A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Blood splattered on the spot?

Gu Xixi instinctively felt a chill on her neck.

But she quickly realized that this statement should have nothing to do with her at this moment.

After all, Mu Nanzhao could have easily erased this "shame" from her privately; there was no need to do it in the military camp in front of so many people.

Gu Xixi quietly took a breath and said with a smile, "Thanks to you for thinking of the bigger picture and preventing the General from dying on the spot, should I thank you on behalf of the people of the Northwest?"

Mu Nanzhao glanced at him and said, "You seem to understand what I'm thinking."

"Let's go back to the village."

Just now, Huo Jiang deliberately provoked us, repeatedly saying "bought for one penny".

Mu Nanzhao's murderous intent was already stirring. If he didn't quickly pull Gu Xixi away, he was afraid he might accidentally attack Huo Jiang.

He has always been good at weighing options, and this outcome is harmful and not beneficial, whether from a short-term or long-term perspective, or from the perspective of the overall situation or his own personal interests.

Furthermore, Mu Nanzhao and Huo Jiang had a deep friendship, so he naturally wouldn't really want to kill him.

As for revenge, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, so there's no need to rush.

The village was quiet everywhere, and there wasn't a soul in sight.

Everyone has been working tirelessly from midnight until noon today, and they must all be exhausted and need to catch up on sleep at home.

Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao returned to the courtyard, where He Jinglan was dragging a suitcase out of the house.

She put the suitcase against the wall and glared at Mu Nanzhao, annoyed. "Why are you here?"

Mu Nanzhao countered, "So you've decided to return to the capital?"

He Jinglan still didn't give her a friendly look, "Where I go is none of your business."

She snorted coldly and muttered to herself, "Birds of a feather flock together, not a single one of them is any good!"

Mu Nanzhao's lips twitched, and he exchanged a helpless glance with Gu Xixi.

"Who are you angry with? Why take it out on me?"

He Jinglan turned around and said angrily, "Why didn't you mention that Meng Chengping was there when you saw me and Xixi last night?"

"You deliberately kept it from me!"

Mu Nanzhao remained silent.

He never liked to explain himself, and besides, He Jinglan's anger was mainly directed at Meng Chengping.

Why should he waste his breath?

Seeing Mu Nanzhao's indifferent attitude, Gu Xixi could only force a smile and explain on his behalf:

"Actually, during that critical moment last night, he probably genuinely forgot to mention Meng Chengping; he didn't intentionally not tell you."

She poked Mu Nanzhao hard with two fingers from behind, while giving him a wink, "You agree, right?"

Mu Nanzhao's eyes flickered, and he reluctantly hummed in agreement, "Yes."

He Jinglan, however, did not give up.

In a fit of anger at noon, she ran back, immediately packed her bags, and vowed to leave at dawn the next day and never look back.

When Meng Chengping was mentioned again, she not only couldn't remain calm, but her temper grew stronger the more she spoke.

"Fine, even if you really forgot to mention, where's Meng Chengping?"

"He took on such a dangerous mission. Even if he had to keep it a secret and couldn't tell me, he should at least come and say goodbye to me in person."

"When he was playing the hero, did he care that I hadn't seen him for several days and how worried I was? I was afraid he would get hurt, afraid something would happen to him, and I had to keep telling myself that everything was fine and not to overthink it."

After He Jinglan finished venting her anger, she took a deep breath and said:

"Anyway, my mind is made up this time, so none of you should try to persuade me on his behalf!"

Mu Nanzhao waited until she had completely calmed down before saying calmly, "Nobody wants to advise you."

He Jinglan was taken aback. "Didn't that blockhead surnamed Meng send you?"

Mu Nanzhao said, "Huo Jiang said there's nothing to do in the army tonight, so he told me to come back and rest."

"As for Meng Chengping, he didn't say a word to me."

He turned to Gu Xixi, "Did Meng Chengping ask you to help persuade him?"

Gu Xixi shook her head truthfully.

He Jinglan's face gradually turned ashen. "Fine, he's perfectly fine!"

She sneered, "It's obvious that they've just done a great service, so they're definitely eating, drinking, and sleeping well."

“No, not at all,” Gu Xixi said. “He…was remarkably calm.”

She carefully considered a fitting description: "He was like a calm madman, seemingly unconcerned no matter how the general scolded him. Then he would slam heads on the table and willingly allow the general to beat, kill, and imprison him."

"???" He Jinglan frowned in confusion, her lips twitching slightly, looking at him with an expression that was hard to comment on.

Gu Xixi continued calmly, "Oh, in the end, the general still punished him with twenty strokes of the military rod."

"When I went out, the person had already been carried away. I guess they were beaten pretty badly."

"A military rod? Twenty strokes?" He Jinglan was so shocked she couldn't speak.

"I've seen that thing hit people; it can tear their skin apart in just one or two hits."

"He actually struck him twenty times! Doesn't General Huo value him highly? How could he be so ruthless!"

Gu Xixi shrugged. "I'll only talk about what I know. I didn't witness the execution myself, so I don't know what happened afterward."

He Jinglan trusted Gu Xixi the most, so naturally she wouldn't doubt the truth of what she said.

After a while, He Jinglan came back to her senses and looked up to find Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao both staring at her.

She naturally didn't want her thoughts to be seen through, and said loudly, "After all, he's someone I know. I was just curious and asked a few more questions. What does it matter to me what he's like? Anyway, it wasn't me who caused him to get beaten up!"

With that, He Jinglan turned and went back to her room.

Gu Xixi and Mu Nanzhao looked at each other in bewilderment.

Without a word, they both understood the same thing: trying to cover something up only made it more obvious.

Mu Nanzhao spoke up, "I have something to tell you."

Having not slept a wink since last night, Gu Xixi couldn't help but yawn incessantly as soon as things quieted down.

"You haven't had a break these past two days, have you? If you don't get some sleep, you'll die of exhaustion."

She waved her hand weakly and drifted forward, saying, "Go back to your rooms, we can talk about it after you've woken up."

Mu Nanzhao stood there, watching as Gu Xixi deftly closed the door behind her.

He looked helpless, but after a moment, a smile appeared on his lips as he turned and walked towards his room.

When Gu Xixi opened her eyes again, it was already completely dark, and she had no idea what time it was.

She felt her throat was so dry it was practically burning, so she had to abandon her plan to continue sleeping and get up to go to the kitchen to get some water.

Passing by He Jinglan's house, the windows were dark.

Gu Xixi thought she might still be asleep, so she held up the oil lamp and continued walking toward the kitchen.

The kitchen was pitch black. Gu Xixi stepped in with one foot first, her shoulder touching the curtain, just as she was about to stick the oil lamp in to light it up, she suddenly felt something under her foot.

A long sigh came from below.

Gu Xixi was so startled that she instantly lifted her leg. "Who?!"

“…Me.” Mu Nanzhao’s voice was hoarse and weak.

Gu Xixi recognized his voice, calmed down, and quickly took out an oil lamp to light it.

Mu Nanzhao was sitting on the ground with his back to the side of the stove.

He was wearing only a close-fitting single-layer undergarment, his face was pale, and his clothes were visibly soaked with sweat, highlighting his smooth and well-defined muscle lines.

A sickly beauty, with fleshy flesh beneath her clothes, tempts men to commit crimes.

Such a thought inexplicably popped into Gu Xixi's mind.