So what if she's my sister-in-law? You seduced me first.

Shen Qingge groaned, looking at his face, and suddenly remembered their first meeting.

She met him at the yamen (government office). It was near the New Year, and there were fewer cases then, so she would help deliver errands.

That night, all the officials of Xianyang City went to the governor's mansion, saying that a high-ranking official had arrived and they should be treated well.

When she went to deliver the items, she saw Lord Rong bowing and scraping as he received distinguished guests from the capital. She heard that they had come to investigate a case involving salt merchants. As she delivered the items, the man in the main seat glanced at her.

The next day, Lord Rong summoned her to his residence, saying he wanted to promote her and asked her to retrieve all the case files of the salt merchants from the past two years and send them to the study where the men lived.

After a few visits, Lord Rong felt that his intuition was correct. The high-ranking official from the capital seemed to be interested in her, so he threatened her with A-Jun's future and gave her to Xiao Zhiliu.

Xiao Zhiliu saw through the old fox's thoughts, but he did not refuse and let her stay in the study. When he boarded the ship to leave Xianyang, he even took her with him.

And so, she followed him to the capital.

When she arrived in the capital, she learned that he was the eldest son of the Xiao family. The Xiao family had many complaints about him taking a commoner woman as a concubine and made him keep her outside.

He only agreed after being whipped, and the matter caused quite a stir in the capital.

She thought he would treat her differently, but their relationship ended there; he was getting married.

Shen Qingge stared blankly into his seemingly affectionate eyes, then closed her eyes, remembering Madam Xiao's warning to her.

Inside the governor's mansion.

Qingfeng had already spent a day in Xianyang City. He had searched through all the household registers selected by Lord Rong in his study, but there was no household register for a woman named Linghuan.

He suspected that the name given by the young master was fake, and that the registered name was not Linghuan at all, deliberately causing trouble for them.

He had no choice but to abandon the household registration search for the time being. He checked everyone who had entered the city in the past half month and compiled a list that included both men and women.

He carefully picked out anything that seemed even slightly suspicious and ordered people to search for it.

The lady will definitely disguise herself when she enters the city, and the portraits in this booklet cannot be trusted. If these suspicious people are also confirmed to be not the lady, then he really has to hurry to Dongzhou.

The journey to the prefectures and counties near Fuzhou took too long.

These days, with portraits of the Lady posted in the streets and alleys of every prefecture and county, has no one really seen her? Or is she not in Xianyang either?

Not in the Northwest, nor near Fuzhou, where could she have gone?

Qingfeng rubbed his forehead, his hand, which was flipping through the booklet, clenched slightly. Knowing his wife as he did, she wouldn't sit idly by if the entire Ning family were imprisoned.

Could they have hidden away in some remote mountain forest, completely unaware of the Ning family's predicament? Qingfeng's anxiety grew as he thought this.

Sha Ying sent him messages every day, urging him to find the person quickly, as he was barely able to endure living in front of His Majesty and dared not imagine what would happen to him if he went back.

He shuddered and immediately decided to get up and go to the Xiao family's ancestral home to ask Third Master for help in searching. These cities in Zhongzhou were Xiao family territory, and the Xiao family's ancestral home was in Xianyang City.

"Where are you going, sir?"

Lord Rong hurriedly stood up, but before Qingfeng could speak, he saw Rong Yuan rushing in, covering his eyes. He didn't know who he had been fighting with, but he had been beaten up and had come to complain.

The governor of Rongzhou was furious when he saw his good-for-nothing son, but he also felt sorry for him because he had been beaten so badly. However, since there were still people in the capital, he couldn't say much and planned to ask later.

To dare lay a hand on his son in Xianyang City is to disregard him.

A glint of malice flashed in his eyes. He pulled his son, who was shouting for revenge, aside and yelled, "Shut up! Can't you see there are adults here?"

Rong Yuan finally stopped spitting and looked over, wincing in pain.

It's that same official from the capital again. Why hasn't he left yet? My father spends all his time with him.

Qingfeng glanced at the good-for-nothing governor's son, recalling his ugly face when he was beaten for fighting with another young master over a woman and then clamored for the soldiers to kill him. He lowered his eyes, lifted his foot, and was about to walk out.

"Hey, who is this?"

Qingfeng turned around and saw Rongyuan pick up the portrait on the table and stare at it suspiciously.

"Has Young Master Rong seen this woman before?"

Rong Yuan's eyes hurt from the beating and his vision was blurry. He took a wet towel and applied it to his eyes, then blinked and carefully picked up the portrait to examine it.

"This...this looks so much like that widow Liu!"

"What did you say?"

Rong Yuan cried out in pain as his wrist was suddenly grabbed, "It hurts! It hurts! Let go! Let go!"

A gentle breeze released him, and a cold voice asked, "Have you seen the madam?"

When the governor of Rongzhou saw that his son had actually met the madam, he was overjoyed. With the Xie family's support, his official career would surely be smooth sailing.

"Stop yelling! Didn't you hear the master asking you a question? Where have you seen the madam before?"

"Madam?" Rong Yuan frowned. "Isn't she a widow? I saw her on the street. She looks quite similar to the woman in the portrait, but I'm not entirely sure if the woman in the portrait is Widow Liu."

"Which street, and what time?"

"I saw it a couple of days ago in the East Market. It was a fleeting glimpse when the wind lifted the veil of the hat---"

A slap landed on the back of his head, almost knocking him off balance. Rong Yuan was about to unleash a torrent of curses when he saw his father's gloomy and unfriendly expression, and immediately realized what was happening.

This little bastard, doesn't he even know who he is? How dare he fantasize in his head? Does he have a death wish? How did he even give birth to such a thing?

Seeing that his father was ready to kill him, Rongyuan hurriedly said, "I know where she lives. Take the master there."

When Qingfeng arrived at the rented courtyard with Rongyuan in the carriage, he found it deserted.

The chilling soldiers surrounded the entire courtyard, and he went inside and searched the place thoroughly.

When they came out again, Governor Rong had already asked the landlord, who said he didn't know where the person had gone either.

It seems that the lady did not hide in the deep mountains and forests. If she left a few days ago, she should still be in Xianyang City. Xianyang is heavily guarded these days, so it is impossible for her to escape.

He breathed a sigh of relief and ordered, "Please have Lord Rong order the guards at the city gates tonight to say that there has been trouble inside the city and that no one is allowed to leave."

"Yes."

"On the eleventh, immediately send a message by carrier pigeon to the capital, saying that the whereabouts of the lady have been discovered."

When the news reached the palace, it was right after the morning court session. In the palace corridor outside the council hall, Sha Ying released a carrier pigeon and took the letter into the hall.

Two days ago, His Majesty ordered a bounty to be placed on the black market for the head of the maidservant who served the Lady, and the price has been driven up to 200,000 taels of silver.

The assassins in the martial arts world are people who live on the edge, doing things for money; they're capable of anything.

They will use all sorts of unscrupulous means to obtain silver, and assassins will emerge in various places to hunt down Qinghe.

The master's relentless pursuit has thrown the martial arts world and the imperial court into turmoil, all in an effort to find the lady's whereabouts.

He didn't even dare to think that if no news came back, he might lose his head.