The outskirts of Beijing.

Shen Lian slowly opened his eyes, then suddenly stood up and looked around vigilantly.

What caught my eye was a simple and elegant house. There were not many decorations in the room, only some necessary furniture. The only thing worth noting was the bamboo rack piled with dry herbs at the base of the wall.

The faint scent of locust flowers drifted into the house from the window.

Shen Lian sniffed, then frowned, as if he remembered something, and immediately stood up from the bed.

As soon as I stood up, I felt a dull pain in my limbs.

Shen Lian looked down and saw that his two arms and right leg were wrapped in clean white cloth. When they were gently shaken, a bitter herbal smell wafted out from the gaps in the white cloth.

“…”

Shen Lian frowned, held on to the bed and struggled to stand up, then pushed open the door.

A scent of locust flowers mixed with herbal flavor wafted over.

Shen Lian calmed himself down and walked out of the room. He saw two girls sitting on the steps of the main house in the courtyard. They were chatting in low voices and occasionally let out a string of silver bell-like laughter.

Soon, one of the girls in a plain white dress spotted Shen Lian who went out alone.

The girl in the white dress was startled immediately, and quickly stood up and walked over: "Master Shen, why did you get out of bed alone? You are weak now, and you can't blow the wind in the yard. You'd better go back to the room and rest!"

"Miss Zhang..."

Shen Lian recognized the identity of the girl in the white dress and forced a smile: "I'm fine, where's Yichuan?"

Zhang Yan stopped and replied with a smile: "Master Jin, he is drinking tea with my father in the room!"

Shen Lian nodded, his eyes passed Zhang Yan and glanced at another girl sitting on the steps. His pale lips moved twice, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Zhang Yan didn't seem to notice his actions, and continued with a smile: "Master Shen, if you really don't want to go back to the house, why don't you have a cup of tea with my father and the others? That tea is a new medicinal tea I dried last month. It's very nourishing, and it will definitely do you no harm if you drink it!"

"…Really? Then I'd like to try it!"

Shen Lian forced a smile and agreed, then glanced at the girl on the steps who was a little timid and didn't dare to look at him. After a slight hesitation, without saying a word, he stepped up the steps beside her and walked into the main house.

When Shen Lian walked into the room, Zhang Yan immediately sat down beside the steps, took the girl's hand and placed it in her palm, comforting her in a soft voice.

"Sister, don't be afraid, Master Shen is not a bad person."

"…But he is a Jinyiwei."

"Mr. Jin is also a Jinyiwei!"

"It's different. Master Jin is fake, and he is real."

"Mr. Jin is also true, but he has other ambitions, so he is in...how do you say that?"

"I am in Cao's camp, but my heart is with Han..."

"Yes, I am in Cao's camp but my heart is with Han!"

The low whispers of the two girls floated from behind him. Shen Lian paused, then raised his head and sighed softly.

Soon, Shen Lian walked into the hall, looked at the three people kneeling beside the table in the hall, pursed his lips, walked over without saying a word, sat opposite his third brother Jin Yichuan, picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup.

Lin Zhongtian looked at him with interest, and only after he finished the cup of tea could he not help but tease him.

"Hey, isn't it hot?"

“…”

Shen Lian glanced at him, put down the teacup, and said without raising his head: "Tell me."

Jin Yichuan and Doctor Zhang exchanged a glance, then he looked guilty and whispered, "Second brother, I didn't mean to..."

Shen Lian raised his hand to stop Jin Yichuan from continuing. He then raised his head and said calmly, "Yichuan, if you still recognize me as your second brother, don't say these polite words. Explain to your second brother what is going on now."

Jin Yichuan looked hesitant and turned to look at Lin Zhongtian.

Lin Zhongtian spread his hands and said, "Don't look at me. Just say what you want to say."

