Chapter 48 Heaven and Earth as One: Her master's wife had repeatedly warned her, "Don't... unless absolutely necessary..."

Shen Minghuai, who was walking towards them, was immediately drawn to the object in Wang Yan's hand. "Let's have Mr. Dong take a look tomorrow."

"I'll just take some medicine and I'll be fine. There's no need to trouble Elder Dong..." Wang Yan said these words with little confidence. He had promised him before entering the city... Who knew he would actually run into Elder Dong.

Shen Minghuai's eyes turned cold as he looked at Hua Xin, "That person has appeared again?"

Hua Xin's expression was solemn; his true feelings were written all over his face.

"That man's swordsmanship is truly superior to mine. We were only able to escape unscathed thanks to the help of a Taoist priest."

"Three people?"

"And Yan Xun. That Taoist priest is his senior uncle." Wang Yan looked at Ying Ming, who should have been standing not far away. "Did you get the letter?"

“Of course.” Shen Minghuai led her to the carriage. “Our departure from Hangzhou is imminent. How about going to Sanyuanlou tonight?”

Wang Yan walked briskly towards the entrance of Sanyuan Tower, but before she could even step inside, she and her companions were stopped by two large swords held directly in front of them.

"Boss, it seems like the two of us have little chance against the four of them," Hua Zi whispered to Yuan Tie.

Yuan Tie shouted, "Where are my brothers from the White Tiger Gang?!"

"Didn't you say that we shouldn't make too much noise when we enter the city, so as not to alert the enemy, and that we should have the brothers waiting outside the city?" Slippery was a little confused.

Yuan Tie coughed twice. "That's right! Didn't Young Master Yang say that the Fang fellow from Raoyun Tower would lend a hand? Where is he?"

Hua Zi scratched his head. "A few days ago, I ran into someone from Bi Huo Gong at a restaurant. He seemed to have an upset stomach and went to the toilet five times during one meal."

Yuan Tie asked in surprise, "You actually finished eating while sitting there?"

Slippery nodded. "We've already eaten half, we can't waste money. Besides, I'm fine after eating—boss, they're gone!"

In an instant, several guards came out of the Sanyuan Tower and drove the man with the braid and tumor out of the restaurant because he had no money for food.

"I thought we'd be entangled for quite a while; it seems I overestimated them."

Just as Wang Yan and his entourage sat down, an uninvited guest suddenly appeared at the door of the private room.

"It's you?!" Wang Yan and Zhu Yu exclaimed in unison.

Xu Ning'an walked straight in and sat down. "You two know each other?"

"This is the first time in my life I've seen someone so fickle." Wang Yan clearly disliked this person and made Xu Ning'an move to her side.

It was on the day Wang Yan and Shen Minghuai first met at Yunyan Mountain, before she met Jiang Wan, that she had just rescued Zhu Yu from bandits and said she would give her some precious herbs as a reward. In the blink of an eye, she had climbed up to Shen Minghuai and cut ties with her.

“My lady, it was my fault last time. However, a self-defense measure taken in a moment of crisis is understandable, isn’t it?” Zhu Yu waved his sleeve, summoned the manager, and ordered all of Sanyuanlou’s most famous delicacies.

"Consider this meal my apology to Madam Wang. Is that sincere?"

It was clearly a spur-of-the-moment decision. Wang Yan asked bluntly, "What is your purpose in coming here today?"

Xu Ning'an poured Wang Yan a cup of wine, saying, "His third brother wrote to say that you two were of great help in Yangzhou, and he must express his gratitude properly."

Wang Yan was completely confused when Zhu Yu finally revealed his name, "I am Zhu Yu, Zhu Yao's second elder brother. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Zhu Yu, Zhu Yao... In the Zhu family of Mingzhou, she was the only one kept in the dark.

Wang Yan immediately asked, "Could it be that you two already knew each other back in Danzhou?"

Shen Minghuai recalled that time with a smile, "It was just a guess at the time."

