Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

At 3:45 PM, the group arrived in front of the Marquis of Zhenbei's residence.

As expected, the place was heavily guarded, with Wan Tingjun's presence felt both inside and out.

The four characters "Zhenbei Hou Mansion" on the plaque, set against this atmosphere, appear even more imposing and unfathomable.

After Zhao Wan and the others dismounted, Wu Kai still led the way. Once inside, it was completely silent.

Those sentries and servants were as wooden as decorations.

The moment Xia Ximo stepped into the mansion, he once again felt that strange, sinister aura.

It was much stronger than the previous times.

But strangely, this malevolent aura seemed to float above the Marquis's mansion, impossible to detect…

Of course, apart from her, the others all felt a strong sense of oppression, which made their heartstrings taut from the moment they entered the door.

Wu Kai led the group through numerous courtyards to a hall called "Wu Que".

Inside, a banquet had already been set out, and after everyone entered, waiters led them to their seats.

"Please have some tea and refreshments first. The Marquis will come over shortly after he finishes his official business."

Wu Kai gave a brief instruction and then left the room, with the servants also quickly moving away.

The group exchanged glances, but no one spoke.

Normally, Yu Lang would have tried the fragrant tea and fruit pastries in front of him, but today, he remained motionless and had no appetite at all.

Yan Zhengchu had been secretly fiddling with the magical artifacts, but judging from his solemn expression, this place must be hiding a lot of "strange" things.

Ren Fengjue took a sip of tea, his expression calm and composed as always, while occasionally observing Xia Ximo's expression beside him...

No one knew how long they waited, but the Marquis of Zhenbei still did not appear.

Zhao Wan was feeling stuffy and wanted to get up for some fresh air when a voice announced something from outside the door.

"The Marquis has arrived—"

Everyone involuntarily stood up and glanced towards the door.

Xia Ximo, however, remained oblivious to all formalities, her eyes fixed on the door, watching the figure approach...

The Marquis of Zhenbei was tall and looked to be no more than forty years old. He was still wearing armor, as if he had just come from the military camp.

Although he had some gray hair at his temples, his face was ruddy and he was full of energy, with particularly bright eyes.

Apart from Zhao Wan, the rest of the people present had all heard Changsheng describe the "Marquis of Zhenbei" at Mingyue Manor.

At this moment, he did indeed match the image described in the rumors.

But that aura was quite different from what I had expected…

Xia Ximo narrowed her eyes and lightly shifted her gaze away.

As soon as Jiang Ting entered the room, he let out a hearty laugh that was truly deafening.

"I apologize for keeping you waiting. There are too many military affairs to attend to, and I cannot leave for the time being..."

After saying that, he walked up to Zhao Wan and first inquired about the matter of Princess Wu.

Then, he walked up to Ren Fengjue, patted him on the shoulder, and praised him, "Nephew, you have accomplished a great deal in the court these past years. Although I am in the northern border, I am very pleased that Daqi has such a capable and virtuous person to carry on the legacy!"

Ren Fengjue immediately replied, "Today is my first time meeting you, Uncle. It's true that seeing you in person is worse than hearing about you..."

Jiang Ting was delighted to hear this, and his laughter grew even louder. Then, he greeted Yu Lang and Yan Zhengchu with the same hospitality, showing no airs whatsoever.

Finally, he walked up to Xia Ximo.

"This must be General Xia's daughter, right? As expected of the daughter of the Great General Who Protects the Nation and the First Painter of Daqi, she possesses both courage and pride!"

Xia Ximo offered no flattery, only saying, "Lord Jiang already knew we had arrived in the Northern Border, and presumably also knew that we had passed by Mingyue Manor at the foot of Yuebei Mountain, right?"

Upon hearing her words, Jiang Ting paused noticeably, then asked, "Mingyue Manor? What Mingyue Manor? I've never heard of it."

He turned to Zhao Wan: "Princess, have you heard of this?"

Zhao Wan indeed had no recollection of it and immediately shook her head.

Although Jiang Ting denied the matter, he appeared very curious and asked, "I wonder what strange cases Mingyue Manor has this time? You should tell me all about them!"

As he spoke, he sat down in the main seat, smiling and inviting everyone to "sit down, sit down, eat and drink to your heart's content!"

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but exchange glances.

Yu Lang and Yan Zhengchu were filled with doubt.

This was completely different from what they had imagined the Marquis of Zhenbei to be!

Ren Fengjue was also suspicious, but he continued the previous topic and said, "When we passed through the foot of Yuebei Mountain, we stayed for two nights at a place called 'Mingyue Manor' and heard the manor owner tell us some stories about you."

"Oh?"

Jiang Ting seemed even more interested and quickly asked, "What is the name of the owner of that manor?"

Ren Fengjue said, "The owner of the manor is a young woman whose name contains the character 'Xue' (snow). Does Your Excellency recall her?"

"This…"

Jiang Ting stroked his beard, thought about it seriously for a moment, and then said, "I haven't met many women in my life, and I don't think I know any women whose names contain the character 'Xue'."

Ren Fengjue simply smiled and said, "That's probably something the manor owner made up on purpose; it's not credible."

The expressions on everyone's faces varied.

Xia Ximo remained silent.

Zhao Wan then asked, "Lord Jiang, why did you suddenly invite us to your residence?"

Jiang Ting laughed again and replied, "I've long heard that Nephew Ren has arrived in the Northern Border and have been wanting to visit him, but I've been too busy with military affairs to get away. I only just finished today and sent the invitation in a hurry, which was indeed a bit abrupt!"

Ren Fengjue immediately replied, "Your Excellency is too kind..."

"However..." he suddenly changed his tone, deliberately probing, "Is Your Excellency aware of what happened in Zhu Family Village last night?"

Jiang Ting was slightly taken aback. "Which Zhu Family Village? What happened?"

These words left everyone even more puzzled.

Seeing that they did not answer, the Marquis of Zhenbei immediately shouted, "Wu Kai, come in!"

Upon hearing this, Vice General Wu Kai immediately entered to receive orders.

Jiang Ting asked in a deep voice, "What happened in Zhu Family Village last night?"

Wu Kai looked alarmed. "Your Excellency, I am unaware of this."

"What are you good for? You don't even know this?"

Jiang Ting frowned, clearly displeased. He grabbed a teacup from the table and threw it at his deputy, yelling, "Useless thing! Get down here and receive your punishment! And call someone who knows anything about this to come and tell me!"

Wu Kai dared not dodge and took the blow directly before obeying the order to go down and accept the punishment.

Seeing them singing in unison, Ren Fengjue said, "My lord, it's understandable that the deputy general didn't know about this matter. The incident only happened last night. Even if it were an urgent report, it would still have to go through the county and state governments to get up the chain of command."

"Now that the position of prefect is vacant, the efficiency of doing things will inevitably be greatly reduced, so there is no need for the marquis to be angry."

Jiang Ting snorted and cursed, "These worthless bastards, if they aren't punished for a day, they'll become lazy and become a laughing stock for my nephew."