What an affectionate and loyal Yan Bingyun!

These earnest words were laced with countless heartbreaks and despair. Even Fan Xian, with his heart of iron, couldn't help but sigh upon hearing them. Wei Hua's face was filled with rage, as he glared at Yan Bingyun, who was calmly seated on the chair, seemingly wanting to tear the enemy's chief spy into pieces.

Accompanied by faint sobs, Miss Shen was finally escorted out of the manor's prison cell.

Fan Xian sighed again, "What an affectionate and loyal woman." Despite saying so, he had great doubts in his mind. Even if that Miss Shen was the daughter of Shen Zhong, a high-ranking commander of the Northern Qi Imperial Guards, and even if Yan Bingyun had some emotional entanglement with her during his years of infiltration in Northern Qi... But who was Yan Bingyun? He was the highest-ranking Southern Qing spy captured by Northern Qi in the past fifteen years, held under extremely tight security. How could that Miss Shen have entered so openly and performed such a scene in front of the Southern Qing envoys at just the right moment?

Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he understood what his colleagues from the North were planning.

The room, which didn't feel like a prison cell, had become much quieter. Yan Bingyun, sitting on the chair, didn't stand up but poured himself a cup of tea and slowly drank it. This formidable figure who had been undercover in Northern Qi for many years had frost-like eyebrows and a cold expression, giving the impression that he didn't care about anything—not even his own life.

Wei Hua seemed to have calmed down from his earlier anger, frowned at Yan Bingyun, and said, "Young Master Yan, no matter what, we were considered friends in the past two years... We were all serving our respective countries, so it wasn't a big deal. But please remember that some things are unforgivable. After you leave this time, please remember never to set foot in my Great Qi again. His Majesty has already issued a secret decree through Lord Shen. If you dare to step into my Great Qi again in the future, my Great Qi will mobilize three thousand iron cavalry to cut off your head."

Yan Bingyun kept his head half-lowered, as if he hadn't heard him, gently playing with the handle of the teacup. Since his identity was exposed last year and he was imprisoned, this Young Master Yun, who was once adept at social gatherings in Shangjing, seemed to have become a natural mute.

"I'm here to see him today," Fan Xian said expressionlessly to Wei Hua. "I need a definite date for when I can take him back to the delegation."

"He can't return to the delegation. He can only leave Shangjing secretly. You need to know how many people in Shangjing... want to tear your Lord Yan's flesh alive," Wei Hua said icily.

Fan Xian shook his head and said, "His Majesty has decreed that I must bring Lord Yan back to the delegation. As for concealing our movements, we will naturally take care of that. Do you think we want to provoke unnecessary trouble?"

Wei Hua frowned. He knew that Xiao En and Si Lili had already entered Shangjing. The Southern Qing side had taken the initiative in this secret agreement, and it was indeed not good for their side to delay any longer. Furthermore, Fan Xian's intrusion into his residence last time had indeed caused much controversy, but the seemingly absurd proposal from the other side had, for some reason, truly moved the people in the palace, as well as that Lord Shen who held so much power.

"I will process the formalities immediately."

Fan Xian nodded calmly and said, "Can you give us some space? I'd like to talk to Lord Yan alone for a moment."

Wei Hua frowned, thinking that if they really wanted to discuss something, wouldn't it be more discreet to wait until Yan Bingyun returned to the delegation? After thinking it over, he didn't know what this Lord Fan wanted to do. He nodded, signaling the Deputy Pacification Commissioner to leave with him.

Only Fan Xian, Wang Qinian... and that Yan Bingyun, who had been keeping his head half-lowered and remained utterly cold, were left in the room.

——————————————————————

Fan Xian was completely unaware that he was in the Imperial Guards prison in an enemy country. With a warm smile, he dragged a chair over and sat in front of Yan Bingyun, looking at the young man's handsome face, and said, "My name is Fan Xian."

Fan Xian knew that he had entered the capital before Yan Bingyun was arrested. As the chief of the Supervisory Council in the North, the other party must have heard of his name.

As he expected, upon hearing the name Fan Xian, Yan Bingyun's fingers slowly left the extremely smooth handle of the teacup, and he raised his head to look at him.

However, his eyes were full of sarcasm and disdain, which surprised Fan Xian.

"Fan Xian? The illegitimate son of Vice Minister Fan Jian of the Ministry of Revenue, raised in Danzhou since childhood, fond of drinking, and without talent, that's all," Yan Bingyun spoke again. His voice was soft and gentle, completely inconsistent with the cold expression on his face. "What are you doing here?"

Fan Xian sighed and said, "Lord Yan, you've been imprisoned for more than half a year, and the world has changed a lot. Firstly, my father has become the Minister of Revenue, and secondly, the untalented me is now serving as the chief envoy of the delegation. The primary purpose of my visit to Northern Qi this time is to take you back to our country." For some reason, Yan Bingyun seemed to extremely dislike the name Fan Xian, and Fan Xian didn't understand why.

