Help! The cunning and treacherous minister and I were reborn together!

Xiao Zong visited the places where the disaster relief officials had stayed, but everything had changed, and he couldn't get any answers.

The person sent to monitor Liu Fei reported back that the other party had not made any unusual moves.

Xiao Zong thought to himself, "This guy is really good at keeping his cool. Since he's holding back, I'll give him a good beating."

As night fell and the lights in the Liu residence gradually went out, Liu Fei was fast asleep when suddenly someone outside shouted, "Thief!"

He suddenly woke up, got out of bed barefoot, opened the door, and asked the housekeeper, "What's missing?"

The steward scratched his head and said, "The chests in the storeroom were opened, but the gold, silver, and jade artifacts were all there. I wonder what the thief was looking for?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Fei's heart skipped a beat, and he turned and ran towards the study. The butler chased after him, reminding him to put on his shoes.

Upon reaching the door, he shut the butler out and walked to the bookshelf to activate the mechanism. The bronze crane lamp was twisted half a turn, and the bookshelf instantly moved backward, revealing a hidden space.

He opened the wooden box and saw that the account books and ledgers were still there, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Zong thought he was clever enough to find evidence by sneaking into his residence. How ridiculous! Why would he put something so important out in the open?

He closed the lid and was about to walk out when a long knife was suddenly pressed against his neck.

"Thank you, Lord Liu, for leading me to the evidence!"

"Lord Xiao... there must be some misunderstanding!"

Xiao Zong ignored his nonsense, knocked him unconscious with a single blow, and ordered Dou Zhao to take the man away. The rest of the Liu family were taken back to the prefectural office for questioning by the magistrate.

Liu Fei's case was personally investigated by Xiao Zong.

After questioning for a day and a night, the other party only admitted to framing the former prefect. The records of the disaster relief officials from nineteen years ago were hidden on orders from the emperor; he was merely following orders.

Xiao Zong flipped through the booklet. Much of the content was damaged by insects, making it either blurry or missing words. It would need to be taken back to Shengjing for restoration.

Yuan Zhi was investigating her mother's background, but made no progress in the past few days. Just then, Xiao Zong came over tonight and said that things were almost done. He asked her if she wanted to go back to the capital together.

Continuing to fight it out wasn't a solution, and she was also worried about her business in Shengjing. After thinking it over, she decided to go back with them.

The return journey was also by water, but this time there was one more person traveling with them: Liu Fei, the prefect of Shuozhou.

Yuan Zhi could roughly guess Xiao Zong's intentions.

Recently, *** has been winning over many court officials, and Liu Fei's confession will surely cause her a serious setback. If she doesn't want Liu Fei to enter the capital alive, she will definitely send someone to assassinate him, and then he will be able to hold more leverage over her.

Xiao Zong hadn't been to her cabin for several days, most likely because he was keeping watch over Liu Fei.

She had a vague feeling that the journey ahead wouldn't be peaceful.

As night fell, a small boat slowly approached, and five masked men dressed in black blended into the darkness.

The leader tied gunpowder to the side of the boat and gave a hand signal to the others. The men swung the rope around, wedged the hooked end into the ship's railing, and climbed up using the rope.

The group split up to search, and soon one of the men spotted Xiao Zong and Liu Fei on the ship. He set off a firework on the deck, and his companions, hearing the sound, quickly retreated.

Xiao Zong instructed Dou Zhao to guard Liu Fei, then broke through the window and intercepted a man in black who hadn't yet boarded the ship. The leader, seeing him in danger, lit the gunpowder and led the others away by oars.

Although the man in black was heartbroken, he was prepared to die and slit his own throat with his sword.

Xiao Zong was puzzled. The thieves spotted Liu Fei but didn't make a move, as if they were just trying to confirm that he was on the ship.

why?

Suddenly, as if struck by lightning, he had the answer in an instant!

