Because of his relationship with her Er-ge, Liu Nanyuan’s impression of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang had recently changed a little. It had seemed that he was not as cruel as the rumors said, but now he had been beaten back into his original shape by Cheng Suyue. Although the excuse may be reasonable, this was still very different from the men she had met before. 

Thus, after finishing up for the day, Liu Nanyuan made a special trip to visit her Er-ge.

“Why do you ask?”

“Curiosity.”

Liu Xian’an made a pot of flower tea and said: “Because he can come to my world and be friends with my friends.”

Liu Nanyuan had also heard about her brother’s Three Thousand Worlds. She drew a circle in the air with her finger: “Is the prince also willing to go to that world and drink tea and discuss the Dao with the ancient sages?”

Liu Xian’an was perfunctory. Something like that, something like that.

Liu Nanyuan thought, wow, people cannot be judged by their appearance.

She was at the age of first love, but Baihe Mountain Village was full of patients, and the atmosphere was mostly repressed and solemn. Several of her close friends also had strict family traditions, and never left the house or stepped out the door all day long. No one was willing to accompany Liu Nanyuan to talk about the sickly and handsome men she liked. The only person she was able to discuss issues of the heart with seemed to be her Er-ge.

“What about you?” Liu Xian’an poured her a cup. “Traveling every day, you must have met many romantic and carefree youngsters, right? Take Head Escort Chang as an example, I watched him blushing and stammering when he saw you.”

“I have met a lot of them, but not the kind I like.” Liu Nanyuan’s attitude was very firm. They must be weak and pale.

Liu Xian’an adopted the attitude of “anything is fine” on this matter, but he also raised a question with rather philosophical implications. If you do meet someone in the future who is weak, pale, and in poor health, after getting married, will you treat him or not? If he is not treated, he may become more seriously ill, and it will go against the family motto of Baihe Mountain Village. But if he is treated and cured, he will be neither pale nor weak in the future, which will go against your aesthetic tastes.

Liu Nanyuan said blankly: “…..I’ve never thought about this problem.”

Liu Xian’an comforted: “You can start thinking about it from now on. In any case, you haven’t met your sweetheart yet, so don’t worry. Perhaps when you do, you will find that it is okay for them not to be weak or pale.”

Liu Nanyuan insisted: “They at least can’t look too rosy.”

Liu Xian’an nodded: “That’s fine.”

Having no bottom line when tolerating his sister’s unique views on mate selection may be due to the advantage of being forty-eight thousand years old. Since the whole world was just a drop in the ocean, then a girl in this vast world who wanted to find a sickly husband was just a miniscule drop inside a drop, truly insignificant. It didn’t matter, didn’t matter.

Liu Nanyuan received sincere affirmation, and happily walked out of her Er-ge’s door with the medicine basket in hand, happening to meet Chang Xiaoqiu head-on. He had originally come to see His Royal Highness Xiao Wang, but unexpectedly met a beautiful girl. At once, the blood all over his body began to rush to his face again. He stood aside to get out of the way and tried to say hello, but he stuttered for a long time without getting out a word. Gao Lin witnessed this scene from a distance and was in awe. He walked up and smacked him on the head, cursing: “I thought you were rather intelligent before, but why are you such a disgrace at the critical moment? Work harder, ah!” Could it be that the ‘aphasia at the sight of a girl’ passed down by the Northwest Dayan ancestors could be transmitted through the air?

“I’ve tried a lot harder, but Third Young Lady Liu doesn’t like my type,” Chang Xiaoqiu said. “I also asked Second Young Master Liu specifically and he said I’m not pale enough.”

Gao Lin looked at the young man’s pink and white face and said regretfully: “If even a pampered New Year painting doll like you is not pale enough, then doesn’t that mean nobody in our camp has any hope? Yes, those big men should proceed to lighten up. The prince is in the study at the moment. Is there something you need from him?”

“Yes.” Chang Xiaoqiu said, “First Young Master Liu has prepared several anti-miasma pills and masks and wants to try them later in the forest.”

“The local southwest soldiers will test the medicine. They are experienced enough and can sense any danger immediately. Why are you joining in?” Gao Lin said, “In the military camp, in addition to being brave, one must still have a plan. If you rush forward blindly, the losses will outweigh the gains. There is no need for you to go into that dense forest, just continue to accompany First Young Master Liu.”

“But I don’t understand medical science.”

“If you don’t understand, you still must accompany him,” Gao Lin ordered. “Have you not seen those people from the Scimitar Silver Moon Clan running into the pharmacy when they have nothing to do recently? I heard that several girls are coming in the next two days. You dress up handsomely and elegantly and stand there to block the miracle doctor’s pursuers.”

Chang Xiaoqiu took a step back, rejection written all over his body: “I’d better go and test the medicine.”

“You’re going against the heavens.” Gao Lin learned from others and gave him a kick in the same style of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang. “There is no telling how many people envy this job, but you still pick and choose. Hurry up and go!”

After sending the bitter-faced boy away, Gao Lin went to find Liang Shu again and said: “The medical hut has been set up. I took a look, and it is even more beautiful and exquisite than in the drawings.”

It was also more luxurious than the shabby thatched shack where Second Young Master Liu had his first consultation. In addition to the medical hut, Gao Lin also found people to make many new sets of white clothes with blue belts, and carefully selected a group of white, tall, and heroic soldiers from the army. In short, from the building to the personnel, everything was pleasing to the eye.

Liang Shu was going to ask Liu Nanyuan to do consultations in person.

Although beauty and ugliness in the world did not amount to right and wrong, people’s pursuit of beauty was nearly instinctive. The so-called “Holy Maiden” of the Baifu Sect also made use of this instinct, and there currently happened to be someone more beautiful than her in the Dayan army.

Liu Nanyuan herself had no objection to this. She had never been secretive about her beauty. She loved beautiful clothes, beautiful jewelry, and loved to look in the mirror. Therefore, when she received the clothes from Cheng Suyue, she changed into them on the spot. She had just finished bathing. Her half-wet hair was still loose, and the room was full of fragrance. The red gauze skirt lining made her even more gorgeous, like a peach or plum flower. She applied a bit of lip balm with her slender white fingers, swiping it between her lips. Cheng Suyue felt as if she was beholding a goddess under the moonlight.

Her vitality and exuberance and the silent saintess of the Baifu Sect were two extremes. Cheng Suyue leaned against the door and watched her change out her jewelry one by one. In the end, a butterfly hairpin was forcibly pinned Cheng Suyue’s own head. When she went back, she was glimpsed by Liang Shu. His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s brows jumped slightly, and this person who usually kept a low profile made a very rare comment: “Pretty good. It’s rare that you wear something that doesn’t look like it conceals a weapon.”

Cheng Suyue: “…..Third Young Lady Liu is ready.”

“Good, it’s up to you to handle this matter.” Liang Shu nodded. “Put her safety first in everything.”

The “Holy Maiden” that the Baifu Sect had worked so hard to create would never allow others to take a piece of the pie. If they really couldn’t control the situation, they would most likely be in a life-or-death struggle.

In the dense forest, Liu Hengchang untied layers of gauze and asked anxiously: “Commander Ku still cannot see anything?”

Ku You said: “Indeed.”

“Then…..” Liu Hengchang hesitated, not knowing how to tell the other party the truth. Ku You took the initiative and said, “You can just assume that I’ll spend the rest of my life in darkness, and brief me on the situation. How is it going?”

“Recently, the guard posts at various locations have been changed very frequently, sometimes once a day.” Liu Hengchang said, “Even if I continue to observe for another ten and a half days, I may not be able to conclude a pattern.”

“What about the back mountain?”

“The back mountain?” Liu Hengchang asked. “The back mountain is full of miasma. If you want to escape from the back mountain, you would need Young Master Feng’s help. What did he say?”

Ku You said: “He vowed to cooperate with me.”

Liu Hengchang was overjoyed, but before he could speak, he heard the next sentence. Cooperation was possible, but he must first marry Wumeng Yunle. There was no need for all the ceremonies, and they didn’t even need to wear new clothes to bow, let alone a bridal chamber and candles. Just a nod was enough.

Liu Hengchang probed: “Then…..what does Commander Ku think?”

He felt that no matter how he felt about it, this was a really good deal. With just a nod, he could escape from the devil’s cave. If it were him, he would definitely not refuse. Moreover, Wumeng Yunle was the pinnacle of holiness and beauty in the hearts of the Baifu believers. Were it to be known that she had actually become a man’s wife, wouldn’t that mean that the psychological defenses of a large number of people would collapse without the prince having to put in more effort?

Ku You said: “You think it over and find a place.”

Liu Hengchang was puzzled: “Where?”

“A convenient place to hide without being discovered by anyone,” Ku You said. “Prepare enough dry food and water. Not much is needed, just enough for ten days.”

Liu Hengchang obeyed his order and went down to make preparations. Ku You calculated the days in his mind. He was actually eighty percent certain now that he could leave this ghastly place without anyone noticing, but after some thought, it had taken a lot of effort to come here. How could he leave empty-handed? He must bring something with him.

Thus, he was still very patient.

Liu Xian’an was also very patient.

He rolled up his sleeves and wrote medicine names on small pieces of paper, preparing to dry them and stick them on the medicine bottles. The weather had turned hot recently, so he was wearing thin clothing. As soon as Liang Shu entered the door, he saw white arms. He stretched out a finger to poke, but was turned away: “Don’t make trouble.”

“Miracle Doctor’s Heaven and Earth pill.” Liang Shu picked up a piece of paper and said, “What does it treat?”

“Diarrhea,” Liu Xian’an said.

“Immortal Vigor pill?”

“Loss of appetite.”

“Is there a relationship between the two?”

“No, ah, but wasn’t this the prince’s request? It should be majestic, easy to understand, and as convincing as possible. I even made a special trip to ask my elder brother’s servants. They said that people like these kinds of names. When people hear Miracle Doctor and Immortal Vigor, they want to swallow two of them.”

“That’s right.” Liang Shu put the paper back. “The medicine bottles have also arrived, and are pink and blue. They look very lovely, like clouds reflected in a clear sky. Just looking at them makes a person feel good.”

In short, they were definitely more like fairy supplies than those strange and bizarre things from the Baifu Sect.

---

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Chapter One Hundred Twelve << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Fourteen

“……”

Bo Yueming looked into the bright, clear eyes of the person in front of him and felt a special warmth in his heart that he had never felt before.

Since being “forcibly” brought back to the Bo family, due to his special status, no one had ever been willing to take the initiative to “make friends” with him. The only friend he could chat with was Yan Cen, and their relationship was also that of classmates.

In the past, little brothers like Pei Yi would never have any contact with him.

Pei Yi eagerly awaited Bo Yueming’s reply. Seeing that he didn’t respond for a long time, he became a little anxious and said, “Er-ge?”

“En?”

Bo Yueming responded to him unconsciously, as if he had accepted this exclusive title.

“O-Okay.” Pei Yi took a deep breath, as if having made an important decision.

He took out a small, flattened straw grasshopper that was disordered from being in his small school bag, and handed it over. “This is my most favorite, I’ll give it to you too! Can you be friends with me now?”

Bo Yueming looked at the several things that had been given to him, which were altogether worthless, and then glanced at the small straw toy that was of obvious significance with a complicated feeling.

Pei Yi felt a little depressed now. He grasped the shoulder strap of his school bag and said, “There isn’t any more.”

Bo Yueming opened the schoolbag with one hand and tossed everything in his arms back inside. “I don’t need these things.”

“……”

Pei Yi thought this was a rejection, but before he could feel sad, he heard Bo Yueming ask, “Why do you want to be friends with me? We only met once.”

Pei Yi shook his head, and gestured with his hands, “This is already the second time, and we’ll see each other more and more in the future.”

Bo Yueming gradually adapted to his familiar tendencies and walked into the house with his notebook of homework.

Pei Yi seized the opportunity and hastily followed, saying as he walked, “You’re good-looking, tall, and even look cool when riding a horse. You protected me, and Father Yan also said that everyone praises you for your excellence.”

Bo Yueming tapped the corner of his mouth and feigned nonchalance. “Do you make friends with everyone like this?”

Pei Yi’s short legs were still working hard, and he shook his head as he walked. “No, it’s my first time making a friend.”

Because he was bullied by the big, tall, older boys at the orphanage in the past, Pei Yi had always been reluctant to come into contact with such people.

In the three years since he was adopted, apart from his classmates, Bo Yueming was definitely the first tall gege he wanted to be close to.

As soon as he finished speaking, Bo Yueming stopped in front of a desk.

Pei Yi, who was trying his best to keep up, realized that he had entered the private study without permission. He remembered Father Rong’s previous instructions about etiquette, and backed up to the study door.

— Knock knock

“Er-ge, can I come in?”

He was familiar, but polite.

“……”

There was a hint of a smile in the depths of Bo Yueming’s eyes, and he only said, “I need to study, and I like silence. You’ll be bored staying here with me.”

Pei Yi ran up and told a bald-faced lie, “I also like silence.”

Bo Yueming did not object, and allowed Pei Yi to bring a small stool and sit diagonally at the corner of his desk.

Pei Yi lowered his voice. “Er-ge, are we friends?”

Bo Yueming turned a page of his notes and said, “Being friends doesn’t just happen by verbally admitting it.”

“Oh,” Pei Yi responded, and said no more.

Bo Yueming always preferred solitude and silence. When he said he needed to study, he wasn’t just making an excuse.

Pei Yi didn’t dare be noisy, but after waiting a few minutes, he couldn’t hold back his greed. He quietly unwrapped the strawberry lollipop, stuffed it into his mouth, and glanced at Bo Yueming guiltily.

Bo Yueming had already noticed his movements from the corner of his eye, but just saw through it without saying anything.

Some time passed.

The sound of the kitten’s chewing began to become wanton. Bo Yueming couldn’t bear it anymore and looked up to find that Pei Yi’s forehead was pressed against the edge of the desk, and his head was practically buried in the school bag.

“Pei Yi? What are you doing?”

“Ah?”

Pei Yi raised his head without thinking. His cheeks were bulging, and there was still a little bit of egg yolk cake residue at the corners of his mouth, like a kitten that had stolen something.

Taking advantage of his height, Bo Yueming easily glanced at the contents of his school bag and asked, “What are you eating?”

There was an element of already knowing the answer to his question.

Having been caught, Pei Yi honestly put the candy wrapper, half-drunk banana milk, two bites of taro bread, and one remaining egg yolk cake on the table.

Pei Yi said vaguely, “…..I was a little hungry.”

Bo Yueming said, “Didn’t you say that these things were all for me? You ate my things without saying anything?”

When Pei Yi heard this, his blush spread from his ears to his entire face, but then he said cleverly, “Friends should share things with each other. And I left some for you.”

Bringing a bunch of food to make a friend and then eating everything in the name of “friendship” was really not a loss at all.

Where did this clever kitten come from?

Bo Yueming chuckled, then quickly calmed down. “Then you can finish your meal.”

Pei Yi shook his head with restraint. 

Bo Yueming urged, “Eat it. It’s all opened, don’t waste it. I don’t like sweet things.”

Seeing that he wasn’t angry, Pei Yi immediately backtracked with a smile. “Thank you, Er-ge!”

Bo Yueming could do nothing about him, and his smile became more obvious. “What are you thanking me for? This is your own stuff.”

Pei Yi didn’t answer, and only began to eat more happily.

Bo Yueming stared at his bulging cheeks and asked without thinking, “Is it so tasty?”

“Mm, it’s delicious,” Pei Yi replied. “I used to be in an orphanage, and it was hard to get enough to eat. Then I went home with Father Rong and Father Yan.”

“……”

Orphanage?

When Bo Yueming heard this strange yet familiar word, his brow twitched unconsciously.

Although he had already guessed Pei Yi’s identity as an adopted orphan, he still felt some imperceptible worry when he heard this person speak of his situation so calmly.

Even with the care and attention of Old Mrs. Bo these years, when Bo Yueming faced the second branch family, there was always a feeling of inadequacy from living on someone else’s charity. But compared to Pei Yi, who once lacked love and affection, his upbringing paled in comparison.

Pei Yi, who was still nibbling bread, seemed to notice Bo Yueming’s silence. He looked up at the other party, his smile still pure. “Er-ge, don’t feel sorry for me. Father Rong and Father Yan are very good to me.”

“Just like your grandma is to you.”

Pei Yi didn’t compare Zong Baiyan and Xu Rong to Bo Yueming’s parents. He wasn’t stupid, and had heard some clues from Bo Wang’s words just now.

“We’re both kids who have adults that care about us.”

What seemed like ordinary words of comfort injected an irresistible warmth into Bo Yueming’s heart.

He froze for a few seconds, and finally no longer concealed his smile. “En, you’re right.”

Having received his approval, Pei Yi bit off another piece of bread and ate more happily.

The two stopped their brief exchange. 

