The following day, the parade grounds were once again packed with people. Liu Yongqian dragged the Hu soldier by the collar, forced him to his knees before Emperor Yuanjia, and placed the thirty recovered bows on the ground:
“Your Majesty, the proof of guilt is right here! Yesterday, this subject led the Frontier Defense Army to search the Imperial Guard camp and found the bows. Furthermore, the hiding place was covered entirely in Imperial Guard footprints, with not a single trace of Frontier Defense Army tracks. This man is the one who concealed the bows, which clearly shows that someone deliberately planted evidence to frame us!”
Emperor Yuanjia swept a gaze as sharp as a torch toward Li Heng. “Li Heng, explain yourself. How did such a conspicuous Hu person manage to sneak into the ranks of the Imperial Guards? Is your position as commander just for show?!”
With a resounding thud, Li Heng dropped to his knees, his face turning ashen. “Your Majesty, I beg for your clear-eyed judgment! This subject had no idea when a Hu person managed to slip in! It was my dereliction of duty, and I deserve a thousand deaths!”
Crying out in agonizing grief, he continuously knocked his head against the ground, looking utterly wretched.
Right at that moment, the Hu soldier suddenly broke free from Liu Yongqian’s grip. His bloodshot eyes swept across the crowd before he burst into a shrill, manic laugh: “Hahahaha! Dayong will fall sooner or later! The land beneath your feet will eventually be trampled flat by the fierce, iron-shod hooves of our Yulong cavalry!”
With those words, he lunged violently toward the elevated platform, dashing his head straight against a pillar. Leaving behind a dark smear of blood, his body slumped limply to the ground.
“Audacious!” Emperor Yuanjia bellowed, slamming a hand down on his armrest as his face turned iron-blue. “An ignorant little state! How dare you act so flagrantly arrogant in Our presence! It seems Yulong is courting rebellion!”
Every single official and guard present hurriedly dropped to their knees in a trembling mass, not daring to draw a full breath for fear of provoking the imperial wrath.
Glaring down at the ministers prostrate before him, Emperor Yuanjia finally shifted his gaze back to Li Heng. “Your lax military discipline nearly caused a catastrophic blunder, and on top of that, you framed a loyal and upright officer. Li Heng!”
Burying his head even lower, Li Heng shook uncontrollably from head to toe. “This subject… this subject deserves a thousand deaths!”
Taking a deep, forceful breath to suppress his surging fury, Emperor Yuanjia commanded, “Someone come! Strip Li Heng of his post as commander of the Imperial Guards! Give him thirty heavy strokes of the staff! Should another blunder occur, We will execute your entire clan down to the ninth degree!”
“This subject, this subject obeys the decree.”
Wretchedly, Li Heng kowtowed in gratitude.
As the farce gradually drew to a close, the three members of the Marquis of Stability’s household returned to their quarters.
Shi Yue asked, “Father, Elder Brother, have you figured out who the mastermind behind the scenes is?”
Sitting before his desk in deep contemplation, Shi Wenjing replied, “It is still difficult to tell from this incident alone. However, Li Heng belongs to the pro-peace faction, and the Crown Prince is also of the pro-peace faction. I wonder if the two of them have private dealings.”
Shi Yuan chimed in, “Yet, as the heir apparent to the nation, His Highness the Crown Prince would be acting far too recklessly with such a maneuver; furthermore, the connection between the two is far too obvious. Could someone be deliberately trying to frame them?”
Squabbling over the succession within one’s own country was one thing, but dragging Yulong into it constituted the capital crime of colluding with foreign enemies.
Sipping a mouthful of tea, Shi Wenjing continued, “His Majesty has his own judgment in his heart. However, His Majesty is getting older, and what he desires most right now is stability; he is no longer inclined to obsessively pursue such matters.”
With a solemn gaze fixed on the distant mountain peaks, Shi Wenjing muttered almost to himself, “Yulong’s treacherous intentions are becoming increasingly clear. I fear a war with them is unavoidable.”
