“You saw most of what happened that day, right?” Chu Dingjiang asked.

Lu Danzhi had called Cui Yichen his uncle, yet seemed shocked upon seeing his face, as if he didn’t recognize him at all.

“Yes,” An Jiu nodded.

Chu Dingjiang pondered for a moment. “I might guess this matter.”

He continued, “Decades ago, the Cui family was just an ordinary minor clan in the Crane Control Army. It wasn’t until the emergence of Cui Huling, a martial arts prodigy, that the Cui family’s power began to grow. They even temporarily replaced the Li family as one of the four great families. Cui Huling’s children didn’t produce any notable talents, but his grandson’s generation gave rise to Cui Yichen, who seemed to carry on the legacy. Unfortunately, Cui Yichen became obsessed with martial arts and neglected worldly affairs, causing the Cui family to decline.”

“Obsessed with martial arts?” An Jiu couldn’t see any trace of ‘obsession’ in Cui Yichen’s scheming face. If anything, that madman seemed more fitting…

A glimmer of amusement appeared in Chu Dingjiang’s eyes. “I share your thoughts. I suspect Cui Yichen has gone mad.”

“So, the Cui family isn’t betraying the country?” An Jiu began to understand that this was another conspiracy, similar to the ones targeting the Lou and Mei families.

“Indeed. Whether it’s eliminating the Mei and Lou families or framing the Cui family for treason, the enemy’s target is always the members of these families within the Crane Control Army.” Chu Dingjiang was intrigued by this adversary, whose methods were several times more ruthless than his own in the past.

If the mastermind was truly Yelü Huangwu of the Liao Kingdom, as others speculated, then this young woman was truly formidable, possessing such cunning and ruthlessness at her age.

The shadow operatives of the Crane Control families hadn’t been eliminated. Eventually, both the emperor and they realized it was a frame-up and misunderstanding. However, the emperor’s initial approach to handling these matters had already nakedly displayed his distrust and disregard for these families.

An irresolvable deadlock had formed between the emperor and the Crane Control families. With the emperor’s suspicion and the subjects’ wavering loyalty, this once-sharp blade had become dull.

The root cause of this situation was the emperor’s incompetence. He had been born as the crown prince, which wasn’t his fault. But once he ascended to that position, even if he could not fully control power, he shouldn’t have acted so recklessly! He occupied the throne without fulfilling his duties, yet constantly suspected others of coveting his position. With such a ruler, if Chu Dingjiang had been more impulsive, he might have already attempted an assassination like Jing Ke’s attempt on the Qin emperor.

“The Cui family had been infiltrated by the Liao Kingdom at some unknown point, and it’s no longer the same Cui family. The emperor ordered all shadow operatives from the Cui family to be imprisoned, with several dying under torture,” Chu Dingjiang sneered. “Since he went that far, he should have followed through completely, killing all members of the Cui family to convince the other families that the Cui family had truly rebelled. Instead, he released them.”

How could the Cui family members remain calm after innocent people died under torture? Seeing the emperor act so arbitrarily and trample on them without discernment, the other families could only grow more distant.

Chu Dingjiang was certain that the Liao Kingdom’s next target would be the Crane Control Agency itself.

Was Wei Yuzhi’s capture and imprisonment in the Crane Control Agency a coincidence?

Chu Dingjiang didn’t believe so. Unable to be certain, he planned to seize the initiative and steer events in his anticipated direction – by taking Wei Yuzhi out of the Crane Control Agency and killing him.

Unfortunately, before he could act, Wei Yuzhi had escaped on his own.

In Chu Dingjiang’s original plan, he had intended to do something significant enough to catch the emperor’s attention, though it wasn’t necessarily attacking the Misty Mountain Villa. But when the opportunity presented itself, he seized it.

On another front, it was also to protect An Jiu.

Wei Yuzhi’s powerful spiritual energy allowed him to sense the number and distribution of people in the Crane Control Agency just by standing there. If the Misty Mountain Villa’s next target was indeed the Crane Control Agency, An Jiu, who had captured him, might be treated as a spy and eliminated.

An Jiu had considered this possibility too, which explained her agitation upon learning of Wei Yuzhi’s escape. Now, thinking it through carefully, she realized the necessity of personally attacking the Misty Mountain Villa.

After reviewing the materials, they returned to their quarters to prepare for departure.

Before leaving, An Jiu visited the neighboring room.

Chu Dingjiang waited outside. Shortly after An Jiu entered, he heard Mo Sigui shout, “Are you planning to eat all of that?”

“…”

Mo Sigui rummaged through various bottles and jars, selecting about a dozen and placing them on the table. “Here, that’s all. I’m a doctor who saves lives, not a poison master.”

“Just one bottle of Jade Dew?” An Jiu picked up a small jade gourd.

Mo Sigui fanned himself, his hair fluttering. “Jade Dew is expensive. Some of its ingredients are hard to find, and even the container is costly. I view wealth as dung, so wealth views me as dung. Where would I get money to buy these things?”

An Jiu ignored his words, inquired about the toxicity and usage of all the poisons, and took them all. “Goodbye.”

“Hey, do you have any last words?” Mo Sigui taunted her.

An Jiu thought seriously for a moment. “Don’t forget humanity in your obsession with medicine.”

Mo Sigui opened his mouth, hesitated for a while, then replied with two words, “Get lost!”

He couldn’t understand why everyone who held a place in his heart felt the need to advise him like this. At least Elder Qi had only said “Don’t betray the word of love,” but now An Jiu was telling him “Don’t forget humanity.” Did he, Mo Sigui, really appear so inhuman?

As An Jiu turned to leave, she noticed a small basket behind the door containing two tiger cubs huddled together, their wet eyes staring at her uneasily.

“Did you raid a tiger’s den?” An Jiu turned to Mo Sigui. “What for?”

Mo Sigui had suffered greatly while searching for An Jiu after losing track of Butterfly. He had long planned to use tiger and wolf as ingredients for tracking incense, but he didn’t want to explain this in detail to her.

He smacked his lips, sighing with resignation and melancholy, “I’m lonely!”

An Jiu reached out and patted the two tiger cubs’ heads before leaving.

Mo Sigui rushed over, smoothing out the ruffled fur, and complained, “Hands that just touched poison.”

These two tigers needed to be raised for a year on specially prepared poisonous feed, during which time they couldn’t come into contact with any other medicinal substances.

At dawn, as the city gates opened, Chu Dingjiang and An Jiu queued to leave the city.

An Jiu wore a human skin mask, appearing as an ordinary-looking young man in clean, decent clothes. Chu Dingjiang also wore a mask, his face covered in a thick beard that obscured his features. He wore coarse, tight-fitting clothes that outlined his muscular frame, with a long sword wrapped in thick deerskin on his back. At a glance, he looked like a heroic outlaw.

The government had certain regulations on carrying swords and knives. Officials would give people like Chu Dingjiang a second look, but as long as they weren’t wanted criminals, they would turn a blind eye and let them pass.