Bo Yueming entered study mode again, and after finishing the snacks he had brought, Pei Yi simply folded his arms and lay down on the table.

Perhaps it was because he had just filled his stomach, or because the sky was growing darker, but Pei Yi, who had not been able to take a nap at noon that day, felt sleepy at this moment.

He tried his best to keep his eyelids open, but still couldn’t resist the hypnosis that swept over him.

Thud.

He tilted his head and fell asleep lying on the table.

When Bo Yueming returned to his senses, he had even begun to snore in his sleep.

Bo Yueming tapped the table and called for his attention. “Pei Yi?”

“……”

Pei Yi didn’t reply to him, but only shifted his position and continued to sleep.

Bo Yueming frowned slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he stood up and approached. “Pei Yi, don’t sleep here. It’s easy to get a stiff neck or catch a cold.”

No matter how the weather was, you would be more affected by the cold while asleep than when you were awake.

Pei Yi hummed with a bit of unhappiness at being disturbed, and there was also a little fussiness that was not easy to detect.

“……”

With no other choice, Bo Yueming could only lean down and coax in an unskilled manner, “I’ll take you to the sofa to rest, okay?”

Pei Yi narrowed his eyes drowsily and subconsciously hugged Bo Yueming in front of him. “Sleepy.”

When he was too sleepy to move in the past, Zong Baiyan and Xu Rong would carry him back to his room like this to sleep. At this moment, he was so sleepy that he couldn’t tell north, south, east, or west, and temporarily forgot that he was still in someone else’s house.

Bo Yueming looked at Pei Yi, who continued nuzzling into his arms, and could only carry him in front of him with difficulty.

Pei Yi was very accustomed to being carried this way. He hugged the other tightly with both hands and rested in forehead in the crook of his neck, sleeping peacefully.

“……”

Bo Yueming quickly brought Pei Yi to the living room. He carefully placed the sleeping Pei Yi on the sofa, not forgetting to cover him with a small blanket.

The unfamiliar scent of the quilt made Pei Yi uneasy in his sleep. He kicked the quilt and turned over, almost falling off the sofa.

“Ai!”

Bo Yueming blocked him with quick reflexes and anxiously covered him with the blanket again.

There were no servants in the villa at the moment. Even Uncle Kai had gone to help at the main house, and there was no one here to look after him.

Bo Yueming was afraid that Pei Yi would fall in his disordered sleep, so he had to go back to the study to get a book and sit quietly next to him.

Time passed minute by minute.

The ajar door moved again.

Uncle Kai led Zong Baiyan in and said, “Second Young Master, Mr. Zong is here to pick up Pei Yi.”

Bo Yueming raised his eyes and calmly faced Zong Baiyan at the door.

When Zong Baiyan saw Bo Yueming, whose aura was not inferior to that of an adult, a hint of genuine admiration flashed in his eyes.

Bo Yueming stood up and indicated, “He’s asleep.”

Zong Baiyan had already discovered his family’s kitten curled up in a ball on the sofa. He approached slowly and replied in a low voice, “We’ve troubled the Second Young Master. I’ll take him back.”

With that said, he easily picked up Pei Yi.

It was also the same posture of carrying him in front of his body.

Bo Yueming silently observed this scene, paying special attention to Zong Baiyan’s posture from the corner of his eye. 

“Huh? Father Yan?”

Pei Yi woke up in a daze, but remained lying against Zong Baiyan’s shoulder without raising his head.

Zong Baiyan patted Pei Yi on the back and coaxed, “Xiao Yi, we’re going home first. Do you want to say goodbye to the Second Young Master?”

These words aroused a sense of clarity in Pei Yi’s mind. He rubbed his eyes and slowly faced Bo Yueming’s direction, yawning as he spoke.

“Good bye, Er-ge. I’ll come to play with you next time.”

---

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Extra 5/15 <<Table of Contents >> Extra 7/15

Lu Qi sat in the reception room, shivering and wrapped in a random blanket. The plush, camel-colored blanket was piled up in several layers under his neck, covering a little less than half his face. His frightened face was so pale that it made people feel slightly distressed.

He seemed like a different person from the young hero who whacked the hoodlum with the Holy Sword of Physics just now.

He was obviously scared, but at that time in the dark corridor, this well-behaved kid still rushed over and shielded him.

Although Mu Nanqiao no longer needed someone to stand in front of him, the feeling of being protected was so unfamiliar that he couldn’t help but think about it over and over again, wanting to break it into pieces and taste it carefully.

He stood up, took a glass of water, and handed it to Lu Qi.

“Drink some warm water.” Mu Nanqiao’s voice was very low and slow. After handing him the water, he did not sit back down across from him. Instead, he sat in a chair on the same side as Lu Qi. Their shoulders were very close, touching lightly.

The temperature slowly spread from his fingertips. Lu Qi moved his stiff wrist and whispered: “Thank you.”

“It’s my turn to thank you.” Mu Nanqiao took the hood off his head, revealing his handsome face. He casually grabbed the slightly curly black hair a couple of times. “This person may have attacked with a purpose, and the target should be……”

“It’s me.” Lu Qi lowered his head dejectedly. “It might be…..my anti-fan…..”

Mu Nanqiao was speechless with astonishment.

He looked at Lu Qi again and asked uncertainly: “Are you a celebrity? I just returned to China not long ago, and I don’t pay much attention to the entertainment industry.”

“No, I’m a painter.” Lu Qi explained in a low voice, “You…..have you seen the news about it? A painter harassed Party A when asking about the requirements…..”

He paused. The paper cup was slightly deformed. “This is a rumor. It’s not true.”

He cautiously looked at the man from the corner of his eye, a little afraid that his expression would suddenly change to show disgust.

But the man didn’t. He just shook his head and said: “I haven’t seen the news. You said it was an anti-fan, so I thought you were a celebrity. After all, you look very likable.”

This was one of the few positive comments Lu Qi had received recently. His eyes curved slightly, and his tense body relaxed.

“So actually, it’s me who should apologize.” Lu Qi lowered his eyelashes and whispered: “You may have been implicated by me.”

Mu Nanqiao smiled. He wanted to reach out and rub his head.

Why did he love to take the blame for his own mistakes?

Such a good boy with a high sense of morality. Why did some people think he was a pervert?

“The ambulance took away that person just now. Didn’t you notice what was going on with him?” Mu Nanqiao fiddled with the empty paper cup in his hand. “He was twitching, sweating all over, and crying with tears and snot. Do you think you could make him cry snotty tears with just a rod?”

“I thought I hit him in the head.” Lu Qi turned around and looked at Mu Nanqiao with wide eyes. “Didn’t I?”

The bright yellow paper cup was torn open by Mu Nanqiao. Those slender fingers seemed to be playing with handicrafts, first tearing it into strips, then into short petals, and finally, the paper cup turned into a blooming sunflower.

He patiently flattened the bottom of the cup little by little, and pushed the sunflower in front of Lu Qi like a child. “He’s a drug addict.”

Lu Qi: ……

Among those “sages” who hid behind the screen to blindly uphold justice, were there really such desperate criminals?

“Understand?” Mu Nanqiao raised his finger and casually pointed at himself. “He ran at me.”

There was even a smile at the corners of his eyes when he said this, his handsome face full of the casualness of telling a joke.

Lu Qi: …..

That was to say, prostitution, gambling, and drugs were all indistinguishable, and you really shouldn’t do anything illegal.

The air conditioner was turned on too low, and he couldn’t help but shiver when he was hit by the cold air.

Mu Nanqiao reached up and helped him pull down the blanket piled behind his neck.

He conjured up a tie clip out of nowhere, and together with the paper cup, stuck it to the corner of the blanket to hold it in place. It hung on his shoulders like a small cloak, so that Lu Qi didn’t have to keep raising his arms and grabbing the blanket.

Just as Mu Nanqiao was about to say something, the door of the reception room was pushed open.

The female police officer who had brought them in reappeared, this time with a serious expression, and was followed by two male police officers.

She asked: “Are you feeling better? If you’ve recovered, make a statement.”

Lu Qi nodded, and Mu Nanqiao also stood up. He patted Lu Qi’s shoulder comfortingly. “If you feel uncomfortable, I’ll go first and you can rest for a while.”

“Okay.” Lu Qi whispered: “Will your profession cause you trouble, ah…..”

Mu Nanqiao: ……

Still thinking of him as a duck.

Lu Qi saw him raise his eyebrows and reveal that half-smiling expression.

The policewoman waiting to the side first checked the identities of the two people, asking coldly and simply: “Names.”

Only then did Lu Qi recall that he still didn’t know the name of this lighting store owner, Russian music lover, next door neighbor and top-rate duck.

Then he heard the man sitting next to him say:

“Mu Nanqiao.”

. . . . . . . .

The hoodlum they had clashed with tested positive for drugs, so Mu Nanqiao and Lu Qi also took drug tests. When no problems were found, they finally left the police station.

It was close to early morning, so it wasn’t easy to get a car. And it was not far from the community where Lu Qi lived, so he planned to walk back. He tugged the small blanket and touched a cold, hard metal bar, then remembered that Mu Nanqiao’s tie clip was still with him.

He turned his head and saw the young man walking slowly down the long steps of the city police bureau, one hand in the pocket of his black hoodie. His steps were loose and indolent, but even so, those simple concrete steps were like a catwalk for him at a fashion show for a sports fashion brand.

Lu Qi simply walked backward two steps and stood under the stairs, looking up at him.

Wu. It was no wonder Lin Yuan couldn’t forget him if he looked like this. But in the end, the Mu Nanqiao before him was not the same as the white moonlight everyone mentioned. Where was that weak little white flower he had been promised?

Wasn’t it said that they were very similar?

Lu Qi thought frustratedly that those people were all lying. 

He was clearly not so masculine.

Mu Nanqiao lowered his head and sent a text to his assistant. When he raised his head, he met the beautiful deer-like eyes of the little painter who couldn’t hide his emotions. He stood at the foot of the steps and stared at him with his head raised, as if he was observing an endangered animal.

He just noticed that the way Lu Qi looked at him had suddenly become strange.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Like an energetic high school boy, he jumped down the last three steps and took two steps toward Lu Qi, tilting his head to look at him. “Is it because I said I had just returned to China and haven’t had time to find a job yet, so I’m still a ‘freelancer?’”

Lu Qi thought to himself, your profession is quite free. Too free.

But of course it wasn’t because of that.

He hesitated for a moment, then asked directly: “Do you know Lin Yuan?”

It was difficult to clearly describe Mu Nanqiao’s expression at that moment. It seemed gloomy, with a hint of ridicule. In the end, all these emotions were concentrated deep in his eyes. He narrowed those beautiful fox eyes and said: “I know him as a classmate. He was very caring, and took care of me.”

He seemed to chew those words hard before saying them with a half-smile, but Lu Qi didn’t notice this detail. He stared at Mu Nanqiao’s features in surprise and whispered: “Not alike at all.”

Mu Nanqiao: ……

What alike? He couldn’t be talking about him resembling that dumbass Lin Yuan, right?

Mu Nanqiao shuddered, disgusted by the idea. He wanted to ask, but found that his little neighbor had turned around and walked away very quickly, without any intention of waiting for him.

The other party intended to put the word “alienation” on his forehead, and Mu Nanqiao didn’t catch up. He had long legs, and followed slowly from a distance. After all, he didn’t know if he would encounter any “accidents” tonight, so it would be better to keep a distance from this little neighbor who had been in trouble recently.

But the little neighbor actually knew Lin Yuan?

Mu Nanqiao kicked away a pebble in his path.

What was their relationship?

If Lu Qi told Lin Yuan about his return to China, would Lin Yuan realize that the recent troubles he was encountering in Hengjin Group were related to him?

Although the dumbass shouldn’t guess it considering his IQ, he hadn’t thought of this flaw.

With this thought in mind, the two of them entered the unit door one after another.

Lu Qi’s footsteps as he walked to the upper floor stopped for a moment, and the light that leaked down the gap in the stairway fell on Mu Nanqiao’s head.

The words “Check someone out for me” had been sent on the screen of his mobile phone, and his whole body was enveloped in a wash of light. The short five words in the typing box looked extremely dark under the cold white light.

When he looked up, Lu Qi was leaning on the handrail of the stairs, looking down at him. His eyes were evasive, and he asked in an unnatural tone: “Are…..are you afraid of the dark?”

Mu Nanqiao: ……

It seemed like feathers were falling down, gentle but itchy.

He turned his phone off and caught up with him in two steps. The corridor was very narrow, and it was obviously a bit crowded with two young men with wide shoulders and long legs side by side. Mu Nanqiao’s shoulder rubbed against the small blanket hanging on Lu Qi’s shoulders, and the cool temperature of the “sunflower” tie clip fell on his skin, reminding him of his mood when he tore up the paper cup just now.

There was no calculation, no violent emotions, just a simple desire to comfort the beautiful young man standing in front of him.

He suddenly no longer wanted to privately investigate Lu Qi. Those dark methods seemed to pollute his moment of peace.

If he wanted to know, perhaps he should just ask.

It seemed that in front of this little deer, sincerity was better than so many twists and turns.

“I’m afraid of the dark, ah.” He stretched out his fingers to hook a corner of the blanket and asked in puzzlement: “Did I make you angry just now?”

Lu Qi: ……

He didn’t have to turn his head to sense the caution in the other person’s eyes.

“I’m not angry.” Lu Qi explained weakly, “I just feel……awkward when I see you.”

Mu Nanqiao was innocent, but when he thought of how his current situation was caused by that beast Lin Yuan, and Lin Yuan liked Mu Nanqiao, he wondered whether the two of them would be together in the future…..

Lu Qi felt uncomfortable when he thought about this, not to mention that he had also served as Mu Nanqiao’s substitute.

Mu Nanqiao raised his eyebrows and guessed: “You know Lin Yuan? He mentioned me to you? He said something bad about me?”

“He praised you and said you are very good.” Lu Qi snorted.

They were already at the fifth floor. Lu Qi opened the door of 501 and looked at Mu Nanqiao, who was standing behind him with a confused expression. He couldn’t help but speak again with emotion: “He’s a scoundrel, you should stay away from him in the future. He…..he doesn’t respect you!”

Mu Nanqiao: ……

He almost laughed at this soft “scoundrel.” Compared to so many vicious curses he had heard, this sentence was really cute. That garbage Lin Yuan was not worthy of such a soft “scoundrel.”

He didn’t know what this meant, but he was keenly aware of Lu Qi’s disdain for Lin Yuan, so he took a step forward and grasped the crack of the door before Lu Qi could close it.

“Ah…..” Lu Qi quickly let go of the door handle. “Be careful of your hands…..”

Mu Nanqiao ignored his fingers and said bluntly: “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but when I was in school, I didn’t have a good relationship with him. My classmates would lock me in an empty classroom, pour milk tea into my school bag, and pour ice water on me in winter…..”

Lu Qi looked at him blankly. He had heard this from Lin Yuan’s aunt, but when a sentence about school bullying turned into specific incidents, it still made him feel upset.

However, what Mu Nanqiao said next surprised him even more.

“These were all done by Lin Yuan,” Mu Nanqiao said, “to make me isolated and helpless, so that I could only be friends with him.”

---

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Chapter Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eight

Liu Zhenqing stiffened and immediately looked up at Huo Fenglie, who noticed his reaction and reached out to support him with worried and questioning eyes.

And Liu Zhenqing hesitated for a moment before saying softly: “I saw the vice president of the southern branch of the Liu Family Chamber of Commerce. If I remember correctly, he is indeed involved in a section of the river transportation business.” If he hadn’t participated in the family assessment, he wouldn’t have seen this.

Huo Fenglie frowned. “He must transport the food and broken silver.”

Liu Zhenqing’s heart sank. It seemed that he had transported the assassins from before to the capital and infiltrated the Liu Family Chamber of Commerce, doing a lot of things to deceive others.

Sure enough, the Old Master was elderly, and the two uncles were just frogs in a well. They only knew how to fight for the power in front of them, and had not carefully reviewed the matters of the Chamber of Commerce. This allowed the villains to take advantage of a loophole.

“Catch him,” Liu Zhenqing whispered.

The Liu family had been arrested in the name of the Imperial Examinations, so only the actual members of the Liu family had been taken. The chamber of commerce was too big to implicate, so the emperor hadn’t taken action for the moment. Many businesses were still running, but the president was not there, and the vice president was still in charge of the overall situation. Unexpectedly, they had caught him on the spot.

Just as he spoke, the party below seemed to have come to an end, and everyone was enjoying themselves. As soon as the leader clapped his hands, they saw his subordinates open the doors and push women in white clothes and veils to stagger inside. There were dozens of them. Faint sobbing could be heard, but it was covered up by the lively music.

“Everyone, look, these are the young girls we just collected. They are very clean. I wish you a good time tonight.”

