Yellow earth roads wound through the woods and into the villa on the other side. In front of the villa, several carriages, large and small, were hitched. Sunlight filtered through the trees, bringing the sounds of summer cicadas from afar. The grotesque laughter blended with the cicada song.

Ning Yi stared for a long while at the lewd man clinging to his arm, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Finally, a hint of a smile appeared on Ning Yi's face. Beside him, Lu Qian, hand on his saber, and the attendants from the Grand Commandant's mansion moved closer, subtly. Gao Mu'en was still laughing: "What can you do..."

The group watched Ning Yi's reaction. After a moment, Ning Yi moved, raising his hand and actually grasping the back of Gao Ya Nei's hand, nodding and smiling.

"You're right, we meet again, brother. We really are destined."

There was a hint of sighing in his words. He spoke slowly. Gao Ya Nei looked at his grasped hand, struggling to break free before finally succeeding. He took a step back, standing up straight with a smile, lifting the hem of his robe with one hand and pointing at Ning Yi with the other.

"Don't give me that! I'm telling you! I, Hua Hua Tai Sui, won't be tricked by you again! You really have guts! But I'm telling you clearly today, if you dare to trick me! If I find out, I won't swallow this anger!"

Gao Mu'en spoke excitedly, his body bouncing unconsciously. Ning Yi's hand, having been shaken off, lingered in the air regretfully. The smile on his face didn't change. "Understood, you won't be tricked by me again." After nodding in agreement, his warm smile turned to Lu Qian at the side. "However, has Officer Lu already checked my identity?"

Lu Qian rested one hand on his saber, his face expressionless, his eyes narrowed as he looked at Ning Yi. "A mere scholar, and a Son-in-Law at that. What identity could he have?"

Everything happened suddenly. Perhaps the conversation between these two was the central point. Lu Qian and Gao Ya Nei had come this time, originally hearing there would be a spectacle. They didn't know much about Ning Yi's identity. But when Gao Ya Nei realized he had been tricked last time, Lu Qian naturally had to stand on his side first, overwhelming this ignorant scholar with his aura. These two sentences were the truth. Over there, Gao Mu'en was still jumping and talking excitedly.

"I won't swallow this anger, you have to give me an explanation! I'm telling you, my father is Gao Qiu! Of course everyone in Bianliang fears Gao Mu'en! You tricked me last time, proving you're afraid of me, right—"

"Young Master is insightful," Ning Yi said, smiling at him. "I am impressed."

"You're afraid of me, meaning you can't beat me! I've caught you red-handed! I know your name now, you can't escape! I'll take my revenge... hehe, but I, Gao Mu'en, am not interested in men, I'm only interested in three things: beauties! Beauties—and more beauties!" He grinned lewdly. "I saw those women last time, those beauties, they're your people, right? Unless you're willing to bring them to meet me, introduce me..."

Hua Hua Tai Sui had been running rampant in Bianliang for many years. Similar scenes were not the first time he had played out. He was unforgiving even when he was unreasonable, and now that he had reason, he was even less likely to let go. The guards beside him were already laughing. Sunlight shone down, the shade of the trees swayed, and they were waiting to see what the scholar in front of them would react, what he would say. Gao Ya Nei hadn't finished laughing when the scholar shook his head, as if talking to himself: "You still don't know who I am..." As if saying, "You dare provoke me without knowing who I am."

But such words obviously couldn't make people back down. Gao Mu'en laughed: "I don't care who you are! I said, my father is Gao Qiu! You dare in Bianliang..."

He didn't finish his words when Ning Yi nodded, raising his eyes. "Understood." Then he stepped forward. A guard stepped in front of him: "What are you trying to do!" He also blocked him naturally, because this approach was different from Gao Mu'en's previous initiative to approach him. However, what followed was a scene that no one could react to. At least in Bianliang, such a thing hadn't happened in a long time.

