quiet study."Before even feeling Gu Jingxi's pulse, Wen Taishi sat down and asked curiously: “Your Grace, when you were at Weiruixuan earlier, I could have also taken your pulse. Could it be that Ma...Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Meng Jin Yao always felt that the innkeepers looked at her husband with strange eyes. Their gazes would often drift towards them subtly.

Meng Jinyao was also full now, she put down her chopsticks and called softly, "Husband,"

Gu Jingxi's gaze fell on her, a knowing smile playing on his lips. He asked with a teasing tone, "Little sister, why aren't you calling me Third Brother anymore Did I do something to upset you"

As soon as he said that, Meng Jin Yao's face froze. Thinking back to his terrible actions last night, she glared at him, both ashamed and annoyed. Last night, she had no choice but to call him "Third Brother" again and again according to his wishes. If she didn't, he wasn't satisfied; if she did, he got even more excited. She knew now that she shouldn't have gone along with the sibling identity in the first place. It was like picking up a stone only to smash her own foot.

Gu Jingxi pretended not to see her embarrassment, and asked nonchalantly, "Little sister, do you have any questions"

Meng Jin Yao glared at him, still calling her little sister. She lowered her voice and said, "I think the waiter wiping the table is looking at us strangely."

Gu Jingxi raised his eyes and met the attendant's gaze. The attendant was looking at them with a complicated expression, as if they had done something earth-shattering, lost in thought. Recalling seeing the attendant when they left their room just now, Gu Jingxi roughly understood what was going on.

He didn't really care and said, "Don't worry about him, he probably just thinks you're pretty and wants to take a second look."

Meng Jin Yao said: "Me... Well, the little Yu at the next table is quite good-looking too, why didn't he look at Little Yu"

She was telling the truth. Yu Chuan dressed up as a young woman and looked quite pretty. As for herself, she had intentionally used makeup to conceal her good looks, far less beautiful than before.

Gu Jingxi bluffed, "Xiao Yu is taller than him, he's insecure and doesn't dare to look

Meng Jin Yao: "..."

After breakfast and having purchased provisions at the inn, they prepared water and continued their journey north.

The shopkeeper watched them leave, shaking his head with regret. Such a good pair of siblings, to engage in such an immoral act. Even if they weren't born to the same mother, they shared the same father. How could they possibly be attracted to each other

There was once a brother and sister in their town who were secretly involved with each other. In the end, they suffered divine retribution. After the sister became pregnant with her brother's child, she stayed home, secluded from the world, to raise the baby. Finally, she gave birth to a monstrous child, which was immediately abandoned in the mass grave to be eaten by wolves. The sister went insane as well. Luckily, they had no parents, or they would have been beaten to death by them.

-

On that side, inside the county town where Gu Jingxi and his party had last arrived, two young men dressed in dark-colored robes met.

A young man who had just arrived in the city approached their leader and said, "Boss, I searched the ship, and there's nothing on board that the adults are looking for.

As expected, the leader didn't sound surprised and asked again, "You haven't done anything to them, have you"

The young man shook his head. "No, I've been searching in secret, they didn't find anything.

The leader nodded and said, "Well done. As the lord instructed, try not to cause trouble. If they die, it will surely alert the authorities. The Marquis Gu and his party gave up traveling by water and instead took the land route. It's perfectly normal for them to encounter bandits who rob and kill them on the way."

The young man asked again, "Boss, where are they now"

The chieftain furrowed his brow and replied, "After they disembarked and entered the city, they tricked me and left me behind. I've been lurking around the city gate ever since, but haven't found them. The records of those leaving the city don't list them either. They're still within the city walls, but where exactly they're hiding remains unknown. Our men should be arriving soon. When they do, we'll turn this city upside down until we find them."

However, after their people arrived and secretly searched the city, they found no trace of Gu Jingxi and his five companions. There was even no record of them leaving the county, as if they had never left the city at all.

Unable to find anyone, the leader was also getting anxious. There were only two possibilities now: either Gu Jingxi and his companions had already left the city, or they were still within it. He immediately sent people to report back to their master. As for this group of them, they couldn't just stay put and do nothing. One person stayed behind in the city to keep watch, while the others split into two groups – one following along the waterway and the other pursuing on land.

When Han learned that his men had lost the target, he flew into a rage and unleashed a torrent of abuse upon them.

That person was scolded and dared not speak.

Han said finally, "Get out and fix this! Or come see me with your head!"

The man hurriedly agreed and stepped back.

Han was restless, sitting on edge. Right now, it wasn't about whether Jingxi lived or died, but that he himself would die. And along with him, the entire Zhen Guo Gongfu would be implicated. Those things absolutely couldn't let Jingxi bring back to the capital.

It's also his nephew's fault for being imprudent. While Gu Jingxi was in Huzhou City, he didn't even keep an eye on him properly. In the end, he let Gu Jingxi take such an important thing from his own home.

He seems quite clever usually, but when it comes to the crunch, he's completely useless and even holds you back.

As for Gu Jingxi, after traveling several days by land, he sold his carriage and switched to water travel, taking a merchant ship north. Now he has gotten rid of those people chasing him. He can just take the boat straight back to the capital. With a few more days on the boat, he'll reach the capital.

On board.

There was a well-dressed young lady chatting with Meng Jinyang. From the conversation, it was learned that this young lady's surname was Tang, her family was engaged in business, and she was also a resident of the capital city.

Seeing that Xiao Girl was so polite, Tang Girl asked her a few more questions: "Xiao Girl, where are you going"

"Xiao is the fabricated surname of Gu Jingxi and Meng Jin yao. In fact, Old Madam Gu's surname is Xiao. When Gu Jingxi forged his identity, he directly took his mother's surname. Meng Jin yao wanted to be his sibling, so she also took the surname Xiao."

Meng Jinyao knew she was a person from the capital city, so she didn't deceive her and truthfully said: "Go to the capital"

Miss Tang then asked, "Since Miss Xiao has the accent of the capital city, are you from a noble family in the capital"

Meng Jin Yao shook her head gently. "No, I only grew up in the capital city. My mother passed away when I was young, and my grandmother, out of love for me, took me to the capital to raise me. Now, I am also with my elder brother to visit our grandmother, as well as our uncle and aunt."

Hearing this, Miss Tang looked at Meng Jin Yao with a few more points of pity in her eyes. Losing her mother at a young age was a huge blow to a child, and children especially need their mothers when they are young. She needed her mother when she was young too.

Meng Jinyao smiled faintly: "Miss Tang, I'm fine. It's all in the past."

"If Miss Xiao has let go, that's good," said Lady Tang, then she changed the subject, feigning nonchalance. "Young Master Xiao seems like a cultured scholar. I presume Miss Xiao's sister-in-law is also a gentle woman"

Meng Jinyao immediately understood upon hearing this, and she also realized why Tang girl had taken the initiative to chat with him. It turned out that she was interested in his husband and was trying to find out about him indirectly.

Although she had concealed her husband's handsome features, making him appear merely as a plain young man, far removed from the splendor of Lord Gu, there were still girls who liked him. This proves that temperament is crucial. After all, even though her husband's appearance had changed, his noble air remained unchanged.

She didn't want Miss Tang to have any fantasies, giggling, "No, my third sister-in-law has nothing to do with gentleness. She's very fierce, like a tigress. She controls her third brother strictly and calls all the shots at home. Her third brother is as obedient as a cat in front of her."ion for half a month and had his salary reduced by one year as a punishment.Sincerely,Everyone was stunned by the imperial decree. They were momentarily speechless, as if they hadn't expected Gu Jingx...