At night, Chen Ming and Wang Wen returned from outside, dressed in tight-fitting clothes, and reported to Liu Chengyu with complicated expressions.

Wang Wen bowed his head respectfully and said, "Young master, besides us, only the four members of the Zhang family and two women who used to work at the brothel are staying here. The young men and women of Songlin Village have all left the government office and moved elsewhere. I suspect there's something fishy going on here."

"But our identities haven't been exposed, so Zhong Qingyi and the others shouldn't know. So what's the purpose of doing this?" Liu Chengyu was also confused. He thought about it carefully but couldn't find anything unusual.

Perhaps it was because Zhong Qingyi and the others concealed themselves so well that no flaws were discovered, leading people to believe that they had been hiding their secrets perfectly.

Liu Chengyu had no interest in guessing the Zhang family's identities. They were just from some aristocratic family, so there was no need to pay them any attention. Zhang Qingyu had been intentionally or unintentionally showing him goodwill on the way, so how could he not see it?

Although the other woman was very beautiful, she wasn't his type. He had no time for romance right now; a man should prioritize matters of state.

"Could it be that Prince Duan's men accidentally let it slip?" Chen Ming thought this was the most likely explanation, otherwise how could he explain Zhong Qingyi leaving them alone at the government office?

Liu Chengyu paced back and forth, his face grim, before finally stopping and saying in a cold voice, "Bring Fang Ziyue here. She's all alone."

"Yes, I'll go right away." Chen Ming brought the person back shortly after he left. After all, Fang Ziyue lived in the same courtyard as them, only a few rooms away, so it wasn't far.

Fang Ziyue followed Chen Ming slowly, almost tearing the handkerchief in her hands to shreds as they walked behind the house. She curtsied and asked uneasily, "Your Highness, you were looking for me?"

"I'm asking you, when we were in Songlin Village, did anyone ask you about our identities?" Liu Chengyu stared at her face, trying to glean something from it. "Or did you inadvertently reveal anything?"

Fang Ziyue was silent for a moment, seemingly recalling something, before finally shaking her head and stating definitively, "No one asked us any questions, and there's no possibility of us letting anything slip, because nobody came to chat with us. The people of Songlin Village seem particularly busy and don't have time to inquire about us."

"Besides, you were recuperating at home at that time, almost every day. You know whether we had contact with outsiders."

Seeing that he seemed to believe her, Fang Ziyue continued, "Besides, what could we possibly talk about with those peasant women? We wouldn't be able to connect with them. Even though we've fallen to this state, we still have that pride in our bones. How could we possibly blend in with the villagers so quickly?"

"It was I who misunderstood you. You should go back and rest first. Don't go out casually tonight, something might happen." Liu Chengyu didn't want to say more, only giving a slight reminder.

"Okay, I understand." Fang Ziyue breathed a slight sigh of relief. She thought Liu Chengyu was going to kill her, but it turned out he was just asking questions.

It seems her guess was right. Zhong Qingyi and the others are no ordinary people. They even have Xifeng in their hands. But who is behind them?

When I passed by the street today, I could tell that this person is good to the people. Otherwise, how could all the shops have reopened in just a few months, and how could there still be people doing small business on the street? Those people dare to shout loudly, and there is no longer any need to worry that someone will find them noisy and suddenly pull out a knife to attack them.

Fang Ziyue firmly believed that there was someone behind Zhong Qingyi, never considering that there was no one behind the scenes. It was just that Ye Moxun and Song Tantan, those two little guys, had turned Xifeng upside down, and now Ye Moxun, this half-grown boy, was in charge.

It is said that Ye Moxun had others leave quietly through the back gate of the government office. He asked why so many people could leave without anyone noticing.

These people were naturally trained beforehand, and they were experts at escaping. Both the young men and women had some martial arts experience, so they could walk without making a sound.

Ye Moxun was the headmaster of Songlin Village School. Well, although it wasn't a formal school, his words still carried weight. None of the young men and women dared to question his decisions. He told them to leave through the back door and go live somewhere else, and they did as he said.

They dared not ask; to ask meant to obey orders, and disobeying meant being treated with poison powder.

The young men and women of Songlin Village live in a three-courtyard house registered under Zhong Qingyi's name. He owns two houses, and this other three-courtyard house is reserved for his wedding.

By the way, I originally planned to get married after returning to Songlin Village last time, but I had to postpone it because of the tight schedule. I plan to get married after the New Year and in the spring.

Song Zhuiyan didn't care and wasn't in a hurry for these few months, but Zhong Qingyi was anxious, though he didn't show it. He just hoped time would pass quickly.

Aside from Song Tantan's house, which was cleaned by the four of them, only the four of them know the address so far. No one else knows, and they don't plan to let a fifth person know. It's their secret base.

The other houses were all cleaned by hired cleaners. The house they were living in now was the largest of all of them. However, it was only large in size, with many rooms and spaciousness. There was nothing special about it. It was a semi-new house, and the gate looked quite old. In short, it was 'low-key'.

"Wow, there are clothes in our closet, all made of really nice fabric. I've never worn such nice fabric before."

“We have ours too. No wonder Master Song told us not to bring clothes or anything when we came out. It turns out that everything is available here.”

After touring their respective rooms, the girls were so happy they were almost incoherent. Although it was two people sharing a room, it was already very good. They were all children from poor families and had never lived in such a grand house or had such spacious rooms since they were born.

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