Poetry gathering, noon, sunlight, cicadas chirping, the clearing in the woods outside the villa. The scholar blocked on the road took a step forward. The guard came close. Then, the scholar's hand suddenly grabbed his clothes. The next moment, he pulled the guard's body over. *Pfft*, blood and teeth flew into the sky. Under the sunlight, everything was spinning. The *pu dao* (a type of Chinese long handled sword) made a long, ringing sound as it flew out of its sheath. The blade slashed down like a bolt of silk. Lu Qian's eyes flashed sharply, and he suddenly stepped forward!

In that instant, Ning Yi grabbed the guard's collar, his right palm *bang* pushed against his jaw, then he took the guard's waist saber and slashed it towards Lu Qian. Lu Qian wielded his saber from below, the blade of his precious saber like a pool of clear water. *Pa*, the broken blade flew into the sky. The next moment, something exploded in the sunlight. The lime powder packet, flying out of his sleeve with the force of the swing, was cut open by his saber, rushing towards his face!

Gao Ya Nei stood there, not having finished his words at all. He saw the sudden gloomy look in the other's eyes as he looked up, completely different from his previous banter. The guard's blood, teeth, and body flew into the air and fell to the ground. On the other side, after the contact, Lu Qian brushed and brushed, wielding his precious saber into a ball of light, retreating rapidly. The air was full of the smell of lime powder. The sunlight was dazzling, and in his eyes, the scholar's figure enlarged, approaching, opening his arms, making him feel as if he was blocking out the sky. Then, *bang*, he hugged him tightly!

Lu Qian retreated a few steps and stopped. When he waved away the hand blocking his eyes, the scholar and Gao Ya Nei were actually hugging each other. Gao Ya Nei didn't dare to move at all. The surrounding guards also drew their sabers, not daring to step forward. A man's embrace of another man might seem disgusting and ridiculous on ordinary days, but at this time it looked so bizarre and conveyed an unspeakable danger.

Officer Lu was by no means weak. Someone who could fight Lin Chong was ranked among the top masters in the *jianghu* (martial arts world). Moreover, having come up from the bottom, he was highly vigilant. If it came to playing tricks and schemes, he was by no means inferior to others. But even so, in the first exchange, he was unable to guard against the lime powder packet after all.

Firstly, in this environment, the scholar was participating in a poetry gathering, looking like a refined and courageous man, making Lu Qian never think that he was skilled in martial arts, nor did he think that the other party would suddenly strike at this time. Not to mention, a scholar attacking someone would first throw out a lime powder packet. Secondly, such a sinister method had almost been honed over and over again. He couldn't imagine that anyone in the *jianghu* would deliberately rack their brains to refine this. The precious saber in his hand was sharp. Although only a little lime powder entered his eyes, when he reacted, the eyes of the scholar hugging Gao Mu'en had become... unfathomable.

Ning Yi hugged the Hua Hua Tai Sui in front of him with both hands, somewhat forcefully, making his bones creak slightly. Gao Mu'en didn't dare to move at all, not understanding what kind of person this ******* was. He felt the scholar's head moving slowly beside his head, sometimes his face even touching his hair, making his goosebumps rise. After a moment, the scholar breathed a sigh of relief: "You still don't know who I am..."

The words were low and slow, like mumbling to himself in his ear. Gao Mu'en felt one of his hands move up behind him, pinching the back of his neck, even making the two of them closer: "You don't know, why do you have to do this? I know there's a word called 'pit dad' (harming one's father), how about I give it to you?"

Ning Yi's eyes coldly looked at the guards and Lu Qian in front of him, whispering in Gao Ya Nei's ear. Gao Ya Nei didn't react for a moment, but after a moment, the kind of hysterical behavior was gone: "You, you, you, what are you going to do..."

"Nothing," Ning Yi said in a low voice, patting him on the back with his other hand. "I really like people like you, so innocent, cute, and 'pit dad'. But... you said you wanted me to introduce them to you, how about we don't?"

