I

Xu Yuan frowned slightly, his expression turning rather odd. He understood the old adage that the imperial house was the most heartless place under heaven, but hearing firsthand of the blood spilled beneath the gilded luster of the golden throne still stirred an uneasy churning in his chest. Thirteen. Those were not outsiders. They were his own flesh and blood. Seeing the look on Xu Yuan's face, Li Junqing clapped him on the shoulder and laughed with airy unconcern. "And that number is only what I know of. There are likely even more that I don't." Saying so, a trace of melancholy and lingering relief entered his tone. "Thank heavens I was born into the right belly. No one dared cross the Empress, or it would have been a wonder if this prince had even made it into this world alive." In the biting wind of the snowy night, Xu Yuan exhaled a plume of white vapor, his lips curving in a faint, dry smile. "The people in your family are truly cold-blooded." Li Junqing's smile never wavered. He stared at Xu Yuan meaningfully for several seconds before abruptly chuckling. "Changtian, if your family doesn't fall, the odds are that yours will end up just like mine." "Just like yours?" Xu Yuan let out a soft laugh and swatted his hand away. "Junqing, what are you hinting at?" "..." Li Junqing sucked in a sharp breath. "Don't give me that. Brother to brother, I'm opening my heart to you here. This is the path every great clan must walk to endure." With that, Li Junqing rubbed his wrist. "You should know that a large portion of the Xu Manor's foundation originally came from the Feng family back then, right?" Xu Yuan kept his eyes on him. "Naturally, I know that." When his father had first entered the capital, his civil and military genius were peerless in the realm. After Li Yaoxuan ascended the throne, his father was promoted to Minister of Revenue and subsequently took the eldest miss of the noble Feng family as his wife. Of course, while it was called taking a wife, he had essentially married into her household. After all, the Feng family back then had been a bona fide eminent noble clan. Over the course of nearly five hundred years, they had produced two empresses and four imperial noble consorts, and they commanded the world's third-largest merchant guild outside of the two state-run guilds belonging to the Great Yan imperial court and the royal clan. For the Prime Minister's Manor to reach its current prominence, the Feng family's backing had been indispensable. Li Junqing let out a long breath, his voice drifting lazily through the cold air. "Since you know that, do you know where the Feng family's descendants are now?" A flicker of contemplation crossed Xu Yuan's eyes. "Most of them live in the Feng family ancestral estate at the foot of Mount Jingya." Li Junqing shook his head. "Changtian... "What this prince is asking is why the Feng family of the Imperial Capital back then doesn't have a single soul left in the capital today. "Well... your uncle doesn't count. His surname might be Feng, but he keeps his hands clean of all affairs." "..." Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes in silence. Li Junqing gave a wistful chuckle. "It seems you really don't know." "..." Xu Yuan's eyelids lowered slightly. As the unspoken first-in-line heir, he had naturally perused many accounts of his father's youth, but this particular chapter of the Prime Minister's Manor's history had been brushed over in a single stroke within the internal records. After a long pause, Xu Yuan brushed his robes and turned toward an elegant pavilion under the snow in the courtyard. "I have heard whispers, but the manor's internal records don't contain much." Li Junqing remained where he stood, smiling roguishly. "Because your father cleaned out every single one of those stubborn old relics in the Feng family who refused to fall in line. "Mhm... your grandfathers, a dozen or so maternal uncles and aunts, and even the cousins still swaddled in cloth—as long as they posed a threat, Duke Xu wiped them out, leaving not a single one behind. "So, Changtian... that warm, loving family harmony you enjoy right now was built upon the bloody ruin of the Feng family." "..." Xu Yuan instinctively halted his steps. He looked back, his gaze placid. "Why are you telling me this?" Li Junqing grinned broadly, the depths of his eyes unreadable. "This prince merely feels that when it comes to certain