It's day and night.

Gu Xun was sitting alone in the courtyard of his residence in the General's Mansion. Thin clouds were floating in the sky, most of the moonlight was blocked, and the stars looked particularly bright.

Of course, neither the stars nor the moon are enough to provide enough lighting for people.

There were several pedestal stone lanterns placed in the courtyard. They were all lit at this time, and several clusters of firelight dyed the courtyard dim yellow.

Gu Xun is holding a scroll of bamboo slips in his hand and is reading.

For ordinary people, this level of lighting is not enough to meet the needs of reading. Reading in such a dim environment for a long time may lead to blindness.

Fortunately, Gu Xun didn't have such worries, even if it was pitch dark, it would not affect his vision.

At this time, the shadow in the corner of the yard suddenly fluctuated.

Gu Xun held the bamboo slips in his hands and said without raising his head, "Come and sit."

A figure emerged from the shadows, wearing plain cloth and a thick cloak. She looked like a sickly beauty.

Looking at the clothes, she is Tian Yan, the peasant hero, but her face has returned to A Yan's original appearance.

At this time, she should be called by her real name - Gu Yan.

Or you can also use another name - the old father's not-so-caring big cotton-padded jacket.

Da Mian... no, it was A Yan. He walked slowly to Gu Xun, bowed and said hello:

"Father."

Gu Xun didn't speak, but raised his hand and gestured casually, gesturing for her to sit down and talk.

Ayan sat down properly, her posture was elegant and decent, and she lived up to her status as the eldest lady of the Imperial Prefecture.

But anything she has done recently has nothing to do with being a lady.

After sitting down, Ayan glanced at the bamboo slips in his father's hand.

As far as she knew, her father never liked reading bamboo slips, he always read paper books.

Now I am holding a scroll of bamboo slips and looking at it, wondering if there is anything special about it.

With the dim light of the fire, Ayan saw two words carved on the back of the bamboo slip - Cang Long!

These two words caused thousands of thoughts to pass through Ayan's mind, but there was no ups and downs on his face.

Gu Xun was reading a book and chatting about everyday things and asked:

"Going to see your mother?"

"I've seen it." Ayan nodded first, and then said, "Mom, she has left Songhai."

"Huh?" Gu Xun was stunned for a moment.

Zhang Han could not monitor the whereabouts of Jing Salamander at any time, and Gu Xun did not keep an eye on his wife's habits all day long.

If Ayan hadn't told him, he probably wouldn't have known about it for a while.

"Where did she go?" Gu Xun asked casually, not expecting an answer.

He has been "rebellious and separated" recently, and Jing Salamander may not be willing to reveal his whereabouts to him.

Ayan gave the answer happily, "I'm going back to Xianyang."

Gu Xun frowned and moved his eyes from the bamboo slip to Ayan's face:

"Your mother...is going back to find Zi Nu and the others, right?"

Ayan shook his head, "I don't know my mother's purpose. I'm afraid my father will have to ask her in person."

Gu Xun rolled his eyes, returned his gaze to the bamboo slips, and said, "You are mocking your father and me!"

A smile appeared on Ayan's lips, but he defended himself, "My daughter doesn't dare."

"Is there anything else you dare not do?" Gu Xun replied calmly, "You, your mother, your Aunt Yan, and your sister, you have been working together to bully me all this time."

Listening to his old father's complaints, the smile at the corner of Ayan's mouth gradually widened inadvertently.

"Father, please believe that my mother and the others will never do anything bad to you."

Gu Xun sighed softly, "Of course I know they won't be detrimental to me, but who knows whether what they do will be detrimental to themselves, you, and your sister?"

"I'd rather they just come for me, at least I can handle anything."

Ayan could only defend his mother, "Moms must have their reasons and have to do this."

"It seems you know something." Hearing Ayan say this, Gu Xun was immediately keenly aware of the problem.

Ayan could only smile and say nothing, neither denying nor affirming.

"They may have a reason to do this, but I also have a reason to stop them." Gu Xun did not ask further questions, but looked at the bamboo slips and calmly responded to Ayan's previous sentence.

Ayan lowered his head slightly, but still did not answer Gu Xun's words.

Indeed, everyone has their own reasons, so she, the daughter, is caught in the middle and can only avoid offending both ends.

She will not reveal any information about her mother to Gu Xun, nor will she betray her father to her mother.

