Bare hands exposed to the air felt sticky and unsettling in the humid weather following the heavy rain.
Seeing that the person before him made no move, Fu Liao lowered his gaze slightly and started to pull his hand back.
With a soft yelp, a grey figure lunged straight toward Fu Liao’s hand, clearly aiming for the fruit he held.
Fu Liao was caught completely off guard.
Even knowing the grey wolf meant no harm, and that its tail was wagging enthusiastically, he could not help being startled.
Fu Liao blinked shut and took a step back. His hand suddenly felt light, and when he looked again, the actinidia fruit had vanished.
He checked the grey wolf’s mouth, but nothing was clamped between its jaws.
He scanned his surroundings once more. The gap in the wall was secluded and untended, surrounded by fallen leaves and fine mud that blurred a person’s vision.
The fruit seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.
It probably rolled away into some neglected corner, Fu Liao thought.
What a pity, since that was the only one. He hadn’t even tasted it yet to know how an ancient kiwi differed from a modern one.
“Qinglin.”
Xi Lingjian lowered his brow, and the grey wolf instantly calmed down.
Seeing the sheep behind its benefactor trembling slightly, the wolf drooped its ears in a dispirited manner.
The grey wolf’s apologetic demeanor stirred a sense of fondness in Fu Liao.
It licked around its teeth, and Fu Liao suddenly noticed a faint trace of red on them, as if stained by the residue of something it had eaten.
“What has become of Lü Chen’s affair?” Fu Liao tried asking Xi Lingjian.
“Lü Chen’s family members left Jingzhou early this morning,” Xi Lingjian said.
It seemed Xi Lingjian had no intention of letting him know about other matters. Yet such details could probably be learned simply by asking around on the street; there was no telling why he was being so secretive.
Even knowing Xi Lingjian’s intentions, Fu Liao could not resist his curiosity. “What about the others?”
As soon as he returned to the estate, he had rushed to rest. Just as he finally managed to get his clothes dry and comfortable, he was startled back into alertness by Fu Pengfu’s booming voice. Seeing his father’s excited expression, anyone unaware of the situation would have thought he was the one who had defeated Xi Lingjian.
Zhichang had gone out into the city to gather information for him and had not yet returned.
Yet…
Fu Liao sniffled uncomfortably.
In truth, ever since Xi Lingjian had arrived, he had felt something amiss with the surrounding scents. Earlier he assumed it was just the astringent smell of excessive dampness, but now that lingering odor was growing increasingly distinct, definitely not a pure scent of grass, trees, and earth.
Even if those people were unforgivable, the impact of the Regent executing them directly versus relying on the legal code to sanction them was quite different.
It was not as though Xi Lingjian was incapable of the latter. He already wielded supreme power over life and death; executing someone by decree would merely require a single order, and he could have done it openly without putting himself at a disadvantage.
Instead, he insisted on using the former method to intimidate everyone.
It felt precisely like a blatant act of vengeance.
Xi Lingjian clearly perceived that Fu Liao had already guessed the truth and let out a scoff. “Making a fuss over nothing.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a dull ache throbbing in his head, much like the exhaustion he felt back when he had just finished sorting out the chaotic aftermath of the state’s division and still had to entangle himself with crowds of scholars and military officials.
The problem was not his inability to handle those people, but rather that their mindset was entirely detached from his own; talking sense to them was a waste of time.
The person standing before him was no different.
Yet, for the first time in ages, he found himself willing to waste that time, to squander an intuition he had long since stopped trusting.
“Why are you looking out for me?” he finally spoke, asking with unprecedented clarity.
“Hm?”
Fu Liao was baffled.
He had never given Xi Lingjian any special concern; where did this notion of looking out for him come from?
However, seeing Xi Lingjian’s solemn expression, Fu Liao dared not take it lightly, guessing that perhaps the man, much like Ji Liandu, had misinterpreted some of his inadvertent actions as pity. He truly could not recall doing anything out of the ordinary that deserved to be called looking out for him.
