Reeking of alcohol, Li E swayed and pushed open his creaking wooden door.

With unsteady steps, he dragged himself into the bedroom.

But just as he was about to slam the door shut, his back suddenly straightened, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and he hissed sharply:

"who!"

A figure slowly emerged from the shadows; it was Qu Heng.

"Don't be nervous, it's me."

Li E's gaze unconsciously fell on Qu Heng's left hand, but he quickly withdrew it.

His eyes were clear and cold, with no trace of the drunken haze from before.

"Several days have passed, has the matter been clarified?"

Li E fell silent; he hadn't been idle these past few days.

The location of the private residence of Su Quan, the Grand Eunuch of the Emperor, was not hidden and could be easily found out.

He spent several days cautiously probing the area to confirm that there were no hidden agents lying in ambush around the mansion.

Tonight, he finally couldn't hold back any longer and spread his senses throughout the mansion.

He "saw" the once spirited young master, and his child.

They're all still alive!

If this is confirmed, then... could the other thing Qu Heng mentioned, that terrifying point that overturned his understanding, also be true?

Thinking that he had been secretly investigating for so many years, even going so far as to join the enemy's ranks, it turned out that he might have been on the wrong track from the very beginning.

A tremendous sense of absurdity and powerlessness gripped his heart like a poisonous vine, tightening and tightening until it felt suffocating.

He found the noisiest tavern, intending to get completely drunk.

The strong liquor went down his throat, and the more he drank, the clearer his mind became, but it burned his internal organs with pain.

Alcohol couldn't dispel my true sorrow, and I returned home feeling utterly dejected and confused.

Not too early, not too late, but precisely on the very night he had finished verifying his claims, Qu Heng appeared.

It could not possibly be a coincidence; it meant that the other party had been lurking in the shadows, closely watching his every move.

Yet, despite his peak fourth-grade cultivation, he was completely unaware of all of this.

What level are you at now?

Qu Heng chuckled lightly, his tone casual: "Fourth rank, the same as you."

How could that be? As a fellow fourth-rank official, Li E couldn't believe he had remained completely unaware.

With no intention of probing further, he took a step closer, his gaze fixed intently on his former comrade.

"How can you prove that the person you're referring to as the mastermind is His Majesty?"

Qu Heng did not hide anything.

He recounted how he infiltrated the Bailu County Mint and witnessed firsthand the production of counterfeit currency.

And then the entire process of how the eldest princess and the governor joined forces to suppress the riots and eliminate the rumors with swift and decisive measures.

Every detail was like a cold iron nail, hammering into Li E's ears.

As if swallowed by a thick fog, he lost all sense of direction for a moment.

Immediately afterwards, that confusion was quickly replaced by burning anger!

He clenched his fist tightly, his knuckles cracking from the force, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.

His bloodshot eyes were fixed on Qu Heng, and a hoarse growl escaped from deep within his throat:

"Why? Why did Her Majesty kill my elder brother?!"

Born into humble circumstances, his brothers risked their lives to achieve great deeds.

Even so, Zhao Polu was only a low-ranking general.

Could it be because he reported the issue of counterfeit currency, thus touching upon unspeakable interests?

Qu Heng met his almost fiery gaze, shook his head, and said in a calm, almost cruel tone, "I can't be sure."

"Can't be sure?" Li E grabbed Qu Heng's collar and slammed him against the wall. "You're telling me now that you can't be sure?"

"Then tell me, what is your relationship with the Tongji Society?"

When Li E was constantly hitting roadblocks and had nowhere to turn for help in the northern army, it was a mysterious organization called "Tongji Society" that found him.

They provided him with the resources he needed for cultivation and secretly gathered clues.

Otherwise, he would never have been able to establish himself in the Xuanwu Army, let alone secretly gather a group of brothers who still felt grateful to their former master.

Upon returning to Fengjing, Li E had already disregarded life and death, seeking only the truth and an explanation!

This time, Qu Heng frankly admitted: "You guessed right, I am also a member of the Tongji Society."

Despite having suspected it beforehand, Li E was still deeply shaken when he heard the answer with his own ears.

He wasn't unaware that the Tongji Society must have ulterior motives for helping him, but he always believed that their target was the former Northern General, now the Right Vice Director of the Xuange Division.

But now tell him... that the Kiwanis's goal is to become emperor?

To harm a high-ranking official of the court is already a heinous crime; if the target is His Majesty, then it is to shake the very foundation of the nation.

Li E's gaze turned completely cold, like a frozen lake, and his voice was chilling: "What exactly do you want to do?"

Qu Heng looked straight back at him, his eyes clear and firm, and said, word by word, "Just like you, I just want an answer."

A long silence stretched between the two.

After a long silence, Li E asked in a hoarse voice, "So what about me? What do you want me to do?"

"Take the young master with you, leave Fengjing, and never come back."

A look of astonishment flashed in Li E's eyes.

He had assumed that Qu Heng would have changed over the years.

His appearance this time was merely an attempt to use him and his men as a tool in his hands.

But to my utter surprise, this is the result I'm getting.

Qu Heng's lips curled into a sorrowful smile as he reached out and patted Li E's sturdy shoulder.

The movements carried a long-lost familiarity between brothers, yet were also filled with the heaviness of parting:

“Old brother, now it’s just the two of us left. Someone has to go and find out the truth from back then, and that person should be me.”

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!