matters, Changtian, your grasp on reality isn't quite thorough enough. If you carry on like this, the odds are you'll never become the next Duke Xu." "..." Sudden silence fell. In the quiet of the night, a soft laugh broke the freeze. Xu Yuan fixed his gaze upon him. "Junqing... is our bond truly that close?" Li Junqing also shook his head with a smile. "No. But in a certain sense, this prince feels you and I are quite alike. So I hope you can make it all the way to the end." "If that's the case, why don't you enter the fray yourself?" "Because I'm afraid of dying." "..." Xu Yuan was speechless. Looking at the man's shameless expression, Xu Yuan slightly narrowed his slender, phoenix-tail eyes. Afraid of dying? Was that the truth? Perhaps it was true, but more likely, it was not. With a quiet sigh, Xu Yuan chuckled softly. "Then thank you for the reminder, Junqing." Lowering his tone slightly, Xu Yuan cast a glance toward the pitch-black sky. "However, you worry too much. "A man living in this world must have things he will do, and things he will never do." Li Junqing snorted, his tone turning wry. "Third Young Master, you can only speak those high-minded words because you still have a choice. When the day comes that you have none, all those 'will's and 'will never's will amount to nothing more than empty talk." Xu Yuan's eyes flickered for a moment, but he did not deny it. "Perhaps. But in all things, one must hold to a bottom line..." A momentary pause fell. As if something had just occurred to him, Xu Yuan looked at him with an odd expression and asked, "Li Junqing, you haven't suddenly poured your heart out to me for no reason just because you're terrified I won't take you back to the capital, have you?" "..." Li Junqing froze. After a few beats of silence, Li Junqing immediately denied it. "No! Of course not! How could that be?" "..." Xu Yuan spun on his heel and walked straight toward the manor gates, waving a hand without looking back. "Heh. Don't bother seeing me out. I'm leaving." "Ahem! Then about the matter of us two brothers returning to the capital..." "Tsk. Just you try running your mouth one more time. Hurry up and get back inside to your darling." "..." Li Junqing said no more. Watching Xu Yuan's silhouette vanish past the bend of the arched gateway, he let out a soft laugh and ducked straight back into the room. The door closed, shutting out the biting wind and cold. The alluring courtesan who had been lying on her side facing away from the door had already sat up on the bed. Her lush, curvaceous figure was draped in nothing more than a thin veil of blue-and-white gossamer, her fair, flushed skin faintly visible beneath the translucent fabric. Watching him re-enter the room, the seductive woman smiled softly, her voice hushed and tender. "Did that Third Young Master see through it?" Li Junqing stripped off his python robe, sat down on the edge of the bed, and rested his head across her plump, jade-smooth thighs. "See through what?" The courtesan pursed her lips in a gentle smile. "The relationship between this servant and Your Highness, of course." Li Junqing stared up at the blue bed curtains and murmured, "He knows my temperament from our journey back to the capital. I couldn't care less about women I don't love. A detail like closing the door behind myself would never slip past that fellow's notice." The courtesan shifted slightly, her slender fingers gently massaging his brow, her expression entirely devoid of jealousy. "Oh? Was Your Highness frightened by the Third Young Master and the Second Prince?" "To be honest, a little." Li Junqing pondered for a brief moment and laughed softly. "Were it me, I never would have brought myself to stomach you." The courtesan fell silent for a heartbeat, a tender light flickering in her eyes before she murmured, "Your Highness's heart is still far too soft." Li Junqing rolled onto his side, his fingertips tracing along her thighs. "Back when Imperial Father handed a portion of the Imperial Shadow Guard over to me, Eldest Brother immediately arranged for you to watch over this prince. If my heart hadn't been soft, you wouldn't have survived." The courtesan fell quiet, biting her lower lip before whispering, "Your Highness, this time you were almost used as..." "Hush." Placing an index finger gently against her full, crimson lips, Li Junqing took a slow, heavy breath. "That is precisely why we must stick with Xu Changtian. If