Without hesitation, Qi Yuan raised her arm and fired the hidden dart from her sleeve straight toward the door.
Though she’d already had Chunsheng and the others set up defenses outside before entering, she had always been the kind to prepare for every possibility.
But the person outside had clearly come prepared too, just a slight tilt of their body and they narrowly dodged the dart. It whizzed past and embedded itself deep into a tree in the distance, the tail still faintly trembling.
It was easy to imagine the damage that dart would’ve caused if it had hit a human body.
When the first dart failed, Qi Yuan immediately lifted her hand to fire again, but then a familiar voice called out: “It’s been so long, and your first move is a kill shot?”
It was Xiao Yunting.
Qi Yuan lowered her arm, and at the door saw Xiao Yunting standing there with a faint smile at the corner of his lips, watching her.
He looked like he was about to say something teasing when Qi Yuan suddenly rushed toward him, then wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.
He was stunned.
In their past interactions, he had always been the one taking the initiative, while Qi Yuan passively accepted.
But now, for her to throw herself into his arms like this, it was completely unimaginable.
The surprise only lasted a moment before he gently pulled her into his embrace, affectionately stroking her hair: “Yuanyuan, today is truly a good day.”
Yes, it was a good day.
In her past life, she had dreamed countless times: If love was just a dream, if what was lost could be returned…
But she had known it was all wishful thinking.
This time was different.
Because Xiao Yunting had truly fought for her, a real, second chance at life.
What was once lost now stood before her again.
She would never let it slip away this time.
She looked up at him, lips pressed together, and asked: “How did you know I was here?”
Xiao Yunting noticed the redness in her eyes. Though he didn’t know exactly what had happened, he could tell something was wrong, her emotions weren’t right.
Qi Yuan rarely showed weakness.
But precisely because of that, when she did, Xiao Yunting felt as though his heart were being gripped tight.
He wanted to make her smile.
“Naturally, we have to thank Qi Wang. I think he was worried that if I came, you’d flee, so he tried to trap me in Gaojia Town. Who knew… he’d end up giving me such a great gift.”
If Qi Wang found out that all his scheming to draw Xiao Yunting to Gaojia Town ended up sending him straight into Qi Yuan’s arms, he might just lose his mind.
Qi Yuan drew in a deep breath, finally understanding the layers of manipulation.
Qi Wang had ordered his men to lead Xiao Yunting to Gaojia Town, trying to put him in a difficult position.
Meanwhile, Eunuch Xu wanted her eliminated and sent Gao Qing here as well.
This master and servant pair… really something.
She stepped aside, pointing to the corpses of Wang Weiqi and his wife inside the room.
“That corrupt official’s already dead at my hands. But let’s be honest, decisions like burning villages, sealing towns, and killing Gao Qing’s group were not his to make.”
There had to be someone behind it.
Xiao Yunting swept his eyes over the scene. His expression didn’t change at the sight of the two corpses.
He raised an eyebrow at Qi Yuan’s words: “Exactly. He was just a low-level lackey. The real decision-makers are either Huang Hongzhong, the Prefect of Hongdu, or Xiong Liangyong, the Provincial Governor of Jiangxi.”
Now that he had come to Jiangxi, he had a clear view of the political landscape.
These officials, high and low, were united in one thing, seeing the people as their enemy.
Especially Wang Weiqi, murder, arson, atrocities of all kinds. When plague broke out in Xujia Village, he didn’t even attempt containment. He simply burned the entire village to ashes.
Over a thousand people, wiped out. Not a single soul survived.
A man like that? He deserved to die.
But the ones behind him? They deserved death too, not a single one should escape.
He gently ruffled Qi Yuan’s hair: “Thank goodness I found you first.”
Qi Yuan suddenly came back to herself and asked again: “Wait, you still haven’t said, how did you know I was here?”
Xiao Yunting sighed: “It’s not that I knew. When we arrived at Gaojia Town, we found the relay station littered with soldiers’ corpses. We also ran into Old Zhao.”
Ah, so that’s how.
Qi Yuan understood now and was about to speak when Liujin came running in, shouting: “Young Miss! Young Miss! His Highness is here!”
But as soon as he spotted Xiao Yunting, he froze mid-step and let out a loud hiccup.
He had rushed in to inform Qi Yuan ahead of time, never expecting she’d already met with His Highness!
Liujin quickly dropped to his knees and saluted.
Seeing this, Xiao Yunting couldn’t help chuckling: “That’s enough. Get up.”
Liujin scratched his head, regretting his noisy entrance. He really did feel like he’d just made a fool of himself.
Qi Yuan raised an eyebrow: “So the townspeople brought in by that liar Liang Jianping to beat the drums, that was you guys?”
Xiao Yunting didn’t know what had happened while they were apart, but something had changed.
Qi Yuan was… warmer toward him than before.
He didn’t know the reason, but he was certain. It must have been something significant.
Still, everyone had things they didn’t want to talk about.
If Qi Yuan didn’t want to say, he wouldn’t force her.
He respected her choices. And he believed, if she thought he needed to know, she’d tell him herself.
He smiled and answered: “We were planning to take care of what you came to do anyway. You just got here first.”
She’d beaten them to it, killed Wang Weiqi and his wife.
But honestly, he should have seen it coming.
Qi Yuan had left those old servant women from Qi Wang’s manor under Old Zhao’s watch, saying she had business to handle.
Whatever it was, it was never going to be “ordinary.”
That’s just Qi Yuan’s style, quick, precise, and ruthless. Whoever gives the order, dies.
Qi Yuan had wanted to help Xiao Yunting by eliminating this political dilemma first.
But now that he was involved too, she got straight to the point: “Huang Hongzhong and Wang Weiqi are brothers-in-law. If I’m not mistaken, Huang Hongzhong is definitely involved.”
Which meant this wasn’t over.
If they lured Xiao Yunting to Jinxian, those people must still have more tricks up their sleeves.
Xiao Yunting smiled: “Exactly. I’ve killed too many corrupt officials along the way. They’ve all got guilty consciences, of course they’re afraid of me. But it’s fine. Wang Weiqi and his wife are dead, and Liang Jianping is still alive, isn’t he?”
That brother-in-law of his had to know something.
Liang Jianping had never imagined he’d one day be tied up in the county yamen. He had always been the one strutting around there.
How dare anyone treat him this way?
He shouted in rage: “Who the h*ll are you people?! You dare break into the yamen and draw weapons?! Are you all looking to die?!”
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