The gates of Changping County City opened.

The Mijie Si and Jiefan Wei sped westward, leaving only dozens of their members to lie low in the county town, continuing their search for Chen Ji’s traces.

As for Liao Zhong, he seemed to have been forgotten; neither Wu Xuan-ge nor Xuan She showed much interest in him.

In a residence within the Gongji Ward of Changping County, the man of the house had just started a fire in the stove.

In the main hall, a three or four-year-old child sat on a low stool, eagerly watching the kitchen, while a woman sat in a chair behind him, smiling gently as she braided his hair.

The child, smelling the aroma wafting from the kitchen, blinked his bright, watery eyes: “Dad, I’m hungry. I want to eat stove candy.”

The man in the kitchen laughed loudly: “The Kitchen God has already been sent off, so there’s no more stove candy. Ping’er, wait a bit, dinner will be ready soon…”

Before he could finish, there was a knock on the courtyard door. The woman instinctively covered the child’s mouth.

The man emerged from the kitchen and silently exchanged glances with the woman.

The man waved his hand, and the woman, hugging the child, hurriedly ran into the house, placing the child inside a wooden chest used for clothes.

She pulled out a packet of stove candy wrapped in oil paper from the chest and put it into the child’s arms, nervously instructing, “Mommy is playing hide-and-seek with you. Just hide in here, eat your candy, and don’t come out, and don’t make a sound. Mommy will let your daddy look for you, and if he finds you, you won’t get any more candy.”

The child quickly licked the candy and nodded.

The woman closed the chest, went back outside, and gestured to the man. The man wiped his hands on his apron and went to open the door.

When the door opened, he saw the elderly village head standing outside. The man immediately let out a sigh of relief: “Li Zhang, what’s wrong?”

The village head slowly teased, “Why did you open the door so slowly? I can already smell the fried lard from your cooking. What, are you hiding good food from me?”

The man laughed heartily: “How could I? I’ll bring you a bowl once dinner is ready.”

The village head waved his hand: “Just kidding. Let’s talk business. It seems there are criminals wanted by the imperial court in the county. This morning, the county magistrate and assistant magistrate summoned all of us, saying that if we see any unfamiliar faces, we must report them and not harbor anyone. If the criminals are caught, the reward money will be enough for you to live a lifetime.”

The man whispered, “Then, should we share this reward money with the county officials?”

The village head scoffed: “Do you really think you can catch the wanted criminals? Those are people who assassinated the Crown Prince. How many lives do you have to catch them? You’d better go back and pray to the Sanqing Dao Zun not to let you run into them.”

The man smiled awkwardly: “That’s true.”

The village head waved his hand: “I’m leaving.”

The man watched the village head go to the next house, silently closed the door, and latched it. He slowly exhaled behind the door, his smile fading, and it took dozens of breaths for him to compose himself.

The man turned and gestured to the woman: “Bring Ping’er out.”

The woman responded and went back into the room.

But the next moment, the man saw the woman frozen at the doorway of the main hall, staring blankly inside, as if facing a formidable enemy. The man’s heart sank, and he moved step by step towards the main hall, his legs feeling like they were filled with lead.

He stepped into the main hall and saw Liao Zhong, disheveled and with one arm missing, sitting on a wooden chest. No one knew when he had entered; he hadn’t made a sound.

Liao Zhong’s face was ashen, and his aura was frail: “It seems you two aren’t very pleased to see me. Why do you look like your parents have died?”

The man quickly stepped in front of the woman, smiling, and said, “How could that be? Your presence here brings honor to our humble home.”

The atmosphere in the room was heavy. The man looked at Liao Zhong’s weakened aura, wanting to strike first, but the residual power of his past made him hesitate to act.

Moreover, there was a child in the chest, making him cautious.

Both the man and the woman restrained themselves from looking at the chest, fearing Liao Zhong might notice something.

