He has always been strict with himself and demanding of others…
The next day, Yan Yu woke up as usual at the hour of Yin.
If he were in the Northwestern Army, he would already be on the training ground by now. Even though he was currently in the prince’s residence, at this time in the past, he would have already returned from his warm-up exercises.
But today, he did not move.
He had a dream—not a long one, nor was it about the flames of war or courtly strife. In the dream, there was only a little Junzhu with disheveled hair, her eyes closed, panting softly.
The little Junzhu was beneath him, her jade-like face flushed red, her body soft, her voice as delicate as could be, calling him “Brother Yu” over and over, saying she wanted more…
When he woke up, something was harder than stone.
Tian Xi had never seen his master ask for cold water first thing in the morning.
It wasn’t even midsummer yet. Although his master had always been strict with himself and demanding of others, possessing an exceptionally robust physique, Tian Xi still felt this kind of training was truly harsh.
Yan Yu leaned back in the bathtub with his eyes closed, listening to Tian Xi rustling around as he helped tidy up the clothes to be changed. This blockhead seemed to have discovered something extraordinary and stammered for a moment: “Master, how… how is there a woman’s handkerchief inside your clothes…”
Tian Xi held his master’s clothes in one hand, staring blankly at the white silk handkerchief that had fallen onto the bed, embroidered with a small branch of palace pink.
Unfortunately, it was stained.
He didn’t know that at this moment, a storm was brewing on his master’s face in the bathtub.
“Get out!”
Tian Xi obediently gathered the dirty clothes and scurried away.
Outside the door, Tian Ze saw Tian Xi emerge with a dark expression and leaned in to say, “You just talk too much…”
“You don’t understand! Receiving a handkerchief from a girl isn’t a big deal in itself. If the master were willing to accept them, there would be plenty of girls lining up to give them. But that handkerchief… that handkerchief…”
Tian Xi wanted to say that although the handkerchief was finely crafted and exquisitely embroidered, it was heavily stained, crumpled into a ball inside the master’s clothes—very suspicious!
Tian Ze sighed, looking at Tian Xi with pity: “Isn’t it better to just live peacefully?”
Yan Yu soaked in the cold water, glaring fiercely at the suspicious handkerchief on the bed, causing ripples in the bathtub.
But it was no use. He got out of the tub and finally picked up the handkerchief, his other hand almost crushing the carved wooden bed frame.
A moment later, his voice rang out: “Tian Xi, bring hot water!”
It was Tian Ze who entered, keeping his eyes downcast as he poured half a bucket of boiling water into his master’s bathtub, then silently retreated and closed the door.
Yan Yu quickly tidied himself up, glanced at the handkerchief, hesitated for a moment, and then clumsily washed it in clean water.
Not long after, Tian Xi returned, this time speaking from outside the door: “Master, there’s news from the palace!”
The door opened, revealing Yan Yu impeccably dressed, looking aloof and noble, his hands clasped behind his back. “Speak!”
“Princess Zhaohua has gone missing during the palace banquet. The palace was in chaos all night. Right now, the Eldest Princess is weeping and wailing before His Majesty and the Empress Dowager, saying she won’t live if the princess isn’t found, while angrily cursing the imperial guards for being incompetent and useless! The Grand General and his eldest son, Li Mu, have also arrived… Colonel Mu Dan is likely to be replaced!”
“Understood!”
Mu Dan was the sworn brother of Consort Yi, the birth mother of the Ninth Prince, Li Xiang. The Empress and Li Sheng had long wanted to replace him. Princess Zhaohua’s disappearance was a perfect opportunity. Yan Yu even felt that even without the unexpected incident involving Li Ran, something else would have gone wrong at yesterday’s palace banquet.
Thinking of Li Ran—this Junzhu, spoiled and arrogant, domineering and overbearing, who had repeatedly offended him—Yan Yu felt she deserved this lesson!
The first time he executed the servant she had ordered right before her eyes, this delicate noblewoman listened to the cracking of bones under the heavy blows of the cane and the heart-wrenching wails of the tortured man, watching as the bloodied figure breathed his last before her. Though she turned deathly pale with fright, she neither admitted her fault nor pleaded for mercy for the man she had wronged—perhaps she felt a lowly servant was unworthy. In any case, Yan Yu sensed no remorse in her then.
