Nine Nights Owl Song

November 18th, the seventeenth year of Yong'an.

Half a month had passed since the bloody battle at Eagle's Sorrow Gorge. A thick layer of dark red scab had formed on the wound on Su Jiuge's left shoulder, and the edges of the scab were beginning to lift, revealing the tender new skin underneath.

The doctor said she recovered incredibly quickly; most people would be bedridden for at least a month after a bone injury, but she was able to get out of bed and walk around in just half a month.

What the doctor didn't know was that she secretly started practicing her internal energy on the third day, and on the seventh day she practiced a set of boxing moves in the yard—using her right arm while her left arm hung motionless in front of her chest, relying entirely on the power of her waist and legs.

Su Chengzhi saw it, and his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot, but she insisted on going her own way.

Life at the Marquis's residence was much more peaceful than in the Dark Pavilion, so peaceful that Su Jiuge was not used to it.

Every morning, Madam Shen would personally bring the medicine over and watch her drink it before leaving.

Next to each bowl of medicine was a plate of snacks, sometimes osmanthus cake, sometimes lotus seed pastry, sometimes red bean cake, with different kinds, just in case she found the medicine bitter.

Su Jiuge always finished her drinks and ate all the snacks; she never left any.

Shen saw this but said nothing, only changing the approach the next day.

Su Chengzhi would come every day after court, sit on the chair by the bed, sometimes say a few words, sometimes say nothing.

He learned how to peel chestnuts—Su Jiuge taught him. He would pinch a slit in the chestnut shell with his fingernail, then squeeze it with both hands, and the shell would crack open without the skin sticking to the flesh.

He studied very diligently, peeling one chestnut after another. Although his fingers were clumsy and the chestnuts he peeled were always bumpy, Su Jiuge ate them all.

Su Chengen came frequently, but he didn't sit with anyone; he came to discuss business.

He told her about everything that happened inside and outside the Hou Mansion, the Zhou family's movements, and the rumors circulating in the court.

Su Jiuge discovered that her gentle and refined second brother was extremely organized, with clear thinking and rigorous logic, making him more suitable than Su Chengzhi for handling complex political affairs. Su Chengzhi, on the other hand, was better suited for one thing—to identify a goal, dive headfirst into it, and not give up until he hits a wall.

Just like that day at Eagle's Sorrow Gorge, he lay prone on the top of the gorge for nearly an hour, his muscles so strained that he could no longer hold a pen, but when he shot that arrow, it was as steady as a nail driven into a wall.

The heavy snow in early November lasted for three days and three nights, burying Luoyang in more than a foot of snow. There were fewer pedestrians and vehicles on the streets, and the whole city was as quiet as a giant tomb.

Su Jiuge stood by the window, looking at the pomegranate tree in the yard whose branches were bent under the weight of snow, and suddenly remembered something.

She asked Su Chengzhi, "How is Aunt Zhou now?"

Su Chengzhi paused for a moment as he was about to peel chestnuts.

"He's been locked in the woodshed in the backyard. The Marquis said he'll deal with him once you've recovered."

woodshed.

In the dead of winter, the ground was drafty and covered with a thin layer of straw.

Aunt Zhou lived in the Marquis's mansion for twenty years. She lived in the three main rooms of the east wing, which had underfloor heating in winter and an ice basin in summer. She was surrounded by maids and servants.

Now she lives in the woodshed, wrapped in a tattered quilt, huddled in a corner, keeping company with the rats.

Su Jiuge didn't go to see her. There was no need. A dying person wasn't worth her going to see her.

But the Zhou family's score needs to be settled.

Shen learned about Aunt Zhou's affair three days later.

Su Zhentian didn't hide anything from her. He told Shen Shi everything that Aunt Zhou had done in the Marquis's mansion over the years—planting spies, administering slow-acting poison, and switching his daughter's body.

He spoke very slowly, each word sounding as if it were being dug out of his throat.

After hearing this, Madam Shen did not cry, make a scene, or faint. She simply sat there, head down, looking at her hands, which were trembling slightly.

After a long while, Madam Shen raised her head, looked at Su Zhentian, and said, "Zhentian, I want you to divorce her and kick her out of the mansion. I want her to know that she is not a member of the Su family, she is nothing."

