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

Magistrate Ma turned his gaze again and saw that Mu Nanzhao had put down his book and was looking at him with a half-smile.

"Jinghui, what are your plans for Magistrate Ma?"

Lord He, also known as He Jinghui, took out a booklet from his pocket, opened it, and still smiled kindly.

"First, Lord Ma embezzled and accepted bribes totaling eight thousand taels of silver in Qingtian County, along with a number of calligraphy, paintings, and antiques. He also seized and embezzled a certain amount of grain and fodder for the Northwest Army; the exact amount is still under investigation."

"Secondly, as an official appointed by the imperial court, harboring deserters as his personal henchmen is truly a sinister act."

"Third, in order to seek personal gain, he deceived Grand Secretary Zhao and falsely reported and claimed that the criminal Mu Nanzhao was already dead."

"Regardless of how the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review should determine the sentences for these three crimes, even regarding Grand Secretary Zhao..."

"That's probably enough to kill Magistrate Ma several times over."

Magistrate Ma finally understood something. He pointed at He Jinghui, then tremblingly pointed at Mu Nanzhao.

"You, you! You were all in cahoots!"

"You are Mu Nanzhao, aren't you? You really are alive!"

Mu Nanzhao coldly replied, "My name is Chen Fang. Is Lord Ma trying to call a deer a horse?"

Magistrate Ma was trembling all over, whether from anger or fear, it was hard to tell.

"Nonsense! Who do you take me for?!"

"Even Grand Secretary Zhao was kept in the dark! You have quite the nerve!"

He Jinghui smiled, his fox-like eyes narrowed. "Magistrate Ma's private soldiers have long harbored resentment towards him due to unequal distribution of profits."

"When I arrived, I happened to be there during the riot. I could only suppress the eight bandits. In the end, I was slightly injured while saving Magistrate Ma, but poor Magistrate Ma was seriously injured and died suddenly."

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Ma's expression changed drastically.

It was unusually quiet outside; it seemed his men had been taken care of.

That leaves only one last move.

Magistrate Ma secretly reached for his belt with his right hand, forcefully pulled off a necklace, and smashed it hard against the ground.

The small jade bottle hanging from the necklace shattered with a crash, and the hidden whistle inside emitted a piercing shriek.

Miss He was momentarily stunned by the sound.

Mu Nanzhao suddenly stood up. "Oh no! Besides those eight people, there's another ambush outside."

A rapid, dense sound of footsteps approached.

He Jinghui's expression changed as well. "That old bastard Zhao Quan, he never really believed me after all!"

Grand Secretary Zhao had previously stated that he had not sent anyone else to the Northwest.

In reality, he had secretly dispatched elite assassins, with the aim of killing the innocent rather than letting the guilty go free.

If the suspect discovered in the Northwest is indeed Mu Nanzhao, then Mu Nanzhao must die again, and die a complete and utter death!

Miss He regained her senses and pressed down hard on the dagger in her hand, causing a series of blood droplets to gush out from under the blade.

"Let's just kill him now!"

Magistrate Ma, gripped by the fear of death, struggled and shouted, "Guards! The jade bottle bestowed upon me by Lord Zhao is shattered! Why haven't you come to my rescue yet!"

Mu Nanzhao listened intently, estimating that there were at least thirty assassins outside.

Even if the three of them used all their strength, they wouldn't be able to break through the encirclement in this courtyard.

Mu Nanzhao said in a deep voice, "The man surnamed Ma is no longer useful. Kill him, and you should leave through the back window as soon as possible."

"I can hold them off for a short while, which will be enough for you to leave."

Before He Jinghui could speak, Miss He had already swiftly slit Magistrate Ma's throat with a single stroke.

She ruthlessly tossed the body aside and quickly closed the doors and windows.

Immediately afterwards, arrows pierced through the doors and windows and shot in.

He Jinghui, Miss He, and Mu Nanzhao had no choice but to take out their weapons and, while dodging, knock down the arrows.

Miss He pulled Mu Nanzhao back to the side of the carved bed. "I'm not leaving, you go ahead, brother."

"This time, I'm going to stay here with Ah Zhao!"

"Oh dear!" He Jinghui stamped his foot anxiously, "Is this the time for you to play the hero? If you're going to leave, leave together!"

Mu Nanzhao calmly said, "Today's failure is entirely due to my incorrect intelligence and poor prediction."

"Even if I manage to escape by chance, my identity will be exposed, and I will inevitably be hunted down. There will be no second chance."

The lingering toxins in his body had not been resolved, and he had long since fallen into a serious illness.

Dying here might be the last thing he could do for Gu Xixi.

Mu Nanzhao protected the He siblings as they retreated towards the back window, saying, "After you leave, go to the Northwest Army camp. Kill as many of these people as you can today; make sure they don't leave the Northwest alive."

"Then you shall return and collect my body, and you shall cut off my hands and feet, and destroy my face, so that no one can recognize who I am."

Miss He's pupils contracted. "Since you're going to kill them all, aren't you afraid of the news leaking out?"

"Why must you go to such lengths to die a gruesome death!"

Mu Nanzhao's lips curled into a smile that others couldn't decipher.

"Since we're already dead, why should we care about anything else? I can only feel at ease if I leave no hidden dangers for the living."

The archery outside stopped, and the doors and windows in front were banging loudly, as if someone was about to break in.

Without saying a word, Mu Nanzhao slapped the He siblings out of the back window.

At the same time, several assassins broke into the house and attacked Mu Nanzhao.

Mu Nanzhao also swung his soft sword through the air, and in an instant, blood splattered everywhere.

When a person is determined to die, how many people can stop him?

When Gu Xixi rushed in with a group of Northwest Army soldiers.

Mu Nanzhao was covered in blood and grime, his eyes fierce and crazed.

Every time he wielded his soft sword, blood was drawn, as if he were a demon who had just crawled out of hell.

Meng Chengping pierced the assassin in front of Mu Nanzhao with a single shot and shouted, "Brother, I'm late, you can rest now!"

Gu Xixi also ran to Mu Nanzhao's side and grabbed his arms with both hands.

"The Northwest Army is here, you can stop now."

Mu Nanzhao slowly turned his eyes to look at Gu Xixi.

As if his soul was gradually returning to his body, his eyes regained the vitality of a living person.

"Gu Xixi, it's you."

Gu Xixi nodded with red eyes, "Yes, it's me. Meng Chengping is here too. We're safe now."

Fortunately, I caught up.

For her and her whole family, Mu Nanzhao changed his plans at the last minute and risked his life.

And she did not let him down in the end.

Mu Nanzhao looked at Gu Xixi, his lips twitching as if he wanted to laugh, but his head suddenly drooped and he fell onto her.

……

The oil lamp's light flickered.

Mu Nanzhao was lying on the bed, having been cleaned and dressed in new clothes.

Fortunately, he was only exhausted and unconscious, and was not seriously injured.

Miss He sat on the edge of the bed, watching Mu Nanzhao intently, preventing anyone else from getting close.

Meng Chengping and He Jinghui sat in the outer room talking quietly.

Gu Xixi placed the tea tray on the table, saying, "Everyone has worked hard tonight, let's have some sweet tea first."

The two men quickly thanked them.

Meng Chengping's troops were all stationed outside.

Apart from them, there was no one else alive on the farm; they had to fetch their own water.

Gu Xixi also sat down at the table, her gaze involuntarily drifting towards the inner room.

Miss He, whose given name is Jinglan, is a real person in the original book and can be considered Mu Nanzhao's childhood sweetheart.