The next day, the group set out early in the morning.

Everything was going according to plan, except for one thing that Feng Jiu’er found a little hard to accept.

Her man had left in the middle of the night; she had thought she’d at least get to share a proper breakfast with him this morning.

To avoid drawing attention, the group set out in several separate batches; some of the brothers had already headed toward Li City two days in advance.

Besides Jian Yi, those accompanying Feng Jiu’er also included Qiao Mu, Xiao Yingtao, and Yue Qinchun.

One carriage, a few horses — simple, as if they were just going on an outing.

The customers of the Longying Pharmacy all knew that Miss Jiu’er was heading north for a medical exchange.

Everyone was reluctant to see her go, but there was nothing they could do about it.

After all, a physician as formidable as Miss Jiu’er would surely only move closer to the capital, never staying in such a remote, lawless place.

It was nearly an hour later before Feng Jiu’er came to terms with being apart from her man.

She believed they would see each other again soon.

“Xiao Yingtao, how are things on Xing Zizhou’s end?” Feng Jiu’er sat up straight, looking at Xiao Yingtao.

Inside the carriage were Feng Jiu’er, Xiao Yingtao, and Qiao Mu.

Yue Qinchun and Jian Yi, along with two or three other brothers, rode outside on horseback.

It wasn’t that Feng Jiu’er hadn’t thought to invite Yue Qinchun into the carriage, but the girl clearly didn’t mind enduring a bit of hardship for the sake of a certain man, so Feng Jiu’er simply let her have her way.

“Everything’s ready.” Xiao Yingtao set down the medical text in her hands and looked at Feng Jiu’er.

“Jiu’er, you haven’t said a word all morning — I thought something might be wrong with you.”

“What could possibly be wrong with her? Isn’t it just the pain of parting?” Qiao Mu lay on a blanket-covered plank up front.

She had her arms bent, hands resting behind her head, having just been resting with her eyes closed.

Hearing Feng Jiu’er and Xiao Yingtao talking, Qiao Mu opened her eyes.

“Oh, and you understand so well?” Feng Jiu’er shot her a look.

“Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been secretly asking around about someone. If you really like him, just be open about it.”

“Who have I been asking about?” Qiao Mu glanced over and sat up.

Her expression was both nervous and guilty.

“Just stop hiding it from Jiu’er, you can’t fool her anyway.” Xiao Yingtao looked at Qiao Mu and let out a soft sigh.

“She said that back then, the Third Prince offended his royal father in order to help us escape danger. Qiao Mu got worried, so she’s been secretly asking around about him.”

Qiao Mu glanced at the two of them, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh, so you mean Feng Jiang. What’s the big deal? It’s not even a secret. Jiu’er, didn’t you know? Or was it you, Xiao Yingtao, who didn’t know?”

In truth, Qiao Mu had wanted to investigate quietly without anyone knowing, but she hadn’t expected Xing Zizhou to find out — and if he knew, Xiao Yingtao surely knew too.

What she hadn’t expected even more was that, from the looks of it, everyone who could possibly know already knew.

Qiao Mu coughed lightly and lay back down on her own custom-made “bed.”

The space was too short, so she had to keep her legs bent the whole time.

“I heard that after that incident, he disappeared.” Qiao Mu tossed out the words and closed her eyes.

“Jiu’er, he’s your imperial brother after all. As his imperial sister, aren’t you worried at all?”

“How could Jiu’er not be worried?” Xiao Yingtao said.

“She already heard about the Third Prince’s disappearance back when she was in the Beimu Kingdom. We just didn’t mention it to you because we were afraid it would worry you.”

Qiao Mu turned her head to look at the two of them sitting inside, her brow furrowing.

“Don’t worry! Even if there’s still no news, I believe he has ways to protect himself.” Feng Jiu’er’s words were meant only to comfort Qiao Mu.

The Third Imperial Brother still had value to Feng Qiongcang, so he probably wasn’t in any mortal danger.

But the Third Imperial Brother was the most foolish of them all.

To repay Feng Qiongcang’s kindness, even if Feng Qiongcang told him to die, he would be willing to do it.

The Third Imperial Brother had helped them escape, angering Feng Qiongcang, who surely wouldn’t let him off easily.

So it wasn’t that he had no way to protect himself.

It was just that, in order to complete the tasks Feng Qiongcang gave him, he simply wouldn’t put his own body — or even his life — first.

Feng Jiu’er ached for him, but she didn’t want the woman who, like her, cared deeply for the Third Imperial Brother, to suffer over it too.

Qiao Mu glanced at Feng Jiu’er, then looked away and closed her eyes.

The atmosphere in the carriage grew a little heavy. Xiao Yingtao glanced at the two of them, picked up a cloth bag, and pulled out three large, bright red peaches.

“Jiu’er, this one’s yours.” She pressed one peach into Feng Jiu’er’s hand, stood up, and went over to hand one to Qiao Mu.

Qiao Mu took the peach and took a bite.

Xiao Yingtao returned to her own seat and sat down.

“Don’t either of you overthink it. I believe good people get good rewards — the Third Prince will surely be fine.”

“Who knows, we might be able to see him again soon.”

Xiao Yingtao smiled lightly and took a bite of her own peach too.

“Right now, the most important thing for us is to find Prince Ye.”

“Oh right, Jiu’er, Xing Zizhou said that for this trip, we won’t be staying at Longying’s base, and even when we head back, we can’t be too conspicuous about it.”

Feng Jiu’er raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

After swallowing the peach flesh in her mouth, Qiao Mu asked, “Why can’t we be conspicuous?”

Xiao Yingtao took a bite of her peach, puffing out her cheeks.

“Xing Zizhou said he doesn’t trust this man Lei Shenbao. All of us are quite beautiful, and he’s worried we might catch Lei Shenbao’s eye.”

As Xiao Yingtao looked at Qiao Mu and Feng Jiu’er, she was met with rolled eyes from both.

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, her eyes curving as she smiled.

“No, really, he’s genuinely worried about all of us. Think about it — what kind of man is this Lei Shenbao? Everyone says he’s no good.”

“He already has eight wives at home, and he still frequently goes out looking for more.”

Xiao Yingtao looked at the two of them again, coughed lightly, and continued, “I’m fine, but the two of you are so stunningly beautiful — it’s dangerous!”

“What dare would he try? I’ll cut him down with one strike!” Qiao Mu said disdainfully.

“Qiao Mu, that’s not how it works. I heard Lei Shenbao’s mastery of poison is uncanny — if you got poisoned, what strength would you have left?” Xiao Yingtao frowned.

She turned back to look at Feng Jiu’er and let out a soft sigh.

“Although our Jiu’er is also a master of poison in her own right, no matter what, being prepared is still necessary.”

“Mm.” Feng Jiu’er nodded. “Tell me about Xing Zizhou’s arrangements.”

Xiao Yingtao nodded, pulled a letter from her sleeve, and unfolded it.

“Xing Zizhou said we should first head to an inn called Leiteng.”

“Leiteng? Lei Shenbao?” Feng Jiu’er frowned. “Is this Lei Shenbao’s place?”

“Mm.” Xiao Yingtao nodded. “It’s a very special inn. It’s not enough to just have money to get in — you need ability, you need to be highly skilled in martial arts.”

“Besides studying poisons, Lei Shenbao has another hobby — staging arena fights.”

“To recruit talent, Lei Shenbao spent a great deal on this inn.”

“To be precise, this isn’t really an inn at all — it’s just a huge, unusual fighting arena.”