Time aligns with the efforts of heaven and earth.

Throughout the day, good news trickled in from various sources.

As a result, Chen Shuangran slept soundly until the evening.

The sound of sea breeze in her dream carried her back to a pleasant past.

That summer when she was eleven, she held her younger brother and threw him overboard.

A wave flashed by.

A beautiful memory.

Although her father flew into a rage and beat her black and blue even on mere suspicion, she felt that from then on, everyone on the fleet was watching her.

Her father deserved to die, suspecting her without evidence.

But at the same time, she enjoyed such suspicion. She needed to be watched.

When she woke up, the evening breeze was quietly blowing from the eastern sea. She sat by the window, enjoying the breeze. A cicada landed near her hand.

She caught it.

The cicada was beautiful, like the self within her.

So she carefully wrapped the insect with strands of her hair, tightening it bit by bit, slowly removing its wings and claws... The hair couldn't sever the cicada's neck, and it broke when she applied force. She had to take a knife and carefully cut the cicada into six pieces on the windowsill.

It was sticky, colorful, and quite interesting.

She treated it as her own painting and looked at it for a while.

Chen Yan knocked on the door from outside, telling her it was time for dinner. She finished her dinner by the window, occasionally using her chopsticks to pick up grains of rice and vegetable leaves to embellish her painting. In front of her, the city of Fuzhou was rising with the light of the night. Those dirty and mediocre people could not appreciate her paintings, but it didn't matter. She knew human nature well. These ordinary and mediocre things would always admire her in her palms, casting bewildered but amazed gazes upon her.

After dinner, the people who were supposed to come arrived one after another. Chen Shuangran went outside and continued to discuss the many arrangements for the future with everyone...

...

"...This afternoon, Luo Sheng, Yu Guo, Dou Xiaoniu and others all took action. Luo Sheng attacked Wang Fangmin's house, and Yu Guo killed his way to Fuyuanzhai in the south of the city... As it stands, seven people have been killed, and countless injured... The government has been alarmed..."

"...But Tie Tianying has not appeared so far. Could he really be dead..."

"...Huang Shengyuan is anxious and colluding in the rear, saying that he wants everyone to 'pool their strength'. He met me in the evening and revealed his hand. He has more than a dozen good fighters from his side in Fuzhou who can follow our orders..."

"Pool their strength... He dares to say that..."

In the lamplight, there were flickering figures discussing matters. Zooming out, this was a Taoist temple at the foot of Mount Jiuxian, with buildings nestled among lush trees, overlooking Fuzhou from afar.

"In any case, this is still good for us..."

"Huang Shengyuan is a collateral branch of the Huang family, making his fortune through irregular channels, so his rebellious intentions are more firm. Relatively speaking, Huang Bailong is a bit timid and hesitant in this matter... It's a good thing that Huang Shengyuan can solidify things on this trip."

"Hehehehehe." Someone laughed in the darkness, "I actually owe Huang Shengyuan a little something."

"Huang Shengyuan is a rebel. If Master recognizes him as his father-in-law, wouldn't that be... recognizing a thief as his father?"

In the dimness, a figure suddenly appeared. Tun Yun was already beside the speaker, and a bloodthirsty aura was gathering.

"Hey, you're the only one who knows idioms..." He paused there for a moment and disappeared like a ghost: "...Next time, you're not allowed to say that again."

The person who spoke earlier broke out in a cold sweat, and someone next to him laughed. Chen Shuangran waved her hand.

"It is rumored that yesterday, He Yuanchen pointed out the Huang family... Since Huang Shengyuan is willing, Uncle Nian, let his people take action, slaughter He Yuanchen's mansion in Fuzhou, and set a fire... Consider it a, pledge of allegiance."

"Huang Shengyuan may shirk..."

"If he's afraid and unwilling to take risks, then let him go back to Putian and explain to Huang Bailong himself... Tell him, he has no choice."

"Yes... In addition, Elder Ai, Fei Gong and others have changed their attitude after hearing about the Lin'an incident. Elder Ai said that he would have his family's workers stir up trouble. This is not feasible, because the imperial court's military strength is intact. Whoever rushes to the front will surely die. But if they secretly create chaos, he will cooperate... As for Fei Gong..."

Secret plots were whispered, one by one. At a certain moment, a commotion came from afar, alerting the guards on the balcony.

The window in the room opened for a moment, and the next moment, a figure appeared on the roof of the house.

Like a mast rising from the dark sea, Tun Yun's cassock rustled in the wind, watching the turmoil in the distance.

