Strictly Business?

In the end, the two of them still chose to return to the inn, because Li Junwu had rejected Xu Yuan's proposal to go enjoy themselves in the eastern city. She had been utterly righteous and stern. "The enemy is at our doorstep! What kind of propriety is there in seeking pleasure at a time like this? Back to the inn!" "……" Recalling how she had been happily downing wine earlier, completely content where she was, Xu Yuan felt rather speechless. Still, seeing that his reverse psychology had worked, he smiled and agreed. His reason for going to the pleasure houses in the eastern city had not actually been for entertainment; it was mainly to find Zhou Chen and assign him a few tasks. Now that Li Junwu's sense of initiative had awakened, he might as well hear what this bosom buddy of his had planned. Once Li Junwu had left an anchor point upon the core of the city defense array, the party of four turned and headed toward the secret chamber's exit. Shadow walked in the lead, Huang Shiwei followed close by his side, and Xu Yuan and Li Junwu trailed two paces behind them. Their footsteps lingered within the silent, narrow corridor. Amidst the silence, Xu Yuan casually broke the quiet: "How do you plan to deal with this Zhan Xian'an?" Li Junwu's eyes flickered, and she countered in a low voice, "How do you want me to deal with him?" Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes, finding it somewhat amusing. "Why ask me, an outsider, about your family's affairs?" Li Junwu shook her head slightly, keeping her voice hushed. "He must be killed, of course, but the method and justification have to be ironclad. Otherwise, replacing a commanding general right before battle will inevitably destabilize military morale." Xu Yuan glanced at her in slight surprise. Feeling insulted, Li Junwu glared at him. "What's that look supposed to mean? Before, I only stayed out of it because I knew you were here. I'm not an idiot! Of course I considered all of this!" Xu Yuan chuckled awkwardly and cleared his throat. "That's true. As a veteran official who has followed your father for decades, his connections within your Zhenxi Army must run deep. Once you kill him, how to handle his direct subordinates really is a problem." Pulling up a radish brought up the mud with it; if someone at the top fell, a whole string of people underneath would tumble too. In desperate straits, one didn't have to care about the fallout—taking control of the situation came first, and consequences could be handled later. But now that they had shoes on their feet, they naturally couldn't act with such complete abandon. Li Junwu took a deep breath and asked softly, "What if… we keep his death a secret?" "Wrong." Xu Yuan shook his head. Li Junwu froze for an instant, then pressed her lips together. "What's wrong with doing that?" "I don't mean your decision was wrong." Xu Yuan gave a soft sigh, his tone earnest. "I mean your tone. In the future, when you do something, don't use questions. Statements are all you need." Li Junwu fell silent for a moment before curling her lip. "You just have to nitpick me, don't you?" Xu Yuan's expression didn't waver, remaining just as serious. "I'm merely stating a fact. I've never seen the heir of any great clan hesitate like you do. And if a single sentence from me can throw you into such self-doubt, how will you ever hold up the sky for Zhenxi Manor in the future?" With that, Xu Yuan looked at the complicated expression on her turned-away profile, then smiled and softened his tone. "Of course, I know you aren't like this with others. After all, you've seen my abilities over the years, so it's only natural that you've grown reliant on me." Li Junwu was amused. She let out a scoffing laugh. "It seems you'll never shake that glib tongue of yours in this lifetime." "Old habits die hard, after all." Xu Yuan shrugged, his demeanor turning solemn again. "Still, Junwu, trusting me is one thing, but some matters require keeping business and personal feelings strictly separate." Hearing this, Li Junwu showed a hint of impatience. "Here you go again, huh?" Xu Yuan was entirely unmoved. As he stepped up the stairs, he sent a voice transmission: "Hear me out first. If we went solely by our personal relationship, while I wouldn't leave you to die, helping you flee would be the absolute limit of what I could do." "……" Li Junwu's heart trembled slightly. Xu Yuan keenly sensed her reaction, but he still intended to continue. Cold-blooded though it might sound, some things were better laid bare beforehand. The world bustled for profit; the world scrambled for gain. He lowered his eyes to his palm, his voice very quiet. "The sects have plotted their scheme to replace your Zhenxi Manor for decades. My individual power is negligible in all this; even if I wanted to help you, I would have no way to do so." As he spoke, Xu Yuan lifted a finger to point at Shadow and Huang Shiwei walking ahead. "The reason I can help you infiltrate the array's core and plant an anchor now is entirely because my father granted me the authority of the Prime Minister's Manor's heir, giving me the right to command them." At that point, Xu Yuan withdrew his hand, stared directly into her eyes, and spoke word by word: "The one helping you right now is not the Xu Changtian you know, but the future heir of the Prime Minister's Xu family. "His reason for helping you in this matter is to dismantle the sects' plans in the Western Desert, and also to let you win the Marquis of Zhenxi's recognition through this ordeal so you can successfully inherit Zhenxi Manor—ultimately using your relationship with him to bind Zhenxi Manor to my father's war chariot. "Junwu, "You can think of this as an investment. Nothing