Before the city gates closed, Zhang Kui and his team had already returned to the village with their convoy, while Shen Qingwan stayed behind.

After dinner, Meng Xingzhou and Shen Qingwan walked back to the nearby residence together.

Just as Shen Qingwan was about to turn into the alley, she sensed someone following them.

She originally intended to let Meng Xingzhou go home first, but she worried that those people might follow him and find their way to their house.

So, she decided to lead them away together with Meng Xingzhou, heading toward the lake.

“Brother Shen, aren’t we going home? Why are we coming here?”

Meng Xingzhou was puzzled, thinking that Shen Qingwan had some business at the lake.

However, he saw her make a gesture for silence.

The people lurking in the shadows must have realized that she had detected them, so they no longer bothered to hide.

“Who are you?”

A dozen men in black suddenly emerged.

Meng Xingzhou was startled, but he quickly recovered and instinctively reached for the sword at his waist—only to realize that he had left it in the shop.

Since he had been helping out at the shop lately, carrying the sword was inconvenient, so he had left it there.

He never expected to encounter assassins today.

“Boy, you’re the one who killed our people, aren’t you? If you know what’s good for you, surrender quietly. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being ruthless.”

The leader of the black-clad men snorted coldly, as if he didn’t take her seriously at all.

Shen Qingwan’s heart tightened.

It wasn’t that she feared them, but she was surprised—how did they know she had killed their people?

Were they referring to the ones she had killed at the inn?

Or the ones outside the city? Or were they all part of the same group?

“Are you people under Prince Liang?”

She asked directly.

The leader’s expression changed, clearly not expecting her to guess their identity so easily.

That confirmed it—so the ones sent by Prince Liang before were indeed killed by her.

Although the black-clad man didn’t speak, his reaction said everything.

Shen Qingwan didn’t know how they had found her or determined that she was the killer, but it sent a chill down her spine.

Did ancient people really have such impressive tracking and investigative abilities?

Before she could think further, the assassins had already launched their attack.

Meng Xingzhou was still confused—Prince Liang’s men?

Why were they after Brother Shen? Did Brother Shen offend Prince Liang somehow?

Before he could process it, Shen Qingwan had already flicked a handful of silver needles from her sleeve.

Since Meng Xingzhou was present, she couldn’t use modern weapons openly, so she had to fight them the traditional way for now.

Regardless, none of these people could be allowed to leave alive.

Though Shen Qingwan didn’t have internal energy like martial artists, her skills were exceptional.

Meng Xingzhou was momentarily stunned, watching her swift and efficient movements as she took down enemies.

He even forgot to step in and help—until one of the black-clad men lunged at him.

Meng Xingzhou snapped back to reality.

Although he knew some martial arts, he was no match for these deadly assassins.

He struggled to hold off even one opponent.

When a blade came slashing toward him, he panicked and yelled, “Ah! Brother Shen, help me!”

Shen Qingwan turned her head just in time to see the assassin swinging a large saber toward Meng Xingzhou, who had fallen to the ground and was raising his hands in desperation.

Without hesitation, she flung a dagger—it pierced straight into the assassin’s back.

With a clang, the saber dropped, followed by the man collapsing to the ground.

Meng Xingzhou scrambled backward, staring at the dagger lodged in the assassin’s back.

He was so shocked that he couldn’t react for a moment.

Despite his fear, he refused to stand by and let Brother Shen fight alone.

Gritting his teeth, he picked up the fallen saber and charged into battle, fighting alongside Shen Qingwan.

Shen Qingwan glanced at Meng Xingzhou, slightly annoyed—he was getting in her way.

She was already dealing with multiple assassins, and now she had to look after Meng Xingzhou.

Just as she was considering how to discreetly use a modern firearm, Meng Xingzhou was punched unconscious by an assassin.

Shen Qingwan had no time to check on him. Without hesitation, she pulled out a silenced pistol from her coat and opened fire on the remaining assassins.

These men were highly skilled.

Without modern weapons, it would have been nearly impossible to eliminate all of them alone.

Dragging the fight out would also attract unwanted attention.

She needed to end this quickly.

Once all the assassins were dead, Shen Qingwan efficiently tied large stones to their bodies, stored them in her space dimension, and then dumped them into the lake.

This time, she refused to believe they would be able to track her down again.

After dealing with the corpses, she woke Meng Xingzhou.

He groggily opened his eyes, confused. “Brother Shen, where are the assassins?”

He looked around—there was no one.

Not even a single corpse.

If not for the bloodstains that had yet to be cleaned, he would have thought he had just imagined everything.

Shen Qingwan glanced at the calm surface of the lake and replied nonchalantly, “Fed them to the fish.”

Meng Xingzhou’s mouth fell open in shock.

So many assassins… and Brother Shen took care of them all alone?

That was incredible! He had never known that Shen Qingwan could fight like this.

After cleaning up the bloodstains, the two returned home.

The assassination attempt had delayed them, and by now, the city was locked up for the night, with every household’s doors tightly shut.

Upon arriving at the residence, Meng Xingzhou was about to say goodnight when he suddenly saw Rong Yunshuang chasing after a disheveled woman.

Since Meng Xingzhou lived in the front courtyard and Rong Yunshuang stayed in the back with the madam, he had never met Shen Qingwan’s mother before—but he had seen Rong Yunshuang twice.

When his gaze landed on the crazed woman running out, his eyes widened in shock.

“Madam Gu?!”

“Wanwan! My Wanwan!”

Shen Qingwan had just heard Meng Xingzhou’s shocked exclamation when her mother suddenly ran toward her.

“Mother, slow down!”

Shen Qingwan hurried forward to support her. Her mother pulled her into a tight embrace, patting her back repeatedly. “Wanwan, my Wanwan…”

Shen Qingwan hugged her back and comforted her softly, “It’s okay, Mother. Wanwan is here.”

Meng Xingzhou was utterly dumbfounded.

“B-Brother Shen? Why are you calling Madam Gu ‘Mother’?”

He remembered that the Grand General of the Nation only had one son—Gu Shaoqing. Did that mean… Brother Shen was Madam Gu’s illegitimate child?

But that couldn’t be right.

Madam Gu had lost her mind years ago after her daughter went missing.

She had fallen seriously ill and, upon recovering, had lost her sanity.

People said she had gone mad from grief. So how could she have such a grown-up son?

Yet looking at Shen Qingwan and Madam Gu, their features bore a striking resemblance—at least six or seven points alike.

There was no way they weren’t related.

Meng Xingzhou was overwhelmed with questions, but Shen Qingwan had even more to ask him. However, she needed to calm her mother down first.

“Come with me to the back hall,” she said, leading her mother inside.

Once she was settled, Shen Qingwan turned to Meng Xingzhou, her voice urgent.

“You recognize my mother?”

Meng Xingzhou was still in shock, but he answered seriously, “I don’t know how Madam Gu ended up here, but I’m certain—she is the wife of the Grand General of the Nation.”