His head rested on Gao Mu'en's hair, and the hand holding his neck had already wrapped around and pressed against his face, making the two of them closer. He paused and whispered: "I really like them. You see, you don't even know who I am. What if I'm a madman? What if you do something that forces me to go out into the streets to kill you? If you kill me and I kill you, that wouldn't be good, would it? Not to mention hurting you, it's not good to hurt kittens and puppies either. You still have so many women to play with..."

"Oh, of course, I'm definitely not a madman. Your father is Gao Qiu, whom I have always admired. I said long ago, meeting is fate. You're so cute, I really like you. Don't quarrel with me, okay?"

He slightly released Gao Mu'en, holding his head with both hands, looking at each other, their foreheads touching, revealing a smile: "Hmm?"

Gao Mu'en looked at him: "...Okay."

"That's great. From the first moment I saw you, I knew we could be friends..." Ning Yi held his head and kissed him on the head, "Good friends."

Releasing Gao Mu'en, the smile on Ning Yi's face disappeared. Looking at Lu Qian, he said: "A misunderstanding, Officer Lu. How did it become like this?"

In this moment, Gao Mu'en quickly pushed away. The guard in the back who had his teeth knocked out had already gotten up, but was grabbed by Ning Yi again, using him as a weapon to swing forward. Everyone present didn't know whether to act or not. Gao Ya Nei wiped his forehead, wanting to say something or stomp his feet and curse, but he had always been quite neurotic. Now that he encountered someone who looked even more neurotic, he didn't know how to shout. He cursed in his mouth: "Madman, lunatic, Lu Qian!"

He probably wanted to call Lu Qian to kill, but he turned his head and looked at Lu Qian covered in lime powder. This scholar really didn't seem to have come from a good background and looked very scary. Finally, he said: "I, we'll leave first... Damn, lunatic... You wait..."

If they swarmed up, Lu Qian certainly knew that they should be able to kill this scholar, but being tyrannical was one thing. Killing this scholar who had been in the limelight today outside this villa, Gao Ya Nei might not be able to bear the consequences. Although Gao Qiu's position as Grand Commandant was high and powerful, he was only the emperor's favorite minister and might not be supported by the civil and military officials of the court. Moreover, after that mistake just now, he knew that Gao Mu'en, whom he was protecting, had already died once. If this scholar still had similar messy tricks, and they fought to the death now, if he really killed the Young Master, he would never be able to bear the responsibility.

In fact, the development of the situation, from the moment he suddenly acted, was truly completely beyond their expectations. Realizing that they had been tricked, they came out to arrest him, clearly having the upper hand, expecting that the other party would not dare to offend the Grand Commandant's mansion. But with that sudden change in attitude, they didn't know what they were up against.

Generally speaking, a person's attitude towards others always has traces to follow. Last time, he was full of smiles in order to avoid offending them and let them leave. He was afraid of the Grand Commandant's mansion. This time, after being exposed, he would at most make a few jokes or try to muddle through by telling the same jokes, but no one would have thought that the other party's attitude and decision would change so quickly, directly flipping the table in a few words.

The two sides confronted each other for a moment. Gao Mu'en shouted. Ning Yi stood there coldly looking at them, gently caressing his palm. Watching the group finally leave, his eyes returned to gloom.

Not far away, there were also two pairs of eyes watching this scene, watching Gao Mu'en and his group leave. Closer was Zhou Pei behind a carriage. She concealed her body, watching this scene happen and end, finally not jumping out. And in a farther place, in the shadows near the courtyard gate, a man named Cheng Zhouhai was watching Zhou Pei's expression throughout the whole process, and then watching Ning Yi, as if he had discovered something interesting, revealing a playful smile. Before long, that smile turned to the departing Gao Mu'en and his group, transforming into a chilling coldness.

This second confrontation ended as quickly as it began.