"Have you finished investigating?" Yao Ling asked in surprise. She wondered how could he did it so fast?! Yao Ying just told her that he would order Xiu to investigate about it at noon and after lunch, they already got the result.

Xiu nodded. "Yes, Young Mistress. They follow the same pattern every day, so it was easy for me to take note of."

"Every day?" Yao Ling raised one of her eyebrows. Judging from Xiu's answer, it meant that he had paid attention to their schedule before today.

Before Xiu could answer, Yao Ying cut him off with a single sentence, "Ling-er, I will explain about it to you later."

Yao Ling didn't want to contradict him in front of Xiu, so she quickly agreed to him and didn't make it difficult for Yao Ying. She just wanted to listen to the report.

Yao Ying asked Xiu in a serious tone, "What did you find out from the investigation?"

Xiu explained, "If Young Master wants to go inside that gate, it will be hard..." Xiu honestly told them his finding without sugarcoating anything.

"Why?" Yao Ying asked curiously.

"Because it's being guarded by several hidden guards which martial arts skills are higher than us," Xiu tried to probe by subtly channeling his inner qi and the other party was quick to find his whereabouts. Fortunately, he was clever enough to use a cat as a diversion.

This confirmed what Yao Ying had felt back then.

Yao Ying started to realize that what was guarded inside there was very important. It was his mere curiosity to find out the treasures inside, but he wasn't an unreasonable person. Yao Ying always calculated the pros and cons before he made a decision, thus, he wouldn't behave rashly at this time.

Yao Ling only wanted to see the symbols on the front gate, so it should be easier to obtain. "What about the guards who are guarding the gate?" Yao Ling asked.

Xiu explained to them the time when the shift was changing and it would occur in a few shichen after this. The guards who were put in front of the gate didn't really have high martial arts skills. As long as Yao Ying was working fast on copying the symbols, then those guards wouldn't find out anything amiss. However, they just needed a diversion for the hidden guards.

"Do the hidden guards always stay close to the gate?" Yao Ling asked.

Xiu shook his head and answered, "Not really..." From his observation, Xiu found out a few things about the hidden guards. They weren't always in a specific place, so it would be hard to track them down --- especially because they could hide their inner qi very well, even better than them.

They always moved in a group of two or three at one time and even Xiu wondered... what kind of things were hidden in there.

Yao Ling nodded in understanding and her heart was secretly in relief. At least, they had a chance to get closer. They didn't need to get inside, so she didn't really care about the hidden guards.

Yao Ying made a plan and decided to quickly execute it that night. That plan excluded Yao Ling from coming with Yao Ying and Xiu. However, Yao Ling didn't agree with them.

Yao Ling hesitantly asked, "Ying... can I go along?" Yao Ling knew her request seemed a bit unreasonable. After all, she knew no martial arts and they still needed to be wary of the hidden guards. She could hinder them, but something was telling her to go. She wasn't sure why but the familiarity kept making her feel the goosebumps.

Yao Ying knew that the symbols were important to her, but if she risked her life for it, was it really worth it? He didn't think so! Hence, he was the first one who said his objection.

"Xiu, you go back first. I will call you back later," Yao Ling quickly gave an order to Xiu.

Xiu was at a loss... He looked at Yao Ying, feeling conflicted whether he should follow the young mistress' order or not. Yao Ling's lips slightly twitched and she asked Xiu in a stern voice, "What? So you don't want to listen to my order now, huh?"

Xiu didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. He didn't mean it that way ah~! Maybe the young mistress had gotten her period, so she was easily offended. He just asked confirmation from his young master ah~! No matter what he had to listen to Yao Ying first...

Yao Ying knew that Yao Ling started to get irritated and he didn't want to put Xiu in an awkward position, so he could only let Xiu go for now by nodding at Xiu. The latter felt like he was being pardoned and quickly ran away. He didn't want to be in the middle of the couple's fight ah~!

After Xiu left, Yao Ying asked, "Why?"

Yao Ling sighed and explained everything, but Yao Ying was still adamant in not letting her go along with them. "Don't you think that it's dangerous? I can't even guarantee my own safety... what more if I have to protect you too?!" Yao Ying explained to her in frustration. This was a basic logic, how could she not understand this?!

"I know! But I really can't stand the nagging feeling that I have! There would not be another chance for me to get closer to the gate anymore! It seems like those symbols keep calling me to get closer and... and... touch it!" Yao Ling knew that she seemed unreasonable, but this feeling was also killing her!

Yao Ying started to realize that it seemed like all this time Yao Ling's gut feeling wasn't as simple as it looked like. "Is there a difference between your current feeling with the previous nagging feeling?" Yao Ying asked.

Yao Ling nodded. "Yes! This time, the feeling is more intense and my heart keeps beating at a fast pace. And... and there's also a mixture of yearning... I... I don't know how to explain it..."

Yao Ling wasn't a rash person, but this time, she really couldn't help it. Yao Ying sighed when he looked at his agitated wife. He knew that she was actually a calm person when making a decision, however this time... haiyah~! He couldn't choose a word to describe it...

Once she started her stubborn streak, there was no use to persuade her. He was more afraid that she would choose to come out and go there by herself, if he was still adamant to let her stay behind.

He almost said yes when Yao Ling decided to use her charm. She looked syly and said, "Hubby..."

"Huh?" Yao Ying felt surprised by her sudden change of behavior.

"I will give you a benefit if you bring me along..." Yao Ling said in a seductive voice which made Yao Ying gulp. What was this? Did she try to bribe him?

"What kind of benefit?" Yao Ying asked curiously. This woman was quite shy beforehand, but she turned into a sly fox after tasting the full course ah~...[1].

Yao Ling whispered a few keywords to Yao Ying and it made the latter lit up. If Yao Ling spoke louder, people would be able to hear that she said 'bathtub' as one of the keywords.

She cleverly used her woman charm to seduce the poor man ah~! Well... as long as she achieved her goal! Besides, he was her husband, right?

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[1]. The full course referred to how they already did the deed until the climax --- in term of making love.