Chapter 67 : One Hundred Methods of Making Friends
October 7th, the sky was clear and bright.
Early in the morning, Bai Yuyu got off the carriage, nodded to the guards, and walked into this solemn and grand mansion.
Seeing her arrival, a maid immediately came to receive her.
"Miss Bai has come? The young lady hasn't woken up yet. Would you like to wait here for a while, or...?"
"Not awake yet?"
Bai Yuyu looked at the sun in amazement: "It's already past eight o'clock."
"The young lady had a long heart-to-heart talk with Her Highness the Princess last night until late at night. She didn't sleep enough today, so we didn't dare wake her," the maid said quietly.
"Jiang He again..."
Bai Yuyu muttered quite unhappily, thinking that Mu Mu had been entangled by a bad woman, but she didn't take out her temper on the maid:
"When will she wake up?"
"Nine o'clock."
"I'll sit here for a while."
"The young lady has been ill these past few days and her body is weak from cold. It's really inconvenient to wake her to receive guests. We hope Miss Bai will understand."
Bai Yuyu walked past her toward the back garden, where she saw a somewhat thin gray-haired figure sitting on a swing, hands holding the long ropes, slowly swaying back and forth.
Bai Yuyu also knew her—named Zhu Yan, who seemed to be Mu Mu's personal maid.
These past few days when Mu Qinglan was sick, every time she came she would see Zhu Yan keeping watch nearby. Seeing her dressed simply but not in the same style as the mansion's other maids, it was easy to have this misunderstanding.
If she knew that Miss Zhu Yan had once been an assassin, she wouldn't know what to think.
"Miss Bai has come? The young lady is still sleeping. If you want to see her, you'll probably have to wait a little while."
"Mm."
Bai Yuyu responded and sat on another swing.
"Is Miss Mu's illness better?" she asked.
"Much better, but the doctor also said she needs to rest for two more days, otherwise the cold might relapse."
"Rest?"
Zhu Yan said: "Just pay attention to diet and avoid catching cold. These past few days, every evening I've been pushing the young lady around the mansion for walks. The doctor saw this and didn't say anything."
Bai Yuyu nodded, then asked alertly:
"Not Jiang He?"
"Her Highness the Princess seems to prefer staying in the young lady's room..." Zhu Yan said softly.
Bai Yuyu left with a heavy expression, having gathered another important piece of information.
That bad woman was truly detestable.
Monopolizing Mu Mu all day long, even she didn't get to...
Bai Yuyu had no intention of staying here long.
After all, she was also a Six Bureaus constable. Being somewhat free, she could be late for work, but she couldn't not go at all.
○
When she returned to the Six Bureaus, she didn't go to her own office first, but went to Shen Yao's side instead. As expected, Shen Yao was already sitting at her desk, bent over reviewing documents.
"So many?"
Bai Yuyu glanced at the case files and raised an eyebrow.
"You know what happened. Most of these are related to the Hundred Flowers Night Banquet from a few days ago." Shen Yao didn't look up, her voice calm.
Bai Yuyu guiltily turned her head. It was she who had pestered Mu Qinglan into agreeing to accompany her to the Hundred Flowers Night Banquet.
And then this happened.
"She doesn't blame you, but you really should settle down."
"Mm."
Bai Yuyu said nothing, just sat in the chair with her hands clasped together, silently thinking about how her family had said they were helping her find weapons with lunar power, but there was still no news.
The room fell quiet.
Only the occasional rustling sound of brushes on paper remained.
"By the way," Shen Yao suddenly asked, "do you know about the Ninth Imperial Princess's matter?"
Bai Yuyu tilted her head: "About her single-handedly killing a seventh-rank devil clan member?"
"Yes."
Shen Yao nodded, her expression unchanged throughout: "Shifu seems to have been invigorated by this incident and is planning to give you devil training."
"Me?" Bai Yuyu was stunned.
"You."
Bai Yuyu stood there dazed for two or three seconds, then finally sighed without saying anything.
She felt she really should train more. Although she was already very diligent in martial practice, why did she feel like she could no longer protect Mu Mu?
Having this devil training would be good.
Shen Yao glanced at her expression and added: "I'm also about to break through—fourth rank."
"I'm going to find Shifu."
Bai Yuyu stood up and ran off in a flash. Little Bai's pride wouldn't allow her to fall so far behind others. She hadn't forgotten that her goal was to surpass Senior Sister someday!
Shen Yao indifferently withdrew her gaze.
She lightly checked a note from Prince Qi's mansion, then swept it into the wastebasket.
She really should settle down too.
○
Prince Qi's Mansion.
In the front courtyard, a maid brought up a bowl of fruit.
"Your Highness Princess, the young lady has awakened and is washing and dressing. Please wait a moment..."
Hearing this, Jiang He closed the book in her hands, her gaze flickering.
She waited properly in the side hall for about a few minutes before the maid came to say that Mu Qinglan was ready.
Jiang He pushed open the door and entered.
She saw Mu Qinglan in the middle of dressing, her warm satin clothes not yet fully put on. Between the half-covered garments, flawless porcelain-white skin was frequently exposed.
How was this ready?
Jiang He blinked and politely looked away.
Mu Qinglan smiled, and after finishing dressing, patted the bed and beckoned Jiang He to sit down. She leaned over and whispered: "Seeing me unprepared, how come you had no reaction at all?"
Miss Jiang He obediently shook her head: "That's not good."
"What's not good about it?"
"Good friends can't do that." Jiang He recalled the book she had just finished reading a few days ago and answered with a steady gaze.
