Liu Pingan felt oddly honored—after all, his father had always called him stupid.
When it came time to accompany the young miss on this trip, his father kept hesitating—gritting his teeth one moment, stomping his feet the next. At first saying he shouldn’t go, then saying he absolutely had to.
In the end, he’d been pushed out the door and ordered to follow her.
Judging by his father’s behavior, Liu Pingan had assumed the young miss must be hard to serve.
Who would’ve guessed—she was actually very nice.
He scratched his head. “Young Miss, where are you going?”
Qi Yuan smiled slightly. “To find the truth about something.”
Something that had troubled her for a long time.
Liu Pingan was curious—he didn’t know what Qi Yuan was planning, but he was confident she could protect herself. Just look at Li Changqing—dead as a doornail.
He quickly responded, then pulled out a stack of banknotes from his sleeve. “Miss, you need money when traveling. The Marquis gave me these earlier—three thousand taels. You should carry them with you.”
Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow.
It seemed Qi Zhen was starting to act a bit like a real father.
She let out a soft “mm” and accepted the notes, then waved her hand at Liu Pingan. “Alright, you can go now. I need to leave too.”
As she spoke, she glanced at the little Daoist boy.
The moment he met her gaze, he felt like the sky was falling. His eyes were already red and swollen like peaches from crying, and now he felt like crying all over again.
But Qi Yuan no longer had time to bother with him. She headed to the stables, mounted a horse, and quickly vanished from sight.
Back in the capital, Qi Zhen received the message while he was at his wits’ end with worry.
For the first time, he felt that time was crawling unbearably. Li Changqing was no ordinary man, and with Qi Yuan gone so long, he was genuinely scared something might’ve happened.
The moment he got the message to meet them outside the city, Qi Zhen’s spirits lifted and he prepared to leave—only for the Old Marquis to immediately follow. “I’ll come too!”
Qi Zhen agreed, and the two of them rode out together.
At the appointed teahouse, Qi Zhen spotted Liu Pingan at a distance.
Liuzhong breathed a sigh of relief.
He knew it—when it came to the young miss, things would be fine.
Liu Pingan spotted his father, the Marquis, and the Old Marquis from afar and ran over eagerly to greet them.
The Old Marquis dismounted and immediately asked, “Where’s Ah Yuan?”
“Young Miss left,” Liu Pingan replied quickly. “Said she had something to take care of. But before she left, she killed Li Changqing and captured his disciple. Told us to bring them back to the Marquis—he’d know what to do.”
Qi Zhen gave Liu Pingan a second glance. The kid might be a bit dim, but at least he spoke cleanly and straight to the point—not the dithering sort.
Then his steps abruptly halted.
Wait—Qi Yuan already killed Li Changqing?
He pulled open the carriage curtain for a look—and nearly threw up.
It was blazing hot. Even though Liu Pingan had rushed back nonstop, it still took five or six days. The body stank to high heaven.
The Old Marquis wrinkled his nose and asked Liu Pingan, “How did you manage to bring the body back like this?”
Why hadn’t he been arrested on the way?
“Oh, the young miss told me in advance. I went to the market and bought lots of salted fish to pile on top—to cover the smell and fool any checks. Then I flashed the Marquis estate’s token and got through just fine.” Liu Pingan beamed. “I just did everything the young miss said.”
Liuzhong looked again at his son, pride creeping into his face. Hah, maybe being a fool had its perks!
This kid was definitely destined to meet the right person!
A stroke of good luck!
Qi Zhen let the curtain fall and turned back to his father, a trace of smugness on his face.
How to put it?
At this point, even if someone told him his daughter was the reincarnation of the King of H*ll, he’d probably believe it.
She was just that supernatural.
Whoever she wanted dead—died.
He’d never seen her fail.
But as soon as that thought arose, his smugness vanished, replaced with alarm. “Dad… she didn’t go to Hongdu, did she?!”
Li Changqing clearly worked for Qi Wang.
She wouldn’t really go all the way to Hongdu to kill Qi Wang out of spite, right?!
The Old Marquis glared at him. “None of your d*mn business. Worry about yourself!”
But in truth, he was also deeply concerned.
Logically, killing Li Changqing should’ve shattered the whole “celestial omen” narrative.
Qi Yuan had no need to do anything more.
After all, if she really wanted to kill Qi Wang, now that Xiao Yunting had the emperor’s edict and was officially heading to Hongdu, she could’ve just told him.
Why the sudden rush to leave…
He sighed quietly to himself.
Back at the Marquis estate, a servant reported that Xiao Yunting had arrived again.
The Old Marquis rushed to Mingyue Pavilion and found Xiao Yunting playing with Ah Huang in the courtyard. He bowed and greeted, “Your Highness.”
Xiao Yunting patted Ah Huang’s head. “Ah Yuan hasn’t returned yet?”
The Old Marquis thought it over, then decided not to hide anything. In a lowered voice, he explained how Qi Yuan had killed Li Changqing, sent the corpse back, and then disappeared again.
“She must have something important to do,” he said.
Xiao Yunting furrowed his brows, then said, “Tell the Marquis not to get involved. Have that little Daoist take Li Changqing’s body to Shuntian Prefecture and beat the grievance drum. Say he was silenced, and that the perpetrator’s identity is unknown.”
He paused, then added in a low voice, “Also, send someone to seal off that relay inn. But Ah Yuan is always cautious—though she said it was the Marquis estate, I doubt she used the Yongping Marquis name. Make sure you confirm before handling anything.”
In short—Li Changqing must not be known to have been killed by Qi Yuan. Absolutely not.
The Old Marquis nodded immediately.
Then he looked at Xiao Yunting. “Your Highness, you…”
“I’m under imperial orders to head to Hongdu for disaster relief. I just came to try my luck, see if Ah Yuan had returned.” Xiao Yunting let go of Ah Huang and said quietly, “Looks like I’ll have to wait a while before seeing her again.”
The Old Marquis suddenly felt that Xiao Yunting truly wasn’t having an easy time.
And he was finally at ease.
If even Xiao Yunting’s deep feelings for Qi Yuan didn’t count as sincere and unwavering—then what would?
He said earnestly, “Yes, Your Highness. In a little while, you’ll see her again.”
Then he couldn’t help but find it strange—Xiao Yunting didn’t seem worried about Qi Yuan’s disappearance.
She had vanished without warning, yet he seemed completely unconcerned.
He asked, “Your Highness, Ah Yuan acts so willfully…”
“She is always free to act willfully, at least when she’s with me.” Xiao Yunting smiled gently at him. “You all may think I love her because she’s clever—but what I really hope is that she can stay a child forever.”
Because in this world, generally speaking—only children can truly be carefree and without sorrow.
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