In the Qushui Hall,

Gu Di stared at the beautiful but ruthless girl in front of him without saying anything. His eyebrows knitted in a frown and his deep eyes were red, filled with the flood of anger.

"To save you, my face was disfigured. To save you again, I broke into the Imperial Palace by myself. And in your eyes, I'm just as disgusting as Huanan Xin is?"

He roared indignantly at her. His nerves were dominated by extreme anger and pain, and he moved slightly.

Gu Yunxi, with her hands crossed, stood alone. She was indifferent and untouched. Her beautiful eyes flashing dazzling light impressed anyone who had a look at her,

"At that time I was robbed by you and escaped from the death of exchanging my face. I searched for the Kunhuang Island map for you and nearly lost my life in the black formation of the Swift Tower. At this point, you and I have no grudge against each other. We call it even."

With distress and shortness of breath, the man looked straight at the beautiful and proud girl. With anger, his handsome face twitched.

"Even?"

He sneered bitterly,

"No, impossible! I tell you, you and I will be entangled for the rest of our lives. You will not get rid of me—"

He became unusually grumpy and rushed up again, firmly holding the girl's hand with five fingers.

"Let me go. I won't leave with you—"

Gu Yunxi was in his arms, with her feet almost off the ground. She struggled to resist, patting the man in the face with her little hands, but dared not make too much noise.

Gu Di was crazy but she stayed rational.

Outside were the remaining Honour Guards. If they were shocked, everyone would suffer.

Priest Wu had the same idea as Gu Yunxi. Seeing the two people argue, he hurried forward and comforted,

"Uncle Master, since Miss Yun insists, I will take you to leave first. Seeing is better than anything. There are guards outside, so you can't take her out of the Qushui Hall simply!"

Gu Di laughed, "Can I be stopped by those people outside?"

"Don't be silly—"

Gu Yunxi roared in a low voice angrily,

"Focus on what you should do! If you want your brother's death to be meaningful, go to fight for that half of the jade seal with Huanan Xin instead of fighting for a woman!"

It was silent for a while.

Gu Di was amazed, looking straight at the determined girl. He was slightly stiff, and his huge body was like a mountain, sloping in place.

"Right. That matters."

Wu Yong took the opportunity to get close. He looked at the two people and sincerely said,

"Uncle Master, Miss Yun, I, Wu Yong, am lazy and sly, but I know graciousness. I also want to tell you that His Majesty has set a trap secretly to eliminate the Eastern Depot quietly. He has instructed me to give the fake Kunhuang Island map to Chiliarch Cheng of the Eastern Depot tomorrow. As long as they open another underground palace according to the direction indicated on the map, no one can survive."

"Another underground palace?"

Gu Yunxi was confused but was stunned by Wu Yong's extremely serious look. She became terrified.

With a slight move, she realized that her back full of cold sweat was tightly glued to the clothes, making her uncomfortable.

Gu Yunxi only knew that there were true and false Kunhuang Island maps, yin and yang, but did not know there were two underground palaces on the island.

Seeing fear and a strong desire for knowledge mixed together in Gu Yunxi's eyes, Wu Yong grinned slyly and continued to explain,

"Grandmaster Hong Zun is a master of inventing gears and hidden weapons. I have heard from Master Lei Huan that, in order to cover the underground palace with the jade seal, Hong Zun asked people to secretly build another underground palace on the island. There is no treasure, no jade seal but the gears and traps that no one can crack. He drew the location map of that underground palace on the same old sheepskin, which is the so-called Yin map."

Gu Yunxi learned the general situation. She looked down and said to herself in shock,

"At that time, the Eastern Depot should obey the deceased emperor's orders to recover and hand over two maps. The false one, regarded as a true one, was locked in the Elixir Chamber of High Priest by the deceased emperor. Now Huanan Xin succeeded to the throne, it seems that he no longer believes in the Eastern Depot. He sees through the Master's plan and finds the map in Elixir Chamber...is fake. Tomorrow, if he gives the Yin map to the Eastern Depot and commands Chiliarch Cheng to open the underground palace, that will mean to tell them to die."

Wu Yong at this time turned his head to one side and dared not look directly at the girl,

"Miss Yun, I am really ashamed. At that time, the situation in the capital reversed, in order to survive, I told His Majesty the secret of two Kunhuang Island maps. But I didn't expect to see you and Uncle Master again. I, I really deserve it!"

Slapping himself hard, Wu Yong said with a red nose,

"I have thought of a comprehensive plan for tomorrow. I will not let the people of the Eastern Depot be hurt. Later, you will be in charge, Uncle Master."

Wu Yong looked at Gu Di with bright eyes as if he had issued some kind of major entrust.

When Gu Di was in a daze, he felt the back of his hand was hot. Hurriedly looking down, he found it was the girl's soft hand.

