“Does Madam really think that Sang Qian will order his troops to come along with us?” Zu An asked.

“Of course he…” Qin Wanru suddenly understood what he was implying. The salt permits belonged to the Chu clan and Wang clan. If Sang Qian led his troops in a successful operation to recover them, then the salt permits would, by all accounts, have to be returned to their rightful owners.

That would mean that the Chu clan would make it through the current crisis effortlessly. How could the Sang clan possibly tolerate such an outcome?

However, if the Sang clan didn’t do anything about this, they would have to worry about these salt permits somehow ending up back in the hands of the Chu clan. They wouldn’t want to see that happen either.

There was only one possibility left—the safest thing to do would be to get the salt permits into their own hands. Since they couldn’t openly use the River Patrol troops to do so, they would most likely dispatch a few trusted aides to handle the matter.

Qin Wanru couldn’t help but give Zu An another look. This fellow didn’t seem at all like that good-for-nothing she always thought he was!

“Why is Madam looking at me? Even though I’m married, I still get embarrassed if you look at me like that.” Zu An touched his face as though he was feeling shy about the whole thing.

Qin Wanru gritted her teeth.

This guy was still as annoying as before!

You have successfully trolled Qin Wanru for 123 Rage points!

Zu An was afraid that her temper would get the better of her. He said in a panic, “Madam, I need you to leave Sang Qian a letter, so that Sang Qian won’t be in the dark about these salt permits. My level of cultivation is too low, and I might be discovered if I go inside.”

Qin Wanru’s complexion eased considerably at his indirect praise. She grabbed the letter with a snort and said cockily, “Watch me take care of this!”

Choosing a remote section, she snuck into the River Patrol barracks.

Her heart was pounding. She had done such risky things often when she had been young, but her life as a duchess had been too pampered. There was always another person around to take care of things. Because of this, she had even neglected her cultivation a bit.

She was worried that she might be discovered, but this excitement made her feel as if she was young again…

Zu An remained waiting outside. A while later, Qin Wanru finally came back out.

He went up to her immediately. “So? Did you successfully notify him?”

Qin Wanru snorted. “It’s such a simple matter. Why wouldn’t I be able to take care of it?” She looked relaxed on the outside, but her heart was pounding crazily. She had almost been discovered several times, but thankfully, those soldiers were nowhere near elite. If they had been competent enough, she might not have made it back out.

Zu An gave her a thumbs-up. “Madam is formidable after all!”

Qin Wanru felt her face burning at Zu An’s constant stream of praise. “Enough already! Where to next?”

“We’re attending an auction.” Zu An fished out an invitation letter. He’d received this letter from Qiu Honglei.

Qin Wanru took it and looked it over a few times. She couldn’t help but ask, “Where did you get this thing from?”

Zu An shook his head. “I have my ways. I promised that person that I wouldn’t leak out their identity.”

Qin Wanru didn’t probe further. Instead, she said with a snort, “It seems like you know quite a number of people.”

Zu An chuckled. “What can I say? I’m just too friendly and approachable. I’ve ended up with a bunch of friends without even realizing it.”

Qin Wanru stared at him, speechless.

Why does this fellow always seem like he needs a beating?

The auction was located within a remote residence to the north of the city. However, the place wasn’t all cold and cheerless. Bright lights were visible even from far away, illuminating human-sized silhouettes which moved about within.

Qin Wanru was just about to head in when Zu An grabbed her hand.

“What is it now?” Qin Wanru looked at his hand in displeasure.

“Is Madam going to enter just like that?” Zu An said with a bitter smile.

“Is there a problem?” Qin Wanru was confused.

Zu An considered his words carefully. “Even though you’ve changed your clothes, your face is still the same! Don’t you know how famous the duchess of Brightmoon City is? Not to mention that you’re gorgeous as well. You'll definitely be the target of everyone’s attention even in these ordinary clothes. Wouldn’t our plans be completely ruined if someone recognized you?”

His constant flattery was most pleasing to Qin Wanru. Of course, she also cared about the success or failure of this mission, so she hurriedly asked, “What can we do, then?”

Zu An thought for a moment, then passed her a mask. “Wear this mask. It’ll make you look like an ordinary person.”

This was something he had gotten from Chen Xuan’s corpse. These masks had allowed the bandit chief to evade the attentions of both the Chu clan and the Brightmoon City authorities.

Qin Wanru took the thin mask from him. She let out a faint exclamation. “Only the best runemasters can make such masks! Where did you get something like this?”

Zu An waved his hand. “Haven’t I already told you that I have a lot of friends?”

Qin Wanru said nothing this time. She was completely baffled. Where did this guy get all these connections?

Not even Chu Zhongtian or herself could get an invitation letter to such an auction. And now, he even had such a mask in his possession!

When she put on the mask, a cold sensation spread across her face. The runes on its surface glowed blue for a moment, and then the mask began to change appearance based on her facial structure, finally adhering closely to her face.

Qin Wanru took out a mirror. An unfamiliar face stared back at her. She was shocked and amazed.

Zu An sneered inwardly. Why did women always carry mirrors on them? “Madam, I must apologize about how ordinary this mask makes your face seem. However, this is better for us. We need to maintain a low profile during this operation.”

Even he was amazed at Chen Xuan’s masks. It made the wearer neither too attractive nor too ugly. After all, being too ugly would draw attention as well.

The mask gave its wearer a perfectly plain face—one that would draw no attention in a crowd.

Qin Wanru seemed perfectly indifferent. “Why would I care about something like that?”

With that, she strode off towards the entrance to the auction house.

Zu An quickly put on a mask of his own and followed her.

Qin Wanru gave him a few good looks, just so that she could remember his new face. She didn’t want to end up losing him inside.

The two of them arrived outside the residence, and were promptly stopped by some guards.

Zu An took out the invitation letter. After it was carefully examined, they were let inside.

“The people behind this auction are definitely bigshots! Even the weakest of those guards was at the fourth rank,” Qin Wanru said quietly.

Zu An nodded, a serious expression on his face. “Exactly. That’s why we have to be careful. It’ll be really bad if we were discovered.”

Qin Wanru acknowledged this, her eyes vigilantly scanning their surroundings.

Zu An gave her a warning look. “Madam, act more natural. If you keep doing that, everyone will know that you’re here to pick a fight.”

Qin Wanru blushed. Fortunately, it was blocked by the mask.

“By the way, Madam has lived in Brightmoon City for so long. Do you know who controls the city’s black market?” Zu An asked. He’d been wanting to know what organization was behind Qiu Honglei for a long time now. Unfortunately, with his limited knowledge of this world, he couldn’t even begin to guess.

Qin Wanru shook her head. “I don’t know. I thought that the Plum Blossom Sect was the one operating it, but it now seems like that wasn’t the case.”

In the eyes of nobles like her, the black market was part of the underground. Since these denizens never went too far or caused any huge ruckus, everyone turned a blind eye to them. She herself had never paid much attention to such affairs.

A provocative whistle suddenly came from behind them, followed by perverted laughter.

“Check her out! Damn!”

“I didn’t think I'd bump into a babe like this here!”

“Let’s go take a look.”

…

Several salivating hooligans walked around them and stopped in front of them.

“What the hell man, how can you be that ugly with a body like that?”

Qin Wanru’s eyes grew wide.