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

The heroic and confident Zhuang Batian was frozen on the spot - she was acupunctured.

Unable to move her entire body, she turned her exceptionally large and flexible eyes to reach for Nan Yin's location. However, at this moment, her usual arrogant and domineering aura was forced to be suppressed within her motionless body, adding a touch of bluffing. "Nan Yin, what are you doing? Let me go! You are afraid of this and that, but I am not. Hurry up, let me go!"

His voice is quite loud.

By this time, the sky was already bright, and the eyes of people who were looking around gradually gathered. There were good and bad people among them, so I couldn't be careless.

Xu Chengjin secretly wiped a sweat in her heart. After hearing this, instead of undoing the acupuncture points, she raised her hand and grabbed Zhuang Mengdie by the back of the collar and walked away, as if she was carrying a clawed cat. As she left without looking back, she lowered her voice and said earnestly, "My dear, why don't you listen to me? I know you have good intentions, but please don't make things worse here! I promise you, she will be fine, okay?"

"What's good? Do I look like I'm 'good' now?"

Miss Zhuang, who was being dragged along the ground by the collar and tiptoes, had never before suffered such a profound humiliation. Her clever movements were of no use at all. The only parts of her body that could move freely were her eyes and mouth, which naturally became increasingly busy chattering. "You say you can promise just by saying it? You don't feel the impact of this epidemic on yourself. You just said promises so lightly, 'Promise, promise!' If you could really promise, how could she have such an ending..."

Zhuang Mengdie's voice gradually lowered. In her anger, she spoke her mind without hesitation until she blurted out her words.

But it's too late.

Xu Chengjin's feet suddenly stopped, and the expression on his face quickly disappeared. He closed his eyes and looked up at the sky. The early morning sunlight shone unobstructed on his handsome and elegant but expressionless face. His face seemed to be covered with a layer of invisible ice, light, cold, and keeping people away.

Zhuang Mengdie couldn't see his expression, but the silence was a little uncomfortable. She coughed, but the apology rolled back between her lips. Instead, Xu Chengjin sighed softly and whispered, "Yes, if the guarantee worked...why would she be like this? She sent me down the mountain to deliver a letter, repeatedly telling me to stay out of Song Wenyuan's sight. I should have guessed it. If it was just a common thing, why would I have to avoid it? It's my fault..."

His voice was subdued, and it sounded a little less lively than usual.

"I..." Zhuang Mengdie opened her mouth. Nan Yin's feelings for Yuan Ge were no secret. Yuan Ge was practically his entire world on Zhixuan Mountain. If Yuan Ge were to get into trouble, Nan Yin would undoubtedly be among the most devastated. Zhuang Mengdie opened her mouth again, "I'm sorry, I..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the blocked acupoints were unblocked.

Master Xu, who had his acupuncture points unblocked, had a wooden face, looking at her with his eyelids raised. He said in a dull voice, "She is not the type to act rashly. Moreover, this matter concerns the life and death of everyone in Zhixuan Mountain. I think she has her own arrangements and plans. If you don't want to cause trouble, stay in your own yard and don't run around. And your grandfather's concubines, they used to be noisy and chaotic, but now they should be restrained... Let's go."

Zhuang Mengdie was slightly startled by his almost unfamiliar and serious expression. By the time she realized what was happening, he had already walked over ten steps. She hurriedly took two steps to catch up, "Nan Yin!"

The other person didn't stop walking, and Zhuang Mengdie didn't care. She just walked beside him at the same pace, explaining seriously and frankly, "I just said something without thinking. I didn't mean it like that. But Nan Yin, as you said, this matter concerns the entire Zhixuan Mountain. It's not just her problem. Now you want me to stay in my own courtyard and watch helplessly. I can't do that."

Xu Chengjin looked back, as if he was meeting Zhuang Mengdie for the first time, and looked at the little girl half a step away carefully.

The noisy and impetuous girl in my memory suddenly looked serious. Her eyes were large, and when she stared at people, she had a sense of authority without anger. In my memory, Zhuang Mengdie was away from home for many years and rarely came back. Whenever Ma talked about her, she couldn't help but sigh. She said that she didn't know whose temperament she had inherited. A good girl likes to travel around the country and never come home. Her words were full of worry.

These worries and complaints, as well as the tit-for-tat between her and Yuan Ge, are almost all Xu Chengjin's impression of Zhuang Mengdie.

But she said, "Nanyin, this is my home. I don't want to sit and wait for death, and I don't want to sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor. Although I don't understand medicine or pharmacology, I believe there must be something I can do... Only then can you feel at ease to do things that no one else can do."

Xu Chengjin was silent for a moment, and finally nodded.

The wide-eyed girl was clearly relieved, her fatigue visible in her wide grin. Xu Chengjin belatedly realized from that smile that this was indeed not a one-man war, and Zhixuan Mountain had never been a place where one could be slaughtered without a fight.

……

Feng Qingtan had a large study room with bookcases covering three walls. Even so, there were still many books that could not be put in, so Feng Qingtan tied them into bundles and placed them in the corner. These books were either simple enlightenment books or so obscure that they were almost extinct. In short, most of them were books that were rarely used throughout the year.

But if you really encounter those problems that even Feng Qingtan himself finds difficult, the answers are basically in those piles of old books that are covered with who knows how much dust.

The study door was locked. It was a small, mechanical lock. Xu Chengjin fiddled with it for a few seconds, and with a soft click, it unlocked. He curled his lips, thinking that after all these years, the mechanism for opening the door hadn't changed a single step... Anyone with a bit of foresight would have remembered it. The study looked exactly as it had back then, with large bookshelves lining three walls and reaching all the way to the ceiling. In the middle was a desk big enough for two round tables. A soft couch sat under the window; it was Yuan Ge's favorite spot.

In the corner not far away there was a ladder, and underneath the ladder were piles of old books.

But...Xu Chengjin's eyes froze and he even forgot to breathe.

There was a pile of books scattered on the ground.