The craziest and boldest thing the landlady had ever done in her life was to elope, especially since it was after her family had arranged the marriage, and she ran away on the eve of her wedding. When she learned of this hastily arranged marriage, she vehemently opposed it, pleading with tears in her eyes for it to be taken back.

If you wouldn't marry into the Gong family, who would you rather marry?

Hope ignited in the landlady's despairing eyes.

He stated the name of his male confidant with unwavering certainty.

To his surprise, his elders scoffed at him.

How can a dissolute playboy who spends his days among women protect you and be your good husband? Moreover, his father has offended Zheng Qiao to the point of death, and disaster will soon befall him!

The proprietress then realized that her lover's family belonged to the fence-sitting faction in the court, siding with whichever faction was more powerful, and were despised by many scholar-officials and upright officials. Back then, before Zheng Qiao returned to the country, he was favored by the emperor, and his lover's family was extremely obsequious to him.

After Zheng Qiao returned to China, he immediately changed his tune.

He publicly hurled many insults at Zheng Qiao.

No one expected Zheng Qiao to ascend the throne of Geng Kingdom and return with its elite troops. Those who offended him back then would naturally be punished. If the landlady were to marry her lover, she would likely be implicated and lose her life before the wedding even begins.

The proprietress retorted, "[Gong Cheng is the perfect man? I don't even know him! You yourselves said you'd let me decide who I marry. Why are you going back on your word? I won't marry him!]"

From childhood, she had always been pampered and indulged by those around her. This sudden turn of events, ignoring her wishes, ignited her rebellious spirit to its peak. She didn't want to marry Gong Cheng!

Even the worst is a million times better than the one you picked! I have to marry him whether I like it or not, you're really going to drive us old folks crazy...

The elders were stern in attitude and their tone left no room for disobedience.

【You're not allowed to go anywhere. Focus on preparing for your wedding! We've spoiled you too much in the past. This isn't your decision to make!】Even though he was furious, the raised hand didn't actually land on her face.

The simple wedding was almost finished. The landlady became increasingly anxious and couldn't help but want to consult her lover for a solution. However, on her way to find him, she discovered a group of soldiers rampaging through the streets. Their destination seemed to be in the direction of her lover's house.

Her elders' words of advice suddenly flashed into her mind, and her hands and feet turned icy cold.

At night, while she was heartbroken, her lover appeared in a disheveled state.

When Zheng Qiao sent men to raid his home and arrest him, he happened to be visiting a friend and escaped. His parents even used a servant boy of similar build to impersonate him. This wasn't foolproof, though; he still needed to find a safe place as soon as possible. Alone and desperate, he had no one to turn to for help to save his life. In his helplessness, he thought of Madam Shen, hoping to find refuge with her.

They risked coming to meet him, only to discover unexpected signs of a happy occasion throughout the Shen residence, including a wedding dress displayed in the landlady's room.

It's obvious who wants to get married.

The two embraced and wept bitterly.

"I'm leaving. Take care of yourself. I've met Gong Yunchi; he's a good match. We're just not meant to be." This was merely a ploy to appeal to his emotions, a strategic retreat. Deep down, he hoped to remain hidden away in the Shen family mansion, where he would be safe and secure.

Unexpectedly, the proprietress made a surprising remark.

A resolute glint flashed across her face!

"Let's go together!" The landlady suddenly grabbed his arm as he was about to leave, her back teeth chattering with excitement. "What good is Gong Cheng if he's so great? He has nothing to do with me! I've barely even met or spoken to that young man from the Gong family. Why should I marry him? I'll only marry the person I love in this life. No one can force me. Let's go together."

The lover hesitated: "But what about your parents...?"

She said, "Whoever wants to marry me can marry me!"

She hurriedly packed her valuables and ran away with her fiancé.

She knew in her heart that her behavior was inappropriate, but her elders in the family had always indulged her and covered for her no matter what trouble she caused.

Watching the boy carefully leading her to escape, her thoughts wandered—she didn't really like this person that much; at that age, before she had any romantic feelings, finding a male confidant was just a way to compete with others.

If she discovers she's run away from her wedding, even if her elders are angry at the time, they'll forgive her after a while. But if she takes advantage of a young man's elopement, she'll apologize to him properly once the storm has passed.

A young person's mind is simpler.

Holding a hostage, even if the truth came out and he was brought back, Shen would do her best to conceal his identity and protect him for the time being to avoid being held accountable by Zheng Qiao. The two embarked on their escape from the arranged marriage with their own thoughts, but halfway there they received news that Shen's clan had been exterminated.

In an instant, it was as if struck by lightning.

All plans fell through.

I heard that not only the Shen family, but also the Gong family suffered.

He was arrested and imprisoned on the very day of Gong Cheng's wedding.

