Shi Yue had just poured a fresh cup of tea when two men with rather similar features strode into the room.
He exclaimed in pleasant surprise, “Father! Elder Brother!”
The Marquis of Anding, Shi Wenjing, was clad in silver armor and looked at his youngest son with a face full of affection. Following behind him was a man with a gentle and refined countenance.
Just by looking at his appearance, others would absolutely never guess that this man, as gentle and refined as jade, was actually the Dingbei General (General Who Pacifies the North), Shi Yuan, who struck terror into the hearts of enemies on the battlefield. He actually possessed such an elegant and scholarly look.
Thinking of his previous life, where they bore false charges and were beheaded while he was not even allowed to see them, Shi Yue’s eyes suddenly turned red.
Shi Wenjing noticed that his youngest son’s expression was off and asked, “Why such an expression? You should be happy that your father has returned in triumph.”
“It’s just that I’m too happy,” Shi Yue said with a smile, suppressing the sour ache in his heart.
“I haven’t seen A’yue for over a year, and he’s grown so tall,” Shi Yuan patted his shoulder and praised.
Shi Yue proudly raised his chin and laughed, “Of course, just look at whose son I am.”
“Well said!” Shi Wenjing also chimed in proudly, “Worthy of being my son!”
The previously quiet Marquis of Anding’s Estate, due to the return of its master, once again regained its former vitality and vigor. All the maids and guards in the estate became busy, preparing a welcome feast to wash away the dust of the journey for the two men.
“Father, what was the matter when the Emperor summoned you into the palace just now?”
Shi Yuan’s smiling gaze fell upon him as he asked strangely, “A’yue, don’t you dislike court affairs? Why are you taking the initiative to ask about them today?”
In his past life, Shi Yue hated the officials in the imperial court the most; they were all deceptive people who hid daggers behind their honeyed words.
But in this life, he had no choice but to pay close attention to the movements of these people in order to find the true culprit behind the scenes and the person who poisoned him.
“I’m already nineteen years old. Naturally, I should know some important court news; otherwise, if I go out and talk with others, wouldn’t I bring disgrace to the Marquis’s Estate?” Shi Yue bantered.
“It is time A’yue understood some court affairs.” Shi Wenjing nodded in appreciation and patted his shoulder twice gently. “A’yuan, explain it to him.”
Shi Yuan nodded, seemingly pondering how to begin. “The Emperor merely offered his consolations and bestowed rewards, but… His Highness the Crown Prince seems to have the intention of consolidating military power.”
His Highness the Crown Prince?
Right, the one who cast the Marquis of Anding’s Estate into the imperial prison back then was the Jingyi Emperor, Zhou Jingzhi, who was currently the master of the Eastern Palace (the Crown Prince).
Why was he in such a hurry to deal with the Marquis of Anding?
Shi Yue thought carefully. Because he truly hadn’t paid much attention to court affairs in his previous life, he was currently quite unclear about the court’s factions.
Looking at his father and brother’s relaxed expressions, he didn’t know how to speak up.
In his last life, they ended up being promptly executed. What about this life? Would things change, or would they steadily happen as before?
Shi Yue didn’t dare to make rash judgments.
He had just been reborn and hadn’t yet figured out what was going on.
Shi Yue decided not to tell them about the future events for now, and to go with the flow to see how things would change. He would investigate on his own without affecting them. What if some trajectories had changed because of his rebirth?
Thinking this, Shi Yue suppressed a bit of his distress and looked at his family with a smiling face again.
After the meal, Shi Yue, mindful of their travel fatigue, did not pester them with conversation and saw them off to their respective inner chambers to rest.
Shi Yue summoned the head guard who attended his father and brother.
“Young Master.”
Shi Yue asked, “Have there been any strange people appearing around my father and brother recently?”
The head guard pondered for a moment and shook his head. “There have been no abnormalities around the Marquis and the Eldest Young Master.”
Shi Yue nodded. “From now on, keep a close eye on the personnel changes around the two of them. If you encounter any suspicious people, report it immediately.”
Although the head guard didn’t know why the Young Master would issue such an order, he kept it firmly in mind, respectfully cupped his hands, and said, “Yes!”
Shi Yue waved his hand, dismissing him.
The head guard had just retreated a few steps when Shi Yue added, “There is no need to tell my father and brother about this matter.”
“This subordinate obeys.”
Shi Yue looked out the window at the pear trees in full bloom. The delicate white-and-pink flowers trembled slightly in the breeze, their tiny petals drifting down lightly, filling the entire courtyard with a fallen fragrance.
“A’yue! What’s wrong with you? It’s been days, and I haven’t seen you come out to play with me.”
Shi Yue was currently fiddling with the balsam that Shi Wenjing had brought back from the Western Regions this time. It was a type of flower that only grew in the Western Regions; the blossoms were a pale red and were excellent materials for making holy oil and spices.
Hearing the familiar voice, he looked over. A nimble figure dressed in yellow was walking briskly under the corridor eaves.
Song Huaian was his closest “bosom friend”. His father was the Grand Tutor. In his past life, he had lost count of how many times he had visited brothels, participated in cockfighting, and engaged in other frivolous affairs alongside him.
When the bad news came to the Marquis of Anding’s Estate, only Song Huaian had helped him, firmly believing that the Marquis of Anding could never commit treason.
Shi Yue pulled him into a sudden hug.
Song Huaian, startled by this baffling action, didn’t dare to move and laughed, “What’s the meaning of this, Brother Shi? We haven’t seen each other for a few days, and you missed me to this extent? You wouldn’t happen to be a cut-sleeve, would you?”
Shi Yue pushed him away with a look of disgust. “Even a cut-sleeve wouldn’t like someone like you, alright?”
