A moment later.
Mu Yuyan rode alone in a carriage through Pear Blossom Alley and headed for Shangjing Long Street.
Liu Yexi did not follow. Instead, she returned to her room, changed into plain clothes, strapped on a soft sword, and slipped out of Langzhou City without a sound by using her movement technique.
Meanwhile.
One after another, covert guards emerged from the darkness and converged in the direction she had gone!
Roughly nine hundred li in that direction lay a prosperous, bustling city… Linjiang City.
…
“Old Yang, are you all right?”
Gu Lan came out of the grain store, had the servants clean up the corpses and blood trail in front of the door, and walked over to comfort Old Yang.
“No, I’m fine…”
“Young Master, t-those Liu family people really weren’t killed by me!”
Old Yang was still completely baffled, on the verge of tears as he tried to explain to Gu Lan.
He had no idea what the bystanders had imagined him to be.
But he knew he was just a mortal!
There was no way he could provoke the Liu family behind those vicious lackeys.
Now that those people had died so inexplicably at “his” hands, how could he not panic?
“I know. Don’t be afraid, Old Yang.”
Gu Lan gently patted his shoulder and said warmly, “Have you forgotten? We have ties with the authorities. The Liu family would not dare come here and make things difficult for you, and besides…”
Besides, they would not be around for much longer… he added to himself.
Gu Lan’s way of dealing with the world was simple: never show off, never cause trouble.
But everyone here was just a supporting character in the book. Whoever dared to provoke my people… even if the court did not deal with them, I would personally pay them a visit.
With the Hongmeng Sword in hand and the mysterious Sword Immortal that had appeared in Langzhou City earlier taking the blame, Gu Lan felt very at ease.
“Young Master, but that man just said the Liu family had Prince Muyun backing them…” Old Yang was worried that today’s incident would make that prince take his anger out on the Gu family.
If a princely residence wanted to make things difficult for an ordinary family, that would be a catastrophe of annihilation!
“Didn’t he also say the Liu family was just borrowing the tiger’s might? Prince Muyun would not dirty himself over a lackey.”
Gu Lan comforted him with a smile.
He actually had some impression of this Prince Muyun. He had a role in the original novel and had always admired Empress Jiaqing, but unfortunately he pursued her for his entire life and never won the Empress’s favor.
Clearly, among the hereditary princes who spent their days drinking, eating, and playing, he was not even the worst of the lot.
But a lovestruck fool’s fate could not be changed; he was destined to spend his life gazing up at that peerless beauty, forever out of reach…
At that moment.
A gust of wind swept by, bringing a hint of chill.
“Clean up. Let’s return to the residence. What kind of look is it, being stared at like a monkey here all the time?” Gu Lan said with a faint smile as he gathered his sleeves.
The people in the distance were still watching, but perhaps because the scene they had witnessed today was too shocking and bloody, none of them dared to come over and strike up a conversation.
“Okay.”
Old Yang swallowed and nodded, then casually glanced that way.
Everyone immediately shrank their necks back!
Old Yang: “…”
On the way back.
Old Yang mulled over the day’s strange events and said gloomily, “Young Master, how am I supposed to explain this later? Our neighbors are not like you; they will not trust me…”
“No need to worry. They will not ask you.”
Gu Lan took advantage of his confusion and said with a smile, “More precisely, as long as you do not bring it up yourself, they will not dare ask… You know, a reclusive master has a very strange temper.”
A mortal pretending to be an expert… such a novel line of thinking was something someone as honest and plainspoken as Old Yang had never tried in his entire life.
Hearing it for the first time, Old Yang’s eyes lit up. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “Young Master, will that really work?”
“Trust me. No problem…”
The master and servant chatted idly.
Old Yang’s gloomy mood finally eased.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, a carriage from the Gu Residence came toward them head-on!
“Dear husband?”
A clear voice, with a trace of anxiety, came from inside.
Gu Lan froze.
Looking over, he saw the curtain at the side of the carriage being lifted, revealing an incomparably beautiful and delicate face. It was Mu Yuyan, who had hurried over in a rush.
“Wife…”
How had his wife come here? Could she have heard about it this quickly?
