Chapter 144: One Sitting on the Well, One Looking at the Sky[1]

In the Autumn Reed Inn, near the old well located near the pavilion...

A young boy in straw sandals quietly sat by himself. It was as if he were waiting for someone.

Nearby in the room, the little boy Li Huai was already fast asleep. The oil lamp on the table had already been extinguished.

Just then, Chen Ping'an had put away several maps. Some of them displayed the states and prefectures in the south of the Great Li Empire, while some of them displayed the territories of Great Sui Nation. These maps had all been gifted to him by Ruan Xiu.

After placing the maps back into his basket, Chen Ping'an had sat down beside the table and started to mull over the same problem again.

There was definitely no need to suspect Ruan Xiu.

However, Cui Chan and Wu Yuan, the county magistrate, had jointly visited the blacksmith shop before.

And according to Ruan Xiu's casual remarks, these maps had been generously offered to her by none other than the office of the county magistrate.

Chen Ping'an and the children had traveled south and come across that group of people outside Yefu Pass. After deciding to travel together, their experiences in Yellow Court Nation had been as strange as could be.

In the end, Chen Ping'an had walked toward the pavilion once again. He sat down on the old well to wait for Cui Chan.

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The Great Water Palace was permeated with an aura of gloom and misery. Blood covered the floor of the entire hall.

Initially a boisterous hall filled with music and dance, this was now a hall that couldn't be starker in contrast.

Dressed in white, Cui Chan remained sitting on the elevated white jade chair, with his mind wandering in a place far away.

Meanwhile, the great river god stood in front of him in the hall and used his water element mystical abilities to rid the bloodstains and sanguine smell from his body. The beautiful maidservants in the Great Water Palace had all been disposed of by the great river god, regardless of whether they were water ghosts or living humans. A ruler careless in speech would lose officials, while secrets carelessly disclosed would lead to death. As the mighty great river god watching over the 18 rivers in the north of Yellow Court Nation and forging them into a unified power, he was naturally deeply aware of this principle.

Of his two most trusted subordinates, the chief strategist in Confucian robes was neither drinking nor eating meat. Instead, he was sitting upright like a...