“Nanmeng Zhuo, you actually dared to deceive me!” Feng Jiu’er stood up, sweeping a cold glance over the man lying on the ground.

“Lock him up. Dying isn’t going to be that easy!”

“Yes, Miss Jiu’er.” Two brothers answered in unison, stepping forward to drag the fallen man away.

“Jiu’er, is it really Nanmeng Zhuo who’s been stirring up trouble?” Once everyone who needed to leave had gone, Jian Yi came up beside Feng Jiu’er and asked quietly.

Feng Jiu’er knitted her brows and unfolded the note in her hand once more.

“Jian Yi, take a look — can you see anything off about it?”

Jian Yi took the note and studied it carefully for a while.

“Does Jiu’er mean the handwriting, or the content?”

“If you were writing me a letter right now, would you put ‘Jiu’er’ at the front of it?” Feng Jiu’er looked at Jian Yi and raised an eyebrow.

“Is it because whoever wrote it was afraid the letter might be intercepted, and wanted to make sure no one else would know who it was meant for?”

His gaze swept over the words “Young Master Nanmeng,” and Jian Yi shook his head.

“Right. This looks more like a setup.”

“That day, Nanmeng Zhuo’s reaction didn’t look fake — unless he has an extraordinary gift for acting.” Feng Jiu’er crossed her arms, her moth brows furrowing slightly.

“A gift for acting?” Jian Yi looked a little lost.

Feng Jiu’er met his eyes, the corner of her mouth curling faintly.

“I mean he’s very good at putting on a front, very good at performing — he fooled every one of us.”

“Oh.” Hero Jian Yi nodded as though he half-understood, and asked no further.

Feng Jiu’er withdrew her gaze and fell into thought for a good while.

“If this really is a setup, then who would it be? Who, right now, would most want me and Nanmeng Zhuo to fall out?”

After a moment, Feng Jiu’er patted Jian Yi on the shoulder. “Come, walk with me!”

The words barely out, Feng Jiu’er turned and headed outside.

Watching the sound of her footsteps fade as she left, Jian Yi said nothing, and fell into step behind her.

The next day, before dawn had even broken, Feng Jiu’er and Jian Yi appeared beneath a tree somewhere.

A basin of cold water was thrown, and the man who had been tied to the tree all night finally came to his senses.

Seeing the small silver bracelet in the woman’s hand before him, he widened his eyes, his face flushing red all at once.

The redness wasn’t from embarrassment — it was because the man had been struck on an acupoint and had things he wanted to say but couldn’t get out, his face flushing stiff with the effort.

Feng Jiu’er waved a hand, and one of the brothers went over and released the man’s pressed point.

“How did my son’s little bracelet end up on you?” Having gone a whole night without speaking or drinking water, the man’s voice came out hoarse.

“Finding your son wasn’t easy at all — it cost me and Jian Yi an entire night.” Feng Jiu’er raised her eyes and yawned.

“He…” The man’s voice caught, the words barely coming out. “Is he all right?”

“And my wife — did Miss Jiu’er see my wife too?”

“If I hadn’t arrived in time last night, your wife might not be all right either.” Feng Jiu’er looked at the man before her, not a trace of joking in her expression.

“But I, Feng Jiu’er, am not someone with time to spare. Other people’s business — I can handle it once, but I can’t go on managing it a second time.”

“If, once dawn breaks, those men who were drugged by me wake up, who knows whether they’ll go on finishing what they hadn’t finished doing to your wife.”

“Miss Jiu’er, I beg you, save my wife — and my son.” The man tried to kneel, but he had no strength left to do it.

“Miss Jiu’er, please, I beg you. I truly never meant to go against you, nor did I really want to harm the brothers in the camp.”

“If not, the poison I gave wouldn’t have been this light — wouldn’t you agree?”

“I think whoever’s behind this mainly didn’t intend to take lives, so I didn’t put much poison in.”

The man let out a faint sigh and shook his head.

“Truth be told, I don’t want this war to keep going either. War only brings suffering to the common people, and I’m nothing more than an ordinary commoner myself.”

“But they chose me, took my family hostage — what else could I do?”

“Who’s behind all of this, pulling the strings?” Feng Jiu’er asked, her voice low.

The man shook his head, his face full of fear.

“I won’t hide it from you, Miss Jiu’er — I don’t even know where my wife and child are being held. I truly don’t know who they are.”

“I beg you, Miss Jiu’er, save my wife and child. This Wu would be endlessly grateful!”

The man tried again to bow at the waist and kneel, but still couldn’t manage it.

“Is there a way to contact them?” Feng Jiu’er asked flatly.

“There is.” The man nodded.

“Good. Do as I instruct, and I can guarantee your wife and child’s safety.” Feng Jiu’er tucked the bracelet back into the pouch at her waist.

“Yes, Miss Jiu’er, I’m willing.” The man nodded fiercely. “As long as it keeps my wife and child alive, I’ll do anything.”

Once untied, the man changed his clothes and hurried out of the camp.

With less than half an hour left before dawn, in a ravine a few li from the camp, the man met with someone in black.

“What do you want from me?” The black-clad figure’s low voice carried through the ravine.

“Last night nearly went wrong.” The man stammered, his face full of panic.

“The matter wasn’t carried out smoothly?” The black-clad figure glanced back at him.

“It went well enough.” The man let out a faint sigh. “Only my medicine boy was sacrificed.”

“What’s a mere medicine boy worth?” the black-clad figure said coldly. “If things went smoothly, why are you so unsettled?”

The man shook his head, not even daring to breathe too hard.

“I don’t know either. I’ve heard this Feng Jiu’er is sharp-minded — this lowly one truly can’t guess what’s in her plans.”

“But the note did end up in her hands, and the medicine boy looked like he killed himself out of guilt. Feng Jiu’er shouldn’t have any suspicions.”

“Then why did you call me out here?” The black-clad figure cut him off.

“I—” The man looked up at the figure standing on higher ground. “I want to see my wife and child. I had a dream, I…”

“You called me out here for something this trivial?” The black-clad figure’s tone turned icy. “Is there anything else?”

The man dropped to his knees on the hard rock with a thud.

“I beg you, let me see my wife and child. I had nightmares all last night, I’m worried…”

“If you don’t want anything to happen to them, you’d best wait quietly inside for orders. Otherwise, hmph…” The black-clad figure cut him off coldly.

With a sharp flick of his sleeve, he turned and leapt away, vanishing from the man’s sight.

The man’s face fell with despair as he turned back.

As the black-clad man left, he had no idea that someone had followed behind him the whole way.

The sky had only just begun to lighten when the resounding call of war horns rose over the battlefield.

The two armies faced off, and battle was about to erupt at any moment.

Standing guard atop the hill, the black-clad man, his thin lips curling faintly beneath the cloth covering his face, turned and moved away from the area.

Jian Yi, trailing the one who had left, crossed two mountain peaks before finally stopping at a hillside.

The man disappeared into the forest on the slope, and in a blink, he was gone from sight.