Glancing at Yuan Que lying at his feet, Li Qingchen sighed inwardly. This guy's lightness skill was unparalleled, but he was really not durable. He clearly hadn't even used his internal energy just now.

This fainting spell could be quite troublesome.

Sure enough, just as Yuan Que was thinking about this, he heard a clear and sharp voice beside him: "Let's tie him up!"

Yuan Que turned to meet those rippling eyes, then hastily wrote a few strokes on the muddy ground with the wooden stick in his hand. Wei Shuwan glanced down and saw the words "Send to the authorities?"

She quickly shook her head: "We can't hand them over to the authorities!"

Now that the assassin has admitted to being sent by the Prince Jing's Mansion, the Prince Jing's Mansion will take action once she is handed over to the authorities. Once the Prince Jing's Mansion gets her out and knows that she has exposed her identity, then the Prince Jing's Mansion will be even less likely to keep her alive.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Shuwan decided, "I'll take him back first, interrogate him privately, and get him to sign the papers."

Li Qingchen was speechless. He turned to look at the two maids lying not far away and wrote a few words on the ground: "Go save them first. I'll help you tie them up."

Wei Shuwan nodded gratefully, and even though her face was now covered in streaks of black mud, she somehow appeared even more lively. Li Qingchen shifted his gaze back to Yuan Que.

Behind him, Wei Shuwan had already gone to the side to try to wake Miaoxiang, and Li Qingchen also slowly squatted down, reaching out to check Yuan Que's breath. He naturally knew that Yuan Que would not die, but this was just to cover up his next move.

Two long, slender fingers approached Yuan Que's nose and unexpectedly pinched his philtrum. Yuan Que gasped and woke up, opening his eyes to see Li Qingchen mouthing something to him:

"run."

While Wei Shuwan was still trying to wake Miaoxiang by patting her cheeks, she heard a noise from the other side. Turning her head, she saw the black-clad assassin leap up from the ground and dash into the distant forest in a few quick movements, disappearing into the swaying, withered leaves...

She was so surprised that she forgot to speak.

When she came to her senses, she realized that Li Qingchen had been pushed to the ground by the assassin, so she rushed over to help him up: "Are you alright?"

Li Qingchen clutched his left chest and shook his head. Wei Shuwan's gaze also fell on that spot, and she asked anxiously, "Are you injured?"

As he spoke, he reached out to remove Li Qingchen's raincoat: "That assassin's skills are not weak. If you have suffered internal injuries, you must come back to the capital with me to treat them."

Li Qingchen reached out and grabbed her restless hands. Only then did he notice that her fingertips were damp. Looking down, he saw that her slender fingers were covered in blood and flesh.

Even though she was injured herself, she gave all her worry to others.

Li Qingchen lost his temper for a moment, let go of her hand, stood up by himself with the help of a wooden cane, walked to Miaoxiang, bent down and pinched her philtrum twice. Miaoxiang emerged from her daze and slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing he did upon opening his eyes was to look around for Wei Shuwan. When he saw that Wei Shuwan was safe and sound beside him, he finally relaxed and said, "That's great... Miss, you're alright."

At this moment, Zi Qiao, rubbing her aching forehead, staggered over.

"Zi Qiao, how badly are you hurt?" Wei Shuwan quickly helped her up and asked with concern. Zi Qiao had been far away earlier, so she didn't know where she was injured.

Zi Qiao shook her still groggy head: "It's nothing, I was just tricked by that beast and fell, hitting my head. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

A "clattering" sound came from behind her. Wei Shuwan turned her head and saw that the coachman was driving the carriage back.

Upon seeing his young mistress standing there unharmed, the coachman finally breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that when the assassin jumped out of the carriage earlier, he had startled the horse, which had pulled the carriage quite a distance before it was finally brought under control.

Wei Shuwan glanced around the three of them and said gently, "Since everyone is alright, let's go back first."

She got back into the carriage and said to Li Qingchen through the window, "My benefactor has saved Shuwan three times. This kindness is heavier than Mount Tai, and I will never forget it! I will definitely come to visit again another day."

She reached out and waved to him: "Until we meet again."

Before the carriage started moving, something happened that shocked Wei Shuwan—Li Qingchen stretched out his long arm, caught her waving hand, and wrote a sentence on her palm at an extremely fast speed.

Horse hooves pounded the mud in the fields as the cart wheels rolled away. Wei Shuwan clenched her hands, the warmth of the wheels still lingering in her palms.

"When the breath is about to cease, illusions will inevitably appear; the underwater treasure chest is utter nonsense."

Does he mean that the boxes she saw underwater were just illusions of a dying person? But why is he suddenly concerned about this matter after such a great ordeal?

Furthermore, when she nearly fell into the water on the boat, even Zi Qiao Miao Xiang, who was right next to her, couldn't save her, but he, who was far away at the stern, was able to instantly move to the bow and rescue her, clearly possessing superb martial arts skills. But how did such a person become mute?

These questions lingered in Wei Shuwan's mind. Her delicate brows furrowed, and her thoughts gradually became chaotic.

Moreover, she now has another enemy: the Prince Jing's Mansion...

*

Li Qingchen had already returned to the farmhouse. As soon as he entered, he saw the fat man applying medicine to Yuan Que's head, while Yuan Que sat there with a droopy face, his expression clearly saying 'I can't understand'.

Upon seeing their master return, the two quickly stood up and bowed respectfully, saying, "Young Prince."

"Alright, how badly are you hurt?" Li Qingchen asked casually, taking off his dirty raincoat, dusting off the edges of his sleeves, and then going inside to change.

Yuan Que followed closely by his side, serving him. He tried to force a smile, but it looked worse than crying: "I'm fine, just a minor injury."

Li Qingchen sighed inwardly. As the master, he had no need to explain his decision change to his subordinates, but he still felt a little guilty for teasing his loyal servant. So he glanced at the food box that had just been brought back.

“Take a few of the fruits inside to feed the chickens. If they are fine after an hour, you two can share them.”

Yuan Que's expression finally improved, and he quickly hugged the food box to his chest. Naturally, anything bestowed by his master was the best. However, when he lifted the lid to examine it, he was slightly taken aback.

Noticing his expression, Li Qingchen asked in surprise, "What, isn't there lychee inside?"

“Yes, yes, it’s lychee, but…” Yuan Que hesitated for a while before raising his head and saying, “They were peeled one by one.”

Giving someone fresh fruit is nothing unusual, but to do it so thoughtfully takes a lot of effort. Yuan Que suddenly felt that the fruit was too hot to handle, as if it was not something he could enjoy.

Li Qingchen glanced indifferently at the two neatly arranged plates of lychees in the food box, each one crystal clear and tempting to eat. For a moment, he thought of the Wei family girl's delicate, pale hands—were those the hands that peeled the lychees for him, one by one?

After a moment of silence, he said, "Leave one dish."

"Then...should we test it for poison first?"

"No need."