Among those arrested the previous night, there was no guard connected to Xing Zizhou.

And that guard had said that for double the silver, he could still help them get out of the city.

Since Owner Yuan had suggested delaying their departure, Feng Jiu’er didn’t dare take the risk carelessly.

If they were truly discovered and thoroughly interrogated, their human-skin masks might not hold up under scrutiny.

Seven days passed in a blink.

A scout reported back that the imperial army was about to enter Xixi City—there was no choice now but to leave.

According to Feng Jiu’er’s plan, they would move to Luoyang City before the imperial army entered Xixi City, and move to Fenglai West City before the imperial army entered Luoyang City.

Fenglai City, Fenglai East City, and Fenglai West City were the cities the imperial army would search first.

After that, perhaps they could follow in the imperial army’s wake, continuing steadily south.

“I heard the town chief plans to leave the city tonight. Should we take advantage of the opportunity?”

At midday, Feng Jiu’er looked at Owner Yuan and asked.

After several days together, the awkwardness between the two of them had mostly faded.

“What do you mean?”

Owner Yuan raised his eyes to meet Feng Jiu’er’s gaze.

Feng Jiu’er poured herself a cup of tea and took a sip.

“First, I think it’s about time we left. Second, while the common folk are suffering unbearably, the town chief has been raking in profits hand over fist.”

“Grain prices in town have gone up tenfold, and food sold at every restaurant has become too expensive for people to afford.”

“Owner Yuan, you know as well as I do—if the town chief weren’t manipulating things behind the scenes, they wouldn’t dare be so brazen.”

“For the common people to leave the city, unless they pay enough silver, not only can they not get out, they’re punished as well.”

“They talk about imperial orders, but now leaving the city has an open price tag. No wonder there’s so much resentment everywhere.”

“Owner Yuan, I have a plan that kills two birds with one stone. What do you think?”

Feng Jiu’er crooked a finger, beckoning him closer.

Owner Yuan leaned in toward her, and she leaned in as well, speaking quietly into his ear.

Also seated at the table was Qiao Mu.

Qiao Mu ate as usual, asking nothing.

As night fell, a carriage came down a side road and stopped not far from the city gate.

A man dressed as a guard emerged from beneath a large tree and hurried forward.

The carriage curtain was pulled aside, revealing Xing Zizhou’s face.

“The rest of the silver.”

The guard extended his hand toward him.

Xing Zizhou frowned and handed over a piece of gold.

“Brother, you’ve raised the price so much this time—we truly can’t afford it. Could you make an exception?”

The guard saw the gold and snatched it up at once, biting down hard on it to test it.

His eyes lit up, and after hiding the gold away, he looked up again, his expression suddenly turning grave.

“No good. It’s not enough. I can’t do this.”

“You should head back, or something might happen later that I won’t take responsibility for.”

“Brother, the price keeps going up every single time. Each time we come, the price has changed again—no amount of silver would ever be enough.”

Xing Zizhou’s thick brows knitted together.

“Just make an exception this once, we truly have urgent business. Our family outside is waiting—please, have mercy!”

“Fine.” The guard put on the air of someone determined to see a good deed through to the end, waving a hand.

“Seeing your sincerity, I’ll give you this one chance. Be quick about it later—if you can’t make it out, don’t blame me!”

“Yes, yes.” Xing Zizhou nodded. “Two more quarter-hours, is that right?”

“Mm.” The guard flicked his sleeve and walked off. “If you miss the time, I won’t be responsible either!”

Once the guard left, Xing Zizhou lowered the curtain.

The driver urged the horses on, and the carriage departed.

Elsewhere, as the town chief left his home, the horse pulling his carriage suddenly fell ill halfway, forcing it to stop.

As it happened, the town chief, for some reason, fell into a deep sleep the moment he got into the carriage.

Unable to help it, the driver left the town chief behind and went back to look for help.

On his way back, the driver ran into a man dressed as a guard riding by on horseback and told him what had happened.

The guard arranged to escort the town chief away, riding back along the road.

This whole ordeal delayed the town chief, and by the time he reached the city gate, he arrived two quarter-hours later than the time he’d arranged with the guard.

Before that, a carriage had already left the city.

The carriage’s decorations were identical to the town chief’s own, so everyone assumed it really was the town chief and opened the gate to let it through without question.

The town chief arrived at the city gate at the exact time he and the guard had arranged, and at that very moment, the strict and impartial General Lei arrived as well.

The guard who had taken Xing Zizhou’s silver had never truly intended to let him leave—the amount given wasn’t enough, which conveniently gave him an opportunity to claim credit.

The guard figured that as long as he firmly insisted he’d taken no money, these commoners could do nothing to him.

He wanted both to keep this batch of silver entirely for himself and to use the situation to earn merit with his superiors.

He hadn’t expected, of all things, to receive word that General Lei had arrived.

As the town chief’s carriage passed by, the guard strode out and blocked the carriage’s path.

At that very moment, General Lei arrived as well, stopping a few dozen feet away.

“What is it you all think you’re doing?”

The guard’s voice rang out, loud and firm.

His voice was so loud that it even woke the town chief inside the carriage.

The town chief hadn’t gone out that night to transport any goods—he had simply wanted to visit a woman he kept outside the city.

Seeing General Lei, all the guards rushed over and stood in front of the carriage.

The driver, unaware of what was happening behind him, looked at the guards and frowned.

“You may not recognize me, but surely you recognize our master?”

One of the guards recognized the driver—he was the very same guard who had helped arrange the town chief’s outing.

He had stayed there the whole time and never left. The one who had met the carriage on the road earlier was actually an impostor sent by Zhao Yusheng.

The guard looked at the driver, his face full of difficulty.

Hadn’t the town chief already left just moments ago? So who was this arriving now claiming to be the town chief?

But whether or not the person inside was truly the town chief, with General Lei present, he absolutely dared not say anything careless.

“Move aside, now!”

The driver’s voice deepened further.

“I don’t care who your master is. This is an imperial order, and no one is permitted to defy it.”

The guard who had taken Xing Zizhou’s money shouted righteously.

He was thinking that he was about to become a high-ranking official.

In Xixi City, General Lei answered to no one but the emperor himself—if General Lei took a liking to him, the rest of his life would be free from worry.

“You—” The town chief’s driver glared fiercely at the guard standing at the front.

“You what?”

The guard felt certain he’d been recognized, but he absolutely could not admit to it.

“Today, unless the emperor himself arrives, no one else is leaving this place!”

“Am I not allowed either?”

The person inside the carriage had grown irritated by all the noise.

He pulled the curtain aside and stuck his head out.

“T-town chief?”

“It’s the town chief?”

“Town, town—”

“Thump.” “Thump.” Several sounds rang out one after another as the guards dropped to their knees, even the one who had been shouting the loudest.

The town chief’s gaze landed on the guard kneeling at the front.

“Weren’t you the one who just said I couldn’t come through this gate?”

The guard drew in a sharp breath of cold air and lowered his head.

He never could have imagined that the very man who had blocked him was the town chief himself.

But hadn’t the town chief already passed through just now?

How could this be possible?