“Leader, don’t let it get too out of control when the time comes. It is unsightly when they get bloody,” one person said.

“Ai, you don’t like it, but some people do. I like the strong ones. I’ve prepared beautiful ropes and whips.”

“Don’t worry, everyone. Look at them crying obediently. They were given the choice to either starve to death or behave themselves. The ones whose mouths are gagged are the strong ones. If they still can’t figure it out after everyone has trained them, then forget it.”

As soon as the leader said these words, everyone burst into laughter, as if they had found satisfactory prey.

Although Liu Zhenqing had experienced many terrible things, he was still unable to watch these disgusting things ruin the young girls. The hand that was holding Huo Fenglie’s arm unconsciously clenched down as hard as it could.

Huo Fenglie glanced at Liu Zhenqing and said nothing. When the people below left, the two decided not to take the evidence here for the time being and followed the leader instead.

The leader had a big appetite, and directly picked two girls. One was quiet, while the other struggled wildly.

Following the leader’s footsteps, they came to the inner courtyard. The guards drove the two women into the room to wait, and the leader went to the study first to listen to his men report on the night’s patrol.

Liu Zhenqing quietly waited for some time without speaking, but felt that every minute was very difficult. What was happening to those girls who were taken away now? If he hadn’t seen them, he wouldn’t have thought about them much, but now that he had seen them, he couldn’t be ambivalent. Those who had gone with the leader were of course going to be saved by them, but he also knew that there was nothing they could do about the others.

Just as he was thinking about this, Liu Zhenqing was embraced by Huo Fenglie and they landed under an unguarded hidden windowsill. Liu Zhenqing looked at Huo Fenglie in confusion. 

Huo Fenglie put Liu Zhenqing down and said in a deep voice: “I have observed their patrol routes, and they will not pass through here. You stay here and don’t move. Wait for me for a while.”

Liu Zhenqing said doubtfully: “You want to go to the study? But…..” Liu Zhenqing was about to say that the courtyard was full of guards, and the least likely way to alert others was to wait for the leader to enter the inner room alone.

“I’m going to save those girls.”

Liu Zhenqing was taken aback, and stared at Huo Fenglie in astonishment, his eyes flickering. Logically speaking, the overall situation should be the most important thing, not……

Huo Fenglie explained: “There is enough time. I’ll just knock them all out and lock the doors. It won’t take long.” As he spoke, he gave Liu Zhenqing a firm look. “Someone once said, if you can’t save the people in front of you, how can you save all living beings?”

Liu Zhenqing was stunned for a moment, but before he could react, Huo Fenglie flew away.

Huo Fenglie had listened to that sentence Liu Zhenqing had once said? This was not an unusual statement. They were the words of a young person who was inexperienced in the world, full of heroic intentions, convinced that he was the protagonist of the world. He did not know the heights of the sky and the cruelty of existence. 

Reality would prove that this sentence was very idealistic, so idealistic that it was a bit silly. When you really had everyone in your hands, you would realize that nobody was the protagonist of the world, and there was no protagonist halo to make the journey smooth. There were only extremely heavy burdens, and trade-offs to be made.

But it must be said that when Huo Fenglie left so decisively, Liu Zhenqing felt more at ease than ever before, as if Er-gou had taken away the breath that was stuck in his throat.

Liu Zhenqing didn’t realize that he had a smile on his face. At some point, he heard movement from the window sill next to him. “Mom and Dad, I’m sorry. This daughter will be filial again in the next life.”

Liu Zhenqing was stunned. He immediately stood up and opened the window in front of him to see a woman hanging beside the window sill, her body struggling and swinging wildly.

He immediately leaped over and hugged the girl’s legs, dragging her back in an attempt to save her, but she struggled fiercely. At this moment, he saw a white shape flash in the corner of his eye. The other woman had noticed and come over. He didn’t see the woman rushing to help, but only sensed her raise her hand. In the next second, the tension of the rope loosened. He didn’t know if the rope had been tied loosely or something, but the girl fell down directly. Liu Zhenqing could only hold her awkwardly, but the girl had already lost consciousness when she fell.

Liu Zhenqing quickly looked at the woman, and saw her regarding him calmly. She was rather tall, and he couldn’t see her face clearly because of the veil. She only looked at him with a pair of beautiful eyes.

Liu Zhenqing smiled at once and said: “Young lady, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a bad person. I’m here to save you.”

The girl raised her eyebrows and had just reached up to remove her veil when there was the sound of footsteps and the door opening from the outside.

This was the inner room’s dressing room, so they wouldn’t be exposed for the moment. Liu Zhenqing sensed that it might be the leader coming in. He quickly shushed the woman, looked around, and found a cabinet. He hid the unconscious girl inside and picked up the cloak on the ground, wrapping it around himself. He said to the calm woman: “Young lady, you can see by my appearance that I’m not a bad person, right? So let’s cooperate to buy time. A great hero will rescue us later, but you don’t have to be afraid. I won’t let that beast take advantage of you, just hide behind me.”

As he spoke, Liu Zhenqing scattered his hair, put on a veil, and did his best to cover himself up. Hiding a dagger in his sleeve, he protected the woman behind him.

Suddenly, he heard the woman behind him whisper: “You’re too tall.”

When he heard this, Liu Zhenqing automatically crouched a bit to lower his height, but suddenly realized that the voice just now didn’t sound feminine.

He wanted to look back, but it was too late.

“Come out from wherever you are, do you still want me to invite you personally?”

Hearing the sound of the leader’s voice accompanied by the door closing, Liu Zhenqing’s heart calmed down. Patting the woman on the arm to comfort her, Liu Zhenqing extinguished the lights in this area, darkening the illumination in the dressing room while impatiently waiting for the leader to come inside.

Because of his disguise and the leader’s drunkenness, he didn’t realize that the person had changed, and he stepped forward to grab Liu Zhenqing’s wrist. “Weren’t you very spirited just now? Why are you quiet? Have you figured it out? Hahaha, it will be to your own benefit to serve this leader well.”

The leader reached out to remove Liu Zhenqing’s veil.

Liu Zhenqing was very experienced when it came to pretending to be a woman, and lowered his head shyly, dodging like a frightened little rabbit. This actually aroused the other person’s interest, and the pulling and tugging was like a game to delay time.

Finally, the leader became impatient and pulled this person into his arms. 

“Come, let me give you a kiss.”

Liu Zhenqing suppressed his nausea, and was about to use this opportunity to press a dagger against the other’s neck.

But before he could thrust the dagger out, the other party grabbed his wrist.

“You!”

Damn it, he didn’t realize he was a martial artist when he saw his sloppy steps.

“You’re courting death!”

The opponent was obviously angered by Liu Zhenqing, and was about to use the dagger to strike back. Facing this move, Liu Zhenqing also remembered the killing move he had learned before and was about to retaliate when a silver light suddenly flashed and a dagger appeared at the leader’s throat. The dagger was instantly stained with blood, and seemed like it was about to cut deeper.

The leader took a sharp breath.

“Shut up! Don’t move!” The sinister voice sounded like a snake crawling in the darkness. It was the woman from just now.

Liu Zhenqing was quickly pushed away by the leader. It was obvious that he wanted to resist the woman, but she was faster and covered the leader’s mouth with one hand from behind. Without blinking, she gripped the dagger and slashed, and three fingers of the hand the leader had raised were cut off. Clearly, only someone with internal strength could do such a thing. 

And the leader’s shrill scream was blocked back into his throat.

“I told you not to move.”

The leader was furious, but also knew he couldn’t fight back. The other party’s martial arts were clearly higher than his.

The dagger was placed back against his neck, and the woman chuckled: “I want you to speak. Just call out obediently and tell all the guards in the outer courtyard to leave. If you dare speak an unnecessary word or if someone breaks in, don’t blame me for cutting off your head and giving it to your father.”

Before the leader could speak, he felt the dagger on his neck bear down again. He was truly frightened now. When the woman let go of his mouth, he could only obey her command and call in embarrassment: “Everyone outside, go away. No matter what sounds you hear, you are not allowed to come in. If you disturb me, laozi will kill you!”

The guards outside looked at each other in confusion. But after all, the leader had the authority, so they could only obey and stay away from the courtyard.

The woman listened silently for a while, then kicked the leader over and said, “Kneel.” When the leader got up awkwardly, he could sense the person standing behind him. Although he didn’t know their position or how close the dagger was to him, the fear still oppressed him and kept him motionless. 

“What are you doing? Don’t kill me. If you want something, I can give you a lot of money, as much as you want.” The leader pretended to be calm.

Liu Zhenqing was presently dumbfounded. This turn of events had happened so fast that he was caught off guard, and the woman in front of him suddenly seemed familiar. Just as he was stunned, he felt a cold wind blow from behind him. 

At the same time, the kneeling man naturally saw the situation behind Liu Zhenqing and watched as a man flew in from the window. His eyes were as sharp as knives, and with a flash of red, he pounced on Liu Zhenqing like a terrifying beast in the late nighttime forest pouncing on its prey. The aura he brought in with him was simply more terrifying than that of the woman threatening him with the dagger.

The woman also saw this scene and was stunned for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, she watched as that person reached out and grabbed Liu Zhenqing’s arm, pulling him suddenly.

Liu Zhenqing felt an overbearing force change his posture. He was frightened, and when he turned around, he beheld a face that was about to freeze over.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t see the anger and impatience in that face, but instinctively sensed the danger and tried to retreat. But when he realized who had come, his first reaction was to ask, “So fast? You did it? Have you taken care of everything? We haven’t been discovered.”

Huo Fenglie paused, and for a moment, he went along with the other person out of habit.

“En, I took care of it. Everything is fine.” After answering, he had to forcibly suppress his wild emotions after not seeing this person where he left him. He choked and couldn’t help feeling a little aggrieved, although it wasn’t evident in his tone. “You…..why didn’t you wait for me?”

Liu Zhenqing thought Huo Fenglie was blaming him for acting without authorization. After all, without martial arts, it would be easy to alert someone, but he couldn’t turn a blind eye at that time. He could only briefly explain the situation and then glance at the strange woman who knew martial arts.

Huo Fenglie seemed to be interested in seeing who the woman was. When he came in, he had just instinctively determined if the situation was okay and then focused all of his attention on Liu Zhenqing. 

When he turned around, Huo Fenglie paused for a moment and his expression became a bit subtle.

Liu Zhenqing was still wondering why the person in front of him looked familiar when he heard the woman say in an unkind tone: “What a coincidence.”

As the woman took off her veil, Liu Zhenqing’s eyes gradually widened. Then he took a sharp breath, and the other’s cold gaze swept over, as if he was saying with his eyes: Dare to laugh? Try it.

Liu Zhenqing swallowed his laughter, realizing that the person in front of him was actually Qin Yu disguised as a woman.

It wasn’t that Liu Zhenqing wanted to laugh, but the Qin Yu before him was dressed up so exquisitely, with makeup and powder. Even his lips were painted an extremely bright red. If he didn’t know Qin Yu or wasn’t sure of his voice, he would have thought this was Qin Yu’s sister. Even though he was pretending to be a woman, he didn’t have to sacrifice so much. Were there steamed buns stuffed in his chest?

And it was simply unimaginable that someone with Qin Yu’s temperament would dress up like this.

It was really too shocking. Liu Zhenqing said with a dry smile, “Actually, your disguise is quite good. No wonder you managed to sneak in.” Just as he was curious about why Qin Yu was with the contingent of women, this casual sentence made Qin Yu unhappy, and he seemed to be holding back his anger.

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes and said: “It’s not as good as Young Master Liu’s. With only a veil, this fool became obsessed with you, tugging and playing with you.”

The corners of Liu Zhenqing’s mouth twitched, and he heard Huo Fenglie beside him say in a deep voice, “What?”

Qin Yu directly told on him. “He even embraced Young Master Liu.”

Liu Zhenqing: I have no face, ah!

This Qin Yu was truly sinister and evil. He usually looked mild and quiet, and was also a bit aloof. But when it was time for him to speak out, he never spoke softly, and specialized in deceiving people.

As soon as he turned around, he found that Huo Fenglie’s face was so dark that he couldn’t look at it.

How strange, Er-gou seemed to be angry? He had thought he would only receive a complicated expression.

A figure suddenly flashed around him, and the leader grunted as his chin was punched. Then a kick broke his arm, and the agonized leader could only make muffled sounds and roll on the ground.

Qin Yu scoffed coldly, and found that Huo Fenglie had already raised his head to look at him. His meaning was obvious: why didn’t you help?

Qin Yu choked, then said with a shrug: “It’s not that I wouldn’t help, but the timing didn’t allow for it. This fellow knows martial arts, and I was afraid of disturbing the situation. I also thought Young Master Liu’s performance was very smooth, so I played it by ear.”

Liu Zhenqing said speechlessly: “I’m a man, so I wouldn’t suffer. I was just buying time.”

However, he saw that Huo Fenglie was still looking at him with disapproval.

And at this moment, the strange sound of a cat’s meow came from the roof.

Then a voice with an obvious smile came: “Has Beauty Qin been captured? Do you want me, the hero, to save the beauty?”

Qin Yu’s expression darkened instantly, and he raised his sleeve to wipe his face.

Liu Zhenqing: Okay, now I know why Qin Yu was holding back his anger.

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Chapter Thirty-Eight << Table of Contents >> Chapter Forty

“Ku You” was unconscious and looked like he would be lying down for a while. Liu Xian’an carefully examined his face, but could not find any trace of a disguise. He opened his eyelids and looked at his eyes, which were also a light gold like splashes of ink. Astonished, he rubbed his thumbs behind the other’s ears again but still couldn’t find it.

Gao Lin stood beside the bed with his hands folded, trying to come up with some kind of hypothesis. Since this person’s facial features resembled Ku You’s and his eyes looked like Ku You’s, was there a possibility that he was actually Ku You? 

Liu Xian’an also asked: “How did the prince conclude that he is a fake?”

Liang Shu shook off his gloves: “He deliberately pretended to be confused, as if his brain was muddled by torture. And I don’t know where he learned his Northwest accent when he opened his mouth, because it is far different from Ku You’s.”

Cheng Suyue burst out laughing, pfft, and Gao Lin sighed with emotion. He didn’t expect that such an honest man would have such ideas. In the early years, when Ku You was just an ordinary minor commander in the northwest, he was often sent by his superiors to surrounding villages to buy local products with soldiers and carts, then sell them uniformly to traders—there was no other way. The national treasury was tight, and the local army could only find its own way. Over time, Ku You had developed two major skills. One was bargaining, and the other was the Northwest dialect. Not only could he understand it, but he could also speak it fluently.

Liu Xian’an said: “So Commander Ku never used his actual voice from the moment he was kidnapped?”

“It’s not necessarily that he never used it at all. At least in the beginning, he still said a few words to the fake Gao Lin. But at that time, the other party was eager to lead him out of the camp. He knew that talking too much would lead to mistakes, and he needed to hold it in until the end, so the conversation between them likely didn’t exceed five sentences, just over a hundred words. If Ku You decided to do it later on, he would still be able to hide his accent.”

“There are some traces of the disguise here. The bonding points are thinner and more invisible than a cow hair.” Liu Xian’an was holding a crystal-polished lens inlaid with gold in his hand. It was originally a toy given to him by Liang Shu when he was bored. Now, he just used it to enlarge the counterfeit goods and examine them.

Liu Nanyuan also stepped forward, and her eyes were dazzled by what she saw. Then she found the wiring and stood up, saying in disbelief: “A human skin mask can be made so lifelike, and there is even a way to change the color of the pupils. Even our Baihe Mountain Village cannot do these two things.”

“It cannot be done because Baihe Mountain Village does not follow evil ways,” Liu Xian’an said. “If one implants Gu insects into their eyes, let alone golden eyes, even rainbow-colored eyes are possible. But the skill of this disguise is very good. After he wakes up, you can ask him carefully.”

“But I don’t think he’ll wake up for a while.” Liu Nanyuan tested the other party’s pulse. “He was probably afraid of being discovered by us, so he took drugs that would disrupt his pulse in advance, trying to create the illusion of being tortured. This person can be regarded as losing his life’s savings, and he paid with his own body.”

That was why Liang Shu kneed him so hard in the kidneys that he lost his breath and fell unconscious. Liu Xian’an told his sister: “Then you should wake him up as soon as possible.”

Liu Nanyuan asked in confusion: “Why don’t you treat him?”

“Because he is not difficult to treat.” Since he was not difficult to treat, it was not necessary for Second Young Master Liu to personally go into battle. 

Before Liu Nanyuan could open her mouth, Liang Shu had already said: “Then Third Young Lady Liu can do it. I will take Xiao An back to rest first. He has been feeling tired and low of energy recently.”

Everyone at the scene fell silent, mainly because they truly had nothing to say about this blatant favoritism. Liu Nanyuan looked at her lazy Er-ge and felt worry in her heart that was very similar to that of her parents. He was already immobile enough, but now he had someone to support him. In the future, would he not have to eat on his own, but lie down and be fed by a maid?

