Go and capture those thirty-six fierce villains.

Brother, do you love widows or water carriers?

Didn't we just go through a life-or-death crisis?

This makes the reader feel very disconnected!

"...He seems to think that what he did was chivalrous." Feng Hanying looked at the silver note with a face value of one thousand taels, her eyes flashing with struggle, and finally she turned her head away.

"Don't refrain from doing good just because it's a small act. Strictly speaking, this could be considered chivalrous... well, it's just easy to be criticized."

Qin Ning picked up two pieces of candied fruit from the table and stuffed them into his mouth. Looking at Feng Hanying's expression, he then vigorously shook the silver notes in his hand.

"A thousand taels, you don't want it?"

"Don't tempt me..."

Don't be so ambiguous... Qin Ning walked over and directly stuck the thousand-tael silver note on Feng Hanying's forehead.

"We're already so familiar, why are you pretending? This ambush was caused by me. If it weren't for Physician Yang and the others showing up, we would all be dead by now. This thousand taels is nothing compared to our lives. Take it, consider it compensation."

"You saved my life on the grassland, I can't accept this money."

Feng Hanying tore off the silver note from her forehead, still struggling to resist the temptation.

She's grown up with no particular hobbies; gold, silver, or even copper coins are fine with her. Perhaps it's because the impoverished days of her childhood left such a deep impression on her.

Before meeting Qin Ning, she didn't know she was so susceptible to handsome men. Well, perhaps not all handsome men, but just the handsome Qin Ning.

"We've faced life and death together twice, why are you being so calculating?"

Returning to the table, Qin Ning emptied the plate of dried fruit and candied fruit, then downed a large cup of strong tea, her tone deliberately serious.

Wow~~ Sugar is truly one of the most wonderful things in the world.

"That's not what I meant..." Feng Hanying quickly explained.

What should I do?

Her beauty was persuading her to accept money; what woman could resist such temptation?

Anyway, she can't handle it.

"Alright, I'll accept you for now... If you ever need money, remember to let me know."

Feng Hanying's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, and her ears burned.

She didn't know why she was blushing. Perhaps it was because the words were too ambiguous, or perhaps it was because of Qin Ning's little gesture of sticking a silver note on her forehead earlier.

Tsk... Qin Ning recalled how she first met Feng Hanying. Back then, Feng Hanying seemed like a cool and aloof older sister.

Now......

"Meow!"

A slight pain in his ankle interrupted his reverie. Qin Ning looked down and saw that the little black cat was gently biting him with its teeth.

"What's wrong?"

"Meow!"

"What's wrong?"

"Meow!"

Qin Ning knew that Li Nu was asking about her one thousand taels, but he didn't want Li Nu to know that he knew.

"Look at you, you never study when I tell you to read and write. Now I can't even understand what you're trying to say."

Qin Ning shook his head and sighed, his face showing a look of disappointment and frustration.

The little black cat frantically drew "one" and "two" on the ground with its two little paws, and in its haste, it even drew "three," which it had pretended not to have learned.

Qin Ning smiled, "Hungry? I'll take you out to eat later, we'll have braised pork knuckle!"

Meow~

Upon hearing "big pork knuckle," the cat immediately drew a line on the ground. Then, it darted onto Feng Hanying's body, placed its feet on two soft spots, and pointed with its little paws at the silver note worth one thousand taels in Feng Hanying's hand.

He then pointed to himself.

Before Qin Ning could speak, Feng Hanying swiftly and quickly stuffed the silver note into her ink pouch.

Although the black cat is Qin Ning's spirit beast, the silver note was given to her by Qin Ning.

"..."

Pinching the soft flesh on the back of her neck, she lifted the little black cat in front of her, and gently placed her two little paws against Qin Ning's face.

"Meow?"

"You're all mine, so isn't my thousand taels also yours?"

A strangely human-like look of doubt flashed in the little black cat's yellow-blue eyes. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, seemingly agreeing with Qin Ning's statement.

Meow~~

She gave a coquettish cry, broke free from Qin Ning's grasp, jumped onto his shoulder, and obediently sat down.

Feng Hanying watched the two, a human and a cat, playfully fighting, her expression unreadable.

