretly grooming Che Yun’s brother years ago costs a lot and it’s hard to guarantee that he would definitely rise through the ranks based on his abilities,” Su Liang analysed.

Gu Ling shook his head, “There might be more than one.”

“You mean, Che Yun is a spy and there’s another spy among the original Jiaye City military commanders?” Su Liang rubbed her forehead, “All possibilities. Can we really exclude Lian Shun too? In case… ”

Gu Ling suddenly tugged at Su Liang’s sleeve, signaling for her to look down.

Following Gu Ling’s gaze, Su Liang was taken aback, “Che Yun and Lian Shan?

Did Lian Shan just tug at Che Yun’s arm?”

“You did not see wrong,” Gu Ling confirmed.

“What’s going on?” a puzzled Su Liang asked, “Isn’t Lian Shan engaged to Yuan Pei from their childhood? Why would she be out on a stroll alone with Che Yun, and there’s physical contact, they seem quite intimate.”

“I’ll step out for a moment.” Gu Ling said as he got up and walked out.

Su Liang watched as Che Yun and Lin Shan walked past downstairs. Shortly after, Gu Ling returned with news: Lin Shan had broken off her engagement with Yuan Pei and was now engaged with Che Yun.

“I can understand breaking off a child marriage, you can’t force people to be together if they don’t like each other, but… Given Che Yun’s personality, he should have kept his distance from Lin Shan since she was engaged when they met. It’s unlikely that he would have developed feelings for Lin Shan.” Su Liang said, her eyes narrowing, “Something is off.”

The two of them watched the direction Che Yun and Lin Shan left in, paid the bill, and followed from a distance.

During the day, they discovered nothing. Che Yun took Lin Shan for a lakeside walk, walked her home, and then headed to the military camp.

It wasn’t until nightfall that Che Yun left the camp to go home.

Meanwhile, Gu Ling and Su Liang, not even eating dinner, meticulously shadowed him, observing every move he made. They haven’t found anything unusual yet, but what truly raised Su Liang’s suspicion was him stealing Yuan Pei’s fiancée.

Given Che Yun’s consistent portrayal of himself as filial, decent, upright, and respectful, the occurrences should not have happened to him.

Granted, matters of the heart are complicated, but as a grown, mature man, it’s fundamental decency to maintain distance from a girl who is engaged to his good friend’s family.

It was late into the night.

When Che Yun returned home, everyone else had already had dinner. After eating his meal in solitude, he went into his study room, not even catching a glance of his parents all day.

The superficial harmony between Che Yun and his parents, which was already hard to maintain before Che Xiao returned, ceased to exist after his return.

Su Liang and Gu Ling stood against the wall behind Che Yun’s study, their breathing barely audible as they patiently waited.

After waiting for half an hour, Su Liang began to feel numb in her legs, but she didn’t move an inch.

Finally, there was a stir.

They heard Che Xiao address Che Yun as “brother”, they heard the sound of a door opening and closing, and then they heard someone say, “young master”.

Su Liang and Gu Ling exchanged glances. Che Xiao addressing Che Yun as “young master” spoke volumes. Che Yun was indeed up to something, and Che Xiao was in on it!

Inside the room, Che Xiao sat across from Che Yun as usual. “I know you’ve been tired of me, so I haven’t bothered you for several days. Tonight, Master asked me to inquire about the status of your plans to eliminate Gu Ling and Su Liang. This matter isn’t easy. We need to prepare in advance, for instance, by first dealing with Nian Jincheng, Gu Ling’s best friend. What do you think, young master?”

On hearing this, Gu Ling and Su Liang’s eyes had a cold glint.

Anger welled up in Su Liang’s heart. She had considered Che Yun as a real friend and had earnestly used Ning family’s resources to help him find his lost brother. Even Hu Er from Su’s village had put in a lot of effort for this. When Gu Ling suggested that the spy among the military commanders in Jiaye City could be Che Yun, Su Liang instinctively defended him. At the end of it all, Che Yun’s long search for his brother was completely bogus!

And now, Che Yun and his newly found brother were planning to eliminate Su Liang and Gu Ling.

Su Liang thought Che Yun’s acting skills were on par with Nangong Lin’s madness!

Soon after, Che Yun’s voice spoke up from inside the room, “I don’t have any plans.”

“Does the young master not want to do it? Or are you simply reluctant to lose Su Liang? Master has said that we do not need to kill Su Liang. We could capture her and erase her memory, then you can have her. Isn’t that the best of both worlds?” Che Xiao’s voice carried a hint of mirth.

