The place was mostly inhabited by descendants of the former Kingdom of Qin.
It was then that Li Nishu learned Tan Ye's true identity.
But she was not afraid, nor did her heart stir.
In her opinion, the Kingdom of Qin had long ceased to exist, and Tan Ye's identity was nothing remarkable.
However, even if she truly wanted to spend the rest of her life with Tan Ye in a place like a paradise, it was impossible.
Li Nishu had too many considerations; she still had her parents and family and could not abandon everything.
So Li Nishu refused Tan Ye.
Despite her reluctance, she knew they could not be together, for no one could defy the imperial decree.
Thus, Li Nishu began to avoid Tan Ye. At first, everything was fine.
Li Nishu believed that as long as she could avoid seeing Tan Ye, he would eventually understand her feelings and naturally stop pestering them.
But a month before she was to enter the palace, unexpected guests arrived at the Li family.
They were a couple, a man and a woman. The man was her maternal uncle, Fan Lao Er, whom Li Nishu had never met since childhood.
Li Nishu had no particular feelings for them, but upon seeing them, her mother wept inconsolably, clearly missing them dearly after such a long separation.
They had come to the capital because their hometown had suffered a disaster, and they wished to seek refuge with the Li family.
Initially, the Li family was cautious.
But later, they discovered that Fan Lao Er and his wife were actually decent people.
They lived cautiously at the Li residence, not relying entirely on them. Instead, they pooled all their savings and, with the Li family's help, opened a small herbal medicine shop in the capital.
Furthermore, the couple treated Li Nishu very well. They said it was because they had no children of their own, so seeing Li Nishu, they naturally wanted to be kind to her.
Over time, Li Nishu naturally came to trust them.
One day, Fan Lao Er suddenly asked Li Nishu about the Tan family.
After all, Fan Lao Er and his wife ran a pharmacy, and the Tan family was a lineage of physicians. Li Nishu harbored no suspicion and told them everything Fan Lao Er wanted to know.
At seventeen, Li Nishu completely overlooked the Fan Lao Er couple's excessive interest in the Tan family, believing that there were no bad people in the world.
And the Fan Lao Er couple, through Li Nishu, grew even closer to the Tan family.
Within two days, they came to find Li Nishu, asking her to persuade Tan Ye to take them to Qinzhou to gather medicinal herbs and bring them back to the capital to sell.
Li Nishu, without any suspicion, after holding out for so long, met Tan Ye for the sake of her uncle.
That day, Tan Ye was overjoyed.
Even knowing that Li Nishu was doing it for Fan Lao Er, he was not unhappy at all. Instead, he readily agreed, saying he would take Fan Lao Er and his wife to Qinzhou to gather herbs.
At the same time, he revisited the past: he still wanted to elope with Li Nishu, regardless of the affairs in the capital.
Li Nishu at the time was merely afraid that if she refused Tan Ye, she would not be able to explain herself to Fan Lao Er upon her return. After all, her uncle and aunt had always treated her well. She thought that since the Tan family was going to Qinzhou in two days, by the time they returned, she would have already entered the palace.
Even if Tan Ye blamed her then, Fan Lao Er and his wife would have been to Qinzhou, and they could resolve the remaining matters themselves.
So that day, Li Nishu vaguely gave Tan Ye a glimmer of hope without agreeing or refusing.
Indeed, within two days, the Tan family took Fan Lao Er and his wife to Qinzhou.
Li Nishu breathed a sigh of relief at the time, thinking she could finally prepare for her wedding with peace of mind!
However, Li Nishu did not expect that this incident would completely change the Tan family's fate—
Even now, the Noble Consort still remembered that it was a night of thunder and lightning.
She was only five days away from entering the palace.
That night, she was awakened by the sound of thunder and suddenly found a blood-soaked figure standing before her!
Startled, she sat up in bed, only to have her mouth and nose covered by the person: "Don't scream, it's Tan Ye!"
Tan Ye's cold body pressed against Li Nishu, causing her to shiver involuntarily.
The smell of blood, mixed with the dampness after the heavy rain, entered Li Nishu's nostrils, filling her with panic: "Tan Ye? What's wrong? Why are you covered in blood? What happened?"
"What happened?!"
Seeing that Li Nishu did not scream, Tan Ye released her.
Then he cupped Li Nishu's shoulders, forcing her to face him.
He was covered in wounds, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently at Li Nishu: "Isn't all this your doing?! Li Nishu, you've been lying to me from the beginning! You never intended to go to Qinzhou with me! You just want to enter the palace and live that decadent life, don't you?!"
No, it wasn't!
Li Nishu wanted to deny it, but seeing Tan Ye's state, the words of denial stuck in her throat.
She cried and asked Tan Ye, "Tan Ye, what exactly is going on? What happened?"
"Heh—Li Nishu, stop pretending."
He released Li Nishu. Blood dripped from his hands at his sides, yet he seemed not to feel any pain, his eyes filled only with hatred: "Your uncle and aunt, Fan Lao Er and his wife, they are bounty hunters from the martial world! Someone put a bounty on the heads of our Tan clan. They approached the Tan family not for business, but to lure us to Qinzhou so they could capture all the people of the former Kingdom of Qin in one fell swoop!"
No, this is impossible!
Li Nishu's first reaction was, naturally, disbelief.
But Tan Ye had reached such a state; how could he still deceive Li Nishu?
His eyes held only hatred: "You told your uncle that we have a secret place in Qinzhou. He killed everyone, and he cut off my father's head to claim the reward! Li Nishu, my family is ruined, are you satisfied?"
"No... impossible!"
Li Nishu's eyes were filled with tears, unable to believe anything Tan Ye said: "My uncle... how could he be a bounty hunter? He's my uncle! He came to seek refuge with us, just for business, he wouldn't lie to me!"
"Li Nishu, are you still trying to deceive me even now?"
Tan Ye stepped forward, grabbing Li Nishu's chin fiercely with his blood-stained hand: "You couldn't possibly not know her identity, otherwise, you wouldn't have lied to me, wouldn't have told me you wanted to elope with me, and wouldn't have let your uncle use that excuse to trick the location of where we were going out of my mouth!"