The villain, Xiao Nanliang, caused the female lead excruciating pain.

Snapped……

The sound of whipping echoed in the dark room.

"Say or not?"

The man holding the whip questioned him sternly.

"I...I don't know..."

Snapped……

"Still being stubborn, huh? Let's see how long you can keep it up."

Ye Feng was about to cry.

He really didn't know. Heaven knows who the masked man who rescued Ning Hongyu was?

Outside the torture chamber, a man dressed as a scholar paced back and forth.

Suddenly, a tall, burly, and clearly capable middle-aged man walked in, his body slightly hunched.

The scholar quickly bowed and greeted the scholar.

"Lord Governor!"

"So, he still won't tell you?"

“No!” The scribe shook his head. “He’s very stubborn.”

"Sigh... I also sent her to probe the Empress Dowager's side. The person who rescued Ning Hongyu was not Bai Luo's subordinate. Bai Luo doesn't even know that I captured Ning Hongyu and this kid."

Governor Luo Ai of Jingzhou sighed; the pigeon meat that was almost in his mouth had flown away just like that. (The character "蔼" is pronounced "ai" in the third tone, meaning kind and amiable.)

"Hiss... That's strange. If it wasn't one of Bai Luo's men, then who rescued Ning Hongyu?"

The scholar frowned, utterly baffled as to why anyone other than Bai Luo would come to save a worthless courtesan.

At that moment, another scream rang out from inside the house.

"Governor, we've beaten him so badly, and he still won't talk. It seems he really doesn't know. Should we stop?"

The scholar asked for instructions.

Luo Ai glanced at it and waved her hand dismissively.

"Let's keep fighting. What if he really does know he's just being stubborn?"

He's just a nobody, it doesn't matter if he's killed.

"Yes!" the scholar replied indifferently, then thought for a moment and offered his suggestion.

"Your Excellency, I think we can set up checkpoints along the way to the capital. Starting yesterday..."

Just as the scholar was about to explain his reasons, Luo Ai raised her hand to interrupt him.

"Go ahead and do it. I'm a bit tired lately and need to rest."

After saying that, he put his right hand on his waist, turned around, and left.

The Empress Dowager has been acting too recklessly lately, and he can't keep up. He needs to go back and replenish his energy.

……

The next day, since Su Qi needed time to recover his cultivation, Ning Hongyu was not in a hurry to go to the capital, so they found a place to hide.

Ning Hongyu already had an answer regarding whether or not to use Su Qi to assassinate Ying Muxue.

The answer is "yes"!

However, the plan changed slightly from before, and she came up with a solution.

As long as after the assassination, everyone knows that Su Qi, this fool, was just being used by her using an imposter's identity.

With the added deterrence of Su Qi's Nascent Soul master, it's believed that the people of the Great Ling Dynasty wouldn't dare to make things difficult for him.

The longer they spent together, the more Ning Hongyu couldn't help but feel guilty towards the simple-minded Su Qi.

Su Qi generously gave her his cultivation resources as if they were free.

Every time she felt Su Qi's kindness towards her, she couldn't help but think that this kindness should have belonged to Feng Yingying.

But Feng Yingying... has already been ruined by her.

Not only did she steal Su Qi's sister, but she also deceived him into loving her. What's worse... she even planned to use him to assassinate Ying Muxue...

Every time Ning Hongyu thought about these things, she felt despicable and didn't know how to face Su Qi.

All she can do now is play the role of "older sister" well, letting Su Qi enjoy the feeling of being "older sister" a little more, as a way of making up for it.

"My sister's grilled fish is so delicious, I want to eat it for the rest of my life!"

On the riverbank, the two sat facing each other across the fire. Su Qi held a grilled fish in both hands and occasionally gave Ning Hongyu a silly smile.

But that smile pierced Ning Hongyu's heart like a steel nail.

Unconsciously, she began to avoid Su Qi's gaze.

"You eat first, I'll go check if there are any fish in the other traps."

Leave as if escaping.

Su Qi stopped eating the fish, seemingly noticing that her sister was unhappy, and looked somewhat surprised and puzzled.

Ning Hongyu came to the riverbank and looked at her face reflected in the water.

She suddenly felt...how ugly.

Why did I become like this?

While she was lost in thought, a warm and soft hand suddenly grabbed hers.

Ning Hongyu turned around in surprise and met Su Qi's concerned gaze.

"Is your sister unhappy?"

"No...no."

Ning Hongyu tried to pull her hand away, but this time Su Qi held on very tightly.

"Is it because of that incident before?" Su Qi seemed to have misunderstood something, and suddenly became serious, staring at Ning Hongyu as he spoke.

"I will take responsibility for my sister. When I get back, I will tell my master that I want to marry my sister and make her my Daoist partner. I will treat her well for the rest of my life!"

After he finished speaking, he suddenly became insecure again.

"I...I know I'm silly, but I'll try my best to become smarter from now on! I won't let you be laughed at because of me, and I won't let anyone bully you anymore. So please don't be unhappy, okay?"

Ning Hongyu stared blankly at his serious expression, her eyes welling up with tears without her realizing it.

From Su Qi's perspective, she was just a courtesan, while Su Qi was a high-ranking Golden Core cultivator.

But Su Qi was afraid that she, a courtesan, would look down on him, a Golden Core cultivator.

They're worlds apart, separated by tens of thousands of kilometers. What right do I have to look down on him?

For some reason, Ning Hongyu suddenly felt a little envious of Feng Yingying. Why... wasn't she like her?

An extremely absurd idea popped into my head.

Rather than shouldering the heavy responsibility of restoring her country and engaging in deceitful dealings with treacherous people, Ning Hongyu would rather be an ordinary courtesan at this moment.

At least this way, there will be someone holding her hand and sincerely saying that they want to protect her for the rest of their life.

Seeing that she didn't react for a long time, Su Qi became a little anxious.

"Can't you say yes, sister?"

"Can I think about it?"

Ning Hongyu broke free from Su Qi's grasp.

She couldn't give an answer.

Because she... is ultimately not Feng Yingying.

She is Ning Hongyu, and also Chu Bijun of the Chu Kingdom, shouldering the heavy responsibility of overthrowing the Great Ling and restoring the Chu Kingdom.

From that day on, Su Qi would ask Ning Hongyu every day if she had made up her mind.

At the same time, he is also keeping his promise and trying to become smarter.

But some things are innate. Su Qi's attempt to become smarter felt like blindly imitating others, always resulting in various laughable situations that made Ning Hongyu burst into laughter.

Su Qi would feel frustrated every time he was laughed at, but he would quickly cheer up and keep trying other ways to make himself smarter.

Ning Hongyu's laughter faded as she tried to laugh.

Because she knew that everything Su Qi did was for her, his fake older sister.

Unable to bear watching Su Qi stray further down the wrong path, Ning Hongyu had no choice but to personally guide him on how to become smarter.

I just randomly picked a method, told him it worked, and then praised him a lot for becoming smart after he succeeded.

The naive Su Qi was completely fooled by her, believing that he was already incredibly intelligent and no longer obsessed with becoming smarter.

Seeing how easily Su Qi believed her, Ning Hongyu felt even more guilty.

She felt like a despicable liar, a complete and utter liar.

The two spent nearly ten days together until Su Qi's cultivation recovered (he initially mastered the Corpse Bone Marrow Transformation) before setting off for the Great Spirit King's capital.