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

The coachman from the He family seemed not to see a living person standing on the road, and the carriage smoothly passed in front of Master Liu.

Mr. Liu had to speak up quickly, "Mr. Gu, Mr. He, have you both had a safe journey?"

A moment later, He Jinglan's voice came from inside the car, "Stop the car."

The carriage stopped in time, and a distance had been created between it and Master Liu.

Master Liu had to hurry over; the heat from the daytime scorching sun hadn't dissipated yet, and the run made him sweat profusely again.

He stood under the car window, taking out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat, a smile on his face, but inwardly he was groaning.

He knew that the two people in the car had seen him, but he deliberately ignored them.

He had to shamelessly call out to them and then eagerly come closer.

What can we do?

Who could blame him for being captivated by Mu Nanzhao's talent and learning back then, and for sincerely admiring him, willingly becoming his disciple and working for him?

By the time he gradually came to his senses and realized that Mu Nanzhao, though highly learned, was not a gentleman, he was already deeply entangled in the situation and could only work for Mu Nanzhao until he died.

For example, this difficult task in front of us, whether we do it well or not, we will inevitably suffer from both sides.

Master Liu covered his face with a handkerchief and sighed silently.

He Jinglan lifted the curtain of the car window with one hand, looked at Mr. Liu with feigned surprise, and said, "Mr. Liu? In this hot weather, instead of staying at home to cool off, you're out exercising?"

Master Liu removed the handkerchief, revealing a smiling face. "Mr. He is truly witty."

He wanted to catch a glimpse of Gu Xixi, but He Jinglan only lifted a corner of the curtain, completely obscuring what was inside.

Master Liu had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue the pleasantries, "I reckon you two will be back soon, so I came here to try my luck and greet you."

"Mr. Gu must have had a tough time on his trip to the border this time, with such a tight schedule."

There was no response from inside the car.

He Jinglan gave a slight smile. "It was indeed tiring. Xixi is asleep."

"However, Master Liu actually predicted our return at this time. I don't know if he has supernatural abilities or if... he knew that if we didn't scramble back today, we wouldn't be able to come back in a day or two?"

Master Liu broke out in a cold sweat. “How could that be? You two are blessed with good fortune and will return safely.”

He had no resentment towards Gu Xixi and He Jinglan, since it was the person behind him who had dragged them down.

It was a matter of life and death; the fact that they were only giving us a cold shoulder was actually quite polite.

He Jinglan looked at Master Liu, her smile vanished, and she said coldly, "I should still thank Master Liu for his concern."

"Originally, Xixi planned to stay for seven or eight days. If we were really fools and kept in the dark, we would probably have to stay in the village chief's residence, or rather... be placed under house arrest until the war is over before we can be released."

Master Liu's pupils contracted.

The reason Mu Nanzhao chose to appear at this juncture was not only because he had planned it in advance, but also because it was indeed a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Upon learning that Gu Xixi and He Jinglan had gone to the border, he decided to leave the two of them in the dependents' village.

Because there is no safer place for the entire future undertaking.

Unexpectedly, Gu Xixi finished the work half a day ahead of schedule and rushed back.

When Master Liu received the news, it was too late to send his shadow guards to pick up the person.

He could only run to the village entrance and wait anxiously, praying that the saint would protect his two great-aunts so that nothing bad would happen to them on their journey.

Fortunately, the person returned safely.

Unfortunately, Gu Xixi was not only afraid of being blocked off and unable to return, but she had also seen through Mu Nanzhao's plan.

Master Liu tried to explain, "Qi Xiu, he..." (Qi Xiu was Mu Nanzhao's courtesy name)

"He meant well and wanted to do everything he could to keep you both safe; this was the only best course of action."

"Pah!" He Jinglan said angrily, "We may be safe, but what about our family? Aunt Zhang, Old Jiang, those three are still at home! What kind of best course of action is this?"

Master Liu remained silent for a while, then felt it was necessary to explain things clearly to that guy who had very poor interpersonal relationships.

"Qi Xiu did not disregard the lives of Aunt Zhang and the others."

"On the contrary, he specifically ordered that if anything went wrong, the Shadow Guards would escort them away at all costs."

"Besides... if they were going to take hostages, they wouldn't choose those three from your family. They'd be much safer staying here than the two of you."

He spoke earnestly, and what he said was the truth.

He Jinglan lowered the curtain and whispered a few words inside the carriage.

Then she got off the train and went to Mr. Liu, and said in a low voice, "As my childhood friend, I have a few words for you to pass on to him."

"A good intention is only good if the other party can benefit from it. I wonder when he will be able to truly put himself in the other person's shoes before making a decision."

"He doesn't know how to manipulate people's hearts. He might gain a lot by weighing things and choosing what's most advantageous to him, but he might not get the genuine affection he wants."

Master Liu was taken aback, and before he could reply, He Jinglan said loudly:

"Tell him that Xixi has a lot of things to do and we don't have time to listen to his plans!"

"Now that we're back, if he still considers me his childhood friend, he should make proper arrangements to clean up the mess and not drag innocent people into this!"

Master Liu readily agreed, “Yes, yes, protecting you two and Boss Gu’s family is our duty here.”

He Jinglan returned to the carriage, and the carriage continued its journey towards the village.

She told Gu Xixi, "Xixi, Master Liu said he would send more people to guard our house, and there will be people on duty at several locations from the village to the county town."

“When we went out these past two days, someone was secretly following and protecting us.”

"Furthermore, Master Liu activated the intelligence network yesterday, so those with ill intentions may be caught before they can even make a move."

Gu Xixi gave a soft "hmm".

Seeing her calm reaction, He Jinglan asked in surprise, "You don't object?"

"You think you'd say you don't want to be associated with someone?"

Gu Xixi remained calm and composed. "Why not?"

"He caused the trouble, and if things go well, he'll be one of the biggest beneficiaries. As innocent ordinary citizens caught in the crossfire, it's only right that he protects us."

"Besides, if we two don't get caught, he and the general will have one less problem."

He Jinglan wholeheartedly agreed, "That's right, we don't need to owe him any favors at all!"

A question suddenly occurred to her.

"If... I mean, if,"

"We were taken hostage and kidnapped to threaten the Northwest Army."

"Will Mu Nanzhao and the General save us?"

Gu Xixi gazed intently at He Jinglan, and after a moment, a smile curved her lips.

"There are no 'what ifs' in everything. Even if you or I weren't in that situation, we probably wouldn't know what to choose."

He Jinglan seemed to understand something, then smiled with relief, "I was worrying unnecessarily."

Gu Xixi smiled gently; she had once asked Mu Nanzhao a similar question.

At that time, her own answer was "no," while Mu Nanzhao had no answer.

But she didn't want to say these things, which made He Jinglan feel heavy-hearted.

Just like He Jinglan said, isn't it better to be optimistic?