Pei Yan and Xue Yunshu's acquaintance—one a Heavenly Royal, the other the daughter of a Duke Mansion—was enough to get people talking without much needing to be said.
Furthermore, Xue Yunshu's behavior made it clear that she was after Pei Yan.
This only served to confirm certain suspicions.
Although the people lurking in the shadows had yet to make a move, Xue Yunshu was already under their watch.
The next step was to add fuel to the fire and make the hidden conspirators believe that Xue Yunshu was important to Pei Yan.
Important enough that they could use her as a threat to extort something from him.
Pei Yan had been abandoned as a child and sent to a place far from the Imperial City.
Everyone knew he was a discarded son, so no one gave him a second thought. When he disappeared for many years, no one even bothered to look for him.
In the bandits' den, he had witnessed the darkest side of human nature.
People would do anything to survive.