But in fact, it was not as dramatic as his sister thought. At least, His Royal Highness Xiao Wang would never let others feed the Sleeping Immortal.

After the two left, Gao Lin said: “Third Young Lady Liu, there’s no need to be so surprised. To be honest, we’re all used to it.”

Liu Nanyuan glanced at Cheng Suyue.

Cheng-guniang also nodded and said truthfully: “It’s not like there isn’t something more dramatic than this. Once, Second Young Master Liu just climbed an extra section of the mountain himself and coughed twice from exhaustion. The prince’s attitude at that time made it sound like he was going to split the mountain in two, and some people believed him.”

Liu Nanyuan: “……”

So Da-ge had been witnessing the extravagant treatment of Er-ge as if he was a concubine, which was thousands of li away from the Liu family’s rule of being diligent, thrifty, and putting others before oneself. How on earth had he resisted taking out the red sandalwood ruler?

Impressive, impressive.

Liu Xian’an said as he walked: “I walked a lot today.”

“Where did you go?” Liang Shu was puzzled. “Weren’t you waiting for me to come back to the room?”

“I waited but couldn’t sit still, so I kept walking back and forth in the courtyard.” Liu Xian’an patted his knees. “I didn’t feel it before, but now it’s starting to hurt.”

Liang Shu thought about the scene of him wandering around the courtyard like a spinning top, and thought it was quite cute. He smiled and said: “Then I’ll carry you.”

This was what Liu Xian’an was waiting for. He put one arm around Liang Shu’s neck and said: “I once saw a windwheel cart in my dreams. People can sit in it and move forward without relying on cattle or horses.”

“If it doesn’t use animals, then what does it rely on? Just the wind?”

“It also might be something else.” Liu Xian’an didn’t bother to explain. “Anyway, it went very fast.”

So Liang Shu carried him and also went very fast. Liu Xian’an was shaken up and laughed, patting him on the shoulder as he said: “The prince hasn’t said anything about what happened when you went into the dense forest today for the exchange. Did it go well?”

“It went well. Everything happened as planned, and all the gold, silver, and jewelry have been dumped into the lake. The other party sent a young woman. Judging from her figure, she should be the one who pretended to be a village girl and wanted to marry Gao Lin at the old woman’s birthday party that day. She also had a bit of a Nanyang accent when she spoke, and should be from the same place as the imposter lying in bed at this moment.”

“And the Scimitar Silver Moon Tribe?”

“Following the woman.” Liang Shu said, “The miasma will not hinder them. Hopefully, good news can be sent back soon.”

The two of them walked all the way to their residence. When the soldiers along the way saw this intimate scene, they quickly looked to both sides and at each other. Liu Xian’an didn’t think it was a big deal, because immortals were all very dissolute. Liang Shu opened the door sideways and leaned his face toward him: “You can still be a little more dissolute.”

Liu Xian’an pinched his face and jumped to the ground: “Where are the two Gu worms? Take them out and let me look.”

Liang Shu smiled and handed over the porcelain bottle: “They weren’t moving at the time, and I don’t know if they are alive or dead. Be careful.”

Liu Xian’an shook the bottle twice, and a click click sound came from the collision of hard shells. The things inside were still alive. He took out a large silver plate and a transparent ice crystal cover, poured out the Gu insects, and fastened them in. Ping, ping, ping, the hard black insects collided with the ice crystal again and again, leaving powdery black traces one after another.

Liang Shu was disgusted: “What kind of insect is this?”

“Soul-numbing Gu,” Liu Xian’an said. “Even if the powder only touches the skin, it will quickly penetrate into the blood and flow to the heart. Within a month, symptoms will range from half-body paralysis, loss of self-awareness, and death. If one is pricked by this sharp thorn, it will be even more difficult to treat. However, although this Gu is very poisonous, it is delicate and difficult to maintain, and has extremely high environmental requirements. Only the Baifu Sect, who live in the forest miasma, have the conditions to let them grow strong.”

“No wonder he took these things out right away. If they could bite me, they could make a profit with very little investment.” Liang Shu asked, “Can you find a way to maintain them?”

“I can try feeding them some poisonous mushrooms, but it may take hundreds of soldiers to find food for them.” Liu Xian’an sealed the ice crystal cover. “But let’s talk about it first. I have only read about them in books, and I have no experience. If I feed them to death, they’ll just die.”

You absolutely must not seek compensation from me.

. . . . . . .

The woman in red flew like a wild sparrow into a ring of green trees on the mountainside.

The people of the Scimitar Silver Moon Tribe followed closely behind. They were dressed in yellow and emerald green clothes, and practically blended into the mountains. They bypassed the guards unnoticed, and a young man said upon looking at the large undulating tile-roofed farmhouses that suddenly appeared in front of them: “If I were to start a cult, I would at least have a black and red hall tens of zhang high, and more than a dozen raging fires burning with drag chains, with ghosts and wolves howling everywhere.”

The woman slapped his face: “I’ve told you so many times not to listen to the ghost stories about Second Young Master Liu flying through the clouds and mist. If you really have nothing to do, you can learn more from First Young Master Liu.”

The young man stuck out his tongue: “Then what should we do now?”

“You just stay here and don’t move. I’ll go find Commander Ku first.” Another man stood up. “This place is really big though, so it will probably take some time.”

The young man looked out through the trees and said: “Although it is big, there are not many people.”

“The evil cult relies on the weakness of people’s hearts to win over believers, so force is the least important.” The woman said, “They don’t need too many people, but those ones are more difficult to deal with than thousands of troops.”

The man’s back quickly disappeared.

Feng Xiaojin looked at the silver-haired man in front of him and said: “A-Le seems to truly be in love with you, but you can’t marry her or even pretend to make her happy.”

“She fell in love with me just because she hasn’t met many normal men,” Ku You said. “Young Master Feng should understand better than I do how she has spent these ten years. Actually, I also have a question to ask. Since Young Master Feng cares so much about his brother and sister, why did he allow Mu Zhe to train them into a pair of murderous tools ignorant of good or evil?”

“Because this world is inherently upside down. There is no need to bother distinguishing between good and evil. And also because I had no choice.” Feng Xiaojin said, “You wouldn’t understand.”

“In the Dayan military camp, no matter how big or small the matter is, everyone can decide what they want or don’t want. I really don’t understand what ‘no choice’ means,” Ku You said. “But if Young Master Feng is willing to say—”

“I’m not willing to say it, and there is no need for you to hear it.,” Feng Xiaojin interrupted him. “I only have one condition. If you promise me, I will agree to cooperate.”

Ku You asked: “What is it?”

“Marry A-Le so that she can have a husband,” Feng Xiaojin said word by word. “This is my only condition.”

. . . . . . .

The first thing Liu Nanyuan did was to fix the misplaced ribs and the shattered wrist bones of this unfortunate fellow. The injuries were really serious, ah, and she couldn’t help but turn around and ask: “Sister Cheng, wasn’t the prince afraid he might have the wrong person? Even if the way he spoke was different, if Commander Ku had a cough, or took certain drugs, his voice could have been temporarily changed.”

“Even if there was only a slight abnormality, the prince would not hesitate, because if he hesitated for a moment, the danger would increase dozens or hundreds of times,” Cheng Suyue said. “Although his injuries are serious, he can still be saved, right?”

Liu Nanyuan nodded: “En, it will just be a little troublesome to move, but it’s not life-threatening.”

“Then isn’t this right?” Cheng Suyue said, “Even if the prince’s judgment was wrong and he really was Ku You, it’s nothing more than a few broken bones. There is A-Yuan in the military camp, as well as First Young Master Liu and Second Young Master Liu. Is there any reason to fear that he won’t be healed? So to be on the safe side, it’s better to be economical first.”

Liu Nanyuan: “……Can this kind of thing be economical?”

Cheng Suyue nodded. If we can save time and money, we must save time and money. We’ve been following the prince for so long and have already become accustomed to it.

---

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Chapter One Hundred Eleven << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Thirteen

The trees on both sides of the car windows receded rapidly.

Pei Yi was dressed in a serious little suit with a small black school bag in his arms, and looked quite precious.

His gaze moved from the car window to the front row, and there was uncontrollable excitement in his eyes. “Father Yan, Father Rong, can I really see that gege again today?”

“You can.”

Zong Baiyan glanced at him through the rearview mirror. “Father Yan will definitely do what he promised you.”

Xu Rong turned to look at his child and said warmly, “Pei Yi, today is the birthday of that little gege’s grandma. When you follow us to meet her later, you must be polite. Do you understand?”

Pei Yi nodded.

Xu Rong looked at Zong Baiyan with worry in his expression that only an adult could understand. “I remember that your Zong family rarely interacts with the Bo family?”

Although both Bo and Zong were among the top groups in the Imperial Capital, they rarely interacted with each other in domestic life.

Zong Baiyan chuckled. “Actually, it’s not that big of a deal.”

When Zong Baiyan’s grandfather was young, he was in a business competition with Mrs. Bo, who was in charge of the group. As a result, he suffered a rare big loss.

But there were no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.

“After my grandfather passed away, my father led the Zong family and had some business dealings with the Bo family, but the cooperation was not deep.”

Zong Baiyan glanced at the cute Pei Yi in the mirror again. “This time, I can use the excuse of Xiao Yi to break the ice and communicate privately. My father is very supportive.”

Xu Rong felt relieved.

He was just an outsider and didn’t know much about these “big families.”

Zong Baiyan noticed his lover’s confusion and continued to tell what he knew, “Old Mrs. Bo is a well-known strong woman, did you know that? At this age, she was happily divorced two years ago.”

“The old man had an affair behind her back. The other party was still married back then, and as a result, his reputation was stained and he left the house.”

At the same time, Old Mrs. Bo also severed ties with her eldest son and his family.

“The young man Pei Yi met last time is called Bo Yueming. He’s Old Mrs. Bo’s second grandson. I heard that he’s the second son of Bo Lihong, and came about when the man was young and romantic…..”

Probably out of concern for Pei Yi behind him, Zong Baiyan didn’t explain the entire matter. “But I hear that the Second Young Master of the Bo family is very talented.”

“He’s not even grown yet, but his temperament is as stable as that of a young adult. And he has already won a grand slam in those simulated stock trading competitions, which is very outstanding.”

Sitting in the back row, Pei Yi’s eyes flitted back and forth. In fact, his “cat” ears were perked up very seriously.

As soon as he heard Zong Baiyan’s affirmation of Bo Yueming, he felt an indescribable ambition—

Even such an outstanding father praised the other person’s excellence? Then he must be friends with Er-ge!

. . . . . . .

Old Mrs. Bo’s birthday banquet was arranged at the Bo family’s main residence. When Zong Baiyan arrived with Xu Rong and Pei Yi, there were already many guests who had come to celebrate her birthday.

Zong Baiyan located Old Mrs. Bo and approached her proactively. “Hello, Chairman Bo. I’m Zong Baiyan.”

Bo Peizhi recognized her at a glance. “It’s young Mr. Zong. Long time no see.”

As she spoke, her eyes wandered toward Xu Rong and Pei Yi.

Zong Baiyan introduced them with poise, “Chairman Bo, this is my husband, Xu Rong, and my son, Xiao Yi.”

When the guests heard Zong Baiyan’s words, they all looked surprised—

Although it was no secret that the other party had married a same-sex lover, few people knew that they had also adopted a child.

Xu Rong calmly ignored the glances around him. He greeted Old Mrs. Bo politely, and didn’t neglect to pat Pei Yi’s little head.

Receiving this reminder from his Father Rong, he raised his head and greeted with a sweet smile, “Hello, Old Madam. I wish you a happy birthday, good health, and safety.”

Old Mrs. Bo liked children the most, especially those like Pei Yi, who were cute and intelligent.

She responded kindly, “Ai, thank you for your blessings. Such a good child.”

After Pei Yi replied, his eyes searched the crowd unconsciously.

Once he confirmed that he couldn’t find the person he wanted to see, he approached Zong Baiayn, who was still talking, and gently tugged on the corner of his clothing. He was a little anxious, but due to politeness, he didn’t dare to say anything.

Zong Baiyan understood his child. 

He calmly recounted the horse riding incident half a month before to Old Mrs. Bo, and added his justification at the end, “……We left too quickly last time. Xiao Yi had been thinking about it and wants to thank the Second Young Master in person.”

Old Mrs. Bo responded, “That’s right, the housekeeper with Yueming did tell me such a thing.”

She met Pei Yi’s expectant eyes and simply called a nearby servant. “Take him to find the Second Young Master. The child should still be in his room.”

This was a place for adults, and as a child, it would indeed be boring for Pei Yi to stay here.

The servant accepted Old Mrs. Bo’s instructions and patiently gestured to Pei Yi. “Please follow me.”

Pei Yi was a little unsure. He looked at Zong Baiyan and Xu Rong on both sides of him and silently asked his parents for consent.

Zong Baiyan agreed. “Go ahead, Father Yan will pick you up later.”

Xu Rong asked, “Do you need to carry your school bag?”

Pei Yi thought of the treasures in his bag and nodded heavily. “En.”

. . . . . . .

The Bo family manor was very large.

The two walked out the back door of the main house and walked for a while until they approached their destination—

Only then did Pei Yi realize that Bo Yueming actually had a large villa of his own, and the “wow” in his heart soared into the sky.

But before the two of them could get close to Bo Yueming’s villa, they heard a burst of children’s mischievous playing.

“That’s him! The blood-sucking insect that no one wants and is still living in this house!”

Pei Yi heard this clearly malicious tone and subconsciously broke away from the servant’s control, trotting ahead.

In the next second, he saw the little boy in the lead throw the stone in his hand, which hit the other person’s calf with force.

“……”

Bo Yueming felt the slight, dull pain in his calf and looked at Bo Wang, who was with a group of arrogant children nearby. A hint of irritation flashed across his expression.

Before he could figure out how to “dispatch” this conceited half-brother, a figure rushed over at once and stood in front of him.

“Don’t bully my Er-ge! If you do it again, I’ll tell your parents!”

The group of children, including Bo Wang, looked stunned when they heard this.

“……”

Bo Yueming stared at the silly little head tilted up in front of him. Through his address, he identified the other party, and his originally depressed heart became clear.

Bo Wang looked at Pei Yi, who was not as tall as him, and frowned very unhappily. “Who are you, ah?”

Pei Yi had been beaten up in the orphanage when he was a young child, and was most afraid of such a one-against-many situation.

He tightened his grip on the strap of his school bag, but tried to be brave and refused to move away. “A-anyway, you can’t throw things at people!”

Young Master Bo Wang’s temper rose, and he raised his head. “This is my home! I can do whatever I want! It has nothing to do with you!”

“I..…”

Just as Pei Yi was about to say more, someone suddenly grabbed his arm—

Bo Yueming wordlessly pulled him behind him and told him from the corner of his mouth, “Stand still and don’t talk.”

“……”

Pei Yi opened his mouth, but still obeyed.

Bo Yueming returned his gaze to Bo Wang. “Grandma is about to cut the cake. Aren’t you going?”

Cutting the cake was not the point, but getting red envelopes and attention was.

Bo Wang remembered his mother Xue Min’s instructions early in the morning, and immediately changed his focus. He gave a deliberate scoff and hurried away with his little friends.

Standing behind Bo Yueming, Pei Yi leaned half of his body out and glared at the backs of Bo Wang and those peers of his who had shown off their power. “Hmph! They have no quality at all! If they come back again, I’ll fight them!”

Hearing this “ferocious” cry, Bo Yueming purposely replied, “The one in the lead is my brother, so you can’t hit him.”

“……”

Pei Yi gave an “ah,” a little embarrassed.

How could he solve a minor conflict between two brothers?

Bo Yueming hadn’t expected to meet Pei Yi at his home today. He asked with a hint of subtlety, “Did you come to the birthday banquet with your Father Rong and Father Yan?”

Those members who could go to the racecourse were either rich or noble.

An unfamiliar child such as Pei Yi had appeared at the family’s main house. After some thought, there was only one possibility.

Pei Yi nodded, and blurted out an explanation, “I didn’t purposely leave without saying anything last time.”

Bo Yueming walked back to the small table in the courtyard and put away his study notes. “It’s fine. We didn’t know each other in the first place. You should go back to the main house, there’s cake to eat.”

He remembered that this person seemed to like sweets.

Pei Yi continued to follow behind Bo Yueming. “Er-ge? Aren’t you going?”

“……”

Hearing this familiar address, Bo Yueming stopped and said, “I’m not going. Don’t follow me, either. Good bye.”

He had already wished Old Mrs. Bo a happy birthday in advance, and she was aware that he would be uncomfortable on such an occasion. 

