Xiyu quickly received the imperial decree stating that Ye Weifeng intended to release him from the cold palace, purely because Wenren Yan was already fast approaching the capital.
Regardless of what schemes Ye Weifeng was plotting in his heart, toward the demands of this increasingly powerful leader of the nomadic state, Ye Weifeng had no intention of clashing head-on and would naturally do his utmost to satisfy them.
Xiyu had already begun packing his luggage. During these days, he had acquired quite a few things for his residence through Ji Qingzhou, so he actually had many more items than when he first arrived.
Xiyu had always been an efficient person, yet as he packed this time, he was unhurried and leisurely, seemingly not dwelling much on the prospect of leaving.
The system urged, “Host, you surely haven’t grown addicted to living in this cold palace, have you? Your mission progress is still at zero, so you need to hurry up.”
Xiyu nodded. “Naturally. Such a bitter and desolate place, what is there to be nostalgic about?”
The system finally set its mind at ease; the host’s intention to leave the cold palace was a good start.
As soon as Xiyu finished packing, a palace servant came to fetch him. Coincidentally, it turned out to be the very person who had sneered and taunted him when he first entered.
The other person’s expression was somewhat nervous and awkward. That initial conversation still lingered in his ears; he had asked Xiyu for silver, and when Xiyu could not produce any, he had been unwilling to even fetch a quilt for Xiyu.
Xiyu’s words back then about the fortunes of the wheel turning had indeed proven true on him. Although leaving the cold palace might not immediately restore this person to his former position of standing above all others under the emperor, he was still more than capable of manipulating a lowly palace servant like himself.
Having learned his lesson, the servant felt somewhat apprehensive facing Xiyu now. He eagerly helped Xiyu carry his bundle, his mouth overflowing with flattery.
“My lord, please do not hold a grudge against me. It was this lowly one who was blind, short-sighted, and blindly followed the powerful…”
Xiyu merely curled the corners of his lips, concealing his true emotions. He turned his head to glance at the other person and then spoke. “You actually know quite a few idioms. Did you study books before entering the palace?”
The servant respectfully replied, “I do recognize a few characters.”
Before his family’s fortunes declined, his family background was considered passable, and they had even sent him to a private school for a year or two. However, while he was still a mere child, earth-shattering changes had occurred in his family. To pay off debts, he was sold into the palace, experiencing the cold warmth of human relationships ever since.
Because he failed to perform a small errand properly, he was banished to work in the cold palace.
When a person is still struggling for mere survival, they have no way of being a good person.
“Scraping by through those kinds of methods will only ever yield petty cash; how can it last long?” Xiyu suddenly said to him. “Since you have already studied, why not consider how to make use of that?”
The servant laughed bitterly. “How could I not know that? It’s just that, Lord Xiyu, what use is it for a eunuch in this palace to have read books? Who would genuinely put a eunuch to important use?”
Xiyu tapped him on the head. “I heard that the imperial Consort Xian in the palace is most fond of poetry and literature. I wonder if her palace might be lacking people?”
The servant hurriedly knelt. “Thank you, my lord, for your guidance. Despite your lordship letting go of past grievances, you have instead pointed out a clear path for this lowly one. In the days to come, wherever I may be of use, this lowly one will surely exhaust all my strength for your lordship.”
Xiyu waved his hand; once he finished his mission, he would be leaving, so he probably wouldn’t have any use for this promise.
It was just that, considering the servant had still managed to bring him a quilt back then despite his difficult words, Xiyu had simply spoken a few extra idle words of advice.
“Very well, I shall be off now.”
To save Ye Weifeng that brat from urging him further, Xiyu thought to himself.
However, the moment his steps reached the palace gate and he saw a pair of teary, doe-like eyes looking at him, he finally understood the reason why he had been dragging his feet.
Xiyu finally remembered what he had forgotten.
What he had forgotten was Fuying.
He was leaving the cold palace, but what about Fuying? After Xiyu arrived, Fuying’s days had finally improved; he no longer suffered abuse or mistreatment from others.
Yet now, Xiyu was leaving, leaving Fuying behind in this cold palace all by himself…
“Brother Xiyu, are you leaving?” Fuying was clearly smiling, yet Xiyu could sense his restrained sorrow and reluctance to part.
However, Xiyu knew that Fuying would never cry in front of him; he would only be genuinely happy that Xiyu was able to leave.
It was just that his happiness was real, and his reluctance to part was equally real.
“Brother Xiyu, congratulations. This cold palace is truly remote and bitterly cold. It is truly wonderful that you can leave for a better place.” Fuying forced out a bright smile, struggling to conceal his disappointment.
Yet Xiyu saw right through his disguise. He set the luggage in his hands aside and pulled Fuying down to sit with him.
Fuying tightly grasped his hand, and Xiyu could even feel his trembling.
“Not telling you in advance, that was my fault, but I have a reason why I must leave.”
Xiyu gripped Fuying’s palm in return, pressing their palms tightly together so that they could even feel the beating of each other’s pulses.
Fuying forced back his tears, revealing a bright and innocent smile just like usual. “I know, Brother Xiyu. Someone as remarkable as you would certainly not be trapped in this place for a lifetime.”
He was simply a little sad, sad that he was useless and could not leave this place together with Xiyu, and that he didn’t even possess the qualification to go and beg the Fifth Brother.
The Fifth Brother always said that he had a good birth, which was why even though his six senses were incomplete, he could still be raised in the palace amid lavish food and clothing. If he had been placed in an ordinary household, he wouldn’t have survived at all, and he told him to feel a sense of gratitude.
