Reincarnated as the daughter of my mortal enemy, all I want is to ascend the throne.

"Squeak..."

The wooden door opened to reveal a crack.

A figure suddenly knelt down on the ground with a "thump".

That is the truth.

His black clothes were covered in fine wounds, and his cheekbones were also scratched, making him look rather disheveled.

Upon seeing him, Li Qingyan rushed over, stood before him, and looked up to ask, "Where is Li Yan?"

If he can live, then Li Yan can certainly live too, Cheng Yan said hoarsely.

"Master, he..."

Li Qingyan's eyes instantly reddened, and large tears fell from her round eyes like pearls.

"Li Yan is dead? That old man just died like that? How could he be so irresponsible? He didn't even raise her to adulthood before she died?"

Li Qingyan lost her footing and fell to the ground. Hongyu tried to help her up but was pushed away.

She said she wanted to collect Li Yan's body.

Old Deng had taken care of her for several years, so it was only right that she collect her body.

"Collect corpses? You little brat, are you cursing me?"

Li Yan dusted himself off and walked in from outside, closing the door behind him.

"Li Yan!!!"

Li Qingyan lunged at him.

Li Yan then squatted down and picked up Li Qingyan.

"Waaaaah... Li Yan, you're still alive! You're not dead... Waaaaah..."

Li Yan patted her head. His little brat hadn't been raised in vain; she still knew to think of him.

Hongyu slowly moved to Chengyan's side and kicked him. "Why are you kneeling here?"

The master didn't tell them anything, and knelt down as soon as he entered. Cheng Yan was speechless. He had twisted his ankle when he ran with the master and hadn't been able to stand properly when he entered.

No one gave him a chance to speak; the young master started crying on cue, leaving him completely at a loss.

"I... I can't wash myself clean even if I jump into the Yellow River."

Cheng Yan grinned and tried to stand up, but fell to the ground again.

As Li Qingyan, sobbing uncontrollably, passed by him, she said with feigned seriousness, "The Yellow River can never cleanse a person." Then she let out a burp.

Hongyu, who always had a cold face, almost laughed so hard she fell over. It took her a long time to pull Chengyan up.

Tao Jiannan and Hong Yan followed behind without saying a word. Tao Jiannan, in particular, overheard how those people addressed Li Qingyan and immediately sensed something was amiss. The father and daughter before him were definitely not just ordinary officials.

Hong Yan felt a little guilty, after all, he knew Li Yan and the others' identities but hadn't told Tao Jiannan.

"Li Yan, Li Yan. How did you escape?"

Li Qingyan witnessed those people shooting arrows at Li Yan and the others.

Li Yan felt it was a miracle that he had survived. Countless arrows had rushed towards him and Cheng Yan, but in the blink of an eye, the arrows changed direction and went towards the archers.

In an instant, the archers all died under the rain of arrows.

He and Hongyu took the opportunity to escape.

"But we ran into an old acquaintance," Cheng Yan said, helping Hong Yu walk in, "Bai He."

He placed a jade pendant on the table. "Master, this was dropped by the white crane."

Bai He was a subordinate of the former crown prince. After the crown prince's death, he committed suicide in prison to follow his master. Unexpectedly, it was a case of faking his death to escape.

It would have been impossible for Baihe to escape from the encirclement without backup. At that time, the palace was under martial law, and the only person who could help Baihe was the Empress Dowager.

"She is such a good mother to me."

Li Yan narrowed his eyes, rubbing the jade pendant with his hand. The Empress Dowager had really gone to great lengths to deal with him.

[Host, are you alright?]

The sound of a throwing fork suddenly rang in Li Qingyan's ears, and her eyes widened immediately. "You're back?"

[Yes, my signal is restored. Host...]

Flying Fork rattled off a whole bunch of things the God System was saying to him, looking all wronged.

If Li Qingyan hadn't heard the sound of cracking sunflower seeds, she would have truly believed it.

"Was it you who saved Li Yan?"

【yes……】

Before Fei Cha could finish speaking, a bird called out from outside.

Red Rain quickly extinguished the candle flame.

Li Yan stepped back while holding Li Qingyan, and picked up the sword with his other hand.

Someone is approaching.

squeak...

The door creaked open, and the assassin immediately raised his sword.

[Host, stop it quickly! That's an important witness!]

"Don't do it."

Li Qingyan suddenly shouted, and Hongyu reacted quickly, instantly deflecting the falling sword and grabbing the collar of the assassin from before. The two of them took a few steps back together.

Once they regained their footing, they could see that the people who had come were actually a mother and her child.