Half a breath later, Fan Zhong had also come up.

"The Princess's mansion again?"

"Hehe." In the dimness, Tun Yun smiled, "It's the Princess's mansion again."

The discussions below were intermittent, still in progress, but Chen Shuangran and others pushed open the balcony and used telescopes to look at the Princess's mansion in the distance. The two sides were far apart, like two isolated islands longing for each other in the sea at night. Therefore, they just casually watched the excitement, and the meeting did not stop.

It was not long after Tun Yun and Fan Zhong returned to the room that someone talked about the matter in the midst of the discussion.

"We didn't arrange anyone to join in the fun..."

"There was a commotion last night, tonight... Could those brothers not be dead?"

"Your guess is too bizarre."

"The Princess's mansion is not without experts. Even in my younger days, I wasn't this brave."

"Besides us, who else in the city dares to fish in troubled waters?"

"...Young Master Pu?"

"Hahahaha, you're the one who knows how to joke..."

The previous day, a conflict occurred during the assassination of Tie Tianying. The group had a plan to expose the Huaiyunfang brothers to the court and use a borrowed knife to kill them. Who knew that before they could take action, the court had sent cannons. After the shelling, the surviving teenager went straight to the Princess's mansion and caused a great disturbance... Today, even though the news of Lin'an filled the upper echelons, what was heard in the rumors of the Jianghu was mostly about Huaiyunfang, all exaggerated to be tragic and extremely mystical...

The impact of the news of the fall of Lin'an was huge. In comparison, this commotion at the Princess's mansion was extremely small. But the enemy suddenly died, but not by their hand, and now the news was a mess. When everyone thought about it, they mostly had a kind of unclassifiable emptiness. It was not until this moment when the Princess's mansion became chaotic again that this difficult-to-grasp emotion was pushed to the front of everyone.

What exactly was going on? Was there another group of people in the city stirring up trouble in such a grand way, or did the teenager not die after last night's chaos and actually kill his way back?

Due to insufficient information, the discussions were just random guesses and difficult to draw conclusions. After chatting for a while, everyone continued their meeting. It was not until a group of subordinates left here that Chen Shuangran looked into the distance in the darkness, lost in thought.

"...There aren't many true experts who can be used in the next thing." She said to herself, but her eyes looked at Fan Zhong beside her.

"This matter may not be significant."

"If it's true... it would be interesting..." She tilted her head, "Besides, we really lack people."

"If Huang Shengyuan slaughters the He family, then his people..."

"...They may not be trustworthy. In the court, there are ruthless people. If the He family dies, they will send spies over... On the other hand, this scene at the Princess's mansion, being able to assassinate twice in a row, if it's acting, then it's overdone..." Chen Shuangran thought for a while, "I wouldn't act like this..."

Fan Zhong waved his hand and said nothing more. In his opinion, the teenager charging into the Princess's mansion yesterday and not dying was already a very low probability event. Even if it really happened, the Princess's mansion was not an ordinary place, and the other party should have died today.

On the Jianghu, people lick blood from knives. There are many rascals, and there are also many people with single-track minds. For example, stupidity plus good luck, eventually making a name for themselves. Every few years, one or two of them will appear, but they are not a big deal now. With the news of Lin'an arriving at this sensitive time, the rebels are likely to take advantage of the situation to create a big mess. It is very likely that some of Chen Shuangran's whimsical plans will not have to be implemented, and the small court may have problems again.

But the girl's brain was not working well, and she was obviously interested in this matter.

Her eyes turned to Tun Yun.

"Master, are you willing to go and investigate? I see... you are also somewhat interested in that person."

"That young man is unruly, lawless, and can escape my pursuit, so his talent is indeed good." Tun Yun raised his palm, "But what is most attractive is that he is unrestrained and has the same interests as me. He is very destined to me in terms of Jianghu fame. This is very rare, very rare."

Tun Yun said "this is very rare" twice in a row. He had no sense of the overall situation, only interested in these wanton things. After he finished speaking, he was about to turn around and leave. Chen Shuangran laughed: "Master, go early and return early. We are still waiting for you to help kill people tomorrow."

"Understood."

Tun Yun's figure disappeared on the spot, and Fan Zhong sighed.

"A big show tomorrow..."

Chen Shuangran looked at the city, mountains and sea outside the doors and windows, and said quietly.

She liked the feeling of being watched.