Gu Xun also knew that his eldest daughter was caught in the middle and had no intention of really arguing with her. He waved his hand:

"Don't talk about our affairs anymore. It has nothing to do with you juniors anyway."

"Tell me about yourself. Now that the farmer has obtained it, how do you plan to use it?"

Ayan asked obediently, "How does father want me to use it?"

"I hope you don't have to!" Gu Xun replied angrily, "According to my opinion, you should stay in the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion and be your eldest lady."

Ayan chuckled, not worried about his father's anger, and explained to himself, "The farm family is very important, and we must not let it fall into the control of the net."

"Without you causing trouble, the farmer's family would not have fallen into the trap." Gu Xun was preoccupied with two things, reading a book and not forgetting to respond to his daughter.

"For various scholars, it is enough as long as the farmhouse does not fall into the trap, but for Liusha, the farmhouse must be in its own hands." Ayan continued to defend himself.

Gu Xun couldn't help laughing when he heard this, and replied playfully:

"Your father and I are in our prime now. No matter how much you worry about the position of leader of Quicksand, you will still have to wait for a few years. Now is not the time for you to worry so much."

Being teased by his father in this way, Ayan couldn't help but feel a little shy despite his cold temperament, and a blush appeared on his cheeks.

She didn't explain that she didn't want to usurp the throne - her father was obviously kidding her, it would be boring if she took it too seriously - she just continued to defend what she did to the peasant family:

"Father, the peasant family has one hundred thousand disciples, making it the largest force outside the empire."

"Such a huge group, as long as Quicksand can bring it under control, there will be..."

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Gu Xun interrupted Ayan, "I understand your thoughts and your worries."

The reason why A Yan is determined to control the farm is because of their one hundred thousand disciples - of course, anyone who targets the farm is here for this.

Apart from people, it’s hard to say what other value farmers have.

In Ayan's view, the emperor would not tolerate the existence of quicksand all the time - the relationship between his father and the emperor had indeed become increasingly tense recently.

Luo Sheng can exist because Luo Sheng is the sharp edge of the empire... At least the emperor, and even the people of the world, think that it is the sharp edge of the empire, although Luo Sheng himself may not think so.

But Liusha is Gu Xun's private soldier, not at the command of the empire, nor under the control of the emperor.

No one thought the emperor could tolerate such a powerful but out-of-control force forever.

The seemingly powerful Quicksand is absolutely powerless against the empire - this is Ayan's opinion.

Many times, having more people means nothing. If you want to achieve something, you have to rely on the ability and efforts of a few people.

But sometimes, having too few people just doesn’t work.

Quicksand obviously does not lack rare elites, but it lacks enough ordinary people.

With 100,000 disciples from the peasant family, Quicksand can make up for its most serious shortcomings and truly become a behemoth that can hardly be shaken by an empire at will.

Of course, this will inevitably arouse the emperor's deeper suspicion and defensiveness, and will also inevitably lead to a more decisive and cruel attack from the emperor.

But this process will inevitably be stretched.

Ayan doesn't expect to be able to fight against the empire by relying on her farm family, she just wants to delay time.

Time is enough to solve the biggest problem lying on the quicksand - Ying Zheng!

On one point, Ayan is highly consistent with his father's thoughts - the emperor's dream of immortality is destined to be just a dream, and it can only be a dream.

Although she didn't know Ying Zheng's physical condition, she still made a judgment based on the intelligence collected by Quicksand, a few words from her father, and Ying Zheng's various behaviors in recent years.

The supreme emperor of the empire not only cannot live forever, but his end may also be approaching.

While Ying Zheng is alive, one hundred thousand farm disciples can be used as life-saving talismans in quicksand to delay time. When Ying Zheng dies, these one hundred thousand disciples can more than just save their lives.

After she set her target on the farmer, Gu Xun basically understood what she, the eldest daughter, was thinking and doing.

Gu Xun had no intention of accusing her of doing something wrong, nor did he stop her from attacking the farmer.

Ayan made the above judgment and everything she did as a result was because she did not understand Liusha well enough and was completely unaware of Gu Xun's plan.

This responsibility belongs to Gu Xun, and it was Gu Xun who did not tell his daughter everything.

But he doesn’t blame Ayan, but he also has no reason to indulge her:
To be continued...