Su Liang: …This tactic is eerily similar to the one Nangong Lin used on Gu Ling!

From Gu Ling’s perspective, the two men discussing inside were already as good as dead …

Su Liang heard Che Yun say “Get out”, and in the next moment, just as Gu Ling took a step, a dark figure appeared not far away, wielding a sword and aiming for Su Liang like a ghost out of the night!

In an instant, Su Liang was reminded of the night in Xiangyue City where she was held hostage – a striking resemblance. The sword that the arrival used was not unfamiliar to Su Liang, it was Nangong Lin’s master!

Without wasting a moment on why he would appear in Che Yun’s house, Gu Ling grabbed Su Liang and shot off. He couldn’t let Su Liang leave alone, and it was dangerous to stay if Nangong Lin was nearby.

Inside the room, Che Yun and Che Xiao heard noise from behind. Their expressions changed instantly. Before they had time to stand up and go out, they saw a man standing in the courtyard.

“Master?” Che Yun furrowed his brow.

Che Xiao was taken aback, “The Master of the young master…”

Nangong Lin cast a cold glance at Che Xiao, making him shudder under his gaze that reminded him of a poisonous snake.

“Gu Ling and Su Liang heard everything you two just said,” Nangong Lin said, staring at Che Yun, “If you stay here, they will kill you. Come with me!” Che Yun couldn’t believe Nangong Lin, “Su Liang… she’s back?”

“Enough chatter, let’s go!” Nangong Lin said coldly.

Che Xiao instinctively grabbed Che Yun, “Where are you taking him? What should we do?”

Nangong Lin took a step forward, slapped Che Xiao away, grabbed Che Yun’s hand, “I’ve told you not to meddle with this family! It’s out of your hands now!”

The moment he finished, Nangong Lin disappeared with Che Yun after a few jumps.

Watching the direction they left in, Che Xiao, who had fallen and thrown up blood, pounded the ground with his palm and rushed out to look for Si Yun to discuss a plan.

After circling around in the city, Gu Ling and Su Liang finally lost that shadow-like old man. However, they didn’t return to their small house but headed to the Lin’s family house, waking up Nian Jincheng and Lian Shun.

“Gu Xiaoling? You’re back?” Lian Shun rubbed his eyes, overjoyed.

“Che Yun is likely to be a spy from Liang Country. We discovered it tonight, and he has an extremely powerful master by his side. Gather your family immediately to avoid any accidents,” Su Liang said quickly.

Lian Shun doubted his ears, “Who? Che Yun? A spy? Impossible! How could he be…

Gu Ling pulled Lian Shun up from the bed, slapped his face, “Wake up! Do you trust me or him?

Lian Shun wore an odd expression as he put on his shoes and outerwear. He rubbed Gu Ling’s face with his uninjured hand to make sure it was really him, then rushed out of the room.

In the middle of the night, Yuan Pei was woken up by Nian Jincheng and arrived at Lin’s house, completely unaware of what had happened.

In the meantime, Su Liang and Gu Ling thought of their suspicion in Yin Country that Nangong Qian was Nangong Lin’s biological daughter instead of the child Situ Xiang conceived when she disappeared years ago.

The sudden appearance of Situ Xiang’s father tonight was not to track Su Liang and Gu Ling. Instead, he stepped in to protect Che Yun, just as he had captured Gu Ling to keep Nangong Qian safe.

Furthermore, the fact that Che Xiao called Che Yun “young master” behind everyone’s back suggests that Che Yun is not the son of the Che family. Coupled with his insistence on keeping his beard at such a young age, Su Liang had a bold guess: Che Yun might be the child Situ Xiang was pregnant with years ago. If so, he would be the grandson of that old man and the biological grandson of Situ Xie, serving as a Liang spy while not being an ordinary one, and under the protection of Nangong Lin’s people at the same time!

While the people of Lin knew something had happened, they were clueless about the situation. Lian Shan, in particular, even asked Lian Shun if anyone had notified the Che family.

Lian Shun, looking grim, fobbed Lian Shan off and then pulled Guling aside to talk privately.

“What exactly happened? Are you sure Che Yun is a spy?” Lian Shun, who had been friends with Che Yun for some time, couldn’t comprehend the current situation.

Gu Ling nodded, “Yes. Su Lang and I overheard their plot to kill us.”

Lian Shun stiffened, “What… is going on?”

Gu Ling looked towards the north, “There’s a chance, he might be the prince of

Liang Country..”