Auspicious day

The three left the back mountain, and the crowd, following Zhao Lang's orders, rushed forward to intercept them, regardless of how they had left the back mountain or why three of them had come out when four had gone in.

They only wanted to kill these three people to get promoted and receive higher ranks.

Li Xi revealed the tokens personally bestowed by the Emperor and the token of the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. The crowd looked at the tokens and muttered, "They're fake, aren't they?" Then they drew their swords and went forward to fight.

Li Xi was injured, and Pianpian was not skilled in martial arts. Among the three, only Yi Shen, who was skilled in martial arts, remained. However, he did not linger in the fight and simply kicked away a guard who came forward to fight.

The guard fell backward, knocking down several people.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Li Xi said coldly, "Have you thought this through? The token in my hand was bestowed by the current emperor. Even if Zhao Lang came, he would have to kneel and pay his respects. I don't know how much benefit Zhao Lang has given you, but what you've done is punishable by death according to the law."

Should he be executed?

The crowd looked at the token and hesitated.

Li Xi continued, "Anyone who dares to step forward again will be killed without mercy."

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, unsure whether the token in the man's hand was genuine or fake...

They had never seen any imperial token before. The most valuable and powerful token they had ever seen was the one in Zhao Lang's hand. But judging from what this woman said, it didn't seem fake.

Seeing that they were not unruly and lawless people, Li Xi breathed a slight sigh of relief, but said angrily, "I am Li Xi, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. I order you to bring Zhao Lang to me. I want to interrogate him."

No one moved. Li Xi said in a deep voice, "Why aren't you going yet?!"

Li Xi was dressed in tattered clothes and covered in wounds. Although he was taciturn and unsociable in court, he had served as the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review for many years and had interrogated quite a few traitors. Based on those two short sentences just now, several people felt they had seized a golden opportunity for promotion and immediately said eagerly, "Yes, sir, I'll go!"

Although these people said this, they did not dare to actually bring Zhao Lang over. Instead, they politely invited him over, since both Zhao Lang and Li Xi were officials, and people like them would be the ones to suffer the most after they shook hands and made peace.

Upon hearing from others that Lord Li had arrived, Zhao Lang didn't immediately understand which Lord Li it was. But when he heard the others say that the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review had arrived, his heart skipped a beat. He sent someone to inform Sun Fang before coming to greet him.

It's less of a welcome and more of an examination.

The four went into the back mountain, and three of them came out. What about Wu Qi?

Zhao Lang was momentarily confused as to whether this was a scheme or... Wu Qi had really died in the back mountain. If Wu Qi had really died in the back mountain, then he would not be able to escape responsibility in front of the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review today.

Even if there are no survivors, the dead can be said to be alive, but now that there are survivors, things are a bit complicated.

Zhao Lang asked, "Why would Lord Li come from the back mountain?"

Li Xi kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. She said mercilessly, "Lord Zhao, what a scheme you have! You've lured the children of noble families into the back mountain step by step. Now look what's happened, the only daughter of the Wu family has died there."

Did Wu Qi really die in the back mountain?

Zhao Lang glanced at Yi Shen.

Yi Shen's expression was icy, and he drew his sword directly.

He didn't kill properly; he would press his palm against the hilt of the sword, exert force with his wrist, and forcefully push the sword out.

At that moment, everyone present thought that Zhao Lang was going to die there today, including Zhao Lang himself. He had never felt that the underworld was so close to him, as if he would be going to hell in the next second.

Zhao Lang stared at the sword, but his eyes were only on the tip of the sword that was heading straight for his forehead.

Suddenly, there was a loud "bang".

Yi Shen's sword and a broken sword fell to the ground together.

After a long while, everyone realized what had happened and looked at Li Xi.

Just now, she threw a broken sword that collided with Yi Shen's sword, and both swords fell to the ground.

Zhao Lang was saved.

Yi Shen said, "Has Lord Li forgotten Wu Qi's identity? Behind her is the Wu family, a prestigious family."

Li Xi said, "No, but Zhao Lang cannot die yet."

The two of them were singing in unison, and Pianpian didn't know who to help, so she simply lowered her head and remained silent.

"When will he die?" Yi Shen asked.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lang was even more confused...

Is Wu Qi really dead?

It's utterly unbelievable that Wu Qi died in the back mountain, but Yi Shen came out. Yet, the way Yi Shen was so determined to kill him just now made it seem... as if Wu Qi was really dead...

Zhao Lang thought for a moment and looked at Pianpian.

Of the three, Pianpian is the most innocent and trustworthy. If she says Wu Qi is dead, then Wu Qi must have really died in the back mountain.

"elegant……"

Before he could finish speaking, Yi Shen said, "When he is ready to die, I will kill him with my own hands."

"I'm sorry, it's not possible," Li Xi said.

"Then Lord Li has high hopes for him; otherwise, I don't know when he would have died?"

After saying that, Yi Shen left.

No one in the mansion dared to stop them; they all made way.

Yi Shen left the Zhao residence without any hindrance. Seeing that no one was following him, he leaped onto the roof and quickly arrived at an inn where they stayed after arriving in Pingwu City.

The servant was pleasantly surprised to see Yi Shen and asked, "Young master, what brings you here? Where is the lady beside you?"

Yi Shen frowned and asked, "Didn't she come?"