Her relentless pestering stemmed from her belief that she could afford to provoke him. Well, he would make her fear him!
In the secluded secret chamber, the lofty Princess Zhaohua was blindfolded and bound to a cold bronze pillar all night. At first, she struggled fiercely, wailing, crying for help, and hurling curses, but each time she made a sound, she was doused with icy water. The frigid liquid, poured from head to toe, chilled her to the bone, leaving her trembling uncontrollably. Unaccustomed to physical suffering, the delicate noblewoman dared not cry out after a few attempts, resorting only to muffled sobs.
When her strength was exhausted and she could no longer stand, her limbs remained fixed, preventing her from collapsing. She strained her voice until it grew hoarse, her throat aching as if torn, yet not a drop of water was offered to her. Hungry, thirsty, terrified, and chilled to the core, her blindness amplified the overwhelming fear and despair that engulfed her.
When Yan Yu finally saw her, the once-arrogant Princess Zhaohua had nearly all her sharpness worn away.
Something cold and hard pressed against Li Ran’s delicate cheek. Though she couldn’t see, she sensed the sharp, murderous intent—it must have been a dagger or short blade. Frozen in fear, she squeezed out a hoarse, terrified plea from her throat.
“P-please, don’t kill me! Whatever you want, my mother can give it to you!”
“I’m afraid the Eldest Princess lacks such power,” Yan Yu’s voice held no anger, only an icy chill. “I am a battlefield general, forged in the midst of death and carnage, unlike General Li, who lounges comfortably on high! My blade is accustomed to slicing through iron and armor. I wonder how it would feel against such tender skin?”
Li Ran never imagined that the one humiliating her like this would be Yan Yu.
Though Yan Yu held a military rank one step below her father Li Kaiyang’s first-grade general title, her father’s “general” was merely an honorary title. He had never set foot on a battlefield, relying instead on ancestral privilege and his marriage to the Eldest Princess for prestige. In contrast, Yan Yu was a general forged in the fires of war since childhood, a Jade-faced Asura who had fought his way through bloodshed and chaos. How could he truly respect a hollow general who rose through lineage and a woman’s influence?
In all likelihood, he didn’t even regard the Eldest Princess with any real esteem.
Only now did Li Ran grasp the terrifying truth behind the rumors of the Jade-faced Asura. His execution of the servant had merely been a warning; this time, he showed no mercy. When ruthless, he was even more mad and vicious than she was!
Yet a sliver of hope remained. With a tearful voice, she pleaded, “Y-Yu brother, I only like you. Why must you be so cruel to me, as if I were an enemy?”
“You call this treating you as an enemy? A delicate noble like you has likely never witnessed military interrogations… Oh, and one more thing—you need to address me differently.”
Humiliated and resentful, Li Ran swallowed with difficulty, her throat parched and sore. “General Yan, you are being far too bold. If His Majesty and the Empress Dowager find out, you… you will surely…”
Seeing she still dared to threaten him, Yan Yu cut her off before she could finish. “You forged an imperial decree to lure me into the inner palace, secretly set up aphrodisiac incense, and attempted to defile the palace quarters. Did you think I wouldn’t dare kill you?”
His words were bone-chillingly cold, sending a shiver down Li Ran’s spine.
She suddenly recalled his return to the capital last year, when Li Qi, the second son of Prince Li, her imperial uncle, had lost his life at his hands for harassing his half-sister Fei Tang. Afterward, Yan Yu had merely been flogged and demoted in rank. Compared to a general who suppressed demons and guarded the borders, a wastrel like Li Qi was truly insignificant. Moreover, Yan Yu’s father, Yan Chengming, was a powerful minister who had secured His Majesty’s ascension to the throne—someone not to be trifled with.
What difference was there between her and Li Qi now? And she had the additional crime of falsely transmitting an imperial decree…
A flurry of hurried footsteps approached as her two maidservants and the young eunuch she had bribed were brought forward. The three of them wept and pleaded pitifully, “Junzhu, please save us! General, have mercy!”
Yan Yu’s blade slid down Li Ran’s cheek, brushed past her delicate, pale neck, and then pried open the overlapping collar of her robe at the chest, causing Li Ran to tremble slightly.
She felt a sudden chill on her chest, followed by a sharp pain, and couldn’t help but shudder, letting out a soft cry.
