Liu Bo didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he walked over and patted Tang You on the shoulder—

"Shen Yue has been acting a bit too recklessly. The old master is none too pleased, but he and Mr. Shen have been friends for years, so it’s not convenient for him to intervene directly..."

’So you’re looking for a scapegoat to take the fall, huh?’

Tang You scoffed inwardly, sidestepping to avoid Liu Bo’s hand as it pressed down firmly on his shoulder.

’The Liu Family must be tired of Shen Yue’s meddling, but they can’t be the ones to stop him. So they want me to use my authority over City A’s affairs to make things difficult for Shen Yue, who’s currently pouring all his effort into disaster relief. They hope he’ll realize the difficulty and retreat.’

’They’ve certainly played their cards well.’

Tang You wasn’t an idiot. He couldn’t afford to offend the Liu Family, but he couldn’t afford to offend Gu Xi and the Shen Family, either.

’But this wasn’t something he could refuse outright.’

After a moment’s thought, Tang You spoke. "I understand the old master’s intentions. But this can’t be rushed. After all, the young Mr. Shen and Miss Gu are quite close, and even... *that person*... can’t do anything to her. Miss Gu is in City A right now, and if this were to anger her..."

At this, he looked up at Liu Bo and said meaningfully, "I don’t think the Liu Family is prepared to bear the consequences of angering Miss Gu, are you?"

’Even though City A is his personal garden now, rumor has it that he and Miss Gu were very close back in the day. Even after... well, the Liu Family is just a pawn in his hand. A disposable one, at that.’

’Why would he risk making Miss Gu unhappy for a mere pawn?’

’What’s more, the outcome of the Land of Death incident shows that he... probably doesn’t want a direct confrontation with Miss Gu right now.’

’The Liu Family is willing to swallow its pride and let an outsider like Shen Yue meddle in City A’s military affairs, likely because they’re well aware of this. That’s why they don’t dare have a complete falling out with Miss Gu. They even have to go out of their way to avoid her, appeasing her and staying on her good side.’

’Of course, Tang You guessed, this was also because the Liu Family probably wasn’t directly involved in what happened back then. Otherwise... given how ruthless and decisive Miss Gu was, if the Liu Family dared to pull any stunts in front of her, they’d have been six feet under for years!’

Liu Bo wasn’t an idiot. How could he not hear the evasiveness in Tang You’s words?

But to be honest, Liu Bo wasn’t surprised.

—He and Tang You had been dealing with each other for more than a day or two. Liu Bo knew exactly what kind of person he was. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Although the Tang Family had some influence in City A, they were third-rate at best.

The reason Tang You had been able to claw his way past all the other candidates to become the head of A City Base was because... rumor had it, his background was extremely complex. Not only did he have the deep trust of *that person*, but he also had considerable connections at the Central Base and the research institute.

Of course, this was only a rumor.

After all, in all these years, no one had ever seen Tang You initiate contact with any of those influential figures. Yet, he had held his position as base commander securely for years, and *that person*... had never said a word about it.

Of course, in Liu Bo’s view, this was likely because *that person* didn’t care who sat in the position at all.

—In his eyes, it didn’t matter who the base commander was. City A had long since become his personal garden, a fact based on a tacit agreement he’d reached with the Central Base long ago.

But this also showed that a shrewd operator like Tang You wouldn’t make a move without seeing a clear benefit. Getting him to do something with mere words was absolutely impossible.

So, although Liu Bo was somewhat annoyed at being rebuffed and even subtly threatened by Tang You, he had come prepared.

"Mr. Tang is right, this matter certainly can’t be rushed." He smiled, then changed the subject. "The tenth of this month is the General’s wife’s birthday. As you know, the old master has always doted on his wife, so he’s holding a special private banquet at Gu Garden..."

As he spoke, he pulled a large, red, gilt invitation from inside his coat and held it out to Tang You. "You simply must come, Mr. Tang."

Tang You accepted it with a wide smile. "Don’t you worry, Mr. Liu. Since it’s the madam’s birthday, I will certainly be there to offer my congratulations."

Once Liu Bo had his promise to visit Gu Garden, he said no more. He simply patted Tang You’s shoulder, then jumped out the window and left.

—He must have known that the City A administration building was crawling with spies, inside and out. He couldn’t afford for anyone to know he had been there.

In fact, Liu Bo hadn’t wanted to make the trip. But with spies all over City A, even using a personal terminal was no longer safe.

And some matters were best kept secret.

So he had no choice but to risk the journey.

Once Liu Bo’s figure vanished from the office, the smile on Tang You’s face instantly froze.

He glanced down at the gilt invitation in his hand. ’It’s already the 9th. Who in their right mind gives only one day’s notice for a formal birthday banquet?’

’This is clearly a trap set just for me.’

’And yet, for certain reasons, he had no choice but to go...’

Tang You raised his hand to activate his personal terminal. He had to tell Miss Gu about this. But then, suddenly... he paused.

Tang You paced around his office a few times. In the end, he decided to call Shen Yue instead.

’...From what he knew of Gu Xi, Miss Gu had very little patience for this sort of petty scheming. He’d be wise not to bother her with such trivialities.’

...

Gu Xi was making her rounds in the fields when she turned to see Qi Xiang, Wei Heng, and a few others running toward her. "What’s wrong?"

Qi Xiang came up to her, glanced around, and lowered her voice. "My adoptive father just called. He... hopes to speak with you."

Gu Xi raised an eyebrow. ’Dr. Qi has my contact number. If he wanted to reach me, he could have just called directly. Why send Qi Xiang to pass on a message?’

’Going to such lengths... Interesting.’

"Got it." Gu Xi nodded to Qi Xiang, then turned and walked to a deserted corner. She leaned casually against a tall mutant plant, pulled the personal terminal Li Ming had given her from her storage space, and dialed Dr. Qi’s number.

The call connected quickly.

Dr. Qi didn’t waste a single word, not even a pleasantry. The moment the call connected, he got straight to the point. "Xiaoxi, I had something sent to you."

Gu Xi arched a brow. "The meteorite?"

"I knew I couldn’t hide it from you." Dr. Qi wasn’t surprised. ’Others might not know what Gu Xi is capable of, but I certainly do.’

’With the range of Gu Xi’s spiritual power, as long as she wanted to know something, nothing on the entire farm could escape her notice.’

He admitted freely, "I was the one who gave the meteorite to Huo Changzhou."

Seeing how frank he was, Gu Xi asked bluntly, "Why not have him give it to me directly? Why go to all that trouble?"

"Because other matters and motives are involved. I had to make everyone believe that while the item was intended for you, the entire operation had to be kept secret *from* you."

When Gu Xi just raised a noncommittal eyebrow, Dr. Qi sighed in resignation. "Xiaoxi, in my position, my hands are often tied. I’ll explain everything in detail when the time is right."

"But right now, I have something more important to tell you," Dr. Qi said gravely.

’Something more important?’ Gu Xi guessed, "Is it related to the meteorite?"