Zhu Yu gently put down the jade chopsticks he had picked up, his eyes shifting from Wang Yan to Shen Minghuai, his voice trailing off, "The two of you... you really did become friends after a fight."

Xu Ning'an immediately became interested and asked Wang Yan to recount their first encounter in detail, which Zhu Yu also found very intriguing.

In an instant, Wang Yan seemed to be possessed by a storyteller, beginning with a poem to set the stage. She was so engrossed in the crucial part—how she had targeted the Duke's only son—that she didn't even notice Ying Ming entering and exchanging a few words with Shen Minghuai. The two listeners below the stage were also captivated.

After Wang Yan finished telling the story, Xu Ning'an first praised her loudly for her impressive manner, and then asked Zhu Yu in confusion, "What role did you play in this story?"

Zhu Yu tried his best to defend himself, saying, "They're extremely useful! Without the bamboo poles, can this play still be performed?"

At the same time, Shen Minghuai quietly grasped Wang Yan's hand and asked in a low voice, "Is Mr. Dong still in Hangzhou? We plan to visit him tomorrow."

Xu Ning'an was particularly concerned about this matter. "She's still here. Madam Wang's cold ailment needs to be checked by her master. Now that we have a mountain residence, it won't be difficult for her to find any kind of medicine she needs."

"Mountain dwelling?" After thinking it over, Wang Yan could only think of the large patch of medicinal herbs in Chenyu that matched the name.

Zhu Yu said smugly, "What do you think of the name I chose? The Lord lives in a house in the mountains, watching the waterfalls cascade down hundreds of feet, and hearing the birdsong like shattering jade. Is the phrase 'mountain dwelling' wrong?"

"Lord Earl? Isn't he a Marquis?" Wang Yan looked at Shen Minghuai, puzzled. He had clearly just found out as well.

"It's all over Hangzhou, how could you not know? He even wrote a letter of thanks, which has gone viral." Xu Ning'an had always disliked this Earl and knew nothing about poetry or literature.

"Thank you for your help..." So that's what it meant.

That day, Shen Minghuai picked up this letter of thanks from the ground. He had thought Chen Yu had long intended to return home, but it turned out he hadn't let go. Whether it was his close friend being unjustly demoted or the merits of his ancestors, this Earl had never forgotten.

"In my opinion, this is not a letter of thanks, but a 'declaration of war'." Zhu Yu recalled what was written in the letter, "It praises others while downplaying itself, and its true intention is not what it seems."

"Let's not talk about this anymore," Xu Ning'an suggested. "Why don't we go check out the night market?"

Wang Yan followed Xu Ning'an from one end of Qinghefang to the other, knowing exactly which shops were at each corner and which street performers were at the next fork in the road. Xu Ning'an knew them all like the back of her hand. It turned out that she had grown up in Hangzhou, had traveled with her family for a while, and then returned to Hangzhou to work at Jishengtang.

As the sun set and the dawn broke, Wang Yan gazed westward for a long time before finally leaving the city gate and lowering the curtain.

Shen Minghuai noticed her reluctance and comforted her, saying, "We'll go boating on West Lake together again next time."

"Next time..."

Will there be a next time...? Wang Yan only knew that as they got closer and closer to the truth, this path was also coming to an end.

"I just saw Zhao Can outside the city gate."

The day before yesterday, Shen Minghuai was invited by Yan Zhan to meet Zhao Can and Cheng Bing. What Cheng Bing didn't know was that the other three had been sitting in Sanyuan Tower for an hour before he arrived.

The carriage left the entire city of Hangzhou behind and sped towards Mingzhou.

"Boss, there are way too many people in this forest. All the spots near the path are taken. Where should the brothers hide?"

Hua Zi and Yuan Tie, leading half of the White Tiger Gang, alarmed one hidden sect after another in the forest.

"Hey! Boss, there aren't many people there. Why don't we cooperate with them and catch them first?"