With a heavy, troubled heart, Shi Yue departed Shi Wenjing’s study and walked back in a daze toward his own small courtyard.
No sooner had he stepped inside than an arrow whistled sharply through the air.
In the blink of an eye, the arrow grazed right past Shi Yue’s temple, shearing off a stray lock of hair at the tips and sending it fluttering down to the ground.
Frozen in place on the spot, Shi Yue broke out in a cold sweat. He didn’t dare draw a full breath, his heart hammering against his ribs like rolling thunder.
“Who’s there?!”
Shi Yue forced his voice to remain steady as he demanded an answer.
Yet no one replied.
“Pei Xuan, are you there?”
Shi Yue asked again.
Still complete silence.
Where had he gone? Surely he hadn’t been killed, had he?
Under the moonlight, the quiet, secluded courtyard suddenly felt exceptionally eerie.
The piercing pain of being poisoned to death in his past life seemed to resurface in his chest. Was he going to die tonight as well?
No, I can’t die yet. I haven’t protected my father and elder brother, nor have I found A-Yao.
Just as Shi Yue braced himself mentally to fight to the death, he caught a sudden flicker of movement up in the tree branches, and then…
“Pei Xuan, do you think this is funny?”
Not expecting to be spotted so quickly, Pei Xuan leaped down agilely from the treetop, his face split with a teasing grin. “Funny, quite amusing indeed. I never imagined the Young Marquis would be so easily startled.”
While Pei Xuan laughed happily, even revealing his little canine teeth, Shi Yue’s face remained utterly ice-cold.
“Boring.”
Though Pei Xuan frequently deployed his sharp, venomous tongue to infuriate people, Shi Yue had always possessed a remarkably mild temper and had never truly lost his temper with him before.
This marked the very first time Pei Xuan witnessed such a serious, unsmiling expression on Shi Yue’s face.
Having died an unclear and unexplained death in his previous life, Shi Yue harbored a deep-seated dread of meeting a sudden, violent end once more.
Gradually, Pei Xuan stopped smiling. His phoenix-like eyes locked intently onto Shi Yue. “Are you angry?”
Without a word, Shi Yue pressed his lips into a tight line, turned around, and walked straight back into his room, his retreating back radiating an aura of absolute detachment.
Frowning slightly, Pei Xuan followed after him and reached out to catch the hem of his robe. “Hey, are you serious? Shi Yue, are you actually mad? You’ve got to be kidding me, your nerves aren’t that fragile.”
Shrugging off his hand without a backward glance, Shi Yue stepped inside and slammed the door shut behind him with a loud bang, locking Pei Xuan out entirely.
Narrowing his phoenix eyes at the tightly closed door, Pei Xuan waited in silence for a long time. When nothing happened, he let out a scoff and strode back to his own chamber.
So what if he’s angry? It’s no big deal.
He had never coaxed anyone in his life. Besides, it was just a little joke—did he really have to make such a big deal out of it?
Pei Xuan sat down by the window with an expression of supreme indifference, though the slight furrow in his brow betrayed his true state of mind.
Bright and early the next morning, Shi Yue rose, washed up, and instructed a footman to fetch washing water, refusing to utter a single syllable concerning Pei Xuan—treating him as though he were nothing more than an entirely negligible, invisible attendant.
Coldly keeping his distance, Pei Xuan stood off to the side, maintaining a mutual state of ignoring one another.
In the past, Shi Yue would invariably share his breakfast with Pei Xuan, but today Shi Yue headed straight for Shi Yuan’s small courtyard to dine with his elder brother instead.
“A-Yue? Why are you here? Aren’t you eating with Guard Pei?” Shi Yuan asked in surprise, looking at his unexpected guest.
“Why bring him up?” Shi Yue sat down with a deeply displeased expression.
Observing his prickly demeanor, Shi Yuan smiled gently. “Did you two have a fight?”
Snorting coldly, Shi Yue rolled his eyes. “Who’d want to pick a fight with that little madman?”