“Give me a break. I rank in the top five on the capital’s ‘Most Desired Husbands’ list.” Song Huaian proudly held up five fingers and said exaggeratedly, “Out of all the young talents in the entire capital, I can rank in the top five.”
“Just you? Most of them are probably aiming for your family’s money, not for you,” Shi Yue teased.
Song Huaian’s mother was a wealthy merchant from the south, said to have wealth rivaling a nation and being incredibly rich.
“Who is first? And what rank am I?” Shi Yue asked curiously.
Song Huaian thought for a while, pondering as he said, “If I remember correctly, the first should be your elder brother. As for you, you seem to be second?”
Shi Yue nodded in understanding. His elder brother not only had outstanding military achievements at a young age, but also possessed a gentle, jade-like face and temperament, so it was no surprise that women liked him.
And the reason a playboy like Shi Yue could make the list was purely because his face was too likable, and because he spent year-round mixing in the marketplaces, he had an endless array of tricks to amuse women.
Song Huaian thought of his previous appearance as a profligate young master. “You used to come out to play every day. What’s up these past few days? Grown weak?”
“Shoo, shoo. From now on, I am going to put an end to such behavior. I will keep myself pure as jade and silently recite the ‘Virtues of Men’ every day.”
“Keeping yourself pure for who? That legendary A’Yao?” Song Huaian asked curiously. “You couldn’t be making him up, could you? I haven’t seen him once in all these years.”
Shi Yue fell silent.
He was almost unable to distinguish whether their time together at Mount Qingluan that year was real, or just a “Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly” illusion from his midnight dreams.
Song Huaian, seeing Shi Yue’s mood turn from sunny to overcast, realized he had misspoken. So, he hurriedly slung his arm around his neck and led him outside, “Stop thinking about it. I’ll take you to a fun place.”
In this day and age, humans were not the only ones living on this land. Some spirits and monsters, having absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, gradually became demons capable of taking human form.
However, the number of demons that attained sapience was not large, and most were merely herbs and plants of little consequence.
Slightly more formidable ones included fox demons, cat demons, wolf demons, and even tiger demons.
But these great demons were extremely rare. The majority of demons were discovered and captured by humans when they were still young, preventing them from posing a threat.
Many human households were equipped with artifacts that could identify demonic aura, enabling them to immediately catch demons attempting to do evil.
The excessive human population heavily compressed the living space of demons. Some demons gathered together in an attempt to seek a new way of living for their kind, but ultimately, they were all suppressed by humans using various methods.
Uncontrollable demons were mostly killed using talismans, while those that could be trained were used as guards.
Yet, becoming a guard was already the best way of survival for a demon. What was worse was that some people used extreme methods to arrest demons and send them to various beast-fighting arenas, forcing them to slaughter each other for the entertainment of high officials and nobles.
In the beast-fighting arenas, demons lost all dignity. They transformed into human appearances, looking absolutely no different from humans, yet they were locked in cramped, foul-smelling underground cells. Day after day, they slaughtered their own kind. Even with broken legs, they could only lick their own wounds, with no one to treat them.
Every day, all they saw was a group of hypocritical species sitting in high private boxes, putting on airs of elegance, humor, and smiling conversation. But in reality, inside, they grew sharp fangs that bit through and chewed up people to satisfy their gory and bloodthirsty cravings.
Shi Yue loathed this kind of activity, finding it too bloody and violent. However, beast-fighting was currently all the rage. He could only try to go as little as possible, avoiding those violent places.
When Shi Yue heard that Song Huaian was going to take him to the beast-fighting arena, he immediately said, “You know I don’t go to these kinds of places.”
“I know, I know.” Song Huaian grabbed onto Shi Yue, who made as if to get off the carriage. “But I heard there’s a very handsome demon recently, and his combat power is incredibly high. I’m just curious. I don’t have anyone else who can accompany me, only you, A’yue. Just come with me, please.”
Shi Yue looked at Song Huaian acting spoiled and cute, but remained unmoved. “Not going.”
“Just this once, just this once.” Song Huaian continued tugging at Shi Yue’s wide sleeves, his face looking utterly pitiful, as if tears were about to fall.
Shi Yue knew he was acting, but being looked at with such eyes, the words of refusal just couldn’t leave his mouth.
The two remained at a stalemate like this. At the very moment Song Huaian’s teardrops were about to fall, Shi Yue admitted defeat.
“Stop! Wipe your tears, I’ll go, alright?”
Song Huaian instantly retracted his tears. “I knew A’yue would definitely agree.”
Shi Yue couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
The carriage unhurriedly arrived in front of a magnificent building. The vermilion doors with their copper nails were dazzling, the corridor murals were endlessly colorful, and red candles flickered amidst a sky full of splendid brilliance.
Just as Shi Yue stepped through the door, he faintly heard shouts coming from inside. The air was also mixed with a faint scent of face powder and the foul stench of blood.
Shi Yue frowned, but seeing that Song Huaian was very excited, he didn’t say anything.
An attendant, seeing that the two were dressed like wealthy or noblemen, warmly approached them. “Welcome, distinguished guests, to our humble establishment. Apologies for not going out to meet you. Is this the distinguished guests’ first time here?”
Song Huaian looked around curiously and nodded absentmindedly.
The attendant said with understanding, “Guests, your timing today is too perfect. ‘Shuang Jiang’ has rested for two days and is just about to enter the arena today.”
“Really!” Song Huaian said excitedly.
‘Shuang Jiang’ (Frost’s Descent) was precisely that demon who had been incredibly popular recently, and the exact reason Song Huaian had dragged Shi Yue here.
The attendant led Song Huaian and Shi Yue to a private room. Looking down from above, they could see the entire arena with crystal clarity.