Bo Yueming’s long legs gave him long strides, and Pei Yi could only trot behind, reluctant to let him go. “Er-ge, wait for me. I have something to give you, ah—”

He didn’t even have time to finish his sentence when he failed to notice the steps and fell to the ground.

Bo Yueming turned around in shock and quickly pulled Pei Yi up. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt from the fall?”

Pei Yi shook his head, his ears flushed with embarrassment at having fallen.

Bo Yueming couldn’t figure out what he wanted for the moment, but was also somewhat interested. “Why are you following me with such short legs? Why don’t you go and eat cake?”

Pei Yi was so agitated by the ‘short legs’ comment that he raised his head and opened his eyes, muttering unresignedly, “My legs aren’t short.”

“Father Yan took me to the doctor for a checkup. I….I just haven’t grown up yet. I won’t be short in the future.”

Bo Yueming smiled in spite of himself. “En? So what do you want?”

Pei Yi lifted the small school bag in front of him, opened the zipper, and took out the contents as if it was a bag of treasure. “Here, it’s for you—”

“This is my favorite taro bread, this is my favorite strawberry lollipop, this is my favorite sweet banana milk, and these are the egg yolk cakes that my Father Rong made yesterday. I left two for you.”

“…….”

Bo Yueming watched as a steady stream of snacks was stuffed into his hands, and was forced to take them. It was obvious that they were the favorites of the person in front of him.

“Enough, enough.”

Bo Yueming put a halt to the juggling act and said, dumbfounded, “You don’t want to eat them yourself?”

“They’re for you, ah.” Pei Yi said emphatically, “They’re very sweet and delicious.”

Bo Yueming made an unobtrusive sound in response, feeling much better.

Before he could ask Pei Yi again about his purpose in coming here, the other party asked with a pair of smiling eyes bright with sincerity, “Er-ge, I like you, can we be friends?”

---

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Extra 4/15 <<Table of Contents >> Extra 6/15

It was nearing early morning when Lu Qi caught Li Yimiao in the swaying crowd. The young man was drunk. Lu Qi dragged him out, rejecting two young ladies and a young brother who wanted to add him on WeChat.

“Ge~ Hehe~” Li Yumiao smiled against Lu Qi’s shoulder: “Look how popular you are…..”

Lu Qi held him by the back of his collar and made him stand against a lamppost. He wore an unhappy expression, but his eyes were too innocently-shaped and he looked like an angry kitten.

As expected, Li Yimiao was unafraid. When the cold wind blew, his drunkenness was alleviated a bit. He smiled in an ingratiating way and leaned closer to ask: “Ge, what about that boy? Did you enjoy chatting?”

Lu Qi raised his fingers and knocked on his head, making Li Yimiao cry ow, ow.

“You’ve got too much nerve! How dare you solicit a prostitute?” Lu Qi was furious. “What will you do when it’s on your permanent record when you take the civil service exam in the future?”

“Ow! Ge, I couldn’t pass the academic qualification test.” The great scholar Li Yimiao walked around the pillar and hid behind the lamppost, coming to his senses at last. “What prostitute? Ge, what are you talking about?”

Lu Qi recounted what had just occurred, and concluded angrily: “Tell me! How much did it cost! That person looked so expensive, he’s worth five thousand per minute!”

Li Yimiao laughed out loud. “Did you hear what you just said? Ge! I only earn six thousand yuan per month!”

The two looked at each other.

Li Yimiao may not be reliable, but his financial strength was stable and reliable.

“En…..” Li Yimiao said: “Ge, did you recognize the wrong person? But I don’t think it was a complete mistake. He asked the price when he came up, so professional! I mean, can you compare the five-thousand-per-minute one to the one I arranged for you?”

Lu Qi: “So what is the name of the one you arranged for me?” 

“Lai En, ah! His name is Lai En!”

Lu Qi: ……

. . . . . . .

Mr. Lai was stood up, and Lu Qi asked Li Yimian to give him an explanation. Li Yimiao inquired through his friends about what happened that night, and called Lu Qi to report the next day.

“It’s quite strange. Someone reported that the bar was involved in prostitution the next day and a man surnamed Lai was arrested. They say he was there to sell…..”

Lu Qi’s heart skipped a beat, and he thought uneasily, could they have arrested the wrong person?

“Ge, guess what happened next?” Li Yimiao’s tone suddenly rose. “That guy surnamed Lai was actually no good! The person sent to pick him up that night was his fiance!!”

The melon was getting bigger and bigger, like a snowball. Lu Qi quickly asked in a whisper: “Then did your friend tell that girl he……”

“I say, ah! The sister scratched that scumbag all over his face on the spot!” Li Yimiao viciously cursed this marriage-cheating dog to die without progeny. Then he said dejectedly: “Ge, I’m sorry.”

His original intention was only to make Lu Qi happy.

Lu Qi gave a hmm. “Don’t be so reckless in the future. I’m afraid you can’t judge others very well, and you’ll meet some messy people.”

Li Yimiao gave a long sigh: “It’s a good thing you ignored him, otherwise it would be hard to tell who the cheap one was.”

Someone called his phone on the other side, and Li Yimiao said goodbye to him before hanging up in a hurry.

Lu Qi tossed the phone away and threw himself onto the bed.

In fact, this reckless little cousin was still somewhat useful. If this incident hadn’t diverted some of his attention, Lu Qi would probably be more depressed now. He raised his hand to rub his swollen and painful temples. There was still some faint black and blue beneath his eyes.

He had been somewhat sleepless these days.

The rumors had been circulating for a week. Perhaps it could be said that this was cyber bullying.

At first, he felt that at worst, he could just not go online, but relevant news still reached his ears again and again. Friends in the real world or in the circle heard the news and also called him one after another. There were people who truly cared about him, and also disingenuous ones who were just watching the fun.

Lu Qi could only explain over and over again that he was not a pervert who harassed others.

He was really a little tired.

But he didn’t want to lower his head to Lin Yuan. Even if he gave in, he would never reconcile with Lin Yuan.

But the negative messages he continued to receive were mixed with personal threats, and this was affecting his life. Lu Qi installed a camera outside the door. Because the old building always had intermittent power outages, he bought one with a battery that could run for three or four days even with a power outage.

In the past two days, the nextdoor neighbor had moved in. This neighbor he had yet to meet seemed to prefer Russian music. Today, Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Reed Flutes” was playing. The sound was actually not very loud. Lu Qi’s place was too quiet, so the bright and lively music danced and jumped in his small living room.

His sofa was next to the neighbor’s living room. He could just hear a little bit while lying down on it, and he fell asleep while listening to the music.

When he opened his eyes, it was already dark outside and the music had stopped. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, touching the switch of the floor lamp.

There was a pop sound—

The room was still dark.

Lu Qi reacted belatedly. Oh. There was another power outage.

He fumbled for his phone, and upon opening it, there was a message from a stranger on the lock screen.

[Trash like you should die. Right Angle was driven into depression by your fans…..]

Lu Qi didn’t want to read any more, and swiped his finger to close the message. However, the lock screen became sensitive, and in the light from the building opposite, it unlocked with a click.

[Trash like you should die. Right Angle was driven into depression by your fans. If something happens to him and Honey Bear, you should die to atone for your sins. If you don’t do it then, I’ll assist you.]

Lu Qi’s fingertips shook as he turned off his phone.

The room returned to darkness.

He sat on the sofa and thought silently. He didn’t know whether 90° Right Angle’s depression was real or fake, but if this continued, he might have to see a psychiatrist.

Just as he was thinking, someone suddenly gave a quiet groan outside the door.

It was the faint voice of a man.

Lu Qi’s back subconsciously tensed, like a frightened cat in the dark that became so alert that its tail bristled.

He wanted to call Li Yimiao, but then he thought that Li Yimiao was half a head shorter than him and was really just a bean sprout, so he put it out of his mind.

He turned on the flashlight on his mobile phone, tiptoed to the kitchen cabinet, and took out the tool left there by the landlord after the renovation.

Standing by the shoe cabinet near the door, Lu Qi turned on the phone app connected to his camera.

The camera was all green under the night vision function, but Lu Qi could see a large black figure curled up at his neighbor’s door.

It was not accurate to say that he was curled up. The man was simply sitting on the ground, with one long leg bent up and the other stretched out. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood on his head, concealing most of his face.

He just sat like this with his head hanging. Several times, Lu Qi saw him getting up, holding his hands on the corridor’s cement floor with his tall body trembling slightly.

He might be someone who needed help.

If it had been before, Lu Qi would have gone out with a flashlight to help the person up. But the message he had just received, coupled with the threats he had gotten over the past few days, gathered in his mind like a dark cloud. He clenched the metal in his hand, and the cold temperature caused his limbs to stiffen.

As if he sensed that someone was watching, the man under the camera suddenly raised his head at this moment.

Lu Qi opened his eyes wide.

Even though the face was pale and gloomy through the night vision lens, someone who saw it once would never forget it.

It turned out to be Lion, the little duck.

Click—

The lock sprung open with a crisp sound, and the door was pushed open a small crack. The light of the mobile phone spilled out through that crack in the door and did not directly land on the other person’s face, but politely on his hand.

The hand hanging on his knee made a grasping gesture, as if he wanted to hold this cold white light.

Sitting on the ground, Mu Nanqiao slowly raised his head. His hood pressed down on his hair to cover his eyebrows, but the moment they looked at each other, Lu Qi could still see the fierceness that flashed across his handsome face.

Like a great beast hibernating in the dark.

Lu Qi shrank behind the door, only revealing one eye: “Hello? Are you okay? Why are you here?”

Mu Nanqiao’s expression was startled for a moment. He tilted his head, and the fierceness in his eyes subsided. After looking at him for a second, he asked in a hoarse voice: “Why are you here?”

Lu Qi: ……

Didn’t I ask first?

However, the other person’s expression was clear and sober, not like he was in a drunk or drugged state. A little relieved, Lu Qi poked out most of his body. “Do you need help?”

“En.” Mu Nanqiao nodded this time. “Please give me a hand.”

Lu Qi reached out to pull him up.

He had touched this slender hand twice. At this time, his palm was wet with cold sweat, and there were grains of dirt from the concrete floor. It was unknown if it was due to a sudden illness, but those long legs were completely unable to use their strength. Lu Qi finally pulled this person up, and he half leaned on Lu Qi as he took a bunch of keys out of his pocket.

“I live here.” He answered Lu Qi’s recent question, his voice low and leisurely. “What a coincidence, ah. Neighbor.”

It turned out that he was the “lighting store owner” and Russian music lover.

Lu Qi struggled to support him, and whispered softly as he opened the door: “This kind of work is very harmful to the body, look at how your legs are shaking…..”

Being so close, even though his voice was low, Mu Nanqiao heard it very clearly.

The chest against Lu Qi’s back trembled. The man seemed to be laughing.

“Actually, I…..”

His unfinished words were interrupted by disordered footsteps, and the two of them turned simultaneously to look down the stairs.

A figure quickly rushed up.

The light in the corridor was dim, but Lu Qi still saw the bright strip in the person’s hand. 

That was a sharp knife, reflecting the light.

The figure didn’t seem to expect to see two men “hugging each other” in an intimate posture in the stairwell. He froze in place, like a mouse that had suddenly lost the target of its theft.

When their eyes met, Mu Nanqiao was the first to react. He instinctively pulled the boy behind him, but before he could pull him, Lu Qi stooped down like a little loach, slipping under his arm and back to his nest?

Mu Nanqiao: ……

So straightforward?

After just a moment’s hesitation, the figure was already rushing forward with the knife. He was clearly stumbling and not quite sober, but he swung the knife very fiercely and made a he he sound in his mouth, as if he was holding a mouthful of saliva.

Just as Mu Nanqiao was about to turn aside, the door behind him opened again and a breeze blew past. The little loach who slipped away had returned, and stepped between him and the knife-wielding hoodlum. There was a bam—clang—

The hoodlum rolled down the stairs with a grunt, and Lu Qi threw the knife far away.

Mu Nanqiao: ……

For a moment, there was an eerie silence on the stairs, and the only thing that could be heard was the boy’s nervous and rapid breathing.

Mu Nanqiao stared at Lu Qi’s slightly thin back, and slowly relaxed his tightened fists.

“What did you hit him with?” he asked.

Lu Qi gasped out in a trembling voice: “The…..the Holy Sword of Physics.”

Mu Nanqiao: ? ? ? 

When he looked down, the boy was holding a rusty crowbar in his shaking hands.

---

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Chapter Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter Seven

Huo Fenglie was not interested in men. When he heard that a man wanted to marry Liu Zhenqing, Huo Fenglie had been disgusted.

He still had some sense at this moment and didn’t want to hurt the woman, so he just pounced on him instead.

Fortunately, he had only stayed in that room for a short time. If he’d been in there longer, he would likely be in a state of, “If there are no women, men are fine.”

“Calm down, ah, Brother Huo.” Liu Zhenqing pushed Huo Fenglie’s head. He could feel that he was resisting his body’s instincts, and his entire body was extremely stiff.

Liu Zhenqing was about to take out a detoxification pill for him, but Huo Fenglie jumped away from him and rushed toward the door.

The woman at the door thought she was being targeted again and was so frightened that her legs went weak, but in the next moment, Huo Funglie rushed past her and crashed through the door.

Startled by this turn of events, Liu Zhenqing stood up and hurriedly chased after him.

As soon as he went out, he saw Huo Fenglie standing in the moonlight. He seemed to be eating something with his head down, shaking all over and trying to endure it.

Just as Liu Zhenqing was about to approach, he heard Huo Fenglie say: “Don’t come over.”

“No, I have your antidote pills, Brother Huo.” Liu Zhenqing spoke quickly.

Huo Fenglie tensed and said: “I’ve taken the antidote. There’s no problem.”

In fact, it wasn’t a detoxification pill that he had taken. The smoke just now had the effect of making people lose their mind and stirring their blood up, which triggered his old injury. If he took the medicine to treat his old injury, the effects of the aphrodisiac could be completely eliminated by his internal strength.

Liu Zhenqing breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. When she saw this, the woman on the side finally collapsed onto the ground, sobbing quietly.

There was a sudden noise in the room. It seemed that the unconscious man had woken again due to the drug’s stimulation.

Liu Zhenqing hurriedly went to investigate. Taking advantage of Huo Fenglie’s absence, he felt his pulse and let out a sigh, then took out an antidote pill worth hundreds of taels and gave it to the man. After all, if he wasn’t saved, he would probably suffocate to death. 

Moreover, Liu Zhenqing just now recognized the man. After he killed the corrupt officials back then, among the remaining officials, this one was considered useful and was later promoted.

How had he ended up drugged here like this?

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t figure it out, and could only wait for the man to wake up.

At this time, footsteps came from behind. Liu Zhenqing glanced back and saw Huo Fenglie walking with a slightly stiff gait. Although he still had an upright body and was facing squarely ahead, he could sense the avoidance of his eyes.

Liu Zhenqing suppressed a smile and asked with concern: “Is Brother Huo feeling better?”

Huo Fenglie finally raised his eyes to look at Liu Zhenqing, but his gaze suddenly paused and his entire body froze for a moment. Then he lowered his eyes with even more embarrassment. “Apologies, Brother Liu. I offended you just now.”

Liu Zhenqing was confused. Was he looking at……his neck?

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t see it himself, but he was indeed licked by Er-gou before, and couldn’t be sure if he had been bitten or held in his mouth. However, it was normal for red marks to be left on the pampered white skin of a wealthy young master.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t help but feel even more amused after thinking about it.

“Brother Huo, it was just a small accident. Everything is fine.”

Liu Zhenqing’s tone was normal. If Huo Fenglie continued acting bashful, it would be a bit embarrassing, so he adjusted his mentality and looked over again, only to see Liu Zhenqing put a hand on his neck as if rubbing it in the place he had just left a mark.

Huo Fenglie’s cheeks seemed to be set on fire instantly, and his body became stiff again.

Then he heard Liu Zhenqing say with a smile: “It’s only the effect of the drugs. I couldn’t possibly misunderstand Brother Huo because of this, right?”

Huo Fenglie didn’t speak. 

Liu Zhenqing did he utmost to push the corners of his mouth down.

The girl who was awake during the whole process was still feeling grieved and upset, and couldn’t care about the situation around her. 

It wasn’t until the other man made a noise that the bullied Er-gou was rescued.

When the memories hit after waking up, the man was so upset that he burst into tears. He looked at the girl nearby and apologized while crying.

Although the girl didn’t dare to get close, she shook her head vigorously. “Prefect, I know you are a good official, it was because they wanted to harm you. I don’t blame you, I only blame myself for being ignorant and falling into this deep pit.” As she spoke, she began to cry again.

Hearing the girl’s address, Liu Zhenqing raised his eyebrows. Prefect? It was one level lower than he expected. According to his evaluation of this person back then, he thought he should be in the highest position of prefectural magistrate.

