Ruyi found it amusing: “I’m not some weak woman who needs your constant care. With so many people in your manor, Tinglan and I can…”

“Go back.” He interrupted her words again, his face expressionless, “There’s no shortage of people here.”

Ruyi looked at him somewhat bewildered, and He Tinglan also frowned.

The employer wasn’t here to cause trouble—why was he being like this?

The Master Shen before them seemed different from recent times. The youthful innocence between his brows had vanished, replaced by an impenetrable melancholy.

After saying this, he didn’t even glance at Ruyi again, only helped up a refugee with mobility difficulties and turned to enter the gate.

It took Ruyi a while to react.

She curled her lip at his retreating figure: “If you don’t need help, I don’t want to help anyway. Tinglan, let’s go.”

The two stepped back several paces and were about to get in the cart when they saw Little Lotus standing in the corner by the stone lion, staring at them with a strange expression.

Ruyi’s eyes lit up, and she immediately went over to pick her up: “Qingqing, tell me—what’s wrong with your Master Shen? Did he eat fireworks for lunch?”

Little Lotus’s face was also somewhat pale. She looked at Ruyi and hesitated for a long time before saying, “I was in the manor and didn’t see anything happen.”

If nothing happened, then perhaps it was just his Buddhist heart acting up, unable to bear seeing people suffer, which put him in a bad mood.

Ruyi understood and felt more relaxed. She smiled and put her down, then stuffed two pieces of preserved fruit into her hands.

Little Lotus took them but didn’t eat immediately, only looked up at her and asked: “The employer and Master Shen are both kind people, right?”

This question seemed like mere child’s play, but hearing it, Ruyi’s heart trembled.

Kind people?

“No.” She looked up at the dark mass of refugees ahead and said with a sigh, “Master Shen is, I’m not.”

She did these things not because of kindness, but only because of him.

Tears quickly welled up in Little Lotus’s eyes.

He Tinglan reproachfully pushed her, hurriedly went to comfort Little Lotus, and sent her back to the Shen Manor, then said to her: “How are you not kind? If you weren’t, those grass huts in the eastern suburbs couldn’t have been built.”

“I’m different from Shen Qiyuan.” She smiled, “If Shen Qiyuan has ten pieces of candy, he’d willingly give all ten to others. I only give ten to others when I have a hundred pieces of candy. My kindness is conditional, his isn’t.”

So he was the one who became a god, not her.

He Tinglan shook her head repeatedly: “I don’t care about ten candies or a hundred candies—you’re both doing good deeds, that’s what matters. Little Lotus likes you very much, don’t talk like that in front of her again.”

Ruyi nodded perfunctorily and got in the cart with her. When passing the courier station, she happened to see several carts returning from distant states unloading horses.

Counting the days, Fuman and Yanning should be back too.

Remembering what the skylark said, Ruyi clicked her tongue lightly.

She didn’t want to use Shen Qiyuan, so who would be better to handle this matter?

“You’ve chosen a good place—looking around, there’s not a trace of decay, all singing and dancing.” Prince Yong sat in the wine seat, his eyes full of kindness. “What made you think to invite this prince for drinks today?”

Ruyi toasted him and said with a smile: “I’ve been busy all along and haven’t repaid Your Highness’s kind assistance at Ten-Li Pavilion. I hope Your Highness will forgive me.”

Prince Yong smiled and shook his head: “That day at the hunting ground, this prince only spoke the truth. If not for you and that Shen Qiyuan, your mother’s wronged spirit still wouldn’t be vindicated even now.”

Mentioning Shen Qiyuan, he became somewhat angry again: “You’re a good child who knows how to thank this prince, but that Master Shen is prideful about favors and doesn’t understand human feelings.”

Ruyi instinctively wanted to defend him, but today’s purpose wasn’t this, so she swallowed her words back.

After three rounds of wine, Prince Yong got up to use the toilet and unexpectedly heard the whispered conversation from the adjacent tea seat.

“Huizhou has long been Great Xia’s Huizhou. If you don’t believe it, just make a trip there. The prefect there follows Great Xia’s envoys’ lead completely—every year’s taxes turn into gold ingots for the envoy’s manor.”

“Great Xia has repeatedly shown intent to start a war in recent years. Since we don’t want to fight, we naturally have to flatter them.”

“I’m afraid that before the war even starts, Huizhou will directly become Great Xia’s territory.”

These words were quite serious. Even though Prince Yong was just a pleasure-seeking prince, he couldn’t help pushing open the partition door.

Inside were several merchants with traveling bags who were all terrified to see him enter: “What are you doing?”

“You might as well explain in detail,” he said. “What do you mean Huizhou will directly become Great Xia’s territory?”

Huizhou was the most prosperous commercial area. With traffic from north and south, the annual taxes it paid exceeded those of three nearby states combined, and it had always been valued by His Majesty. It was understandable for Great Xia’s envoys to profit somewhat, but if foreign ministers could easily control Great Qian’s prefects and swallow large amounts of tax revenue, this matter would be serious.

Great Qian’s treasury was empty, and Huizhou’s taxes were the bulk of annual income, directly affecting rewards and monthly salaries for various princes’ manors. With interests directly affecting him, Prince Yong was more anxious.

The merchants didn’t provide any evidence but described Huizhou’s situation. After listening, Prince Yong lost his mood for drinking and bid farewell to Ruyi before returning to his manor.

Ruyi wasn’t anxious and waited peacefully.

Several days later, as the skylark had said, Fuman and Yanning returned to the Immortal Meeting Restaurant with some evidence.

“It’s truly astonishing.” Zhao Yanning said, “Great Xia has already developed war intentions. In these three months, they’ve captured over a hundred Great Qian women at the border and slaughtered two villages. In Huizhou, several streets are hung with the Great Xia’s battle flags. When I captured people for questioning, they said those were near the envoy’s residence, and hanging their battle flags was respect for the envoy.”

To conceal his incompetence, the Huizhou prefect hadn’t reported these conflicts to Lin’an, forcibly maintaining stability between the two nations. But after Lady Zhang’s suicide, the envoy simply tore off the facade and wrote back to Great Xia, stating that Great Qian had just experienced natural disasters, and hearts weren’t unified—it was the best time to attack.

“If he had reported to the court three months earlier, our dynasty could have had time to prepare, but even now, His Majesty is still kept in the dark.”

After listening, Ruyi only said: “National affairs—how could small merchants like us discuss them? You should just submit this evidence to the authorities.”

Zhao Yanning hesitated: “Just submitting it like this, I’m afraid it will be shelved.”

“It might have been in the past.” Ruyi looked outside, “Today is a good day. If you set out now, the timing should be just right.”

Just right for what? Neither Zhao Yanning nor Fuman quite understood.

As spring approached and the weather cleared, when the accumulated snow melted, there were fewer pedestrians on the roads.

Wei Zijue stood mounted below Chaotian Gate, somewhat anxiously looking toward the incoming road.

Three days ago, Ruyi said today was a good day, though he didn’t know what was good about it. She told him to wait here, so he waited here.

But who was he waiting for?