The Disparity

The rich aroma of wine drifted through the private dining room. From beyond the screen, the rhythmic, cadence-rich voice of a storyteller drifted in, reciting tales of the Marquis of Zhenxi's past valiance. Sipping the liquor in his cup, Xu Yuan watched the Marquis of Zhenxi's daughter across from him as she hugged a wine jar, chugging away in steady gulps. He let out another soft sigh. Li Junwu set the jar down. Her cheeks were flushed red from the alcohol as she shot him a sidelong glance. "I already told you, this place only has wine shops. When we get the chance, I'll take you to see the pleasure houses here in the Western Desert." Xu Yuan shook his head gently. A faint flicker of complexity surfaced in his eyes as he asked quietly, "Aren't you going to ask about the plans that follow?" Li Junwu pointed a finger at him. "Don't I have you for that? You make the plans, and I'll back you up." "……" Hearing that answer, Xu Yuan sighed inwardly once more. Every arrangement he had made was centered around Li Junwu, designed to help her reclaim control of Zhenxi Prefectural City. Yet ever since arriving at this tavern called the Xishan Residence, she hadn't bothered to inquire about a single detail regarding taking back the city defenses. To hand over such a critical affair entirely to an outsider like him to scheme out… This bosom bro of his truly couldn't compare to the Chest-Bound Princess. Recalling his experiences in the Northern Border, the disparity between Li Qingyan and Li Junwu became starkly apparent in an instant. Even in absolute adversity, that Chest-Bound Princess had held firmly to her own ideas. She had always sought to oversee everything, always wanting him to follow her lead. And Li Junwu? The moment she saw he was around to help, she simply washed her hands of the whole affair. Xu Yuan knew it was because Li Junwu trusted him, but damn it, you're the one who will take the helm of Zhenxi Manor in the future! A leader could be tyrannical, decadent, or indecisive, but a leader could never simply slack off and let things rot. A flurry of thoughts flashed through his mind. Xu Yuan shook his head and said wistfully, "I think I finally understand why your father keeps wanting to lay down his armor and retire to the fields." Li Junwu paused mid-drink. Catching the undertone in his words, she knit her brows. "What do you mean by that?" Xu Yuan blinked at her and gave a low laugh. "Just that someone isn't cut out for responsibility." Li Junwu slammed the wine jar onto the square table with a heavy thud, her eyes narrowing. "Xu Changtian, are you looking for a fight?" Xu Yuan shrugged. He had to try and break her of this habit. "I'm merely stating a fact. When you slack off, power doesn't vanish into thin air—it just shifts into someone else's hands. Do it a few more times, and you'll find yourself completely sidelined as an empty figurehead." With that, he lightly tapped the table before him, his tone growing slightly solemn. "To take an example close at hand: this scheme regarding the city defenses. If everything goes smoothly and you never ask for details, I could reach the Prime Minister's Manor's hands right into the defensive network of Zhenxi Prefectural City if I so chose." After listening closely, the anger that had risen on Li Junwu's face quietly faded, replaced by a calm stare. "If I asked, you'd definitely lie whenever it touched upon the Prime Minister's Manor's secrets. Would the end result be any different from me not asking at all? It would only sour things between us." Hearing this, Xu Yuan was briefly taken aback, not expecting that to be her reasoning. After a brief silence, he spoke with complicated emotion: "Junwu, my helping you with Zhenxi Prefectural City isn't solely out of our personal friendship. It's because my Prime Minister's Manor and your Zhenxi Manor share common interests. You can view it as a partnership. "If you anticipate that I'll lie about these matters, then try to tell the truth from the lies, and then use me. Do you understand?" Li Junwu blinked. An amused smirk curved the corner of her lips, and she waved a hand dismissively. "So, Changtian, would you ever do anything to hurt me?" "No." "Then that settles it." "……" Xu Yuan went silent. The corner of his eye twitched, and Xu Yuan said with a wry smile, "Look here, sister, just because my mouth says I won't doesn't mean I actually won't." "Well, I think you were speaking the truth just now." "……" Xu Yuan couldn't stop himself from cursing, "When you inherit your father's title, you'd better keep trusting me like this. If I don't take you for everything you're worth, I'll eat my own shoe!" Li Junwu chuckled softly and waved him off. "All right, all right, I get it." Seeing that she remained entirely unbothered, Xu Yuan parted his lips, instinctively wanting