Su Zhentian took her hand and said, "Okay."

Madam Shen was not blinded by revenge. She knew what Aunt Zhou had done, but she did not say "I want her dead." She knew that Su Jiuge had promised to deal with Aunt Zhou herself. This was the first time her daughter had made a request to the Marquis's mansion, and she would not take it from her.

November 20th, the seventeenth year of Yong'an.

Zhou Wenyuan was taken away from his official position in the Ministry of Revenue.

The people who took him away were from the Ministry of Justice, and the leader was none other than the Sixth Prince, Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan, dressed in a bright red python robe, wearing a golden crown and a jade belt, rode a tall horse and led a troop of imperial guards through the main gate of the Ministry of Revenue. In front of all the officials in the office, he read out the arrest warrant from the Ministry of Justice.

Zhou Wenyuan's face was as white as paper, his lips trembling as he tried to say something. Xiao Yan smiled, patted his shoulder, and whispered in his ear:

"Lord Zhou, your affair has been exposed."

The voice was very soft, so soft that only Zhou Wenyuan could hear it. Then he waved his hand, and the Imperial Guards stepped forward and took Zhou Wenyuan away.

The Zhou family's silk shop, pawnshop, tea plantation, and farmland were all seized on the same day. Officials from the Jingzhao Prefecture, armed with search warrants, searched and sealed off each property one by one.

The silk shop assistants were driven out onto the street, clutching their bundles, staring blankly at the seals pasted on the doors.

The pawnshop manager was taken away, as was the accountant, Sun Maocai.

Sun Maocai was a coward. Before the Ministry of Justice even tortured him, he confessed all of Zhou Wenyuan's accounts over the years—which sum of money came from where, which sum of money was sent to where, which sum of money was embezzled by Zhou Wenyuan himself, and which sum of money was used to bribe officials in the court.

It was all very clear and explicit, even detailing Zhou Wenyuan's methods for falsifying accounts in the Ministry of Revenue.

The intelligence from Qianjilou and Sun Maocai's confession combined formed irrefutable evidence.

Zhou Wenyuan didn't even have a chance to argue.

November 22nd, the woodshed of the Marquis of Dingyuan's residence.

Su Jiuge stood at the door of the woodshed, dressed in a dark gray short brown outfit, her hair tied into a braid with a strip of cloth, and a narrow-bladed straight knife hanging at her waist.

Her left shoulder was still in a sling, but it was mostly healed. She pushed open the door to the woodshed and went inside.

The woodshed was small and piled high with firewood and straw.

Aunt Zhou huddled in the corner, wrapped in a tattered quilt, her hair disheveled, her face haggard, and her eyes sunken.

She looked up when she heard the noise and saw Su Jiuge.

At that moment, there was no extra emotion in her eyes, only a resigned light.

"You've come to see me make a fool of myself?" Her voice was hoarse but calm.

Su Jiuge squatted down in front of her, looking her in the eye.

"Your elder brother, Zhou Wenyuan, has been taken away by the Ministry of Justice. The Zhou family's properties in Luoyang have been seized. All the spies you planted in the Marquis's residence have been eliminated. The doctor has found an antidote for the slow-acting poison you used to treat the Madam. Your backer, Zhao Wenchang, is currently immobilized, but he will join you sooner or later."

Aunt Zhou's pupils suddenly contracted.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.

She stopped speaking and remained silent for a long time.

Then she laughed, a low and desolate laugh that echoed in the empty woodshed, like the sobbing of the wind blowing through withered branches.

"Twenty years," Aunt Zhou said.

"I spent twenty years in the Marquis's mansion, paving the way for the Zhou family for twenty years. In the end, I had nothing left. No family, no money, no status, and I was even on the verge of death. And you..."

She looked at Su Jiuge.

"You did nothing, you just came back. With your return, I have nothing left. Why? Why can you get everything without doing anything? My twenty years of hard work are worth less than your words, 'I am Su Jiuge'?"

Su Jiuge stood up.

"Your life's work?"

She repeated those four words, her voice completely flat.

