APSIL -Chapter 137 Unperturbed

When Zhang Shou jumped out of bed and rushed out several steps without even having time to put on his shoes, the curtain at the door was suddenly lifted high.

The first person to enter was A-Liu, his head hanging low.

Following right behind him was Zhu Ying.

At this moment, the Young Miss Zhu, who should have already been asleep, was wrapped in a hooded cloak. Beneath it, she wore a pair of lambskin boots.

When she lowered the hood, her long hair spilled down completely loose.

Perhaps because she had tied her hair into a man’s style during the day, her hair now had a slight curl to it. Under the candlelight, it looked almost naturally wavy.

Her face still carried a trace of annoyance and anger.

“I had only just come in, and this reckless A-Liu immediately rushed out and knocked over the calming incense I brought!”

Zhu Ying spoke while glaring at A-Liu.

Seeing the young man looking somewhat awkward, she finally snorted.

“Honestly, this is Zhao Garden, not some random place. Grandmother and Father have treated this place almost like the Zhu family’s second headquarters. How could assassins possibly sneak in here?”

As she said this, her expression subtly changed, as if she had become slightly irritated.

But she continued explaining herself: “This place is where the old servants of the manor retire. Every one of them has worked in the household for many years. They didn’t want to spend their old age doing nothing, so they came here to train the younger servants.”

“Luckily, what he knocked over wasn’t anything valuable. I’ll just have someone send another burner over…”

“Eh? A-Shou, why are you still barefoot?”

Only then did Zhang Shou realize that he was standing barefoot on the floor.

Fortunately, Warm Fragrance Cove was covered with wooden flooring, so walking barefoot on it during autumn was not particularly cold.

However, he was quickly ordered by Zhu Ying to return to the bed and sit down.

Then, the unlucky A-Liu was instructed by Miss Zhu to go outside and bring fresh hot water.

“No need to trouble yourself…”

Before Zhang Shou could finish speaking, he saw Zhu Ying wink at him.

Watching A-Liu quietly leave, Zhang Shou then saw Zhu Ying remove her shoes and step onto the floor beside the bed.

Wearing only socks, she gently moved her feet aside, pushing away the bedding where A-Liu had slept.

Then she looked at Zhang Shou with a serious expression.

“I have something to tell you.”

After saying that, she bent down slightly.

As she leaned closer to Zhang Shou, a suspicious blush appeared on her face.

Using an extremely soft voice, she whispered several words into his ear.

After standing straight again, her dark, bright eyes clearly showed unwillingness and frustration.

Even her delicate nose wrinkled slightly.

Compared to her, Zhang Shou only froze for a moment before smiling.

“I understand. We’ll do that. Don’t worry.”

“Worry my foot!”

Zhu Ying muttered quietly.

Then she fiercely snorted.

Suddenly, she remembered that impulsive hug Zhang Shou had given her several days ago.

Her eyes flickered slightly.

Then, unexpectedly, she stepped forward and grabbed both of Zhang Shou’s hands.

“A-Shou…”

Although she had always been bold, such a direct action was something she had never done before.

Seeing Zhang Shou raise his head in surprise and meet her gaze, she spoke word by word:

“After you soak your feet, the calming incense should arrive too. Sleep early. Take good care of yourself. Your health matters most.”

After saying that, Zhu Ying left like a whirlwind.

She narrowly avoided crashing into A-Liu, who was returning with hot water outside the door.

The two stopped at the same time and looked at each other.

Seeing A-Liu’s completely calm expression, Zhu Ying blinked at him.

“You should sleep early too. Don’t be so jumpy all the time.”

“Mm.”

A-Liu casually replied.

He watched Zhu Ying leave with the two maids who came to meet her, then hurried back inside.

After entering the room, A-Liu silently helped Zhang Shou wash his feet.

He dried the splashed water from the floor, then carried the wooden basin outside.

At that moment, the calming incense had also been delivered by a servant.

A-Liu handed over the empty basin and received the new incense burner.

But when he brought it back inside, he discovered Zhang Shou was already lying in bed.

His breathing was even.

He was sleeping exactly like A-Liu had pretended to earlier.

The corner of A-Liu’s mouth lifted slightly.

He quietly arranged his own bedding again, left a candle burning, and lay down.

This time, Zhang Shou slept extremely deeply.

When he opened his eyes again, he immediately noticed something strange.

The canopy above him was completely different from the one he had seen before falling asleep.

He stared motionlessly at the patterns on the fabric for a long while.

Only then did someone nearby let out a soft laugh.

“Doctor Zhang truly is unusual.”

“If it were someone else, they would have already jumped up and checked what happened.”

“But you can still lie there calmly.”

Zhang Shou quietly inhaled.

Then he supported himself and sat up.

Looking around, he realized the room’s arrangement was completely different.

Across from the bed, beside the wall, sat a person in blue robes.

The person was sitting with his back toward Zhang Shou.

Zhang Shou smiled faintly.

“I only thought of one thing.”

“If someone truly had the ability to kidnap me from Zhao Garden, panicking would not help.”

“So instead of struggling uselessly, I might as well continue lying here and see whether I’m dreaming.”

“Heh.”

“You really are not dreaming.”

The man in blue laughed.

“However, if you suspect the calming incense from Zhao Duke Manor was the problem, then you are mistaken.”

“The scent of that incense is precisely what covers the smell of other sleeping drugs.”

“Otherwise, with that powerful young guard beside you, we wouldn’t have been able to take you away.”

