Xiao Qingyin turned her head and saw two groups of people confronting each other outside the teahouse.

The man on the left was a thin, middle-aged man with a pale face and a hint of menacing aura between his brows.

The person at the head of the group on the right was none other than Qiu Sanniang, an old acquaintance of Xiao Qingyin.

She was much thinner and darker than she had been six months ago, but her appearance and figure remained beautiful. No matter how many people gathered at the pier, she was always easy to spot.

Xiao Qingyin had never longed to see her so much before.

This is Nan Yue, the territory of the Hongyun Gang. Qiu San Niang holds an extraordinary position in the gang. If we are willing to help her, she can escape Bai Musheng's control.

She eagerly opened her mouth, wanting to call Qiu San Niang over.

But before he could finish speaking, he was struck hard on the back of the neck, and then he was plunged into darkness.

As Qiu San Niang was arguing with her mortal enemy, she caught a glimpse of a handsome man carrying a young woman away.

The person being held was facing the ground, so she couldn't see them; she only saw the other person's fair neck and a string of agate beads around their neck.

She vaguely felt that these beads were somewhat familiar, but before she could remember where she had seen them before, her nemesis ordered his gang to attack.

She had no choice but to focus all her energy on dealing with it.

...

Bai Musheng breathed a sigh of relief after carrying Xiao Qingyin back to the boat.

He never expected to run into Qiu San Niang at the dock.

When they were in the capital, Qiu Sanniang was quite flamboyant, and he knew that Xiao Qingyin had dealings with her.

If Qiu San Niang were to see Xiao Qing Yin, she would surely expose all the lies.

Fortunately, he managed to leave with his men in time.

He didn't know if Qiu San Niang had noticed him just now, but to avoid any unforeseen complications, he immediately ordered his men to set sail.

The entire dock was filled with boats of roughly the same size and style. Once his boat set sail, it quickly blended in with the others, making it impossible to distinguish him from the others.

When Xiao Qingyin woke up, she felt an excruciating pain in the back of her neck.

But her attention was entirely on Bai Musheng.

This person acted before her, causing her to miss her chance to call for help!

She was furious.

But she still pretended not to know anything and asked him, "Did you knock me out just now?"

Bai Musheng nodded: "Yes."

"Why?"

"Two gangs just got into a fight in front of the teahouse. I was afraid of getting into trouble, so I wanted to take you away with me. But I didn't have time to explain, so I had to do it first and ask for permission later. You won't blame me, will you?"

That reason is actually quite reasonable.

Xiao Qingyin gritted her teeth and said, "How could I blame you? After all, you were only thinking of me."

Bai Musheng smiled and said, "I'm glad you understand. Does your neck still hurt? Let me put some medicine on it for you."

Xiao Qingyin quickly refused, "No need, I'm not in pain anymore."

"Then you should get some rest."

Bai Musheng looked regretful.

"I'll bring you dinner later."

After saying that, he walked out of the room and closed the door.

Xiao Qingyin looked at the dark and cramped room and punched the pillow hard.

The ship sailed at sea for about ten days before reaching the shore.

Xiao Qingyin finally regained some strength, but it was only enough for her to stand and walk; she couldn't run.

They landed in Nan'an Kingdom, and then traveled by carriage for seven or eight days, crossing Nan'an Kingdom and arriving at the border of Nandan Kingdom.

There were many people waiting to enter the country, and they formed a long queue behind the line.

It took us ages to get near the entrance.

Xiao Qingyin discovered that the entry procedures here were much more complicated than those in Nan'an Kingdom.

Not only do they have to fill out forms and answer questions, but they also have to open all their luggage for them to inspect. If any suspicious items are found, they will either confiscate those items or refuse entry.

She took a look at the items that were refused entry and found that most of them were books and medicines.

One caravan was banned from entering, possibly because it was carrying too much medicine.

She felt something was off.

It's one thing to not allow animals and plants to enter the country, but why not medicines?

Could it be that the pharmacies in Nandan Kingdom have connections to the highest levels of government and have reached an agreement with the authorities to resolutely refuse foreign medicines and only use local medicines?

Unable to understand, she asked Bai Musheng directly, "Why weren't you allowed to bring the medicine in?"

Bai Musheng replied, "Perhaps they're worried there might be something wrong with these medicines."

Xiao Qingyin was very dissatisfied with this answer.

She suspected that Bai Musheng didn't know the answer either and was just fooling her.

Just as I was thinking that, it was their turn.

Just when she thought they were going to repeat the experiences of those who had gone before, Mrs. Bai handed something to the official.

The other party immediately dropped their cold and indifferent expression, replaced it with a warm and welcoming smile, and bowed and waved to them.

"Please come in."

The difference in her attitude before and after was so great that Xiao Qingyin almost couldn't help but laugh.

When the official returned the item to the Bai family, Xiao Qingyin glanced at it; it was a white jade carving of a small elephant.

"What kind of token is that?"

She asked Bai Musheng.

"A family heirloom," Bai Musheng said with a slight smile. "From the Bai family."

Xiao Qingyin pondered his words for a while.

Does he mean the Bai family, specifically the Bai's maternal family? Or does he mean his father's surname is Bai?

Before she could ask, they got back into the carriage.

For the rest of their journey, they stopped at post stations.

Each time I arrived at a post station, I was treated like a VIP: the best accommodation, the best food, and the best service.

The caravans that traveled with them, even if they paid a large sum of money, only received one-tenth of the treatment they received.

This made Xiao Qingyin reassess the Bai family's status in the Southern Dan Kingdom.

It's very likely a super-powerful family.

Why didn't you guess it was royalty?

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