They're going to destroy the ship!

boom--

The gunpowder exploded, the large ship rocked violently, and suddenly tilted to the right.

Inside the cabin, chests and cabinets were overturned, teapots and cups were broken, and the place was a complete mess.

Everyone, unaware of what had happened, rushed out in a panic. The helmsman and boatman, thinking they had hit something, inspected the boat and found a large hole in the hull, through which water was pouring in.

"What...what's going on?" the boatman exclaimed in despair.

Xiao Zong's expression was serious. He said, "Let's get to shore first and save our lives!"

"Easy for you to say! With a hole this big, the ship would have sunk before it even reached the shore!"

"If we sink closer to the shore, those who can swim will still have a chance to survive. It's better than sitting here waiting to die!" Xiao Zong drew his sword and ordered, "Set sail!"

The boatman shuddered and ordered his men to hoist the sails and set sail.

A wise man knows when to yield; if he doesn't comply, he'll be killed by this man before the ship even sinks!

The others huddled together, crying, praying that nothing bad would happen.

Yuan Zhi, clutching her bruised forehead, ran to Xiao Zong and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, are you hurt?"

Xiao Zong moved her hand away, saw her wound, and pulled her to go back for bandaging.

"It's a minor injury, nothing serious. The key now is how to get to shore safely."

Yuanzhi called over the boatman and asked if there was any way to remedy the situation.

The boatman thought for a moment and said that there was some tarpaulin in the hold, which could be used to cover the holes and perhaps provide some protection for a while. But now the hold was full of water, and even the most breathless person could not stay there for long, let alone secure the tarpaulin.

Xiao Zong said, "I'm a good swimmer, I'll go."

This whole thing started because of him, we can't let everyone on the ship suffer because of him!

The boatman gritted his teeth, "Either I die or I die, I'll go with you!"

Several men and women who could swim stepped out from the crowd and said they were willing to go with them.

Yuan Zhi instructed the others to prepare braziers and quilts, and to stand guard at the hatch. They would wait for a group of people to come aboard, then help them rub their hands and feet to prevent hypothermia.

However, people came and went, but Xiao Zong never came up. Yuan Zhi was very anxious and asked someone who was going down to check if he was alright.

Fifteen minutes later, Xiao Zong walked up stiffly, his face and hands pale from being soaked in water, and gave her a faint smile.

Yuan Zhi couldn't control her tears and rushed over to hug him, "Are you stupid? Do you want to die?"

Xiao Zong wanted to say a few words of comfort to her, but his teeth were chattering from the cold, and he couldn't form a coherent sentence for a long time.

Yuan Zhi was both angry and distressed. She rubbed his arm and led him to the brazier to warm up. After drinking a bowl of ginger soup, Xiao Zong felt better and got up to change his attendant.

"and many more!"

Yuan Zhi didn't know when he would come up again, so she handed him a pot of wine and told him to take it away.

“It’s not easy to carry.” Xiao Zong looked at her expectant, tearful eyes, removed the lid, took a swig, and stuffed the wine pot back into her hand. “I’ll drink the rest when I come out.”

Yuan Zhi nodded. "I'll wait for you."

Soon, many people reached their physical limit and could no longer go down, leaving only Xiao Zong, the boatman, and one passenger in the lower deck.

Yuan Zhi ran up to the deck and asked how far it was from the shore. The helmsman said it would take another incense stick's time. She was extremely anxious and went to the cabin to find Dou Zhao, asking if there were any other members of the Leopard Guard who could swim, so they could replace the people in the lower deck.

Dou Zhao was also worried about his master, but their task was to guard Liu Fei and they could not leave their posts without permission. No matter how reluctant he was, he could only refuse the young mistress's suggestion.

"Xiao Zong is a blockhead, and the subordinates he trained are inflexible. You... you're driving me crazy!"

Yuan Zhi stomped his foot and ran away, returning to the bottom cabin to check the situation.