Just as the old woman closed her eyes in utter despair, and the man was about to thrust his sword into her chest, a woman's voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Stop!"

Upon hearing the sound, everyone in the room turned to look in the direction from which it came, and were immediately taken aback.

A thin, frail girl stood at the door, soaking wet, and gently lifted the heavy curtain with her slender hand.

The girl, dressed in a fragrant sapphire blue dress, was panting heavily from running. She hadn't even bothered to wipe away the drenching on her forehead, which was indistinguishable between rain and sweat. She appeared as if a goddess had descended from the heavens, her face veiled, radiating a dazzling light. Her bright phoenix eyes glared angrily at the man holding a long sword before her.

The old woman's eyesight was poor to begin with, and when she saw the woman in front of her dressed as her granddaughter from afar, an extremely anxious look appeared on her face. She was worried about her granddaughter's safety. She had just managed to escape a disaster by going out and not being home, but why did she have to come back at this time?

Upon realizing this, the old man was immediately shocked and shouted loudly at her, "Xiang'er, why are you back? What are you doing back here? These people have come specifically to kill you. Run! Don't worry about me, run!"

However, upon hearing the sound, the woman did not back down. Instead, she calmly stepped over the threshold and walked quickly to the old woman's side, taking her hand and gazing into her eyes, as if trying to erase all the fear the old woman had just experienced.

Only then did the old woman realize that the woman was not her granddaughter, but the lovely girl who had gone to Dream Garden with her granddaughter that morning to admire the dream flowers. But since this girl had already returned, where had her granddaughter gone?

Just as the old man was about to say something, full of doubt, Yi Shangyun stared straight into his eyes, smiled, and shook his head slightly. The old man immediately swallowed the words that were about to come out and felt relieved.

Just then, the man wielding the long sword widened his eyes, staring at the veiled woman who remained calm in the face of danger. He seemed quite surprised, and with a hint of secret delight, he tentatively asked, "Could you be... Yi Shangyun?"

“That’s right, I am Yi Shangyun. You…recognize me?” Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun quickly pulled the old man behind her to protect him and answered calmly.

The man slowly sheathed his sword, never expecting that what he thought would be a wasted trip would turn out to be a sudden and unexpected turn of events.

At the last moment, they actually ran into Yi Shangyun. If they could help their master gain her assistance, their master would definitely praise them highly.

Thinking of this, the man immediately smiled and flattered, "Hehe, I have long heard that the eldest daughter of the Western Qin Pharmacist's Mansion is exceptionally beautiful, has superb medical skills, and is of extraordinary talent. Meeting her today, I can see that she is indeed remarkable."

Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun's lips curved into a faint smile, but she then raised her head and gave a disdainful snort, "Hmph, I dare not accept such praise. However, I wonder if I have ever offended any of you in the past?"

"Oh, no, no, what are you talking about? It is my honor to meet you, Miss Yi. It is all thanks to the good deeds of my ancestors. You flatter me, Miss Yi." The man bowed repeatedly and said politely.

However, Yi Shangyun suddenly raised her voice and angrily rebuked them, "Since I have not offended any of you, why did you almost kill my mother-in-law and this younger sister? What were you trying to do, holding a sharp sword and acting so aggressively?"

The man's smile froze instantly when he saw the cold glint in Yi Shangyun's eyes. He stood there speechless for a long time, stunned. He had never expected that such a frail woman could utter such powerful and forceful words.

After regaining her senses, the man waved his hand, and his two subordinates quickly released Yan Hong's tightly bound hands and removed the coarse cloth that had been stuffed into her mouth.

As soon as Yan Hong broke free of her restraints, she pointed at the man and loudly told Yi Shangyun, "Miss, don't believe him! Yan Hong just remembered that he is the personal bodyguard of the Master of Wan Jiao Pavilion. The Master of Wan Jiao Pavilion is a prince of the Northern Lie Kingdom. The Northern Lie Kingdom wants to unify the four kingdoms of Ling Kong and dominate the entire Ling Kong. For the past two years, they have been hiding in Wan Jiao Pavilion and have learned a lot about the affairs of the other three kingdoms through the high-ranking officials and nobles of Western Qin."

Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun was greatly shocked and stared intently into Yan Hong's eyes. Yan Hong nodded vigorously, indicating that what she said was true, and then continued, "This time, because the King of Qin discovered that Wanjiao Pavilion was suspicious, he surrounded it. Fearing exposure, they planned to escape back to Beilie Kingdom in the next two days. Because Sister Xiang'er knew a lot about the Pavilion Master, they plotted to follow me, wanting to find Sister Xiang'er and kill her to silence her."

"Is everything she said true?" After listening to Yan Hong's words, Yi Shangyun was surprised that such a complicated conspiracy was hidden in Wan Jiao Pavilion. So she asked the man with a mixture of doubt and shock.