Fuying firmly remembered all of these words. Aside from the memorial day of his birth mother every year, when he begged the Fifth Brother to allow him to worship his late mother within the palace, he never dared to ask the Fifth Brother for anything more, fearing he would inevitably incur the Fifth Brother’s scolding.
He was afraid.
Yet now, for the very first time, Fuying felt the urge to go and beg the Fifth Brother, regardless of how the Fifth Brother might make things difficult for him, to let him leave the cold palace.
Simply because…
He did not want to never see Xiyu again.
Xiyu patted Fuying on the head. “It is my fault, my oversight. I won’t leave today after all.”
He was going to take Fuying away with him.
Since he had transplanted a small flower that had constantly weathered wind and rain into a pot and moved it inside his own room, there was no reason to abandon it arbitrarily before it had grown.
That was the flower you chose; since you raised it, you had to take responsibility to the very end.
As for Fuying this little flower, had Xiyu never come, he might have endured it once he got used to the wind and rain. But now that Xiyu had come, if he were to abandon him and leave once again…
Then he would transform into a withered flower, completely losing his vitality.
Of course Xiyu could not do such a thing; besides, had it not been for the original host’s push, Fuying should have naturally been the smartest and most beautiful flower in this world.
Wenren Yan had already rushed to the capital, but before entering the palace, he naturally intended to contact Xiyu.
As soon as he received the signal, Ji Qingzhou came to meet him. Knowing that Ji Qingzhou was Xiyu’s most trusted subordinate, Wenren Yan treated him quite well, and the two chose a secluded spot to rendezvous.
Yet the more he listened, the tighter Wenren Yan furrowed his brows. “That bastard of an emperor actually almost killed Xiyu? How dare he?”
Following that was a barrage of curses directed at Ye Weifeng. Having grown up on the grasslands, his temperament was unconstrained by the subtle and restrained etiquettes of the Central Plains.
The men nurtured by the western winds of the grasslands were wild yet free; when they wanted to curse, they cursed.
Ji Qingzhou finally found a kindred spirit. Previously, he had still restrained himself out of regard for the proprieties between monarch and subject, but now, the more he listened to Wenren Yan curse Ye Weifeng, the more exhilarating it felt.
“Not only that, he didn’t just want to kill the General; he even wanted to tear him limb from limb and skin him to display his corpse as a warning to others!” Ji Qingzhou continued pouring oil on the fire.
Wenren Yan could not help but let out a long sigh. “If he had been willing to return to the grasslands with me back then, he wouldn’t have ended up in this state today. No matter what, I must take him back to the nomadic state this time.”
Hearing this, Ji Qingzhou rolled his eyes, formulating a different plan. “That might prove somewhat difficult. After all, the capital is the General’s native homeland where he was born and raised; his roots are here, and so are the people he cares about.”
As soon as these words were spoken, Wenren Yan fell somewhat silent, as if some phrase had stung him, causing him to turn his head away slightly.
“Regardless of whether he comes back with me or not, I must at least make Ye Weifeng release Xiyu from that God-forsaken place. Well? Has Ye Weifeng agreed?” Wenren Yan asked.
Ji Qingzhou nodded. “However, the General still has not left the cold palace.”
“What? Why is that?” Wenren Yan raised his voice, quite uncomprehending.
Ji Qingzhou explained to him, “It is because of the Ninth Prince, Fuying. Because of him, the General cannot leave for the time being.”
“How did another person pop up, and a member of the royal family at that? Can an authentic blood brother of Ye Weifeng be any good?” Wenren Yan suddenly felt somewhat unsettled in his heart.
He had traveled thousands of miles to the capital wanting to take Xiyu away, whether Xiyu would go with him was another matter, yet now, although he had found a way to get him out of the cold palace for him, Xiyu was refusing to leave over starving the emperor’s younger brother.
“Don’t overthink it. It’s because the General owes him from the past. The Ninth Prince, his six senses are incomplete, and the General sympathizes with him greatly.”
Standing from Ji Qingzhou’s perspective, he naturally had to prioritize Xiyu’s interests, so he could only manage to pacify Wenren Yan first to prevent him from turning right back around to the grasslands.
Judging by the tone of Ji Qingzhou’s voice, Wenren Yan could roughly guess what was going on. Fine, fine; let’s just assume he owed it to Xiyu.
Consequently, Ye Weifeng, currently in the main hall, received yet another memorial. It stated that he was to release both Fuying and Xiyu from the cold palace together, and Wenren Yan was willing to trade two cities in exchange.
Ye Weifeng fiercely slammed Wenren Yan’s memorial onto the floor, his eyes filled with killing intent, resembling an Asura emerging from the underworld.
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger! Those two cities of the nomadic state, if converted into military strength, how many lives of our Great Qing soldiers would it cost to acquire them? They are within easy reach now, and the price is merely releasing Lord Xiyu and the Ninth Prince. You, Your Majesty, must surely understand which matters are weighty and which are light.”
A fiercely loyal veteran official knelt on the ground, not daring to look directly at the emperor’s wrath, yet still forcing these words out.
Once again, Ye Weifeng felt a headache so splitting it felt as though it would explode. He suddenly felt an incomparable longing for that peach blossom grove belonging to the Xiyu family, the peach blossom grove belonging solely to him and Xiyu, where there was no Wenren Yan, and even less of a Fuying…
“Your Majesty, think twice!” the veteran official continued to plead bitterly.
Ye Weifeng rubbed the space between his brows. “Since that is the case, then I shall fulfill his wish.”