After deceiving the villain, I was forced to love him.

From Bi Cui, Ming Xiang, An Luo, and even a certain "rich man" who was tied up on the mountain, Bai Li Ce understood a principle.

If Wang Qingyan wanted to, he could easily see through and control others.

Although it hasn't caused her any actual losses yet, it's still very unsettling.

Feeling uncomfortable...

I suspect that those so-called coincidences are actually carefully designed traps.

"Furthermore, I'm not sure if he actually has any cooperation with the He family."

An Luo chuckled, adopting a relaxed demeanor, having finally managed to coax this person into revealing their true thoughts.

"Or rather, you are afraid that the true master of this private army is Wang Qingyan."

"Whether it's him or not, I'm afraid."

He Shoufeng was greedy and vicious, but with his brains, it was impossible for him to orchestrate such a large-scale killing scheme.

Therefore, this "master" must actually exist.

He was neither a king nor a general, yet he had tens of thousands of private troops, and it was only after the new emperor ascended the throne that the clues were discovered.

The fact that he could command such a vicious person as He Shoufeng and the He family's network of connections to do things for him shows that this person must be a very terrifying opponent.

An Luo sighed softly, "If the Seventh Master were half as smart as you, I wouldn't have killed him."

"You can't keep someone who's destined to die."

Ever since she came up the mountain, the Seventh Master has been intentionally or unintentionally provoking An Luo, but he just can't hold his temper and doesn't have the strength.

If he doesn't die, who will?

"I will do my best to fulfill what you mentioned before."

An Luo smiled sarcastically yet meaningfully, "It seems that Wang Qingyan's infatuation has truly been misplaced."

He didn't trust the He family, nor did he trust Baili Ce. But now, he really had no better choice than to hope that this man would keep his promise.

"Devoted love? Perhaps."

Wang Qingyan helped Lu Jian quell the rebellion in the northern frontier.

He Yao's entry into the palace was also an example.

So, if the Wang family and the He family had already colluded together long ago...

Wang Qingyan will definitely kill An Luo to silence him on this trip.

How can I allow someone else to snore beside my bed?

After An Luoshi dies, the He family will definitely be discarded like a used tool.

Lu Jian has been on the throne for less than a year. If Wang Qingyan was indeed the one who planned all this, then once the He family falls, the imperial power and the Baili clan will inevitably be suppressed to the point of being unable to breathe.

To put it bluntly, if she doesn't plan ahead, she will be in a very passive position in the future.

Therefore, she had to contact An Luoshi to force Lu Jian to make a choice.

In this way, regardless of her personal relationship with Wang Qingyan, the situation will not get too out of control after eliminating the He family and its related forces.

The Baili clan will have a foothold, and the dog emperor will have enough time to accumulate power. Neither of them will be too much countered by the Wang clan and become puppets.

"So......"

Seeing that Baili Ce didn't take it seriously, An Luo changed his tune, "May we all have our wishes fulfilled and die a worthy death."

This time, they were much more sincere.

"But can't you say something auspicious?"

Coming out in the middle of the night to feel the cold wind is already creepy enough, and then you keep saying discouraging things.

Unexpectedly, An Luoshi remained unmoved, saying, "Oh, is that bad luck?"

"What do you mean?" Bai Lize immediately got goosebumps.

"Didn't you just ask why I'm so afraid of him?"

"After you hear my story, you'll realize that what he did was far more terrifying than keeping a private army or running secret dens..."

"Wait a minute," Baili Ce interrupted, raising his hand.

Anluo was filled with doubt.

"Listening to stories is fine, but could we find a warmer place?" After saying that, Bai Lize coughed several times in a mocking manner.

He tucked his hands inside out and curled up into a ball.

Finally, he even crouched down in the bushes...

"What a delicate little thing," An Luoshi scolded, then took off his coat and threw it on Baili Ce's head.

Along with her thoughts, she returned to the year she was seven years old.

Back then, the Three Cities region wasn't in such chaos.

His father worked as a clerk in the county government of Shucheng, and his mother ran a small shop not far from home, selling jewelry and embroidery.

Although life wasn't very wealthy, we had enough to eat and wear.

Because he was an only child, his parents doted on him.

At that time, my maternal grandparents and paternal grandparents were still alive, and the neighbors lived in harmony.

One day, the mother and grandfather, who were out delivering embroidery, found a seriously injured young man on the road.

“From that day on, my mother became a completely different person.”

“She, who was originally virtuous and gentle, suddenly became cold and mean. She not only always quarreled with her grandparents, but also often got into disputes with the neighbors.”

“People in the town said my mother was possessed by an evil spirit, so my grandparents hired a Taoist priest to exorcise the ghost and asked someone to go to Shucheng to invite my father back.”

"Where is that young man?" Generally, according to the story's direction, the problem mostly lies with that young man.

"He passed away the day after his mother and grandfather rescued him."

"The Taoist priest who came to exorcise the evil spirits said that the evil spirits on my mother were given to her by that young man, and that she was used as a scapegoat."

"Tch, nonsense! Feudal superstition!"

"Yes, after Father came back, he also said that Confucius did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits, and he even invited several doctors to examine Mother."

"But all the doctors said that my mother was not sick."

"But your mother is indeed different from before."

"So in the end, my father had no choice but to believe the Taoist priest."

Bai Lize paused for a moment, then asked, "What did your father do?"

"My father loves my mother very much, and he doesn't want to lose her."

"I didn't want to either..."

"so?"

“My father... initially only found a death row inmate, but the extradition failed.”

"The Taoist priest said that death row inmates are not meant to live long, and evil spirits are unwilling to possess them."

"And then?" Baili Ce started to get angry.

"My father then sought out beggars, orphans, and mentally challenged children from neighboring villages... until he finally found a stranger who cured my mother."

“But from the day my mother recovered, the whole town was shrouded in a strange atmosphere. Many people, including my father, began to become moody and prone to fighting.”

“Even when my grandfather passed away, my father was very impatient, which made my grandmother so angry that she fell ill and passed away a few days later.”

"My maternal grandparents believed that my father had angered the gods, which brought about the disaster."

"So he thought he could take my mother and me to another place to avoid trouble."

"But on the day I was leaving, my father still found out."

"He went berserk on the spot and killed many people, including me."

"What about your mother?"

"After my mother hid me, she went to rescue my maternal grandparents."

"but......"

Bai Li Ce couldn't help but sigh, "What about your father?"

"Ha," An Luo chuckled self-deprecatingly, "After killing Mother, Father suddenly regained his senses. Isn't that ridiculous?"

"He couldn't accept this fact, so he committed suicide."

“I hid in the attic and saw everything, but I dared not make a sound until the next day when I was discovered by the yamen runners who came to investigate the case.”

“I cried and told them everything I had seen, but guess what they said?”

An Luoshi asked this question, which means the result is definitely unexpected: "They don't believe you."

"Yes, they all think I'm lying."

"But so many corpses..."

There were no bodies.

Bai Li Ce looked horrified. "?!"

"Where's the blood?!"

"Furthermore, with such a major incident occurring, didn't the surrounding residents, the victims' relatives and friends notice anything at all?"

"nothing."

Bai Lizhe's first reaction was, "Are you dreaming?"

"If I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't have believed that such a bizarre thing could happen."

"Then...where did all the people who were killed go?"

An Luo looked at Bai Li Ce with utmost seriousness, “My parents, my maternal grandparents, and the neighbors who were killed by my father are all standing alive in front of me again.”

“My father also told the constables that I was lying because I was too saddened by the death of my grandparents.”

"That Taoist priest has also arrived."

"But they all call him—"

"Your Excellency, Magistrate."

......