“So it really was Tao Hanshan.” Pang Xiao lowered his eyes, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. “When I tried to give him orders earlier but couldn’t find him, I already knew he had problems. I never imagined it would truly be like this! He followed by my side for many years. Though he was somewhat ambitious, I never expected he would do such a thing.”

Qin Yining leaned against the pillow, two flames of anger burning in her eyes as she slowly sat up straight.

“Because I didn’t agree with his methods, and you cherish me greatly, he was worried I would block his path? Wanting to climb up the ranks is understandable, but using any means necessary is truly despicable. Using the lives of all the people in Danfu County as the price to achieve his goals—what normal person could do such a thing?”

Pang Xiao’s expression was so dark it looked terrible.

“The reason he fled first must be because he learned of my escape from the encirclement in the city.”

Before Qin Yining’s eyes were scenes of Sakurai blocking in front of her body, desperately protecting her, and Sakurai’s earnest expression when asking her name after falling. In this moment, she wished she could capture Tao Hanshan alive and flay him to vent her anger!

“Good, what a fine fellow indeed. He thought my woman’s soft-heartedness would affect your great achievements. Remove me, then frame Sakurai—given how much you value me, you would inevitably be filled with hatred toward the people of Danfu County. For revenge, you might do anything. He truly calculated everything perfectly, scheming against both you and me, even calculating the people of Danfu County into his plans.”

Qin Yining laughed coldly, raising her eyes to look at Pang Xiao. “He truly is a capable strategist by your side, understanding you very well and holding high expectations for you.”

How intelligent was Pang Xiao? He also understood what Tao Hanshan was thinking.

The merit of following a dragon to success wasn’t easy to earn. Many subordinates who followed Pang Xiao hoped that one day he would achieve great things so they could share in the spoils.

Pang Xiao didn’t dislike people with such ambitious hearts, but he never expected that Tao Hanshan would use any means necessary for success, even willing to kill his wife!

His loyalty to him wasn’t genuine—it was exploitation!

Thinking about how he had entrusted Qin Yining to such a person’s hands, nearly causing her death, Pang Xiao’s heart felt as if it were being seared by a branding iron.

“This person must not be leniently pardoned.” Pang Xiao ordered Tang Xiu sternly: “Immediately arrange for people to investigate secretly. Remember, don’t alert him.”

“Yes.” Tang Xiu bowed.

Pang Xiao continued: “Also, all the people Tao Hanshan has used before must be secretly watched. Tao Hanshan might go seek refuge with these people.”

“This subordinate understands. But regarding this Master Tao, how does Your Highness plan to handle him?”

Pang Xiao laughed coldly without answering.

But seeing Pang Xiao’s smile, Tang Xiu inexplicably shivered. Having done such things, he probably needed to be prepared for being torn to pieces by the prince.

Tang Xiu went to carry out his orders.

When only the two remained in the room, Pang Xiao said: “You’re tired too. Rest for a moment first. Later we’ll go to the camp outside the city.”

Qin Yining was indeed extremely exhausted at this moment.

But with so many incidents happening, Qin Yining’s thoughts were in turmoil, her mind filled with scenes of Sakurai’s death. How could she possibly sleep?

Rubbing her temples wearily, Qin Yining leaned against the soft, comfortable large pillow: “Since I can’t sleep anyway, why don’t we discuss what to do next? Tao Hanshan contacted people from the Five Army Camps, and the Five Army Camps aren’t particularly far from here. I imagine they’ll all arrive in the next day or two. At that time, are we going to just watch them go massacre the people of Danfu County?”

Pang Xiao shook his head: “Yining, I thought about this matter all the way here. I also wanted to discuss it with you. Since you don’t want to sleep now, why don’t you listen to my thoughts?”

Qin Yining nodded, her eyes extremely gentle in the lamplight.

Meeting her calm, water-like gaze, Pang Xiao felt his restless mood settle down. Words he had been somewhat hesitant to speak now flowed easily from his lips.

“Yining, if I said that regarding the treasure matter, I might not necessarily be able to obtain it, would you blame me?”

Qin Yining gazed at the man before her, her heart suddenly feeling as if it were filled with something warm and soft.

In the note she wrote to Pang Xiao, she had only described the current situation without expressing her own thoughts.

But Pang Xiao’s thinking was clearly aligned with hers.

Like her, he was willing to fall into Magistrate Cheng’s scheme, considering the empty national treasury and this year’s disasters, wanting to leave the people a way to survive.

Regarding this incident of being surrounded by people in Danfu County, once the cause and effect were truthfully explained, someone like Li Qitian who cherished his reputation would naturally temporarily halt construction for the sake of his image, handling this matter before making further decisions.

By then, the famine would probably have already arrived. The silver saved by delaying time could precisely rescue the people from dire straits.

Pang Xiao’s thoughts aligned with hers—he didn’t want to let the people of Danfu County take the blame.

Seeing Qin Yining only looking at him without speaking, Pang Xiao felt somewhat anxious: “Yining, I know the treasure is very important, but for me, having walked this path, I can face myself with a clear conscience. I don’t want to pave the road with the blood of common people. If obtaining the treasure requires sacrificing conscience, then the treasure isn’t something good.”

At this point, Pang Xiao smiled freely: “Besides, the treasure is merely icing on the cake. Who says I’ll definitely lose without the treasure?”

The corners of Qin Yining’s lips had already curved into a faint smile: “You’re right. Some bottom lines cannot be crossed. If crossed, we’ll easily forgive ourselves for doing evil in the future, eventually becoming people without bottom lines. I support your decision. However, you must also think about how to explain this matter to Master Xie and Master Xu. My dispute with Master Tao was mainly because of this matter. You’ve also seen Master Tao’s later thoughts. If your subordinate strategists all think like Master Tao, if you act stubbornly, you might very well provoke rebellion from these people.”

Pang Xiao nodded: “Don’t worry. Not many people know about the treasure matter. I’ll discuss it carefully with them.”

Qin Yining nodded and got up from the bed.

Pang Xiao said worriedly: “Why are you getting up? Rest a bit more.”

Qin Yining shook her head: “I can’t sleep. I want to see Sakurai.”

Pang Xiao’s brow furrowed immediately: “What’s there to see? Better not to look. I’ve already ordered people to prepare the body properly.”

Qin Yining pressed her lips together: “How is just preparing the body enough? Zhixi, I want to send her back to her homeland. For her to develop such a character, there must be reasons. She valued relationships and loyalty so much, yet after being betrayed by Wang the Kind Benefactor, she ended up in such a state without resisting. I want to know what’s behind this. We met by chance, yet she sacrificed her life for me. Both emotionally and rationally, I should send her home. Moreover, she wouldn’t have crossed the ocean to come here without reason. I want to know what she experienced, whether she has family. If she has family, I should take care of them.”

Pang Xiao sighed: “What you say makes sense. Then I’ll arrange for people to…”

“No.” Qin Yining turned to look at Pang Xiao: “Your people have important matters to handle. I also have capable people under me. The Azure Sky Alliance is full of talented people, with many experts skilled in investigation. I know Sakurai’s name—I can write it but can’t pronounce it. I’ll arrange for Azure Sky Alliance people to go to Japan and investigate thoroughly.”