So she knew that at this moment, the big figures in the entire city were watching her, not only those old things and small fries who wanted to rebel, but also the arrogant court officials, the emperor of the Nine-Five Sovereignty, and the so-called Grand Princess who was high above...

The two teenagers in Yinqiao Lane were originally a small accident. She originally wanted to easily handle the other party in yesterday's assassination of Tie Tianying. Who knew that the child was unruly and fearlessly fought back in the chaotic situation of the three parties. Now that she was resisting the court and gaining such an advantage, he seemed to be unaware and dared to charge into the Princess's mansion - if it was really that Sun Wukong, then this would be stealing her thunder.

Although it was impossible to steal it, it was also very uncomfortable.

If possible, she would have to play with him a little...

The night wind blew in from outside the doors and windows, and the lights of the city were like waves under the stars and moon. The layout was in line with her wishes. The girl took a deep breath, as if immersed in the salty sea breeze. She picked up the child and threw him into the turbulent waves. She seemed to vaguely hear a cry of "Sister" in the sea breeze, but it disappeared in an instant. So a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth...

...

Princess's Mansion.

The emperor of the Nine-Five Sovereignty and the so-called Grand Princess were watching the figure in the courtyard.

"Four,

Four-Foot Lewd Demon... What, what is that... What does it mean?"

"Ah, Your Majesty, this is a long story. They were originally called the Five-Foot Lewd Demon, not that shameless shameless, but the five of one, two, three, four, five feet. This is because back in Jiangning... Blah blah blah blah..."

In the room, Yue Yun was full of energy and began to explain the ins and outs of a strange event to the two of them in detail. Due to the complexity of the cause and effect, Yue Yun's lack of superb narrative skills, and his inability to resist adding fuel to the fire, the whole thing was told by him with many side stories and in a disorganized manner.

Fortunately, Jun Wu, Zhou Pei and the Yue family's siblings had dealt with each other a lot. Listening to Yue Yun's embellishments, the tired two gradually calmed down. They looked at the teenager sitting in the courtyard seemingly sullen through the window on the second floor, only occasionally asking Yue Yun questions or whispering to each other.

"...From the Southwest, Jiangning is still his hometown?"

"Yes, that's what he said. But this kid is very cunning..."

"Could he be a descendant of some family in the Huaxia Army?"

"I don't know, he didn't say, but my sister and I discussed it, and he must have a big background... Sister said, is he a child of the Qin family..."

"Look at the way he's sitting in the courtyard, sister, I vaguely remember someone..."

"Who..."

"The one next to the teacher..."

...

Under the moonlight, the teenager in the courtyard jumped up.

"...Looking, looking, what are you looking at? If you have the guts, come down and fight me one-on-one, Yue Xiaoer. Look at your sneaky demeanor--"

...

"...It shouldn't be, I saw wrong."

The emperor touched his mouth and retracted his overly outrageous guess.

Upstairs, because Jun Wu and the two were there, Yue Yun maintained his composure and did not launch a counterattack against the teenager below, explaining the story of the Five-Foot Lewd Demon and the origin of the Four-Foot Lewd Demon clearly, adding fuel to the fire.

In the courtyard downstairs, the fiery teenager was gradually appeased by Qu Longjun who had rushed over. After learning of Zuo Xingzhou's death, Qu Longjun sat with him, quietly hugging his shoulders, while Yin Ping went to the side and began to send the guards surrounding them to other places. As for some of the guards being injured, Ning Ji's attack was still measured. In the usual training and actual combat drills, these types of injuries would occur even when fighting Yin Ping and Yue Yun. Ning Ji's actions were really a practical drill for them.

After calming down in the courtyard for a moment, Qu Longjun carefully leaned against Ning Ji and whispered: "There are probably big figures upstairs next door..."

Ning Ji was not surprised. He did not look over there: "I knew it long ago. Looking at Yue Xiaoer's excitement in complaining upstairs, peeking down sneakily from the window, it's just Princess Zhou Pei and her gang... I'm not afraid of them..."

"The Grand Princess... is a disciple of Mr. Ning, right?"

"Yeah, the emperor and princess here are my peers, what's so great about it... I just asked them to fight one-on-one, and they didn't dare to come down."

"What if she wants to catch you, what should we do..."

"Hmph..."

The Grand Princess was a big figure in Fuzhou. Thinking about it in the past, she was like an existence in the clouds, but after knowing Ning Ji's identity, it suddenly felt like it was nothing remarkable - of course, this was a naive imagination based on human feelings. On other levels, political creatures have no humanity. Ning Ji himself might not take Ning Ji's identity seriously, but in Qu Longjun's heart, there was actually a faint sense of fear.