he dies on the journey back to the capital, this prince will truly be dead." A flush of seductive color swept across her cheeks, and her legs pressed together slightly. "His Majesty's move was likely intended as a reminder to Your Highness as well." "A reminder of what?" Li Junqing's voice carried a muffled chuckle. "Reminding this prince that even if I fight for nothing and seize nothing, I can still end up dead at any moment?" "Yes..." The redness on the courtesan's face deepened, and her hushed, sweet voice held a faint tremble. "Everything the Crown Prince possesses could belong to Your Highness. After all... well... after all, Her Imperial Majesty in the Central Palace actually..." "This prince naturally knows that. But to move against Eldest Brother is something I cannot bring myself to do. Once this journey is over, I will request troops to take to the seas." A complex look appeared in the woman's eyes. "Your Highness, this servant won't..." "Enough, my mind is made up." Li Junqing cut off her words, adopting a teasing tone. "In such an atmosphere, talking of state affairs instead of romance truly spoils the mood. We haven't seen each other in so long; shouldn't we catch up properly? Help this prince unwind." As the words fell, nothing remained in the room save for the soft rustle of garments and the melodic, breathy cries of a nightingale. *** Walking out through the manor gates alone, Xu Yuan gazed at the black dragon carriage parked beneath the ancient parasol tree and strolled toward it. Yet the moment he stepped off the entrance stairs, a familiar, husky female voice rang out from the side: "Did Second Brother eat it?" "..." Halting in his tracks, Xu Yuan felt a jolt of surprise. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw a red-robed woman leaning against the compound wall with her arms crossed over her chest. The dusting of snow settled upon the shoulders of her red robe told him she had already been standing there for quite some time. His spiritual vision hadn't detected this wicked woman at all. Li Qingyan's magnificent crimson eyes gleamed with an enchanting luster in the shadows. "Why aren't you speaking?" she asked softly. A military array... No wonder. Realization dawned on Xu Yuan, and he offered a warm smile. "Why did you come?" Li Qingyan strode over on her long, slender legs, amusement dancing in her eyes. Coming to a stop in front of him, she glanced at the black dragon carriage and teased, "'Third Highness, my young master invites you out for a chat~' "With you making such a conspicuous display across the city, I couldn't pretend not to notice even if I wanted to." Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow. Glancing at the drifting snow caught in her dark hair, he leaned in slightly and smiled. "You've gathered snow on your shoulders. Rushing over the moment you heard—were you worried about me?" Li Qingyan was tall; her slender, statuesque figure let her look nearly straight into his eyes. Blinking, Li Qingyan's eyes curved into crescents, her strands of hair gleaming like jade in the wind and snow. Rising slightly onto her tiptoes, she exhaled breath like orchids beside his ear. "That's right, I was worried. Are you surprised?" "..." The delicate fragrance drifting from her hair reached his nose on the cold wind, making his heart tremble for an instant. Wait, this wicked woman was baiting him again. "I am indeed a little surprised." Turning his face to look at the earlobe mere inches away, Xu Yuan exhaled a gentle breath. "I assumed you would be quite busy in the army." Her earlobe blushed faintly pink, and Li Qingyan subtly stepped back, her voice soft. "I am indeed busy. But since the camp hasn't struck its tents yet, my vice-general is watching over things, so I could spare a moment to come out." With that, she asked again, "So, Second Brother ate it?" Xu Yuan turned his gaze toward the carriage and began walking over. "He ate it. With quite an appetite, in fact." Li Qingyan frowned slightly at that, a cold smile curling her red lips as she matched his stride. "And here I thought I would need to step in." "..." Xu Yuan's steps suddenly froze, his boots sinking into the snow. He turned his head and stared at her with an odd look. Their eyes met, and Li Qingyan stopped as well. A flicker of confusion passed through her sharp, heroic eyes, and she let out a soft laugh. "What? We've only been parted for a few