Liao Zhong gave a bitter laugh and patted the wooden chest he was sitting on: “Back then, I told you two to lie low in Changping and pretend to be husband and wife, but you turned a fake marriage into a real one. You’ve been living a happy life. If I hadn’t been truly desperate, I wouldn’t have had the heart to disturb you.”

The man humbly cupped his hands: “What are you saying? My wife and I have always been indebted to your patronage. Now that you are injured, we will certainly protect you.”

“Is that so?” Liao Zhong suddenly stood up, lifted the wooden chest, and with his single arm, pulled the child into his embrace, laughing loudly: “Uncle caught you! Don’t be scared, don’t be scared, Uncle won’t be like your dad. Uncle will let you eat candy!”

The couple’s faces drastically changed!

The woman moved, but the man held her back tightly. The woman’s eyes reddened slightly as she stared intently at the child in Liao Zhong’s arms.

Liao Zhong, holding the child with his one arm, walked past the couple and sat down in the courtyard, instructing, “Bring me a bowl of rice.”

The man was silent for a long time, then finally gave a low affirmation, went into the kitchen to get the rice, and respectfully placed it on the wooden table beside Liao Zhong.

Liao Zhong dotingly looked at the child: “Ping’er, are you hungry? Shall Uncle feed you? After we eat, Uncle will magic up ten pieces of sorghum candy for you, okay?”

The child, not understanding, clapped his hands and cheered, “Okay!”

“Such a good boy,” Liao Zhong placed the child on his lap, and with his left arm, he painstakingly picked up a slice of cured meat and brought it to the child’s mouth, watching as the child ate it.

He didn’t rush to feed a second bite, instead watching the child’s face for any signs of poisoning.

Liao Zhong fed the child while saying, without raising his head, “You two don’t need to be afraid. I knew about you having Ping’er a long time ago. You two just thought you were hiding it very well.”

The man and woman dared not respond.

Liao Zhong chuckled: “I buried so many loyalists for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in the nine counties surrounding the capital. Why did I specifically come to Changping? Isn’t it because you had Ping’er? People, once they have a weakness, they become easy to manipulate.”

Liao Zhong’s words were casual, yet they were as cold as a knife cutting into the couple’s hearts.

The man gritted his teeth: “My lord, this matter has nothing to do with Ping’er.”

“Oh?” Liao Zhong said lightly: “You two are receiving the Crown Prince’s salary, while other children are starving, your child still has meat to eat. Isn’t what he eats from the Prince’s salary?”

The woman knelt down with a thud: “Please, my lord, have mercy and let the child go. My husband and I will be your humble servants. Wherever you wish to go, we will follow you through fire and water!”

Liao Zhong sighed deeply: “Why are you doing this? I haven’t done anything to Ping’er… With Ping’er, you can accompany me through fire and water, Ping’er, isn’t that right?”

At this moment, seeing his mother kneel, the child finally sensed something was wrong and began to cry loudly.

He tried to hug his mother, but Liao Zhong’s grip on his neck prevented him from moving.

Liao Zhong, seeing that the child showed no signs of poisoning, nonchalantly ate a few mouthfuls of rice, completely disregarding the vulnerability he showed while eating, as if he didn’t care about the couple at all.

The more he acted this way, the more the couple dared not move.

Liao Zhong finished a few mouthfuls of food and put down his chopsticks: “Alright, no more of this sentimental display. Let me ask you, did His Royal Highness send any pigeon messages?”

The man shook his head: “No.”

Liao Zhong reached out and pinched Ping’er’s arm, and Ping’er’s arm suddenly dropped, dislocated.

Ping’er cried even more fiercely, and the man quickly said: “There was a pigeon that arrived in Changping County last night, but it wasn’t sent to us. It was sent to our superior. The superior has ordered that upon encountering you, we must immediately report back to the capital…”

Liao Zhong casually dislocated Ping’er’s other arm: “Is that all?”

The man gritted his teeth: “The superior also said to kill you on sight.”

