The Empress has abandoned me? I'll support a new emperor and destroy your kingdom!

The autumn rain in Lin Yuan City was lingering and chilly, unlike the crisp, refreshing rain of the north. The pattering raindrops pattered on the bluestone pavement, splashing up tiny droplets, and the air was thick with the smells of earth, mildew, and the city's characteristic stale odor. The West Market, already a melting pot of all sorts, became even more chaotic and muddy in the rain. The eaves of shops lining the streets were crowded with pedestrians and vendors seeking shelter from the rain; the cries of hawkers, curses, and children's sobs mingled with the sound of the rain, creating a cacophony of noise.

Deeper into the alley, the light was dim and sewage flowed everywhere.

"Young masters, this rain isn't going to stop anytime soon. Why don't you come in and sit down, have a bowl of hot tea to warm yourselves up? The price is fair!" A slick voice rang out, laced with undisguised greed. The speaker was a burly man with a face full of scars and a hairy chest, blocking the alley entrance, followed by two thugs with crooked eyebrows and crossed arms. The three men's malicious gazes lingered on the two "young men" in the alley, dressed in ordinary blue robes and wearing rain hats, especially on their robes, which, although stained with mud, were clearly made of good material, and the seemingly inconspicuous but actually exquisitely crafted jade pendant at their waists.

Those blocked were none other than the Third Princess Yun Jin, who had disguised herself as a man and risked leaving the palace, and her personal maid Qing Dai. Yun Jin was pale, her lips tightly pressed together, trying to appear calm, but her slightly trembling fingers betrayed her inner fear. Qing Dai was even more terrified, her face pale, clinging tightly to Yun Jin's side, her palms covered in cold sweat.

Their risky escape from the palace today was Yun Jin's last struggle. She remembered her mother mentioning a distant cousin, whom she had received favors from her maternal grandfather in her early years and who later ran a medicinal herb business outside the palace. Perhaps, out of consideration for their past relationship, the cousin could help find a way, even if it was just temporary shelter. But when she found the area according to her vague memory, everything had changed. The medicinal herb shop was nowhere to be found, and instead, it had been targeted by these local thugs.

"No, no need. We...we'll leave now." Yun Jin lowered her voice, trying to make it sound as rough and hoarse as possible, and pulled Qingdai to try to walk around her.

"Hey—don't be in such a hurry to leave!" The burly man stepped forward, blocking their path again, grinning to reveal his yellowed teeth. "It's raining heavily and the roads are slippery. You two young masters have delicate skin; it wouldn't be good if you fell. How about we 'escort' you? Or..." He rubbed his fingers together, his meaning crystal clear, "Leave some money for tea, and we'll pretend we didn't see anything?"

"In broad daylight, right under the walls of the capital, what do you think you're doing?" Yun Jin tried to remain calm and shouted sternly, but her voice, even after changing its tone, still carried a slight, almost imperceptible tremor, making it utterly intimidating.

"Under the walls of the capital?" Upon hearing this, the burly man and the two thugs burst into laughter as if they had heard a joke. "Kid, you look like you're from out of town, right? In this West Market, we're the law! Enough talk, hand over your money pouch, and that jade piece, it looks worth a few bucks! Don't force us to use our hands, or we'll hurt your pretty faces!" As they spoke, they reached out to grab Yun Jin's waist!

"How dare you!" Qingdai exclaimed in surprise, and without thinking, she stepped in front of Yun Jin.

Yun Jin felt a chill in her heart, and despair filled her. She didn't have much money on her, but it was the only money she and her maid had left to survive. More importantly, if they were searched in the street and their true gender was exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable!

Just as the dirty hand was about to touch Yun Jin's waist—

"Snapped!"

A soft sound, not the sound of a hand slapping on the body, but as if someone had flicked something away with their fingertips with extreme dexterity.

