In a secluded courtyard somewhere in the capital, Xie Yun sat at a table while someone examined his pulse.
“A genius! An absolute genius!”
The speaker was Jiang Zichu, the Young Master of Ghost Physician Valley.
He stared at Xie Yun with eyes full of disbelief.
“Who exactly treated you?”
“Not only have your recent injuries healed, but even the old wounds you’ve carried for years are completely gone.”
“This is unbelievable!”
He grabbed Xie Yun’s wrist again as if unable to accept reality.
“The problem that even I—the sole heir of the thirty-third generation of Ghost Physician Valley—couldn’t solve was casually fixed by someone else?”
Then he leaned forward eagerly.
“Are you absolutely sure you don’t know who that person was?”
Xie Yun sighed.
“I really don’t know.”
“The truth is…”
He hesitated.
“I can barely remember what they looked like anymore.”
At the time, his consciousness had been hazy.
Besides, the person’s appearance had been so…
Ordinary.
Xie Yun had always been slightly face-blind. He genuinely couldn’t remember faces well.
The only thing he vaguely recalled was a faint fragrance lingering around that person.
As for what kind of fragrance it was, he couldn’t say.
“Regardless,” Jiang Zichu continued, “the fact that they saved you means they didn’t have malicious intentions.”
He frowned.
“The imperial troops are still searching all over the capital for you.”
“We need to leave as soon as possible.”
At that moment, Fan Xing, who had been standing guard at the door, suddenly dropped to his knees.
“General!”
His voice trembled with urgency.
“Please leave the capital with us!”
“There are still countless brothers waiting for you at the border!”
Xie Yun remained silent for a long time.
Finally, he said:
“The court no longer acknowledges my existence.”
“Even if I return to the frontier, I don’t know whether they’ll still obey me.”
“General!”
Fan Xing immediately protested.
“You still possess the military tally!”
“What is there to fear?”
“If things come to the worst, we can overturn this dynasty and—”
Before he could finish, Xie Yun kicked him violently.
Fan Xing was sent flying across the room and crashed heavily into the door.
“You needn’t ever say such things again.”
Xie Yun’s voice was ice-cold.
“The late emperor showed me great kindness.”
“No matter what happens, I will never willingly rebel against the dynasty he built.”
There was unmistakable killing intent in his eyes.
Fan Xing instantly came to his senses.
He hurriedly knelt once more.
“This subordinate spoke out of turn!”
“Please punish me, General!”
“Don’t let me hear such words again.”
“Yes, General!”
Fan Xing lowered his head.
Xie Yun was simply too loyal.
Because of that very loyalty, he could never be the type of person to seize the throne for himself.
Thinking of this, Fan Xing couldn’t help sighing inwardly.
The court had repeatedly tried to undermine him.
They had put obstacle after obstacle in his path.
Now they were openly trying to kill him.
Yet he still remembered the late emperor’s kindness.
At that moment, Jiang Zichu spoke again.
“So you’re not leaving the capital?”
He rolled his eyes.
“Let me remind you—I have no interest in hiding from place to place with you.”
“The entire world knows that Jiang Zichu and Xie Yun are close enough to wear the same pair of trousers.”
After a long silence, Xie Yun finally revealed the truth.
“Actually…”
“There is another reason I want to find my savior.”
Jiang Zichu raised an eyebrow.
“What reason?”
Xie Yun rubbed his forehead.
“He took my military tally.”
The room fell silent.
“What?!”
Fan Xing nearly jumped up.
“The military tally was stolen?!”
Even Jiang Zichu’s expression changed dramatically.
This was bad.
Very bad.
Xie Yun sighed.
“But I don’t think that person knew it was a military tally.”
Very few people in the world had ever actually seen one.
Hopefully, his savior had simply thought it was a valuable gold token and taken it for the gold.
“That doesn’t make things any better.”
Jiang Zichu frowned deeply.
“A military tally in the hands of a stranger—especially a powerful stranger—is extremely dangerous.”
“That’s why I want to find them.”
