{"id":3532,"date":"2026-05-23T04:17:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T04:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/pursuit-of-jade-25\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T04:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T04:18:10","slug":"pursuit-of-jade-25","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/de\/chapter\/pursuit-of-jade-25\/","title":{"rendered":"Pursuit Of Jade 25"},"content":{"rendered":"

The night had grown deep, and the north wind made the battered window shutters creak noisily.

Weather like this always stirred up the urge to crawl beneath warm blankets.

Especially when the bedding had already been warmed by someone else, radiating an inviting heat.

Fan Changyu drew her arms closer around herself and rested against the bedpost with her eyes closed, though her ears remained tuned to every sound downstairs.

Once Aunt Zhao and Carpenter Zhao had gone to sleep, she planned to hurry back home, retrieve the land deeds, then carry back a quilt and sleep on the floor.

Ever since Fan Da\u2019s accident yesterday, she had barely slept at all. Her body was already exhausted, but her nerves had remained tightly strung, not daring to relax for even a moment.

The person beside her breathed lightly the entire time. Perhaps because he had eaten the candied orange peel earlier, Fan Changyu could vaguely smell a faint citrus fragrance lingering on him.

Unconsciously, she recalled the moment in the pine forest when he had held her hand to teach her moves, his breath brushing against her ear as he spoke.

Her ears suddenly grew warm for no reason, though fortunately nothing could be seen in the darkness.

Fan Changyu wanted to rub her ears, but before she could lift a hand, the person beside her silently sat up.

Before she could react, a long finger carrying faint warmth pressed lightly against her lips. His loose hair fell forward, brushing over the back of her hand, bringing a slight tingling coolness.

He was extremely close to her now, and the citrus scent on him became even stronger.

Fan Changyu was startled at first, but once she heard footsteps as light as a cat\u2019s moving across the roof tiles, her ears immediately perked up.

Seeing her reaction, Xie Zheng said nothing and simply withdrew the finger resting against her lips.

The touch lingering on his fingertip was warm, soft, tender\u2014like flower petals still carrying morning dew.

He frowned slightly and rubbed the tingling, heated skin on his fingertip hard, suppressing every strange feeling in his heart.

The footsteps on the roof sounded light yet chaotic. There seemed to be more than one person.

After a while, some footsteps stopped nearby\u2014judging by the distance, they were on the roof of the Fan residence.

Others continued forward and stopped atop the Zhao family roof. Soon, faint sounds of roof tiles being shifted reached them, and a thin bamboo tube slipped through the gaps between the tiles, releasing wisps of green smoke.

Using their collars to cover their mouths and noses, the two exchanged a glance in the darkness illuminated faintly by the dim light filtering through the window.

A noise came from the battered window, and a shadow silently slipped inside.

Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng stood on opposite sides of the bed curtains. They had originally been silently signaling to each other about how to quietly kill the intruder once he approached the bed\u2014

But after seven or eight more people climbed in through the window one after another, all plans vanished.

The room was too small. The intruders would discover them soon enough.

Fan Changyu pressed her lips tightly together and quietly pulled out the boning knife hidden on her body.

One of the black-clothed men raised his blade and viciously hacked toward the bed. The moment the knife sank into the blankets with a dull thud, his expression changed instantly.

\u201cIt\u2019s a trap!\u201d

Immediately afterward, his waist turned cold. A figure suddenly darted out from beside the bed curtains and lunged headfirst toward the window with a loud crash.

Outside, one black-clothed man had just slid down the rope tied to the roof and hadn\u2019t yet entered the room when he was directly slammed into by the figure bursting out from inside. The two of them crashed into the courtyard together, using him as a human cushion. Several blue bricks on the ground cracked from the impact.

The figure quickly scrambled to her feet\u2014it was actually a woman.

Taking advantage of the stunned assassin sprawled on the ground, she swung a fierce slap at him. The man was instantly knocked unconscious. The woman then snatched up his saber and sprinted toward the courtyard exit.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

The assassins inside the room were stunned dumb. By the time they reacted, they immediately shouted, \u201cChase her!\u201d

A whole group jumped out the window after her like dumplings being tossed into boiling water.