"Take me back to our country?" Yan Bingyun raised his head slowly again. He was only in his twenties, but there were already some silver strands in his eyebrows, giving him a strange feeling. "Who are you? Why should I believe you?"

"I am Fan Xian, currently a Department Director of the Supervisory Council," Fan Xian knew that the other party, as a chief spy, would be very careful. The other party must still be guessing whether he was a trick played by the Qi people, so he took out the badge from his waist and flashed it in front of Yan Bingyun.

Yan Bingyun's eyes swept over the wooden badge, and he frowned slightly, knowing that this badge was extremely difficult to fake, but he still couldn't believe that the person in front of him, who was even younger than himself, would become a Department Director of the Council. He knew that the Department Director was a transcendent existence below the Director, and the Eight Bureaus were nominally not under his jurisdiction, but in fact, they were all subject to his control.

Moreover, during his imprisonment for more than half a year, Yan Bingyun had already closed off his mind, and he would not believe any changes around him that seemed unreasonable. He dared not take any risks, because any information he revealed could lead to the complete annihilation of the Qing Kingdom's intelligence system in Northern Qi. This was a matter of great importance and required caution.

Wang Qinian, who had been silent on the side, stepped forward and said softly, "Lord Yan, Lord Fan is the newly appointed Department Director, and he came to the North specifically to rescue you from prison."

Yan Bingyun looked at Wang Qinian coldly and said, "Are you Wang, from the First Bureau?"

"Exactly." Facing Yan Bingyun, who remained seated on the chair, Wang Qinian felt somewhat nervous for some reason. Thinking that the other party had been imprisoned for more than half a year, Wang Qinian didn't know whether to admire him or sympathize with him. He imagined that those days must have been difficult to endure.

"I don't need you to confirm my identity," Fan Xian gently patted Yan Bingyun's shoulder, and said with a smile: "This matter is almost over anyway. You can remain silent and return to our country with the delegation, and then speak after you see Chen Pingping or your father. I think you will feel more at ease this way."

Hearing him say this, Yan Bingyun frowned, knowing that this could not be a scheme of the Northern Qi people.

But Fan Xian saw other abnormalities from the other party's frown. His face turned cold, and he carefully pinched Yan Bingyun's collar.

Yan Bingyun raised his head to look at him, his eyes showing a hint of mockery in addition to coldness, and said softly, "You want to see?"

"Yes," Fan Xian said calmly, and then slowly pulled open the white robe on Yan Bingyun's body with his fingers. The robe was as pure as clouds and snow, and as the fabric separated from Yan Bingyun's body, there was a very subtle tearing sound.

Yan Bingyun's expression remained unchanged, and not even his eyebrows twitched.

Fan Xian's face, however, became somewhat unsightly. Underneath the white robe was Yan Bingyun's terrifying neck skin, which was covered with red and purple scars, all of which were clearly new flesh. It seemed that it had been healing for a long time to recover to its current state. With so many wounds on the neck alone, one could imagine what kind of torture Yan Bingyun's body had suffered under this wide white robe.

Wang Qinian cursed a few words. Fan Xian, however, regained his calm face, looked at Yan Bingyun's cold face, and asked, "How long has it been since you were last tortured?"

"Three months," Yan Bingyun replied with a smile, as if this body that had suffered half a year of terrifying torture was not his own.

Fan Xian carefully straightened his collar and sighed, "Northern Qi knew when we were coming, so they stopped for three months. Even after three months, the wound is still so terrible. Lord Yan has really suffered."

Yan Bingyun glanced at him lightly, seeming somewhat dissatisfied with the words in this Department Director's mouth, and said coldly, "The things you care about seem a bit superfluous."

Fan Xian choked and didn't know what to say. He just wanted to express his concern, but he was ridiculed by this brother for not being professional enough.

……

……

"Before confirming the agreement, I won't say anything," Yan Bingyun looked into Fan Xian's eyes and said, "I'm just very curious, what means did the imperial court use to actually get me out of the hands of the Northern Qi people?"

Before Fan and Wang could answer, Yan Bingyun took a breath and said darkly, "Don't tell me that the imperial court would be stupid enough to exchange the grassland of Qianlong Bay for a useless guy like me."

"Don't worry, even if I'm willing, His Majesty won't be stupid enough to do that," Fan Xian shook his head helplessly, and told the Lord Yan the general contents of the agreement.

The room suddenly fell into an extremely strange silence. Yan Bingyun kept his head half-lowered and didn't speak for a long time. Fan Xian looked at him and suddenly heard Yan Bingyun mutter to himself, "Exchange Xiao En for me?"

"Idiot!"

Yan Bingyun suddenly raised his head and stared at Fan Xian with a mocking and angry gaze, but he still calmly suppressed his voice to an extremely low level.