"Lady Yae, please wait!" Kujou Sara called out, stopping the Guuji in her tracks. There were still some things she hadn't figured out about that Fatui Harbinger, and judging from Yae Miko's reaction earlier, it seemed she knew something.
In response to Kujou Sara's call, the fox envoy didn't stop but instead tossed back a remark: "As for that child Scaramouche, General Kujou, it would be better for you to ask the Raiden Shogun directly."
"Ask the Shogun directly?" Watching Yae Miko's retreating figure, Kujou Sara muttered to herself, a bitter smile on her face. Asking the Shogun directly... wasn't that a bit too much pressure?
...
"Thoma, are you sure this person is the Yun Fan you mentioned?" In a room of the Komore Teahouse, Kamisato Ayaka knelt on the tatami, gently tapping her thigh with a folding fan in her right hand. Her loose ponytail cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall, and at this moment, she lacked her usual grace and elegance.
"Uh, my lady, as much as I don't want to admit it, the person on the wanted poster is indeed the Yun Fan I know." Thoma scratched his cheek awkwardly. This morning, as usual, he was gathering information on Ritou when he noticed that everyone was holding a piece of paper.
Curious about what people were looking at, he took one from the distributing samurai and examined it closely. But when he realized it was a wanted poster, and the person on it was none other than Yun Fan, whom he had met not long ago, his mind nearly short-circuited.
"This is going to be troublesome." Ayaka rubbed her temples, a wave of worry washing over her. This young man from Liyue had kidnapped the adopted daughter of Kujou Takayuki, the General of the Tenryou Commission. Although the Tenryou Commission was already quite corrupt, their methods were still not to be underestimated.
If they were willing to investigate, they would quickly trace it back to Thoma, and from there, the entire Kamisato Clan would be implicated.
"My lady, what should we do next?" Thoma asked cautiously, though he had already made up his mind. If the Tenryou Commission really traced the clues back to him through the Kanjou Commission, he would "betray" the Yashiro Commission, ensuring that this matter wouldn't implicate the clan head or his lady.
"Ah." Ayaka closed her eyes for a long moment, then let out a sigh. "For now, we can only wait and see."
——————
Kanjou Commission...
"Columbina, where have you been? I haven't seen you for over a day." In the Fatui guest room, La Signora looked thoughtfully at Columbina, who had just returned from outside, and casually asked.
"Hmm~" Columbina didn't answer La Signora's question, only humming lightly as she picked up a teacup from the table, her face filled with delight.
"Oh? Looking like that, could it be that you've secretly found a lover outside?" La Signora raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with three parts mockery and seven parts teasing.
"..." Columbina fell silent, unsure how to respond. She could only continue sipping her tea, though a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
Seeing this, La Signora dropped her earlier attitude and instead looked shocked. "It can't be true, can it? You actually found a lover outside?!"
In all the years she had known Columbina, she had never seen her show interest in any man. In the past, the girl would simply scoff at handsome men, and if anyone annoyed her, she wouldn't hesitate to kill them!
This cold, thorny girl, like a rose, had actually fallen in love? Could this be the so-called "iron tree blooming"?
As for La Signora's reaction, Columbina simply brushed it off. She smoothed out the wrinkles on her clothes and then spoke: "La Signora, it's not just you who can have worldly desires. For me, this is more of a transaction, a mission. Whether I can gain what you call 'love' isn't important; at most, it's just an added bonus."
As Columbina said, she had never held any hope for that elusive thing called love. Having lived for who knows how many years, she had long passed the age of naive fantasies about princes on white horses. The only thing that remained in her heart was the obsession to bring down the Heavenly Principles. For this, she would stop at nothing, even if it meant sacrificing everything, including herself.
If all it took was giving herself to gain the help of a powerhouse on par with the Heavenly Principles, then it was more than worth it. So last night, Columbina allowed the firewater to numb her, leaving herself completely defenseless, waiting for Yun Fan to make his move.
But to her surprise, this man, who usually spouted sweet nothings, turned out to be a true gentleman. Last night, he simply tucked her in and left. Tsk! Was she not alluring enough?
"Hmph! Using emotions as a tool to achieve your goals, that's so like you, Columbina." La Signora sneered at the girl's words, her face full of disdain. She had always hated such emotional manipulation. After all, the Crimson Witch of Flames and the Wolf Pup of the North Wind had once written a tragic love story with their lives. Even now, she still dreamed that Rostam would one day return to her side.
"Thank you for the compliment." The girl smiled sweetly, unbothered by the veiled mockery in La Signora's tone. When had Columbina ever needed to explain herself to a little girl like La Signora?
"Hmph!"
...
Kujou Estate. As the head of the Tenryou Commission, Kujou Takayuki slammed his fist on the documents his subordinates had just presented, his face dark with anger. In this era where the Tenryou Commission held immense power, someone had dared to kidnap his adopted daughter, General Kujou Sara, right under everyone's noses. This was a blatant disregard for his authority!
"Have you still not found any trace of that criminal?"
At Kujou Takayuki's question, the soldiers below all fell silent, afraid to provoke their lord's wrath and bring death upon themselves. However, staying silent wasn't a long-term solution either.
"Lord Tenryou, we've mobilized all available forces to search for General Kujou, but as of now—" The soldier speaking swallowed hard. "We still haven't found any trace..."
"Useless fools!" Kujou Takayuki grabbed an inkstone from the table and hurled it at the kneeling soldier.
Thud! With a dull thud, the soldier was struck, blood streaming from his head. But he only bit his lip, remaining kneeling on the ground, not daring to make a sound.
"Huff, huff..." After venting his anger, Kujou Takayuki coldly said, "I'll give you two more days. If you still haven't found General Kujou by then, you can all commit seppuku!"
"Yes!" xN
The soldiers responded in unison, gritting their teeth as they accepted Kujou Takayuki's order. If they didn't, they might not even make it out of the Kujou Estate alive today.
Just as everyone was despairing, a voice of surprise suddenly came from outside.
"General Kujou... General Kujou has returned!"