Jin Yichuan nodded. He now roughly understood the relationship between Lin Zhongtian and Zhao Lihe. Since Lin Zhongtian had agreed, Zhao Lihe would probably not have any objection.

So, Jin Yichuan began to tell what he thought was the truth from the beginning.

Shen Lian listened silently, picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea, and drank while listening.

After Jin Yichuan finished speaking, Shen Lian was silent for a while, then said, "So your real name is not Jin Yichuan."

Jin Yichuan nodded with a somewhat gloomy look on his face: "My real name is Ding Xian, and Jin Yichuan is the name of the Jinyiwei I impersonated."

Halfway through his speech, Jin Yichuan changed the subject and quickly explained: "But second brother, no matter what my last name is, I am sincerely sworn brothers with you and big brother!"

Shen Lian smiled and shook his head, "No need to explain. We have known each other for many years. Can't I tell whether you are sincere or not?"

"I just didn't expect that you were actually Zhao Lihe's man. I thought he was a die-hard fan of Prince Xin. I heard that he was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison after Prince Xin ascended the throne. I still found it hard to believe. Now I see that he was not very honest back then. He actually sent you to the Jinyiwei as an undercover. I guess the emperor must have discovered his secret tricks, so..."

Before he finished speaking, Shen Lian noticed Lin Zhongtian's look as if he was looking at a fool.

So he decisively shut up, smiled bitterly, shook his head and said: "It seems that I was wrong. I am just a warrior, and it is indeed a bit ridiculous for me to talk about state affairs. I am sorry to make you laugh, Brother Fu."

"...Brother Fu?"

Lin Zhongtian raised his eyebrows and looked at him with interest.

Shen Lian said calmly: "You tried so hard to drag me into this, didn't you just want me to join you? Now that I have killed soldiers, I must be wanted by the government like you. I definitely can't stay in the capital and the Northern Pacification Division. In addition to joining you, is there any third way to go..."

"good!"

Lin Zhongtian laughed when he heard this, and looked Shen Lian up and down and said, "You are a little clever, but you don't have much wisdom."

Shen Lian glanced at him and couldn't help but sneered, "I'm not very smart, but you're not necessarily smart either. To be honest, you didn't have to go through so much trouble. I've long lost confidence in the court. As long as Yichuan asked, I would naturally choose to join you. But now, you've made such a big fuss that not only have we brothers been unable to gain a foothold in the Jinyiwei, but you've also implicated an innocent girl."

Shen Lian originally thought that Lin Zhongtian would retort when he heard this, but he never expected that the other party actually nodded with a look of agreement on his face.

"You are right. It was indeed my willful act to cause a disturbance in the capital. If not, you and Yichuan could still stay in the Northern Pacification Division as secret agents. You might be of great use in the future."

"As for getting that little girl into trouble, you can't blame me for that. You should blame you!"

Shen Lian couldn't help but widen his eyes: "Blame me?"

Lin Zhongtian nodded and said, "Yes, if you hadn't protected her, I wouldn't have needed to take her away, but you were so kind that you helped her. If I didn't take her away, would the officials from the Six Gates have let her go?"

“…”

Shen Lian was stunned when he heard this. After thinking about it carefully, he had to admit that Lin Zhongtian was right.

But he still felt that something was wrong, but his mind hadn't figured it out yet, so he didn't think about it.

Lin Zhongtian did not give him a chance to think carefully, and continued: "However, the disturbance in the capital is indeed my fault. How about this, each of you three brothers can make a request to me to compensate for the great contributions you may make in the future?"

"……?"

Shen Lian and Jin Yichuan looked at each other in surprise when they heard this.

They really couldn't understand Lin Zhongtian's train of thought, so they didn't react for a while.

Lin Zhongtian thought they were concerned about something else, so he smiled and added, "Don't worry, I will compensate Brother Zhao in other ways. You don't have to worry about this. Just make your own requests. As long as the request is not too outrageous and does not violate my conscience, I can satisfy you..."