Gong's fate was slightly better than Shen's; she was merely exiled. If she could endure the hardships of exile, she might have survived.

The landlady guessed that her clan had found a substitute bride to cover for her, and in her grief, she realized the enormity of her mistake. During that time, she was distraught and contemplated suicide several times. For some reason, her lover, who had taken her away from the wedding, did not abandon her.

You still have me.

The two of them went together to seek refuge with distant relatives.

However, war was raging everywhere, and the road was fraught with danger.

Although her lover had some talent for cultivation, he was spoiled and couldn't endure the hardships of cultivation. He was always lazy and perfunctory, and his past victories were all due to his opponents deliberately letting him win. His elders at home doted on him and didn't expect him to fight on the battlefield or make achievements. They didn't care if he was weak or not, since the family was wealthy and they didn't have to worry about the future.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and changes never come quickly enough.

Two teenagers with no experience in naiveté and naivety, who are also fugitives whose identities cannot be revealed, faced life-threatening situations several times and suffered a lot of hardships during their escape.

She didn't want to recall those experiences.

More than a decade has passed since then.

These years have almost outlived the days she spent confined to her room.

Just when she thought life was finally settling down, she unexpectedly ran into Gong Cheng. To be precise, Gong Cheng looked for her and recognized her.

At that time, Gong Cheng did not know her true identity. He only noticed her because of her face, which was six or seven parts similar to the King of Kang. This led to their initial interaction until they exchanged names.

They both fell silent, staring at each other in bewilderment.

In terms of fate, their fate was a complicated and tangled one.

When Gong Cheng learned that she was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen family who had run away from her arranged marriage years ago, he remained calm and showed no intention of becoming enraged or killing her.

When asked why, Gong Cheng simply sighed with relief: "We are both puppets, powerless to control ourselves. Would one puppet kill another just because the other is struggling to break free? I, Gong Cheng, am not a saint, but I am not completely incapable of distinguishing right from wrong either."

It's pointless to make things difficult for a woman.

Over time, the two became acquainted.

Gong Cheng would occasionally patronize the teahouse she ran.

Previously, before the Jinli County government debts defaulted, he was free to come and go as he pleased. Now, with tensions rising in the Northern Desert Kang Kingdom, he continues to do as he pleases.

It can only be said that those with power can act recklessly.

The proprietress rested for a while.

"You can stay depressed for now, I'm going out."

She knelt down, slung the bamboo basket filled with incense and candles over her arm, and made as if to leave. Gong Cheng had come here seeking peace and quiet; having borrowed someone else's land, he should at least be concerned for the safety of the host family.

"It's not safe outside at this critical juncture."

"It's not far. I'll just visit the dead man's grave and be back. All the spies you Northern Desert planted have been wiped out. I saw several familiar heads near the mass grave. Business at the teahouse has been slow these past few days, so I'll take this opportunity to burn some money for him so he won't bother me."

Gong Cheng paused for a moment: "Are you annoyed?"

After he met the landlady, he learned that she had gotten engaged to her lover after she came of age, but unfortunately, he died less than two years after their marriage.

The proprietress nodded and casually replied, "Lately, I've been experiencing night sweats and vivid dreams. In addition, I feel guilty and frequently see dead men disturbing my peace. I thought he was out of money in the underworld, so I burned some paper money for him. After all, I killed him, and he gave me a life, so it's only right that I burn some paper money for him."

Gong Cheng was silent for a moment: "That makes sense, I'll give it to you."

The proprietress did not refuse.

Due to the tense relations between the two countries, various parts of Kunju have entered a state of war preparedness, and even in this small place, many unfamiliar faces have appeared.

When the water is murky, there's no shortage of bad people taking advantage of the chaos. If Gong Cheng goes with us, we can certainly rest easy and be completely safe.

The dead man they were talking about lived in a small grave.

The weeds on the grave mound were already knee-high.

Gong Cheng watched as she knelt before the grave, her hands clasped in prayer, her expression devout. His gaze then shifted to her hands—hands calloused from years of labor, skin dry and rough from the wind, fingers stiff and straight, knuckles deformed, seemingly inflexible at first glance. But, they weren't like this when they were peeling human skin.

The proprietress only got up after the incense and candles had burned out.

On a country path, the two walked one after the other.

"Such tranquility is rare these days."

Gong Cheng, who had been two steps behind, suddenly spoke.

The proprietress said, "There is no such thing as a place of lasting peace in this world. Even if there were, they would be like flowers in a mirror or the moon's reflection in water, just like the Kangguo we are standing on now, which is only a fleeting moment."

Gong Cheng stopped in his tracks. The proprietress in front of him took a few more steps before realizing that his presence had faded into the distance: "Did I say something wrong?"

She stood still, turning back to look at Gong Cheng.

Gong Cheng said, "It could have lasted longer."

How did Bei Mo obtain the imperial seal?

