In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

No sooner had Shen An finished asking than Liu Wenyuan knelt down in front of Shen An.

"Why are you kneeling again?"

"My lord, thank you for giving me hope of killing Li Huaiyi. Now that we have broken ties with Li Huaiyi, the opportunity to kill him when we meet will no longer come."

Therefore, I am of no use to you anymore.

"I have come here to receive my death."

After saying this, Liu Wenyuan closed his eyes, waiting for Shen An to kill him.

"What you said is true. There's no need for you to kill Li Huaiyi now. But don't you want to see Li Huaiyi killed before you die yourself?" Shen An asked.

"Of course I want to, but a man should keep his word. I broke my promise last time, and I won't break it again this time. Now that I no longer have the chance to kill Li Huaiyi, I should come and accept my death."

Furthermore, my lord's abilities are unparalleled, and killing Li Huaiyi is only a matter of time. Even if I were to die now, I would be at peace!

"Go ahead and do it!" Liu Wenyuan still looked like he was begging to die.

"Forget it, I'm not going to let you die!" Shen An waved his hand.

Liu Wenyuan suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with confusion: "Why didn't you kill me? Don't you hate me for what I did to you before?"

"Of course I hate you, I wish I could skin you alive. In the past, I killed almost every enemy who offended me!" Shen Anhan said in a cold voice.

"Then why are you sparing my life?"

"Because you've been the magistrate for a while, I've discovered you're very good at governing. If you're gone, who will help me govern Qingyang County? I don't have the time or energy!" Shen An stretched: "You should thank my laziness."

"this..."

"What a load of crap! Hurry back to the county office and arrest that Feng Zihuan!" Shen An cursed.

Liu Wenyuan listened with tears streaming down his face; he had never been so moved.

"Stop crying and get out of here!"

"My lord, I will certainly not let you down!" Liu Wenyuan kowtowed three times to Shen An before leaving.

"Master, your heart is as vast as the ocean!" Xiao Yan'er said admiringly.

Shen An wasn't magnanimous; he simply felt that Liu Wenyuan still had value, and great value at that. Whether it was his governance ability or his ability to kill in three steps, he could keep him for his own use.

He currently has very few talented people around him, and Liu Wenyuan is definitely one of them, so he spared his life.

If he ever harbors even the slightest disloyalty in the future, Shen An will not give him any more chances and will kill him on the spot!

On the surface, Shen An smiled and said, "I'm willing to give opportunities to those who perform well, but I hope that the people around me don't need those opportunities!"

Xiao Yan'er could tell that Shen An was warning her, so she immediately knelt down and said, "Master, I, Xiao Yan'er, would never..."

Shen An interrupted her, "No need to say anything more, I only look at performance."

"Then please tell me, Master, what should I do next?"

Shen An rummaged through drawers and cabinets and took out some persimmon beauty cream and bath beans for Xiao Yan'er. He then took out a book of poems and handed it to her: "From now on, use these to take care of your skin. Sleep every day, and memorize the poems in this book and understand their meanings!"

You don't necessarily have to stay by my side. I'll arrange a courtyard for you, and you can live there by yourself.

"Huh? That's all? Is that all?" Xiao Yan'er was incredulous; she had thought she would have to be Shen An's slave.

"This is just training you. In the future, I need you to become the socialite of my Great Liang Kingdom! Help me cultivate relationships and kill without leaving a trace!" Shen An stated his purpose: "Are you willing?"

"Master, Yan'er said that I will do whatever you ask me to do. So what if I am a socialite? As long as you give the order, so what if I am trampled by thousands of people?!" Xiao Yan'er said with a firm gaze.

"Very well! Then you can go!"

"yes!"

After Xiao Yan'er returned and read the poetry collection given to her by Shen An, she was completely shocked.

She admired scholars and writers, which was why she was willing to do anything for her husband.

But when she saw the collection of poems Shen An gave her, she realized that the difference between her husband and Shen An was like heaven and earth.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Shen An is a reincarnation of the God of Literature.

After reading just three poems, she became completely engrossed in them.

Shen An had already met Feng Zihuan.

Having witnessed the power of Shen An's army yesterday, this guy is now focused solely on saving his life.

Upon seeing Shen An, he took the initiative to say, "County Commandant Shen, no, Master Shen, I haven't slept all night, thinking about how to help you deal with Li Huaiyi. As long as you spare my life, I'll tell you everything, what do you say?"

"Hehe, alright, I'll spare your life. Now you can tell me how to deal with Li Huaiyi!" Shen An laughed.

"this..."

Shen An agreed too readily, and Feng Zihuan clearly sensed something was wrong.

"What? I already agreed, don't you believe me? Do you think I, Shen An, would go back on my word in front of my subordinates?" Shen An's voice rose.

"No, no, absolutely not, I had no such intention. I just didn't expect you to agree so readily, I was overjoyed," Feng Zihuan quickly made an excuse.

