I am the villain in the book

As mentioned before.

The moment Li Qi stopped feigning ignorance and rejected the fifth condition, his survival became impossible.

Moreover, Ning Yongnian was now anxious to return and deal with Ning Wenjun, leaving him with no time to manage affairs on the Da Feng side.

In such a situation, killing Li Qi, taking Li Wutong away, and plunging Da Feng into "ownerless" chaos was the simplest and most direct approach.

Taking Li Wutong was because she might still play a role in future dealings with Wei Changtian.

Li Qi, however, clearly held no value for Wei Changtian, so killing him was inconsequential.

In fact, if Li Wutong had stood firm during the negotiations that day, refusing the last condition at all costs, Li Qi might not have had to "expose" himself, and Ning Yongnian might have spared his life today.

But there's no "what if" in life.

Li Wutong would eventually understand all this one day, and when that happened, she would surely be heartbroken and full of regret, but nothing could ever be undone.

It could only be said that, in any case, Li Qi had fulfilled his wish, ultimately using his life to preserve the reputation of the Li family and protect the million-plus people in Huailing City.

As for whether he would actually die...

"Young Master, this is all the latest information from the city in the past few days."

Just as Ning Yongnian ordered Li Qi to be executed in public, Wei Changtian and Yang Liushi had already settled in an inn in the south of the city and met with the Gòngjìhuì's (Common Aid Society) spies in Huailing City.

After learning that Ning Yongnian was coming to Huailing, Chu Xianping had already sent people to hide in the city in advance, in order to gather information as soon as possible.

However, these spies were ultimately of too low a "level" to uncover much inside information, and there were no members of the Đồngzhōu Huì (Same Boat Society) in Da Ning's negotiating delegation this time.

Therefore, Wei Changtian actually didn't know too many details of the negotiations that day, nor did he know Ning Yongnian's current plans.

Even the "fifth condition" that had never been agreed upon was just his and Yang Liushi's guess, and had not been verified to this day.

“..."

"Okay, I understand."

Nodding, Wei Changtian exchanged a glance with Yang Liushi and helplessly took a sip of tea.

This spy had chattered for a long time, but there was basically no useful information, so it seemed that he would have to rely on himself to investigate next.

"Where is Ning Yongnian currently staying? Have you found out about this?"

"Reporting to Young Master, we have not been able to find out."

The spy lowered his head in shame: "However, judging from the distribution of the city's guards, Ning Yongnian should be staying in the yamen (government office)."

However, before he could speak, the three of them suddenly heard a commotion outside the window.

Unlike ordinary street quarrels, it was more like the discussions passed from mouth to mouth by the people after something major had happened.

"Hmm?"

Slightly frowning, Wei Changtian gave the spy a look.

"Yes, Young Master, this one will go investigate!"

The latter immediately understood, cupped his fist in his hand, and quickly left the room.

With a soft "creak", the door closed gently, and soon only Wei Changtian and Yang Liushi were left in the room.

"Young Master, are you planning to investigate when Ning Yongnian intends to lead his troops back to the capital?"

Yang Liushi poured tea into Wei Changtian's cup and asked softly: "I wonder how you plan to investigate?"

"Find a chance to kidnap someone and ask them."

Wei Changtian played with the tea lid and casually replied: "I estimate that Ning Yongnian won't wait too long, but it would be better to know the exact time so we can set an ambush in advance."

"Hmm."

Yang Liushi nodded, but there was some worry in her eyes: "But Young Master, can the Tiāngǒu Army (Sky Dog Army) really stop 100,000 people?"

"Haha, you should know the combat power of the Tiāngǒu Army better than I do."

Wei Changtian smiled: "What's wrong, no confidence?"

"I do have confidence."

Yang Liushi frowned slightly: "But Ning Yongnian has too many top-tier masters under his command now, including him, there are five of the second rank alone."

"That's true."

Wei Changtian noncommittally moved his neck.

Yang Liushi was right, almost all the masters under Ning Yongnian's command were now in Da Feng.

Li Huaizhong, Wu Ding, Bai Youheng, and a general named Liao Fangming.

If Ning Yongnian himself was added, that would indeed be five of the second rank.

On the other hand, there wasn't even one on his side.

But who was going to fight them head-on?

Fighting a war is about using your strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.

Since the biggest advantage of the Tiāngǒu Army was its strong mobility and individual combat power, he would have to be out of his mind to fight Ning Yongnian's 100,000-strong army head-on.

It was definitely going to be a guerrilla war!

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing..."

Smiling and comforting Yang Liushi, Wei Changtian was just about to say something more.

But at this moment, the commotion outside the window grew even louder, as if the entire Huailing City had fallen into chaos.

"Young Master, this servant will go listen."

Unable to bear the doubts in her heart, Yang Liushi didn't wait for the spy to return, got up, walked to the window, and pushed it open, preparing to listen to what was causing the commotion.

As time passed, the expression on her face gradually became more and more surprised.

After dozens of breaths, Yang Liushi suddenly turned her head, wanting to immediately tell Wei Changtian, who was still sitting at the table, what she had heard.

The latter had just put a pair of mother-son jade pieces and a codebook into his arms, and happened to look up.

"No need to say anything, I already know."

With a somewhat complicated look in his eyes, Wei Changtian said softly: "You go out first, I want to think about something alone."

“..."

Her mouth slightly open, Yang Liushi was stunned for a moment, but didn't say much.

"Okay, then this servant will wait outside the door."

With light steps, she pushed open the door and came to the corridor outside the room.

Yang Liushi had just turned around and gently closed the door when she saw the Gòngjìhuì spy coming towards her in a hurry.

"Miss Yang, something big has happened!"

The spy walked quickly to her, lowered his voice, and said urgently: "In less than an hour, Li Qi will be publicly executed in the downtown area!"

"Is Young Master in the room? This humble one will go tell him about this..."

"No need, Young Master already knows."

Shaking her head, Yang Liushi looked at the door with a worried expression: "He wants to be alone for a while, so don't disturb him anymore."

"This..."

The spy paused his hand that was about to push the door, looked at Yang Liushi, and then at the tightly closed door.

Of course, he didn't dare to disobey Yang Liushi's meaning, so he had no choice but to withdraw his hand and stand guard quietly outside the door with the latter.

The commotion spread from the street into the inn, a chaotic mess like boiling water.

The two people's thoughts at this time may not be the same, but they probably wouldn't guess what Wei Changtian was thinking.

Because just a hundred breaths ago, when Yang Liushi was listening to the discussions outside the window, Wei Changtian happened to receive a message from Chu Xianping.

This message not only explained why it was noisy outside, but also sent a rather shocking piece of information, as well as a somewhat difficult choice...

[Today at Shen Shi (3-5 PM), Ning Yongnian will publicly execute Li Qi in the downtown area of Huailing City.]

[Also, Miss Xu and Leader Qin want to rob the execution ground.]

[Furthermore, I can stop this, but I don't know if it's necessary?]

[I hope Young Master will make a decision as soon as possible.]