Su Fan had truly witnessed what it meant to be able to drink. Xia Yun had consumed fifteen jin of wine, yet her stomach hadn't grown even slightly larger. He had no idea where all that alcohol went.
With Da Niu no longer blocking his path, Su Fan easily reached the main gate.
Two people were still guarding the gate, and Su Fan wasn't sure if they would stop them.
Upon reaching the gate, Su Fan didn't rush out. Instead, he turned to face the crowd in the Hall of United Gathering, who were enthusiastically drinking.
"Esteemed Leaders! My family has a sudden emergency, so I must take my leave. Please convey my congratulations to Leader Xu on my behalf tonight!"
Su Fan clasped his hands and spoke to the crowd.
Hearing Su Fan's words, everyone present, whether they knew him or not, clasped their hands in return.
"We will surely pass on your message, brother!"
"Thank you!"
Su Fan thanked them and turned to leave.
The guards at the gate merely glanced at Su Fan and didn't stop him at all.
"Leader Gou, who was that? He looked unfamiliar?"
Someone who had been about to respond to Su Fan asked curiously.
"I don't know either."
The other person shrugged.
"You don't know him, yet you spoke to him?"
The first person looked at him speechlessly.
"Ah, he's a brother invited by the great Leader Xu, one of our own. If we don't know him now, we'll get to know him later. Weren't we not acquainted before either?"
"You have a point. Come, let's drink."
He thought about it and felt that what was said made sense, so he didn't dwell on it.
Poor Xu Dalei, he died without anyone noticing. It wasn't until nightfall, after everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, and it was time for the wedding ceremony, that Xu Dalei was discovered missing. A search revealed his body in the bridal chamber.
The wedding instantly turned into a funeral, a joyous occasion into a somber one.
Time for another feast.
Su Fan ran down the mountain and was suddenly bewildered to find that his horse was gone from the foot of the mountain.
He had planned to teleport back earlier, so to avoid the horse starving from being tethered, he hadn't tied it up. Now, the horse was gone.
"My horse is gone, no, the horse... uh, it means we have to walk back."
Su Fan said awkwardly to Xia Yun.
"It's fine, I can do it."
Xia Yun didn't seem too bothered. She wasn't some pampered young lady. Although she was the daughter of the Pingnan Lord, which sounded like a spoiled rich girl, the reality was that when she was young, her father wasn't yet a general, just a common soldier. Xia Yun and her mother lived in the countryside, and life was very hard.
Therefore, walking a distance was something she could endure.
"That's good then."
Su Fan nodded.
He went to the side and changed back into his soldier's uniform.
Only by wearing this could he avoid the prying eyes of the surrounding bandits.
It had taken Su Fan over two hours to ride here. If they walked back, they wouldn't even reach the bandit suppression camp in four hours.
It was completely dark before Su Fan had only covered a quarter of the distance.
"Let's rest here for the night."
Su Fan said helplessly.
There were no villages or towns nearby, so they couldn't find a place to stay and had to make camp on the spot.
Xia Yun had no objections and nodded slightly.
Su Fan went to find some dry firewood. The nights were cold, and without a fire, they might freeze.
"By the way, how did you get captured?"
After lighting the campfire with a fire starter, they sat by the fire, and Su Fan asked Xia Yun with some curiosity.
Logically, given Xia Yun's status, she shouldn't have been captured.
"I came to find my father. I was captured by bandits on the way. All my guards were killed, and my maids are all dead too."
Xia Yun said with a hint of sadness.
"Why did you come all the way here to find the Pingnan Lord? This war-torn land is not easy to stay in."
Su Fan looked at Xia Yun with some confusion.
He had to admit, looking at Xia Yun's face illuminated by the firelight was quite pleasing to the eye.
"At home, they bullied me, so I had to come find my father."
Xia Yun said, looking down.
"Someone dared to bully you?"
Su Fan was surprised. Someone dared to bully the daughter of the Pingnan Lord.
"They said my father wouldn't return from the battlefield."
Xia Yun said in a low voice.
Su Fan's heart stirred, as if he had thought of something.
"Who said that?"
Su Fan asked with a frown.
"The son of the Minister of War, and many other officials' children said the same thing."
Xia Yun told Su Fan.
Hearing Xia Yun's words, Su Fan seemed to have an idea.
"Alright, let's not talk about it anymore. You should sleep."
Su Fan didn't want to ask any more questions and urged Xia Yun to sleep quickly.
Since he would return to reality as soon as he slept, and he couldn't go back in his current situation, he would stand guard for Xia Yun.
"You sleep, I can stand guard. Even though I can't see, I can hear. I'll wake you if there's any movement."
Xia Yun, however, insisted that Su Fan sleep. Su Fan had just saved her, and she couldn't let him stand guard for her again.
"It's fine, you sleep."
Su Fan said to Xia Yun without concern.
"Then, I'll take over in the second half of the night."
Xia Yun thought about it and still felt it was better for them to take turns guarding, so they could both get some rest.
"Okay."
Su Fan didn't argue with Xia Yun on this matter and agreed with a nod.
Su Fan began to process the information he had received today.
The son of the Minister of War said the Pingnan Lord wouldn't return from the battlefield?
The son of the Minister of War likely wouldn't speak without reason. Even Xia Yun had traveled such a long distance because of this statement.
And Xiao Yan's purpose in sending him here was to investigate evidence of Fang Shijie colluding with the Ministry of War to attempt rebellion.
The two seemed to be connected. Could it be that the Minister of War had indeed colluded with Fang Shijie? Had they bribed people in the military to seize military power from the Pingnan Lord?
Su Fan frowned deeply at this thought.
This now involved the Minister of War and the Pingnan Lord, which made things rather difficult.
"Sigh!"
Su Fan sighed.
This Xiao Yan, sending him here without a word and giving him such a difficult task, was truly a dog!
...
Far away in the capital, Xiao Yan rubbed his nose.
"Achoo!"
He suddenly sneezed.
"It's getting cold. I'm wearing a bit too little today."
He said, tightening the brocade robe around him.
"How is the surveillance on the Minister of War's side?"
Xiao Yan asked Chen Fang, who had returned.
"The Minister of War shows no unusual behavior for now. He is very cautious, but his son is easier to handle."
Chen Fang reported the results of the day's surveillance to Xiao Yan.
"Don't touch his son yet. It's not the right time. Just keep an eye on them."
Xiao Yan instructed Chen Fang, telling him not to act rashly.
"Yes!"
Chen Fang responded and disappeared into the night again.
Xiao Yan stretched and returned directly to his palace.
"Ling'er! I'm here!"
Xiao Yan pushed open the door and pounced on Zhao Ling'er, who was completely unprepared.
Caught off guard, Zhao Ling'er was immediately knocked onto the bed by Xiao Yan.
"You! When did you get in?"
Zhao Ling'er feigned anger.
Zhao Ling'er had now been made Crown Princess by Xiao Yan and had been smoothly brought into the palace. The Zhao family's status in Tianlong City had also risen significantly.
Old Zhao, who had previously felt ashamed of his daughter secretly keeping a man at home, now had a smile on his face at all times, simply because Xiao Yan was the current Crown Prince!