Fu Liao parted his lips, then realized that a pale denial would not satisfy Xi Lingjian, so he simply decided to play along with the misunderstanding.
He coughed a couple of times, his voice finally clearing up slightly.
“Naturally, I did it for Ji Liandu.”
Xi Lingjian’s expression instantly turned frigid.
So prone to jealousy, Fu Liao thought.
While reading it in the book, he hadn’t found it particularly pronounced, but witnessing it firsthand now revealed just how severe Xi Lingjian’s jealousy truly was.
Ji Liandu had likely had his emotions suppressed for far too long to notice Xi Lingjian’s abnormality. That being the case, he certainly couldn’t let them miss out on each other like this.
The flash of regret in Fu Liao’s eyes was sharply caught by Xi Lingjian.
“I have liked Ji Liandu since I was a child, but born into a family of generals, my health has always been like this,” Fu Liao fabricated smoothly. “Knowing his heart leans toward resolute and robust men of action, I wanted to act a bit more ostentatiously to make up for my congenital shortcomings, hoping to win some favor from him.”
Fu Liao let out a faint, mournful sigh. “Pity that it still failed. Now that he has been residing in your estate for so long, I no longer care to put up a facade.”
Xi Lingjian raised an eyebrow.
“Are you saying your true nature is like this, and everything before was merely an act?”
“Yes.”
Fu Liao felt secure not because this far-fetched story was easy to swallow, but because Xi Lingjian had no evidence to prove he was lying.
Having materialized out of thin air as someone identical to the original owner without leaving any other traces, even if the man harbored suspicions, he had no choice for now but to accept this explanation.
Xi Lingjian looked almost amused, yet as Fu Liao watched him, he sensed a thread of smoldering anger hidden beneath the surface.
“That being the case, you must have known I deliberately provoked you into a duel with me,” Xi Lingjian said. “Why agree to it, and why throw yourself into the pond, scaring those civil officials half to death?”
Fu Liao fell silent.
The last part was clearly your doing.
“Because Ji Liandu was present at the time,” Fu Liao replied. “That was my final chance to try. I thought that if I were only a bit braver, he might feel a shred of fondness for me.”
Mid-sentence, another fit of coughing seized him, bringing a fine mist of moisture to his eyes out of sheer discomfort.
“As for jumping into the pond, I simply wanted to avoid having my eyes dug out by muddying the waters. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have woken up so suddenly.”
“Lies,” Xi Lingjian declared abruptly.
He took a step forward, the sound of his boots crushing the gravel resembling a blade piercing bone, startling Fu Liao into shrinking back as the fur brushing against his cheek twitched nervously.
A smile crept onto Xi Lingjian’s face.
“Heir Apparent, do you know the consequences of deceiving me?”
With his heart hammering like a battle drum, Fu Liao tightened his grip on his sleeve. “During the duel, Your Highness intended to take my life, and no one would have interfered. But if you want my head now, Official Xu will not let it slide.”
Xu Jingyi had sought him out precisely to cultivate a pawn capable of wedging themselves between the old and new factions.
If he had died during the duel, Xu could simply scout a new candidate; if he had lost and gone blind, Xu could exploit the situation to stoke resentment against Xi Lingjian.
Instead, he had fought Xi Lingjian to a draw. Most people remained unaware of the specifics, knowing only that the battle-hardened Prince of Jing had been matched by a frail young nobleman, and some would even use it to mock Xi Lingjian.
In Xu Jingyi’s eyes, Xi Lingjian’s abhorrence toward him would only escalate, making him the ultimate target to draw fire away from others, he certainly couldn’t be allowed to die just yet.
Reflecting on this, Fu Liao furrowed his brow slightly.
In truth, when the landslide occurred during the duel, Xi Lingjian could easily have called for a rematch on another day, there was no need to insist it was a draw.
Even when mounting the horse, the man had deliberately instructed him on where to place his hands and had not rigged the mount to sabotage him.