"You mean you harmed a newborn baby, poisoned an innocent woman with a slow-acting poison for sixteen years, planted twenty-four spies around a man who trusted you, and used the connections and resources of the Marquis of Dingyuan's mansion to pave the way for your Zhou family... You call this painstaking effort? This is insidious, vicious, and heartless..."

Aunt Zhou looked at Su Jiuge, at those cold eyes, and suddenly shivered.

It wasn't because of the cold, but because she saw herself in those eyes—the version of herself from sixteen years ago.

That version of myself who would stop at nothing, harm others, and even kill for the sake of family interests.

Su Jiuge drew her sword.

The blade flashed in the dim light of the woodshed, too fast to see clearly.

Aunt Zhou closed her eyes, awaiting the final pain. But the pain did not come. She heard the sound of the chains breaking, crisp and short.

She opened her eyes and looked down to see that the chains on her wrists were broken. Her shackles were broken too.

Aunt Zhou was stunned.

She didn't understand that she had harmed this person's mother, taken away this person's identity, and ruined this person's life.

Now this person stands before her, draws his knife, and cuts not her neck, but her shackles.

"You're not going to kill me?" Aunt Zhou's voice trembled.

Su Jiuge sheathed her sword.

"Killing you would dirty my knife."

She turned around and walked towards the door of the woodshed.

"Your name will no longer appear on the Hou family's genealogy. The Zhou family's debt to the Su family will be repaid, one debt at a time. This is what you owe my mother, and what you owe me. I will let you live, live to see how the Zhou family is destroyed, bit by bit." After saying this, Su Jiuge walked out of the woodshed.

Aunt Zhou slumped on the haystack, staring at the open door, the sunlight outside so bright it stung her eyes.

She suddenly burst into tears, crying her heart out and pounding her chest in despair.

She wasn't crying out of regret, but because she finally understood something—Su Jiuge didn't kill her not out of pity, but as punishment.

To let her live, to watch everything she owns crumble bit by bit, is a million times worse than death.

Su Jiuge walked along the veranda of the Marquis's mansion, and behind her came the mournful cries of Aunt Zhou.

She didn't stop walking. She knew that from today onwards, Aunt Zhou would completely disappear from the Dingyuan Marquis's residence.

She's not dead, but more thoroughly than dead. She'll be sent back to the Zhou family, back to the family she once desperately tried to cling to, but the Zhou family itself is in dire straits.

The Zhou family is finished.

November 25th, the seventeenth year of Yong'an.

The atmosphere in the Marquis's mansion has changed.

From the day Aunt Zhou was sent away, the gloom that had hung over the Marquis's mansion gradually dissipated.

The servants walked with lighter steps and spoke louder voices.

In Shen's room, the incense had been changed. The doctor said that after three more months of treatment, the remaining toxins in her body would be completely cleared.

The Shen family is preparing for one thing—Su Jiuge's coming-of-age ceremony.

Su Jiuge, who was born on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in the first year of Yong'an, will turn sixteen years old on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month this year.

The coming-of-age ceremony requires inviting guests, holding a banquet, and preparing formal attire, hair ornaments, and hairpins.

Shen started getting busy in late November, getting up before dawn every day to draft the guest list, finalize the banquet menu, select dress fabrics, and design hairstyles.

Her face shone with a radiance of joy.

After sixteen years, she can finally hold a coming-of-age ceremony for her daughter.

Su Jiuge was unaware of these matters, and even if she had, she wouldn't have known how to respond.

All she knew was that Madam Shen had been very busy lately, so busy that she no longer had time to deliver the medicine herself—they had replaced her with a maid. But each time the maid delivered the medicine, she would bring a plate of snacks, and the variety of snacks changed every day.

Su Jiuge thought that Shen probably wanted to make all the pastries that she hadn't made in sixteen years.

November 27th, the seventeenth year of Yong'an.

In the small courtyard north of the city, the old locust tree had lost all its leaves, and its bare branches swayed gently in the cold wind.

Bai Yu sat under the tree in his usual chair, with a pot of tea and two cups in front of him.

Su Jiuge sat opposite him, the bandage on her left shoulder had been removed.

"It's time to settle the score with the Blood Hall."

Bai Yu put down his teacup, looked at Su Jiuge, and his gentle smile disappeared.