Liao Zhong wiped his mouth, casually reset Ping’er’s arm, but still held it tightly in his hand.

He stared blankly at the green bricks in the courtyard, his expression despondent: “I served His Highness for over ten years. At that time, the Crown Prince was not yet the Crown Prince. When Prince Fu stood in his way, I framed the Empress for having an affair with Prince Jing, claiming Prince Fu was not His Majesty’s biological son. When the censor discovered his factionalism, I poisoned the censor for him. When a palace maid carried his illegitimate child, I killed the palace maid for him…”

“The night he became the heir apparent, I walked quickly through the heavy snow by the Taiye Lake. I wanted to cheer for him wildly, my heart burning like a fire! But in the end, it’s finally my turn to be silenced.”

Liao Zhong’s tone shifted, and he mocked himself: “However, one chooses one’s own path. Thinking back to when I first arrived at the Eastern Palace as an advisor, I immediately saw the Crown Prince’s resolute and ruthless nature. That boy Chen Ji said His Highness was by no means a wise ruler. What does he know about a wise ruler? Can kind and upright people be wise rulers? Does he think just anyone is fit to sit in that position in the Jianji Hall? Without ruthlessness, even if one becomes emperor, what good would it do? Would they not still be puppets of those civil officials?”

The couple in the courtyard exchanged glances, not daring to speak, only staring helplessly as their child was firmly held by Liao Zhong.

Liao Zhong smiled: “I have no regrets; after all, His Highness’s current ruthlessness is also something I taught him. It’s just that I can no longer return to the capital; I must leave.”

The man cautiously said: “This humble couple is willing to protect you, my lord.”

Liao Zhong smiled and patted Ping’er’s head: “Indeed, what else could you do?”

The man swallowed his anger: “My lord, where do you wish to go? This humble subordinate can send you out to sea from Dongying Port.”

Liao Zhong slowly said: “Out to sea is not an option; Dongying Port is Chen family territory.”

The man then said: “This humble subordinate can also send you to Guyuan, my lord.”

Liao Zhong shook his head: “Guyuan won’t do either. That boy Chen Ji has roots in Guyuan; he might have gone there.”

The man took a deep breath: “My lord, we can travel from Datong to Jing Dynasty.”

Liao Zhong praised: “Datong is good!”

The man cupped his hands and said in a low voice: “My lord, the Mijie Si’s eyes and ears are now everywhere in the streets and alleys. Staying in Changping will only lead to trouble. There’s no time to lose; let’s leave tonight.”

Liao Zhong chuckled: “Mijie Si… Isn’t that precisely why I kept you? Officer Li, when you first approached the Crown Prince to become a loyalist, did you truly think I didn’t see your Mijie Si identity?”

The man’s expression changed dramatically: “What do you mean, my lord? This humble subordinate is loyal to His Highness, and is no Mijie Si.”

Liao Zhong, with his single arm around Ping’er, sighed with emotion: “Whether you are a Mijie Si or not, I know it clearly in my heart. Yima County, Tongma Village, the third house upon entering the village. Officer Li, am I right?”

The man was stunned: “Then you…”

Liao Zhong sighed: “This court and jianghu, they are intertwined, black and white are not absolute, there is only a complex shade of grey. I kept you then for this very day. Without you, a Mijie Si, why would I come to Changping?”

It was then that the man realized he had been seen through more than ten years ago when he first approached the Crown Prince. The reason Liao Zhong didn’t expose him, and even intentionally placed him in Changping County to marry and have children, was all for his own fallback.

All of it was a calculation!

Liao Zhong slowly rose: “Officer Li, I don’t plan to leave right now. With you two and Ping’er here, I will stay here for half a year. What’s wrong with leaving after the storm has passed?”

As he spoke, he picked up Ping’er and coaxed: “Ping’er, don’t cry. Wait for half a year, and Uncle will take you out to wander the jianghu.”