Before the house was raided, the maidservant of the Prime Minister's residence absconded with t

Tao'er returned to the artificial cave and lit it up.

She looked up and saw Ayan hiding in the same spot, motionless.

He quickly called out, "Ayan..."

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Ayan immediately removed the covering in front of him and saw that it really was Sister Tao'er who had returned. He immediately stood up, smiled, and ran over to hug Sister Tao'er.

"Sister Tao'er, you're back!"

Ayan felt a real sense of peace and security!

"Yes, Yan, I'm back!"

Tao'er nodded, sensing that Ayan was becoming increasingly dependent on her.

She knew that Ayan was actually scared, after all, he was alone in this dark cave.

However, he was still very well-behaved, probably because of what had happened before, so he became much more obedient.

"Sister Tao'er, is someone really coming outside?"

Have we been discovered hiding here?

Ayan quickly overcame his fear and began asking about the situation outside.

"Yes, someone is coming. Ayan didn't mishear."

"He's just someone I know, not a bad person, Ayan, don't worry."

Tao'er squatted down and said softly.

"Oh, that's good, that's good!"

I'm worried about what will happen if you encounter danger outside.

He had actually thought about going out to find Sister Tao'er, but when he thought about what had happened before, he was afraid of causing trouble for Sister Tao'er.

So he stayed there curled up, afraid to move, and his ears were perked up to listen to the sounds outside.

"Don't worry, continue to rest."

My older sister is very capable; she will take good care of herself.

"And my sister has already come up with a plan; we can leave the city tomorrow."

Ayan's tense shoulders visibly relaxed, but he still looked up at her with his little face and asked, "Sister Tao'er, are you really alright?"

Tao'er patted his head. "It's okay. Why do you ask the same question so many times?"

Ayan smiled shyly, revealing a row of white teeth.

Then Tao'er arranged for Ayan to sleep.

Tao'er tucked him in with the quilt and sat quietly beside him until she heard his even and gentle breathing.

After waiting for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and confirming that Ayan was fast asleep, Tao'er quietly got up.

She took out a dark green brocade dress from her spatial storage, which was gorgeous but not ostentatious, and then took out a set of her own cosmetics.

Using the light, she skillfully altered the contours of her eyebrows and eyes, applied lip rouge, styled her hair into a bun in the common style of wealthy merchants' wives in Shengjing, and inserted a gold hairpin inlaid with jade.

Finally, she put on a dark cloak, concealing her face in the shadow of the hood.

Night had fallen, and the streets were quiet.

Tao'er skillfully navigated through several dark alleys and arrived at a seemingly ordinary street in the west of the city.

At the end of the street stands an inconspicuous two-story building with only a dim yellow lantern hanging above the door, on which the character "seven" can be vaguely seen.

This is one of the Seven Killings Pavilion's hidden agents in Shengjing.

In her dream, she heard someone mention this place while she was handling some secret matters with the old lady.

She raised her hand and knocked on the door three times, neither too hard nor too softly, paused for a moment, and then knocked twice more.

This is a special code, similar to modern Morse code.

The door opened silently a crack, and a pair of shrewd, sharp eyes peered at her from behind it. "What is it?"

His tone was neither warm nor cold, neither light nor heavy, as if it had no soul.

"Let's discuss a business deal!" Tao'er lowered her voice, but deliberately revealed a pampered tone.

The door opened, and a lean, elderly man in gray stepped aside to let her in.

The room was simply furnished with only a table and two chairs; there wasn't even a painting on the wall.

The old man led her to sit down. "Madam, who do you want to kill?"

Tao'er didn't answer. Instead, she took out a seemingly high-end wooden box from her sleeve, or rather, from her spatial storage, placed it on the table, and untied the rope.

The golden light instantly illuminated the tabletop; there were ten full-value gold ingots, each weighing one hundred taels.

"Two thousand taels of gold for two lives," Tao'er said calmly.

"Madam has not yet told me who she intends to kill..."

And does Madam understand the rules of our Seven Kill Pavilion?

The old man merely glanced at the gold ingots in the box, his tone remaining stiff and cold.

However, Tao'er still caught the old man's slightly glowing eyes that flashed by.