Gu Lan’s eyes flicked away as he strategically coughed. “Ahem, wife, why are you here? Today’s grain has all been sold, and I’ve already collected the accounts…”
As he spoke, his voice cut off abruptly.
Because upon closer inspection, Mu Yuyan’s eyes clearly held more worry than usual, and the look she gave him was a little off!
So she really did know after all. Those aunties spread news fast… Gu Lan stopped arguing, pressed his lips together, and silently bowed as he climbed into the carriage.
Seeing Mu Yuyan rush over so anxiously, Gu Lan still felt rather guilty.
After all, only a few months ago he had just promised her that he would no longer place himself in danger and would study in peace, yet now such a brutal bloodbath had occurred right at the entrance to their own grain store…
How could she, a gentle woman, not worry about her husband?
“Wife…”
After getting into the carriage, Gu Lan mumbled something and was just about to lean over and hug Mu Yuyan.
Unexpectedly.
Mu Yuyan instead leaned back slightly, quietly looked at Gu Lan, and asked an odd question: “Dear husband, where did we first meet?”
“Huh?” Gu Lan raised his sharp brows and slowly replied, “At the temple fair on Ten-Mile Slope, east of Langzhou City.”
“What was the weather like that day?” Mu Yuyan asked again.
“Very good.” Gu Lan thought for a moment, then added, “That day we also went boating on the lake together, and Old Yang even fell into the water.”
“Then… when was our wedding day?”
“The 28th day of the 7th month.”
“…”
After a few questions, all about the past between them, Gu Lan answered them fluently.
Only then did Mu Yuyan’s delicate body gradually relax, and she let out a breath of relief.
Gu Lan was somewhat puzzled.
What he did not know was that after he answered all the questions correctly, the sword aura pinched between Mu Yuyan’s jade fingers inside her green robes and wide sleeves quietly dispersed.
“Wife, why are you so nervous?” Gu Lan leaned over. This time Mu Yuyan no longer dodged and obediently leaned into him.
With that warm fragrance and soft body in his arms, Gu Lan felt completely reassured.
“Wasn’t I afraid someone had stolen… and replaced you? If I didn’t ask, how would I know whether you were still you?” Mu Yuyan said with a hint of complaint.
She was afraid that some mysterious spirit cultivator would possess Gu Lan.
That was why she had to verify his true identity.
Gu Lan was stunned for a moment, then laughed. “My wife is truly clever and meticulous, rare indeed in this world…”
“Stop talking sweetly. What did you promise me last time?”
Seeing that he really was fine and sensing no spirit cultivator aura nearby, Mu Yuyan finally decided to settle accounts afterward, her beautiful eyes widening slightly.
Although the Empress was usually indulgent, she could still get a little temperamental when the time came.
“This… wife, you know your husband is honest and straightforward, and I really did not get involved today. I stayed obediently in the grain store.”
Gu Lan promptly put the label of honest and straightforward on himself, then pointed outside the carriage curtain and said, “If you don’t believe me, ask Old Yang. I really did not take part.”
Mu Yuyan stared into his eyes for a long while. He looked incomparably sincere, and with Old Yang testifying outside, she finally believed his explanation.
A moment later.
“Husband, do not go collecting accounts anymore in the future.”
The reproach in Mu Yuyan’s eyes faded, becoming moist and soft. “How could a weak scholar like you possibly contend with such vicious villains? Thank goodness nothing happened today…”
Otherwise, even ten Liu families would not have been enough to pay with their lives!
“You are right, wife.”
Gu Lan nodded in agreement and smiled faintly.
Of course nothing would happen. It just seemed that in the future he would need to let people leave first before killing them; otherwise he would always end up worrying his wife…
Gu Lan quietly made up his mind.
Still, hearing her change the way she addressed him to husband showed that she had already been coaxed into feeling better…
The carriage traveled for quite a while.
By the time they were approaching the gate of the Gu Residence.
Mu Yuyan seemed to want to confirm something and suddenly asked, “Husband, I heard the ones who came to cause trouble this time were the Liu family from Linjiang City and… Prince Muyun from Jizhou?”
“…Yes!”