After leaving the capital, the speed of the envoy immediately picked up. There were no more contemptuous gazes from the garrison generals in the distance. The members of the envoy, including the officials of the Supervisory Council, seemed much more relaxed.

It was the third month of spring, and the further north they went, the more intense the spring colors became, which was truly wonderful.

Local government offices along the way received them. Knowing that this envoy was on a mission to Northern Qi, no state official dared to neglect them. Moreover, the chief envoy this time was the famous Little Fan Manor Lord from the capital. Therefore, officials everywhere treated them with extra care. Although they dared not delay the envoy's schedule, whenever they arrived at a place, they always held grand banquets with beautiful women to accompany them, constantly flattering Fan Xian at the table.

Only then did Fan Xian realize that his reputation in Qing Kingdom was so great, and he couldn't help but feel a little complacent, not refusing a single banquet at the beginning. However, after going so many times, he inevitably became bored. Moreover, it was really troublesome to have to repeat his vow not to write poetry every time.

Wang Qinian, on the other hand, quite enjoyed going, because the singing girls at the banquets danced in light veils, which was very pleasing to the eye. Moreover, in each place, the local officials would lavishly arrange for the most popular local girls to accompany them, indulging in pleasure every night with endless variations, which was nowhere near comparable to the yellow-faced women in the capital.

However, this kind of arrangement could not attract Fan Xian, because there was a girl in the envoy whom even the Emperor of Northern Qi couldn't forget, that most popular woman in the capital, Si Lili.

So gradually, Fan Xian no longer easily attended banquets, only chatting briefly with some senior local officials who had old friendships with his father. Most of the time, he stayed in the envoy's residence, on the one hand, to keep a close eye on Xiao En, and on the other hand, to spend more time in Si Lili's carriage.

Calculating the time, it had been more than half a month since they left the capital. In this half month, Fan Xian spent most of his time on the road in Si Lili's carriage. Well, among a large group of men, one would get tired of listening to comic dialogues all the time. Where could it be as refreshing as chatting with a pretty woman in the carriage?

Si Lili carefully peeled an orange, then meticulously removed the white pith before sending the orange flesh into Fan Xian's lips.

Fan Xian was the highest-ranking official in the envoy, and the officials of the Supervisory Council followed his lead. The Tiger Guards were even more loyal, so no one dared to say anything no matter what he did.

But as Fan Xian closed his eyes and slowly chewed the orange flesh, he inexplicably thought of his younger sister. In the capital, Ruoruo often served him fruit like this. Then he naturally thought of his wife, Wan'er, who was at home. He slightly opened his eyes, peeking through the small slits of his eyelids at Si Lili, who was concentrating on preparing the orange, and a trace of unease welled up in his heart.

In fact, during this journey, he and Si Lili hadn't done anything, just chatted a few words, ate some fruit, and passed the time. Even the arrangements after going to the capital of Northern Qi were rarely mentioned... Of course, occasionally rubbing her tired body was inevitable, occasionally holding hands was inevitable, and occasionally looking at the scenery outside the window while embracing was inevitable.

"What are you thinking about?" Seeing Fan Xian spacing out, Si Lili said with a sweet smile. In the days they had spent together, all she had seen was Fan Xian's gentle and delicate side. She had faintly forgotten the terrifying scene of him bullying a weak woman in the Heavenly Prison. Girls seemed to really like this feeling of sitting in a carriage and chatting idly. Deep down, she vaguely hoped that this journey would never end.

...

...

A moment later, Fan Xian jumped out of the carriage with a smile on his face, but there was a hint of strangeness in his smile.

There was poison in Si Lili's body, a slow-acting poison. Fan Xian had already figured it out during these days of intimacy. It seemed that the Supervisory Council had planted it in her beforehand.

Fan Xian had seen this kind of poison in the books left by Teacher Fei, but he had never seen an actual case. This poison would slowly release inside the woman's body and then be transmitted to the man through intercourse. As long as the Emperor of Northern Qi had one night of pleasure with Si Lili, he might be infected with this poison, and the symptoms would be extremely similar to common venereal diseases.

No wonder Chen Pingping was so serious about this matter. It turned out that Hongxiu Zhao was not a remake of Xi Shi entering Wu, but a poisonous human plan.

There was no specific medicine to cure this poison, but it could effectively weaken the other party's physical and mental state. Just imagine, if the Emperor of Northern Qi really doted on Si Lili and indulged in pleasure every night, he would probably fall ill soon. And given the current situation of the struggle between the Empress Dowager faction and the Emperor faction in Northern Qi, once the young Emperor became seriously ill, the Northern Qi court would probably fall into turmoil again.

