Disguised as a man, she became the biggest villain in the book.

“This young lady seems to have recovered, Boyu!” Zheng Luoqi looked at Xiao Tao lying on the ground with icy eyes, showing no intention of helping her up. Her cold voice came out from her thin lips.

"Your subordinate is here!" Boyu stood respectfully to the side and replied in a low voice.

"Go and exchange a few blows with her, see how good her martial arts are. Our government doesn't keep useless people!" Zheng Luoqi said expressionlessly, with a slight upturn at the corner of her mouth, revealing a hint of disdain and indifference, as if she had already seen through Xiao Tao's thoughts.

"Yes!" After accepting the order, Boyu immediately drew his sword and rushed towards Xiaotao. Xiaotao quickly dodged to the side, a hint of surprise flashing across her face.

Xiao Tao seemed completely unprepared for how things would develop. She had been thinking about how she would bump into Zheng Luoqi, what kind of story would unfold, and how to make feelings develop between them. She had already conceived all these scenarios in her mind.

But to everyone's surprise, Zheng Luoqi acted completely unpredictably, remaining unmoved by Xiao Tao's seductive charm.

This made Xiaotao feel a little frustrated. This was the first time she had encountered such a difficult man. In the past, every man she had met was easily captivated by her after just a few glances. If she had just done something nice for him, it would have been a piece of cake for her to win him over.

For the first time, Xiao Tao felt she had lost her composure, but she also found Zheng Luoqi, this elusive and challenging man, even more attractive, and the process of conquering Zheng Luoqi should be very fulfilling.

Zheng Luoqi stood quietly to the side, watching Boyu and Xiaotao fight.

Zheng Luoqi observed Xiao Tao's martial arts moves and could tell that Xiao Tao's skills were indeed quite good; she should be able to hold her own against Wen Yixuan.

However, the sudden appearance of such a strange person makes it hard not to suspect her motives. As Zheng Luoqi was thinking about this, Boyu's side had already finished.

Xiao Tao looked at Boyu defiantly and said, "Come on, if you dare!"

"Alright, I've witnessed your martial arts skills. Not bad. Besides martial arts, do you have any other strengths?" Zheng Luoqi asked.

Xiao Tao pondered for a moment, then shook her head, indicating that there was nothing more.

Zheng Luoqi felt that her government office was already too troublesome and didn't want to add any more people, so she thought for a moment and said, "Settle your bill and leave. My government office doesn't need any more people for the time being."

Xiao Tao panicked upon hearing this. How could she do that? She was penniless and it was freezing cold outside. Going out would be suicide. Besides, she had a mission here.

"My lord, Xiao Tao can do other things. It's snowing heavily outside, and I'm penniless. Going out would be suicide. As the prefect of a prefecture, are you just going to watch me, a commoner, go to my death?" Xiao Tao said with tears in her eyes, her voice choked with sobs, her face streaked with tears.

Zheng Luoqi remained unmoved, coldly looking at Xiao Tao crying in front of him, his heart completely unmoved.

Just then, Wen Yixuan heard the commotion and rushed over. He then saw Xiao Tao crying. When he saw Xiao Tao's tearful and pitiful appearance, he couldn't help but feel a surge of pity.

Xiao Tao's tears were as poignant and beautiful as pear blossoms after the rain. Although they did not touch Zheng Luoqi's heart, they did move Wen Yixuan.

Wen Yixuan couldn't help but plead, "Sir, please let her stay! After all, she's a frail woman and can't eat much. Besides, it's freezing outside; where can a girl like her go?"

Xiao Tao nodded in agreement, tears of gratitude streaming down her face.

Zheng Luoqi looked at the two people in front of her with a face full of disgust.

Zheng Luoqi said bluntly, "She's spending my money now, and my money doesn't grow on trees! If you want to keep her, then support her yourself and don't bother me anymore!" After saying that, he turned and left, ignoring them.

Wen Yixuan watched Zheng Luoqi's departing figure and stepped forward to comfort Xiao Tao, saying, "Don't be afraid. Zheng Luoqi is just that cold-blooded. Don't worry about him. It won't cost much to support you. I'll take care of your daily needs from now on."

"Thank you, young master!" Xiao Tao wiped away her tears and looked at Wen Yixuan with pleading eyes, making Wen Yixuan feel embarrassed.

................

In the following days, Xiao Tao did not follow Zheng Luoqi anymore, but instead followed Wen Yixuan, except for the occasional encounter with him.

Zheng Luoqi never even glanced at Xiao Tao.

Zheng Luoqi has been quite relaxed these days. Fortunately, she made sufficient preparations for this winter, and no major disasters have occurred in Xuzhou this winter.

These past few days, Zheng Luoqi has been busy handling official business and preparing for the spring of next year in Xuzhou. Making money is also something that needs to be put on the agenda, since there are no longer any aristocratic families in Xuzhou.

The remaining three prominent families had all moved away from Xuzhou before the Lunar New Year, giving Zheng Luoqi a large sum of money and shops before leaving—the meaning of which was self-evident: to ensure the safety of their entire clan.

Therefore, most of the shops in Xuzhou City are now under Zheng Luoqi's name.

Previously, I had Zhi Zi open a theater similar to Yuexin Pavilion in Xuzhou, and it's currently very successful.

Zheng Luoqi plans to put information gathering on the agenda. After observing Zhi Zi and her group for a while, they proved to be reliable and loyal.

Just then, Boyu came in and reported, "Sir, the master has sent a letter!"

As he spoke, Boyu took out a letter from his pocket, and Zheng Luoqi quickly took it and opened it.

The letter stated that they already knew the location of the hideout of those people with strange patterns on the map, but the exact location was still unclear.

The prime minister sent men to guard the location where they were transmitting messages. After many days of waiting, the men with the patterns on their faces finally arrived at the location. This time, instead of sending men to stop them from taking the messages, the prime minister sent men to follow them.

They followed them all the way to Liangzhou, where those people with patterns on their faces suddenly seemed to have vanished.

If I'm not mistaken, those people's stronghold is in Liangzhou. Liangzhou is quite a distance from Xuzhou, separated by Qizhou. The prefect of Liangzhou is a man of Grand Commandant Wen.

Zheng Luoqi didn't plan to go there herself. What if it really was those people's hideout? Wouldn't it be too dangerous for her to go? Zheng Luoqi felt it wasn't worth it.

But if we were to send someone to investigate, who would be the safest choice?

Zheng Luoqi realized that she didn't seem to have any capable people around her, as everyone was currently busy with their own tasks.

Zheng Luoqi thought about it and decided to deal with the matters in Xuzhou first, and then deal with the matters in Liangzhou. She decided to send a few scouts over to investigate the situation in Liangzhou.

Now that she needs to deal with these people in Xuzhou, Zheng Luoqi is wondering who to start with. There's been no movement from Yan Huan yet, so she'll start with Xiao Tao!

Xiao Tao has been intentionally or unintentionally creating opportunities to bump into Zheng Luoqi lately. It's hard for Zheng Luoqi not to know what she's up to. Her absent-mindedness is a pretense; she really has other motives.