Xie Yun pressed his fingers against his temple.
The problem was that he could barely remember what the person looked like.
“I still think we should leave the capital first.”
Jiang Zichu continued:
“Without the military tally, the frontier could become unstable.”
“You need to go there and take control personally.”
“The Emperor and the Regent’s influence doesn’t extend that far.”
He sneered.
“If it did, they wouldn’t be so obsessed with forcing you to hand over the tally.”
“They wouldn’t have gone so far as to try killing you.”
After a moment of silence, a trace of regret appeared on Xie Yun’s breathtakingly handsome face.
“Perhaps…”
He sighed.
“Perhaps I should have surrendered the tally.”
“Don’t say that.”
Jiang Zichu immediately shook his head.
“Believe me.”
“As long as you refused to hand it over, they still had reasons to keep you alive.”
“The moment you gave it up, you’d be a dead man.”
His tone turned mocking.
“Since ancient times, what ruler could tolerate a minister whose reputation among the common people exceeded his own?”
“Especially when the Emperor listens blindly to the Regent.”
Xie Yun fell silent.
He knew there was truth in those words.
Meanwhile, Su Qingran remained completely unaware that the “gold token” she had taken as payment was actually a military tally.
After taking it from Xie Yun, she had casually tossed it into one of the dowry chests and forgotten all about it.
Sometimes having too much money was a problem.
Su Qingran felt she was becoming spoiled.
When Su Mingzhi handed her a pile of silver notes and silver ingots, she actually felt disappointed.
There was simply too little.
Seeing the obvious disdain in her eyes, Su Mingzhi forced himself to remain calm.
“Qingran.”
“This is all your Second Uncle can currently provide.”
“I’m really not lying to you.”
The truth was that his branch of the family wasn’t particularly wealthy.
The assets left behind by the Pingyang Marquis for the next heir were untouchable.
As a result, he and his wife had been forced to contribute from their personal savings.
Three hundred taels.
Just thinking about it made their hearts ache.
His wife, Zhu Yunfang, had originally opposed the idea completely.
Only after Su Mingzhi repeatedly explained his plan had she reluctantly agreed.
Once he assured her that they could arrange for someone to eliminate Su Qingran on the road and recover every tael afterward, she immediately changed her mind.
Now she only hoped that this cursed girl would leave the Marquis Residence as quickly as possible.
Looking at the silver notes worth a little over one hundred taels, Su Qingran became even more dissatisfied.
If chaos broke out in the capital someday, paper notes would be the first thing to become worthless.
Silver, however, would always retain value.
“I’d like to exchange all of it for silver.”
Su Qingran spoke directly.
“Silver?”
Su Mingzhi blinked.
“How are you supposed to carry that much silver?”
After thinking about it, Su Qingran admitted he had a point.
She planned to remain in the capital for a few more days anyway.
There were still supplies she wanted to stockpile before leaving.
With that in mind, she reluctantly accepted both the silver and the notes.
“Second Uncle.”
She suddenly smiled.
“Let’s draw up a written agreement.”
Su Mingzhi froze.
“A written agreement?”
“Since you’ve been so generous, I can’t let you suffer a loss.”
Su Qingran’s expression was sincere.
“We can put it in writing that this money counts against my dowry.”
“When the time comes, everything in the Pei Residence that belongs to my dowry will become yours.”
She lowered her eyes gratefully.
“To be honest, Second Uncle saved me when I was at my most desperate.”
“So naturally, I’d like to help you as well.”
The moment he heard those words, Su Mingzhi nearly laughed out loud.
If he possessed a written agreement, recovering the dowry from the Pei family would become completely justified.
The more he thought about it, the happier he became.
Immediately, he stood up.
“I’ll have someone draft it right away!”
Watching his excitement, the smile on Su Qingran’s lips deepened.
With this document in hand, the Marquis Residence and the Pei family would spend a long time fighting each other.
By the time they realized the truth, she would be long gone.
Most importantly—
Watching those two groups tear each other apart like rabid dogs would make her very happy indeed.