Although the two did not agree on a specific place to meet, Yi Shen knew that Wu Qi would be waiting for her at this inn, but according to the servant, Wu Qi did not seem to have come.

Could she still be in the back mountain?

As Yi Shen turned to leave, he was stopped by a servant.

The servant chuckled, "That lady said that if you hadn't brought some steamed buns, she wouldn't have told you which floor she lived on!"

Upon hearing this, Yi Shen said helplessly, "I'll take her to buy it later."

"Young master, would you really say that?!" the servant exclaimed in surprise.

"What?"

The servant explained, "That lady said that you would never bring a piece of rice cake, sir. I asked why, since it's not a rare treat. The lady said that even though you didn't bring any, you would definitely say, 'I'll take you to buy some later.'"

"She also said that you didn't bring any rice cakes today because you were in a hurry to see her!"

"Is that really so, young master!?"

Yi Shen admitted, "Yes, I really want to see her."

The two have known each other since childhood, but never before have they split up and faced the unpredictable situation alone. However, as Wu Qi said, the death of one person is an excuse for the others to block Zhao Lang.

Lord Li, holding the token, naturally cannot die.

In Zhao Lang's eyes, Pianpian's death was exactly what he wanted, so naturally she couldn't die either.

Of the four, only he and Wu Qi remained.

Why was it Wu Qi who faked his death, and not him?

He understood what Wu Qi was thinking.

In the eyes of others, he was a law-abiding person. Even if his beloved died, he would still hand over the culprit who killed his beloved to Lord Li Xi in a lawful manner. But in the eyes of others, Wu Qi was not a law-abiding noblewoman, but a person who dared to love and hate. If Yi Shenzhen really died, she would really disregard human ethics and kill Zhao Lang with a sword to relieve her hatred.

This is quite the opposite.

Everyone was mistaken.

Yi Shen knew that if Wu Qi really had an accident in the back mountain today, then Zhao Lang would not be the only one to die at his hands.

Of the two, Wu Qi was the one who adhered to principles and did not kill indiscriminately.

The servant said, "I have never seen anyone so in tune with you. Will you marry that lady?"

Yi Shen replied, "Yes, we will get married."

It is a beautiful story that lovers in the world will eventually be united in marriage. The servant couldn't wait to ask, "Really? Have you chosen an auspicious date?"

"I've made up my mind," Yi Shen said. "Although I don't know which year it will be, the auspicious day is the Spring Equinox."

He will marry her on the spring equinox.

"The Spring Equinox is a good day! Many good things happen on the Spring Equinox!" the servant said.

Yi Shenqian smiled and said, "That day was her birthday."

It's quite a coincidence that one of them was born on the winter solstice, when heavy snow fell and frost arrived, and all people could see was the white snow, but nothing was covered by it; the other was born on the spring equinox, when all things were reviving, and grass was growing and birds were flying, and all people could see buds about to bloom, but nothing was visible in the flowers.

Their birthdays were interspersed with a winter.

He was a few months older than Wu Qi.

He really is Wu Qi's brother.

However, she doesn't seem to call him "brother" as often these days...

The inn was bustling with people coming and going, with many stopping for a meal or to stay. As Wu Qi had asked, the servant told Yi Shen which room she was staying in before heading off to attend to his business. Before leaving, he wished the two of them a long and happy marriage.

Yi Shen said, "Yes."

Amidst the commotion, he went upstairs and entered Wu Qi's room.

As soon as the door opened, some noises took the opportunity to come in. The laughter and arguing downstairs seemed to be stuck to the wall, trying to erode it, or sneaking into the room, wanting the people inside to hear the liveliness of the world.

With the door closed, most of the noise was kept outside.

The air was filled with the chirping of cicadas and the chirping of birds. The sounds of people were deafening. Any further laughter or noise would be a disturbance. Wu Qi curled up in bed, hugging the blanket, and slept soundly.

Yi Shen looked at the person curled up asleep on the bed and felt relieved.

When Wu Qi sleeps alone, he curls up like this, hugging the blanket. When he sleeps with him, he hugs him with both his hands and feet.

He never thought it was bad; he just thought she was timid and always had to be surrounded by a large, comforting body when she slept.

But she wasn't timid at all; she was clearly very brave.

He dared to venture alone into the peach blossom forest late at night, dared to write a letter to the Dali Temple with his left hand, dared to pretend to be bewitched by incense to find the woman in human skin, and dared to escape alone in the mountains where wolves roamed...

Ironically, she excelled at everything she did.

Yi Shen sat down beside her bed and said gently, "When you were little, you would call on your brother Weichong for everything. Now that you're grown up, you can think things through, but do you have to carry the burden yourself even if the sky falls down?"

Why didn't you call Brother Weichong to come with you?

He was afraid of disturbing his beloved's sleep, so he spoke very softly, as if a feather had fallen to the ground.

Wu Qi turned over, and before even opening her eyes, she grabbed his hand and touched it, as if to confirm whether the owner of the hand was the person she missed.

After confirming, she groggily moved her head closer to him, her head accidentally pressing against his clothes.

Wu Qi looked extremely tired; he could barely open his eyes, and his words sounded like murmurs or talking to himself.

"Yi Shen, are you sleepy? Is our Yi Shen exhausted today...?"