"Alright."
Hu Keqing's expression eerily relaxed, and his face, which had turned pale due to the cold, suddenly bore a hint of a smile.
"As a reward, I will tell Yueyue what you want to know."
Qi Yue sighed again.
The chill of the early morning ford a beautiful vortex on her stunning face, carrying an indescribable lancholy.
"It is I—who chose Zhao Xiyan. Even if there were ten of you, even if I could do it all over again, it would still be him."
Her resolute words seed to soften the cold wind in the air.
However, that phrase, "ten of you," was like a dagger plunging heavily into Hu Keqing's heart.
His whole body, already in freezing pain, felt as though it was being torn apart, but this cut was worse than all the others.
In an instant, his pale cheeks blanched even whiter with despair, resembling an ice sculpture.
The sorrow in his eyes gradually faded, leaving them hollow, like those of a mummy.
"Ten of ?" His colorless lips trembled, "What about soone else?"
"All the sa."
"Isn't it because he did sothing?"
"No."
"Ha..." He laughed miserably, "Maybe one day, he will disappoint you too, and make your heart ache..."
"Give up."
Qi Yue's voice was faint but decisively clear.
"Before that happens, I will give up my choice."
Upon hearing this, a flicker of disbelief—or perhaps relief—passed through Hu Keqing's vacant gaze.
"You really are... clearly a very different woman."
Watching Hu Keqing's eyes gradually beco lifeless, Qi Yue rembered the afternoon when she first t him.
The sun was shining brightly, and his smile was so sincere and trustworthy.
Once she had even taken a liking to him, it was such a pity that this gentle and kind man turned out to be the son of a person like Hu Chengxuan.
But today...
"Speak, where is the poisoned man Qing Nanzun gave you?"
"..." Hu Keqing lifted his sowhat muddled eyes and fixedly looked at her for a second.
"Yueyue, visit my ho... In my room, I've left sothing for you, you will like it..."
Finally, his eyelids drooped with no strength, but his frozen neck remained upright on the icy surface without the slightest tilt.
Hu Keqing was dead.
Qi Yue collected the ashes after the cremation and buried them under the big tree outside the city's protective river.
She vaguely rembered that their second encounter had been at this very location, where Hu Keqing had arrived shaking the dragon chair.
He smiled at her, his eyes fervent.
The aftermath of this duel was severe.
Corpses littered the streets, with elderly and children weeping over the loss of their sons and fathers.
Most of them were clients of Rishengchang.
They were mostly rchants, and a few traders, who had stored their life's savings and earnings in Rishengchang.
But the scene before them spelled despair.
After over ten thousand people charged into Rishengchang last night, instead of the coveted silver and valuable goods, they found emptiness.
The angry soldiers smashed windows and doors, burnt down the building's interior, and destroyed the flowers and trees in the courtyard.
It was a horrible sight that one could hardly bear to look at.
The clients were clamoring outside the destroyed walls of Rishengchang.
"Shopkeeper Feng, my silver, my silver note!"
"Shopkeeper Feng, return my hard-earned money!"
"..."
Suddenly, soone blurted out.
"What's the use of finding Shopkeeper Feng? Don't you know? The real owner of Rishengchang is Miss Qi Yue!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd surged, eager to understand what had happened the previous night.
No one knew that the person who spoke was none other than Qu Wei!
He recounted how Hu Keqing found Qi Yue, and the things Hu Keqing had done.
He then described how Hu Keqing's blood was poisoned, how she deliberately caused a loss of life to trap Qi Yue, and how Qi Yue turned the tables on Hu Keqing and eliminated a major threat to the people of Longnan!
Qu Wei, true to his scholarly background, was eloquent in speech, painting the events as vividly as if they were happening before their eyes, with great skill and attention to detail.
He artfully depicted Hu Keqing's wickedness and cruelty, but more importantly, he let the people know about Qi Yue's capabilities, her bravery, and her wholehearted dedication to serving the people.
Of course, he was wise enough not to ntion the miraculous scene of Qi Yue pulling out many things from the small bag she carried with her.
Otherwise, Qi Yue could have killed him.
After his narration, the emotions of the people finally stabilized sowhat.
But it was only a temporary calm.
Desperate clients and citizens started shouting again, this ti directly appealing to Qi Yue.
"Miss Qi, please save us, without silver my whole family will die!"
"Miss Qi, save my child, he died in such a pitiful way!"
"Miss Qi, Divine Doctor Qi, please have rcy on us!"
"...."
Qi Yue silently watched Qu Wei returning to seek credit, her forehead creased with black lines.
"You're really keen on making the target of everyone's arrows!"
Qu Wei was quite cheerful when he was spreading the word, but now he seed a bit uneasy.
"...I was thinking, now that these people know you are the owner of Rishengchang, perhaps they might...."
He stroked his chin and fell silent.
Qi Yue let out a cold laugh.
"What, they don't want silver anymore and will just go ho and continue sleeping soundly?"
Qu Wei scratched his head, a bit embarrassed.
Honestly, ever since he saw Qi Yue continuously pulling out items from her small bag, he had beco sowhat fearful of this sister.
He truly feared that Qi Yue, in a mont of displeasure, would do the sa to him.
"Otherwise, let try bringing up Zhao Xiyan. It might work, you know?"
"Go ahead if you can," Qi Yue pulled a wry smile, "but the more you talk, the worse it gets."
"Then what should we do?" Qu Wei's eyes darted around as he purposely said, "Big brother here just can't figure it out. With so much silver gone and no one stealing it, how co there's not a single coin left?"
Qi Yue coldly glanced at Qu Wei, and seeing him guiltily lower his head, she guessed what he was implying.
But at the mont, she couldn't be bothered to hold him accountable.
After all, Qu Wei might seem unreliable on the surface, but once you actually dealt with him, he turned out to be quite dependable.
So she decided not to hassle him about it!
However, the cries from the streets were growing louder; sothing had to be done.
She disdainfully glanced at Qu Wei, and seeing Huang Zai'an was not around either, she silently shook her head.
None of the people around her were reliable.
"Big brother, handle the situation outside. I'm too exhausted after the whole night and need so rest."
Qu Wei imdiately perked up, "Alright, leave it to your big brother!
No sooner had he finished speaking than his face fell.
"...But how do I handle it? I can't conjure silver, nor do I possess life-saving dical skills!"
Qi Yue exhaled.
"Go out and tell them that Rishengchang Draft Bank has branches throughout all the states, every branch has silver, and they won't lose their silver coins. Tell them to go ho, prepare their silver notes, and co back in six days. As for those who have ingested the Poisoned Blood..."
She paused thoughtfully.
"...first, find a place to settle them. Just lay them flat, do nothing else. Wait until I've had so rest before I see if there's still hope. As for those who died from knife wounds or were trampled to death, just bury them..."
Upon hearing this, Qu Wei imdiately beca energized.
"There's still hope for those who inhaled the Poisoned Blood? Why don't you give the dicine now? It would be a good opportunity to promote your superior dical skills, sister...."
"Shut your mouth..." Qi Yue weakly pinched the bridge of her nose, "There is no dicine. I need to figure out a solution. If you make false promises and sothing goes wrong, your life will be used to pay the debt."
Qu Wei imdiately covered his mouth and waved his hands repeatedly.
"Sister, don't worry, I definitely won't talk nonsense! Absolutely not!"
"....."
Qi Yue gave him a look of exasperation and turned to head towards the back courtyard of Rishengchang.
Upon entering a room that was still intact, she disappeared from the spot in an instant.
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