After deceiving the villain, I was forced to love him.

Chapter 161 He's fishing!

Because the situation outside was too chaotic, after killing Zhou Tianben, Baili Ce wanted to stay in the restaurant for a while until things calmed down before leaving.

During this time, Zhou Fu probably felt that they, a group of men, or perhaps influenced by the starving people, also wanted to unleash their animalistic instincts.

He attacked her from behind...

Little did anyone know that when she was poisoning him, she had already fumigated herself with poisonous smoke, making her completely poisoned from head to toe.

"Bang!" Zhou Fu was poisoned again as soon as he touched her and collapsed on the spot.

"This, this?! No, this has nothing to do with us!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Go!"

"This woman is really strange!"

"..."

The thugs, who had originally planned to flee, were so frightened that they quickly ran away, leaving Zhou Fu screaming and festering in agony...

"It's not that I'm breaking my promise~"

Brushing the dust off his shoulders, Baili Ce grabbed his bow and arrows and rushed upstairs to open all the doors and windows, making a mess of the room before climbing onto the roof.

While using the upturned corners of the roof as cover, they secretly observed the movements in all directions.

They analyzed whether there was any important information in Manager Li's letter.

The meeting place is the Yinyuan Temple on Changshun Street!

Isn't this the one she passed away from a while ago? Why would they want to take her there?

Could it be that they already knew there was a contact point for the Baili family there?

No, only Aqi knows about the contact point at the Marriage Temple.

The message was also transmitted through various symbols, patterns, and numbers. Even if someone else delivered it, the person delivering it would be unaware of it, and it should be difficult to detect.

Unless... something happened to Aqi!

Thinking of this, Baili Ce jumped up... but hearing the incessant sounds of fighting and killing in the street, he calmly hid himself again.

Aqi would never betray him.

The only possibility is that she is using this method to remind her that there is a problem.

What's the problem?

Looking at the letter again, it also said that they were certain Wang Qingyan was seriously injured and truly unable to control the Gu Guards, which reassured Zhou Tianben that he could attack her without worry.

The Wang family had a total of forty-eight heads, of whom forty-seven were eliminated by Lu Jian in the Battle of Fengdu Garden three years ago.

Of the twelve current leaders, apart from this one surnamed Li, the others haven't been with Wang Qingyan for very long.

Judging from the smugness in Steward Li's words, he seemed quite pleased with himself and had probably been dissatisfied with Wang Qingyan for a long time.

So loyalty and acting are completely impossible.

The same applies to the forces in Shucheng and Jicheng.

They're a group that prioritizes profit above all else, with everyone scheming and calculating. How could they possibly genuinely protect Wang Qingyan?

Moreover, bringing starving people into Lincheng was clearly an attempt to severely damage the Wang family.

Therefore, the possibility that Steward Li and Prefect Shucheng were setting a trap for Wang Qingyan is ruled out.

But if it wasn't a setup...

Bai Li Ce was still puzzled.

Wang Qingyan's personality of dragging everyone down with him even in death will make him vulnerable to being taken advantage of by Manager Li and his group.

What Baili Ming and Lu Jian combined couldn't accomplish, these opportunists think they can?!

No, no, no, that day will really come.

He'll most likely kill her first.

Following this line of thought, Aqi must be trying to remind her...

not good!

Wang Qingyan is fishing!

Having figured this out, Baili Ce didn't care about anything else. He quickly found a set of dirty, smelly clothes, smeared some blood on his face, and went to find Baili Sanniang...

......

Ever since Lincheng completely disobeyed the imperial court's orders, and the officials and wealthy households of Shucheng and Jicheng clearly sided with the Wang family, the soldiers and officers in the three cities either neglected their training or became scoundrels and useless soldiers.

It either became entirely the private property of the wealthy, protecting only the rich men and women.

Faced with vicious and starving people, they could neither form an effective cohesion nor were they willing to fight to the death.

Therefore, even with the governor of Shucheng in charge, the fighting among the soldiers in the city was mainly about retreating and defending.

As they retreated, they eventually reached the fortified pass in the west of the city.

"What are you all good for?!"

As more and more starving people rushed toward the fortress, the prefect of Shucheng, disregarding his image, kept roaring, "Charge!"

"Hold on! We must hold on!"

"Anyone who retreats will be killed without mercy!"

Once this last barrier is breached, the starving people will completely lose control, seize Lin City for themselves, and then rush towards Ji City and Shu City.

That's his territory!

To make matters worse, the border was under the control of the imperial court!

If Lu Jian seizes the opportunity and gives the order to set off from the north and march south to wipe out the three cities, then they will truly have no way to survive!

Therefore, even though he had cursed Wang Qingyan eight hundred times, the Prefect of Shucheng continued to curse and dragged Fan An, Fan Cong and others to guard the city tower together.

"Hold on! All of you hold on!" Fan Cong held his broadsword, trembling with tension.

"Sir, there are far too many of them!"

"Yes!"