Even though the Seven Killings Pavilion offers high rewards for killing, it's not this high.

After all, two thousand taels of gold is equivalent to forty thousand taels of silver, and few people would not be tempted.

"I know that your Seven Killings Pavilion is not involved with the imperial court."

"Don't worry, the people I want you to kill are the wealthy businessman Li Futian and his daughter Li Nanyu."

A glint of light flashed in the old man's eyes, but his face remained impassive: "The reason?"

"The merchants' rivalry has blocked my path to wealth."

Tao'er's tone turned cold, "Is this reason enough?"

"This isn't something your Seven Kills Pavilion should be asking, is it?"

The Seven Killings Pavilion doesn't care about grudges; it only cares about gold, silver, and the difficulty of the target.

The old man weighed the gold ingot in his hand, pondered for a moment, and said, "Although Li Futian is not a person of the imperial court, his son is a sixth-rank official, so he is considered an official. Surely you, Madam, are aware of this?"

"The Li family no longer has any officials, and the eldest son of the Li family is dead. How could your Seven Kill Pavilion not know this?"

Even if the Li family held a secret funeral, how could the Seven Kill Pavilion, with its extensive information network, not know?

"Madam was indeed well-prepared, but the Li family is the richest family in Shengjing, and they have many guards."

Li Nanyu has been frequently seen at the Prince Cheng's residence recently, and there may be secret guards around her.

"This price..."

Tao'er took out another purse and pushed it over: "Add another five hundred taels."

Do me another small favor.

"Steal out the indenture of a maid named Dongkui and put it in..."

The old man opened the cloth bag and glanced at it, finally revealing a very faint smile on his face: "Madam is straightforward."

make a deal."

"Remember, be clean and swift, like a revenge killing or an accident."

Tao added, "Don't leave any traces related to hiring a killer."

"Madam can rest assured about the Seven Killings Pavilion's work."

Tao'er said no more, got up, pulled her hood up again, and left the small building as quietly as she had come.

On the way back to the artificial cave in the Prime Minister's residence, the night breeze was slightly cool.

Tao'er walked quickly, her heart filled with coldness and determination.

Since Li Nanyu had already guessed that her brother's death was related to her, and wanted to hire someone to hunt down her and Ayan, then it was a dead end.

Being kind to the enemy is cruel to yourself.

Although she wasn't from here, she had read plenty of novels and short dramas, and she already understood the intrigue and scheming within them.

She had to protect Ayan so he could live on, because only if Ayan lived could she die a natural death, complete the mission given to her by the space system, and return to the modern world to live her free and unrestrained life.

Therefore, any potential threat must be nipped in the bud.

The King of Cheng's power was so great that she could hardly shake it.

But the Li family father and daughter were nothing more than stumbling blocks who depended on the powerful and wealthy and had personal grudges against her.

Eliminating them would not only put an end to the immediate threat of being hunted down, but also allow us to vent our anger!

As the saying goes, I will not offend others unless they offend me!

Back in the cave, Ayan was still fast asleep.

Tao'er changed out of her rich lady's outfit and back into her original simple maid's attire, sitting quietly beside Ayan.

She had no regrets whatsoever.

In this dog-eat-dog world, to protect those you care about, sometimes you have to become a demon first.

She gently smoothed Ayan's slightly furrowed brows, her eyes resolute.

Tomorrow, once Ayan wakes up, they will leave Shengjing as planned.

And the bloody strife surrounding the Li family in Shengjing will no longer concern them.

She closed her eyes and began to plan her route out of the city and where she would settle down.

She took out the map she had already drawn and looked at it carefully again.

Thinking about the gold that had just been spent, he felt a pang of regret, but it was all taken from the Li family's treasury.

Since it wasn't her own money anyway, Tao'er didn't feel so bad about it anymore.

After Tao'er left, a man wearing a mask and a dark python robe walked out from behind the bamboo curtain inside the house.

"Sect Master..."

The old man changed his previous indifferent attitude and became respectful and humble.

"Go kill that person tonight. Remember, do it cleanly..."

"yes………

"Sect Master!"

The man's face was obscured, but his sharp eyes were unfathomable, and his tone was as cold as the depths of winter.