"Then hurry up and tell me!" Liu Wenyuan urged.

In order to survive, Feng Zihuan gritted his teeth and said, "Master Shen, Li Huaiyi's wife and children actually do not live in Yangnan Prefecture, but in Peach Blossom Spring in Jiangbei Prefecture."

This man seems to take concubines everywhere and shows no favoritism towards his own offspring.

But that's all a lie.

In reality, he had long been impotent; his concubines were just a facade, and the children they bore were conceived through borrowed sperm.

The purpose was to show that he didn't care about his children. In reality, he had a very good relationship with his wife, and he loved their children very much. He sent them to Peach Blossom Spring to be raised with all his heart.

If we could kidnap his wife and children, we could definitely threaten them into submission!

"How can I be sure what you're saying is true?" Shen An asked. "How do you know?"

"Hey, the reason Li Huaiyi sent me here as inspector is precisely because I'm one of his trusted confidants. One of his concubines' children was conceived through my seed!" Feng Zihuan quickly explained, "If you still don't believe me, you can send someone to Peach Blossom Spring to see for yourself. Li Huaiyi's two children look remarkably like him; you'll know immediately!"

Shen An believed him to some extent: "Then why did he send his children to Peach Blossom Spring?"

"It is said that a hermit, a man of great learning, lived there. He was knowledgeable in astronomy and geography, and was even called the most literary person in the past five hundred years. Many of his former students were high-ranking officials in the courts of the seven kingdoms."

"Entrusting the child to this person is the best option at present," Feng Zihuan explained.

"I understand. Do you have any other dirt on Li Huaiyi? For example, that he rebelled? Or that he cooperated with those rebels to hunt down members of the royal family? If so, who cooperated with him?" Shen An asked.

Feng Zihuan was a smart man, and he immediately realized that Shen An in front of him might be related to the royal family.

No wonder he's so powerful, it turns out he's connected to the royal family!

Damn it, if you're so powerful, why pretend to be weak and let me end up in this situation!

"Why aren't you saying anything? Don't you want to talk?"

"No, no, I didn't want to talk about it. I was just thinking about it." Feng Zihuan pretended to recall for a while before saying, "A few months ago, Li Huaiyi sent hundreds of Yin Guards to hunt down a person. Although I don't know the person's specific identity, the Yin Guards are Li Huaiyi's deepest trump card, which they usually don't show."

This indicates that the person was of extremely high status, likely a member of the royal family. However, I later heard that the person was chasing a man, but then transformed into a woman, which seems quite strange.

"this one?"

"Yes, that's it."

"You know nothing else?"

"right!"

"Alright, since you don't know, I'll leave Liu Wenyuan and Feng Zihuan to you. Treat them however you want, I won't interfere!" Shen An stretched.

Liu Wenyuan immediately pulled out his knife, his face revealing excitement and coldness: "Feng Zihuan, you've been riding roughshod over me for two months. Let's settle this score today!"

Feng Zihuan's heart skipped a beat: "Wait a minute, Mr. Shen, didn't you just say you'd spare me?"

"Yes, I'll spare you, but what does it matter to me whether Liu Wenyuan spares you or not?" Shen An retorted.

"How can it be alright? He's your subordinate!"

"He's my subordinate, I can't control everything he does, can I? Do you expect me to control what time he poops or pees?!" Shen An retorted.

"What you're saying is useless. You're just going back on your word. How can you establish authority in front of your subordinates like this? Where is your credibility?!"

"Since you've put it that way, I can't let you live. The fewer people who know, the more authoritative I'll maintain!" Shen An snapped his fingers. "Liu Wenyuan, make your move. It'll be a good opportunity for me to see if your ability to kill someone in three steps has improved!"

"yes!"

"No, no, no, you can't kill me! You can't kill me! Shen An, Liu Wenyuan, you will all die a horrible death! I curse you, I curse you!"

As Liu Wenyuan took three steps to reach Feng Zihuan, he chopped off Feng's head.

After dealing with Feng Zihuan, Shen An ordered his men to hang Feng Zihuan's head above the city gate so that all the people of Qingyang County could see it.

"My lord, should we go to Peach Blossom Spring in Jiangbei Prefecture and tie up Li Huaiyi's wife and children?" Liu Wenyuan asked.

"The Peach Blossom Lord's disciples are scattered across various countries. If we were to snatch them directly from him, wouldn't that offend him? If we want to capture them, we need to find out the whereabouts of his wife and children before making our move," Shen An said. "You find a reliable person to go to Jiangbei Prefecture now and gather information. As soon as they leave Peach Blossom Spring, capture them immediately!"

Liu Wenyuan thought this made sense: "Alright, I'll send men to do it right now, and they'll definitely bring Li Huaiyi's wife and children here!"

He dared not delay and immediately sent someone to do it.

After finishing all this, Dugu Meng came out of the room: "Shen An, that matter... you still plan to do it, right?"