"We simply can't hold on!"

Fan An's face was also deathly pale. "Bullshit! Don't back down!"

"If we can't hold out, we'll all die!!"

Their original intention was to force Wang Qingyan to take action, so as to deplete the number of archers he had.

After all, Lincheng is the Wang family's foundation; how could he possibly abandon it?!

Who knew—

"Bang!" A heavy slamming sound shook everyone in the fortress.

"not good!"

Someone went up to look down and exclaimed, "It's siege timber!"

Before he could finish speaking, there was another impact, "Bang!"

Then came the third, the fourth...

The prefect of Shucheng was dumbfounded. "Where did they get this?!"

Fan Cong and Fan An exchanged a glance, their minds quickening. They immediately shouted at the top of their lungs, "One hundred taels each for those who bravely defend the city!"

The prefect of Shucheng closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shouted repeatedly, "As long as the fortress remains intact, each person will receive an additional fifty taels!"

"As long as the fortress remains intact, each person will receive an additional fifty taels!"

He then ordered the county magistrate under his jurisdiction to retrieve the man from the cellar where he lived.

“This…” followed by the other wealthy households.

We looked at each other, gritted our teeth, and made a firm decision: "As long as the fortress remains standing, each of us will receive an additional thirty taels!"

"As long as the fortress remains intact, each person will receive an additional sixty taels!"

"As long as the fortress remains intact, each person will receive an additional forty taels!"

......

"Thump!" Upon hearing that the officials were willing to bleed, the soldiers and servants who had been retreating gathered again on the city wall with their weapons.

Even the city gate, which was almost smashed open, was firmly held back once again!

"Bang!" With each impact, wood chips and wall plaster fell off in a whooshing sound.

The starving people, their eyes bloodshot, seemed possessed, tirelessly carrying a giant log they had found in a warehouse and continuing to ram the city gate.

The fortress was built on the foundation of the city tower and has two gates. One gate opens inward to defend against external enemies.

One gate opens outwards to close off internal strife; this is the second gate.

As the second gate was about to be broken open, the messengers and the officials on the city wall grew increasingly terrified.

"Charge! All of you, charge!"

"Hold on! You must hold on!"

......

"Where is everyone?! Why isn't anyone here yet?!"

"Let's have someone else take a look."

"Yes! I'll go right away!"

The soldier hurriedly ran down the city wall and bumped into the two soldiers and the county magistrate who were dragging He Yao over. Overjoyed, he pulled her back up the city wall.

"My lord, my lord, they're here! They're here!"

Taking two steps at a time, the Prefect of Shucheng grabbed He Yao and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Look at this, everyone! Who is this?!"

The rioting famine victims did not stop.

"Dong dong dong!!!" The county magistrate immediately found a gong and banged it more than a dozen times.

The starving people, like frenzied beasts, did not stop, but at least they attracted a lot of attention.

The Prefect of Shucheng immediately pushed the people out, saying, "You all better watch out!"

"This is the emperor's woman. To harm her would be a crime punishable by the extermination of your entire clan!"

The detectives from the Investigation Bureau and the Baili clan, who were mixed in with the starving people, were immediately dumbfounded.

What? It really is He Yao!

Then they saw the same shock in each other's eyes.

what? !

Didn't she disappear?

How did it end up in the hands of the Prefect of Shucheng?!

Oh no! I have to get back and report this right away...

Seeing that someone in the crowd was moving, the Prefect of Shucheng immediately felt more confident. "Listen up, all of you! If these rioters are not dealt with before sunset, I will make sure He Yao suffers a terrible death!"

The starving people below the city were stunned. "What does he mean?"

"He called us a mob! Screw him!"

"Is that woman really the emperor's wife?"

"What does this have to do with us!"

"This corrupt official doesn't seem to be talking to us."

Amidst the chaos, several "sober voices" suddenly emerged.

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean? Didn't you realize that some of these people aren't starving at all?"

Upon hearing this, the sallow-faced and emaciated people all looked to their left and right.

Before long, they actually caught a few burly men who had simply painted their faces black.

"Quick! Catch them!"

"Don't let them escape!"

"I just saw them kill someone!"

"Go to hell! I just wanted to live, and you dared to kill me!"

The spies who were discovered quickly pushed through the crowd and rushed out, but although the starving people were all emaciated, they were outnumbered and excited after just robbing money and food. They struggled for a while and were unable to break free.

"Pfft! Pfft!" After taking several punches and kicks, one of the scouts slid out a short knife from his sleeve and stabbed the two men.

"Brother! Brother, what's wrong...?"

"You killed my brother!"

"I'll fight you!"

......

In an instant, the scene became extremely chaotic.

Just moments ago, the starving people were united and focused on fighting back, but in an instant, they turned on each other and gradually fell apart.

Seeing the chaos below the city walls, the officials, merchants, and wealthy tycoons, including the Prefect of Shucheng, all breathed a sigh of relief, secretly thinking that the situation was finally under control...