Once Prefect Wu overcame his grief and anger, he calmed down somewhat and used the moonlight to get a clear view of the two people in the room and saluted to express his gratitude. Naturally, he didn’t know Liu Zhenqing. After scanning over him with his eyes, he instantly focused on Huo Fenglie.

“You…..you’re…..the general of the country!” Prefect Wu’s eyes widened.

Huo Fenglie nodded.

Prefect Wu trembled with excitement. “Is the emperor finally going to help us?”

Huo Fenglie frowned. “The emperor doesn’t know what is going on here.”

Prefect Wu was stunned for a moment, then could only wipe away his tears and say with choked sobs: “Of course the emperor doesn’t know, because the news couldn’t get out at all. Any officials who dared to spread unfavorable news were sent to be dealt with by Magistrate Wang. They could only send disaster-related information and ask for relief money and food from the court.”

Liu Zhenging thought, surname Wang? It seemed that among the minor officials left behind in the same area as Prefect Wu, there was someone named Wang. If he was the same person, he could have climbed faster than Prefect Wu and his ambitions could have grown faster. He had even deceived his superiors and subordinates to such an extent. Was he planning to become the local emperor of Yanqiu Prefecture with one hand covering the sky? 

Huo Fenglie asked directly: “What is Magistrate Wang doing? What does he have to do with the Heaven’s Blessing Sect?”

Prefect Wu looked up at Huo Fenglie and said agitatedly: “He secretly embezzled the disaster relief funds for food and let his son start the Heaven’s Blessing Sect to launder the official money!”

As soon as these words were spoken, Huo Fenglie and Liu Zhenqing’s expressions shifted.

The total amount of official funds was usually not too large. Officials at each level took some of it, and the rest was used for disaster relief. After all, disaster relief used official funds, which were difficult to circulate in the market and easily traced. But if the official silver was broken down and turned into private broken silver, then no matter how much wealth the country distributed, it would be swallowed up endlessly by them.

In other words, they probably didn’t care about the disaster relief at all, and swallowed up all the money, allowing the common people to die in large numbers. In the end, they blamed the natural disasters and continued to ask for money from the court.

How dare they be so bold? Could it be that the Imperial court was incompetent and the current emperor was blind?

As Prefect Wu spoke, the truth about Yanqiu Prefecture in the last few years gradually emerged.

“There are natural disasters every year in Yanqiu Prefecture. It can be said that officials lead people to fight against the heavens, and the court often provides disaster relief. When the situation is good, we can live in peace for a year, but when the situation is bad, people starve to death everywhere. Since the death of Prime Minister Liu, the emperor has begun to support flood control, drought prevention, locust prevention, snow disaster prevention, and other construction projects. In fact, things got better in the first few years, but everything changed when Magistrate Wang became the magistrate of Yanqiu Prefecture through a promotion four years ago and became in-laws with the lieutenant in charge of the military.”

Huo Fenglie frowned when he heard about that lieutenant. No wonder they were lawless. This was collusion between civil and military officials.

“Magistrate Wang asked his son to found the Heaven’s Blessing Sect and then began to exploit the government’s disaster relief food funds. It was still a small amount at first, and the Heaven’s Blessing Sect still kept things mysterious, so the common people still had a way to survive. I was far away in another county and had incomplete information. Then two or three years ago, the Heaven’s Blessing Sect began to grow, and the money and food allocated to our county decreased each time. Only then did I realize there was a problem, and then I investigated with like-minded colleagues and discovered Magistrate Wang’s conspiracy.”

“He pretty much only gave us a little perfunctory silver for disaster relief and kept the rest for himself, and also only gave us a little bit of the food. It was enough for the victims of disaster clinging to life in the cities and towns on the official roads, and the rest was taken away by the Heaven’s Blessing Sect and re-sold to other disaster-ridden prefectures to make money.”

“He is truly a heartless person.” Hearing this, Liu Zhenqing had to sigh with emotion. He was not such a ruthless person when Liu Zhenqing was ruling the country, or why would he have left him behind in the first place?

At this point, the girl next to him began to weep. She had only discovered the truth after she had come in.

It turned out that it wasn’t that the Imperial court refused to save them, but that these villains sucked the blood of the common people regardless of their lives or deaths. However, they were so stupid that they kneeled down and worshiped the Heaven’s Blessing Sect every day.

The girl said: “All the men they arrested are locked up next to the furnace in the back mountain and forced to work day and night. The women they arrested are all young and good-looking, just to…..to accompany those officials and merchants. Some of the sisters were defiled and committed suicide directly, while others had to endure hardships and stay in order to have a bite of food for their families. I just arrived. In order to force us to be their accomplices, Magistrate Wang had us drugged and locked up together. They are all beasts! Beasts!”

Seeing the girl weep as she thought about the plight of the people here, Liu Zhenqing sighed and took off his cloak, stepping forward to place it on the girl.

The girl cried so hard that she leaned against Liu Zhenqing. He couldn’t bear her sobs, so he patted her and said: “Don’t be afraid. You heard it just now, hasn’t the general of the country come? You are all saved.”

He glanced at Huo Fenglie as he said this, only to find that Huo Fenglie was also looking over with an unhappy expression on his face. It was evident that he was also angered by these things.

Upon hearing Liu Zhenqing’s words, Prefect Wu nodded firmly and said: “Right! We are saved. I haven’t persisted for so long in vain. General Huo, I have evidence that can be handed over to the court to sentence them to death! Over the years, some of us have been responsible for making appeals, while some have been responsible for collecting evidence. In the end, the people who made appeals died, and those collecting evidence were either caught or threatened with their families. And people like me who controlled important evidence were locked up here. Because they don’t know where I hid the evidence, they tried their best to make me complicit.”

In fact, before Prefect Wu opened his mouth, Liu Zhenqing had pretty much guessed that he had evidence in hand. Magistrate Wang and others hadn’t found it yet, so they had no other choice but to entrap him.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense for Prefect Wu to have appeared here.

Prefect Wu was quite cautious, and was only willing to let Huo Fenglie listen. When he finished speaking, Huo Fenglie nodded.

He immediately decided: “You two just wait here, we will return quickly. Also, write down all of the officials involved that you are aware of.”

Prefect Wu hurriedly said: “I have written down the names of all those officials. They are in the evidence.”

“I also want the military officials under the lieutenant. Write down everything you know.”

Hearing this, Prefect Wu immediately nodded in agreement.

Liu Zhenqing considered for a moment and finally suggested that they go back to the previous room.

When he mentioned this, the victims became frightened.

“If someone comes to investigate, you won’t be safe. As long as you stay in that room, you will be safe at least until dawn, which will give us enough time to act. Besides, what are you afraid of? We can just take away that poisonous smoke.”

When Liu Zhenqing went next door to get started, Huo Fenglie had to stay with him. In fact, Liu Zhenqing knew this drug well, and if he held his breath, it would naturally have no effect. After the smoke was extinguished, it dissipated quickly. Liu Zhenqing motioned for Huo Fenglie to take a breath and act as a guinea pig.

Huo Fenglie hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Liu Zhenqing couldn’t hold his breath any longer, he had no choice but to try it himself to prove that there was no problem before letting Liu Zhenqing breathe.

Liu Zhenqing smiled and made up a lie: “I happened to see my two cousins collect this thing before, so I know how to deal with it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never used it myself.”

Of course, he couldn’t say he knew this because of his “medical skills.”

Huo Fenglie didn’t question him further. He simply called the two people over and left a skylight for them. Then Huo Fenglie carried Liu Zhenqing and flew out the skylight, locking the door from the outside.

After flying up to the eaves again, Huo Fenglie suddenly said, “Is it cold?”

Why did he ask this suddenly? It was fine for Huo Fenglie not to ask, but really a bit of a surprise when he did. In the end, the wind above was stronger, and although he wasn’t cold when he was wrapped in the cloak before, now he felt chilly. But the places where Huo Fenglie was holding him were quite hot.

Liu Zhenqing once again said things he shouldn’t say: “It’s not cold. A martial arts practitioner like General Huo has a strong body, full of fire and warmth. How could I be cold?”

Sure enough, Huo Fenglie looked a little tense again when he said this, and looked like he didn’t know how to answer.

Liu Zhenqing really felt that Er-gou was more fun as an adult than he was as a child.

Of course, teasing him all the time wasn’t good. Liu Zhenqing also brought up serious matters and said: “Is the evidence hidden here?”

Huo Fenglie nodded, otherwise he would have just gone down the mountain to mobilize his troops. But now, it was best to collect the evidence first and then mobilize the troops, so as to avoid the trouble of accidentally losing the evidence during the battle.

“He hid the evidence in three places, one of which is on the main beam of the main courtyard hall. When he was hung up for questioning, he climbed up the rope when no one was around and placed it there. One place is under the screen in the guest room where Magistrate Wang stayed last time, where he hid it while being questioned by the magistrate alone. The other place is in a crevice in the stone wall next to the furnace in the back mountain.”

Liu Zhenqing said with a frown: “He was dragged to the furnace and questioned?”

“No, to let him see how much money he could get for being obedient.”

Liu Zhenqing shook his head and chuckled: “He is truly a good and mighty official who cannot be compromised by wealth or lust. He’s also a very lucky person to hide things like this without being discovered. I fear Magistrate Wang never expected that he would dare to carry the evidence on him and hide it everywhere in his lair. It’s rather amusing.”

Huo Fenglie analyzed: “Let’s check on the situation in the main hall first. Only his son knows which guest room Magistrate Wang had last time. Magistrate Wang usually comes with his own people to protect him, and other officials don’t know where he is. Then we’ll check the back mountain. They only rest for an hour late at night, so we can sneak in then.”

With this said, they arrived on the roof of the main hall of the main courtyard. There seemed to be some kind of party going on below, which was in sharp contrast to the dead silence of the city in the distance.

Huo Fenglie lifted up a tile and took a look. His expression gradually became ugly when he saw the lively atmosphere inside, but his eyes soon lit up.

“Found it.”

“Really?” Liu Zhenqing said in surprise.

Huo Fenglie stepped back a little to make room for Liu Zhenqing to look. “The third beam in the southeast corner.”

Liu Zhenqing took a closer look, and sure enough, he saw the gray pamphlet just under the junction of several beams. It was hidden very well.

Liu Zhenqing had just glanced at it when his attention was diverted by the excitement below.

They were drinking wine and chatting happily, complimenting one another and imagining a bright future. Almost everyone had their arms around a scantily-clad beauty. He could tell that some were officials and some were merchants. The person sitting at the top should be the leader. He looked like a fat man in his thirties, and was surrounded by many women. There were musicians playing in the center of the hall, with women in white dresses dancing. The tables were piled with delicacies, with food enough for five people at each table, exceedingly extravagant and wasteful.

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes darkened uncontrollably upon seeing this scene, and suddenly, he caught a flash of a familiar figure in the crowd.

---

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Chapter Thirty-Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirty-Nine

In a room covered with gauze curtains, candles flickered unnervingly. Nighttime had enveloped most of the light, leaving only a faint yellow in the room. The wind carried the intermittent sound of silver bells, and the sound of water made a person think of the Qinhuai cruise that year when he closed his eyes. The fragrance had also been specially blended. It was different from the sea of flowers stretching thousands of li in the southwest. Instead, it was sweet and cheap, like a viper’s tongue. The slightest touch could dizzy one’s head.

Mu Zhe sat on a chair and viewed the young woman behind the gauze. Her eyebrows were raised like a fox fairy, her eyes misty, lips stained blood-red, but she was a little less charming than before. He looked at her in a daze with a suddenly pained expression, and through the person before him, asked the lonely soul who had died several years ago: “Why didn’t you give birth to a daughter who looks exactly like you?”

Feng Xiaojin didn’t speak, and only closed his eyes indifferently. He could hear the other’s footsteps gradually approaching. They stopped there for a long time, and then a hand as old as tree bark touched his face.

“Why did you follow that dog official surnamed Tan instead of waiting for me?” Mu Zhe continued to ask, “They even said that you redeemed yourself.”

He didn’t understand why she had refused to leave Qinhuai with him once she had money.

Feng Xiaojin understood. It was actually not difficult to guess what choice a brothel girl would make when faced with a criminal who was being hunted by the Imperial court and a suave noble son from Wangcheng.

Mu Zhe had been confused for many years, simply because he didn’t want to admit it. He didn’t want to admit that the clean and pure goddess in his heart, like most women in the world, cared about a man’s status and actually didn’t fancy him at all in the first place. He didn’t want to admit that the separated lovers in his imagination was just wishful thinking. It was ridiculous that the cult leader was the best at playing with people’s hearts, but he was also susceptible to weaknesses of the heart and avoided them in cowardice. For so many years, he couldn’t figure out the simplest question, so much so that he turned into a lunatic.

Feng Xiaojin didn’t think that his mother was a bad woman, nor did he think that she was a good one. In the end, she was just an ordinary person. When she was young, she met a handsome young man from a prominent family and wanted to take a gamble. However, her life was miserable. She made the wrong gamble, and her life was ruined.

He could no longer remember what his so-called “father” looked like. When he was eight years old, he killed the tofu man and took all his family’s valuables all the way north. After going through a lot of hardships, he finally arrived in Wangcheng in the twelfth lunar month of winter. It was an astonishingly large city. The streets were wide enough for five carriages to drive side by side. There were carvings and paintings on the roofs of every house, and the glazed tiles were so bright that they were blinding in the direct sunlight.

The people were also different from the sharp and unkind neighbors in a small town. They were dressed in fashionable clothes, the nobles wrapped in thick furs, and they all looked very happy. The proprietress of a steamed bun shop spotted the little boy standing barefoot in the snow. She gave an exclamation and hurriedly sent a waiter to find some clean old clothes in the back courtyard, waving to him: “Child, don’t stay there, come in and warm yourself by the fire.”

Feng Xiaojin was pulled into the shop by the waiter. After scrubbing him and changing his clothes, the proprietress brought him steamed buns and hot soup and asked: “Have you come to Wangcheng to look for relatives?”

“Yes.” Feng Xiaojin looked at the red silk hanging on the tree outside and asked enviously while holding the hot soup, “Auntie, is the New Year in Wangcheng always so lively?”

“It is only the ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the New Year has not yet come. The red silk is hung for a happy event in the Tan family. Tan-daren is taking a concubine today.” The proprietress said with a smile, “My family’s little one is going to beg for sweets later, so you can go along and play, ba. By the way, who are your relatives and where do they live?”

Tan Manor. Tan-daren. Feng Xiaojin raised his head and asked: “Is it the Tan Manor on Zhengyang Street? That Tan-daren?”

“Yes, Tan Manor on Zhengyang Street. It is the only Tan Manor in Wangcheng.” The proprietress said, “Tan Xiaozhong, Tan-daren, is marrying the Third Young Lady of Zhou Manor.”

Feng Xiaojin’s fingers moved slightly wrong, and the sweet peanut brown sugar filling in the steamed bun flowed out, covering his hand warmly. He asked: “Tan-daren is taking a concubine, so who is his wife?”

“The daughter of Li-daren from the Ministry of Finance. When they married, it was much livelier than today.”

The proprietress began to chatter. It must have been eleven or twelve years ago. She was not married yet, so she stood by the street and watched the bridal processions march down the long street. The young master of the Tan family, who was riding at the front of the procession, had a face as beautiful as a crown jewel and a smile as bright as the spring breeze. With just one glance, he became the dream of countless girls in Wangcheng.

Feng Xiaojin thought to himself, eleven or twelve years ago.

At that time, his mother was holding her belly or holding him, living in that dilapidated tofu shop and gazing north day after day. She believed that he was waiting for her, and that as long as she could reach the royal city and appear in front of him, the lovers would still be able to get married. And that what caused this current predicament was not a fickle heart, but man-made difficulties.

She felt that the man loved her, so she often secretly told her son about their brief encounter, the man’s promise, the prosperity of the royal city, and the “good days in the future” that existed in her fantasies.

“Your father will look for us,” she said.

Therefore, Feng Xiaojin believed that his father would definitely go to Qinhuai to pick up him and his mother. Once it was discovered that this person was gone, he would send his servants to look for him wildly in all directions. With such extravagant dreams in mind, he gritted his teeth and walked all the way to Wangcheng. 

But on the first day he arrived in the royal city, he encountered his father taking a concubine, and he also had a wife, son, and daughter.

Feng Xiaojin finished his steamed buns in silence and followed the proprietress’s son to the door of Tan Manor. A steward in brocade was smiling broadly as he handed out sweets to the children, and a matron shouted something along the lines of, “more children, more blessings.” The environment was so noisy that his mind began to distort. With an intense pain as if being eaten by ants, he saw his father for the first time, wearing red clothing and riding a white horse. He smiled so happily as he went to pick up the bride, and didn’t even look at Feng Xiaojin.

All the boxes were wrapped in red silk. Some were blown by the wind and fell to the ground, where they were trampled and stained. Feng Xiaojin thought of his mother. She had not bought a new piece of fabric in eight years.

