They were in charge of being beautiful, and she was in charge of taking the hits.

Wu Ziyan frowned and said seriously, "You still have the mood to joke? If it weren't for me, you would be dead."

Changsun Boyu sat up and looked at Wu Ziyan. Her clothes were soaked and stuck to her body, mixed with mud. She was small and frail, and looked even thinner at this moment. She was not like a woman of the Wu Dynasty at all. He grabbed Wu Ziyan's hand. Her hand was so soft and cold.

"Hurry up, someone will definitely come looking for us soon!" Wu Ziyan pulled Changsun Boyou up, and Changsun Boyou stood up without hesitation.

But after he stood up, he realized that he was much taller than Wu Ziyan. He had never noticed before. This seemingly weak woman was exceptionally intelligent and resilient. She remained calm even in the face of this incident, as if she had foreseen it.

Wu Ziyan left marks as he walked, which were of course agreed upon. They kept walking eastward without stopping, wading through mud and water, making their way with difficulty.

For a long time, the pursuers did not come. Wu Ziyan and the others found their way to a village when it got dark. By this time, she was already a little exhausted. Changsun Boyou was an exception. He was always in good health. He helped Wu Ziyan to a remote house with a light on and knocked on the door.

After a few knocks, an old woman's voice came from inside: "Who is it?"

"Auntie, we are villagers from upstream who were separated by the flood and ended up here." Changsun Boyou was clever enough to tell a lie on the spot.

Wu Ziyan licked her lips, wanting to say something, but then didn't. She just gave him a "not bad" look. Sure enough, the old lady came to open the door. She walked slowly and heard the sound of her cane hitting the ground.

The door creaked open, and the old woman, holding a cane in one hand and a pine branch in the other, lit a fire. A child was hiding behind her.

"Grandma, those two are terrifying, like water ghosts that crawled out of the water, covered in mud from head to toe!" the child whispered, tugging at the old woman's trouser leg.

The old woman looked the two of them up and down: "Come in. Everyone should lend a hand when someone is in trouble. Which village are you from?"

As they entered, the old woman closed the door, and Wu Ziyan replied, "We're from the county upstream. There was a flood today, and we accidentally fell into the river. Luckily, the current slowed down halfway, and we survived."

"Yes, yes, thankfully. Sigh, I wonder when the county's dike will be repaired. Two generations of my family went to repair the dike, and they never came back."

The old woman was unusually talkative, perhaps because she hadn't seen outsiders in a long time. She asked her grandson to boil water so they could wash up, change into dry clothes, and eat some cornbread porridge, which was the best food they could offer.

Wu Ziyan dared not let his guard down. The people he sent to search for Wu Ziyan and his group along the way did not find them and returned to report that they should continue searching. They said they wanted to find them alive or dead!

Wu Ziyan and the others hadn't returned by evening. Chu Qiu and the others gathered together, and Han Yuxiu complained, "Now look what happened. They were obviously lustful, thinking they were some kind of social butterfly. Now, they've disappeared without a trace."

“Miss must have her own plan, right, Brother Chu Qiu?” Huang Ziliang stared at Chu Qiu with unusual calm.

Chu Qiu's expression was serious. He was also unsure. In fact, Wu Ziyan hadn't told him much before leaving.

There was one thing she specifically instructed him to do: send out the letter. He did so, but he didn't quite understand the rest. He could only nod and say, "She'll be alright."

The letter was intercepted, and upon reading its contents, it was discovered that the title of nobility was being transferred to Sima Lingchuan.

The grain official, upon reading the letter and noting the personal seal affixed by Wu Ziyan—significantly valid—began to suspect that she was prepared to die, or that this was a trap to deceive them.

After much deliberation, he decided to report the matter to his superiors and let them make a decision. Of course, a secret letter had already arrived at the Marquis's residence. Mo Baiyun held the letter in his hand and muttered, "Master, this is too risky!"