Nodding knowingly and dropping the subject, Shi Yuan scooped a bowl of congee for Shi Yue, speaking in a warm, soothing tone. “Very well, then eat with me here instead.”
After spending a delightful morning over breakfast at Shi Yuan’s place, Shi Yue strolled leisurely back to his own courtyard.
Truth be told, he really didn’t want to go back and face that little madman.
Shooting an arrow right past his head on purpose last night, if that arrow had deviated by even a fraction of an inch, he would have lost his life on the spot.
Although Pei Xuan’s archery was impeccably accurate, the mere recollection of his death in his past life made Shi Yue break out in lingering shivers of terror.
The little madman acted without measuring the consequences; if he didn’t give him a thorough taste of the cold shoulder this time, who knew when he might accidentally snuff out his life in another reckless stunt?
Pei Xuan was leaning lazily against the trunk of a pear tree in the courtyard, his hair sprinkled with a few drifting pear blossom petals.
Ah, a truly picturesque view.
Unfortunately, Shi Yue was entirely in the mood to appreciate it right now.
Seeing Shi Yue return, Pei Xuan lowered his gaze and asked in a flat, even tone, “Have you eaten?”
Casting a sidelong glance at him, Shi Yue replied indifferently, “None of your business.”
Pei Xuan opened his mouth as if to say something, but forcibly swallowed the words back. Under Shi Yue’s watchful gaze, he produced a freshly caught wild pheasant from behind his back.
Shi Yue couldn’t help asking, “What on earth are you doing with a wild pheasant?”
With his customary chill, Pei Xuan replied, “Didn’t you mention a few days ago that you’d never eaten wild pheasant and wanted to try some?”
Shi Yue: “…”
Was this his clumsy attempt at making amends?
If he hadn’t pissed him off the night before, Shi Yue would undoubtedly have been thrilled. But right now, Shi Yue had no intention of accepting Pei Xuan’s offering of a pheasant.
Giving the bird a single, brief glance, Shi Yue looked away. “No need. I’ve already eaten. Keep it and eat it yourself.”
His face darkening, Pei Xuan tossed the pitiful pheasant aside at random, turned on his heel, and stalked off, his entire back radiating visible fury.
Several days later, the excursion to You’nan Mountain Villa officially concluded, and the imperial relatives and high-ranking nobles made their grand, thunderous departure back to the capital.
Throughout the past few days, Shi Yue hadn’t spoken a single extra word to Pei Xuan, limiting all communication strictly to stiff, official exchanges.
For instance:
While packing his luggage, Shi Yue accidentally knocked his jade pendant to the ground. Pei Xuan picked it up and tossed it back to him. “Dropping your own belongings, clumsy idiot.”
Unwilling to take it lying down, Shi Yue retorted, “Mind your own business.”
For instance:
Whenever they rode in the carriage previously, Shi Yue would always invite Pei Xuan inside with him. This time, however, Shi Yue monopolized the entire carriage for himself.
Denied an invitation for the first time, Pei Xuan seethed with internal frustration as he warned, “Sit tight, and don’t let the horses buck you off.”
Shi Yue replied: “Heh.”
And yet another instance:
When stepping down from the carriage, Shi Yue accidentally trod on the hem of Pei Xuan’s robe.
Frowning, Pei Xuan muttered, “Brainless and blind?”
Rolling his eyes, Shi Yue shot back, “Can you spot me some coin so I can go see a doctor for my eyes?”
Scenarios of this nature played out on a daily basis.
Back within the Marquis of Stability’s estate.
Propping his chin in his hand with a slouching, undisciplined posture, Shi Yue tilted his head to look at Shitou. “That totem tattoo I asked you to look into last time, did you find anything?”
Shaking his head, Shitou replied, “Reporting to the Second Young Master, nothing at all. The small nations of the Western Regions are numerous; while there are tribes that revere snakes as their foundation, their totems all differ from this specific design.”
Shi Yue knitted his brows slightly. Then what on earth was the origin of this symbol?
It seemed he would have to continue probing further. This faction was bound to make another move sooner or later.