On her wedding night, she went into exile with her pharmacy arsenal

Chapter 2123 Acknowledge identity

As dawn breaks, the rising golden light paints the hillsides yellow, and the wind sweeps across the slopes, carrying the fragrance of grass and trees, and stirring the manes of herds of horses.

Hundreds of fine horses gradually awoke, some lowering their heads to graze, others raising their hooves and neighing. Their chestnut, snow-white, and black coats gleamed in the setting sun, each one agile and strong.

Huo Changhe could tell at a glance that it was a well-trained and excellent military horse.

Yan Ruyu stood on the high slope, her brocade robe fluttering in the wind. Her gaze swept over the horses, then turned to Chunni beside her.

Chunni stared intently at the horses, as if watching a precious treasure about to be taken away.

"Whether you admit you're Liu Jiulang or not is irrelevant." Yan Ruyu's voice was clear and cold, with a hint of nonchalant arrogance, and a cold smile curled at the corner of her mouth. "Finding these horses now is far more valuable than you, Liu Jiulang."

Chunni's eyes were already red and swollen, her voice hoarse and agitated: "You can't take these horses with you! They belong to the Liu family!"

Yan Ruyu raised an eyebrow, her long eyelashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyes, and scoffed, "What? You're not pretending anymore? So you admit you're Liu Jiulang now?"

Chunni gritted her teeth, her cheeks puffed out slightly, and a stubborn sharpness appeared on her originally delicate face: "So what if I am? Liu Jiulang is me, and everything in the Liu family should be taken over by me. These horses have nothing to do with you, and you have no right to touch them!"

Huo Changhe sneered, his voice low and oppressive: "You forcibly seized land around Rongzhou to grow pasture and illegally opened horse farms to train military horses. The Liu family has some nerve. You say this belongs to the Liu family? How many heads does your Liu family have enough to chop off?"

"Our Liu family has a get-out-of-jail-free card!" Chunni retorted angrily, her chest heaving slightly with her rapid breathing. "Bestowed by the late Emperor, it can guarantee the Liu family's safety for generations to come. You cannot touch us in the slightest, and you certainly cannot touch these horses!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Ruyu seemed to have heard something interesting. She slowly raised her hand and took out a token as well.

The token is entirely gilded, with the words "immunity from death" engraved on the front and intricate cloud patterns on the back, gleaming with a dazzling light.

"You mean this?" She ran her fingertips along the edge of the token, her tone slightly mocking. "Your good brother Liu Balang handed it over a long time ago."

Chunni glanced at the token, her face showing no panic, but rather a contemptuous smile.

“What he has is fake; it doesn’t count.” She said confidently, her eyes full of disdain. “The real get-out-of-jail-free card is in my hands.”

“My good-for-nothing brother has been cowardly and incompetent since childhood. My father saw long ago that he would amount to nothing.”

Chunni raised her voice a few decibels, with the certainty of someone who had long held a high position: "He is nothing more than a front for the Liu family, a target to attract attention from all sides. As for me, Liu Jiulang, I am the true person in charge of the Liu family, and of course, the real authority is in my hands."

Yan Ruyu paused for a moment while holding the token, then continued flipping through it casually.

"It doesn't matter." She said calmly, her tone devoid of emotion. "You say yours is real, and I'll say this one is real too. After all, who knows whether it's real or fake?"

Chunni's eyes widened, and her breath hitched, as if she had been choked by those words.

She pointed at the token in Yan Ruyu's hand, her voice trembling: "You...you dare? This is a token bestowed by the royal family, a sacred object. How can you allow such a counterfeit to pass it off as genuine?"

Huo Changhe stepped forward, blocking Yan Ruyu's side, his gaze sharp as a knife as he fell on Chunni.

He chuckled softly, but the smile didn't reach his eyes: "You don't need to worry about that."

He paused, then his tone suddenly turned cold and hard: "Now, within Rongzhou territory, this area is the real one."

Chunni staggered back half a step, her face instantly turning deathly pale. A surge of nausea rose in her chest, and a metallic taste filled her throat.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, which splattered onto the yellow grass in front of her, looking particularly glaring.

"You...how dare you..." Her breath was ragged, her voice weak but filled with resentment, "Who are you people? How dare you show such contempt for imperial authority?"

Yan Ruyu slowly walked up to her, looking down at her, her dress falling in front of Chunni's eyes, blocking some of the light.

"Want to know?" Her voice lowered, carrying a hint of seduction. "First, tell me what's going on between you and Mr. Mo? Also, where is Wu Ping'an?"

"Mr. Mo?" Chunni looked up abruptly, her eyes filled with surprise, as if she hadn't expected the other person to suddenly mention this name. "You actually know Mr. Mo?"

"I know far more than you can imagine." Yan Ruyu curled the corners of her mouth, her smile carrying a hint of coldness. "Don't even think about hiding it, or you'll be courting death in your current situation."

Chunni managed to stand steadily, her breathing still rapid.

Her eyes flickered a few times, but she finally gritted her teeth and said, "I don't know where Wu Ping'an is."

She paused, then lowered her voice: "I have only met Mr. Mo three times."

The wind swirled through the air, carrying bits of dry grass. The horses seemed to sense the tense atmosphere and raised their heads, letting out a few low neighs.

Chunni's gaze drifted into the distance, lost in memories, her eyes gradually becoming distant.

“It was a bright and sunny afternoon,” she began slowly, her voice slightly ethereal. “My father had just passed away, and it was the seventh day after his death.”

She remembers it clearly: the sun was shining brightly that day, warmly illuminating her body, but her heart felt as cold as ice.

She went to her father's grave alone to pay her respects.

The Liu family's ancestral graves are located on Qingsong Ridge in the suburbs, surrounded by tall pines and cypresses. The wind rustles through the leaves, making a sound like someone sobbing softly.

The ashes of paper money in the incense burner in front of the grave had not yet dissipated, and were blown into the air by the wind, swirling and floating.

She knelt before the grave, gazing at her father's tombstone, her heart filled with bitterness. Her father had painstakingly built up the Liu family business, but a serious illness had taken his life.

The elder brother, Liu Balang, was incompetent and unable to support the family. The elders in the clan also had their own agendas. Although the Liu family looked prosperous, they actually had many worries.

Just as she was silently weeping over the tombstone, a figure suddenly appeared at the end of the path in front of the grave.

The man was wearing a black cloak, the hood of which covered most of his face. He also wore a silver mask, revealing only his eyes and the lower half of his face.

"Miss Liu, please accept my condolences." The person's voice was gentle, yet it carried a peculiar penetrating power, as if it could directly penetrate into one's heart.

Chunni was startled and stood up abruptly, looking at the other person warily: "Who are you? How do you know who I am?"

"Who I am is not important." The man approached slowly, his steps steady. "What is important is that I can help you."

He stopped a few steps away from Chunni, his eyes behind the mask deep and unfathomable: "Do you want to bring glory to the Liu family? Do you want the Liu family to step out of Rongzhou and no longer be confined to this small world?"