The person in front of you should know something inside.

Without the national seal, the Northern Desert would have no confidence to confront the revitalized Kang Kingdom. Given the Northern Desert's behavior over the past few centuries, they would obediently submit to the Kang Kingdom, just as they had to to the other northwestern kingdoms in the past.

"How long is 'long-term'?" The proprietress turned her head, her face losing some of its usual shrewishness and straightforwardness, and gaining a more somber and cold expression. "There's no need to look at me with such suspicion. I haven't done anything. If you don't believe me, with your strength, killing me would be as easy as turning your hand."

Gong Cheng: "..."

The proprietress said, "You think too highly of me."

After saying that, he turned and left without looking back, and Gong Cheng followed.

As they were about to see the outline of the city gate, Gong Cheng asked the purpose of his trip: "Do you know why we can't contact the Inner Council? Has something happened?"

The proprietress countered, "When did you find out?"

Gong Cheng said, "A while ago."

The proprietress suddenly revealed a charming smile.

"So, all these years, you only tried to contact the Internal Affairs Committee recently? And then you found out you couldn't get in touch with them?"

Gong Cheng frowned: "No way?"

“Sure, why not? Even if you had contacted us a while ago, or even ten years ago, the outcome would have been the same.

Gong Cheng sensed the hidden meaning in her words and strode to block her path: "What you mean is... that the Inner Council lost contact ten years ago? That's impossible. At the previous annual meeting of the Pantheon, all the members of the Inner Council were present, along with the Inner Council's servants. There's no doubt about it."

The proprietress countered, "Did you see any members of the internal affairs committee present?"

Gong Cheng pursed his lips and remained silent.

He probed, "A member of the inner circle is dead?"

The proprietress thought for a moment, then shook her head in denial: "No, if that counts as a kind of work, well, I am indeed still alive."

Just as Gong Cheng was about to breathe a sigh of relief, as if some kind of shackle was about to be removed from him, the proprietress added, "The external faction is much more terrifying than the internal faction. You should worry more about the external faction than the internal faction. After all, aren't all those who instigate power struggles members of the external faction?"

The internal meeting is a troublemaker, while the external meeting is the one who stirs things up.

Gong Cheng's intuition told him that the other party was not lying.

The trip was destined to be fruitless, but Gong Cheng was still unwilling to give up: "I have a question. What exactly is Madam Shen's identity?"

This was a question that had puzzled him for a long time.

According to the investigation, from her birth to her elopement, she was just an ordinary daughter of a prominent family. If there was anything special about her, it was that the head of the Shen family doted on and indulged his only daughter, granting her every wish.

This is rare even in Kangguo today, let alone Xinguo back then. It's a pity that the Shen family was wiped out, and there's no way to trace it.

The proprietress smiled and said, "Once that person becomes the ruler of a fallen kingdom and a prisoner of the Northern Desert, you can ask him and find out. Or you can become his defeated opponent or prisoner and ask him then, and you will get the same answer."

Gong Cheng shook his head: "No."

The person admitted that they had no past memories.

Gong Cheng believed she wasn't lying.

That person probably knows less about the inside story than I do.

"I'm curious, what have you been through all these years?" If we can find any clues, we can secretly investigate and find out the truth.

The proprietress answered bluntly: "Running away from marriage, hiding, getting married, opening a butcher shop to make a living, becoming a widow, and then opening a teahouse when the butcher shop failed. All of this can be found out. Do you want to verify it?"

Gong Cheng: "..."

These are no secrets.

He even knew what kind of meat that butcher shop sold.

The landlady's answers were not what he expected.

Just as they were about to enter the city, Gong Cheng prepared to take his leave.

The proprietress tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, gave a flirtatious wink, and said with a coquettish laugh, "Don't contact me for a while. The emperor is coming to war, and you might expose your whereabouts. It doesn't matter if you get surrounded, just don't drag me into this and get labeled an accomplice. You may be unafraid to escape from prison, but I'm just a weak woman with no strength to even kill a chicken. I haven't had enough of being a pretty widow yet."

Gong Cheng's lips twitched: "Mm."

"Considering our shared destiny, I'll give you some more information: reinforcements will be arriving in the Northern Desert soon."

Gong Cheng: "Foreign aid? Where did they come from?"

He admitted, "I haven't received any rumors."

The proprietress said, "It's normal that you haven't heard anything. With a general like you who disappears every few days, who else would they keep their distance from if not you? We don't even know where that person came from, we just know he's a troublesome character."

The next day, tea drinkers came to the teahouse as usual.

But then they saw a crowd gathered around the teahouse to watch the spectacle.

Pushing through the crowd, I saw the teahouse lying in disarray, as if swept away by a gust of wind—the teahouse had been robbed, and the proprietress was missing.

ε(*ω)_/:☆