Sun Xingjian secretly admired Li Qingchen's meticulousness and said happily, "Then I will go and inform the Protector and Wenjun of this news, so that they won't worry themselves sick at night!"

As he spoke, Sun Xingjian made a move to get out of the car, but Li Qingchen grabbed his arm and stopped him. Sun Xingjian frowned in confusion and looked at Li Qingchen, who shook his head and said, "No."

"Madam Pan is easy to deal with, but Commander Pan is resolute and upright. Asking him to cooperate with us in this charade is probably asking too much of him. Under these circumstances, once Madam Pan is abducted, no matter how logically we lay the groundwork, His Majesty will definitely suspect Commander Pan first. If his emotions are not right and his reaction is not genuine, it will bring trouble upon him."

Hearing this, Sun Xingjian agreed and nodded in agreement: "Then let's wait until things have calmed down, and I will inform the Protector General about this matter when we return to the North."

Since he wasn't in a hurry to leave, Sun Xingjian sat down again, intending to ask for more details to put his mind at ease: "So, how does the young prince plan to make the Pan family enemies with those people you've arranged?"

As soon as he asked the question, Sun Xingjian realized that what was more difficult than arranging the feud was making the grudge between the two sides known throughout the city and avoiding being wanted and arrested.

Sun Xingjian frowned deeply and continued to voice his concerns: "If the people the young prince arranged are just ordinary peddlers, even if they offend the Protector-General, the common people might not pay attention to such matters. Besides, ordinary people are no match for the Pan family. Wenjun's guards are quite skilled, and it wouldn't be easy to abduct someone from them. Deliberately letting them pass would leave many loopholes. And even if they did manage to abduct someone, could they escape unscathed amidst the city-wide manhunt warrants?"

Wei Shuwan also felt that her uncle had hit the nail on the head. Even if Li Qingchen fabricated such an "enemy" for the Pan family, if the enemy was too weak, it would not be convincing at all.

Li Qingchen, however, looked relaxed. "You can rest assured. The people I arranged are not only capable of abducting Lady Pan, but they are also people who can give His Majesty a headache."

"Such a person exists in Shengjing City?" Sun Xingjian couldn't help but ask, after all, in his mind, the only one who could give the emperor a headache should be the ambitious enemy.

Li Qingchen smiled and said, "I wonder if Marquis Pingyang, who is far away in the north, has ever heard of the Eighteen Linked Fortresses of Yandang Mountain?"

Sun Xingjian was taken aback. He had heard of it, but he hadn't expected that Li Qingchen was also in contact with these bandits. He asked incredulously, "Does that mean they also take orders from you?"

Li Qingchen said lightly, "I suppose so."

But as soon as he finished speaking, Li Qingchen suddenly remembered something and subconsciously looked at Wei Shuwan, and sure enough, he saw that her expression had changed.

Wei Shuwan knew long ago that he was incredibly powerful and had henchmen all over the world, but she never imagined that the bandits from Yandang Mountain who had kidnapped her last time were actually Li Qingchen's men!

So, the kidnapping was also at his behest? And he pretended to be her benefactor for so long. And even in the thieves' den, he acted quite convincingly, being tied up with her in the woodshed…

How much did he lie to her? How much did he tease her? Did he really enjoy watching her look so foolish, on the verge of death?

The more Wei Shuwan recalled those events, the angrier she became. However, she was still clear about the priorities. Right now, her sister Pan was still suffering, and everything depended on Li Qingchen. If she were to fall out with him now, she would be harming her sister Pan. Besides, they were in front of her uncle, and there were some things she couldn't say.

So, after much restraint, Wei Shuwan remained silent and did not question Li Qingchen about what happened back then.

Seeing that her expression had calmed down, Li Qingchen also breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't listened to a word Sun Xingjian had said earlier, but now that he had come to his senses, he said directly, "Marquis Pingyang, this matter still needs you to handle it."

Sun Xingjian was eager to do more, so he kept asking questions, and Li Qingchen explained his plan to him in detail.

Thus, Sun Xingjian did not return to the Wei family with Wei Shuwan. Instead, he got off the carriage midway and went to the Pan family on his own, following Li Qingchen's instructions.

After Sun Xingjian got out of the car, Li Qingchen no longer needed to pretend that nothing had happened and spoke frankly: "I have to apologize to you for what happened back then. It is true that I lied to you, but things are not as you imagine. They kidnapped you not at my behest."

Having endured the whole journey, Wei Shuwan was no longer as angry as she had been when she first found out, so her tone was relatively gentle: "I believe you when you say it wasn't under your orders, because it was originally a plan between you and me to go out of the city together to interrogate those old servants dismissed by the Wei family of Wu County back then. But you had something come up and couldn't come, so I couldn't wait and went ahead on my own. My whereabouts were not within your prediction, so I believe that encountering those mountain bandits was just a coincidence."

Hearing her thoughts, Li Qingchen felt much relieved. But then Wei Shuwan abruptly changed the subject, questioning him: "Later, when you went to the mountain stronghold, you could have simply asked them to release me. Even if you didn't want me to know about your relationship with them, you could have simply remained hidden. But you lied to me, saying you risked your life to save me, making me indebted to you, and you even... you even..."

What angered her most was that he kissed her under the guise of saving her, while biting off the gag in her mouth. What was this if not taking advantage of her vulnerability?