Indeed.

They’d slipped from the scene early, like wind skimming a pond. Even after Zixia Chen got the report, the rules were iron rails: Nana Toki and Qingyu Si still had to hit the precinct and record a statement.

They were up at first light, when the sky was pale ink.

Nana Toki and Qingyu Si rode with Uncle Chen to Zixia Chen’s precinct. Also waiting with Zixia Chen was Yu Lu, the man they’d met last night.

“What’re you doing here?”

Nana Toki eyed Yu Lu, gaze sharp as glass. “Fail a mission, get demoted by the Commander? Starting over here as a rookie cop?”

Yu Lu just stared, silence thick as tar.

Annoyance first: his patience pricked like thorns. “Does this woman ever say one nice thing?” he thought.

“I heard the task force here disarmed a ring of arms traffickers. I want to see if they’re the same group, so I came.” Demoted? No chance; in the unit, he’s top steel.

“Enough. Cut the chatter. Get in, record your statements with me, then scram.”

Zixia Chen’s temper steamed like a kettle.

She’d burned a whole night interrogating black‑market kidnappers and got nothing, smoke in her lungs. Now arms smugglers pile on, and she’s close to snapping.

Nana Toki and Qingyu Si felt her storm and kept their mouths shut.

They waited outside, quiet as stones.

They waited until Zixia Chen came, then she led them into a small side room, a lone compartment like a cage.

She tossed them a handful of fluff questions, enough to file the statements. With bruised moons under her eyes, she sent the mistress and maid out.

“You’re done. Head home.”

In her office, Zixia Chen didn’t even look up, pen scratching like rain. Last night had doubled her load.

“What about that guy?” At the doorway, Nana Toki pointed toward Yu Lu.

“He outranks me. He’s not under my precinct. Frankly, if he wants to sleep on the floor here, fine.”

Yu Lu: … His face twitched. Sleep on the precinct floor? As if.

“Speaking of which, Miss An, you’re with the Si Family, right?”

A thought flickered. Yu Lu tugged Nana Toki into a quiet corner, shadows like screens. He checked the room, then whispered, “We’ve got a lead on the stolen arms.”

“A lead? What kind of lead?”

Jolt first: her guard spiked, hand itching for the pocket knife. For a second, she thought he’d try something.

“The thieves might be tied to the Si Family.”

“Huh?”

Her breath hitched, doubt like cold water. His face was too serious for jokes. Something was off.

So we’re starting on hard mode already?

System-wise, this hidden quest is sprinting.

“Why tell me?”

They’d known each other for half a day. He dropped a bomb and expected trust. It wasn’t her noble charm moving him.

Suspicion first: there had to be a hook in the bait.

“No. I figure being a maid in the Si Family isn’t easy. I’m telling you so you watch your back around them.”

Yu Lu scratched his head, words lining up then breaking. He remembered her skills, toned it down, and tried, “If you’re interested, I’ll share intel. But you need to help me nail the truth.”

Ah. So he wanted free labor dressed as partnership.

She saw his play. No wonder he came to her—he needed her Si Family ties to pry this open.

Could she agree?

Answer first: of course.

No doubt.

Her gut said it linked to her System’s hidden quest; otherwise, why would it circle the Si Family?

She agreed on the spot, but she’d loop in Qingyu Si first—no need to spark avoidable trouble.

Yu Lu nodded. Qingyu Si was direct line.

She wasn’t in the main house, but she was Si Family.

Her help would be gold in this.

“You think this ties to the main house?”

Hearing it, Qingyu Si’s willow brows drew in, worry like a thin cloud.

She wasn’t resident there, but she heard the inner gears turn.

Stealing state munitions is a death sentence, thunder-flat.

Even her father, Kongxiao Si, wouldn’t be that foolish.

“How solid is this?”

Her instinct spoke first: this was bigger than theft; something deeper hid under the water.

The main house wouldn’t steal state arms for quick cash and ship them overseas.

“Hard to say. If we keep digging, we might land the truth.”

Nana Toki’s brows furrowed, doubt a tight knot. If the Si Family did this, they wouldn’t let her see it. The System’s quest and Yu Lu’s misdirects smelled of a setup.

Chasing it was the only clean path.

“Then we follow the thread.”

She paused, gaze brushing Yu Lu like a leaf over stone. “If this is true, we won’t be safe either.”

Nana Toki caught her meaning, then went to Yu Lu and relayed it.

He looked relieved to have their help, and laid out the stolen-arms case in broad strokes. Then his face hardened: “We can’t confirm it’s Si Family yet. If we ID the traffickers Captain Zixia Chen grabbed, we can settle it.”

“No time to waste. Let’s tell Zixia Chen.”

Cracking the hidden quest tugged at Nana Toki like a drumbeat.

After a few minutes of whispers with Yu Lu, they flowed back to Zixia Chen’s office.

Zixia Chen had expected Yu Lu’s request to see the captured arms smugglers. Hearing their pitch, the busy captain just pointed at a junior officer: “Zhang, take the three of them.”

She bent back over her interrogation report, ink like winter rain.

Officer Zhang led them to the holding cells for the arms smugglers.

The door groaned open.

They stepped in.

Inside, more iron bars ribbed the room.

Beyond them, a dozen people curled with knees hugged, like cold birds. Clearly arrested.

A few looked up, silent as embers, eyes hard. They sized the unfamiliar trio without a word.

“These are the ones Zixia Chen nabbed for arms smuggling?”

Yu Lu frowned at the faces beyond the bars, expression tilting strange.

First doubt: too few?

And.

“I don’t recognize any of them.”

Qingyu Si had spent time in the main house as a child; she remembered most faces.

These held here rang no bells.

“Is this a mistake? They shouldn’t be Si Family.”

“No mistake. My people mapped their circles. They all had close contact with Kunwu Si. Even if they aren’t Si Family, they’re tied to it.”

Yu Lu crouched near the bars, studying them, his look growing odd.

A wrong note kept humming.

“Kunwu Si?”

Qingyu Si murmured the name, turning it over like a pebble. She’d heard it somewhere.

“Something up?”

Seeing her lady’s face tighten, Nana asked, concern like a thin thread.

“No. Just remembered something.” She smoothed her expression, calm returning like still water.

She’d call her father tonight about Kunwu Si.

“Any progress?”

Zixia Chen finished her office work and came over, steps brisk as sparrows.

“No leads yet. Captain Chen, can I ask them a few questions?”

Yu Lu brushed dust from his pants, stood, and asked, “It won’t take long. Just a few minutes.”

“Questions…” Zixia Chen blinked, surprised. She’d expected him to ask to interrogate.

“Not impossible. If you can get anything.” She spread her hands, helplessness like gray fog. “Their mouths are tight. We got nothing from formal sessions. If you only ask, they may ignore you.”

“Then can I try?”

Suddenly.

Nana Toki spoke up beside Qingyu Si.

Eyes in the cell slid to her, like iron filings to a magnet.

“You?”

Zixia Chen looked her over, suspicion like a thin blade. “You sure? We don’t endorse violence here.”

Her first thought was coercion.

But.

“Of course I won’t use anything cruel.”

Nana Toki smiled, spring-soft. “Anyone who knows me knows I’m very kind.”