“Qianxun, why did you buy so many things?”
After walking out of the Chamber of Commerce branch, Tang Xiaobei looked at the large and small packages in the hands of Bei Qianxun’s personal guards and could not help complaining, “What did you buy?”
“It’s nothing much, just some snacks and little trinkets that we don’t have in Sichuan and Shu.”
Bei Qianxun replied with a smile, “Ling’er, Achun, Xiao’e, Doudou and the others have never been to the East Sea. Since I finally got the chance to come here, of course I have to bring some local specialities back for them.”
Ling’er was the younger sister of the sworn sister Bei Qianxun had made back in Jiangnan. After her sworn sister was killed by bandits, Bei Qianxun brought Ling’er to Sichuan and Shu and raised her as her own younger sister.
After Guan Xiaorou learned that Bei Qianxun was a martial arts expert, she wanted her to protect Jin Feng. In order to win her over, she had her own younger sister Xiao’e spend time playing with Ling’er.
The two girls were about the same age and quickly became good friends.
Later, Jin Feng took Achun, his youngest disciple, in the Central Plains, and the little group became a trio.
Later still, the siblings Li Didi and Li Doudou arrived in Sichuan and Shu, adding another member to the little group.
Bei Qianxun had always regretted not teaching her sworn sister martial arts back then, which had left her completely helpless when she encountered the bandits. Therefore, after arriving in Sichuan and Shu, whenever she had time, she would call Ling’er over to practise martial arts.
As members of the little group, Xiao’e, Achun and Li Doudou were naturally called over as well.
When Bei Qianxun was not in Sichuan and Shu or was too busy, she would have a female escort specifically responsible for training them.
After training for such a long time, although the four girls could not be said to be highly skilled, they had no opponents among children their own age.
On top of that, all four had unusual identities, so they became the leaders among the village children.
Whenever a dog was found tied to a tree, all the feathers had been plucked from a chicken’s wings, or something similar had happened in the village, going to find the four little rascals was guaranteed to be the right choice.
Even if the four of them had not done it themselves, it would have been one of their little followers.
Because of her experiences in the Tangut, Li Doudou had originally been somewhat withdrawn. After spending so much time with Xiao’e, Achun and Ling’er, she had now become just as mischievous, climbing onto roofs, scaling trees, raiding bird nests, and doing all sorts of things.
Although she was the oldest of the four, she had joined the group later and had therefore received less training, so her martial arts skills were also the weakest.
Over the past two months, she had dislocated her arm twice from falling, and no one even knew how many times she had twisted her ankle.
At a young age, Li Didi had travelled alone to the Tangut military camp during the battle in Xizhou to negotiate with Li Lingrui, accomplishing a great feat. Now he had once again led a team to the dangerous Tubo.
As Li Didi’s only relative, and because Guan Xiaorou and Bei Qianxun knew about Li Doudou’s experiences in the Tangut, they inevitably treated Li Doudou with a little more leniency.
As a result, whenever Li Doudou got injured, Xiao’e and Ling’er could never avoid being scolded.
It had taken great effort for Li Doudou to finally make some friends, so she also treasured this friendship. Every time Xiao’e and Ling’er were scolded, she and Achun would run to Guan Xiaorou and Bei Qianxun to plead for them.
The bond between the four little girls grew stronger and stronger.
Although Bei Qianxun was very strict when training them, she also loved the four girls dearly. Whenever she came across tasty food or fun things, she would always bring some back for them.
Naturally, she had not forgotten them this time when she came to the East Sea.
It was not only the things she had just bought. There were already many beautiful seashells accumulated in Bei Qianxun’s room. She had picked them up during her usual walks along the seaside and planned to take them back as gifts for the four girls.
“Don’t spoil them,” Tang Xiaobei reminded her. “Achun and Ling’er are still quite sensible and well behaved, but I heard that Xiao’e was making a fuss recently about wanting a maid to serve her. Ever since Li Doudou started playing with Xiao’e and the others, she has also been getting into trouble all the time.”
“Sister Xiaorou doesn’t even have a maid herself. How could she possibly give Xiao’e a maid?”
Bei Qianxun said with a smile, “Because of that incident, Sister Xiaorou required Xiao’e and the others to visit the elderly people in the village who had no family to care for them ten days every month. If an elderly person’s water supply was empty, they had to fill the water jar. If they had no firewood, they had to gather firewood for them. Sister Xiaorou would even make surprise inspections when she had nothing else to do. If they did a poor job, they would be punished. She has never indulged them.
“As for Doudou, her situation is rather special. She was bullied in the Tangut before, and for a long time she did not dare to speak or communicate with anyone. The head of the household said that we should encourage her to interact with other people more, so Xiaorou and I are a little more lenient with her.
“From what we have seen so far, most of Li Doudou’s troublemaking is simply because she likes climbing around and playing. The head of the household said that being playful is a child’s nature. As long as she does not use her status to bully others or mistreat anyone, there is no need to interfere with her.”
“Do as you see fit. Just be careful and don’t let them grow up badly.”
Tang Xiaobei spent most of her time travelling outside and did not see the four girls very often, so she was not as emotionally close to them.
Knowing that Bei Qianxun doted on the four girls, she was afraid that saying too much would annoy her. After giving her one final reminder, she changed the subject.
The two women, accompanied by their respective personal guards, walked along the beach, preparing to stroll back to the small courtyard.
When they were still two or three hundred metres from the courtyard, Bei Qianxun suddenly stopped, and her body tensed like a leopard ready to pounce.
As a secret operative trained by a powerful noble family, Bei Qianxun had once undergone extremely strict counter-surveillance training and could spot people following or watching her even in a crowd.
At this moment, she noticed a woman not far away by the roadside secretly watching them.
Although the woman only stole glances from the corners of her eyes, she could not fool Bei Qianxun.
In fact, if the woman had looked at Bei Qianxun openly like an ordinary citizen, or had even come over to greet her, Bei Qianxun might not have noticed her. It was precisely because she was sneaking glances that Bei Qianxun realised something was wrong.
Tang Xiaobei noticed that something was unusual about Bei Qianxun and followed her gaze. Her brows then furrowed slightly.
Because she knew this woman.
She was the intelligence operative who had previously reported Hong Er’s conspiracy to her.
Members of the Intelligence Bureau had always been known for their secrecy. Since the incident last time, this was the first time Tang Xiaobei had seen the woman again.
The woman belonged to the Intelligence Bureau. She had approached Tang Xiaobei outside the proper procedure back then. After Tang Xiaobei learned what had happened, she had agreed to write a letter to Han Feng on her behalf to explain the situation.
Afterwards, Tang Xiaobei did indeed fulfil her promise. She wrote Han Feng a letter explaining what had happened, then almost forgot about the matter.
Tang Xiaobei did not know how Han Feng had arranged for this woman, and she was also unsure whether the woman had come looking for her or had some other business, so she did not take the initiative to speak.
However, the woman walked over of her own accord and respectfully bowed to Tang Xiaobei from behind the personal guards.
“Greetings, Madam Xiaobei!”
Not long after the incident involving Hong Er, she had suddenly received a letter from Han Feng. In the letter, Han Feng praised her decisiveness and intelligence, then raised both her salary and operating expenses by one level, making her the highest-ranking Intelligence Bureau operative currently stationed in the East Sea.
Many important figures looked respectable and dignified on the surface, but in reality behaved one way in public and another in private. However, after receiving Han Feng’s letter, the woman knew that Tang Xiaobei had kept her promise, so she was extremely grateful to her.
“Have you been waiting here for me?” Tang Xiaobei asked as she looked at the woman.