Fan Xian sighed. Si Lili knew that there was poison in her body, but she thought it was just a means for the Supervisory Council to control her. She didn't know that it could be transmitted to the men who slept with her.

What made him uncomfortable was that Chen Pingping had not told him the truth about this matter. If he hadn't felt a slight abnormality when he was intimate with Si Lili, he would never have discovered it. Of course, even if he was infected with this poison, he could be cured immediately, but the feeling of being kept in the dark was still unpleasant.

"Hongxiu Zhao?" He smiled wryly as he sat in his own carriage. "It turns out it's Baixiu Zhao, summoning souls."

He knew that compared to Chen Pingping, Fei Jie, or even Xiao En in the carriage behind him, his methods were still not ruthless enough, and his mind was still not cold enough—Si Lili was just a pawn, a pawn that could be discarded at any time. He just didn't know what Chen Pingping had promised her that could make her willingly be a pawn with a black cloth covering her eyes.

But what really shocked Fan Xian was another thing, which was also the real reason why Fan Xian and Si Lili had been entangled for more than ten days without anything really happening.

Si Lili was still a virgin.

————————————————————————

The envoy had arrived at the northern territory of Qing Kingdom. Ahead was the last major city in the north of Qing Kingdom—Cangzhou. Looking at the city walls from afar, Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and noticed that the sky was becoming a bit dim. The north wind was strong, blowing the spring away in all directions. There were dark clouds overhead, making for truly unpleasant weather.

After the state army responsible for the final escort came to salute, they began to turn back. Only the envoy's own convoy remained. Although the convoy was extremely long, it still seemed a bit small and pitiful on the desolate plains outside Cangzhou City.

"How long will it take to get to the border line from Cangzhou?" Fan Xian narrowed his eyes, gazing at the sky in the north.

Wang Qinian respectfully replied, "This time we're going around the Great Lake, so it's farther, at least twenty days."

Fan Xian frowned and said, "The real danger should be in these twenty days." He slightly turned his head, glanced at the carriage that had been silent all along, and asked, "How is Xiao En's current condition?"

"The manor lord injects him with large doses of poison every day. I estimate he is trying to force the poison out, so he has been very quiet. And since he woke up a few days ago, he has become silent, as if he is thinking about something."

"Be careful." Fan Xian twitched his nose, seemingly smelling the increasingly strong bloody smell from that carriage.

"Yes." Wang Qinian requested, "The state army has already retreated. The Cangzhou army isn't very reassured, as the manor lord is aware of what happened last time when escorting Si Lili back to the capital."

Fan Xian smiled and said, "Don't worry. After we pass Cangzhou, the escort will actually be the safest. I'm just worried about the internal problems of the envoy."

As his words fell, a team of cavalry appeared on the distant low hills at the edge of the wilderness. There were about five hundred people. The cavalry wore black armor, which exuded a chilling killing intent in the dim sunlight.

Wang Qinian smiled and said, "So the Black Riders have arrived. Then there's naturally nothing to worry about."

...

...

A gust of wind blew over, causing the gravel on the ground to roll slowly. Wang Qinian and Fan Xian were about to get into the carriage and head towards Cangzhou City. Fan Xian suddenly paused and slowly turned around, finding that Si Lili had gotten out of the carriage and was standing by the side, looking at him with a very bewildered gaze.

"Tell someone to get a coat for Miss Si. It's getting colder the further north we go. This spring is coming damn late." Fan Xian said seemingly calmly, but his heart trembled slightly. He had rarely been in Si Lili's carriage these days.

Wang Qinian glanced at Fan Xian strangely and waved for his subordinates to take care of it. The envoy had three maids prepared, who were originally there to serve Si Lili, the future woman of the Emperor of Northern Qi. However, Fan Xian had been staying in Si Lili's carriage all these days, so the three maids could only trail behind the envoy's convoy. In a moment, the maids came to Si Lili's side, put a crimson cloak on her, and advised the young lady to return to the carriage to rest.

Si Lili allowed them to tie the cloak around her, but she didn't return to the carriage. She just quietly looked at Fan Xian, as if she wanted to see something from Fan Xian's face.

The black cavalry in the distance, the frail woman in the crimson cloak nearby, and the pale sun hanging obliquely in the sky—it was a very beautiful picture, but it was also a picture that made one feel powerless in their heart.