Seeing the young girl enter the inn, Qian Baoshan secretly sneered in his heart.

Initially, he was slightly worried that this young girl had come to the Capital City to visit relatives, considering she possessed a certain air about her. However, since she entered the inn, it indicated she had no roots, no relatives, no friends in the Capital City.

He then had no further concerns; he was determined to have this little girl!

There are many beautiful things in this world, but very few belong to him. He knew he had to rely on himself for everything, he had to scheme and maneuver to get what he wanted. Now, what he wanted the most was this girl who looked like a fairy.

He had never seen such a beautiful girl in his life. Thinking of enslaving her, possessing her, made Qian Baoshan feel a rush of excitement.

The excitement of breaking something beautiful, the excitement of possessing something wonderful.

Xia Wenjin booked an upper room, and she did notice the sneaky figure behind her.

Yet, she didn’t bother with such a small pest.

Just as well, she also needed to crush him to prevent him from growing up and causing harm to countless others in the future.

Qian Baoshan took the opportunity to peek at the shopkeeper’s records, found out which room Xia Wenjin was in, and then left.

He couldn’t act during broad daylight either.

He didn’t know that shortly after he excused himself with a stomachache and left, a rider dashed back through the city gate. That was Huangfu Yuxuan’s guard, Cui Huai.

Cui Huai reached the gate and immediately galloped into the city, his horse speeding along, but once inside the city, he quickly dismounted.

In front of a wonton stall, he sat down.

The stall owner promptly served a steaming bowl of wontons.

Cui Huai picked up his chopsticks but pointed his mouth towards the back of the girl in green, saying, "Master’s orders, follow her, report everything, down to the smallest detail!"

The stall owner replied softly, "Understood!"

Cui Huai tossed a few coins on the table, turned back onto his horse, and sped away.

It seemed as if he had hurried over just for a few bites of wonton.

After entering the inn, Xia Wenjin did not go out, but come evening, someone came to find her.

It was a woman in her twenties. She entered Xia Wenjin’s room and stayed for a full half-hour before coming out. Another half-hour later, Xia Wenjin left.

Xia Wenjin first found a place to eat.

After finishing her meal, the sky was completely dark.

At this time, people on the street were hurriedly packing up, appearing quite chaotic.

Xia Wenjin’s gaze fell on the southeast corner, where a man was speaking with a stall owner who was packing up; a figure quickly flashed behind a pillar to the west.

She curved her lips into a cold smile.

She had just arrived in the Capital City, yet why were there so many tails? However, she paid them no heed, turning to head in another direction. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

She walked quickly, weaving through the crowd. With people coming and going, it wasn’t easy to follow someone, let alone with Xia Wenjin purposefully trying to shake them off.

By the time they couldn’t even see a trace of the person they were following, they were quite frustrated. Wasn’t this a young girl who had just arrived in the Capital City? By rights, she should be unfamiliar with the place, so how did she manage to evade their pursuit?

The one most frustrated among them was Qian Baoshan.

When the city gates closed, Qian Baoshan hurriedly lurked outside the Jinyun Inn where Xia Wenjin was staying; Jingyun Inn did not serve food, so guests had to eat at the taverns outside, though some newcomers entrusted the staff to order meals for them.

He was still contemplating how to lure her out, but unexpectedly, she came out on her own and began wandering around the streets.

He was secretly delighted, thinking, indeed, heaven is helping me!

Following her all the way, seeing Xia Wenjin completely off-guard made him feel both pleased and disdainful. To think she dared to confront him at the city gates, did she have no brains?

But having no brains was good, he thought. He wanted someone beautiful and brainless, allowing him to enjoy his fun and sell for a high price.

But he lost her.

A careless, heartless little girl, actually managed to give him the slip? It was baffling.

If she returned to the inn, it would be much more difficult to make a move. Did he have to wait until tomorrow?

Qian Baoshan felt rather disgruntled; the mission had failed prematurely, truly bad luck!

He kicked the corner of a wall in frustration, only to hurt his foot, and cursed while limping back. After walking a dozen or so steps, a woman suddenly emerged from a nearby shop, her green clothes flowing, black hair like ink, stunningly beautiful.

Wasn’t this the woman he had been following?

Unexpectedly, when all efforts seemed in vain, fortune came without any effort. He had lost her, yet halfway along, there she appeared again; it seemed it had all been coincidences before.

Qian Baoshan immediately and quietly tailed her again.

By now, the streets had very few people. He surveyed the layout, from here to Jingyun Inn where Xia Wenjing stayed, walking the main road required passing three streets, taking about an hour and a half, but the shortcuts through an alley only took half an hour.

If the young girl took the main road, he could make his move at the corner of the second street, but if she took the shortcut, heh heh heh, anytime, anywhere in the alley.

Qian Baoshan was slightly anxious. The girl clearly seemed to be casually wandering; she probably wasn’t very familiar with the roads of the Capital City and likely didn’t know about the shortcut leading directly to her inn.

Was there any way to get this girl to take the shortcut? This way, he could ensure foolproof success without anyone discovering.

It seemed even the heavens were on his side. He saw the girl asking someone for directions, and a kind person pointed out the shortcut to her, making Qian Baoshan extremely happy.

But the woman giving directions kindly advised Xia Wenjin, "Miss, although this road is much shorter, every evening it’s pitch-black and not very safe. You, a young lady, looking so lovely, should take the main road!"

Qian Baoshan cursed that woman in his heart. Seeing the woman leave, if he wasn’t planning to continue tailing Xia Wenjin, he might have wanted to make that meddlesome woman suffer a bit.

After the woman left, Xia Wenjin stood on the road pondering for a moment, and Qian Baoshan silently prayed, take the shortcut, take the shortcut!

As if hearing his pleas, Xia Wenjin actually walked towards the shortcut.

Qian Baoshan was almost overjoyed; he immediately pulled something from his waist and tossed it upward, igniting a small flash. This was the signal he had agreed upon with his accomplices. Once Xia Wenjin entered the alley, he no longer hurried to follow; how could a grasshopper in the palm of his hand possibly leap to the sky?

Soon, two men appeared from different places to meet with him. The three of them conspired for a while before splitting up. Qian Baoshan took a packet from his chest, which contained the sedatives he always kept with him.