"Nie-Zongzhu's spies, I'm pretty sure, but he didn't seem to mind your uncle knowing about them," he clarifies. He doesn't know where these spies are, only that he has them. He sort of wishes he'd managed to get a little more information.
"Well they didn't know I was there until I got startled by a servant," he says, but he doesn't sound that convinced - actually the more he thinks about it, the more he wonders, he did get an awful lot of information, and Nie Huaisang hadn't seemed that bothered by him being there, or even surprised... maybe it had all been deliberate. They could probably trust the fact that nothing had happened until after the wedding was called off, and maybe the thing about Jiang Cheng having done it for his former fiancee and Jin Ling, because Jin Ling's uncle hadn't denied that, even though they had no idea how or why that was even the case. Everything else, though, is immediately suspect.
(Even if they did sound like they really loved one another, and Zizhen's a romantic soul...)
"We'll have to find another way to figure out what he's up to..." he says, then gasps "Oh! Nie-zongzhu said I should talk to him if I wanted to get better at spying. Maybe I could do that, but use it to try and find out his secrets?"
He only has a few days before he'll need to leave and go back home if he wants to get any time in Cloud Recesses, but he can help Jin Ling while he's here.
~~~
"Tian Niu, yes," Yuan nods, frowning slightly "that is strange. Maybe he was delayed because of the attack, but then it came at an awfully convenient time... do you think our presence has triggered something, or that there's something more going on here?"
He hopes these are good questions to ask - he's glad he's with Jingyi, he doesn't want to look stupid on his first night hunt, but he knows his friend won't judge him if he gets anything wrong.
He frowns curiously at the linens, wondering if there's any significance to them, it seems like an odd place to leave such things.
no subject
"Nie-Zongzhu's spies, I'm pretty sure, but he didn't seem to mind your uncle knowing about them," he clarifies. He doesn't know where these spies are, only that he has them. He sort of wishes he'd managed to get a little more information.
"Well they didn't know I was there until I got startled by a servant," he says, but he doesn't sound that convinced - actually the more he thinks about it, the more he wonders, he did get an awful lot of information, and Nie Huaisang hadn't seemed that bothered by him being there, or even surprised... maybe it had all been deliberate. They could probably trust the fact that nothing had happened until after the wedding was called off, and maybe the thing about Jiang Cheng having done it for his former fiancee and Jin Ling, because Jin Ling's uncle hadn't denied that, even though they had no idea how or why that was even the case. Everything else, though, is immediately suspect.
(Even if they did sound like they really loved one another, and Zizhen's a romantic soul...)
"We'll have to find another way to figure out what he's up to..." he says, then gasps "Oh! Nie-zongzhu said I should talk to him if I wanted to get better at spying. Maybe I could do that, but use it to try and find out his secrets?"
He only has a few days before he'll need to leave and go back home if he wants to get any time in Cloud Recesses, but he can help Jin Ling while he's here.
~~~
"Tian Niu, yes," Yuan nods, frowning slightly "that is strange. Maybe he was delayed because of the attack, but then it came at an awfully convenient time... do you think our presence has triggered something, or that there's something more going on here?"
He hopes these are good questions to ask - he's glad he's with Jingyi, he doesn't want to look stupid on his first night hunt, but he knows his friend won't judge him if he gets anything wrong.
He frowns curiously at the linens, wondering if there's any significance to them, it seems like an odd place to leave such things.
"It's alright, it's interesting." he smiles.