In the crowd stood a beautiful woman in an ice-blue dress, with flowing hair and exquisite features—who else could it be but Chu Chuyan?

There were too many people over there, and there were bright armors everywhere, so no one saw her.

Seeing her stunning beauty, Zheng Dan sighed inwardly. No wonder Azu was willing to walk into the trap for the sake of the Chu family.

But then he thought about it again, and realized that the other party had surrendered to the demonic sect to save him, and had also risked his life to protect him several times. A gentle smile appeared on his face.

Sang Qian stared blankly at the woman in the long dress, thinking that her reputation for beauty was well-known in the capital's social circles. Seeing her today, she was indeed stunningly beautiful. No wonder so many young men in the capital were captivated by her. Even her brother seemed to have a great liking for her back then.

Thinking of her brother's miserable state, her nose tingled and she almost burst into tears again.

"Chu Yan, how come you're with them?" Pei Mianman looked at her with some curiosity.

Chu Chuyan dismounted and came to her side, saying, "I heard the news of the Chu family's troubles in the capital, so I rushed to Mingyue City. Later, I heard about the Zu'an incident. I happened to run into Commander Zhu Xie and his men on the way, so I traveled with them. After all, they have more complete intelligence and it would be easier for them to find Zu'an."

"I see." Pei Mianman knew that Zhu Xie Chixin's identity was mysterious. If it weren't for Chu Chuyan's good reputation in the capital over the years, he probably wouldn't have paid any attention to ordinary people who came to him for help.

"And you, what are you doing here?" Chu Chuyan blinked and asked curiously.

"I..." Pei Mianman was about to answer, but suddenly became speechless. How should she answer?

"Are you here to rescue Zu'an?" Chu Chuyan seemed to have guessed her thoughts and asked with a smile.

Pei Mianman nodded somewhat guiltily, "We're good friends, and you weren't in Mingyue City when the incident happened, so naturally I couldn't just stand by and do nothing."

"Manman, thank you so much." Chu Chuyan couldn't help but take her hand and say, moved.

Her emotions had been on a rollercoaster these past few days, and she had no one to confide in. Now that she knew that a close friend was working hard for her, she felt a surge of warmth in her heart.

"Chu Yan, you're too kind. This is what I should do." Pei Mianman felt increasingly awkward as she spoke, thinking to herself, "I'm doing a good deed, why am I feeling guilty?"

Besides, the Chu family had already written a letter of divorce, and they were no longer husband and wife. Why was she acting like a mistress meeting the legitimate wife?

I'm so angry!

She was filled with regret, but it seemed too late to change her mind.

At this moment, the commander of the embroidered-robed envoys spoke up: "Lord Sang, have you broken out of prison? I never expected that Lord Sang, who is usually so loyal, would dare to do such a treasonous thing."

His voice, like his appearance, was sinister and sent chills down one's spine.

Sang Hong replied in a deep voice, "Lord Zhu Xie, we did not escape from prison. It was just that the convoy was attacked by rebels in front and by the Dark Elves and members of the Demonic Cult behind. Our guards were killed one after another. In order to prevent us from falling into the hands of the thieves, the commanders Huang Hui and Hong Huang removed the restraints on our bodies before they died, allowing us to leave."

"Huang Huihong is dead?" Zhu Xiechi's eyes narrowed, revealing no emotion.

“Not bad.” Sang Hong coughed, and at this moment, Sang Qian, who was standing next to him, gave him a general account of what had happened.

"Add money to Layman Ding Run, good, very good." Zhu Xie Chixin sneered repeatedly. Everyone thought he would say something about avenging Huang Huihong in the future, but who knew that he would turn around and say to the embroidered-robed messengers around him, "Did you hear that? Huang Huihong was not skilled enough, so he was killed so easily. If you want to live a long life, you will work hard to cultivate every day, cultivate, and cultivate some more!"

Zheng Dan and the other women were secretly alarmed. This guy was so cold-hearted. Was everyone in the Embroidered Robe Envoys like this?

"Yes!" The embroidered-robed messengers answered sparingly and then fell silent, as if such life-or-death matters were commonplace for them.

Zhu Xiechi nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly turned and stared at Pei Mianman: "Are you the illegitimate daughter of the Pei family?"

Pei Mianman was displeased, but she couldn't show it, so she could only reply, "Yes, this humble woman is Pei Mianman."

"Judging from your words, you want to save Zu'an, so you've come to break him out of prison?" Zhu Xie Chixin stared at her coldly.

Under her gaze, Pei Mianman felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, completely unable to muster the will to resist, and even lacking the ability to organize her thoughts.

Chu Chuyan, who was standing nearby, hurriedly said, "Lord Zhu Xie, I misspoke just now. She is my friend. She came to help me protect Zu'an because she knew that various forces were plotting something."

Zhu Xie Chixin gave an "oh" in response, somewhat noncommittal, and only looked away after a long while.

Freed from his gaze, Pei Mianman immediately felt much more relaxed, secretly shocked. Everyone had heard that Zhu Xie Chixin's cultivation was unfathomable, but now it seemed that he was even more powerful than rumored.

At this moment, Zhu Xie Chixin looked at Sang Qian beside him and asked, "Miss Sang, are you planning to kidnap your father and brothers?"

Sang Qian shared the same feelings as Pei Mianman. Sang Hong quickly spoke up for her, saying, "My daughter heard that someone might be hostile to us and was worried about our safety, so she came to look after us. She would never dare to even think of hijacking the prison cart."

"Judging from Lord Sang's words, it seems that Miss Sang does not believe that the imperial court can protect the criminals?" Zhu Xie Chixin snorted.

Sang Qian inwardly complained, "They didn't protect us well to begin with." But of course, she dared not say it: "Of course I trust the imperial court, but I'm still worried about my father and brothers, so I came to check on them."

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