Sima Lingchuan then came over: "Xiao Yun'er hasn't received any news from Ziyan for a long time. I wonder how they are doing."

Wu Ziyan was quite thoughtful; he wrote a letter home and sent it back along with a superstitious message: "Lingchuan, seeing this letter is like seeing you in person. My longing for you is like three autumns in a single day."

"We're doing well out there, so don't worry about us. Don't overwork yourself either. Whatever happens, wait for me to come back before we deal with it. And please believe me! I miss you."

Sima Lingchuan blushed as he read it, but he didn't delve into its meaning. Only Mo Baiyun shook his head, because the entire Prince's Mansion was about to be heartbroken.

A large owl flew out, and Mo Baiyun's eyes gleamed red, the light of killing intent. He licked his lips, "I'm going to get blood on my hands again. Luckily, my master isn't home, or he'll say I smell of blood again."

However, there was a faint smile on his lips. It turned out that at the end of the secret letter, Wu Ziyan had written the following sentence: "I miss my little Yun'er."

This put him in a great mood, and he was much more decisive when cutting off other people's necks, without causing them too much pain. He even said, "Thank my master, otherwise you wouldn't have died so easily."

The assassins of "Sacred Martial" in Heyuan County received a secret message that instructed them to prepare two corpses, specifying details such as hairstyles and clothing.

They acted quickly.

A few days later, two bodies were found downstream of the river, and their physiques did not appear to differ much from those of Wu Ziyan and the other man.

The main reason was that the river water had soaked them beyond recognition, and they were wearing identical clothes. More importantly, they had her private mark on their bodies, which allowed them to confirm their identities.

After the news spread, Han Yuxiu, Chu Qiu, and Huang Ziliang remained silent in her tent.

She was perfectly fine when she went out with Changsun Boyou, so why is she lying here so cold and lifeless now, completely soaked and unrecognizable?

Han Yuxiu's face was deathly pale, tears streaming silently down his face: "Is it really her? Lustful! Now she's dead!"

Chu Qiu frowned, feeling as if a piece of her heart was empty. This feeling made it hard to breathe, and images of her time with Wu Ziyan kept flashing through her mind.

He took a deep breath and said calmly, "It was me! It was all my fault! I failed to protect her." Looking back now, he regrets that if he had followed her that day, even if he couldn't have protected her, at least they would have died together.

Huang Ziliang, on the contrary, said nothing, neither sad nor happy, calmer than anyone else. He was still carefully examining the corpse, always feeling that something was wrong.

He suddenly thought of something, looked at Chu Qiu and the other two, and was about to speak, but then shook his head. He felt that this was probably Wu Ziyan's plan to escape, but Wu Ziyan did not consult with anyone when he left, which meant that this had to be kept secret from everyone.

News of Wu Ziyan's death quickly reached the court, the mansion, and the Second Princess's ears. She laughed loudly in the hall, her face twisted and ferocious. She gripped her cup tightly, drank the wine inside, and slammed it heavily on the table: "Go to the Prime Minister's residence."

Wu Chengye went to the Prime Minister's residence with her confidants. Sima Zongcheng seemed to know she was coming and was waiting at the door early, pretending to greet her: "Welcome, Second Prince."

"Prime Minister, there's no need for such formalities. We'll all be family from now on anyway." Of course, this "family" has many layers of meaning.

"The Prime Minister was quick this time; she's finally dead!"

"As Your Highness wishes."

Behind the curtain, the Empress clutched the secret letter, thinking that if her fourth daughter had just stayed a quiet and unassuming person like before, she wouldn't have ended up like this.

In the end, still frowning and unwilling to believe it was true, he called Mo Baiyun over to ask, and received the same answer.

She couldn't tell if it was pain or something else. She slowly sat on the dragon throne, recalling the appearance of Wu Ziyan's father. She murmured something to herself, and then dismissed everyone.

When the news reached the mansion, chaos erupted. The officials and servants were all whispering among themselves, but strangely enough, very few people actually packed up and tried to flee.