Hidden on the other side of the bed curtains, Xie Zheng had never expected Fan Changyu to risk herself alone. But he immediately understood she had deliberately lured the assassins away to protect him, the elderly couple downstairs, and her younger sister.

A heaviness settled in his chest.

As the last few assassins inside prepared to leap out the window, Xie Zheng flicked a crystal-clear piece of candied orange peel from his fingertips.

The assassin who had just jumped out the window had the back of his knee pierced. He instantly lost balance midair and crashed heavily to the ground.

Hearing the commotion behind them, the remaining assassins finally realized there was still another person inside the room.

They were already elite among the death warriors, yet after entering the room they had failed to notice his presence for so long. How terrifying must his breath-concealment skills be?

None of them dared lower their guard anymore. Turning around, they swung their blades at him.

Several more candied orange peels shot from Xie Zheng\u2019s fingers, striking acupoints at their elbows, knees, and waists, slowing their movements by the briefest instant.

That single instant was enough for him to seize a blade and take lives.

After killing two assassins, the stolen saber in his hand was already pressed against the throat of the wounded one.

The assassin clutched at his waist, his hands covered in blood.

The weapon that had sliced across his abdomen earlier had been long, narrow, and sharp\u2014not a dagger, though he couldn\u2019t tell what it was. Now, with a bloodied blade against his neck, he didn\u2019t dare move recklessly.

Xie Zheng was just about to knock the man unconscious and keep him alive temporarily before going to help Fan Changyu\u2014

When suddenly, blazing torchlight erupted from the street outside the alley.

The thunder of horse hooves shattered the silence of the night. The sounds of armored infantry running formed a net of clashing armor and pounding footsteps. The sharp whistling of arrows slicing through the air chilled the heart.

The assassins chasing Fan Changyu were instantly turned into pincushions by a rain of arrows.

Xie Zheng frowned slightly, suspicion filling his mind.

Qingping County had no stationed army. How had these soldiers appeared so quickly in a small town beneath Qingping County?

Seeing that Fan Changyu was safe, he abandoned any thought of pursuing them. His fingers gripped the assassin\u2019s jaw and forced him to spit out the poison capsule hidden in his teeth.

Pressing the blade down, he asked coldly, \u201cWhat did Wei Yan send you here to search for?\u201d

Hearing how familiar he was with the location of the poison capsules carried by Wei family death warriors, the assassin carefully identified his voice and uncertainly asked, \u201cYour Lordship?\u201d

The blade pressed down even further.

Torchlight shone through the shattered window lattice, reflecting off the blade and casting a cold gleam across Xie Zheng\u2019s face in the thick, damp darkness. The slight downward curve of his lips looked icy and impatient.

\u201cAnswer.\u201d

Cold wind carrying snowflakes swept in, landing on the assassin\u2019s neck.

But colder still was the blade that had already sliced through a thin layer of skin at his throat.

Fear and pressure surged over him like a tidal wave. The assassin swallowed with difficulty and pleaded, \u201cYour Lordship knows the Prime Minister\u2019s methods… why make things difficult for a lowly subordinate\u2026\u201d

The next moment, the saber plunged directly into the wound at his waist again.

The assassin let out a muffled cry of extreme agony and curled up instantly.

Xie Zheng lowered his eyes. His pale fingers, still crusted with dark scabs, twisted the blade mercilessly, practically grinding a chunk of flesh apart inside the wound.

His tone remained lazy and cold.

\u201cThe mouths of military spies are tougher than yours. The Vice Minister of Justice, Zhang Su, once witnessed an interrogation in the army. He nearly vomited up his bile after leaving camp and fell seriously ill afterward. Want to try military torture methods yourself?\u201d

Vice Minister Zhang Su was infamous throughout the court for his brutal interrogations. People said that anyone who fell into his hands would lose at least a layer of skin if not their life entirely. Everyone called him the \u201cLiving King of Hell.\u201d

The assassin could no longer suppress his screams. Cold sweat poured down his forehead. Every sensation in his body centered around the mangled flesh in his abdomen. Blood and sweat soaked through his clothes until he could no longer tell which was which.

He no longer hoped to survive\u2014he only wanted a quick death.

