Chapter 13: Informing the Town Chief

An Xiyan studied Meng Guangping’s expression. Seeing how serious and unrelenting he looked, she gave a soft chuckle and parted her red lips,
“Uncle Meng, you’ve misunderstood me. I actually value my life more than any of you—because, technically, I’ve lived two lives.”

“I’ve already died once, so I understand how precious life is. That’s exactly why I’d never willingly put myself in danger.”

Meng Guangping looked stunned.
“Then… Miss, what do you mean? Forgive me, I’m too dense to understand. Please explain it clearly.”

An Xiyan’s expression turned serious as she looked straight at him.
“To save people, we also have to use the right method. We don’t even know how many people live in this town, and we don’t have any status or authority.”

“If it’s just the few of us from our household, rushing around telling everyone, ‘The people of Dongyang are attacking Qiming! They’ll reach our town any minute now—everyone run for your lives!’…”

She acted out the scene in an exaggerated, panicked tone, and by the time she finished, she couldn’t help but laugh.

Then she continued,
“Uncle Meng, if we go around yelling like that, the townsfolk will just think we’re lunatics. They won’t take it seriously—in fact, they might even blame us for causing unnecessary panic.”

“We’d be acting out of kindness, but no one would see it that way. So why waste our time and good intentions, right?”

Meng Guangping nodded,
“What you said makes sense, Miss.”

An Xiyan’s lips curved into a slight smirk.
“So yes, we want to help—but how we help is the key. The best way is to get the townsfolk to believe it quickly and start packing up to escape as soon as possible.”

“Miss, do you have a good idea?” Meng Guangping asked with genuine interest.
By now, he was fully on board with her plan—completely forgetting how firmly he had objected just moments ago.

An Xiyan smiled calmly,
“Who holds the most authority in this town?”

“The town chief—he has the highest position and the most credibility,” Meng Guangping answered without hesitation.

Then his eyes lit up—
Right! Why hadn’t he thought of the town chief earlier?
If they informed the town chief, he would naturally take care of warning the townspeople.

But then…

Meng…

Meng Guangping’s face showed clear concern.
“Miss, it’s easy enough for us to find the town chief, but how are we supposed to make him believe that what we say isn’t a lie?”

An Xiyan asked with a faint smile,
“Uncle Meng, who is my fiancé?”

“Miss, your fiancé is the Imperial Astrologer. Your engagement was arranged not long after you were born.”

Meng Guangping remembered this very well. The engagement had been quite memorable—because it was the young miss herself who had picked the fiancé.

And it happened during her full-month celebration, no less.

Back then, not only he and his wife were stunned—even the master and madam, as well as the astrologer’s own parents, had been utterly shocked.

An Xiyan stood up and tidied her clothing slightly.

She turned to An Xixuan and said,
“Little brother, your uncle and I are heading out to take care of something. Go find Aunt Meng and the others and tell them to hurry up with preparing the rations. We’ll leave as soon as we return.”

“Okay, Sister! You and Uncle Meng go and come back quickly,” An Xixuan said as he hopped off the bench and ran out the door.
He wasn’t some clueless little boy—he understood he couldn’t help directly, so the least he could do was behave and not add to his sister’s worries.

An Xiyan watched her brother’s back as he ran off, then turned to Meng Guangping.
“Uncle Meng, if I approach the town chief as the fiancée of the Imperial Astrologer, he’ll have to take our words seriously.”

“Miss, that’s a good idea. The name of the Imperial Astrologer will save us a lot of time,” Meng Guangping agreed as he started walking toward the door.
“Miss, I’ve left the carriage in the front courtyard. Please, this way.”

Before long, the two of them arrived at the town chief’s residence in the horse-drawn carriage.

Meng Guangping got down and approached the main entrance.

He cupped his fists and spoke respectfully to the two guards posted there,
“Gentlemen, please inform the town chief that my young lady is the fiancée of the Imperial Astrologer. She has an urgent matter to discuss with him.”

The two guards were stunned.
The Imperial Astrologer was stationed far away in the capital—what would his fiancée be doing in this remote little town?

They exchanged glances, and one of them frowned suspiciously.
“We’ve never heard that the Imperial Astrologer has a fiancée. Are you trying to deceive us with a fake title?”

Then both men gave them fierce, intimidating glares…

The guards drew their broadswords from their waists and glared fiercely at Meng Guangping.

“If you dare impersonate the Imperial Astrologer’s fiancée,” one of them threatened, “we’ll arrest you immediately and have you punished severely!”

Meng Guangping remained calm and unshaken by their intimidation.
“You can rest assured,” he said steadily, “my lady’s identity is genuine.”

“More importantly, what she has to tell the town chief is of great importance and cannot be delayed. If it is, the consequences could be dire.”

“If the situation worsens because of your interference, not even your lives would be enough to atone for it.”

The two guards blanched at his words.
On top of that, Meng Guangping’s imposing aura clearly didn’t belong to an ordinary person. It was obvious he held a high status.

They quickly sheathed their blades.
Whether the claim was true or not, they were just small-time guards—not in any position to offend people like this.

One of the guards bowed slightly with a guilty look and said,
“Brother, please forgive us. We’ve had many people try to see the town chief recently, so we’ve been instructed to verify everyone’s identity before reporting it. That’s why we questioned you—we meant no offense. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Meng Guangping waved a hand dismissively and said with a faint smile,
“I understand, brothers. You’re just doing your jobs. Don’t worry—I won’t hold it against you.”

Hearing this, the two guards let out a breath of relief and respectfully cupped their hands toward him.

Meng Guangping stepped aside to avoid their gesture.
As the saying goes, “It’s easier to deal with the King of Hell than with his little devils.”
No matter who someone was, it was always better to proceed with caution and avoid unnecessary trouble.

He then urged,
“Brothers, the situation is urgent. Please inform the town chief as soon as possible.”

Seeing Meng Guangping dodge their bow, the guards couldn’t help but respect him more.
Even though they were just guards, they had pride too—who wouldn’t appreciate being treated with respect?

One of them smiled and said,
“I’ll go inform the town chief now. Please wait a moment.”

Meng Guangping nodded with a smile.
“Thank you, brother. I appreciate it.”

The guard waved him off with a grin, signaling that it was no trouble, and then quickly ran into the residence.

He thought to himself, Now that’s a man who knows how to behave. I’ll make things easier for him.