hours, and you're already looking at me like you don't recognize me." Xu Yuan crossed his arms and rubbed his chin, looking perplexed. "Something's not right. Qingyan, why aren't you referring to yourself as 'this palace' anymore?" "..." Li Qingyan fell silent for a heartbeat, looking at him as though he were a complete idiot. "You really are quick to catch on." "Heh, of course," Xu Yuan chuckled. "..." Li Qingyan narrowed her eyes, a dangerous glint surfacing within them. While Xu Yuan was still puzzled, she suddenly raised a slender finger and pressed it against his chest. With a slight exertion of force, she pinned him effortlessly against the side of the black dragon carriage behind him. *Thud!* The carriage barely shook, but the dull impact sounded extraordinarily distinct in the silent, snowy night. Her exquisite features were veiled in the shadows cast by the ambient light, her eyes flickering with a faint, enigmatic glow as her voice drifted softly through the cold: "Changtian, when we traveled south, I always referred to myself as 'I' whenever I was with you. You... really are quick to catch on." "?" "..." Li Qingyan was speechless. Leaning against the freezing carriage frame, Xu Yuan wore a bizarre expression. Li Qingyan shook her head and turned to leave. "Forget it if you don't remember." "..." Xu Yuan suddenly snapped back to his senses and reached out to catch her fair wrist. Li Qingyan didn't pull away, merely glancing back at him in quiet silence. Xu Yuan laughed softly. "You were using voice transmission back then. Normally, when everyone is gathered together, you always call yourself 'this palace.' How was I supposed to notice the difference?" "Heh." "Are you angry?" "Me? Angry?" "You definitely are. A commander-in-chief should have a heart broad enough to sail a boat. Be generous. It's not like you're Tianyan—why get upset over something like this?" "..." Tianyan would have had something to say about that. After a heartbeat of silence, Li Qingyan rolled her eyes at him, choosing to ignore his teasing as she asked casually, "I won't waste time bickering with you. When do you plan to set out?" Xu Yuan pondered for a moment. "Probably within the next day or two. The situation in the Northern Border is far too convoluted right now. With my meager cultivation, staying here would only make me a burden." Li Qingyan lifted her crimson eyes to scan the dark sky. "What arrangements did Chief Lou make?" "Nothing is finalized yet." Xu Yuan shook his head, then glanced back toward Li Junqing's residence and lowered his voice. "By the way, Qingyan, does your imperial brother have a lover?" "What?" Confusion surfaced in Li Qingyan's eyes. Xu Yuan murmured thoughtfully under his breath, "It seems you don't know either. Yet that fellow actually brought his lover to such a perilous place..." Li Qingyan's delicate brows knitted together, acutely sensing something amiss. "What do you mean?" Xu Yuan paused, then shook his head. "Nothing. Perhaps I'm overthinking it." Li Qingyan narrowed her eyes. "Xu Changtian, speak plainly. If you don't tell me, this palace will go in and find him myself." Xu Yuan caught hold of her, chuckling. "The man is attending to 'proper business.' Why would an elder sister like you barge in on that? If you're eager to learn, I could always teach you." Li Qingyan looked back into his smiling eyes and let out an unnatural huff. "If you don't want this palace meddling, then handle it yourself..." Before her words could finish— *Thud!* The carriage swayed slightly as Xu Yuan planted his hands against the frame on either side of her, looking at her from mere inches away. "Once we part on this journey, who knows when we will meet again? Qingyan, do you have nothing you wish to say to me?" The winter wind whistled mournfully amidst the desolate cold and swirling flakes of snow. Her slender back pressed flush against the chilled carriage body, Li Qingyan looked into the smiling eyes of the young man before her. "Do you want a promise from this palace?" Xu Yuan smiled, leaning in just a fraction closer. "'Trustworthy Li Qingyan'? I wouldn't dare believe in that." Li Qingyan leaned back slightly, baring a neck as fair and graceful as a swan's, her dark hair brushing against the carriage window frame as her voice took on a teasing, seductive lilt: "Then are you looking for something a bit more tangible? Such as teaching this palace about 'proper business'?"