One quarter past the hour of Yin.

The horizon was still pitch black.

Amid the monks’ morning sutra chanting, six energetic people rode away from Guanyin Temple on horseback.

At this moment,

The devout men and women’s first incense sticks hadn’t even been lit!

By Magistrate Pei’s reckoning, a five-day journey—gritting one’s teeth—would only require two or three rest stops to complete in one push.

Who knew there would be almost no flat official roads along the way? Everything required climbing mountains and crossing ridges. Speed couldn’t pick up at all, but the exhaustion was even worse.

Look at the master-servant pair of Yan Sanhe.

That inhuman Li the hero went without saying. Even though Yan the spirit medium’s body was unwell, she climbed mountains swift as arrows.

Also not human!

The martial monk leader named Zhitong very considerately pulled out a hand-copied *Diamond Sutra* from his robes. “If the Magistrate is tired, read the Diamond Sutra—it can dispel fatigue.”

Diamond Sutra?

Even Diamond Pills wouldn’t help me.

Pei Xiao rolled his eyes and continued climbing with his walking stick.

Huang Qi was still leading his horse.

Li Buyan was first to reach the mountain peak, calling out, “Master Zhitong, how many more mountains like this?”

Zhitong: “Miss Li, cross seven mountain peaks like this and you’ll reach Dongxing County.”

Pei Xiao’s legs went weak—he nearly tumbled down the mountain.

Seven?

Dear Grandmother, are you trying to kill your precious grandson?

Yan Sanhe turned to look at Pei Xiao, then at the sky. “Buyan, go down the mountain first. Find a place to stay.”

“Alright.”

Li Buyan disappeared in a few quick movements.

Xie Zhifei’s eyes flickered. He climbed to Yan Sanhe’s side. “Tired? Should we rest now?”

“Staying overnight at the mountain base is safer.”

Yan Sanhe turned her face toward him, saying lightly, “I’m fine.”

Due to blood loss, her face was deathly pale, forehead and nose tip covered in fine sweat.

An indescribable feeling filled his heart—just blocked and uncomfortable.

The two Xie family young ladies could simply lie in bed resting when their moon water came, several maids attending them devotedly, the small kitchen preparing different soups and broths daily.

The old ancestor said daughters must be raised delicately—only then would young ladies become precious and treasured.

Xie Zhifei walked forward two steps silently, standing firmly in front of Yan Sanhe.

Going downhill was fast, but also easy to slip. Him blocking in front of her…

Yan Sanhe watched him for a moment, said nothing, and quietly let out a breath.

Two hours down the mountain—just as it grew fully dark.

Rest overnight then continue the journey…

By the last mountain peak, even Li Buyan’s speed had slowed.

As for Magistrate Pei, he’d collapsed on Huang Qi’s body like a dead fish—only breathing in, not breathing out.

No wonder Grandmother, after entering the capital at sixteen, never returned to her maternal home.

How could anyone return to this godforsaken place!

When no one was paying attention, Huang Qi secretly whispered in his master’s ear, “Master, I’ll carry you down the mountain in a moment.”

Pei Xiao stole a glance at Yan Sanhe. “Scram! Don’t I have any dignity!”

Yan Sanhe was actually gritting her teeth and holding on.

Five consecutive days of climbing mountains and crossing ridges while on her moon water—whoever tried it would know that taste. But she wasn’t accustomed to complaining. Even if she did, no one would care.

A concubine from a great household…

Status not inferior to the Ji residence…

Just based on her ability to endure hardship, her origins couldn’t be high.

The monk Zhineng, seeing everyone either deathly pale or half-dead, climbed to the highest point to boost morale and pointed at the mountain base, calling out loudly:

“Magistrate, Third Master, look! Dongxing County is right under our noses!”

The Magistrate was already half-buried. Third Master still had breath left, just panting like an ox.

He struggled to stand, looked up, and discovered Yan Sanhe had already reached Zhineng’s side.

Seeing it was her, Zhineng quickly yielded his position.

These past few days he’d figured it out—among the six, the most silent Miss Yan was actually the unquestionable leader.

Yan Sanhe gazed into the distance.

A river stretching thousands of miles split the vast land in two. Even from so far away, she could vaguely sense that river’s breadth and turbulence.

“Master Zhineng, that river is the Beicang River?”

“Yes.”

Zhineng pointed even further.

“On the other side of the Beicang River is the old street of Great Qi—you can see the buildings on both sides are quite different.”

“Great Qi?”

Surprise floated across Yan Sanhe’s face.

They’d rushed so urgently along this journey that she’d forgotten Xie Daozhi had once said Great Qi was connected to the Zheng clan’s extermination.

“Then the Beicang River is equivalent to the border?”

“Not exactly the border. The court established a Provincial Administration Commission here that can memorialize the Emperor directly.”

Warm breath fell down. Yan Sanhe turned her head to find Xie Zhifei standing at her side.

Probably because stubble had grown out, his face looked more weathered than usual.

Yan Sanhe’s eyes curved slightly. “If it is now, that means it once wasn’t. Can you explain in detail?”

“Interested?” He also curved his eyes, imitating her.

Why are you copying me?

Yan Sanhe subtly retreated half a step. “Interested!”

“Actually, Great Qi has been Huaxia territory since the Qin Dynasty through Han and Tang. After the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, through repeated wars, it broke away from Huaxia rule and became an independent small nation.”

Xie Zhifei’s gaze looked into the distance.

“Though a small nation, it has always been dependent on our Huaxia—essentially a vassal state.”

Yan Sanhe asked when she didn’t understand. “What is a vassal state?”

“A so-called vassal state is like your relationship with Li Buyan. You say Li Buyan is your friend, companion, but in reality she listens to you extremely well. You tell her east, she won’t go west.”

Xie Zhifei turned to look at Li Buyan.

“If she has something good, her first thought is to give it to you. And if Li Buyan encounters danger, the one she can turn to for help is also you.”

Li Buyan pricked up both ears listening, not missing a word. She thought: What a comparison—only you, Third Master Xie, could come up with this.

“And you—seeing her in trouble, you definitely wouldn’t stand by and watch her die. Understand now?”

“There’s one thing I don’t understand. Li Buyan’s affairs—I let her decide herself. A vassal state’s internal politics—who decides?”

Excellent question!

Xie Zhifei: “A vassal state’s internal politics—small matters they can decide themselves. Major matters are decided by the great nation they depend on.”

Having their own royal relatives and nobles, their own army, their own people, yet still having to obey the great nation’s political orders…

Yan Sanhe’s brow furrowed slightly. “Third Master, please continue.”

Xie Zhifei paused.

“In the Late Emperor’s early years, he formally appointed Great Qi’s Emperor of the Chen clan. The Chen clan paid annual tribute to Hua, and often sent officials to Hua to study and exchange. Relations between the two nations were very harmonious.”

Others didn’t catch the nuance in these words, but Yan Sanhe heard some implications.

So-called major matters meant things like who became emperor of the vassal state—others’ words didn’t count; only the great nation’s emperor decided.

“In the Late Emperor’s later years, a earth-shaking event occurred quietly in Great Qi. The Chen clan emperor’s nephew Wu Guanyue usurped power through treachery.”

Xie Zhifei’s voice suddenly deepened. “Because the two nations were far apart, the Late Emperor was kept in the dark until his death. Not a single person in all of Hua knew.”

Wu Guanyue?

Yan Sanhe’s spirit tensed.

Xie Daozhi had said this man and his son were the chief culprits in massacring the Zheng clan.