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

According to Zhan Yanfeng himself, he did say a lot of things to Yuan Ge, and they were basically all true.

But what he didn't tell Yuan Ge was that the Murong family first came to him, not Zhan Hongchang.

The Murong family prided themselves on being noble and upright, but they were inherently arrogant and rude, and were very good at looking down on others. In their eyes, Zhi Xuanshan was just a small, unremarkable family with no background. What's more, a servant from such a small family... would be considered too low a status to contact him.

So they went to find Zhan Yanfeng.

"The young steward from the Murong family called himself Xiaojiu, but his real name is unclear." Zhan Yanfeng sat down on the stool prepared for him earlier, glanced at everyone present, and continued, "I, a Third Elder who seems unworthy of my title, might be seen as Zhixuan Mountain's biggest weakness. Xiaojiu said that if Murong could help me, within three months, the entire Zhixuan Mountain would be mine. In return, I would need to hand over Feng Qingtan to them. I declined on the grounds that Feng Qingtan was only a guest at Zhixuan Mountain."

If the Murong family's goal was the gold, silver, and treasures on Zhixuan Mountain or their prestige and status, this deal might have been successful.

"They just happened to want Feng Qingtan." He forced a smile and then naturally distanced himself from the matter. "It's not that Feng Qingtan and I have a close relationship, but the Murong family went to so much trouble to find a doctor... It's obvious that someone in the Murong family is sick, and seriously ill."

"Since I hate Murong so much, and there is such a good thing...how could I hand over Feng Qingtan?" He smiled, a cold smile, his cheeks were tense, and his back teeth were rubbing bit by bit, as if he was eating his flesh raw.

That kind of hatred may seem light but it is actually deeply rooted in the bones and blood.

Song Wenyuan glanced at Zhan Yanfeng, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not entirely sure. At the time, I was unwilling to cooperate and was also at odds with them, so I naturally didn't want to get too involved with them. But you could ask Feng Qingtan himself... maybe he knows more than I do."

Xu Chengjin paused with the fan in his hand. "Don't make such random accusations. My teacher has been living in seclusion in the medicine garden these years. He rarely comes into contact with anyone, let alone the Murong family, or even the servants in your courtyard!"

"Heh." Zhan Yanfeng glanced at him and sneered meaningfully, "You've been staying at home since you came, but what about before you came?"

"You fart!"

There are really not many people that Young Master Xu cares about in his life. Yuan Ge is one, Feng Qingtan is one, and even Song Wenyuan has to step back in comparison. How could he tolerate others making such sarcastic accusations at this moment?

He immediately rolled up his sleeves and was about to rush forward to beat the man, but Song Wenyuan raised his hand to stop him. Song Wenyuan stopped the furious Xu Chengjin and gestured to the other side, "The Third Elder should know what I want to know."

He nodded gently, without any sharpness in his expression, but his pair of eyes, dark and colorful, seemed to be able to penetrate people's hearts, enough to see the other person's calculations clearly.

Seeing such a look, Zhan Yanfeng couldn't help but behave a little more honestly. He glanced at Hong Lan very quickly, pondered for a moment, and then said softly, "Yes, this matter... I know about it, and I acquiesced to it." After saying that, he raised the corners of his mouth, twisted his fingertips lightly, frowned and smiled softly, looking very gentle.

……

That night, under a dark moon and high winds, a group of guards descended the mountain, galloping at top speed towards Anshi. Their movements were not secretive, and even seemed a bit too loud in the quiet mountain forest. A mischievous young man emerged from an unremarkable wooden house halfway up the mountain. After a brief glance, he pulled a gray pigeon from his arms, patted its head, and tossed it away.

After watching the pigeon fluttering into the dark night sky until it disappeared, the young man withdrew his gaze, raised his hand to wipe the tip of his nose, turned around, closed the door of the wooden house, went down the mountain from an inconspicuous path, and soon arrived at the inn at the foot of the mountain.

The next day, residents who were light sleepers reported hearing what they thought were civet cats that night, one after another, for a long time. But they figured civet cats weren't supposed to be around in that season... Furthermore, the sounds were eerie and creepy, and word of mouth added a touch of the supernatural to the story. Suddenly, everyone in this simple, honest town felt a sense of apprehension. Fortunately, the civet cats only cried for one night, and then there was no more.

Just because that "raccoon cat" was caught on the spot by Yanhuo.

Also taken away that night was Xiaojiu, the Murong family member Zhan Yanfeng had mentioned as someone who had come looking for him. Xiaojiu had been staying at the inn for a while, and since the situation on the mountain was "very good," he naturally felt safe. The raccoon cat called out outside the window for a long time, and he finally opened the window with a reluctant expression, yawning and wearing his clothes. He opened his mouth to yell, but was immediately grabbed by Yanhuo, who had followed him all the way.

There was no sound at all.

When the inn's waiter went to deliver the meal as usual early in the morning, he found the money left by the other party on the table, but the person was gone.

Xiaojiu was a young man who looked to be in his twenties. He had an exceptionally handsome face and a pair of eyes that were full of cleverness, making him look younger than his actual age.

A man of his age, in an ordinary family, would be nothing more than a half-grown teenager. Even though he had traveled extensively for the Murong family over the years and had done many shameful things, and even though he considered himself to have experienced a lot, he was still not very impressive in front of Song Wenyuan. His arrogant and swearing quickly turned into a bluffing and aggressive attitude.

Little Nine was Murong Jiu, adopted by a trusted confidant of Old Master Murong. He was given the surname Murong and, being the ninth child, was named Murong Jiu. He originally had eight older siblings, but several had disappeared over the years, leaving only one older sister and two older brothers: Murong Yi, Murong San, and Murong Ba. As his adoptive father's youngest son, he usually spent most of his time with the family, and with this single assignment in recent years, he had a leisurely and comfortable life.

As for Master Murong, according to his account, he has been living in seclusion more and more these years, especially in the past few months. Even his three meals a day are delivered to the house by his adoptive father and served out again after the meal. It seems that apart from his adoptive father, few people can see the master... As for the younger generations of the clan who want to pay a visit, they just kowtow through the curtain, say a few words to ask about his well-being, and usually leave in less than an incense stick of time.

Everyone in the clan said that the old man was seriously ill and was about to die, but the doctor in the mansion said that he was just ill and needed to rest.