Previous to this, Fan Xian hadn't truly seen Si Lili with his "heart," not even paying much attention to her stunning beauty, because Fan Xian himself possessed a face that was quite "something." However, since leaving the capital, this long journey together, for some reason, had gradually etched faint traces of this woman into Fan Xian's mind.

Perhaps it was her pitiable background, perhaps the Inspectorate's methods were too ruthless, or perhaps it was because, as the former Seventh Division Head had said after Fan Xian first entered the Inspectorate's prison – Fan Xian's methods might be harsh, but his heart was actually soft, at least easily vulnerable in certain areas.

He increasingly reminded himself not to be swayed by feminine charms, yet he found Si Lili all the more pitiful. This pity wasn't feigned, but a natural feeling born from her fate, like a drifting duckweed, entirely different from the ethereally beautiful Eldest Princess.

Over these days, Fan Xian took out the medicines he carried and foraged for useful plants in the wild by the lakeside, mechanically preparing the antidote. This was his promise to Si Lili. Since she had told him about Chen Pingping's thoughts, though he didn't know if those thoughts were genuine, he would cure Si Lili.

As for the Bai Xiu and Hong Xiu brothels, they were not within Fan Xian's considerations. The things he considered were simpler and more direct.

After several days of treatment, Si Lili showed no outward change, but her trips to the latrine became more frequent. Fan Xian waited quietly nearby, which made the young lady feel a little embarrassed. The envoy's carriage team gradually turned east, traveling around the great lake. In another two days, they should reach Mist Crossing River, where the Northern Qi army would take over the defense.

"Actually, the people of Northern Qi call this lake the Northern Sea," Si Lili said, standing by the lake, her fingers tracing the slightly rough reeds.

Fan Xian glanced at her and asked, "When did you go to Northern Qi?"

"When I was very young. My parents took my younger brother and me to flee everywhere. The Inspectorate's pursuit was relentless, and almost all of my grandfather's confidants were dead. No one dared to take us in." Si Lili said with a bitter smile, "Actually, I have no impression of my grandfather, although I know he was the prince who had the best chance of taking the throne back then."

Fan Xian calculated the time. It should have been several years since the assassination attempt on the Qing Kingdom's prince. He couldn't help but fall silent, watching out of the corner of his eye as the lake breeze gently stirred the clothes on Si Lili's body. He smiled slightly, thinking that his mother had killed this girl's grandfather, something he couldn't let her know.

Si Lili sighed, smoothing the stray strands of hair that the lake wind had blown across her temples. She frowned and said, "Because the Inspectorate was pursuing us so closely, my father died tragically under the knives of the palace guards. My mother, my younger brother, and I were lucky enough to escape. But in all the world, there was nowhere to go. After much deliberation, we had no choice but to flee to a foreign land. We finally settled down in Northern Qi."

Fan Xian frowned slightly. Her family had been destroyed, her father had died tragically, and she had been forced to leave her homeland. It had indeed been a difficult time.

Si Lili looked at the thin mist gradually rising from the lake surface and sighed, "Unfortunately, the peaceful days could not last. Somehow, the Northern Qi royal family found out about our identity, so they took us to Shangjing."

Fan Xian frowned again and said, "They definitely didn't have good intentions."

Si Lili turned her head, smiled, and looked at him, saying, "Do you have good intentions? Or do you think the Qing Kingdom's emperor, the Qing Kingdom's court, would have good intentions towards my family?"

Fan Xian was momentarily speechless. After a self-deprecating laugh, he said, "After all, we are enemy states."

"Before my father died... he said the same thing." Si Lili didn't know what she was thinking about. She slowly closed her eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering gently, "Later, my mother also died of illness, leaving only my brother and me alone and helpless. Since the Northern Qi royal family wanted to use our background, they naturally had to control us, so we grew up in the Northern Qi palace from a young age."

"So that's when you met the Northern Qi emperor?" Fan Xian walked to her side and tightened the cloak around her. "Come to think of it, you and this young emperor can be considered childhood sweethearts."

Si Lili smiled slightly, "His surname is Zhan. Back then, how could you tell that he had the slightest hint of imperial bearing? He was about the same age as me, but he was like my younger brother, playing around in the palace every day."

"Then how could you willingly serve as a Northern Qi spy and even return to the Qing Kingdom's capital undercover?" This was something Fan Xian was very interested in.

"The Northern Qi emperor wanted to marry me." Si Lili turned around, looking at Fan Xian with a half-smile, "And I bear national and family grudges, and I am irreconcilable with the current royal family of the Qing Kingdom. So I requested to return home. That was a very good reason."

Fan Xian shook his head, "That reason is not sufficient at all."

Si Lili smiled slightly and said, "The main reason is that the Empress Dowager simply wouldn't allow me to marry the Emperor, so she granted my request to return to my country and let Northern Qi's spies cooperate with me to build a base on the Liujing River in the capital."