to persuade her further. But a spark flashed in his mind, and the words on the tip of his tongue shifted into: "Forget it. No matter how much I say, you won't listen. You always like comparing yourself to Li Qingyan, right? Next time we return to the capital, I'll introduce her to you so you can learn a thing or two from her." The instant she heard the Chest-Bound Princess's name, Li Junwu bristled like a threatened cat, her voice pitching up slightly: "Me, learn from her? What could she possibly have that's worth learning?" Seeing that his crude provocation had hit the mark at once, Xu Yuan suppressed his inward laughter and adopted a matter-of-fact look. "Huh? You don't honestly think there's no gap between the two of you, do you? While you were fooling around in the past, she was dedicated to her cultivation. While you were visiting pleasure houses, she was studying military strategy. Even right now, while we're sitting here drinking, she's fighting on the battlefield. What do you have to compare with Qingyan?" Watching Li Junwu's face darken by the second, Xu Yuan kept dancing straight across her minefield. "When I was in the Northern Border suffering hardships alongside her, stranded in a desperate situation, she never stopped thinking about how to break the stalemate for even a second. Even when I told her I had a way, she was still planning contingencies." At that point, he suddenly let out a soft sigh and murmured, "If Qingyan were in your shoes, even if I hadn't come, she would have found a way to break the deadlock herself instead of hiding away in some remote corner, meekly waiting for her old man to come to the rescue." *Bang!* Li Junwu slammed her palm onto the table. Though she held back her strength, the blow still left an imprint deep in the grain of the wood. "Break the deadlock? Break it how?! Those sect bastards want my head! The moment I show myself, they'll kill me! I don't know who's friend or foe. Tell me, what choice did I have besides going into hiding?!" Xu Yuan spread his hands, murmuring, "See? You're flustered. Li Qingyan would never lose her temper." "……" Li Junwu clenched her fists tightly. Xu Yuan chuckled and chose to ignore it. She couldn't beat him in a fight anyway. He continued leisurely, "Junwu, why do you think they want to kill you?" "Because without an heir, Zhenxi Manor will fall into panic, and in all likelihood, power will fall into the hands of the Mu family." "There you have it." Xu Yuan watched her heaving for breath and said in a calm, steady voice, "Zhenxi Manor is currently surnamed Li, not Mu. Even if the higher-ups have turned traitor, the rank-and-file soldiers remain loyal to your father." Tapping the table, Xu Yuan lowered his voice. "The entire Zhenxi Army mobilized just for your safety precisely because your very existence represents Zhenxi Manor's legitimacy! "Furthermore, the military array technique you cultivate is the highest-tier root technique in the Zhenxi Army. If you circulate your arts, nearly twenty thousand elite troops across the entire city would sense it. "That single card alone gives you the leverage to turn the tables and break through this crisis." As the words fell, Xu Yuan seemed to sense something and retrieved a crystal shard from his Sumeru ring. After examining it for a moment, he rose to his feet with a slight smile. "The results from the prefectural yamen are out. One piece of good news, one piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" "……" Li Junwu seemed somewhat broken by his lecture. Lowering her eyes, she pressed her lips together and ignored him. Seeing this, Xu Yuan went ahead on his own: "The bad news is that Commander Zhan is indeed a mole. The good news is, our mole played him completely for a fool. We can head to the yamen now." As he spoke, Xu Yuan watched her expression, his tone softening somewhat. "Also, Junwu, think carefully about what I just said. If you truly wish to inherit Zhenxi Manor, these are all things you must consider." "……" Her lashes lowered, Li Junwu followed him in silence. They walked the whole way without a word. It was only when they stepped out of the tavern, midday sunlight washing over them, that she stood before the carriage and asked in a low whisper, "…Is the gap between me and her really that wide?" He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and answered truthfully in a gentle voice, "In terms of agency and drive, the disparity between you and Li Qingyan really isn't a small one." Her figure trembled faintly. "I'll catch up to her." "Say that when you can command a twenty-thousand-man military array." Xu Yuan rolled his eyes bluntly and teased, "Honestly, if you could command an array of twenty thousand men right now, we wouldn't be in such a passive spot to begin with." "……" Biting her lip, she clenched her fists tight.