The burly man's movements suddenly froze. His outstretched hand hung eerily in mid-air, his smug grin freezing on his face, turning to astonishment, and then pain. He felt as if a red-hot needle had pierced his wrist, a tingling, numb sensation that instantly drained his strength.

"Who?!" The burly man was both surprised and angry, and he turned his head sharply.

At the other end of the alley, a figure stood quietly, seemingly out of nowhere. He too wore an inconspicuous blue robe and a bamboo hat, obscuring his entire appearance, but his posture was upright, like an unyielding bamboo stalk standing in the misty rain. In his hand, he toyed with a pebble, smoothed by the rain, which he had just picked up from a corner. Clearly, it was with this pebble that he had struck the burly man's pressure point in mid-air.

"I saw injustice on the road." The newcomer spoke, his voice clear and calm, carrying a strange penetrating power through the sound of rain, instantly suppressing the noise in the alley. "Gentlemen, it is beneath your dignity to make things difficult for two teenagers."

It was Su Che. He arrived in Lin Yuan City a day later than the intelligence from Grey Falcon and Night Owl. He had just settled in the "haunted" abandoned warehouse in the south of the city and came out to familiarize himself with the surroundings when he unexpectedly stumbled upon this scene. Although Yun Jin was dressed as a man and his face was mostly covered by a bamboo hat, his overly delicate features, the forced composure and hidden panic in his eyes, and the deliberately aged jade pendant in the style of the imperial court at his waist instantly confirmed his identity.

He had searched high and low without finding it. This "chance encounter" went even more smoothly than he had expected.

"Damn it, where did this blind pretty boy come from, daring to meddle in my business?" The burly man shook his still sore wrist, both shocked and furious. He gave his two henchmen a look, "Attack him together, cripple him!"

Three thugs charged at him, howling, and started punching and kicking, creating a gust of wind. They were used to street brawls, possessed some brute strength, and were quite agile.

However, in Su Che's eyes, their movements were so slow as to be child's play, full of flaws.

He didn't even put down the pebble in his hand. He just shifted his feet slightly, his body swaying as if with the rain, easily and effortlessly dodging the burly man's fist. At the same time, he casually waved his left hand, his index and middle fingers together, and accurately tapped the tendon on the elbow of the thug on his left.

"Ouch!" The thug's arm went limp instantly, and he screamed and staggered backward.

As the thug on the right kicked out, Su Che merely turned slightly to the side, his right toe seemingly casually hooking the ankle of the supporting leg.

"Splash!" The thug lost his balance and fell hard on his backside, splashing up a cloud of mud.

The burly man missed his punch and saw his two henchmen fall to the ground instantly. He was horrified, knowing he had met a tough opponent. But his ferocity was ignited. He pulled a short knife, about a foot long, from his back waist and grinned as he stabbed it towards Su Che's chest: "Die!"

A flash of light appeared in the dim light.

Yun Jin and Qing Dai were so frightened they almost screamed.

Su Che neither dodged nor avoided the attack. Only when the tip of the blade was three inches from his chest did he suddenly raise his right hand, which was holding the pebble. He struck first, using the smooth side of the pebble to gently tap the blade.

"clang!"

With a crisp clang of metal against metal, the burly man felt an unimaginable force surge from the blade. His hand split open, blood gushing out. He could no longer hold the dagger, and it flew out of his hand, landing with a clatter in a puddle some distance away.

The pebble in Su Che's hand remained completely still, without even a crack.

The burly man, clutching his bleeding, trembling right hand, stared at Su Che in utter terror, as if he'd seen a ghost. To casually deflect a fully-forced steel blade with a mere pebble? What kind of eyesight, skill, and strength did that require?

"Get lost." Su Che uttered a single word indifferently, without even glancing at them.

The three thugs were overjoyed, not even daring to pick up the fallen knife. They scrambled out of the alley in a sorry state and disappeared into the rain.

The alleyway fell silent again, with only the sound of the rain pattering softly.