Fan Xian thought of something and hesitated to speak.

Si Lili guessed what he was thinking. Her eyes swirled, revealing a hint of charm, and she explained softly, "Si Ling, who is by my side, and those attendants are all experts from Northern Qi. Some are good at using drugs. Those customers who want to share the bed with me naturally cannot touch my body. Someone will take my place."

Fan Xian raised his eyebrows, a hint of nonchalance on his delicate face. He smiled and said, "Why do you have to explain this to me?"

"Don't you want to hear it?" Si Lili was, after all, a woman, with a crystal-clear heart. She had long seen through some of Fan Xian's little thoughts, so she wasn't angry. Instead, she asked softly.

Fan Xian smiled and said quietly, "At least you didn't drug me that night."

"If I had known earlier that you were Fei Jie's student, I would have stayed far away from you, to avoid... having to fall for your drugs and those low-class medicines." Si Lili glared at him, charming and alluring.

Fan Xian was a little uncomfortable being looked at. He chuckled and retaliated by looking back into the young lady's eyes, "Then, when you woke up that day and found yourself drugged, weren't you afraid? Did you think that your virginity had been lost so carelessly, and feel that it wasn't worth it?"

The wind by the lake didn't have much of the warmth of early spring. Instead, it was a bit chilly, causing the leafless reeds to sway aimlessly. As the wind blew on Si Lili's face, she felt that the heat on her face seemed to have subsided a little, but she didn't know that there were still two streaks of red, revealing her shyness.

After a long while, Si Lili gently bit her lower lip and said, "Of course, I felt a bit resentful after waking up that day, but thinking..." She bravely raised her head, looked at Fan Xian's extremely handsome face, and said with a smile, "Thinking that my first night was spent with such a pretty little boy like you, it was worth it."

Fan Xian never expected Si Lili to speak so boldly, so provocatively, that he didn't know how to reply for a while. After a long time, he stuttered, "This... this."

"That... what?" Si Lili looked at Fan Xian with a half-smile, her eyes soft.

"I always feel that since you are a descendant of the Qing Kingdom's royal family, you are indeed taking risks by frequenting the pleasure boats every day. What if the other party wasn't me, but a lecher who is good at using drugs?" Fan Xian coughed twice. For some reason, he was now a little concerned about Si Lili's dangerous situation back then.

Si Lili's expression faltered slightly, and she said softly, "I have never thought of myself as a descendant of the royal family. I am just a pitiful woman burdened with blood feuds, but I don't know how to avenge them. Master Fan, don't misunderstand."

——————————————————————

At night, the envoy's carriage team set up camp on a high ground by the lake. The carriages were arranged in a semi-circle to protect the outside, and the lights in the tents in the middle had long been extinguished. Si Lili's and Fan Xian's residences were next to each other. Perhaps the heart-to-heart talk during the day had been too exhausting for these strangely-related young men and women, so there was no climbing over walls, no ripped cloth, and no erotic stories happening in the dark night.

Everything was quiet. In the distance, the Black Riders' outposts were surveying on the slopes. Around the camp, there were also mixed patrols of Tiger Guards and Inspectorate secret agents.

The white moonlight in the sky shone on every corner of the earth. Tonight, there were no clouds, no wind, and no stars. The silver moonlight was like the gently stroking hands of fairies, caressing the people in the camp and urging them to go to sleep quickly in order to cope with tomorrow's hard journey. Fan Xian would not allow Xiao En to get out of the car, so he was still sitting in that well-sealed carriage. The moonlight shone on the black carriage, reflecting a strange light.

Late at night, the entire camp seemed to have fallen into a sweet dream. A black figure floated to Xiao En's carriage like a gust of wind, took out a key from his body, dipped it in a cloth soaked with oil, and then inserted it into the keyhole of the car door. The key entered the hole without making a sound, which showed how careful he was.

The car door was pushed open. Xiao En slowly raised his head and stared at the night traveler at the door. The fine iron shackles that should have tied his hands and feet had long been unlocked and placed steadily on the car board.

Xiao En got out of the carriage. His white hair draped behind his shoulders, competing with the moonlight in the sky for silver brilliance. He glanced coldly around and frowned slightly, knowing that there was a big problem. But there was no time to think too much. The old man glanced at Fan Xian's camp, and his whole person disappeared into the lakeside night like a black shadow.

……

……

Fan Xian, who should have been asleep long ago, was now sitting in a chair in the tent with his eyes open, gently fiddling with a teacup with his fingers. There was a very light dose of anesthetic in the teacup, mixed with the seeds of the hibiscus tea and the taste of the tea, making it extremely difficult to taste.

Sensing the slight changes in the aura outside, he began to count.

"One, two, three, four..."