The spy nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise. The chief priests think the same way."

Empress An pondered for a moment, recalling a trivial detail:

"What books did he buy at the bookstore?"

The spy immediately replied, "After questioning the shopkeeper, he bought three volumes of 'Water Margin Yuan Wuya's edition', an unsigned volume of 'Records of Divine Seeking', and a copy of 'The King of Marvelous Color's Sutra'."

"Could there be a code in the books?"

"There shouldn't be. The shopkeeper is very clear about the origins of these books."

"The King of Marvelous Color's Sutra..." Empress An mused over the book, then muttered to herself, "That's the Buddhist scripture I've been looking over recently."

At that time, Empress An had brought Chen Yi into the bedchamber, and this book just happened to be on the tea table, which he noticed.

In front of the writing desk, the woman in the phoenix robe pondered for a moment, then said:

"There's no need to follow the ceremonial rules. His marriage should go on as planned."

......

The next day.

In the afternoon, Chen Yi left his home.

Today, he headed to the palace.

At Palace Jingren, he met Empress An. Now, the relationship between the two had eased considerably. Seeing Chen Yi still wearing the jade pendant, Empress An showed a pleased expression.

Chen Yi wished to see Winter Concubine.

Empress An heard him thick-skinned and somewhat embarrassedly asking to see Winter Concubine but did not refuse, merely showing a "so it is" expression, kindly asking the palace maid to call Winter Concubine over.

Seeing the tall Korean woman with her long hair almost reaching the ground, Chen Yi found there was nothing more to do than to act.

Their pleasure occurred in an empty bedchamber, where Empress An had deliberately arranged for some female spies to eavesdrop outside, but they heard nothing significant.

"'Grabbing your hair feels more conquering than grabbing someone else's,' is what he said."

The female spy reported the battle scenes within the bedchamber without expression,

"And he also said, 'Your hair is too much, it's difficult to come from behind.' We went in to check, and judging by the sweat marks, he indeed came from the front."

At first, Empress An's cheeks flushed slightly at hearing this, spitting, "Where did this rascal learn such lewd talk?"

But after all, she was the empress, unrestrained by trifles, and calmly endured the shame and anger to listen to it till the end.

"You mean, while talking pillow talk with Winter Concubine, he mentioned departing for Western Jin afterward?" Empress An inquired.

"Your Majesty is right. Pillow talk is most sincere; he surely spoke from his heart."

"There's some possibility, but he might have guessed someone was eavesdropping and said it on purpose," Empress An carefully contemplated the subtleties of the human psyche, continuing, "However, more likely, he is undecided—run if he could, follow orders if he couldn't. Where is he now?"

The spy reported back, "He seems to have gone to the outer court, in the martial practice yard of several chief priests."

......…

After spending time with Winter Concubine, feeling refreshed, Chen Yi washed up casually and swiftly headed to the courtyard Empress An had brought him to previously.

As he approached the martial practice yard, an aura locked onto him. Chen Yi showed no fear, striding into the courtyard confidently, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, since we're embarking on this journey together, why not get to know each other first."

No one hits a smiling face, especially since Chen Yi was the main character in the upcoming journey. After exchanging glances, they stepped out from the shadows and stood before Chen Yi.

Three men and one woman,

One was short-statured, shifty-looking, known as the Deadly Crow; another was a woman, with an ordinary appearance, known as the Soul Returning Sparrow,

One was all smiles, fair-skinned, with long limbs, seemingly skilled in water, known as the Laughing Pelican; one was burly, fierce-looking, with a sharp expression, known as the Ruthless Hawk.

These four were all chief priests.

Chen Yi casually started the conversation, and the chief priests didn't slight him, so naturally, amidst the martial practice court, they chatted about everything under the sun.

It was a good start.

And in the following days leading up to the Lantern Festival, Chen Yi handled some personal matters in the mornings, strolling around the subsided west city, buying some books and jewelry, occasionally going to the clearing channel of the north river to dispose of waste. Upon returning home, he would freshen up, and every afternoon around the same time, Chen Yi would come to this martial practice yard to mingle.

Gradually, Chen Yi became well-acquainted with these experts, joking with each other, addressing one another as brothers, and the sound of their dialogues echoed continuously within the martial practice yard.

Naturally, storytelling ensued during their conversations, so Chen Yi began telling them about the new Water Margin he bought, tales about "Zhang Shun the Whitestripe in the Waves," "Wu Song Sprinkling Blood on Yuan Yang Tower," and "Lu Zhishen's sitting meditation," popping in bits of conversation here and there.

Laughing Pelican was a joker despite being highly water-skilled; he was adept at killing on the water, supposedly having swum every river in the capital area, even reversing the mighty North Yao River.

"I'm not bragging, but the North Yao River is like a ball to me; I treat it as an old lover, going whenever I please,"

Laughing Pelican boasted, patting his chest,

"Among the Great Yu, no one dares to claim 'Whitestripe in the Waves' but me."

Compared to the eloquent Laughing Pelican, the other three spoke less.

Deadly Crow was alright, he would banter a little and occasionally crack a joke, but Soul Returning Sparrow only responded when directly asked, and as for Ruthless Hawk, he was taciturn, often silent.

"Ruthless Hawk, which weapon do you handle best?"

Once, Chen Yi nonchalantly asked.

"I'm skilled with spears," Ruthless Hawk replied.

Finishing his words, Ruthless Hawk casually drew out a Red Tassel Spear, twirling it with vigor, its tip gleaming coldly, quite impressive.

But he was lying.

Chen Yi noticed the callus on Ruthless Hawk's right thumb but not on the left, indicating he wielded a single-handed short weapon, not a staff or long spear.

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