“Although Zhao Garden’s defenses are strict, after changing owners many times over a century, there are naturally some weaknesses.”

“Oh, I see.”

Zhang Shou glanced down at himself.

He was still wearing the inner clothes he had gone to sleep in.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Then he asked indifferently: “Then just tell me why you brought me here.”

The man in blue replied: “I invited you here for only one reason.”

“How did you help Wang Datou and Lu Wan decipher those secret letters?”

“Can you tell me?”

“As long as you explain clearly, I will not only allow you to leave safely, but will also gift you a residence in the capital and one thousand mu of fertile land.”

“You wouldn’t want to become the Zhu family’s son-in-law while arriving empty-handed, would you?”

A series of thoughts flashed through Zhang Shou’s mind.

Then he let out a faint laugh.

“A beautiful house and fertile fields…”

“I can probably earn those myself.”

“Your offer truly lacks sincerity.”

“Besides, how can I guarantee you won’t cross the river after tearing down the bridge?”

“What if after I tell you, you decide to kill me?”

“Someone capable of manipulating things inside Zhao Garden would hardly care about offending Zhao Duke’s future son-in-law.”

The man in blue seemed surprised by Zhang Shou’s response.

After remaining silent for a long moment, he coldly said: “Doctor Zhang’s concerns are not unreasonable.”

“But right now, I hold the knife, and you are the fish on the chopping board.”

“You have no qualifications to bargain.”

“If you refuse the wine offered in kindness, don’t blame me for making you drink punishment wine.”

“Under torture, even the bravest warriors cannot endure.”

“Let alone a scholar like you.”

“Heh.”

Zhang Shou laughed again.

His expression remained calm.

“That night at the Shuntian Prefecture office, my three students were also there helping Lord Wang.”

“Additionally, Minister of War Lu Wan mobilized a large number of officials from the Ministry of War to verify the calculations.”

“Many people know that simple method.”

“Even if it was initially kept secret through strict orders, finding those people would have been much easier than secretly taking me away from Zhao Garden.”

“I’m curious.”

“Why did you choose the harder path?”

“It seems Doctor Zhang truly knows the answer yet refuses to admit it.”

“You are stubborn beyond reason!”

As soon as the words fell, the man in blue clapped his hands.

Immediately, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

It sounded as though several people were about to rush inside.

Suddenly—

Zhang Shou threw off the blanket and stepped barefoot onto the floor.

He grabbed the small table beside the bed with both hands and violently threw it toward the chair.

Bang!

The chair shattered.

The person sitting with his back facing Zhang Shou fell over.

But it was not a real person.

It was a dummy.

At the same time, a copper tube opening embedded in the wall was revealed.

The chaotic footsteps outside disappeared completely.

It was as if the sound of at least seven or eight people moving had only been Zhang Shou’s imagination.

The copper tube remained silent.

Apparently, the people hiding behind it realized something was wrong and immediately retreated.

However, after a long while…

A voice came again.

“Your son-in-law is quite good at buying time.”

“And your acting was impressive.”

“I have already captured them.”

“Those two fellows were clever too. Before escaping, they blocked the sound transmission tube.”

The voice paused.

Then laughed.

“Miss personally stopped one of them.”

“Three punches and two kicks nearly beat him to death.”

“The person who delivered the calming incense was taken care of by A-Liu.”

“If you wish, you can safely go back to sleep.”

“Thanks to Wang Datou’s ‘using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken,’ you ended up coming to Zhao Garden.”

“Otherwise, these two people would never have been exposed.”

A dummy.

A sound-transmitting copper tube.

Voice imitation.

Zhang Shou quickly analyzed the situation.

Then he casually smiled.

“So it was Seventh Master Hua.”

“You only caught two people?”

“Only two.”

“One was a surviving military officer who escaped during the Linhai Camp rebellion.”

“The other was a strategist.”

“But speaking of which…”

“I really want to know.”

“Were you only trying to escape, or did you actually realize that the person sitting on that chair was a dummy?”

“Even if Miss informed you beforehand, weren’t you afraid that something might go wrong?”

“If we failed, you could have already been kidnapped.”

“Taking action so casually was extremely dangerous.”

Zhang Shou smiled.

“Before moving into Warm Fragrance Cove, I noticed that the eastern side room was locked.”

“They said it had not been cleaned yet.”

“At that time, I already found it strange.”

“When I woke up just now, I noticed the direction of the moonlight outside the window.”

“I realized I should be in the eastern room of some building.”

“Such a coincidence naturally made me suspect something.”

“Since I was still in Zhao Garden and still in Warm Fragrance Cove…”

“The only possibility was that someone had moved me from the western room to the eastern room.”

He paused.

Then calmly continued: “Besides, if he didn’t want to reveal his identity, he could simply wear loose robes, a bamboo hat, and a veil.”

“He could still face me directly.”

“But he deliberately sat with his back toward me.”

“There must have been a reason.”

“As for whether I would really be kidnapped…”

“Before this, your disciple Seventh Master Hua’s student was sleeping right outside my bed.”

“I trust him.”

With Zhu Ying sending him a warning beforehand and A-Liu protecting him personally, if he still panicked, that would actually be strange.

The moment he finished speaking—

The door was suddenly pushed open.

A-Liu poked his head inside.

No one knew whether he had heard Zhang Shou’s praise just now.

But a faint smile was clearly visible on his face.

However, the first person to rush in was Zhu Ying.

“A-Shou, are you alright?”