On the road to Luzhou city, Meng Jianqing couldn’t help but ask: “Centurion Qin, who exactly is Mu Chen?”

Centurion Qin lowered his voice to answer: “When Commander Shen first entered the Imperial Guard, he once brought a portrait of a woman to the archives and asked me to help find that woman’s whereabouts. However, at that time, he was just a small, powerless guard. Though I sympathized with him, I had no way to deploy personnel to help him investigate.”

He sighed: “I’m getting old – I can’t remember yesterday’s events, but I remember things from over a decade ago. Ah, that face – two identical faces.”

And that identical calm demeanor. They really should have made this connection earlier.

Not every woman would naturally possess such bearing and temperament.

Meng Jianqing pondered: “Why did Commander Shen stop looking for her later?”

What he wanted to ask was: Did Mu Chen end up at Xiaoxi Tian intentionally or by chance?

Centurion Qin said with emotion, “Who knows? Perhaps it was because later, as Commander Shen’s position grew higher and higher, he made more and more enemies, making it inconvenient to continue searching for this woman. Otherwise, if even the slightest rumor leaked out, this woman would immediately face mortal danger. I only wonder why, given Commander Shen’s later fame, that woman never came to find him.”

Meng Jianqing remained silent.

He had heard the words Shen Guangli whispered in Mu Chen’s ear – his hearing had always been surprisingly acute.

Shen Guangli had said to Mu Chen, “My original name is Shen Bai, from Xiao Shan.”

That woman probably never knew that the all-powerful Imperial Guard Commander Shen Guangli was Shen Bai.

Even to this day, Meng Jianqing wasn’t clear whether Shen Guangli had any family. By his side, there seemed to be only that old servant.

If Shen Guangli had no other family, and their operation had caused Mu Chen’s death, probably all of them would die without burial places.

Meng Jianqing felt cold sweat beginning to seep out on his back again.

Centurion Qin said in a daze, “I’ve stayed in the Imperial Guard too long and know too much. I’m afraid sooner or later I’ll lose this old life of mine.”

Meng Jianqing suddenly smiled and said: “Centurion Qin, since that’s the case, you wouldn’t mind telling me one more thing, would you? Who is Shen Bai of Xiao Shan?”

Centurion Qin thought for a long time before answering: “The Shen family of Xiao Shan was also considered a local prominent clan. They did have a youngest son named Shen Bai, but he had already become a monk during the Mongol Yuan period.”

He suddenly understood who Shen Bai was and stared at Meng Jianqing: “Captain Meng, you mustn’t go investigating old cases. If Commander Shen turns against us, neither you nor I can withstand it!”

He and Meng Jianqing had originally been casual acquaintances, but having shared this life-and-death crisis, they had naturally grown closer. He couldn’t bear to sit by and watch this young man carelessly provoke a tiger.

Meng Jianqing understood that Centurion Qin meant well, so he smiled and said: “I naturally know that none of us is Commander Shen’s match.”

After a pause, he said as if to himself: “No wonder His Majesty doesn’t mind at all the character ‘guang’ in Commander Shen’s name.”

The Hongwu Emperor probably already knew long ago that Shen Guangli had indeed been a bald monk.

Shen Bai of Xiao Shan…

What kind of story lies behind Shen Guangli?

In Meng Jianqing’s mind, various thoughts spun like a whirlwind.