Yes.

Yan Sanhe had a plan.

While Xie Zhifei had been silent on the journey, she had been thinking.

The method was simple. The Emperor let her go, but the Crown Prince wanted her dead. Obviously the Crown Prince wasn’t taking the Emperor’s words seriously at all.

How could a sovereign emperor tolerate such defiance from the Crown Prince?

She only needed to return to the capital and somehow inform the Emperor about her near-death experience. Risking mutual destruction, Zhao Yishi would naturally suffer the consequences.

“Now that so many people are involved, this method won’t work.”

Yan Sanhe: “We’re in the open, Zhao Yishi is in the shadows. Others aside, just consider Han Xu—his Han Family Fort took several generations to build to what it is today. I can’t harm him.”

Li Buyan suddenly remembered something.

“Yan Sanhe, do you remember on East Terrace Peak, the old monk had the three of us go to the hall to kowtow three times to the Bodhisattva? Each of us made a vow to do one thing for the people of the world.”

“I remember.”

Pei Xiao: “He had me repair roads and bridges, donate money and distribute grain. He had Li Buyan see injustice and draw her sword to help. He had you do nothing—that doing nothing would benefit all under heaven.”

How could Yan Sanhe not remember?

She not only remembered but could understand the deep meaning in those words.

The Emperor and Crown Prince were already at odds. The Crown Prince had raised so many private soldiers—clearly he was determined to obtain that dragon throne.

The heavenly family has no father-son affection.

One could imagine this would be another bloody struggle for the imperial throne.

If a great clan constantly engaged in internal strife, strife bred chaos, chaos bred defeat, and signs of defeat everywhere—such a clan would be finished sooner or later.

This was true for families, and even more so for nations.

Moreover, when immortals fight, little devils suffer.

Whether rising or falling, the common people suffer.

How many more Zhen Sisters, Lu Shi’s mothers, Zhou Yes, and Zhu Qings would there be in this world?

Yan Sanhe raised her head, meeting Xie Zhifei’s eyes, and smiled bitterly. “It seems mutual destruction is impossible. The only possibility left is the word ‘flee.'”

Xie Zhifei nodded. “With his abilities, he’ll ascend to power sooner or later. Once his position is secure and he has free hands, he’ll settle accounts. We really can’t confront him head-on.”

Pei Xiao was even more worried. “But the world is vast—where can we flee to?”

Li Buyan’s eyes brightened slightly. “Young Master Pei, are you just speaking casually, or are you planning to wander the world with us three?”

Only when Li Buyan reminded him did Pei Xiao realize he had said “we”—he was shocked speechless for a long time.

Was it because his heart had been chilled by Zhao Yishi’s actions?

“Mingting, accompanying a ruler is like accompanying a tiger. Your temperament isn’t suited for the deceptions of official life, and you’re no match for Zhao Yishi at all.”

Xie Zhifei looked at him: “Think more about the Ji family!”

Pei Xiao: “…”

“Pei Mingting, I won’t urge you, but there’s one fact I must tell you.”

Yan Sanhe also looked at him.

“Once the seed of suspicion is planted, it won’t disappear—it will only grow into a towering tree. When you’re useful to him, everything is fine. Once you’re no longer useful, the consequences are—you imagine them yourself.”

Pei Xiao: “…”

After a long silence, Pei Xiao said with a mournful face: “I’m afraid of implicating my parents.”

Yan Sanhe shook her head. “On the contrary, your leaving them far behind is what won’t implicate them. Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because the first time you chose to stay, in his eyes, it meant you chose him between Xie Zhifei and him.”

Yan Sanhe’s voice was indescribably calm.

“The second time you choose to leave, in his view, you’re afraid he’ll make a move against you, so you had no choice but to abandon your parents. He’ll definitely show mercy to the Pei family for your sake.

Perhaps one day when he sits on the imperial throne and discovers there’s no one at his side to talk to, no one to confide in, he’ll remember the years you spent together and treat the Pei family well.”

Pei Xiao’s gaze turned to Xie Zhifei and he suddenly asked: “Then what about the Xie family?”

Xie Zhifei was shocked speechless by this question. At this point, he was still worried about the Xie family?

A heart riddled with holes suddenly seemed to drop into hot water, warming his entire viscera.

In this world there were people with honeyed words and daggers in their hearts, and there were people with hard mouths but soft hearts.

There were people who would stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and there were people who ate their fill all day with nothing to worry about.

There were people like Zhao Yishi who were ruthless and denied all kinship, and there were people like Mingting who were pure and passionate, wanting only your wellbeing.

So, Heaven had been fair to him.

Let him lose one life, then gave him another.

Let him encounter a Madam Zhao, then let him encounter Old Ancestor, Mother, and Elder Brother and Sister-in-law.

Zhao Yishi tried to kill him, Mingting helped him.

What more did he have to be sad about?

What couldn’t he accept?

At this moment, he heard Yan Sanhe’s voice ring in his ear.

“If I haven’t misjudged, the Xie family won’t have problems either. After all, Xie Daozhi died to preserve him. Even if not for the monk’s sake, then for Buddha’s—he’ll treat the Xie family well.”

Yan Sanhe pointed at Xie Zhifei: “Him being there would actually cause trouble.”

“Then what are we hesitating for?”

Xie Zhifei’s palm landed on Yan Sanhe’s head, gently rubbing it. “Find a way to leave the capital and find a place where he can never find us to live in seclusion.”

Yan Sanhe raised her head, looking at him with an incredulous gaze.

Xie Zhifei lifted his chin toward Pei Xiao. “Once he came, everything became fine for me.”

Pei Xiao instinctively asked: “Am I that important?”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Looking at the three faces before him, Pei Xiao suddenly remembered the three extremely inauspicious divinations Zhu Yuanmo had cast for them.

Forget it, forget it!

Li Daxia was right—where the heart is, that’s where a person should be.

As for his parents…

If his leaving could keep the Pei family safe, when his parents learned the truth in the future, they should praise him as filial, right?

“The problem now is, how can we leave the capital without anyone noticing?”

Pei Xiao frowned. “What place could he not find?”

At this question, the three beside him fell silent.

It was still that old saying: under heaven there is no land that is not the king’s, to the shores of the land there are no subjects who are not the king’s ministers. Where could they flee to?

See, I’ve stumped you all with my question.

Pei Xiao: “I have an idea. Let’s find Zhu Yuanmo to divine the direction—whichever direction is safe, we’ll go in that direction.”

Xie Zhifei nodded. “Zhu Yuanmo has that ability and can divine accurately.”

Yan Sanhe: “I also have an idea. Han Xu’s family runs an escort agency with stations in every prefecture and city. Without implicating the Han family, let’s see if we can make use of them.”

Xie Zhifei nodded again. “That network is very valuable to utilize, but we need to plan carefully.”

Li Buyan: “I think we can also make use of Master Huiru. Who would make things difficult for an old nun?”

Xie Zhifei didn’t nod this time. His gaze turned to Yan Sanhe.

Yan Sanhe smiled faintly. “Three cobblers are worth one Zhuge Liang. We’ve resolved even the most difficult heart demons. The capital can’t trap us, and Zhao Yishi can’t trap us either.”

Xie Zhifei: “We can’t make a single wrong step.”

Pei Xiao: “We need false and true moves, real and fake, so people can’t figure out our strategy.”

Li Buyan: “We need to discuss every detail thoroughly and make backup plans.”

“Most importantly…”

Yan Sanhe softly uttered four words: “United in purpose.”