After rebirth, she became the favorite of the powerful minister.

A doomed deal?

The teenage girl, with a stern face, told him righteously that this was a deal from which there would be no return. She looked a little fierce, but more of it was naive and childish and funny.

As naive and ridiculous as Yuan Ge.

"They all say that you look a bit like her. I didn't think so at first, but now I see that you are as ignorant and ridiculous as her when you speak so righteously and are not concerned with worldly matters! Who doesn't know that this is a business that will be ruined if something goes wrong? But, with such a big stall here and so many mouths to feed, what can I do? Yuan Junfeng is old, and his ambitions have long been worn away. Now he just hopes to live out his life in peace... But God likes to play tricks on people. He is the only one left in the entire Yuan family, and his wish to live out his life in peace will never be fulfilled! The third brother is also like this. He has been depressed for half his life because of a woman. In the end, the huge Zhixuan Mountain was supported by me!"

"Outsiders think Zhixuan Mountain is still as glorious as it was in the past, but in fact, it has been rotten to the core for a long time!" Zhuang Lichuan sneered and roared, "I have begged and pleaded with everyone to survive until today, but you are all noble and upright. You are judging me from a high position? If it weren't for me, Zhixuan Mountain would have been gone long ago!"

He was so excited that spit was sprayed all over people's faces. Yuan Ge raised his teacup to block it. In his memory, Jin Su seemed to have said the same thing, saying that Zhi Xuanshan was rotten to the core.

"But... at the beginning, Zhixuan Mountain didn't have businesses all over the world, and there weren't even so many students who came here because of its reputation. But even so, there was no one on Zhixuan Mountain who didn't have enough food to eat." Yuan Ge put down her teacup, without a smile on her face, and her eyes looked particularly big, and her sharp eyes seemed to be able to pierce people's hearts. She mercilessly pierced Zhuang Lichuan's self-touching, "Why did Zhixuan Mountain need to beg for help at that time? Why is the inside of Zhixuan Mountain so rotten? Shouldn't you know better than anyone else?"

"The infinitely expanding desire cannot be satisfied by any amount of money. They begin to yearn for the power of life and death, begging for a share of the spoils in Shengjing City, and even to enjoy the credit of following the emperor. They fantasize that one day they will be second to none and above everyone else... Elder." Yuan Ge called him softly, his eyes compassionate, "You said that the first elder and the third elder no longer have those ambitions, but have you forgotten that Zhixuan Mountain... was not originally established for such 'ambitions'! You beg for help not for the people of Zhixuan Mountain, but just to satisfy your own ever-expanding desires!"

"What do you know!" Zhuang Lichuan, whose thoughts were exposed by a few words, immediately became angry and embarrassed. "What do you, an outsider, know?! Everything I did was for Zhixuan Mountain!... Haha, it's ridiculous to say it. Why should I say so much to an outsider like you?"

"They are outsiders, what about me?" A familiar voice came from the darkness, "Grandfather... since you don't want to explain to outsiders, why don't you tell your granddaughter what you did in private? Or, what did you take from Yuan Ge's secret room?"

Zhuang Lichuan was startled suddenly, as if struck by lightning.

He belatedly recalled the familiar silver hairpin he had just seen - wasn't it the one Mengdie had been wearing these past two days? The little girl had never liked jewelry or gemstones, and most of the time she would just wear a simple ponytail, or a hairpin, which was usually a simple wooden or silver hairpin. Because they were very common, he rarely paid attention to them.

Zhuang Lichuan turned his head almost in slow motion, and sure enough, he saw his eldest granddaughter standing there with her lips pursed. Her face was full of disbelief, which made him feel choked up. He opened his mouth and said, "Mengdie..." His voice was hoarse, and his throat was dry and uncomfortable, but his heart was beating violently, as if it was going to burst out of his chest - he had never felt so uneasy and guilty.

This was his first grandchild, so he naturally devoted the most effort to her. The little girl was very good-looking. Although she was noisy like a tomboy and lacked the reserve and restraint of a girl, she was kind-hearted, upright, and had some decent martial arts skills to protect herself. Zhuang Lichuan thought that this was already very good. A few years ago, the little girl said she wanted to travel down the mountain. He thought that what he had done in these years was more or less shameful, and it would be better if the little girl could stay away from him. If something went wrong, he could still get rid of her.

Who would have thought that everything was fine... Zhuang Lichuan defended himself in an almost incoherent manner, "Mengdie, don't listen to their nonsense. Grandfather, whatever Grandfather did in this life was for the good of Zhixuan Mountain and for your good, Mengdie... they framed Grandfather because they wanted to take all the treasures here for themselves. You have to believe Grandfather... child..."

It turns out that language can be so pale and powerless.

Zhuang Mengdie tilted her head. The grandfather who was closest to her in the past, calling her name almost humbly and explaining to her, seemed so strange... She sighed softly, her eyes fell on the wooden shelf not far away, where there were many bottles and jars with different labels. She was standing there just now, having her acupuncture points pressed, watching the whole process of her grandfather framing someone but failing, and then drugging someone. She had never seen the grandfather holding a dagger with a ferocious face, and it was hard for her to imagine.

She raised her hand and pointed there. "Thirty-seven bottles. I counted them several times. I stared at the marks I couldn't understand, wishing I could stare holes in them. Then, they might fall to the ground and attract your attention... I hated my poor kung fu. I couldn't open the acupuncture points and block my ears. Grandfather... you don't know, I was already there before you even stepped into this secret room. At first, I didn't believe you would do such a thing. Now... I still can't believe it."

"I told myself that what you hear may not be what you really mean, but what you see may be true. You may not be sincere, and you may have something to hide..." Her voice became lower and lower, so low that it was almost inaudible, like a sigh that drifted with the wind from a distant time and space. She said, "But... the place where Yuan Ge fell off the cliff, I told you about it when I came back last time. There is a snake cave below, full of poisonous snakes. I also told you to find a few people with better martial arts to clear it out. Grandfather, you clearly promised me... Later, I wrote back to bring up the old matter, and you replied that it was okay, but why is the snake cave still there after a year, and why did Yuan Ge fall off the cliff there!"

The crying voice suddenly rose, "Grandfather! Is Yuan Ge's death an accident? Please tell me!"

Yuan Ge suddenly turned his head and looked at the snake cave... and this episode?