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

Late at night, shouts of battle could be heard from outside the cave from time to time.

Interspersed among the sounds were the munching and tearing sounds of wild animals.

Bai Lizhe, who was already afraid to sleep too soundly, leaned against a relatively smooth rock, and the cawing of crows made him even more unable to sleep.

Looking at Wang Qingyan, he was leaning against the other end of the rock, about an arm's length away, and seemed to be fast asleep.

Then--

"Can't sleep?"

Wang Qingyan was awakened by her gaze.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No, I just happened to wake up."

"That......"

You can ask me anything.

"..." His gaze was intense, shimmering like waves, illuminated by the fire.

Bai Li Ce avoided his gaze, picked up a twig and flicked it to start a fire, not noticing anything different about the stone he had been leaning against.

"Just how many high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital are involved in the He family's business?"

"Two-thirds"

"then you......"

Turning his head, Baili Ce asked him with an eerily calm expression, "When did you find out that the He family was doing these kinds of businesses?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Wang Qingyan replied, "One month before the new emperor ascended the throne."

"Okay," Baili Ce replied softly.

She didn't show much surprise, nor did she ask him any more questions.

But...

He then began to tell his story.

"The Baili family became famous throughout the world for their literary talent. Although they did not hold military power, their descendants produced many talented individuals throughout the generations."

"By the time of the old head of the family, the family had achieved its greatest prosperity with six members enjoying great honors."

Wang Qingyan naturally knew this as well. "The Hundred-Mile Six Veins were indeed glorious and extremely prestigious in the past."

"Unfortunately, they were all just fleeting moments."

"Among our generation, only Baili Chengjun is a man. For the sake of the Baili family's future, the old master put all the children of the six branches together for training."

"Because of my background, I didn't study with them for the first few years, so... no one really liked me."

As the most mysterious fourth daughter of the Baili clan, Baili Ce spent a long time living away from home.

But that's precisely why he chose her as his marriage partner.

But now, listening to her recount these past events, Wang Qingyan felt a pang of heartache.

“My father was also very talented and handsome when he was young.”

"The woman the old master arranged for him was excellent, but he..."

Originally, Master Baili had a bright future ahead of him, but somehow he fell in love with a female swindler and was willing to abandon his original wife for her, running away with her money.

"Ha," Wang Qingyan sneered, "To abandon one's wife and future for the sake of illicit pleasure, what kind of talent is that?"

"..." Bai Li Ce was too lazy to comment on her cheap father.

He then added, "My parents shamelessly took away a lot of the first wife's dowry."

Wang Qingyan frowned slightly, feeling that these people were indeed beyond saving.

"Without the ability to be self-reliant, such actions can only be a temporary solution."

"Yes," he said, hitting the nail on the head.

"At first, the two were quite loving, but neither of them were productive or good at managing a household, so over time they gradually became unable to make ends meet."

"In addition, my father was a rich young master who could do nothing but compose poems and write couplets. He said that washing clothes and cooking were uncivilized."

"Yet he also has a strange arrogance, and refuses to even set up a stall to sell calligraphy and paintings or write letters for others."

What arrogance? "They're just used to being waited on hand and foot."

"When..." Bai Lize almost let slip, but quickly recovered, "'When' I was three years old..."

"He abandoned you and your daughter?" Wang Qingyan immediately became anxious.

"No, it was my mother who kicked him."

Unexpected?

"So, your mother does have some guts after all."

Looking at the campfire, Baili Ce bluntly stated, "It's just that I feel he has no more use to me."

Feeling a bit tired, she leaned back against the rock. All she wanted to do now was get it off her chest, and she didn't care about losing face anymore.

“My mother originally wanted to sell him to be a male prostitute, but it didn’t work out.”

"..." It was too early to say that.

“After that, she took ‘me’ back to our old profession.”

Wang Qingyan moved slightly closer to her, "Your mother... seems to have a lot of confidence in herself."

"What a pity, if you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet..."

Bai Li Ce remained calm, as if he didn't care about these things. "When 'I' was five years old, she was exposed."

"They broke his legs and disfigured him."

"But she wasn't too stupid. She stole some of the other party's money beforehand and hid it, and managed to raise 'me' until I was seven years old."

"For poor people, raising children is just a matter of hanging on by a thread."

If he wasn't mistaken, she must be the real Baili Ce who starved to death and then transmigrated.

“Indeed,” Baili Ce said with a faint smile, his eyes filled with unfathomable loneliness.

Wang Qingyan, unaware of why she was suddenly so sad, wanted to comfort her, but was afraid that the more he comforted her, the sadder she would become.

After a long while, he pretended to be nonchalant and said, "The only daughter of the fourth branch of the Baili family was recuperating away from home due to illness. She returned to the Baili family when she was ten years old."

"Before that... how did you survive?"

Seeing how cautious he was, Baili Ce was quite carefree. "You don't need to look at me like that. I haven't actually suffered much."

When she arrived, the original owner had been "dead" for three days.

Although I still don't know why it hasn't rotted or smelled bad, at least—

"The old master and my father's first wife actually found me half a month after my mother died."

Even then, the few dozen copper coins her conman mother left her were stolen, and she almost got cooked alive.

"Your father's first wife was...so magnanimous?"

"How could that be! No one could be so magnanimous."

"What about her?"

"Let me finish," Bai Li Ce said, not wanting to go into details about the matter.

So he quickly changed the subject, "My father was also shameless. Not long after my mother kicked him out of the house, he returned to the Baili family's estate by begging."

"Begging? Isn't that a disgrace to civilization?" Wang Qingyan sneered.

"Perhaps because she was good-looking, educated, and knew how to say auspicious words, she was not in any life-threatening danger along the way, except for being beaten a few times."

Whether it's genuine begging or not, who knows?

"It's a pity... his body is ruined."

"My stepmother originally thought that now that her husband had returned, she would let bygones be bygones."

"After all, that's what everyone advised her to do at the time."

"Things like 'a woman should be faithful to one man forever,' 'a prodigal son who returns is more precious than gold,' and 'he knows he was wrong, what more do you want?'"

Upon hearing this, Wang Qingyan's eyes suddenly sharpened, even more agitated than when she first heard it. "Shameless fallacy!"

"Exactly!" Baili Ce immediately struck the ground with a branch.

Her words brought a bright smile to Wang Qingyan's face.

Finally, it suits her taste.

"Perhaps women really are worthless."

If a woman did this, let alone running away with someone and having a child, even if she had a bad relationship with her husband, getting a divorce would not be an easy thing.

"Perhaps, for someone else, she is also priceless."

Wang Qingyan reached out to take the branch she was tightly clutching in her hand.

After a brief standoff, Baili Ce obediently let go.

Wang Qingyan lit a few fires, and as they chatted, he truly rediscovered the spirit of youth.

"Regardless of gender, once you become husband and wife, being loyal to each other is a matter of course, not something to boast about."

"If he cannot remain faithful to his first wife, what right does he have to demand that she treat him as her only one and forgive past grievances?"

Seeing how seriously he spoke, without the slightest hint of flattery or showing off, Baili Ce felt much more relaxed.

Although she still couldn't determine who was actually behind Wang Qingyan's identity.

But at least for this moment, she didn't want to dwell on any more conspiracies or schemes.