Yuan Tie immediately adopted the suggestion: "Hey you over there, how about cooperating with our White Tiger Gang? We guarantee we'll get the person first."

The second senior brother of the Righteous Alliance rolled his eyes at Yuan Tie, "Get out of the way! All of you combined are no match for my senior brother, what kind of cooperation is this?"

"Junior brother, watch your words and actions, lest you disgrace the sect."

The second senior brother picked his ear. "I know, I know. But we've been in the city for so many days, and either we can't find them, or there are government officials secretly blocking our way. Do we really think we can succeed this time?"

The eldest brother kept a close eye on his surroundings, thinking, "We can only give it our best."

"It looks like someone's coming!"

After several days of continuous travel, switching between horse-drawn carriages, waterways, and horses, Wang Yan and his party were finally able to sit down for a proper meal and a good night's sleep. They were now less than a day's journey from Cixi.

"It seems that group of people really did lie in ambush on that path, but some of them were smart enough to choose the waterway. Who would have thought we were on the Ming family's boat?" Wang Yan chose to sit down at a table in the corner.

"Thanks to Lord Yan and Brother Zhu, otherwise this trip would not have gone so smoothly." Shen Minghuai called over the waiter. "Let's make do for another day, and once we meet up with Brother Lanzhi, we won't have to be so worried."

Wang Yan didn't always need to be served delicacies; he could get by on steamed buns alone. This all happened after he left Tianmu Mountain with Li Changling, and at first, he couldn't get used to the food.

"It's not that precious."

It's not that you're precious, it's that I don't want you to suffer for nothing.

Shen Minghuai spoke casually, yet every word touched Wang Yan's heart.

Just as the meal was finished, several constables in black short shirts burst in, shouting that they were arresting a female thief who had stolen official porcelain. They went straight to the tables and grabbed the ladies, causing chaos throughout the inn. By the time Shen Minghuai and Wang Yan rode away, it was already getting dark. Hua Xin and Ying Ming, who had just been feeding the horses in the stable, set off in complete bewilderment.

It had rained in the morning, and the chill in the forest grew more unbearable as night deepened. As soon as they entered Cixi territory, Shen Minghuai reined in his horse, found a secluded spot to start a fire, and took out an outer robe from his bundle to put on Wang Yan.

Shen Minghuai cupped her hands in his palms. "Let's wait until dawn before we leave."

Although the fire had driven away some of the chill, Wang Yan was still shivering slightly. "The Prince of Yi's people..."

“Without a warrant, those people won’t dare to interfere in the affairs of other counties,” Shen Minghuai said softly, “Just rest here tonight.”

As a cold wind swept by and the flames burst forth, several beams of white light pierced the darkness. Hua Xin and Ying Ming stepped forward to stop the assassins, while Wang Yan and Shen Minghuai leaped onto their horses and galloped towards the official post station ten miles away.

They hadn't gone far when a familiar sword aura attacked straight at them, startling their horses and causing them to thrash about. Wang Yan instantly threw off his stirrups, leaped to his feet, and drew his cloud-patterned robe to deflect half of the fierce attack. Shen Minghuai also drew his sword and attacked from behind. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, both men were clearly defeated.

Wang Yan felt waves of pain all over his body from the fall. Shen Minghuai barely managed to stand up with the help of the Xuan Yuan Sword. He had only taken two steps when Ban Sheng unleashed a single sword strike and knocked him to the ground. Just like before, Ban Sheng hadn't spent much energy dealing with him.

"The person I want to kill is you. You can let him go now."

Shen Minghuai was already breathing heavily. "You're dreaming. You can only kill her if I die. You wouldn't dare kill me."

Ban Sheng looked indifferently at Shen Minghuai lying on the ground, "I can spare your breath, and then kill her."

Her master's wife had repeatedly warned her never to use that move unless absolutely necessary. Heaven and earth are of one mind.

Now, it must be the last resort.