It seemed the man did not want him dead.
Yet in the original text, the original owner suffered a miserable end, and with Xi Lingjian’s twisted possessiveness, what reason would he have to spare a rival in love?
Xi Lingjian wore a half-smile, and Fu Liao could not tell whether it was mockery, appreciation, or sarcasm.
“The Heir Apparent has never set foot in the official world, yet you understand its inner workings so thoroughly. Truly impressive.”
“Just making a fool of myself before Your Highness, not worth mentioning,” Fu Liao replied cautiously, steering the conversation back. “Your Highness also need not worry that I hold lingering feelings for Ji Liandu. When he snuck out to see me earlier, he already rejected me explicitly.”
Fu Liao had never intended to tangle with figures of the official world anyway, his primary goal remained keeping close contact with Xi Lingjian to observe his dynamic with Ji Liandu.
Besides, whatever hostility Xi Lingjian harbored toward him stemmed entirely from Ji Liandu.
Since Ji Liandu never gave Xi Lingjian a pleasant expression, he certainly wouldn’t answer the man’s inquiries obediently, so there was no fear of exposing the truth.
Furthermore, Ji Liandu had never liked him to begin with.
Fiddling with the jade pendant at his waist, Xi Lingjian acted as though he had lost interest in the explanation.
“So, what does that have to do with me?”
“I look out for Your Highness simply because I hope you will treat Ji Liandu well, the same way I care for Your Highness,” Fu Liao said. “I will not interfere in the relationship between you two.”
Xi Lingjian finally burst into laughter, the surrounding temperature plummeting rapidly the longer his laughter lasted.
“Heir Apparent, do you actually believe the words coming out of your own mouth?” he enunciated word by word. “Just what do you take me for?”
Fu Liao froze, realizing Xi Lingjian had misunderstood. Just as he opened his mouth to clarify, footsteps sounded abruptly from nearby.
Before Fu Liao could conceal himself, Xi Lingjian had already whistled softly for Qinglin and vanished instantly through the gap in the wall.
Looking back at the empty space, Fu Liao felt a twinge of disappointment.
He hadn’t even cleared up the misunderstanding yet.
“Your Highness…” Meng Zhui began.
He was genuinely anxious. “The Heir Apparent’s background is unclear, he knows about Qinglin, and just now he even dragged Official Xu into this, Your Highness, please do not act on impulse.”
Lately, the Regent had taken many actions that defied his expectations. Having endured in patience for so many years, they could not afford to let everything fall apart at the final hurdle.
“I acted on impulse long ago,” Xi Lingjian flicked his robe, as if trying to shake off the phantom scent of blood. “I should have gouged out his eyes right from the start.”
Even without sight, the man wouldn’t throw a tantrum. Perhaps he would simply move even less, sitting quietly like a sheep that knew it had nowhere left to run and could only seek shelter.
That way, whenever the man wanted to speak with him, he would have to tilt his ear to listen closely for his whereabouts, making his nervous anxiety all the more apparent.
He loved watching that person struggle.
He wanted to see that defiant resilience even when suffering, divided between his own discomfort and the distraction of caring for others.
No, there were no others.
He wanted Fu Liao to direct that kind of emotional vulnerability solely toward him.
Only when facing him would the man reveal that fragile yet unyielding tenacity, accompanied by the simmering fire hidden beneath that placid gaze.
Perhaps even if blinded, the man would still look out for him.
He had never encountered anyone so genuinely kind to him.
Even the old grand tutor, who had treated him slightly better in the past, had merely maintained an attitude of equal, detached impartiality, to the point where, for a very long time, he believed he was fundamentally destined to be reviled, feared, and shunned by everyone.
Qinglin darted inquisitively around him, sniffing intently as if catching the trace of a familiar scent.
“No,” Xi Lingjian shot it a cold glance.
He tucked the actinidia fruit deeper into his sleeve.
“This is mine.”