more than an investment." Perhaps to keep their identities concealed, Xu Yuan and Li Junwu never saw Commander Zhan the entire time, right up until they exited the prefectural yamen. After confirming that no one was following them and relaying a few commands Li Junwu had issued to Huang Shiwei, the two parted ways with him and his companion. The carriage rattled slightly as it traveled along the beast track on their return journey. Li Junwu rested her chin on her hand, silently watching the street scenery recede rapidly outside the window. The human-skin mask Xu Yuan had given her was crumpled into a ball in her fist. Ever since boarding the carriage—or rather, ever since stepping out of the array's secret chamber—she hadn't spoken another word to Xu Yuan. Her pretty face remained cold and flawlessly fair. Xu Yuan naturally knew that his bosom buddy was angry over what he had said, but he had no intention of coaxing her. Unlike the breast-binding princess's almost demonic rationality, his bosom buddy was deeply sentimental. What he said must have hurt her, but these were realities she had to get used to ahead of time. Otherwise, Zhenxi Manor would most likely end up ruined in Li Junwu's hands. *Rumble, rumble…* The carriage rolled on, leaving only the sound of turning wheels inside the compartment. Amidst this heavy silence, Li Junwu's aloof voice suddenly rang out: "Xu Changtian, I don't like this." She hated reducing friendship to a cold-blooded transaction. Hearing that, Xu Yuan glanced back quietly and replied in a calm, subdued tone, "I don't like it either, but that's reality." Li Junwu scoffed, a mocking smile curling at the corner of her lips. "That Tianye is someone from the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, isn't she? What about her? I remember you saying the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion would be involved in this operation too. Is your relationship with her like that as well?" Xu Yuan went silent for a brief moment before answering slowly, "Her current situation is very complicated." Li Junwu turned her gaze back toward him, clutching the human-skin mask tightly as her red lips parted slightly. "Complicated? According to your logic, shouldn't you keep her out of it entirely?" Xu Yuan met her gaze calmly without uttering a word. From the moment he learned of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion Master's involvement, he had considered Tianyan's stance. But before he could even bring it up, the washboard Saintess had already thrown in the towel, while the enchantress currently in control of the body wouldn't listen to him in the slightest. Seeing his silence, a flicker of strange emotion stirred in her beautiful eyes. She gave a faint smile, shook her head, and said quietly, "Forget it, I don't want to bicker with you about this. Since this is a cooperation, there won't be any mishaps with the message I had you send to my father earlier, right?" Xu Yuan gathered his thoughts. Li Junwu's decision actually aligned perfectly with his own. Bide their time. Their victory conditions were completely different from the sects'. The Qin family and their allies had to breach the city and kill both Li Junwu and Jiayi to achieve their goal, whereas their side only needed to hold the city. Although the military array could not be utilized, they now had the defensive array in their hands. They could declare martial law today and leak Linlang's aura to deter the six Saints outside. However, the problem was that one could play the thief for a thousand days, but no one could guard against a thief for a thousand days. To guard against an assault by Saint-level powerhouses, the city defense array would have to operate at high intensity, and the stockpiles of Zhenxi Prefectural City were insufficient to sustain it for long. Therefore, the Marquis of Zhenxi had to be notified immediately. As long as Li Junwu's father marched his army back, every crisis would be resolved with ease. With these thoughts in mind, Xu Yuan said in a measured voice, "There won't be any problems." "What method will you use?" Li Junwu seemed to have switched completely to a strictly professional mindset, asking with a frosty expression, "Six Saints are gathered around us; sending a messenger out would be nearly impossible. Furthermore, there are people from the Mu family causing trouble within the army led by my father, so using a communication crystal makes it hard to guarantee our intelligence won't fall into their hands. "Since you're so sure, what method do you plan to use?" Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan gave a crisp answer: "I don't know." "Wh—what did you say?" "I said, I don't know." "……" Li Junwu's brow twitched. Xu Yuan shrugged, speaking as if it were only natural: "I'm not omnipotent. Professional matters should be left to professionals to figure out." With that, Xu Yuan reached out, patted his bosom buddy's thigh, pointed out the window, and smiled. "Rest assured. Since Huang Shiwei raised no objections, he must have full confidence in delivering the message in time." Li Junwu squeezed the human-skin mask into a tight lump of dough. Looking at his frivolous manner, she instinctively clenched her fist. "Young Master Xu, haven't you heard that men and women shouldn't touch—" "All right, all right, I know you aren't mad anymore, so stop pretending." Xu Yuan cut her off directly. If Li Junwu were still genuinely angry, she wouldn't have stopped at verbal complaints. Instead, he wrapped an arm intimately around her shoulder, patted it, and pointed out the window with a grin. "We're here. That little Divine Maiden girl has been tied up and dangling all morning. We'd better hurry back and check on her."