"Little... Long." Qu Longjun leaned against him, carefully considering her thoughts, "If... if... they want to catch you, you don't have to care about me, find a chance to escape... I've thought about it, even if the Southeast small court wants to get something from the Southwest through you, they won't harm my life..."

Ning Ji was silent for a moment. He took Qu Longjun's hand and thought seriously.

"They shouldn't mess around." He slowly lowered his voice, "My father said back then that the little emperor is different from ordinary people and has a sincere desire to cooperate with the Southwest... And the Zuo family is not just one or two people. If they attack me, some of them will completely break with this side..."

"They may not hurt you, but they will imprison you."

"I'm not afraid of them." Ning Ji squeezed her hand, "Besides, if they really want to imprison me, I really won't care about these things and let them avenge Zuo Xingzhou themselves... Hmph, I also want to see if they can imprison me for a lifetime!"

He smiled at first, but when he said the last part, a hint of coldness flashed across his face. Coming out of the Southwest, he had received too much training. If he fell into the hands of forces like He Wen, the result would probably be terrible, but if the Southeast wanted to imprison him without harming him, they would be the ones who would suffer and have a headache. Ning Ji was really not afraid.

He was influenced by his father in the Southwest and had heard a lot about the Southeast small court's royal siblings. He actually had a certain fondness for them in his heart. One of his thoughts after coming here was to see how the siblings managed the Southeast. But at this time, he felt really awkward about meeting them in the future.

The royal family has no private affairs. If the other party met him in the guise of the political arena, chatting and talking would be very uncomfortable. Just thinking about it, Ning Ji felt itchy all over. At this time, he took Qu Longjun's hand and stood up, and the two of them quietly retreated towards the courtyard behind. Yue Yinping sighed, but followed from behind, lest Ning Ji continue to go crazy, or take Qu Longjun and want to run away.

On the courtyard side, Cheng Zhouhai and Zuo Wenxuan had also come here at the same time as they noticed the quiet disappearance of the young man from the Southwest.

They are responsible for many things now.

"...This afternoon, several groups of assassins have successively attacked the private residences or commercial banks of Wang Fangmin, Chi Jun, Chen Jingye and others in the city. Judging from the movements of the underworld, because of the Lin'an incident, Chen Shuangran and her gang will have a major action tomorrow, the purpose of which is to create momentum, so that more people bet on their side, and also to deter some of the big families who previously 'defected'... The secret agents and the Ministry of Justice are currently making arrangements..."

"...If anyone dares to take the risk in this matter, record it all... Those who should be killed should also be killed..."

"...Yes, in addition, the public opinion propaganda targeting Lin'an tomorrow, my minister and Mr. Li have also discussed it almost..."

The two first reported the work in progress. After saying almost everything, Jun Wu nodded.

"Also, what about the child in the courtyard - the one from the Southwest - what's going on? Which family's child is he from the Southwest?"

Cheng Zhouhai looked around. Jun Wu waved his hand, and the attendants retreated. Fang Jinghao, the leader of the secret agents in the Princess's mansion, also retreated. As for Yue Yun, the slandering courtier, he was full of enthusiasm at this time and didn't want to leave, but Zhou Pei still smiled at him: "Yue Yun, you go down too."

"Yes." Yue Yun turned into a pig face and retreated obediently.

The door in the room closed, Cheng Zhouhai cupped his hands: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Princess, he is Ning Yi's child."

The world was quiet for a moment. Jun Wu's already quite tired and bloodshot eyes moved a few times, changing complexly, for a long time:

"...Ah?"

"He is the child of Xiaochun (小婵) Madam beside Ning Yi, named Ning Ji. He was the one born when the Jurchens went south." Cheng Zhouhai stated calmly.

Zuo Wenxuan also nodded lightly to confirm.

Zhou Pei pushed open the window. Starlight fell in the courtyard on the window side, and there was no one else there quietly, but she knew that the child was doing something not far away where the starlight was spreading.

The chaos in the courtyard just now flashed in her eyes, the figure of the teenager, about fifteen or sixteen years old. It was... the teacher's child...

It was too close and not real.

"...He's so old now..."

In the empty night, it seemed that she also had a fleeting yesterday from long, long ago, when they finally bid farewell to that legendary figure, it seemed to be the same age. She could barely recall the feeling at that time.

She sat down by the window.

Wanting to buy osmanthus and carry wine together.

In the end, it is not like the youthful travels.