The woman's face was sallow and her body was thin; the child hiding behind her was even thinner, looking like a little monkey.

Li Qingyan squinted; the courtyard was somewhat dark, and she couldn't see clearly.

Seeing her like this, Li Yan carried the candlestick and went over to her.

The woman immediately knelt down upon seeing Li Qingyan, saying, "My little benefactor, thank you so much for saving me and my son."

They were the mother and son who were hiding in the alley, waiting to die.

Hongyan prepared steamed buns and water and handed them to the little boy and the woman.

"Thank you, Uncle." The little boy had eaten what Li Qingyan gave him and now had some strength left.

The woman patted her son's head and took out a book from her bosom—a collection of poems.

Tao Jiannan glanced at the book. "This is a collection of poems published a year ago. I also went to the bookstore to see it. There's nothing particularly outstanding about it, and some parts are even... not in proper tone."

The poems here are, to put it mildly, quite poor.

The woman nodded. "This book is terrible, but the magistrate has read it over and over again. I think it might be useful to you."

She was a concubine forcibly taken into the county magistrate's household, and later gave birth to a son.

After having a son, she resigned herself to her fate.

Just two months ago, she accidentally overheard the county magistrate talking to someone about using the flood to replace the local people.

This means changing the city, killing off the original inhabitants, and replacing them with others.

She fled with her son in order to survive.

The magistrate's men have been hunting her and her son down; they say the most dangerous place is the safest place.

She then hid with her son near the government office, and surprisingly, no one discovered them.

She had seen the county magistrate flipping through this poetry collection and, feeling it might contain some secret, she had taken it with her. She hoped it might one day save her son's life.

However, it hadn't been of much use until they met Li Qingyan and her group.

She didn't want to have anything to do with Li Qingyan and the others, but Li Qingyan gave them food, allowing them to survive.

As human beings, we should always know how to repay kindness, especially such a life-saving favor.

She happened to see the direction Chengyan was running in, so she followed.

"But don't worry, I checked when we came, and no one was following us."

After hiding for several months, the woman also developed some skills and learned how to evade tracking.

Human potential is limitless in the face of death.

Hong Yu squinted at Cheng Yan beside her, so much so that no one could spot her even if they were following her.

Cheng Yan's lips twitched. This woman was really something; she could even track him down.

"I'd like to go and see if it's related to that letter."

Li Yan tossed the book to Cheng Yan; now was not the time to worry about Cheng Yan being followed.

"Yes, Master."

Night has fallen, and the cicadas are chirping all the way in the summer night.

Li Yan washed a handkerchief and wiped Li Qingyan's face, wiping it with extra force, which made Li Qingyan recoil in disgust.

"The little brat's all smeared with fur, behave yourself."

Li Qingyan was eventually forced to wipe her face, and she had to take several deep breaths to restrain herself from hitting Li Yan.

How did you know the person coming wasn't a bad guy?

Li Yan finally asked.

"Old Deng is just too suspicious; he keeps asking questions. How am I supposed to answer?"

"Dad~"

Before Li Qingyan could speak, Li Yan interrupted her, "If you don't want to talk, you don't have to, but you're not allowed to lie."

Li Qingyan rolled onto the bed and shrank under the covers, letting out an "Oh." Li Yan propped his head up with one hand and patted her with the other.

As the soft strains of a nursery rhyme began to play, Li Qingyan felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Her emotions had been fluctuating all night, and she was finally tired. Before long, her breathing became long and even.

Li Yan shook his head, tucked the blanket around her, and lay down next to her.

The thought of the little brat crying like that because he thought he was dead made Li Yan smile. "It's okay to have a little secret, you little brat."

It seems he finally has someone who cares about him.

Although he was just a tiny child.

Hongyu, sitting in the tree, heard the nursery rhyme from earlier. She squinted, feigning sleep, and thought, 'My master is truly different now.'

'Bang bang bang'

"The porridge is served! The porridge is served!"

The sound of gongs could be heard outside.

"eat……"

"Mine is mine."

The noise outside was so loud that Li Qingyan and the others could hear it clearly from their hiding place in the courtyard.

The soldiers from the government office wouldn't open the gates to check who was home or not. They'd give you something if you came out to eat, and if you didn't, you'd be left to die.

Li Qingyan watched through the crack in the door as the common people ate porridge on the ground like wild dogs. After they finished eating, they crawled to the base of the wall and lay down, clearly wanting to live but having no choice but to wait to die.

"father……"

Li Yan gritted her teeth, but she still had to wait a little longer.

Wait a minute, these bastards are going to hell.

If we wait a little longer, these people will survive.