“Sister Fei!” Lin Xiao called out once he reached the plaza. Lin Xiao was quick on his feet to escape. In no time, he found Fei YuXing and her group.

“Brother Lin. You’re back,” Fei YuXing greets him with a smile. “How was it? Did you find anything for Master Long?” she asked though, her eyes already found the silk-wrapped box on Lin Xiao’s hand.

“I did. Here, please give this to Shizun and also, don’t tell him that it is from me!” Lin Xiao handed the box to Fei YuXing while also reminding her about their promise from earlier.

“Of course. You don’t have to worry,” Fei YuXing assured Lin Xiao as she took hold of the box.

Just then, the falcon who had been quietly stayed with Fei YuXing’s group suddenly let out a cry. Lin Xiao turned to look at it, only to see the falcon flew up, heading toward the western part of the market. Lin Xiao saw a familiar man with a cloak appears from the crowd and he let out a groan.

“How persistent,” Lin Xiao muttered under his breath. “Sister Fei, I will go first! If anyone tries to find me, just tell him you don’t know me,” Lin Xiao said before he turned around and once again, made his escape.

When he left, more cloaked men appeared, led by none other than Qin YiJun. He raised up his arm and not long after, the falcon that was with Lin Xiao’s company earlier perched down on his arm. “You’re here? Why didn’t you return straight to the palace?” Qin YiJun asked as he raised his other hand and lightly touched the falcon under its beak.

“Your Majesty, there is a lot of people here. He might hide here somewhere… please allow Meng Chen to search,” Meng Chen said respectfully.

“En. Bring the others with you. Zhen will go and wait at the center of the plaza,” Qin YiJun replied.

“Alone?!” Meng Chen suddenly feels worried.

“Zhen is not that weak for you to worry all the time. In addition, the shadow guards will accompany Zhen from the dark,” Qin YiJun replied before he walked away.

Qin YiJun walked all the way to the center of the plaza, with the falcon flying above his head. Once Qin YiJun stops, the falcon then went down and rests on the Emperor’s shoulder.

Fei YuXing, who was still resting nearby saw the falcon and was surprised that it is acting friendly to another person other than Lin Xiao and Long YinLian. She can’t help but approach the man out of curiosity.

“Excuse me, sir. That falcon on your shoulder…” Fei YuXing tried to strike up a conversation while gauging the man’s reaction.

Qin YiJun actually noticed Fei YuXing approaching, and he had already put his guard up. When she speaks up, he neither gave her a friendly look nor show her any hostility. In fact, he just acts naturally. “This falcon is Zh-… mine. I raised him from when he was young… along with a dear friend,” Qin YiJun replied.

“Oh? Really?” when Fei YuXing heard Qin YiJun’s words, she showed a look of surprise. “This falcon used to follow my friend around too. It actually accompanied us during our travel from Senlin village all the way to the capital. I’ve always tried to touch it, but it won’t let me. The falcon only lets brother Lin and Master Long touch and feed it,” Fei YuXing said as her eyes went to the falcon on Qin YiJun’s shoulder.

“Brother Lin? Master Long?” Qin YiJun took note of the name before he glanced over at the falcon on his shoulder from the corner of his eyes. “As far as I know, this falcon only let those who are close to me touch it…” Qin YiJun said before he turned to Fei YuXing once more. Qin YiJun was just about to speak once more when the maidservant accompanying Fei YuXing spoke up.

“Young miss, we should go back soon. It is already close to You Shi,” she informed Fei YuXing. “It is not good for a young lady to wander around when it is dark.”

“Already? Alright. If I stay out any longer, it might make Uncle Yuan worry,” Fei YuXing replied to the maidservant before she turned back to Qin YiJun. “This brother, I am sorry to have troubled you. Maybe when you are free, you can come and vi—”

“Young miss, it is not appropriate for you to invite another man home. What would other people say?” the maidservant reminded Fei YuXing.

“…” Fei YuXing was speechless and can’t help but start to feel that this servant was placed by her side to make sure she doesn’t do anything that can bring shame to the Xia family. ‘But I only want to invite him so he can go and see brother Lin, ah!’

In the end, Fei YuXing can only apologize to Qin YiJun. She bowed her head slightly before leaving the plaza to make her way back to the Xia residence.

“An Yi,” Qin YiJun called out in a low voice. He waited for a while before a person finally appeared before him. This person is wearing a simple attire, but his eyes were void of any emotion.

“Your slave is here, Your Majesty,” the man, An Yi answered.

“Follow that young lady and find out where she lives. Report to Zhen later.”

“This slave received his order,” An Yi saluted Qin YiJun before he walked away. It didn’t take long for him to disappear from the crowd and Qin YiJun finally turned away.

“Your Majesty, is it really worth to send An Yi over to follow that young lady?” suddenly, another person appeared from the crowd beside Qin YiJun. “If Your Majesty wants her…”

“An Liu,” Qin YiJun called out the person’s name. “As the shadow guards, you only need to answer to Zhen’s command. Consider this your first warning.”

“This slave was wrong. Thanking His Majesty for his magnanimous heart,” An Liu quickly replied before he once again blends into the crowd, protecting the Emperor from the dark.

Time passed, and at You Shi, Meng Chen finally returned to Qin YiJun’s side. “How was it?” Qin YiJun asked, and Meng Chen can only lower his head, unable to meet Qin YiJun’s eyes. “Zhen assumes that you didn’t find the thief. Later, go to the office of the Minister of Justice. Get someone to sketch the composite image of that thief,” Qin YiJun said after a while.

Not long after, General Bai also found them and when Qin YiJun saw that he had come empty-handed, he can’t help the frown that formed on his face. “General Bai… did you not find the shop?”

“Your Majesty, this General did find the shop but… we were a step too late. The owner had already sold it to a young man,” General Bai replied with a regretful tone. “I tried to inquire who the young man he sold the items to, but he said that he didn’t know him. All he could tell me was that the young man doesn’t seem to be from a prominent family since he even bargained with him.”

Hearing this, Qin YiJun let out a heavy sigh. Today, he went out for two items. One, the dagger that belonged to Li FangMing. The dagger was given to the Li family for safekeeping but when he asked to look at it, he found that they had sold it to the pawn shop. And just when his men got the dagger, it was stolen by a thief.

The second item is actually a set of weapons. His father once told him about this set of weapons that were made especially for Li FangMing. The weapons were all designed by Huo Shuren, Li FangMing’s own master. They were supposed to pick it up this year but now, they were told that it was already sold away? Qin YiJun’s heart was full of dissatisfaction. Unfortunately, there was nothing that he can do.

“Since things has gone like this, there is nothing that Zhen can do. Zhen will return to the palace first,” Qin Yijun said with a disappointed tone. With that, Qin YiJun and his men made a journey back to the Imperial Palace. Little did he know that the person who bought the set of weapons, and the person who stole the dagger from Meng Chen was the same person. Not only that, this person is none other than the one that he had been looking for, for the past two years.