Great Zhou: Emperor Wu, I need to check your taxes.

After leaving the West Market, the two walked side by side down a quiet alley.

"Young master, now we have all the clues."

As Li Hong'er walked, she tore off the human skin mask from her face, revealing her pretty face.

However, upon closer inspection, one could detect an unusual flush on her face...

"It seems there really is something hidden beneath the ruins of the White Horse Temple."

"but……"

Li Hong'er suddenly stopped and turned to look at Lin Yun, feeling a sense of disappointment and frustration.

"Young master, you have a good mind, but your skills are terrible."

"I was about to get up, and you didn't even react in time to dodge! Luckily, I didn't use much force, or you would have been sent flying!"

"And if that old man had had bad intentions, he could have thrown that pot of hot tofu at you and disfigured you."

Lin Yun awkwardly touched his nose, thinking to himself, "If you really bump me hard, I'll be blown away."

"Isn't Miss Hong'er here?"

"Can I protect you for the rest of my life?"

Li Hong'er rolled her eyes at him, then suddenly grabbed Lin Yun's shoulder and pulled him in front of her.

"Come on, let me teach you two simple grappling techniques. Use them for self-defense; don't always rely on your brain."

"Oh? Miss Hong'er, this..."

Before Lin Yun could react, Li Hong'er had already pounced on him.

Her body was supple yet full of explosive power. In just a few moments, she climbed onto Lin Yun's back, her legs tightly gripping his neck. With a hook of her feet, her front body softly drooped down, gazing up at Lin Yun.

"This move is called the Tendon-Separating Hand, which is specifically designed to counter this kind of wrist grab."

Before Lin Yun could react, she twisted his arm behind his back while talking, bringing her face even closer until their noses bumped.

"Ouch, that hurts..."

"Hmph, you call this pain? Let me teach you a chokehold, that's the real killer move!"

As she spoke, Li Hong'er placed her hands on Lin Yun's shoulders, flipped him over, and then hooked her legs around his lower back while wrapping her arms around his neck from the front.

"See that? If I keep this position, you'll faint in less than three breaths!"

"No, no, no, I'm going to faint!"

Lin Yun blushed, and with both hands he lifted Li Hong'er from below, and hurriedly begged for mercy.

I was indeed dizzy, but I was definitely not strangled, since no steel pipe can be strangled to the point of unconsciousness.

But they absolutely did not treat people like steel pipes!

Li Hong'er's grappling technique is good, but she has definitely only used it on women!

Hanging on a man directly from the front like this, for the man, this is definitely not a grappling technique, it's more like... what kind of technique!

"Huh? I haven't even used my strength yet, why are you blushing?" Li Hong'er asked with a puzzled look, and moved even closer to Lin Yun.

The sweet fragrance unique to young girls wafted over, and Lin Yun's body stiffened even more, his ears turning bright red in an instant.

Is this... teaching or a perk?

"Relax! How can you exert force with your muscles so stiff?"

Li Hong'er, however, looked serious and tightened her grip on Lin Yun's waist.

"Do you understand the concept of 'unifying the waist and stance'? You need to use force here!"

Lin Yun felt a tingling sensation as her legs, full of explosive power and flexibility, pulled him along, but he had to admit that the girl was indeed teaching real skills.

"How can you be so thin-skinned, young master?"

Seeing Lin Yun blush and dare not move, Li Hong'er couldn't help but chuckle, a sly glint in her eyes, and she also got off Lin Yun.

"What are we going to do in the future? There are so many women in our Imperial Guard, and they're all more shrewish than me. The Commander-in-Chief is even more..."

At this point, she suddenly stopped smiling and lowered her voice to gossip:

"Did you know? When the Grand Commander was in seclusion breaking through to the Grandmaster realm, he almost suffered a qi deviation!"

"I heard it's because she was too burdened by inner demons and couldn't let go of some 'past events.' From then on, although she was strict with us subordinates, she couldn't bear to see anyone suffer from heartbreak."

"Old stories?" Lin Yun's heart stirred.

Shangguan Wan'er's entire family was killed, and she grew up as a slave in the Yeting Palace. Such an experience could easily breed inner demons.

As they were talking, Lin Yun suddenly felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

[Tianyan Check - Open]

He subconsciously glanced back at the alley entrance.

[Audit Subject: Passerby A in Blue Dress]

[Risk Assessment: Extremely High. A plainclothes assassin from the Magistrate's Office, carrying a short crossbow at his waist.]

