Remarried to a top-tier playboy, her reborn ex-husband is filled with regret.

Yun Shuwen would always clutch her stomach and bend over, her expression one of genuine pain.

The servant guarding him initially followed him, but after the fourth time, he got annoyed and spat at him from a distance at the gate of the courtyard.

"A lazy donkey on a millstone produces a lot of excrement and urine."

On the fifth trip, the two of them didn't even bother to follow anymore and just sat on the porch and continued eating sunflower seeds.

Yun Shuwen emerged from the outhouse clutching her stomach, looked around, and then slipped into the alleyway in the backyard.

He discovered this alleyway when he was a child.

The Zhenguo Duke's mansion is an old house. In the backyard, half of the wall has collapsed and has been haphazardly blocked with broken bricks, but the dog hole underneath is still there.

When he was seven or eight years old, he would often sneak out from here to go to the street to buy sugar figurines.

At that time, his father didn't know, and his mother pretended not to know even though she did.

She would simply put an extra piece of meat in his bowl at dinner, saying, "Shuwen ran a lot today, eat more."

He never imagined that more than 20 years later, he would use the same dog hole to save his life.

The dog hole was completely covered by weeds. He pushed aside the withered vines and spider webs and crawled in using both hands and feet.

His robes were torn, his knees were scraped, and his hair was covered in cobwebs, but he didn't care.

He got up, followed the shadows of the corridor all the way to the back door of the main hall, pushed the door open, and slipped inside.

The main hall was empty; the servants on duty had probably gone to slack off during lunchtime. It was quiet outside.

A dozen large wooden crates stood silently in the dim light, their seals intact.

He took a deep breath and pulled a dagger from his boot.

This was the only valuable thing he owned, which he had brought from the Prince Yi's residence.

The seal snapped with a crack, and his hand trembled so badly he almost dropped the dagger.

The lid of the box was opened.

The cold glint of the blade reflected from the bottom of the box, stinging his eyes.

That wasn't an ordinary longsword; it was a military knife.

Each one is exactly the same, with a straight blade, a sharp edge, and a uniform mark engraved on the handle.

Yun Shuwen quickly pried open the box next to him; inside were crossbows.

Next to it was a crossbow bolt, its arrowhead wrapped in oiled paper, gleaming with a dark, cold light.

Yun Shuwen's legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Armory! It's privately hoarded armory!

According to the laws of the Great Liang Dynasty, possessing military equipment privately is a serious crime of treason, punishable by execution of the entire family and nine generations of relatives.

The contents of these dozen or so boxes are enough to drag the entire Duke Zhenguo's mansion... no, enough to drag the Qin family, my mother, and my sister all to the guillotine.

He recalled the paper he signed at the Prince Yi's mansion that day: "Personal belongings deposited".

These are not personal belongings; they are clearly irrefutable evidence of treason.

He didn't know how he managed to put the box back on.

His hands wouldn't obey him, and it took him three tries to close the box properly.

He hid the broken seal in his sleeve, then crawled back out of the dog hole and tumbled and crawled out of the back alley of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

He ran out onto the street, where the sun was still shining brightly. The shouts of vendors selling steamed buns rose and fell along the street. A child carrying a pinwheel ran past him, his laughter clear and crisp.

Everything in the world seemed normal, but Yun Shuwen stood in the middle of the street, trembling like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind.

The Wing King wants to kill his entire family!

It's not just about killing him; it's about killing his entire family!

Mother, sister, maternal grandfather, cousin, and all several hundred members of the Qin family—not a single one was spared.

He personally pressed his fingerprint on the document.

The steward will find the seal is broken, and the guard will report that he is missing.

The Winged King will know that he has seen what's in the box.

He can't go back, and he can't go back.

But where else could he go?

He wandered aimlessly through the streets for a long time, countless thoughts racing through his mind.

Run! Run as far as you can!

He left the capital and went to a place where the Wing King could not find him.

But he only has twenty taels of silver on him, how far can he run?

Even if he runs away, what will happen to his mother? What will happen to his maternal grandfather? What will happen to his sister?

The Wing King has his eye on the Qin family, not on Yun Shuwen.

Even if he runs away, the Wing King will still use other means to deal with the Qin family.

Then he thought of someone.

That person pushed him into the water by the lotus pond and had the rich kids poke his head with bamboo poles.

That person came to his door and beat him so badly he couldn't get out of bed.

Every time that person saw him, he had a cold face and never even called him "brother-in-law".

But that person was also the only one who dared to go against the Wing King—Xiao Fang.

Zhenbei Palace.

At the door, Yun Shuwen was stopped again.

The gatekeeper recognized him; it was this same gatekeeper who had watched when Xiao Fang had beaten him unconscious the last time.

So when the gatekeeper saw him, his expression was complicated.

She was somewhat annoyed, but dared not actually kick him out.

After all, he was the Crown Princess's own brother.

"I have urgent business to discuss with the Crown Prince, truly, it is of utmost importance."

Yun Shuwen's voice was urgent and rapid, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

The gatekeeper hesitated, but Yun Shuwen grew anxious.

He took out the broken piece of porcelain, which had been worn down to half, and held it in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.

"If you don't let me in, I'll die right here at the door!"

"If you delay something important, can you take the responsibility?"

The gatekeeper was startled and quickly stopped him, sending someone inside to report.

Before long, he was led into the main hall.

Xiao Fang was leaning back in his armchair, wiping his sword.

He wiped the sword slowly and carefully, as if he were maintaining an extremely precious object.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up, saw him, and his eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

Xiao Fang put down his sword, leaned back lazily in his chair, and a half-smile appeared on his lips.

"What's wrong? Got gambling debts again?"

His tone was exactly the same as usual, with that nonchalant air that made you grit your teeth in anger.

"Last time it was a leg, what's it this time? An arm?"

Yun Shuwen stood in the center of the hall, her lips trembling, wanting to say something, but unable to utter a single word.

He was trembling all over, not from the cold, but from fear.

He was afraid of Xiao Fang, afraid of those seemingly smiling eyes, afraid of that imposing aura.

But he had no choice but to come.

In this world, only the person standing before me has the potential to break the Wing King's scheme.

"I……"

Yun Shuwen swallowed hard; her throat was so dry it felt like she'd swallowed sand.

"I'm not here to borrow money."

I have something to tell you.

Xiao Fang didn't reply, but just looked at him quietly, as if judging the credibility of his words.

Yun Shuyao, who was sitting in the inner room reading, came out when she heard the noise and stood next to the screen.

Her gaze fell coldly on her good-for-nothing older brother.

Yun Shuwen took a deep breath and poured out everything that had happened.

He explained how the Wing King made him put his fingerprint on that piece of paper.

There weren't many words on the paper, but a large blank space was left underneath.

He told him how the butler was staring at his hand, so he deliberately signed his name in a crooked and messy way, and only pressed half of his fingertip as a fingerprint.

He recounted how Prince Yi had over a dozen large boxes moved to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, sealed with tape, and forbidding anyone from touching them.

He recounted what he saw when he pretended to have an upset stomach, ran into the main hall, pried open a box, and discovered it.

The sabers, bows and crossbows, and arrows were all standard military equipment manufactured by the Ministry of Works.

"He's trying to pin these things on my family."

Yun Shuwen's voice trembled violently, and her eyes were red-rimmed.

"He wants to kill my mother, my maternal grandfather, the entire Qin family, and all of you!"

He wants to kill two birds with one stone!

Xiao Fang did not speak immediately.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on Yun Shuwen's face.

It was as if they were dissecting his flesh inch by inch, trying to see what was hidden between his bones.