The playboy county magistrate

The letter contained only two short sentences—

Do not test them, and do not act rashly. Otherwise you may provoke them into a rebellious act and cause a great disaster.

Fu Xiaoxiao felt her hands and feet were ice cold, and her blood seemed to have frozen.

With a deafening crash, the last shred of hope in my heart shattered completely.

She risked exposure to send back an urgent, coded message, and this is what she got in return?

There wasn't a word of thanks, not even a thank you, and Li Xuanzhi didn't provide any additional information about the current situation in the capital.

She is indeed an assassin, and she's the kind of person who will do anything for money.

But with no news at all, and still relying on previously given information of dubious veracity, what can she possibly accomplish?

Fu Xiaoxiao clenched the paper ball tightly in her fingertips, her fingertips rubbing red from the edge of the paper, her heart churning with endless absurdity and despair.

Can you really expect to have a good outcome by opposing someone like Li Xuanzhi?

This action is likely to really ruin their own reputation.

Advance, but do not launch a direct assault.

Li Xuan was a man of deep cunning, with informants throughout Jinling City. Making a rash move would only lead to being trapped.

Retreat, do not withdraw.

If you leave without authorization, it will be considered a betrayal of your mission, and you will be hunted down by the entire assassin organization.

She could only watch helplessly as Li Xuanzhi expanded his territory step by step, and witness how the entire city of Jinling completely fell into Li Xuanzhi's hands.

She could only willingly remain trapped in the gentle cage that Li Xuanzhi had personally created, pretending to be loving and tender with him, and feigning a peaceful and idyllic life.

The most terrifying thing is that she had no one to confide in and no one to send messages to.

Waiting in place meant only daily anxiety and the fear of being discovered, and the inevitable prospect of becoming pregnant with Li Xuanzhi's child, ultimately being locked up in the Li family's inner quarters. No matter how you looked at it, it was a completely different ending from what she had envisioned; it seemed like a dead end.

"I see... I see."

She murmured to herself, her voice slightly hoarse.

Before he could finish speaking, he heard light, approaching footsteps behind him.

A warm, gentle voice followed, as tender and affectionate as ever. It fell softly on her ear, yet carried a penetrating, bone-deep control.

"What are you looking at, hiding here all alone?"

Fu Xiaoxiao froze, quickly clenching the paper ball and tightly gathering it into her palm.

When she looked up and turned around, all the turmoil in her eyes had faded, replaced by a gentle smile.

"I wasn't looking at anything." She shook her head gently, her voice soft and sweet, with just the right amount of coquettishness. "I just had some leaves fall on my shoulder, so I straightened them a little."

Li Xuanzhi stood in the spring breeze, holding a pot of warm tea in his hand. His figure was elegant and gentle, and his eyes were full of tenderness, as if he had really just returned to find her.

Li Xuanzhi's gaze fell on her pale face and stiff fingertips, seeing through all her forced pretense and her heart on the verge of collapse.

Is this all there is to despair?

He walked slowly closer, raised his hand and gently brushed her hair, which was ruffled by the breeze, in a gesture of extreme affection.

"Don't force yourself. Your face is so pale, is something wrong?"

Fu Xiaoxiao's head trembled. She lowered her eyes to avoid his gaze and shook her head slightly.

"It's alright, I was just so engrossed in admiring the beautiful scenery that I got a little distracted."

Fu Xiaoxiao's tense back slowly relaxed, and her stiff shoulders gently rested against his chest.

She raised her hand, her slender, cool fingertips slowly climbing up his lower back, gently grasping his clothes. She pressed them even closer, inseparable.

Li Xuanzhi paused slightly as he held her arm.

It was truly unexpected that, when she had nowhere else to go, she neither panicked and fled nor took the risk of assassination; instead, she chose this method.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a low voice, his tone still gentle, but his wariness suddenly increased significantly.

Fu Xiaoxiao raised her eyes, tears welling up in them, stripping away all her feigned gentleness and revealing a sense of bewilderment and vulnerability.

This time, the vulnerability was no longer contrived. It was a natural expression of weariness and loneliness in dire straits, so real that it was indistinguishable from reality.

"My lord, I suddenly feel very tired."

"Sometimes I think, how wonderful it would be if we could always be together like this, without having to worry about conflicts or the future."

Li Xuanzhi lowered his gaze to the moisture in her eyes, a faint shadow of darkness flashing across his deep eyes, gone in an instant.

"Lean against me if you're tired," Li Xuanzhi said slowly, his tone still gentle and indulgent. His fingertips lightly stroked the top of her head. "With me here, you don't need to be tired."

Li Xuanzhi sneered inwardly. As expected of the undefeated assassin, Mei, she really had a lot of tricks up her sleeve. He hoped that her final choice would not disappoint him.

After all, Li Xuanzhi didn't consider himself a man who would give up everything for a beautiful woman.

There are countless beauties in the world, and with enough power and status, what kind of beauty can't one have?

Fu Xiaoxiao nestled in his arms, her ear close to his warm chest. Listening to his steady, long heartbeat, she seemed lost in thought.

However, none of that matters. What matters is that Li Xuanzhi suddenly realized that some people might not be entirely untouchable.

"My lord, the prefect of Jinling has just returned from visiting his family. Upon learning that you are staying at the post station, he personally brought gifts to request an audience."

The man in black suddenly appeared in front of Li Xuanzhi. Li Xuanzhi was used to it, but it startled Fu Xiaoxiao.

the reason is simple--

She recognized the dark patterns on the man in black; she had encountered people dressed similarly before.

This person... came from the palace and was solely responsible for protecting the emperor and empress.

It's no wonder that so many nobles in the capital were completely fooled by such a person following Li Xuanzhi.

No matter how they tried to smear Li Xuanzhi in court, it was useless, since Li Xuanzhi had the emperor's spies following him.

In the emperor's eyes, their every word and action against Li Xuanzhi in court was seen as a group of liars trying to deceive him.

Opposing Li Xuanzhi is tantamount to opposing the current emperor; what good could come of that?

Experienced elders have said that if they want their organization to continue operating normally and not be suddenly wiped out one day, the best way is to avoid power struggles as much as possible.

They originally accepted Li Xuanjing's high reward because they thought it was just a power struggle between the two legitimate sons of the Earl's Mansion, and that other noble families wanted to get a share of the pie.

If it were merely infighting and scheming among court officials, it would be easier to handle. After all, everyone has their own destiny, and everyone will die someday.

But if even the emperor gets involved, things get much more complicated. Being targeted by the emperor's men is never a good thing.

Assassins already have many enemies, both on the righteous and the evil paths. If they are also rejected by the imperial power, what awaits them is likely to be more painful than death.

Li Xuanzhi did not notice the change in Fu Xiaoxiao's expression. At this moment, his eyes were slightly lowered, and a faint indifference seemed to pass through them.

Since he took charge of Jinling and restored order to the entire city, all officials in Jinling, from top to bottom, have been filled with apprehension.

They both feared his ruthless methods and wanted to curry favor with him to secure their own official positions.

For days, a constant stream of people have come to deliver gifts and fawn over me. They are all opportunists, adept at judging the situation.