Having left Cangzhou, the envoy, under the distant escort of the Black Knights, advanced northward slowly but steadily. The Northern Qi State was not directly north of Qing, but rather to the northeast. The border between the two countries was dotted with a number of independent and weak vassal states. At the easternmost coast was the largest city in the world, the most prosperous seaport – Dongyi City.

The envoy chose a route that did not pass through the vassal states, as the more cities they passed, the harder it was to defend. Of course, the execution of secret agreements between the two countries was even less likely to pass through Dongyi City. What if that once-demented Si Gu Jian suddenly went mad, causing a three-nation war? Who could bear the consequences?

Therefore, the envoy headed north along the wilderness, then detoured eastward around the Great Lake. Although the journey was slightly longer, it was quieter, and apart from some bandits, there should be no powerful forces with ill intentions.

A silence fell. Xiao En was silent, Si Lili was silent, and even Fan Xian, the most important figure in the envoy, began to fall silent. Everyone's silence had its own reasons.

……

……

Fan Xian removed the thin needle from Xiao En's hand, carefully examining the old man's increasingly haggard face. Xiao En suddenly opened his eyes, two beams of cold light in his eyes striking Fan Xian's face as if they were real. He smiled slightly and said, "This junior has thick skin and is not afraid of being watched."

"I have a question." Xiao En slowly closed his eyes. "Why did you tie my arm with that cloth strip? I can guess that this method can make my blood vessels more prominent, but is it necessary for you to inject venom into my blood vessels so laboriously?"

"Yes," Fan Xian said with a smile. Intravenous injection was, of course, faster and more violent than food poisoning. No one in this world knew the means of intravenous injection, but that didn't mean Fan Xian couldn't. The terrifying Xiao En before him would not be affected by ordinary poisons, and his *zhenqi* was too astonishing. Only by using intravenous injection could the desired effect be achieved.

Xiao En frowned, and after a long while, he suddenly said, "This technique seems familiar, and I admit, it is indeed very effective... It's a pity that I'm probably really old, I actually forgot who it was."

Fan Xian was shocked in his heart, but there was no reaction on his face. He smiled and said, "Mr. Xiao, take your time to think about it."

……

……

"Those cavalry in the distance, are they the Black Dwarfs under Chen Pingping?" Xiao En said a sentence very casually.

Fan Xian was slightly startled. Thinking that there were no windows on either side of his carriage, and the layers were filled with iron plates, the other party could still know the situation of the Black Knights surrounding them in the distance, which was truly amazing. He then responded gently, "It is indeed the Black Knights. The surprise attack from a thousand *li* away back then was carried out by the predecessors of this team of cavalry." This referred to many years ago when Chen Pingping led the Black Knights to abduct Xiao En from a wedding and take him back to Qing.

That event was the greatest humiliation of Xiao En's life and left him with indelible trauma.

"When are you going to kill me?" Xiao En asked again in a very ordinary tone, without a trace of fluctuation in his voice.

These questions, which jumped so rapidly, contained a kind of psychological hypnosis. If it were an ordinary person, they might unconsciously fall into the trap—but Fan Xian was not an ordinary person. He said with slight surprise, "What?"

Xiao En smiled slightly, and a faint red color emanated from his squinted eyes: "I think Chen Pingping would not want me to return to the North."

Fan Xian shook his head and said, "I have always been too lazy to think about the ideas of the older generation, as long as I do my job well."

"You are a very good young man." Xiao En quietly looked at him, slowly moved his wrist, and put the heavy iron chain on the table.

"Why does Mr. Xiao say that?"

"We have traveled together for many days. Although Lord Fan often lingered in that little girl's carriage, he did not forget his duties because of his lust for beauty." Xiao En said lightly, "The key is that you have never stopped your two practices every morning and late at night. This kind of perseverance, even in my day, was far inferior to you."

Fan Xian smiled and responded, "A clumsy bird flies early. I know that my strength is not good, and my talent is not enough, so I naturally have to practice more."

Xiao En shook his head: "Your talent is very good, and your strength is already very strong, but you have never challenged a real expert alone, so you cannot stimulate the true strength in your body."

Fan Xian quietly looked at the old man's aging face, those eyes as deep as ancient wells, and could not help but think in his heart, could it be that you are the first real expert I have to face independently?

After leaving Cangzhou City, the envoy entered the jurisdiction of the Dingbei Army. This place was a grassland, and the military camp was hundreds of *li* away. Fan Xian had no desire to meet Yan Xiaoyi, the ninth-rank expert, so the envoy naturally detoured. Anyway, with the Black Knights protecting them along the way, it was unlikely that anyone in the world would dare to do anything. A few days ago, several groups of bandits who gathered in the mountains sent scouts to inquire, but after seeing the momentum of the envoy and the Black Knights in front and to the side, they were frightened and retreated back into the mountains, not daring to come out lightly for several months.