Yan Yu withdrew his blade, using the tip to adjust her collar back into place. Yet blood had already seeped through, blooming like a red plum blossom on her goose-yellow gown.
He hadn’t used much force, but this humiliation gnawed away at Li Ran’s last shred of hope and pride.
Yan Yu’s voice was as cold as ice, carrying a sinister chill as if from the depths of hell: “Junzhu, as a noble of the imperial family, it would be best to keep your distance from a rough man like me. I am accustomed to killing, and sometimes my hand lacks restraint. As for them—these wicked servants lacking virtue, who indulged you in such disgraceful acts—I will discipline them on your behalf. You need only remember one thing: do not set your sights on me! As for how you explain this upon your return, whether you wish to complain or seek retribution, do as you please.”
“You might as well kill me outright!”
After all, Li Ran was a Junzhu, and this humiliation finally stirred a flicker of pride within her.
Yan Yu, however, remained unmoved. “I am bold, but not reckless. Yet if you persist in your stubbornness, it may not be impossible to grant your wish.”
After Li Ran was sent away, Tian Xi couldn’t help but remark, “After being frightened like that by you, Master, might her love turn to hatred?”
“Are you idle?”
“No, no! This subordinate is very busy. I’ll go attend to my duties at once! Swamped with work…”
Upon returning, Li Ran threw a fit, smashing things and claiming she had staged a runaway after hearing about an arranged marriage. She refused to marry Prince Duan, refused to marry anyone—she wanted to follow the example of the Seventh Princess, Fu Guang, and live the rest of her life on her own terms!
After her outburst, Li Ran fell seriously ill, burning with a high fever. The Eldest Princess even summoned imperial physicians from the palace to attend to her day and night. Li Ran drifted in and out of delirium, weeping and crying out in her dreams, clearly deeply distressed.
Because of her tantrum, the Eldest Princess finally softened temporarily, and the matter of the arranged marriage was reluctantly postponed once more.
Li Sheng was quite pleased. He had long known his fierce younger sister was capable of anything, even resorting to tricks like running away from home!
An unexpected beneficiary of this incident was the dismissal of Mu Dan, the General of the Palace Guard, who had his seal and credentials revoked. If the Eldest Princess could lose her daughter simply by returning to her family for a meal, then it was time for him to be replaced!
As for who would replace him, His Majesty had yet to decide, only appointing the Chief of the Palace Guard, Xu Mao, to temporarily take charge.
Xu Mao was already fifty-six this year, overwhelmed by numerous responsibilities. Between managing the chaos and settling palace security and trivial matters, he fell ill and took to his bed within a few days.
With the palace guard lacking a loyal and capable leader, several princes vigorously recommended their own supporters, leading to a clamor of disputes in the court.
Until the old palace attendant Gao Sheng led a young man inside. The young man held an exquisite brocade box, saying he was following General Yan’s orders to present northwestern ginseng to His Majesty.
The old Emperor Li Min lay half-reclined on the bed, not having it presented, but instead tilted his head and observed, “You look somewhat familiar to me.”
“Your Majesty, I am Pei Tianze, deputy general under General Yan Yu! I previously accompanied the general into the palace for an audience with Your Majesty.”
“Come closer, lift your head and let me see!”
Tianze stood up and took a few steps forward, lowering his gaze before raising his head. Li Min examined him carefully for a moment, then asked Gao Sheng, “Does he resemble her?”
Gao Sheng smiled and replied, “Your Majesty, naturally he does.”
“Hmm, those soulful eyes like Yangyang’s are unique to the Pei family… Pei Tianze, I shall ask Yan Yu for you!”
Tianze’s brow twitched slightly—no matter how he heard it, these words sounded… too flirtatious!
The next day, the Son of Heaven issued an order, promoting deputy general Tianze under General of the Swift Cavalry Yan Yu to the third-rank position of General of the Household, transferring him to the capital to command the imperial guard Tiger Warriors, responsible for patrolling and protecting the imperial palace!
Once the decree was issued, the previously clamorous crowd was stunned, unsure where this person had been dug up from.
But they soon uncovered the details: this Lord Pei was the brother of the deceased Former Empress, the orphan of the fallen Captain Pei from the northwest, and the sole remaining descendant of the Pei family.