Her palms were warm and even hot, and her five fingers had a force that was unable to fight and argue.

Now the girl was less cold and mean, like the wind slowly coming with a little pride. Her clear eyes were a little aggressive with indelible temperament,

"Do you understand? I want to stay in this palace to buy time for you and the Eastern Depot!"

She said determinedly and pulled the big hand on her other wrist firmly without hesitation.

This time, Gu Di even had no idea of sticking with himself.

His eyes trembled with a lingering, and the luster surrounded his beautiful face. He vowed,

"Well, wait for me, I will never leave you. I want both you and the jade seal."

With a blink, Gu Yunxi did not say anything.

Gu Di began to put on his face mask, and suddenly outside a sharp feminine voice came,

"His Majesty comes—"

The three looked at each other in amazement, and then looked at the door.

"What's going on? Why did the door of the Qushui Hall close so tightly in the daytime? What is my beloved one doing in it?"

The loud and young voice came from Huanan Xin.

"Your Majesty, Priest Wu takes people to deliver meals to Her Grace, and at this time he's inside."

In the hall, Gu Di had been dressed up as a eunuch, standing up and clenching his fists. Accompanied by the sound of finger bones, he squealed,

"Huanan Xin comes at the right time. Let me directly kill him!"

Wu Yong's tone was scorching, like an ant on a hot pot. He waved his hands,

"No, Uncle Master. He has many substitutes. The man who was assassinated by Miss Yun was just a eunuch. It's difficult to guarantee that this time it's not false."

Gu Yunxi frowned and gritted her teeth. Thinking of something, she rushed to the table and sat down...

—

The sun was shining, and the sea heatwave was rolling up and down at noon, twisting the salty air and sending waves of the air ashore.

Min Jun was taken to a shallow beach with many rocks by Min Rui. The sun in the sky made Min Jun's head ache.

Looking back, he couldn't see the camp of the Eastern Depot. Min Jun put his hand on the shed, and showed a confused expression to his father,

"Dad, why do you take me here?"

Min Rui did not immediately answer him but cast his scorching eyes to the sea. For a while, he saw a Mengchong ship rushing towards the shore beach at a full speed.

Min Rui's tight and serious facial muscles temporarily relaxed. He looked back at his son and said simply,

"Don't ask more. For a while, follow me to board the ship. Leng Qingtang is not in the camp now. It's a chance."

The Mengchong ship stopped in the range of mooring. One person on board bowed to Min Rui, and his smile was cold even in the mid-summer noon,

"Your Highness, obeying His Majesty's verbal instruction, I will take you and your son to the maritime fleet of Dongqing Fleet. Tomorrow we'll bombard Kunhuang Island, so we need your full support."

Min Jun on the shore heard this clearly. He was shrinking and stunned to look around the official suits and walking sabers of the Palace Honour Guards. Then he turned his head slowly and weakly.

"Dad, do you want us to go with Honour Guards and continue to serve the imperial court? What's going on with the shelling of Kunhuang Island?"

Min Rui frowned and said nothing. His thin face looked complicated.

After a moment of silence, he lowered his head and walked towards the ship without turning back. He said in a stiff voice,

"Jun'er, get on the ship with me."

"No—"

Min Jun roared angrily like thunder behind.

Min Rui stopped suddenly, and as he turned around, he saw his son's face covered with tears.

"Why are you doing so? The imperial court killed my mother, but you betray everyone in order to play up to the imperial court and the new emperor!"

A hundred meters away, Min Jun pointed at his father and cried angrily,

"I don't have a father like you—"

"What I'm doing is for you and your sister!"

Min Rui choked with sobs and sparkling tears.

The guards on board laughed and urged with disdain,

"You'd better get on the ship soon. If you're late, I can't explain to His Majesty."

Min Rui unrolled one arm,

"Jun'er, follow me."

Min Jun raised his eyebrows, and decided to turn back,

"I'll tell everybody..."

Before he finished his words, a hidden arrow stabbed him in the middle of his back.

Min Jun fell down slowly and the blood stained the beach.

In an instant, Min Rui's mind was blank. He yelled and felt dizzy. Then he fell to the ground.

"Jun'er, Jun'er—"

He cried and crawled a few steps towards Min Jun's body. Then he crawled back and questioned to those on the ship with grieve,

"Why did you kill my son? I have made it clear to His Majesty my determination to pledge allegiance to him. Why do you treat me like this—"

Holding a bow, the guard smiled with his arms crossed, and said cruelly,

"We have no other choices. Since your son refused to be loyal to the imperial court, I can only regard him as a traitor and kill him. Your Highness, don't delay any longer, please."

"Ah—"

Min Rui felt as if a knife were twisting in his heart. He roared on his back but the poignant voice was all engulfed by the rolling waves.