War had just ceased. After that brutal fight, the blood and chaos, no one expected things to take such a sharp turn and become what it was now.

The previous situation had escalated into a melee involving thousands of people, which couldn't be easily glossed over. However, the reason suddenly brought up by the Badao Camp was truly perplexing. To say the matter was small, it was indeed – just one person, at most one family's affair, not enough to affect the current situation. But to say the matter was big, everyone present felt that Chen Fan had a reason to act. When a woman was violated, no matter how far things went, no one could argue.

Even so, Bao Dao-yi's side was used to being domineering and knew that they couldn't show any guilt at this time. Someone immediately shouted, "Empty words are no proof."

"It's just you guys talking..."

"Don't leave if you have the guts..."

The voices were noisy, but compared to the righteousness just now, the momentum was naturally much lower. Liu Xigua, after listening to them for a while, said, "Celestial Master Bao, Gu Tong Temple is your territory, you really want to wash your hands of it! The Badao Camp will take charge of this matter today. I'll take Chen Fan away, let's see who dares to stop me!"

After saying this, she ordered a return to the camp. Bao Dao-yi roared, "You dare!"

"Commander Li, farewell."

"Can such a thing be decided just by your say-so!"

Regardless of whether it was true or not, there was no evidence at the moment. Bao Dao-yi couldn't tacitly confirm the matter himself. After he spoke, the other lackeys shouted one after another. A man at the front of the line shouted, "It's definitely a frame-up!" Someone next to him whispered, "Is it not true?"

"It's not strange, I think it's definitely true." That person pursed his lips, then continued to shout loudly, "Absolutely not true, slander!"

Li Tian-run slammed his war flag into the center of the road, "No one is allowed to move!" When he became strong, he still had weight. He only needed a strong enough reason. After saying this, he also cupped his fist towards Bao Dao-yi, "Celestial Master Bao, Gu Tong Temple is under your jurisdiction after all. If such a thing really happened on your side, shouldn't you also manage your subordinates? If there is no such thing, Chen Fan's guilt can be discussed in the Golden Hall..."

He was now siding with the Badao Camp, suppressing the matter. But once Li Tian-run's attitude became firm, Bao Dao-yi knew that this fight could no longer continue. He shouted and postured a few times, and then said, "I will definitely thoroughly investigate this matter when I return. If my subordinates really committed such a crime, I will never spare them. But if there is no such thing, and it is finally proven that my side is innocent, even if Buddha Commander returns, he won't be able to save Chen Fan's life!"

In this way, the Badao Camp, along with the children from the restaurants and teahouses, and Ning Yi, left Pingchang Street. Bao Dao-yi led his men to disperse. It wasn't until he returned to the carriage that he smashed the half chair beside him and roared at his subordinates, "Who the hell did this! I've always said, you can play around, but don't cause me this kind of trouble! It's become like this today. If I find out who it is, I will never let him go –"

According to Ning Yi, even if Bao Dao-yi played with one woman every night on average, how many could he play with in two months? It was just that he had this habit, and the subordinates below him were unscrupulous. It was not uncommon for them to arrest people in his name many times, and he turned a blind eye. Just now, he said in front of everyone that the matter was definitely not done by his side. Now that there were no outsiders, he wouldn't believe it if they said it wasn't done by his people. None of them were good birds. Damn it, this was really an unwarranted disaster, killed by these animals...

****************

It was indeed an exaggeration for a person to be so bad that they lost confidence in themselves. But at least this time, poor Bao Dao-yi was indeed wronged.

Ning Yi had heard Chen Fan mention the situation next door to his house a few days ago. Someone was lost, and it was very troublesome. Chen Fan sighed once, and Ning Yi asked about it. He said, "They must have been arrested by Bao Dao-yi's subordinates. This is not surprising..." In any case, that Cuihua girl could not possibly have some private lifelong agreement with him.

All the way back to the Badao Camp, Ning Yi went to see Chen Fan. Chen Fan was lying on the bed sorting out bandages. He had experienced life and death for a long time, and his physique was surprisingly good. Seeing Ning Yi come in, he smiled and asked, "How is it?"

"Great, who came up with it?"

"Me."

"Bao Dao-yi is really suffering in silence... But speaking of which, what does your sister-in-law look like?"

According to his current physical age, Chen Fan was a few years older than Ning Yi. When he asked, Chen Fan twisted his face into a bun.

"You mean that Cuihua? Small body, small head, and a pointy mouth, like a chicken."

"Someone would be caught like that?"

"Actually, she's not bad... But she's been messed with many times anyway, so I can't possibly want her. The reason is just and fair, hey, don't come here to laugh at me. By the way, what does Liu's eldest want to do?"

"Huh?"

"I've known her for a long time. If she has something, and asks me for help, I will help. But she said she wants to buy my life, which is not a small matter..."

Ning Yi nodded. In this situation, Chen Fan still maintained a keen mind. It must be because of his outstanding ability that Liu Xigua would pay such a high price to save him. But Ning Yi naturally didn't want to tell Chen Fan what Liu Xigua was thinking at this time. After chatting a few more times, someone came to call him. Liu Xigua had summoned him.

Now that these things had happened today, the main topic should be coming up next. Liu Xigua had made up her mind, and he was already prepared for a preliminary response. When he went to Liu Xigua's study, the girl was sitting by the window, frowning and thinking about something. After a while, she said, "Bao Dao-yi must die. We couldn't kill him in that situation today, but after this, there will be a reason."

This was naturally correct. Today, on Pingchang Street, no matter how domineering the Badao Camp was, they couldn't kill Bao Dao-yi on the spot. That would be too abrupt. But next, it had developed into a confrontation between two forces. Next, if they could bring down the other party, they would have a legitimate reason. Ning Yi nodded, "Yes." The girl turned her head, "But that's not the most important thing. Now we still have to think about the most important thing."