"Let's go eat." After finishing a plate of dried fruit, Qin Ning's appetite was whetted. "By the way, I've got my travel permit. We can head to the interior tomorrow."

"Have you got your travel permit ready?"

"Yes, that Lord Yang sent his adopted son on a errand, and it didn't even take the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

The two walked and talked, and when they came out of the inn, they ran into Bai Gu, who was happy to fetch water, returning.

"Brother Bai, are you done with your work? Come on, let's go have some food together."

Qin Ning took the initiative to greet them.

When Bai Gu heard the word "eat," his clear eyes lit up with joy, but it quickly turned into embarrassment.

He said somewhat awkwardly, "...Well, Brother Qin, I don't have any money."

How can you be short of money when you're decked out in all the artifacts of the Mohist school?

A fleeting look of surprise crossed Qin Ning's eyes.

Snapped!

He slapped a thousand taels of silver notes on the other man's chest and laughed, "Now you have it."

"This is... a silver note... a thousand taels!"

Qin Ning repeated what he had said to Feng Hanying to her again.

Louis Koo's reaction was—strong resistance!

"Brother Qin, my actions are for the purpose of helping the weak and punishing the wicked, and for upholding justice. I absolutely cannot accept this silver note!" Before Qin Ning could dissuade him, he added righteously, "If I accept this money, it would be a betrayal of the chivalrous spirit I have upheld for many years, and a violation of the very essence of chivalry in the Mohist ancestral teachings!"

"Isn't the Mohist school's ancestral teaching universal love and non-aggression?"

"...That was passed down by the first leader of my Mohist school. The word 'chivalry' was left by the third leader."

Hearing you say that, I feel that there will be many ancestral precepts of the Mohist school in the future... Seeing that the other party insisted on not accepting it, Qin Ning did not insist anymore and handed the silver note to his shoulder.

The little black cat slightly opened its mouth, and with a whoosh, the beige silver note was sucked in by a beam of black light.

"Brother Qin, is your raccoon a spirit beast?" Bai Gu's clear eyes flashed with curiosity.

"Hmm, you don't need the money, but you still have to eat."

Qin Ning recalled that the other person had come to her medical stall for a free consultation, and the cause of the illness seemed to be food poisoning.

"I..." Bai Gu's stomach growled twice, and his expression suddenly turned serious.

"Brother Qin, are we friends now?"

"certainly."

"Alright, then having a meal with a friend doesn't count as violating the ancestral precepts of the Mo family's chivalrous way," Bai Gu said righteously.

"As long as you're happy..." Qin Ning sighed helplessly, and the three of them headed straight for Baiwei Restaurant in the city.

On the way, the two of them would occasionally ask him about the origins of Physician Yang and his two companions.

......

Blood Rain Fortress, Gu Family.

Inside the three courtyards.

Gu Kexing lay sprawled on the soft couch, his face a mixture of pain and malice. He had only been trying to capture a mere physician, yet he had run into Si Chenwei; the incident filled him with both lingering fear and indignation.

"The Imperial Guards are under the exclusive control of the royal family, but they are not entirely untouchable. Once my second uncle advances further, and once I reach the fifth rank of Legalism... I will definitely avenge this humiliation!"

Qin Ning's face flashed through his mind, followed by the grinning man with his narrow, sinister eyes.

crunch.

The bright red wooden door was pushed open, and a handsome young servant walked in carrying a tray with practiced movements.

"Young master, the medicine on your back needs to be changed. Also, Physician Li from the army brewed you a bowl of tonic; the temperature is just right now. Shall I feed it to you?"

"Um."

Gu Kexing responded through his nose, sat up with the help of the servant, drank the tonic, and then got down to change the medicine on his back.

The servant quickly tidied everything up, placed the empty bowl and bloodstained gauze on a tray, and quietly left the room.

Inside the room, Gu Kexing, having finished taking the tonic, pondered maliciously for a while before drowsiness overcame him and he slowly fell asleep.

Walk through the courtyard and along several corridors.

The servant went to the kitchen where medicine was prepared. After entering the room, he carefully closed the kitchen door and walked to a dark corner.

"I saw you drink that tonic with my own eyes, young master."

In the darkness, Li Siqin's round figure emerged.