The book was called "One Hundred Methods of Making Friends."
It was something she had found with great difficulty in the National Advisor's mansion library. She didn't know who had put it there.
Mu Qinglan hugged one of her hands, putting on a perfectly innocent attitude, blinking as she explained:
"But shouldn't good friends be completely open with each other? Could it be that Jiang Jiang doesn't consider me a good friend?"
"Is that so?"
Jiang He looked confused.
"Isn't it?" Mu Qinglan widened her eyes.
"Oh."
Jiang He didn't dwell on these matters and picked up the book from her lap to hand to Mu Qinglan.
"Didn't you say you were curious about what seventh-rank spells I learned?" she said to Mu Qinglan. "I brought books from the library that record seventh-rank spells."
"Ah?" Mu Qinglan pretended to be stunned. "Is this okay?"
Jiang He didn't pay particular attention:
"Some of the spells inside are imperial family secrets, but the truly precious spells are all bound separately and not allowed to be taken from the library. You can look at these freely."
Jiang He was very sincere, so sincere that she was perhaps too good to this friend of hers.
Mu Qinglan felt somewhat unaccustomed.
It seemed like the scheming from a few days ago had been perhaps too effective. Was this child really so starved for affection?
Heh, she didn't think about how much shock her two acts of self-sacrifice had brought to little Jiang He's heart.
"Then thank you, Jiang Jiang. I won't let others see it."
Mu Qinglan smiled.
Jiang He's expression was cool and aloof, but her back straightened somewhat.
Before getting along with this friend of hers, Jiang He had worried that although she and Qing Qing got along well, what if their usual interests and hobbies were vastly different?
Fortunately, after Mu Qinglan had mostly recovered from her illness, she dismissed this concern.
Because their hobbies were surprisingly consistent.
Reading, dazing, cultivating.
After spending time with Mu Qinglan, Jiang He liked this friend even more, which was why she came to find her every day, often staying for several hours before leaving.
Palace life was boring and tasteless, with only books occasionally adorning her daily routine.
But being with Qing Qing, she felt as sweet as if she'd eaten honey every day.
Perhaps this was what friendship was?
Jiang He's eyes gradually softened.
Warm, bright light streamed through the window into the room, falling on the two girls. They each held a book, quiet and wordless.
Black and white hair intertwined shallowly.
For a moment, only the rustling sound of turning pages remained in the room.
○
Being a bad woman carried risks.
Because everything she had done so far involved deliberate arrangements to some degree and wasn't completely natural, there was naturally risk of failure, and not a small one at that.
But the bad woman was a player.
The advantage of foresight allowed her to gain every benefit in these schemes, and familiarity with plot characters would make them easier to win over and move.
That's why Mu Qinglan spared no effort in deceiving the affections of those villainous beautiful girl bosses from the plot.
After all, they really were easy to deceive.
Hehe.
Of course, when Miss Mu Qinglan went to deceive people's hearts, she naturally wasn't completely stingy—hadn't she offered herself up? But who could actually get this bad woman into their mouth was another matter entirely.
After seeing off Jiang He, Mu Qinglan sat alone in her bedroom, casually placing the book in her hands on the bed.
She had learned everything she needed to learn. This book was useless now.
She'd just wait for Jiang He to take it away next time she came.
She glanced at her current status panel:
[Name: Mu Qinglan]
[Level: Seventh Rank (Magician), Ninth Rank (Mechanist)]
[Destiny Traits: Omitted]
[Skills: Light Wisp lv2, Essence Infusion lv2, Shadow Pierce lv2, Mechanist Arts lv1, Telekinesis lv1]
No gains today, just one more skill—insignificant.
Seventh-rank spell, Telekinesis.
The effect of Telekinesis was similar to the legendary universal ability from her previous life, psychokinesis, though much weaker.
This was what Mu Qinglan had chosen to provide cover for her second profession.
After all, Mechanist Arts and Telekinesis had similar manifestations.
If someone noticed something unusual, that wouldn't be good.
And among all those spells in the imperial spell book Jiang He brought, why didn't she learn a single one?
Very simple.
She looked down on them. Energy was limited—who had time to master so many spells? Besides, Mu Qinglan didn't have that much experience.
Unlocking an unfamiliar seventh-rank spell required a full twenty experience points!
Mu Qinglan had already decided which skills she would use in the future.
Now this was just a transition.
So she didn't spend all her experience points, thinking to wait and see.
These would suffice for now.
Moreover, before that, she had another matter to attend to—a big one.
'Three days ago the devil clan lost the Boundary Shadow Pearl in Huaiyun Ward. It probably hasn't been found yet. I remember that when uncontrolled, the Boundary Shadow Pearl sinks into shadows and is extremely difficult to find. The imperial people searching hastily probably won't find it…'
Taking a bite of fruit, Mu Qinglan pondered.
The Boundary Shadow Pearl was a divine artifact after all. Even though it had no offensive capability, that didn't stop Mu Qinglan from taking an interest in it.
'I remember that in the plot, after the devil clan used the Boundary Shadow Pearl, it took the imperial family several days to find a countermeasure in their archives?'
'I need to hurry then.'
'After all, three days have already passed. Any slower…'
Mu Qinglan shook her head, having made her decision. She lightly tapped the window twice and said softly:
"Shadow Two, go to the Six Bureaus to find Miss Bai. Tell her I want to make up for not keeping my promise to accompany her the other day, and invite her to go boating in Huaiyun Ward this afternoon."