The man, however, made no attempt to hide his true feelings, still managing a strange smile that sent chills down one's spine. He then walked up to Yi Shangyun and said, "In the present Lingkong Continent, the relationship between the four kingdoms is delicate and fraught with danger. Someone has to step forward to take charge and save the people from the suffering of years of war. And who in the world wouldn't want to sit in that position? And for that position, which country hasn't sent its most powerful spy teams to infiltrate the other's government and help them succeed? What wrong has Beilie done? Are we supposed to do nothing and just sit here and wait to be slaughtered?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun scoffed, "Hmph, that sounds quite grand. It's true that the world has always been a cycle of unity and division. But I'm afraid your mere Northern Lie Kingdom, a poor and backward little nomadic country, is already fighting against Western Qin like an egg hitting a rock. What right do you have to rule this world? I advise you to pull back from the brink, submit to a benevolent nation, and seek its protection. That's the wise thing to do, lest you bring disaster upon yourselves."

However, the man seemed to completely disagree with Yi Shangyun's views, saying with a slightly contemptuous tone, "A land of benevolence and righteousness?! Is the land of benevolence and righteousness you're referring to the Western Qin Kingdom? Do you truly believe that only the Western Qin Kingdom is the rightful ruler of this world? If so, how could the Wanjiao Pavilion, which my Northern Lie Prince established, have remained hidden in the Western Qin Kingdom for two years without being discovered? If so, there wouldn't have been an increasing number of high-ranking officials and nobles frequenting the Wanjiao Pavilion over these two years. What are these people? They are corrupt officials, parasites, and future slaves of a conquered nation. A small hole can cause a thousand-mile dike to collapse. In the Wanjiao Pavilion, for the sake of mere lust, they have almost unreservedly leaked all sorts of secrets. This is truly shocking!"

“Every country has people like this, but sooner or later they will be exposed, and one day they will pay the price for what they have done, right?! Besides, the Western Qin Kingdom is vast and rich in resources, and it is guarded by the famous... Spiritual Sky War God, His Highness the King of Qin. He is so powerful that he can hold off ten thousand men. Who in the world does not tremble at the mere mention of his name?” Yi Shangyun did not realize that, at some point, in this time and space, the King of Qin, Xuanyuan Han, had become the god she worshipped, and the only capital she could always use to show off in critical moments.

"The God of War, King Qin? You're very familiar with him?" the man suddenly asked.

Could His Highness the Prince of Qin's reputation really be so great? That man seemed to be afraid of him, Yi Shangyun suddenly wondered. So, she continued, "Yes, His Highness and I are indeed very familiar with each other. I am a physician in the Prince of Qin's residence."

Just as rumored, this woman was not only exceptionally skilled in medicine but also courageous and insightful. No wonder even the War God, Prince Qin, desired her assistance. If he could help his master persuade her, he believed his master would be very pleased. Therefore, the man, without consulting her, extended an olive branch, tempting her, saying, "What kind of good job is a physician in a royal palace? It's nothing more than groveling and serving others. If you can help our prince, he will certainly not mistreat you; you can have whatever you want."

Hearing this, Yi Shangyun finally understood. "Oh... after all this talk, you want me to serve your Northern Lie Kingdom. But I'm just a weak woman, I don't know how I can help your prince."

The man immediately flattered her, saying, "Miss Yi, you are too modest. You are by no means a weak woman. You even cured the Crown Prince of Western Qin of smallpox. Such a superb detoxification technique is almost impossible for anyone in the world to achieve, yet you did it. How can you call yourself a weak woman? You are simply a god!"

Yi Shangyun was immediately shocked: "How did you know that I cured the Crown Prince's smallpox?"

The man did not answer, but only gave a strange smile.

Yi Shangyun thought for a moment and instantly understood, feeling a deep unease in his heart. "That smallpox poison was inflicted on the Crown Prince by you within the territory of Nan'an... Your purposes... were threefold: first, to kill the young Crown Prince, leaving the Xuanyuan royal family without an heir; second, to use the Crown Prince to spread smallpox and cause chaos throughout the land; and third, to... instigate a great war between Western Qin and Nan'an. You... what a treacherous scheme!"

"Miss Yi is indeed exceptionally intelligent. It's understandable that we would take risky measures for the sake of unification. But Miss Yi's appearance has ruined all our carefully planned schemes. So, we are destined to meet," the man argued, resorting to sophistry.

So this was the truth about smallpox. Yi Shangyun was deeply incredulous. After a moment's reflection, she asked the man, "You just said that your master would give me whatever I wanted, is that true?"

Seeing that the method seemed to be working, the man nodded repeatedly and said, "Really, really."

Unexpectedly, Yi Shangyun's next words almost made the man so angry that he wanted to bang his head against the wall: "Then if I want your prince to take your head first, to see how sincere he is in cooperating, is that alright?"

"Yi Shangyun, don't be so stubborn! Do you really think I wouldn't dare to kill you?" Upon hearing this, the man immediately drew his sword from his waist and pointed it at her in a fit of rage.

Upon seeing this, two subordinates hurriedly stepped forward to stop the man. "Sir, don't fall into her trap. She is someone our master wants very much. If you kill her easily, our master may not spare you. We should take these people back to our master for him to deal with."

Upon hearing this, the man finally lowered the long sword he had raised high and reluctantly ordered, "Tie them up and take them back to Wanjiao Pavilion together."

"Yes," the subordinate replied, and then began to busy himself with binding the person.