Xiao En remained silent, and Si Lili also remained silent, and gradually became haggard.

Fan Xian looked indifferently at the two people he was escorting, but he didn't know what he was thinking in his heart. These days of being together, he felt a trace of pity for Si Lili for some reason, firstly pitying her background, and secondly pitying her future encounters, but Fan Xian was confident that his mind was clear and that he would not take actions that were penny-wise and pound-foolish. If he really had something happen with Si Lili, then the Overwatch Council's plan in Northern Qi would have big problems.

He didn't know how the young emperor of Northern Qi knew that Si Lili was still a virgin. But if the other party found out that Si Lili had lost her virginity, the Red Sleeve Brothel plan would naturally not be effective.

But Fan Xian seemed reluctant to face Si Lili's somewhat lost face, and he didn't seem to have enough confidence in his own control, so he never got on Si Lili's carriage again, but instead boarded Xiao En's carriage more often, getting some gossip news and Jianghu secrets from many years ago from this seemingly silent old man. On the one hand, he was really learning a lot of knowledge from this once most terrifying intelligence leader, and on the other hand, Fan Xian did not want Xiao En to have too much time to arrange backhands.

The conversations between the two old and young dark figures, as the journey progressed, and as the temperature outside the carriage decreased, gradually turned from the Northern Wei Dynasty of that year to the current world.

"No one can truly unify the world." Xiao En looked at him and said lightly. In these days, he had gradually adapted to Fan Xian's conversation with him. This young official named Fan Xian was indeed a good person to chat with.

"Our Majesty the Emperor once had two opportunities. One was after the Third Northern Expedition." Fan Xian frowned and said, "With the extreme military power of the Qing Kingdom at that time, it was fully sufficient to go north in one fell swoop and eliminate Northern Qi."

Xiao En shook his head: "Although I was already in prison at that time and didn't hear any news, but listening to your explanations these days, I think that the reason why the Qing Kingdom's Emperor suddenly stopped was only two possible reasons. One was the internal problems of the imperial court, and the other was that he encountered some kind of powerful resistance, which made him feel that rashly going north was a very risky idea after weighing the pros and cons."

Fan Xian thought for a while, the Ye family's affairs had not yet broken out at that time, and the imperial court was basically under the control of the Emperor and his mother's subordinates. In principle, there should be no internal troubles. As for external enemies... his brow furrowed. Could it be that there was still some force in this world that could deter the powerful Qing Kingdom state machine?

"The Temple." Xiao En seemed to have guessed what Fan Xian was thinking and gave a reference answer.

Fan Xian shook his head: "An object that is too ethereal is not enough to resist human ambition or the desire for power. Unifying the world and unifying the four seas is too great a temptation for an Emperor."

Xiao En smiled slightly and admitted his statement: "There have been years of wars between the North and the South. Even if Southern Qing defeated the Qi Kingdom, it would take at least ten years to truly stabilize the situation and eliminate all the restoration forces. What's more, don't forget Dongyi City... the place with the highest concentration of ninth-rank experts in the world. Although this force is not enough to defend the country and expand its territory, if it is entangled into a stick and led by that idiot Si Gu Jian, it is really possible to do something crazy."

"The most stable thing is a triangle, and the three kingdoms standing side by side is actually the most stable structure." Fan Xian nodded, "Even if the strengths of the three parties are different, whoever wants to break this balance first is most likely to suffer backlash."

"The current imperial court of Qing is also the same." Xiao En looked at him with a smile that was not a smile, "The Emperor, the courtiers, and that seemingly crazy but actually extremely insidious Eldest Princess in your mouth constitute the triangle you mentioned. Whoever wants to break this balance first will suffer."

In these days, Fan Xian did not avoid talking about some of the things in the Qing Kingdom's imperial court. Anyway, it was not a secret. If the old man in front of him could not die in his hands after returning to Northern Qi, he would definitely have many ways to know.

Fan Xian's temples were aching faintly, and he didn't know why he started to miss Si Lili's gentle fingers. He said softly, "If everyone is smart enough, let's maintain the current balance for now."

"Impossible." Xiao En looked at him, "Because you made the first move, the other party will definitely react. I bet that the current Kyoto has already become a mess. Lord Fan, sending me back to the North this time, you happened to miss this excitement, which is a bit of a pity."

Fan Xian was shocked, and then began to listen to Xiao En's somewhat indifferent analysis of the situation in Kyoto.