Where are we?

Inside the carriage, Pei Jian's somewhat anxious voice rang out. Several days had already passed, and his pace of travel had hardly changed.

Either the carriage broke down or the weather was stormy, but what made Pei Jian even more anxious was that he had not received a response to the message he sent to Pei Ju.

"Master, we have only recently left the Sun family's territory."

A subordinate's voice rang out, "The rain was too heavy before, and the ground is too muddy, which has limited the speed of the carriage. Master, please don't worry."

"I always felt that something was wrong."

Pei Jian's anxiety intensified as he thought about the Gu worms in the study. He was running out of blood and he couldn't afford to harm the mother Gu no matter what.

"Does the patriarch believe that the Sun family intends to harm you?"

"Any news from Dayu these past few days?" Pei Jian twirled the jade thumb ring on his thumb. He had begun to activate the mother Gu's poison, and Jiang Yu should be experiencing some noticeable discomfort.

"Returning home, my lord, there's still no news from Dayu." The subordinate still didn't quite understand Pei Jian's anxiety. "After all, they're not in Longyou, so their information network isn't very efficient."

"Let's hurry on our way."

With things having come to this point, Pei Jian could only urge them onward. His right eyelid kept twitching, making him restless and unable to find peace of mind.

Meanwhile, in Longyou, Pei Ju became cautious after realizing that the so-called master and highly skilled guards had mysteriously disappeared.

"Young Master, the Qin family hasn't left Longyou yet, and they could launch another attack on us at any time." Pei Ju had previously exhausted the Pei family's strength to fight against the Qin family, and the Qin family had sent only the best of the best, so neither side gained any advantage.

"Send people to keep a close eye on things and increase patrols."

Pei Ju, unusually sharp-witted, began to suspect that something might have happened to Pei Jian.

"but......"

Seeing his subordinate stammering, Pei Ju said impatiently, "Just say what you have to say."

“Young Master, the head of the family hasn’t appeared recently, and some people are starting to suspect that something might have happened to him.”

"A bunch of idiots!"

Pei Ju slammed his fist on the table in anger. His father had deliberately kept his trip to the Sun family for help a secret. If the news were to spread now, it would surely cause unrest among the people.

"Just say that Father is currently in seclusion for spiritual cultivation."

Pei Ju pressed his temples. "It's common for my father to go into seclusion for cultivation. I don't think anyone will doubt that. Let's just say it like this."

"Yes, I will take care of it right away."

After his subordinate left, Pei Ju sat in the chair for a long time before suddenly standing up and heading towards the study.

"Young master."

The guards standing outside the study bowed to Pei Ju upon seeing him. Pei Ju stopped in his tracks. "Has anyone else entered the study recently besides myself?"

Although the guard was somewhat surprised, because Pei Ju had asked this question at least twice before.

But he still spoke with utmost respect, "Young master, besides you, there is only Master Wuyu."

How many times did he come?

"Twice, it was said that the head of the family invited him to the study to tell the fortunes of the Pei family. Both times he stayed for quite a while, nearly half an hour."

"Half an hour? Did you hear any noise in the study during that time?" Pei Ju's eyes were unfathomable. Something was wrong with the whole thing. He had come to his father's study twice, and now he had disappeared again. What exactly did the master do in the study?

"There was some noise, but fortune-telling itself always causes some noise, so I didn't go in to disturb them."

Upon hearing this, Pei Ju gave the guard a deep look before entering the study.

Pei Ju had come to the study several times, and each time he felt that there was nothing unusual about the study.

After observing the surroundings, a self-deprecating smile appeared on Pei Ju's face. In order to avoid arousing his father's suspicion, he almost never lingered in the study.

This time, however, Pei Ju did not leave immediately, but sat down in the study.

My father has been away from Longyou for six days, and there is already some dust on the desk.

Pei Ju's gaze slowly moved, finally settling on a spot free of dust. This spot looked like it had been touched frequently and was now somewhat shiny.

Pei Ju stood up and fumbled to open the mechanism. A box appeared in Pei Ju's sight. The next second, Pei Ju felt a pain in his right hand as a silver needle shot straight into his hand.

ah--

A heart-wrenching cry of pain rang out, and by the time the guards rushed in, Pei Ju had already collapsed to the ground.

"Young master, young master!"

......

Dayu, the residence of the Marquis of Dingyuan.

"Mother, why does Father look so dazed?" At the dining table, Jiang Yao looked up at her little face, while Jiang He hadn't put the chopsticks in his mouth for a long time.

Seeing this, Bai Qian stomped hard on Jiang He's foot. Jiang Yao didn't see this action under the table, so she only saw Jiang He, whose face was flushed red.

"Hey, why is Father's face red?"

"N-nothing...it's nothing..."

Jiang He finally snapped out of his daze, barely daring to meet Bai Qian's gaze. He quickly coaxed Jiang Yao to finish her meal, and then took her out to digest.

Jiang He didn't return to the house until Jiang Yao fell asleep.

"What were you thinking about at dinner tonight?" Bai Qian pretended to lower Jiang He's head. "Yao Yao was afraid something would happen to you."

"I'm thinking about the Pei family."

Jiang He put his arm around Bai Qian's waist. "When I took the mother Gu from Pei Jian's study, I also set up a simple trap there."

"Did you learn it from Yunmo?" Bai Qian smiled, somewhat annoyed.

“There’s nothing shameful about learning a few moves from Yao Yao’s master.” Jiang He straightened his back. “I’m wondering if Pei Ju has the brains to find the mechanism. If he does… it will be much easier to fight Longyou.”

"The Qin family in Longyou will be in less danger."

“The Qin family…” Upon hearing Jiang He mention the Qin family, Bai Qian understood. “I wonder what has become of those members of the Qin family.”

"The situation is not optimistic. Pei Ju is the most petty person, and he will probably use all the power of the Pei family to fight against him." Jiang He recalled Qin Ke'er's face. "That day, when Miss Qin asked me about Ling Ku, I... I didn't dare to tell her that the Qin family's secret guards might not return."

"Yes, and there's also Ling Ku. Stopping Pei Jian won't be an easy task either."

The couple remained silent for a moment, then Jiang He took Bai Qian's hand and said, "It's alright. Judging by the time, the people we sent out will be here soon. The Pei family will soon cease to exist."

They split into two groups: one to kill Pei Jian, and the other to go straight to Longyou and annihilate the Pei family.

Bai Qian nodded, "The Qin family was a great help this time, and we should also tell the Emperor about it at the morning court tomorrow."

"By the way, Ah He, do you think Ling Ku has feelings for Miss Qin?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang He pondered for a moment, a glint of light flashing in his eyes.