His expression turned serious and solemn.

"The headquarters of the Blood Hall is in Liangzhou in the Northwest, where Chen Beixuan has been operating for over a year. His forces aren't large, but they are all elites—those who defected from the Dark Pavilion to him are all assassins with silver rank or higher. The Blood Hall's power is not as great as the Dark Pavilion's, but it is much more difficult to deal with. The Dark Pavilion has many rules and restrictions, while the Blood Hall has none."

"The Blood Hall has no rules," Bai Yu repeated.

"There are no restrictions either. Chen Beixuan doesn't restrain his subordinates. As long as they pay him, they can kill anyone. The Blood Hall's assassins are harder to deal with than the Dark Pavilion's, not because their martial arts are better, but because they are more insane and more reckless."

"Of the three gold medalists who came last time, two died and one escaped."

Su Jiuge's voice was as calm as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with her.

She picked up her teacup and took a sip.

"Chen Beixuan probably already knows. He won't let this go."

"He knows."

Bai Yu said, "The day after Ghost Shadow returned to Liangzhou, Chen Beixuan issued a decree. The reward of 100,000 taels of silver was doubled to 200,000 taels for Night Owl's head. He wanted him alive or dead."

Two hundred thousand taels.

Su Jiuge did the math in her head. She could only get a few thousand taels of silver from the two percent reward she received for a top-tier mission at the Dark Pavilion. The Thousand Machine Pavilion, on the other hand, gave her a 70% cut, and a decent mission could earn her tens of thousands of taels.

She would have to work tirelessly for twenty top-tier missions to earn two hundred thousand taels of silver.

Now, this money is buying her life.

Bai Yu pushed a file in front of her, on which were written two words: "Blood Hall".

Opening the file, the first page is a map of Liangzhou City, marking the location of the Blood Hall headquarters, the surrounding terrain, the city's defense layout, and troop deployment.

The second page contains detailed information about Chen Beixuan, including his martial arts level, fighting style, personality traits, and weaknesses.

Pages three through ten contain intelligence on the Blood Hall's other top assassins, each with a detailed file—codename, real name, martial arts level, preferred weapon, past achievements, personality traits, and weaknesses.

"Qianjilou spent three months investigating these matters."

Bai Yu's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible pride, "The Blood Hall's secrets are all here. You can use them however you want, and the Thousand Machine Pavilion will fully cooperate."

Su Jiuge flipped through the files page by page, reading slowly and carefully, memorizing every word.

An assassin's instinct—intelligence is life; reading even one more word could mean one more life.

"Will you leave after your coming-of-age ceremony?" Bai Yu suddenly asked her.

"What?"

"Coming-of-age ceremony".

Bai Yu picked up his teacup, took a sip, and spoke as if he were chatting casually.

"Your mother has been preparing for half a month. The guests have been invited, the banquet has been booked, and the style of the hairstyle has also been decided. It was specially brought in from the south of the city and cost twenty taels of silver."

Su Jiuge paused for a moment as she flipped through the files.

"The coming-of-age ceremony is on the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is twelve days away." Bai Yu put down his teacup. "Do you want to have the ceremony first, or go to Liangzhou first?"

Su Jiuge remained silent for a long time.

She looked at the dossier in her hand, at the three words "Chen Beixuan" on it, and at the map of Liangzhou City.

The Blood Hall has already sent three people to kill her; next time it might be six, or even nine.

She could wait, until her injuries were fully healed, until she broke through in martial arts, until her coming-of-age ceremony was over, until she had a birthday dinner with Madam Shen.

Blood Hall won't wait.

Her left shoulder no longer hurts.

The wound has scabbed over, and the new skin underneath is tender, red, and itchy. The itching indicates that it is healing.

Her internal strength did not decline during the two weeks of recuperation; on the contrary, it became even stronger due to the process of settling down.

Her experience of defeating two late-stage Transformation Realm cultivators while transcending a major realm gave her a qualitative leap in understanding martial arts.

She had already touched the threshold between the mid-stage and late-stage Transformation Realm, and was just one step away from achieving it.

Su Jiuge closed the file.

"I'll tell my wife. Today."

The room of Madam Shen in the Marquis of Dingyuan's residence.