This was about to get to the point, talking to Ning Yi about "revolution" and the like. Ning Yi took out a stack of drafts from his body. Liu Xigua said, "Tonight, I'm going to attend a poetry meeting."

"Huh?"

The girl frowned, "The two poems you gave me are used up. I think they're pretty good. Write a few more good ones for me later. I think I should have a few spares. Oh, weren't there those you wrote for me before but I didn't think were useful? I forgot where I threw them. I think those are pretty good now too. I can use them at the poetry meeting. It seems like there was something about 'chilling cicadas,' something about 'doors unobstructed'..."

Ning Yi's mouth twitched, "Chilling cicadas, facing the late pavilion, after a sudden rain shower. Drinking at the capital's gate, with no mood?"

"Ah, that's it, that's it, write it down, write it down... It's not 'unobstructed'? I think the ones you gave me before are also good, very suitable for me, write them all down, I can use them tonight. You seemed to say before that this poem was for someone whose husband died, so in the future, if I want to kill someone, I'll send this poem to their wife..."

"Uh, the one for someone whose husband died is another one, called 'Slow, Slow Tune'..."

The two of them shamefully studied the poems in the room for a while. Then, the girl regarded the paper full of poems as treasures and naturally put them in her arms, "These are mine from now on, you can't write them again, okay?" After Ning Yi nodded, she sat there, and a bright smile appeared on her face. The smile was only fleeting, like an illusion, but it was indeed the first time Ning Yi had seen that expression on her face. After a moment, she sat there looking at Ning Yi, took a deep breath, and then, after a while, lowered her head and raised it again.

"And... now for the real business."

********************

Driving out of Xiliu Street, Ning Yi looked back at the houses belonging to the Badao Camp behind him. Dusk had arrived, the sky was dimming, and every household had lit up their lights.

Liu Xigua had finally made up her mind to make a series of reforms to the Badao Camp's operation mode for the sake of the unseen and supposedly better spirit and ideas. As a shepherdess who regarded herself as such, she might have found a better way to shepherd. Ning Yi was the instigator, but even as him, he didn't know what the Badao Camp would become in the future. Hangzhou would sooner or later be captured by the imperial court, but what would become of the Badao Camp was impossible to think about at this time.

In the draft he gave to Liu Xigua, he made the first step of throwing a brick to attract jade-like thinking and questioning, some right, some wrong, but in general terms, without dealing with and intervening in substantive issues. Principles of fairness, the spirit of contract, mutual supervision, and the ultimate idea of the separation of powers, what to do first, Liu Xigua needed to think for herself. Ning Yi did not intend to show all the correct cards from the beginning. These few days were just the gestation period of her ideas. The important thing was that she had to feel that these ideas were all her own, and Ning Yi would just be a hands-off shopkeeper.

Anyway, being a staff officer was so easy.

Right now, he had more important and more urgent things to deal with. All the way out of the Badao Camp area, back to Pingchang Street. Because of the fight during the day, the area was still a mess and the lights were dim. Ning Yi stopped the carriage at the corner of the street, crossed the street, and then turned into a small alley. He carefully observed the surroundings, and then prepared to knock on one of the courtyard doors. Just as he raised his hand, the door opened.

The woman didn't know how long she had been leaning against the door. Hearing the sound of footsteps, she turned around and opened the door. They looked at each other for two seconds. Ning Yi looked left and right, and the woman reached out and pulled him in.

Suppressing the fluctuations in his heart, the two of them silently and quickly closed the door. The woman led him towards the room directly opposite. The courtyard was not large, and both rooms already had faint lights. There was also another familiar, petite figure under the eaves. They entered the room, Ning Yi turned around and closed the door. The woman turned around and hugged him. She clenched her teeth, her face was full of tears, but there was no crying.

Ning Yi took a breath and hugged the woman. When he closed his eyes, his heart was full of warm feelings. In his heart, he had long known the woman's resilience and strength. Although in peacetime, that resilience had been integrated with the characteristics of this era and could become a gentle and quiet wife, when things that truly tested people appeared, those characteristics would still emerge and do those incredibly amazing and incredibly heartwarming things.

Back then, traveling all the way from Hangzhou to Huzhou, he had survived nine deaths and one life to obtain peace. However, today, nearly three months after Ning Yi was captured, Su Tan'er actually brought several people, including the maid Juan'er, and fought her way back to Hangzhou, which was heavily guarded at this time. She had always had this ability, but there was no news from Wen Ren Er, and there was no sign from the Badao Camp, which showed that she had even deceived the heavens and crossed the sea, while avoiding all eyes and ears around her. This was perhaps what even Ning Yi had to marvel at.

He leaned against the door, thinking about these things. Su Tan'er was already tall, and at this time, she was standing on tiptoe slightly, hugging him and quietly shedding tears. That crying did not seem like a lamb entering a tiger's mouth, or being in a dire situation, but more like a long period of suffering and finally seeing the light. The two bodies were close together, and Ning Yi put his arms around her waist, feeling her slightly bulging stomach. A clear understanding rose in his heart: yes, she was pregnant... A pregnant woman was truly the fiercest and most terrible.

In any case, such an evaluation was ultimately only aimed at her ability to act. At this time, Su Tan'er was just like a sheep returning home, quietly clinging to him. Ning Yi picked her up, sat on the stool in the room, and let his wife sit on his lap. The two of them embraced in the dark room for a while, and Ning Yi finally opened his mouth, his tone gentle, like casual conversation.

"How did you get here?"