Night Investigation

There's still some time before the Queen Mother's birthday bash—Grace figures she can totally level up to Fifth Rank by then!

When the time comes, among all the unmarried girls under twenty, Grace will be pretty much unbeatable.

Maya Summers was a whirlwind—never one to sit still for a second.

Just the day after the temple fair, she suddenly showed up at the Serenity Pavilion looking for Grace.

And the moment she saw Grace, Maya Summers yanked her off to somewhere private.

"Aunt Maya, what's going on?" Grace asked.

Maya Summers looked a little pale and said, "I've heard the scoop—Prince Cheng really did buy Diana Su's freedom from Blossom Pavilion, and he's set her up in a house on North City."

"See?" Grace felt relieved. "Couples should trust each other, sure, but that trust should come from really knowing each other! Blind trust is just asking for trouble, right?"

"Exactly!" Maya said firmly. "So tonight, I'm going to check out that house with my own eyes."

"Oh..." Grace nodded. "Alright, let's check it out."

"You're coming with me."

"Me?" Grace pointed to her own nose, totally surprised.

Maya nodded.

"But if I go, I'll just slow you down!" Grace protested. "I can't even climb over a wall..."

"Don't worry! Just do what I say."

"But I'm just a burden, why bring me along?"

Grace couldn't help but worry that Maya's cultivation wasn't strong enough—bringing her along might just get them caught.

"Enough whining! At dusk, put on these and wait for me!" Maya tossed a bundle of black clothes at Grace and marched off before she could protest.

Grace opened the bundle—it was a full set of stealth gear.

Dusk.

Both Grace and Maya suited up in their stealth gear, hats pulled low to cover their faces, and rode out to the back of the house Maya had scoped out.

The back wall was super tall, with faint iron wires glinting at the top.

That was a trap.

Touch those wires and—ding!—the bell goes off, and everyone knows we're here.

Security was pretty tight.

"Aunt Maya, how are we supposed to get in?" Grace asked, sounding worried.

"Don’t worry, just watch me." Maya pulled out a steel claw, ready to toss it up the wall.

"Wait!" Grace shouted. "There are wires on the wall!"

"So what about the wires?" Maya, despite being Grace’s aunt, was honestly a bit clueless about stuff like this.

"Touch it and we'll get caught," Grace said. "Just grab my waist and jump in!"

Maya shook her head. "You're way too heavy—how am I supposed to jump with you?"

"Just try! I'm super light, promise. I believe in you, Aunt Maya!"

Maya frowned at the wires, then grabbed Grace by the waist and leapt up.

She hadn’t expected it, but they actually made it over in one jump.

"Are you really that light? Fifty pounds?" Maya whispered.

"I'm ninety pounds! It's just your cultivation's gotten stronger, Aunt Maya!"

Maya thought it was weird but didn’t have time to dwell. "Stick with me and don’t make a sound," she told Grace.

Grace nodded.

Maya’s cultivation was actually pretty solid. She led Grace, sneaking and hiding, and easily found a hiding spot: inside the big water vat by the door.

In the big house, every courtyard had a water vat for putting out fires.

Maya found one vat that was empty and squeezed inside with Grace.

Lucky for them, this vat had a few holes facing the door—probably why it wasn’t used for water—so they could peek outside through the holes.