After being reborn as a man, the woman improved her family's fortunes through education.

Thirty li outside Yuanzhou City, a group of soldiers set up a checkpoint.

Jiang Xiaoqi and Lin Yueniang were stopped here.

"Where did you come from? Yuanzhou City is now only for entry, not exit. If you are just passing through, you'd better take a detour!"

Only entry, no exit? This reminded Jiang Xiaoqi of the "White Terror" of the past. What was happening in Yuanzhou City?

"Brother, why is it that you can only enter Yuanzhou City but not leave? Is this temporary or permanent?"

If this continues, won't Yuanzhou City burst from the saturation? Will there still be enough food left to eat?

"Why ask so many questions? This is none of your business. Take my advice and go take a detour!"

Jiang Xiaoqi dismounted, tied the horse to the back of the carriage, and then took off his water bag and handed it to Lin Yueniang.

"Mother, it seems we can't get into Yuanzhou City anytime soon. Let's find lodging nearby and come back tomorrow to see what's going on."

"Alright, that's the only way. I didn't expect that we would have been able to travel smoothly for thousands of miles, but these last few dozen miles have become a challenge."

Although Lin Yueniang said this, she had already made up her mind to go into the city that night after her son fell asleep to see what was going on.

At night, Jiang Xiaoqi seemed very tired and slept soundly.

Lin Yueniang quietly got up, changed into a black outfit, neatly hid her long hair in a headscarf, and used her lightness skill to run towards Yuanzhou City.

Upon reaching the city wall, she saw that it was heavily guarded. Taking advantage of a break in the guards' shift change, Lin Yueniang leaped onto the wall.

Upon entering the city, they found it eerily quiet, with every household's doors tightly shut, and the few pedestrians who did pass by looking hurried.

Could this be... a plague?

Lin Yueniang made a bold guess, but it didn't seem quite right.

However, before we return to the farmhouse outside the city where we're staying, we should burn this night-clothes, just in case.

Just as Lin Yueniang was about to fly to the roof of a house to take a closer look, a familiar voice sounded behind her.

"mother……"

Lin Yueniang, who was about to rise, froze—

"Mingfei! How could you—"

Jiang Xiaoqi put her index finger to her lips, signaling her mother not to make a sound.

Lin Yueniang looked helpless, while Jiang Xiaoqi raised his eyebrows smugly. After exchanging a glance, the mother and son simultaneously leaped onto the rooftops of the city.

In half an hour, the two had a general understanding of the situation inside the city.

Just as they were looking for the right opportunity to climb over the city wall, a small squad of guards walked past below.

The two immediately hid in the shadows, and the squad slowly moved away. After waiting for a while, several more patrol squads came.

Lin Yueniang sensed something was amiss. Why were the patrols so much more frequent than before they entered the city? Had they been discovered?

Jiang Xiaoqi seemed to know what her mother was thinking and shook her head directly at Lin Yueniang.

Once they found a time when no one was around, the two nimbly jumped over the city wall and headed out of the city.

Once it was absolutely safe, Lin Yueniang stopped.

"Mingfei, why did you come to the city with your mother?! What will I do if anything happens to you?!"

"Mother, you know it's dangerous, do you think I would just leave you alone?"

Alright, Mother, stop arguing with me. We're both equally guilty. You didn't even tell your son you wanted to sneak into Yuanzhou City at night, so let's call it even.

Lin Yueniang was speechless. Her son always had something to say; he was such a chatterbox.

"Then can you figure out what's really going on inside Yuanzhou City?"

Jiang Xiaoqi pondered for a moment, "At first, outside the city, I thought it was some kind of plague, but after going inside, it didn't seem like it..."

If it were an epidemic, even if there were no corpses, there should at least be patients, right? But after looking all over the place, we couldn't find any trace of recently buried or burned corpses.

Furthermore, the pharmacies and clinics in Yuanzhou City appear unchanged, and all indications suggest that there is no large-scale plague within the city.

Lin Yueniang nodded, "I think so too, but since there's no epidemic, why is it that people are only allowed to enter Yuanzhou City but not leave?"

"Perhaps some treasure has been lost within the city? The government is confident that the thieves have not successfully left the city and is conducting a thorough search within the city."

Jiang Xiaoqi made a bold guess; there was no other way but to guess, as there were too few clues.

"Perhaps. So what do we do now? Wait for the restrictions to be lifted in Yuanzhou Prefecture? Or change our route and go somewhere else?"

Lin Yueniang felt somewhat helpless, having been thinking about Chunyi County all the way... Once she entered Yuanzhou, she would be very close to Chunyi.

"Let's investigate again tomorrow. Even if we can't lift the lockdown for now, at least we'll know why the city was locked down."

Jiang Xiaoqi wasn't doing it for any other reason than she was simply curious.

We saw many beautiful sights along the way, but we didn't encounter a single bandit. That's amazing!

We finally have a chance to go on an adventure, how could we let it slip by?

Lin Yueniang had the same idea; it had indeed been a long time since she had stretched her muscles and bones, and even if she were discovered, it wouldn't matter.

Based on their current skills, this mother and son could easily take on fifty opponents, if not a hundred.

Moreover, the two of them were much better prepared this time...

"Take a few extra packets of sleeping pills, just in case!"

1000 silver needles soaked in anesthetic powder!

Chili powder, that's a bit expensive, so bring only a little..."

After preparing their belongings as if going to a market, the mother and son changed into their night clothes.

"Are you sure you don't want to invite Fuling and Li Mo?"

"No, with so many people involved, it's inevitable that there will be areas we can't take care of. If we have to help one person after another, it will be too much trouble!"

Lin Yueniang nodded. Indeed, although these two were among the top guards in the Jiang family, they were still far inferior to her and her son.

Taking advantage of the thin clouds obscuring the moon, the two successfully entered the city again.

There are more people patrolling tonight; it's more like a search than a patrol.

Just as Jiang Xiaoqi had guessed, squads of soldiers were conducting a thorough search.

Lin Yueniang realized at this moment that it seemed an important person had indeed lost something...

Under the cover of darkness, the two men quietly approached the two soldiers who had slipped out to "release water".

Soldier A: "Sigh... You made such a big commotion, but didn't even tell us what was lost. How are we supposed to find it now!"

Soldier B: "Who knows? I've only heard that this lost item is of great importance. If it can't be found, the entire Yuanzhou garrison will be in trouble!"

Soldier A: "No! What does this have to do with us! We didn't steal it!"

Soldier B: "Shh! Are you out of your mind? What kind of place is this, shouting like that!"

After grumbling for a moment, the two finished relieving themselves and quickly returned to their group.

Lin Yueniang and Jiang Xiaoqi exchanged a glance and decided there was no need to go any further.

Just as the two successfully scaled the wall and landed, a dark figure suddenly appeared behind them...

"who?"