rotect you." Ma Xiaobing glared at Ye Fan resentfully, unwilling to admit defeat, but his voice was laced with bitterness."Get lost," Ye Fan said with a smile, kicking him before striding away."Aren't...The night in Beijing, after all, is always a little more boisterous than other cities. This globally renowned city, with its hidden undercurrents, can grind everything unseen into dust.

It is also the capital city of the Xia Dynasty, this thousand-year empire.

When Lao Wei learned that Lao Liu had arrived in Beijing, other forces naturally received the information at the first time.

The mansion of the Yan family, Beijing's first-rate aristocratic family.

This is a villa estate covering over five hundred acres, nestled beside mountains and water. Compared to Wei Lao's estate in the western suburbs, it was even more magnificent. This estate, to a certain extent, also symbolizes wealth, status, and power. In the entire Huaxia Empire, those who could enter this estate were all prominent figures.

Over the past hundred years, the Yan family has left a profound impression on the empire. Family members and former students of the Yan family are scattered across every corner of this empire. Many people even take pride in bearing the mark of the Yan family.

In the evening, a silver-haired old man arrived at the mansion of this estate. However, his car was intercepted a kilometer away from the estate. After inquiring about information and a nearly twenty-minute notification and review process, a car without any cameras drove out from the estate, allowing the old man to sit in the car but not permitting his car, attendants, or driver to enter.

The old man was none other than the mysterious angler living outside Linhai: Liu Lao, Liu Shiqi.

Even if Liu Shiqi had enough energy and status in the Empire, he was still intercepted by the Yan family and could only ride alone in the vehicle sent by the Yan family.

Even so, Old Liu had no complaints. After all, he also wore a label: the Yan family.

At first, Liu Lao could step by step from the remote place of the county magistrate to the peak of power, relying on the cultivation and promotion of the Yan family. And he did not live up to the cultivation of the Yan family, during his tenure, he made too many contributions to the Yan family.

However, his identity had always remained a secret. Few people knew that he was from the Yan family, including Old Mo. But now, Old Liu felt there was no need to hide his identity any longer. He had already retired from the martial world and single-handedly established the Ye Extinction Society.

Now is the time to show our true strength, and let the Ye Destroyers understand the power and influence backing us. Otherwise, the Ye Destroyers, built with so much effort, will become a loose sand pile due to lack of confidence.

Only he and Mo Lao truly understood the terrifying power that Mie Ye possessed. And these were all thanks to the Ye family.

Sitting in the car, Lao Liu narrowed his eyes slightly, but a storm was raging in his heart. After hiding for so long, today he was finally going to meet his master. His mood was mixed with a myriad of emotions. The twenty-odd minutes of waiting before this probably also meant that the head of the Yan family was contemplating whether or not to publicly reveal their relationship.

It seems that the Yan family also wants to use Liu Lao to show their power and fangs to families like the Ye family and Chen family.

The car was driving slowly, almost silently. Looking at the scenery flashing by, even though the night had covered everything, Liu Lao still felt that everything was so familiar.

"This is the most I can do for you, Master Yan." As they neared the manor gates, Lao Liu sighed softly, but his eyes gleamed with excitement. Deep down, he was grateful to the Yan family. It was the Yan family who had given him everything, allowing him to rise from a poor peasant to stand at the pinnacle of power. And because of the Yan family, the Liu family now held a prestigious position in the empire.

"Mr. Liu, Mr. Yan is receiving guests, please wait in the reception hall for a moment." At this time, the car drove into the manor gate and stopped at the door of a small courtyard. The driver opened the door for him and said respectfully.

Upon hearing the driver's words, Liu Shiqi was taken aback. Who could be visiting Old Yan at this late hour

But he immediately nodded and smiled, "You've worked hard. Take me to the living room, please."

The driver nodded slightly, leading him into a house in the middle of the four-courtyard compound, and offering him a cup of tea.

"Mr. Yan has instructed that this courtyard house will serve as your resting place in Beijing. You can live here, and you can also meet friends here," the driver said as he poured Liu Shiqi a cup of tea.

At this moment, Liu Shiqi's heart trembled slightly. However, more than that, there was a strange sense of emotion.

You have to know, not many people could enter the Yan Family Estate within the entire Xia Dynasty, let alone be offered a Siheyuan for rest and work. Perhaps, this was also Yan's reward for his contributions over the years.

In Lao Liu's view, this is an honor beyond compare.

Even when he was at his most powerful as a minister, he never received such treatment. He even rarely set foot here to maintain distance from the Yan family.

And now, he has received so much. Liu Shiqi felt that all these years of hard work were not in vain!

Seeing Liu Shiqi's eyes slightly moist, the driver's face flashed a barely perceptible change. He nodded slightly and said, "Mr. Liu, you rest first. If you have any instructions, just call the internal line. I'll be there right away."

After a pause, he continued, "Well, I won't bother you then. I'll let you know when Mr. Yan is finished."

Liu Shiqi smiled faintly at the driver and waved his hand, saying: "You go busy, don't worry about me."

The driver nodded and then left the room.

After the driver left, Liu Shiqi stood up from his seat and paced slowly around the room. Although he was close to seventy years old, his body was still agile. Though his head was full of white hair, his mind was still sharp. The room was simply decorated and elegant, filled with the aroma of books. Even on the wall hung a calligraphy piece he had written during his tenure.

Liu Shiqi is not only a high-ranking official but also an avid calligraphy enthusiast, even serving as the honorary advisor of the Calligraphy Association. His beautiful cursive script is widely circulated among scholars and literati.

He didn't expect that the Yan family could hang his painting in their room so quickly. It seemed like this house had been prepared for him long ago.

The inexplicable feeling in my heart became even deeper.

And in his mind, the figure of Yan Jia's current head and the third most important person in the Huaxia Empire, Yan Xiaoti, appeared. It was this old man who was influencing the empire that became the person who influenced Liu Shiqi's life. Back then, Liu Shiqi was just a small historian in a remote area, while the young Yan Xiaoti was sent to the local area by the Yan family to gain experience. The unit he went to was the same city where Liu Shiqi lived.

A chance encounter led to Yan Xiaoti's keen eyes discovering Liu Shiqi, and from then on, he embarked on a path of rapid success.

This is Liu Shiqi's last return to the Yan family.

Standing before the painting he had created, Liu Shiqi seemed to be reminiscing about the past. Meanwhile, the driver who had brought him there walked towards another courtyard...iao into a secret room in the basement. This room was filled with all kinds of torture instruments, which his father used privately to interrogate criminals and extract confessions. Now he wanted to b...