The young man’s face immediately turned bitter.

Indeed, she had only seen this person twice but had a deep impression. The first time was in Sweet Water Village and the second time was in the Jin capital. Others had introduced him as “Zuo Qiuyuan,” but Feng Miaojun had seen the real Zuo Qiuyuan in the capital with her own eyes, and he certainly didn’t look like this!

In other words, the person before her was an impostor.

Interesting—counterfeits were rampant these days. Princess Changle had been impersonated, and now Zuo Qiuyuan was being impersonated too.

“What?” Fu Lingchuan’s long eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Feng Miaojun stroked her chin and said: “The Imperial Astronomy Bureau committed regicide, a crime punishable by the execution of nine generations of the family. If we send Zuo Qiuyuan back, the King would owe us a favor.”

The man’s face turned ashen, and he waved his hands repeatedly: “Miss, Sir, I’m not…”

Fu Lingchuan’s gaze grew stern: “I’ve met Zuo Qiuyuan, and this is not him!”

The man nodded vigorously: “I’m not Zuo Qiuyuan!” Of course, he remembered such a beautiful young woman—at that gathering on the island in Lake Du, she had effortlessly outshone all other beauties. Although her features seemed to have matured somewhat, he could never mistake those contours of her eyebrows and eyes.

He recalled that this young lady was a distinguished disciple of Jin Kingdom’s State Preceptor Mo Tizhun, so how had she ended up here? She also casually mentioned “the King owing us a favor,” which made her identity worth pondering.

“Oh, you’re not,” Feng Miaojun rested her chin on her hand, her smile appearing increasingly evil to him. “Then you’ve deceived me twice, a crime punishable by death.”

The young man instead calmed down and looked directly at the two of them: “I am deeply grateful for your righteous assistance. But I, Xu, am unaware of how I have offended your nobles. Please enlighten me.”

He had made himself clear—his deception was his business and hadn’t harmed the two of them, so what grounds did Feng Miaojun have to toy with him?

“I never said you offended us,” Feng Miaojun leaned back, her demeanor languid. “It’s just that I’m quite close with the Crown Princess, and their child is about to be born. I was just worrying about not having a suitable gift to present, and then you showed up, giving me false hope. You need to compensate me for this disappointment.”

At these words, both men looked at her in astonishment.

The young man sensed an opportunity, while Fu Lingchuan was surprised by her past connections.

She was close with the Crown Princess, and Princess Hanyue was the Jin King’s treasured daughter. Based on this, where had Feng Miaojun met Princess Hanyue—in Qu or Jin? Whatever the answer, Feng Miaojun’s original identity couldn’t have been too low; otherwise, how could she have come into contact with Princess Hanyue?

Right, she had also mentioned serving as a maidservant to the Wei Kingdom’s State Preceptor Yun Ya, which meant she had stayed in at least these two or three countries.

Just what kind of princess had he brought back to the country?

The young man relaxed slightly: “You saved me, and I already owe you this debt of gratitude. Please tell me, miss, what do you want me to do?”

“First, tell us about your background.”

“My name is Xu Linghai, a native of Qingyuan in the Kingdom. My family has been in trade for generations…”

Feng Miaojun reminded him casually: “The truth. Otherwise, you’ll regret not having gone with those bandits earlier.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Fu Lingchuan released his aura, like an unsheathed famous sword, causing Xu Linghai’s back hair to stand on end. With just this, he knew he was no match for this man. The carriage was small with little room to maneuver, and he couldn’t escape quickly.

The situation was precarious, and he couldn’t act rashly. Xu Linghai pondered for a moment, seeing the cat-toying-with-mouse killing intent in her eyes, and had no choice but to say: “I’m an orphan. I never knew my parents and grew up eating from a hundred different households.” He considered making a move several times, and even thought about taking her hostage to escape, but ultimately abandoned these ideas.

His sixth sense told him it was best to remain calm for now.

“For an orphan, you seem to be doing quite well now.” Though his robes were torn in places, the fabric was clearly of high quality. He must have flaunted his wealth; otherwise, those bandits wouldn’t have followed him from Tiger Market to the dense forest. “How did you provoke those bandits?”

“I bought a piece of soul-nurturing wood for ten spirit stones,” Xu Linghai smiled bitterly. “I was probably spotted taking out spirit stones and targeted once I was alone. It was careless of me to travel at night. But I heard that the inns at Tiger Market have connections with these thugs—when wealthy guests leave, they notify roadside bandits.”

“Why impersonate Zuo Qiuyuan?”

Xu Linghai pursed his lips: “The benefits are numerous. As long as others believe I’m Zuo Qiuyuan, they treat me as an honored guest. I don’t worry about food or drink, and my requests are always granted.”

So he was a professional con artist. Fu Lingchuan found it somewhat tragicomic: “You’re not a thief, just a fraud.” He looked toward Feng Miaojun and said, “We need to hurry back to Wuse’er. Keeping this person is pointless, so why don’t we…”

Feng Miaojun smiled: “What’s the rush? The return journey is quite boring; having someone to talk to is a good distraction.”

Now it was Fu Lingchuan’s turn to feel annoyed. Was he not a person? Could he not speak? Could he not entertain her?

Fine, he wouldn’t bicker with her. Having rested too little these past few days, he simply closed his eyes and leaned against the carriage wall to recuperate.

Feng Miaojun had already turned to Xu Linghai and continued questioning: “You’ve impersonated Zuo Qiuyuan without being exposed?”

“Except for this time, never,” he was just unlucky. “You two have both met Zuo Qiuyuan, so this doesn’t count.”

“How do you manage it?” This was what Feng Miaojun was truly curious about. “Zuo Qiuyuan is widely learned; ordinary people can’t imitate him. I saw your eloquence at the gathering in the capital—you answered fluently without arousing suspicion.” At that time, countless scholars surrounded this “Zuo Qiuyuan” for conversation, and he was indeed at ease, revealing no flaws.

Surely this skill wasn’t something an ordinary person would possess?

“Why can he be widely learned, but not I?” Xu Linghai’s eyes revealed a hint of arrogance. “It’s nothing special to understand astronomy above, geography below, and history in between. If I had his background, my achievements wouldn’t be limited to his level.”

“Is that so?” This fellow had quite the nerve. “How did you acquire this skill?”

“As a child, I begged for food on the streets and saw children my age in fine silks and jade ornaments who received respect everywhere just because of a token. By coincidence, an entire wealthy household was killed by enemies. I stripped the clothes from their child, took his tokens, and found they were indeed effective throughout the area.” Xu Linghai said lightly, “From then on, I knew I would never have to beg again.”

“Since then, you’ve been living by assuming others’ identities?” Feng Miaojun found this fascinating but understood that while this method seemed incredible, it had a real chance of success. This world was so vast, yet transportation and communication were extremely underdeveloped, leaving ample room for such swindlers to operate.

He certainly wouldn’t impersonate Zuo Qiuyuan in the capital. Those he could deceive must be at least several hundred li away from the capital.

“More successes than failures.”

“Good,” Feng Miaojun blinked. “How much do you know about New Xia’s State Preceptor Fu Lingchuan? If asked to impersonate him, could you do it?”

Fu Lingchuan opened his eyes, his gaze toward her suddenly becoming profound, but she pretended not to notice.

“If cultivation level isn’t a factor,” Xu Linghai replied without hesitation, “yes!”

“Oh?” This time it was Fu Lingchuan who asked, “What kind of person is he?”