“You silly boy.” An aunt next to him suddenly patted his shoulder and said, “Tan-daren is getting married. Why are you crying at such a happy event? Be careful that the people in charge don’t see you and scold you. Where are your parents?”

“Dead.” Feng Xiaojin looked at the back of the handsome horseman through the mist covering his eyes. “Mother is dead, and so is Father.”

“Aiya.” The aunt was a little regretful, and said softly, “I shouldn’t have asked. Stop crying, where do you live?”

Feng Xiaojin pushed her away and slowly walked out of the crowd.

He didn’t want to recognize that father anymore, even if there was a slight possibility that the other party would be willing to recognize him. He was also not willing to recount the suffering he and his mother had endured over the past eight years in exchange for the cheap sympathy from the people in the manor who were curious, pitying, or astonished. Not to mention that they might not even have any sympathy at all, and he would just be kicked out like a wild dog.

The tube of red silk that rolled to the ground would take almost half a year of stone grinding before his mother could afford it. As Feng Xiaojin walked, he thought obsessively about what the people in Tan Manor were doing when he was in that tofu shop, hungry, cold, and mistreated because of a missing copper plate.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and after the anger passed, he felt tired and numb again. He was like the walking dead, treading through the heavy snow in the royal city. The ill-fitting shoes on his feet fell off, but he didn’t feel the cold until he fell headfirst into the snow.

He thought he was going to die, but in the end, he woke up in a rickety carriage, surrounded by a circle of drunken men.

“Where are the officers and soldiers?”

“Don’t worry, we’ve already lost them.” 

They chatted and laughed. When the leading man saw that Feng Xiaojin was awake, he picked him up and tossed a bottle of wine over.

“Bastard, I see you’re homeless too. Come and follow me to the east to make a living.”

Feng Xiaojin took a sip from the wine bottle and choked until he coughed.

He didn’t ask who the other party was, but could guess a thing or two from them saying they “lost the officers and soldiers.”

They were enemies of the Imperial court.

That was, the enemies of his so-called father.

Feng Xiaojin said: “Okay.”

From then on, he became a vicious bandit who terrified the common people.

He once vowed to kill the entire Tan family and make them all go down to accompany his mother, so he worked hard to practice martial arts. Finally, five years later, he got the opportunity.

Tan Xiaozhong was ordered to escort disaster relief funds and food to the south. Although he brought many troops with him, he still suffered from the terrain and was beaten to pieces by the bandits. Screams echoed through the mountains and blood flowed like rivers.

Feng Xiaojin put the sword to his neck.

Tan Xiaozhong lay on the ground in a state of disarray. Perhaps because his face was covered in mud, he appeared much older than the day he took the concubine, with wrinkles and white hair. He swore loudly, cursing the bandits for their inhumanity: “How many people up and down the Baihe River are waiting for this batch of money and food? They are going to starve to death, starve to death! And you even want to grab the disaster relief supplies, you bastards! Thugs!”

“Is it so rare to starve to death?” Feng Xiaojin looked at him condescendingly. “Seven or eight years ago, my mother died of hunger and cold. Until her death, she was still waiting for a man who made a promise to her on a flower boat that he would find her. Where were you at that time, Tan-daren?”

Tan Xiaozhong didn’t understand the meaning of his words, and just got up with great difficulty to say: “The Imperial court knows that the common people are having a hard time, so it went around raising money and food. If you steal this batch of things, there will be thousands more women in the world who will also die of hunger and cold. At least……at least leave half of the food for me to transport to the disaster areas.”

Feng Xiaojin said: “It turns out you don’t remember her at all.”

“What?” Tan Xiaozhong said.

“If you have the ability, you can take these things back from me,” Feng Xiaojin said coldly. Then he got on his horse and walked away. He knew the laws of Dayan, and what an official who had lost relief supplies would face when he returned. This was more interesting than killing him.

Tan Xiaozhong was left behind to continue cursing.

The wind finally blew away all sounds.

But Tan Xiaozhong still died in the end.

The entire family died in Mu Zhe’s hands.

They simply died.

Feng Xiaojin thought to himself.

All men are mortal.

Mu Zhe caressed his face and refused to let go for a long time. He deliberately drank some wine, and while he was half drunk and half sober, he gazed at the beauty in front of him with a lifelong love. He felt that he was not old, but still young and full of vitality.

“You are not inferior at all.” Mu Zhe said, “Soon, I will make you the noblest woman in the world.”

A breeze gusted through the room, blowing the candle flames that were nearly extinguished. 

The shadows on the walls became stranger and stranger.

. . . . . .

Wumeng Yunle put the lampshade away and asked: “How long will it take for your injury to heal?”

“I don’t know. Neither the witch doctors nor A-Chang can say for sure.” Wumeng Yunyou frowned. “I feel as if all the bones in my body are aching. How has it been in the village lately?”

“Many nasty Nanyang people have come.” Wumeng Yunle said happily, “All the disciples are ready. They say that Dayan’s army may be coming soon.”

Wumeng Yunyou scoffed: “How could they pass through the dense forest unharmed? What about that Ku You? Is he still refusing to pay attention to you?”

“He is willing to talk to me,” Wumeng Yunle said leisurely. “That is enough.”

“But I heard A-Chang say that day that Master will use him to exchange for the lost gold.”

“I have already asked Master, and he says that Ku You will not be sent away, but will stay in our Baifu Sect forever.”

“He will not agree to marry you, and Master may kill him.”

Wumeng Yunle squeezed a handkerchief: “But Master knows that I like him, and I will not let him die. I want him to be my husband. 

Wumeng Yunyou couldn’t be bothered to listen to the girl’s ravings, so he pulled up the quilt to cover his head: “You’d better sober up a little, or Uncle will explain the truth to you.”

“I haven’t seen him for most of the day.” Wumeng Yunle turned back and looked out the window. “He seems to be staying with Master.”

. . . . . . . . 

A new letter was sent by green harrier.

Sure enough, as Liang Shu had guessed, the other party chose a lake in the dense forest as the exchange location.

Gao Lin said: “Pour all the gold and silver into the lake?”

“The miasma in this area is very strong,” Liang Shu said. “Our soldiers can only push the carts in and out quickly to avoid inhaling too much of the poisonous mist. This is indeed for their benefit.”

“The fact that they chose this place means that they have measured the depth of the lake.” Liu Xian’an said, “Are we going to do as they say?”

“Let’s exchange Ku You back first. They won’t be able to take this batch of gold and silver for the time being. We only need to wipe out the Baifu Sect in the shortest possible time, and there won’t be too much loss,” Gao Lin said. “The biggest problem now is that they will most likely not return the real Ku You.”

Liang Shu looked at the people of the Scimitar Silver Moon Tribe.

“Your Highness, please be at ease.” A man clasped his fists and said, “We will follow them and make sure no one notices us.”

“Then everything will proceed as planned.” Liang Shu told Cheng Suyue, “Go and load the gold and silver into the carts!”

Gao Lin also went to help, thinking to himself, Ku You must come back, but the money must also come back with him. After all, my family’s prince has already planned how to divide it up. He casually picked up a silver ingot and told his men to speed up. A soldier slipped over and asked: “Lieutenant General Gao, are we really going to give away so much money?”

“Yes, ah.” Gao Lin gave him a heavy pat. “Who made your commander so valuable?”

The soldier: “……”

What was going on? He had a vague feeling that Lieutenant General Gao wasn’t very worried?

After working all night and day, everyone finally loaded all the gold and silver into the carts and went all the way into the dense forest. Liang Shu personally led the team, and Cheng Suyue followed to escort them. At the junction where the fog was about to become thicker, the lake also appeared faintly at the end of their line of sight.

Ku You was hung and tied to an old crooked-necked tree. He was motionless and covered in blood, the quiet lake under his body.

“Your Royal Highness Xiao Wang, pour it in.” A woman in red stood in the forest. “It is best that we don’t play tricks, otherwise—” She glanced at the mechanism beside her. “If I cut this rope, hundreds of sharp arrows will shoot through his body.”

Cheng Suyue asked loudly: “What if we dump all the gold into the lake, but you still cut the rope?”

“Don’t worry, girl. The Baifu Buddha Mother is on our side. We don’t break our promises.” The woman in red chuckled. “Besides, we just want to get back the gold and silver. We don’t have the nerve to provoke His Royal Highness Xiao Wang. Leader Mu is still thinking of finding an opportunity for peace talks with His Highness, so he won’t play tricks with Commander Ku. What do you say?”

She easily jumped onto a branch so that she could see the other party more clearly: “This is the most reasonable method of exchange we could come up with. Even if the girl thinks it is unfair, there is nothing you can do about it. If you continue to hesitate…..” She held a burning torch between her fingers, which could burn the mechanism ropes at any time.

Liang Shu said: “Dump it!”

“Yes!” Cheng Suyue gestured, and the first batch of more than ten soldiers, their faces covered with towels, pushed the carts and rushed in the forest, dumping all the gold and silver contained inside into the lake. Then a second group of soldiers rushed forward.

Then the third.

Then the fourth.

. . . . . . . .

When the last ten carts of gold were dumped into the lake, the woman in red raised her hand and threw the torch into the lake, laughing loudly: “His Royal Highness Xiao Wang is indeed trustworthy, and so are we!”

After saying this, she turned around and fell lightly into the depths of the forest miasma. The other disciples of the Baifu Sect quickly disappeared without a trace, leaving only Ku You, who was still hanging alone in the middle of the lake.

Liang Shu flew forward and personally cut the ropes off with his sword. Ku You opened his eyes drowsily mid-air and spat out a mouthful of blood. He was in a daze, his golden eyes unfocused.

He said: “I, they, where is this, I—”

Before he could finish the sentence, Ku You’s eyes opened wide! Liang Shu wore an imperceptible layer of thin tencel gloves, and squeezed the hands that were about to make a sneak attack until the bones broke! Several Gu insects buzzed and fell into the lake. Liang Shu gave him a knee, causing him to gasp and stifle a scream. The two fell into the forest. Cheng Suyue immediately led people to shake out a huge blanket and wrap the injured person in it head to toe.

“Bring Commander Ku back quickly!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.

The woman in red who was hiding in the dense forest continued to watch them leave in a hurry, and then stood up with satisfaction.

And the people from the Scimitar Silver Moon Tribe also followed her silently.

. . . . . . . .

Liu Xian’an was waiting anxiously in the military camp. That something could make a forty-eight thousand year old Sleeping Immortal anxious showed that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was indeed very important. He continued to pace back and forth until Gao Lin’s eyes were dizzy. Gao Lin didn’t dare to give any advice, so he had to look at the other two people from the Liu family, but didn’t see any results. Because everyone from Baihe Mountain Village had formed a consensus that Second Young Master Liu’s pacing was a festive event that could parallel the New Year. It was too late to comfort him, so there was no reason to stop him.

Therefore, Lieutenant General Gao had no choice but to continue to feel dizzy until he heard noise coming from the entrance of the military camp.

“Commander Ku is back, Commander Ku is back!” The soldiers shouted happily.

Everyone hurriedly welcomed him out. When Gao Lin saw his prince’s expression, he understood. “The one who came back is really a fake.”

While acting appropriately, he quietly asked his sister: “The truth has been revealed so soon? I’ve been thinking for half a day that the Baifu Sect would have carefully selected the person since they’ve studied Ku You for so long. The fake they trained should have at least confused our prince for a moment.”

“I’m also puzzled. As soon as the prince took action, he broke the opponent’s wrists and knocked him unconscious,” Cheng Suyue said. “I looked at him on the road. His face is exactly the same as Ku You’s, as well as his eyes. There’s not even a trace of a mask.”

Gao Lin was extremely confused. How had he been discovered?

---

Chapter One Hundred Ten << Table of Contents >> Chapter One Hundred Twelve

In no time at all, the electronic clock on the wall sounded the announcement that it was three o’clock.

Pei Yi looked at the glass door that no one had entered, and there was a trace of imperceptible loss and uneasiness in his eyes.

He quickly drank the remaining flower tea water in the thermos, still staring motionlessly at the door.

Bo Yueming saw that the person sitting next to him had changed from lively and active to extremely silent, and it seemed like he would stare a hole through the door with his eager gaze before giving up.

“Pei Yi?”

“…..En?”

Pei Yi slowly turned his gaze back to Bo Yueming, his pupils trembling. He held the canteen in his arms, as if this could suppress the uneasiness inside.

Bo Yueming recalled what Coach Gao had told Pei Yi just now. “Your parents are picking you up at three o’clock?”

Pei Yi nodded slightly, feeling a sense of indescribable grievance. “Father Yan said he would pick me up at three o’clock.”

The other party always did as he promised.

“…….”

Father Yan and Father Rong?

When Bo Yueming heard Pei Yi say something that was different from “Father and Mother,” the precocious and intelligent boy suddenly understood something.

As he was thinking, Pei Yi suddenly reached out and grabbed Bo Yueming’s wrist, feeling a little unsure. “Er-ge, did I get into big trouble today?”

Bo Yueming saw the anxiety that Pei Yi was trying hard to hide, and inexplicably patted his little head through the helmet. “Since nothing happened to anyone, it’s not a huge disaster. Don’t be nervous. They might just be delayed on the road.”

Pei Yi nodded dully, his brow furrowed.

Bo Yueming glanced at Coach Gao to the side and stepped forward.

After a moment, he returned with a phone that had already been dialed. “Here, it’s your parents’ number.”

Pei Yi took it slowly. “Hello?”

Xu Rong’s voice sounded. “Xiao Yi, it’s Father Rong. Don’t be afraid, we’re already on our way to pick you up.”

“Father Rong.”

Pei Yi gave a nasal hum.

Xu Rong promised, “Be good, just wait for us for another ten minutes. Father Rong promises to be there, okay?”

Pei Yi’s eyes reddened, and he held back the moisture. “En.”

The phone hung up.

Pei Yi handed the phone back in a well-behaved manner and smiled again. “Thank you, Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming saw how quickly his emotions came and went, and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously before falling again. “When you encounter problems in the future, you can’t just stand there and be upset. You have to find a way to take the initiative and solve them.”

Pei Yi nodded at once, and the admiration in his heart rose another level.

. . . . . . .

Ten minutes later, Pei Yi saw two familiar figures outside the glass door. He slid off his chair and ran over.

“Father Yan, Father Rong!”

Bo Yueming immediately averted his eyes. When he saw Pei Yi throw himself into the arms of one of the men, the suspicion in his heart became true—

The two fathers mentioned by the other party were lovers.

In this case, what was Pei Yi’s identity? Was he the product of an ex? Or…..a child adopted under the same-sex marriage regulations?

Bo Yueming didn’t dwell too much on this personal issue. Instead, he signaled to Uncle Kai with his eyes and walked back to the outdoor racecourse in silence.

Pei Yi on the other side didn’t notice Bo Yueming’s departure, and remained in Xu Rong’s arms. “Father Rong, why are you here, ah?”

Xu Rong took off Pei’s crooked helmet and straightened out his messy hair. “Father Rong was too busy at school today. We’ll never be late again in the future.”

Pei Yi nodded.

Zong Baiyan beside him didn’t have time to speak before Coach Gao came over.

“Mr. Zong, there was a small incident today. I think it is necessary to inform the parents.”

“……”

When Pei Yi heard Coach Gao’s “report,” his face suddenly showed a trace of nervousness.

Zong Baiyan wore the same frown, and motioned with his eyes for Xu Rong to accompany Pei Yi while he followed Coach Gao into the monitoring room.

Pei Yi grabbed Xu Rong’s hand and called in a subtle voice, “Father Rong.”

Xu Rong could see his nervousness, but said nothing about it. He just steadily held his warm little hand and said, “Did you have fun riding horses today?”

Pei Yi abruptly thought of Bo Yueming, who he had just met today. When he turned around, he realized that there was nobody where the two of them had been sitting. “Huh?”

Xu Rong followed his gaze and asked, “What is it?”

“I met a gege today,” Pei Yi said honestly. “He was with me just now.”

Xu Rong looked around, but didn’t see the “gege” Pei Yi had mentioned, so he turned his attention back to the canteen.

“Have you finished the flower tea water I made you today?”

When he brought this up, Pei Yi showed a rare bit of pride. He held up the canteen slung across his body and said, “I drank it!”

Xu Rong weighed it and revealed a hint of relief. “Good job. It’s rare for our family’s kitten to drink so much today.”

Just as Pei Yi was about to say something more, Zong Baiyan walked out of the monitoring room with a look on his face that was more serious than ever before.

“Pei Yi.”

“…….”

When he heard this call, the smile on Pei Yi’s face vanished at once.

Xu Rong noticed that something wasn’t right. “What’s wrong?”

Pei Yi lowered his eyes and said nothing, his hands intertwined as he picked at them unconsciously.