"It has a tail!" Lin Yun shouted in a low voice.

Before she finished speaking, Li Hong'er's figure had already dashed out like a ghost.

"court death!"

A flash of cold light, and before the plainclothes officer who had just shown his face could even draw his crossbow, a line of blood appeared on his throat.

Li Hong'er sheathed her sword with clean and efficient movements.

Killing seemed to be no different to her than slaughtering chickens and dogs, completely unlike the pretty girl from before.

"Zhou Xing is starting to feel dissatisfied with just surveillance."

She kicked the corpse, her face grave.

"Young master, it seems you'd better hurry. They're desperate and ready to do something rash."

……

Back at the Lin residence, Lin Yun locked himself in his study.

He spread out a sheet of white paper, picked up a pen, and wrote down those eight characters.

The medicine is in the white horse; they are trying to survive in the fire.

The pen strokes are sharp as knives, penetrating the paper with force.

Lin Yun looked up, his gaze fixed on the northwest direction of the capital.

That place was once the site of the White Horse Temple, the royal temple of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but now it is nothing but a ruin overgrown with weeds.

"Lai Junchen, do you want to bury these 720,000 strings of cash under those ruins forever?"

"What a pity! The ledgers won't fall apart, and people's hearts won't die!"

……

Night had fallen. In the bedroom of the Lin residence, Lin Yun had just changed into a tight-fitting black night suit and was about to blow out the lamp.

Where are you going?

A calm voice suddenly came from the doorway.

Su Qingtan was standing there at some point, holding a candlestick in her hand.

Those eyes, usually so gentle, now revealed an unprecedented shrewdness and scrutiny.

"Sister-in-law, I..." Lin Yun was about to make up an excuse.

Don't lie to me.

Su Qingtan interrupted Lin Yun, took a step forward, glanced at the inner guard badge on his waist which was not well hidden, and pointed in the direction of the study.

"These past few days, the porters carrying boxes in and out have been so steady on their feet; they're clearly trained."

"And then there's that Miss Shangguan, plus all these account books in your room..."

"Yunlang, do you really think your sister-in-law is a muddle-headed fool who only knows how to do laundry? Have you... joined the Imperial Guard?"

Lin Yun gave a wry smile.

Indeed, it's hardest to hide from your "bedmate".

The Lin family used to be quite large and wealthy, and with his sister-in-law having been in the business world for so many years, she certainly has some sense.

"Yes. To pay off my debts and to protect myself, I had no choice," Lin Yun confessed.

"Tonight I'm going to the old site of the White Horse Temple. It's the key to the Imperial Medical Bureau case back then, and I have to go and confirm it myself."

"Why not send the Imperial Guards?" Su Qingtan pressed.

"That place has been abandoned for many years, and it's nighttime..."

"This case is too sensitive. The Imperial Guard may not be clean, and the Judicial Office is keeping a close eye on it." Lin Yun shook his head with a solemn expression.

"If we go in a high-profile manner, we might alert the enemy, and that evidence might really be lost forever."

"I have to seize the initiative before everyone else can react."

Su Qingtan remained silent for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.

After a long silence, she put down the candlestick, her tone firm and unwavering.

"Take me with you."

"No! It's too dangerous!" Lin Yun refused decisively.

"If anything happens to you, this family will fall apart."

Su Qingtan looked into his eyes, where tears were glistening, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"Although I don't know martial arts, I know the way, and I can help you keep watch."

"More people means more options. If you don't take me with you, I'll follow you out the moment you leave!"

Seeing her "I'll die if you don't agree" attitude, Lin Yun sighed helplessly.

This is the woman who almost sold herself to support his education.

"Okay. But follow my orders and don't stray more than three steps away from me."

Lin Yun rummaged through the closet and pulled out a spare set of black clothes, clumsily helping Su Qingtan put them on.

During this process, the two were extremely close, their breaths mingling, but neither of them had the mind to think about those romantic things.

……

The former site of the White Horse Temple is located in the northwest corner of the capital city.

Five years ago, a fire destroyed most of the buildings here, leaving only ruins that loom like ghosts in the night wind.

The two avoided the watchmen and sentries along the way and sneaked in through a side path.

"It's so cold here..."

Su Qingtan gripped Lin Yun's clothes tightly, looking at the dark ruins around her, her voice trembling slightly.

"Sister-in-law, why don't you wear mine too?"

Lin Yun glanced back and, barely suppressing the nosebleed that was about to erupt, spoke.