Madam Shen was sitting by the window embroidering a handkerchief. It was a light purple color with an orchid embroidered on the corner. The stitches were fine and meticulous, and she had put a lot of care into every stitch.

Su Jiuge walked in and stood in front of her. Shen looked up and was taken aback when she saw that Su Jiuge had taken the initiative to come to her. Then she smiled.

"Jiuge, you've come at the perfect time! Come and see the styles of this hairpin. Which one do you like?"

She took several sheets of paper from under the sewing basket and spread them out on the table.

"These were sent by the jewelry store. There are three styles: one is gold-inlaid with jade, one is red gold phoenix head, and one is kingfisher feather butterfly. Mother thinks the gold-inlaid jade one is better, as it matches the jade pendant your father gave you."

Su Jiuge looked at the drawings and the styles of hairpins on them: gold-inlaid jade, red gold phoenix heads, kingfisher feather butterflies—each one was exquisite and beautiful.

Mr. Shen had already asked about the workmanship, price, advantages and disadvantages of the three styles in great detail.

"daughter."

Shen paused for a moment.

This was the first time Su Jiuge had called her "Mother".

A single word, very short, but like a pebble thrown into a calm lake. Shen's eyes reddened; she had waited sixteen years for this word.

"I need to go out."

Su Jiuge said, "I'm going to Liangzhou. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I'll be back before the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month. Wait for me to come back for my birthday."

The blueprints in Shen's hand fell onto the table.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say, "You're not allowed to go. Your injury hasn't healed yet. It's so dangerous outside."

But as she looked at Su Jiuge's face—those once cold eyes now held something new, something she had seen many times in her husband Su Zhentian's eyes—

determination.

The determination of a military general before going into battle.

"Can you come back?" Shen asked, her voice trembling.

"Yes," Su Jiuge said.

Shen reached out and grasped Su Jiuge's hand tightly, her hand trembling.

"Mother is waiting for you to come back."

Madam Shen's voice was soft, "I've prepared everything for your coming-of-age ceremony, and I'm just waiting for you to come back."

Su Jiuge did not answer. She didn't know how to answer. She simply let Shen hold her hand and didn't pull it away.

Shen held her hand and carefully put away the drawings one by one.

"We'll look at it when you get back. No rush, there's still time."

Su Jiuge stood there, watching Shen Shi fold the blueprints and put them back in the sewing basket, her movements very slow. She knew Shen Shi was holding back tears.

"Mother," Su Jiuge called out again.

Shen raised her head.

"I will definitely come back."

Su Jiuge released Shen's hand, turned around and walked to the door, paused for a moment but did not turn back.

"Is there any more of that osmanthus cake?"

Shen's tears finally fell, but she smiled, nodding through her tears.

"Yes, yes, Mom saved some for you. Is one dish enough? Mom will make you two, three, as many as you want."

Su Jiuge walked out.

Behind him, Shen was slumped over the table, her shoulders shaking violently, but she made no sound.

Outside the door, Su Zhentian stood under the eaves, his hands behind his back, looking at the gray sky, his eyes slightly red.

He didn't stop Su Jiuge; he knew he couldn't. She was the daughter of the Marquis of Dingyuan, and her blood contained the blood of a military general.

A warrior's blood will not falter in the face of danger.

Su Jiuge walked past Su Zhentian, descended the steps, and her footsteps gradually faded away on the veranda.

Su Zhentian didn't turn around to look at her, but silently said one sentence in his heart—come back alive.

He didn't say it.

I've never said it out loud in my entire life.

But his daughter knew.

Because she turned around.

At the end of the corridor, Su Jiuge stopped and looked back.

What I saw was Su Zhentian's back as he stood under the eaves, hands behind his back, looking at the sky, his back straight, like a long spear stuck in the ground.

Su Jiuge glanced at it only once, then turned around and walked out of the Marquis's residence.

On the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, in Liangzhou, at the Blood Hall.

She will definitely come back before that day, eat the osmanthus cake made by Madam Shen, wear the lotus-root colored dress chosen by Madam Shen, wear the gold-inlaid jade hairpin selected by Madam Shen, and celebrate her first birthday in sixteen years.

She promised.