Zong Baiyan easily picked up Pei Yi, who was silent in his guilt, and then held the hand of his lover beside him. “Let’s go. We’ll talk about it when we get home.”

Such a semi-public place was no good for teaching a lesson.

. . . . . . .

At the open-air racecourse.

Bo Yueming was jumping his beloved horse once more when he suddenly glimpsed a family of three walking out not far away, and his gaze unconsciously froze.

Uncle Kai followed his line of sight and looked.

Although he couldn’t see clearly from this distance, there were a limited number of people entering and exiting the racecourse, and he understood after a little thought. “Second Young Master, are you reluctant to let your little friend go?”

Bo Yueming denied it. “I’m not.”

Turning his eyes away, Bo Yueming suddenly remembered Pei Yi calling him “Er-ge,” and that indescribable subtlety rose again—

This was the first time since childhood that he had met a child who was willing to follow him and call him “Gege.” He didn’t know if there would be a chance to meet again in the future.

Uncle Kai asked again, “If the Second Young Master likes him, I will ask for his details later. Perhaps we can invite his family to visit Bo Manor in the future.”

Bo Yueming refused again. “No need.”

He had always had an awkward identity in the Bo family. It wouldn’t be good to have people come to the house for no reason to play.

Thinking of this, Bo Yueming immediately retracted those random thoughts, tightened the reins, and galloped off.

. . . . . . .

Bam!

The door closed.

Pei Yi silently followed his two fathers as if the word “dread” was written on his forehead.

Xu Rong tugged on Zong Baiyan and looked at Pei Yi, who was obviously guilty. “A-Yan, what’s going on? You didn’t say a word this whole time while driving.”

“Ask him what he did.”

“While Coach Gao was away, he dared to ride Changfeng and run around secretly, and almost collided with another member’s horse…..”

Zong Baiyan recounted the scenes he had seen on the surveillance records one by one.

Pei Yi fell from the horse onto the ground, and was almost trampled by the horse’s hooves. If not for that other child, something would certainly have happened!

Thanks to his luck today, he met a young man who had good equestrian skills and the accident was avoided.

But even though there was no accident, that didn’t mean this kind of thing should be handled lightly!

When Xu Rong heard this, his heart twinged violently.

Zong Baiyan maintained a straight face and used an unprecedentedly stern tone. “Pei Yi, do you know how dangerous that was? I wasn’t there today, so you dared to behave badly, is that it?”

Xu Rong saw Pei Yi trembling slightly, and gently tugged on his lover’s wrist. “A-Yan, let it go.”

“Rong-ge! This is a matter of principle!”

Today’s possible disaster had once again reminded Zong Baiyan of “the past.” Back then, not only had he lost his lover, but he had also lost Pei Yi.

“You didn’t even pay attention to the most basic safety knowledge, and you didn’t listen to the coach…..” The more worried Zong Baiyan was, the more harsh his lesson became.

When he saw that Pei Yi was still silent, he simply reached out and grabbed his arm. “Come here!”

“Wu!”

Pei Yi whimpered and automatically cringed in pain.

Zong Baiyan and Xu Rong noticed his strange reaction at the same time. The latter approached first. “Xiao Yi, what’s wrong with your arm?”

He unbuttoned his cuff and rolled up the sleeve. 

Pei Yi’s thin arm was covered in red marks and bruises, and his elbow even had broken skin and spots of blood.

“……”

Xu Rong and Zong Baiyan both frowned in distress.

Pei Yi, who had held it in over and over, lowered his head and finally threw himself into Xu Rong’s arms like a child, his sobs forbearing and tense. “I, I know I was wrong. I won’t do it again. Father Rong, you guys don’t make me go…..”

“I will definitely be good in the future. Don’t send me back to the orphanage, okay?”

Xu Rong was quick to hug him tight, and comforted him gently, “Good boy, don’t cry. It’s not that we don’t want you, Father Yan was just so worried about you today, and that’s why he’s so strict.”

The sound of Pei Yi’s crying was muffled, and he shrank down without speaking.

When Zong Baiyan saw Pei Yi’s rare tearful appearance, his heart broke and all of his harshness disappeared.

No wonder the boy never said a word on the way home.

At that time, Pei Yi was afraid that his family would be taken away and he would be sent back to the orphanage?

“Rong-ge, will you please help Pei Yi first and see if the injury is serious?”

With this conjecture, Zong Baiyan walked quickly to the cupboard and took out the medicine kit that was always kept at home.

“Never mind, shall we go directly to the hospital? Kid, why didn’t you say your arm was injured?”

Xu Rong wiped Pei Yi’s tears and inspected his arm again. “Does it hurt? Can you lift it up?”

Pei Yi shook his head. “I-It doesn’t hurt.”

“How can it not hurt?” Zong Baiyan saw it in his eyes and felt anxious. “Didn’t you fall off a horse? You didn’t tell Coach Gao?”

Pei Yi didn’t answer his question, but admitted his mistake to Zong Baiyan with red eyes. “Father Rong, I did something bad today. I won’t do it again in the future. I’m sorry.”

Zong Baiyan was very distressed, and patted his cheek. “Xiao Yi, you don’t need to apologize. It’s Father Yan who didn’t do a good job today. He shouldn’t have left you to learn horse riding alone.”

After finally protecting his lover, his child was still harmed.

Zong Baiyan felt increasingly guilty for his failure. “I’m sorry. Father Yan shouldn’t have criticized you like that just now.”

“It’s just that if something happens in the future, you have to think of us and not hide it from us, understand?”

Pei Yi sniffled. “En.”

Xu Rong carefully lifted his arm. “Can you lift it up? How about we go to the hospital to get an X-ray?”

Pei Yi returned to Xu Rong’s arms and mumbled, “Father Rong, I don’t want to go to the hospital.”

Today was originally his fault, which was why he kept refraining from mentioning the condition of his arm. Not to mention that the worst pain in his arm had already passed.

Zong Baiyan took another look and said, “It must be swollen due to the fall. There are probably no broken bones.”

“Rong-ge, please apply some ointment for Pei Yi to reduce the swelling. I’ll call a friend and ask to make an appointment.”

In the end, Pei Yi was still in his growing stage, and kept silent after falling off his horse. No matter what, he must be checked out by a doctor before they could feel relieved.

Xu Rong agreed, and Zhong Baiyan walked to the side with his phone.

Taking out the anti-inflammatory ointment from the medicine kit, Xu Rong said softly, “We’ll apply some medicine to the broken skin first, and the doctor will check the swollen area later.”

Pei Yi nodded obediently and stretched out his arm.

The moment the ointment touched the wound, Pei Yi subconsciously flinched in pain. “Wu.”

Xu Rong paused. “Does it hurt a lot?”

Pei Yi shook his head and endured it. “Father Rong, it doesn’t hurt.”

“Good boy, bear with me for a while.”

Xu Rong’s heart softened at his child’s well-behaved and sensible appearance. While wiping the ointment on the wound with a cotton swab, he gently patted around the wound with his fingertips.

It was soft and numbing, which seemed to divert the stimulation from the medicine.

Pei Yi carefully watched Xu Rong’s medicine-applying method, and repeatedly assured, “Father Rong, I will definitely be good in the future.”

Xu Rong paused for a moment and looked at him. “Xiao Yi, Father Yan and Father Rong aren’t forcing you to be a well-behaved and sensible child, but we hope—”

“That you will treat this place as your own home and us as your real fathers. Do you understand?”

“Huh?”

“You don’t need to be afraid. Even if you’re naughty and cause trouble, we will not abandon you.”

Pei Yi nodded silently.

Xu Rong continued while applying medicine, “Also, Father Yan’s attitude just now was a little too anxious, but you did do something wrong today—”

“First, you didn’t listen to the coach and secretly got on the horse, which caused an accident. No matter what you do in the future, you must do it within your own abilities.”

“Secondly, you hid your injuries. Let me ask you, which child gets hurt and doesn’t tell their parents? As long as Father Rong and Father Yan are in this world, you are our real son, do you understand?”

Pei Yi pursed his lips and held back his tears. “I understand.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zong Baiyan returned after making his phone call.

The anxiety on his face had not completely dissipated. “Let’s go. I got in touch, and we need to be there at five o’clock. There’s still time.”

“Okay.”

Zong Baiyan came closer and rubbed Pei Yi’s little head. “Don’t cry.”

Pei Yi hooked Zong Baiyan’s little finger with his uninjured hand and shook it. “Father Yan, I’m not crying.”

The sparkling look in his eyes meant that he was “seeking peace.”

Zong Baiyan and Xu Rong smiled at each other and immediately took their kitten to the doctor.

. . . . . . .

Fortunately, the test results showed nothing serious.

After such a fuss, Zong Baiyan simply took Xu Rong and Pei Yi to have dinner at a restaurant outside, and then returned home.

Xu Rong had just finished washing up in the bathroom when he saw Pei Yi huddled at the door, looking in. “Father Rong.”

The last note contained a hint of familiar coquettishness.

Xu Rong saw through his intentions and patted the side of the bed. “Come here and sleep next to Father Rong tonight.”

Pei Yi immediately ran over and nestled next to Xu Rong contentedly.

Because he had grown up in an orphanage, Pei Yi was the most insecure while he was sleeping, and Xu Rong, who was gentle by nature, always gave him the most immediate and meticulous care.

Xu Rong covered Pei Yi with the blanket and reminded, “Don’t press on your arm.”

“En, Father Rong.”

Pei Yi grabbed Xu Rong’s sleeve lightly and whispered, “It was that little gege who ‘rescued’ me today. He was really good-looking, and had beautiful eyes.”

If Zong Baiyan hadn’t been so angry and stern at that moment, Pei Yi would have liked to take his fathers to say goodbye to Bo Yueming.

Xu Rong listened to Pei Yi’s secret confession and chuckled. “Do you like that little gege?”

Pei Yi nodded. “I want to be friends with him.”

Xu Rong patted his back. “In a couple of days, I’ll ask Father Yan to find out who he is. If possible, I will certainly find an opportunity to take you to thank him, okay?”

“But making friends is something you will have to figure out on your own.”

Pei Yi blinked. “Okay.”

Xu Rong coaxed him, “Go to sleep early. You have to finish your homework tomorrow.”

Pei Yi thought of his untouched homework today and closed his eyes obediently to prepare to sleep.

. . . . . . .

An hour later.

Zong Baiyan returned from the study. When he saw Pei Yi on the bed, he smiled blankly. “Why did he come to sleep with us?”

Xu Rong covered Pei Yi’s ears and replied in a low voice, “He was a little frightened today, and I suppose he doesn’t want to sleep alone. Are you finished?”

“En.”

Zong Baiyan had nothing urgent to deal with, and just suddenly ‘returned’ right now.

There were many company matters that needed to be reviewed again, and he had also discussed with his assistant about Shen Che’s follow-up matters, so he was busy until now.

Zong Baiyan raised his hand to gesture for Xu Rong to sit up slightly. After sneaking a quick kiss from his lover, he picked up the sleeping Pei Yi from the bed.

“What are you doing?”

“Taking him back.” Zong Baiyan looked at Pei Yi sleeping soundly in his arms and feigned disdain. “This little brat sleeping here will delay things tonight.”

“…….”

Xu Rong was rendered helpless by his shameless words.

After a short while, Zong Baiyan completed his task of “losing the kitten” and returned to the master bedroom, locking the door tightly.

They had been together for more than just a year or two, and Xu Rong knew exactly where his lover was going.

He immediately wrapped himself in the quilt and hid inside, pretending to be sleepy. “I’m tired today, let’s go to bed early.”

Zong Baiyan smiled and embraced him from behind. “Rong-ge? Wife? Pay attention to me?”

Teasing kisses moved from his earlobe to the side of his neck, and even those hands became restless.

Xu Rong was so provoked that his breathing was chaotic. As soon as he lost his mind, Zong Baiyan pulled him back and kissed him passionately.

“Wu….ah….”

Xu Rong finally managed to gain some breathing space. “Didn’t we just……last night?”

Zong Baiyan’s eyes were dark, and there was a suppressed sadness in their depths that Xu Rong couldn’t see though for the moment. “I missed you so much.”

“…….”

“Rong-ge, I, I missed you so much.”

Zong Baiyan looked directly into Xu Rong’s misty eyes and kissed him again lovingly.

. . . . . . .

The two tangled together until almost four o’clock in the morning before falling asleep in each other’s embrace.

An unknown amount of time later, Zong Baiyan was suddenly awakened by panicked murmurings. When he realized what was happening, he quickly turned on the bedside lamp and looked at his lover in his arms.

Xu Rong, who was still dreaming, seemed to be in pain. His forehead was covered in sweat, and he was mumbling something.

Realizing that something wasn’t right, Zong Baiyan called out softly, “Rong-ge?”

“Rong-ge? Will you wake up?”

“I’m here, don’t be afraid. Rong-ge?”

“—Ah!”

Xu Rong suddenly opened his eyes, which were filled with suffering that had nowhere to escape. The beating of his heart was accompanied by a terrible phantom pain, leaving him unable to tell whether this was an illusion or reality.

“……”

Xu Rong calmed down in silence, trying to sense everything around him.

After about six or seven minutes, he carefully hugged Zong Baiyan back. “A-Yan, I, I seem to have had a nightmare.”

Zong Baiyan’s thoughts moved, but he still coaxed, “It was just a nightmare, it’s over now.”

Xu Rong choked out, “I’m sorry, I’ve been ill for a long time. I shouldn’t have doubted you so much, and I shouldn’t have stimulated Xiao Yi.”

It was a dream in retrospect, but also a recognition of reality.

“…….”

Zong Baiyan’s heart squeezed at once.

He had no intention of exploring the so-called “dream” or “rebirth.” He only knew that Xu Rong was still in his arms, and that was enough.

“Rong-ge, none of that was your fault. We’re still fine now. Nothing has happened.”

Zong Baiyan kissed Xu Rong’s sweaty forehead again and again. “As long as you’re okay now, that is more important than anything else.”

Xu Rong whispered, “A-Yan.”

“En?”

“Sorry, I…..”

Xu Rong thought of Zong Baiyan’s tearful, frightened look the day before, and a thousand words turned into just one sentence, “I won’t leave you again, we’re okay.”

Zong Baiyan took a deep breath and tried to suppress the turmoil in his heart. “En, we’re okay.”

He had originally thought that heaven had only given him a chance to start over and protect his lover, but didn’t expect that he would also receive an additional gift—

They still knew each other, and still had a chance to start over.

His lover’s embrace warmed his cold heart, and Xu Rong finally broke free from the “nightmare of his past.”

Likely due to their unique and innate tacit understanding, neither of them opened their mouths to talk about this “past” that had already happened and was difficult to face, but planned to live in the present.

“A-Yan, I want to take another psychological test.”

Although everything had restarted and the trigger that had caused his long-term illness had disappeared, Xu Rong was still a little worried about his mental state.

After all, he was afraid of being subjected so such long-term self-torture.

Zong Baiyan understood and supported him in everything. “Okay, I’ll go with you. It will be okay. It will definitely be okay.”

“En.”

“Rong-ge, can you sleep a little longer?” Zong Baiyan glanced at the time. “It’s only six o’clock.”

Xu Rong endured the exhaustion and shook his head. “I can’t sleep anymore. I’m afraid that if I sleep now, I’ll oversleep and won’t be able to get up to make breakfast for Xiao Yi later.”

He was equally guilty about Xiao Yi.

Zong Baiyan kissed him again and promised, “You go to sleep, I’ll get up and make breakfast.”

Xu Rong considered Zong Baiyan’s inferior cooking skills and wanted to simply refuse, but then remembered that the person in the “past” had learned a lot in order to take care of him.

He raised his head and pressed a gentle kiss to his lover’s Adam’s apple, relying on him freely. He no longer refused. “Okay.”

. . . . . . .

It was just after eight o’clock.

Pei Yi was forced awake by the alarm clock and reluctantly got out of bed. With his hair a mess, he looked at the layout of his room, his mind still confused—

Hadn’t he slept next to Father Rong last night? Why was he back here?

Pei Yi really wanted to shrink back into the warm quilt and stay in bed, but he had to get up to do his homework.

He opened the door and left the second bedroom. As soon as he entered the dining room, he saw an unexpected figure in the kitchen.

Pei Yi rubbed his eyes, full of doubt. “…..F-Father Yan? Good morning.”

Zong Baiyan took a few eggs out of the refrigerator and instructed, “Good morning. You drink the warm water on the table first. Father Yan will make breakfast for you.”

“……”

Pei Yi unconsciously took half a step back. “Where is Father Rong?”

“Father Rong is still sleeping. Don’t go over and disturb him.”

“Oh.”

Pei Yi responded honestly, but was inwardly worried.

Ah.

Didn’t Father Yan have the cooking skills of a three-legged cat? He wouldn’t be poisoned later, right?

---

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Extra 3/15 <<Table of Contents >> Extra 5/15