Exhausted, he rasped, \u201cA letter\u2026 the Prime Minister ordered us to find a letter\u2026\u201d

Xie Zheng\u2019s eyes narrowed slightly. \u201cWhat letter?\u201d

The assassin only shook his head weakly, collapsing onto the ground.

\u201cI truly don\u2019t know anymore\u2026\u201d

The blade swept across his throat, and blood poured onto the floor.

A letter?

Xie Zheng frowned.

What kind of letter could exist in that woman\u2019s home that would make Wei Yan this wary?

He looked out toward the torchlit street outside.

Fan Changyu stood by the roadside explaining the situation to the soldiers. The elderly couple had likely relaxed after seeing the danger pass but still worried about her, so they had brought the child outside to the courtyard gate as well.

The soldiers were dragging away the assassins\u2019 corpses. Those not quite dead yet quickly bit through their poison capsules and killed themselves.

A general on horseback shouted, \u201cFind a live one and take him back!\u201d

Xie Zheng\u2019s gaze had originally swept past him casually, but the moment he recognized the man\u2019s face, his phoenix eyes narrowed sharply.

Zheng Wenchang?

He was a favored general under Ji Prefecture Governor He Jingyuan\u2014and He Jingyuan belonged to Wei Yan\u2019s faction.

Was tonight simply allies accidentally colliding with each other, or had He Jingyuan also been helping Wei Yan search for that letter, deliberately arranging this entire operation to intercept it?

But judging from the assassins\u2019 actions, they clearly still hadn\u2019t found anything. The Ji Prefecture soldiers arriving at such a convenient moment was far too suspicious\u2026

For the first time, Xie Zheng felt that the humble butcher family in Lin\u2019an Town might be hiding far more than he had imagined.

\u2014

The general on horseback was urging his men to quickly remove all the assassins\u2019 corpses when he suddenly felt a cold gaze land on him.

It was like being stared at by a wolf in the snowy wilderness, and his spine unconsciously tensed.

Zheng Wenchang swept his eyes around but could no longer find the gaze that had chilled him.

Noticing the attic window of the Zhao house standing wide open, he asked, \u201cIs there still someone upstairs?\u201d

Earlier, in order to protect Aunt Zhao, Uncle Zhao, and her younger sister, Fan Changyu had jumped out the window to lure away most of the assassins. She had fully expected not to survive.

Who would have thought a troop of soldiers would suddenly appear in the street?

They claimed that yesterday the county magistrate had submitted a report regarding bandit troubles in Qingping County, so a military unit had been dispatched to investigate. Their scouts noticed suspicious activity at night, and a squad was sent to check the situation\u2014thus coincidentally saving her.

Now that the officer asked about the attic, Fan Changyu immediately remembered Yan Zheng\u2019s injuries and worried there might still be assassins inside who had discovered him.

She hurried upstairs. \u201cMy husband is badly injured. He\u2019s still upstairs.\u201d

Rather than ordering ordinary soldiers to go, Zheng Wenchang dismounted personally, one hand resting on the sword at his waist as he followed her upstairs.

When Fan Changyu rushed into the attic carrying a torch, she saw corpses of black-clothed assassins strewn everywhere across the room.

Xie Zheng lay collapsed in a pool of blood. His clothes had been slashed open in several places, and the upper half of his face was smeared with blood so completely that his original features were nearly impossible to recognize.

Fan Changyu had never expected so many assassins to still be left inside. Seeing him covered in blood, she feared he was dead, and her heart clenched painfully.

She rushed over to inspect his injuries. \u201cYan Zheng! How are you?\u201d

Panicked, she reached out to check his breathing. Only after discovering he was still alive did she finally let out a breath of relief.

Then she shouted outside, \u201cUncle Zhao! Come check on Yan Zheng!\u201d

Zheng Wenchang stepped into the attic with two soldiers behind him. He swept his gaze over the dead bodies in the room before landing on Xie Zheng\u2019s blood-covered face, as though trying hard to identify something.

Frowning, he asked, \u201cDid your husband kill all these people?\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"novel":[],"class_list":["post-3532","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3532"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3533,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3532\/revisions\/3533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=3532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}