Early the next morning, outside the Dongxuan Gate of Zhenxi Prefectural City.
Ever since the establishment of the Monan Protectorate, the empire's defensive focus had shifted westward. Zhenxi Prefectural City had naturally transitioned from the front line to the rear, its nature as a critical border bastion gradually turning into that of a transportation hub.
Before the morning light had even fully broken, long queues of carriages and carts laden with goods had already formed, waiting to enter the city.
Squads of fully armored soldiers filed out from the gate, beginning to maintain order.
Clerks and merchants in all manner of attire hurried back and forth, calling out instructions to prepare for entry.
Compared to them, the sabre-bearing caravan guards appeared far more at ease. Once within the perimeter of Zhenxi Prefectural City, their job was essentially done, so they gathered in small groups of two and three to idle away the time and chat.
"What bloody rotten luck. We finally take a run out to the Western Border, and we run smack into a curfew."
"What's so rotten about it? Once a curfew is declared, we'll probably be stuck in the city for two or three days. Isn't that the perfect excuse for the boys to find a bit of fun? None of us have indulged ourselves in over a month."
"You absolute fool! Use your head for once and think about why they called a curfew! Fighting must have broken out to the west! With our boss's temper, he'll definitely try to fish for riches amid the danger. If our luck turns sour, we'll be the ones taking the fall."
"Ah?"
"..."
"..."
Listening to the chatter of the mortal martial apprentices around them, Si Zijing glanced at the ponytail-wearing woman beside him in casual attire, then chuckled with an exaggerated sigh.
"It seems the situation here is even more complicated than we imagined. Are you truly certain you will not return to the capital?"
Xu Mengxi looked back abruptly at his words, knitting her willow-leaf brows.
"I came here precisely because I knew this. Qin Weishu used his life as bait, and now hostilities have erupted once more. His scheme is bound to be immense."
Si Zijing's tone was leisurely, laced with teasing.
"Then you truly have no fear of death."
Even as he spoke—
Rumble—
A series of deafening roars suddenly echoed across the heavens. More than a dozen city gates of various sizes along the eastern wall were slowly hoisted upward, and the long dragon of caravans that had sat idle through the night began to inch forward.
Falling in step beside the carriages, Si Zijing smiled with a dark glint in his eyes.
"Brother Huang may have asked me to look after you before he died, but you should understand that a promise of protection is merely that—just words."
"I never counted on you to begin with, Mister Si."
Xu Mengxi rested her hand on her waist-sabre, her voice cool and detached. "So long as you can restrain yourself from turning on me, I am already deeply grateful."
"Now, Commander Xu, you wrong me. Our joint operation was personally sanctioned by His Majesty. With your unwavering loyalty to the Emperor, you can hardly doubt the old man's decree, can you?"
Si Zijing shrugged, his voice light and mocking. "Right now, we ought to be considered comrades-in-arms."
At those words, Xu Mengxi's hand instinctively tightened around her hilt, her gaze turning sharp enough to devour someone.
Five people had set out together from the Secret Investigation Bureau. Three had already perished, including Big Brother Huang, and the sole remaining survivor had sustained severe injuries.
Yet the Black Scale Guards had suffered virtually no losses.
As if seeing straight through her thoughts, Si Zijing offered a warm smile.
"I deeply regret the deaths of your colleagues from the Secret Investigation Bureau. But I believe that debt should be laid at the feet of the Qin family, not my Prime Minister's Manor. Would you not agree?"
At this point, a sliver of chill crept into his voice.
"Besides, you surely do not think our Black Scale Guards suffered no losses in this affair, do you?"
"..."
Xu Mengxi fell silent and loosened her grip on her sabre, offering a quiet apology.
"My apologies."
"No matter."
Si Zijing waved his hand, his voice softening. "More importantly, Commander Xu, will you truly not consider what I proposed to you on the road?"
"What proposal?"
"Feigning ignorance now, are we? Then allow me to ask you once more: Commander Xu, would you care to come work on our side?"
"..."
A brief silence hung between them. Xu Mengxi cast a sidelong glance at the feminine-featured man and said in an undertone, "If everyone under Xu Yinhe were as foolish as you, the realm would never have been recklessly plunged into war."
"How cruel of you."
Si Zijing narrowed his eyes and met her gaze with a smile, showing no sign of anger. Turning away, he looked at the richly dressed merchants around them.
"'Lifting a cup to invite the bright moon, dropping to one's knees to scrape up silver.' That is the true portrait of most people's lives in this world. As the personal disciple of the Secret Investigation Bureau's Chief, you were born fundamentally different from them, Commander Xu. Yet you still carry out your duties with such unbending devotion. You must have an ideal you wish to realize, don't you?"
"What does that have to do with you?"
"I merely believe your ideals might share certain similarities with those of the Lord Chancellor."
"Ha, his ideals?"
Xu Mengxi let out a soft scoff, a trace of sneer surfacing in her narrow, handsome eyes.
"Butchering loyal ministers and purging dissidents through wicked deeds—are these his ideals? Brandishing the authority bestowed by the Son of Heaven to commit treacherous acts of usurping the state—are these his ideals? Recklessly stoking the flames of war and plunging the realm's people into misery and ruin—are these his ideals as well?!"
"..."
A look of contemplation appeared in Si Zijing's eyes, and he answered in earnest, "Those are merely the means to achieve the ideal, not the ultimate goal."
Xu Mengxi came to a sudden halt, her profile as cold and distant as frost.
"Then tell me, Mister Si, if an ideal can only be achieved through such foul means, has it not already rotted along the way?
"To package a struggle for power as the noble dream of revitalizing Great Yan? What he truly seeks is to steal the country and crown himself king.
"Mister Si,
"Those who walk different paths cannot plan together."
"..."
With those words, silence descended.
Neither spoke another word as they walked side by side through the vaulted gate passage, showed their imperial passes to clear inspection, and entered Zhenxi Prefectural City.
Xu Mengxi walked ahead, while Si Zijing trailed half a step behind.
His eyes remained fixed on her swaying ponytail. As pedestrians flickered past in his peripheral vision, the smile in his gaze grew progressively colder.
By now, he had already confirmed that Huang Shiwei had lied to him completely.
When reporting their progress earlier, he had asked Lou Ji about this woman's relationship with the Third Young Master. The Chief's answer had been simple: where that woman was concerned, it was mostly just the Third Young Master indulging a bizarre, malicious whim.
Since she had no genuine connection to the Third Young Master and had openly stated her unyielding stance, Si Zijing hesitated over whether to seize this opportunity and kill this upright, incorruptible disciple of the Secret Investigation Bureau's Chief right here.
It was not because of Xu Mengxi's speech just now.
He had heard such pedantic, impractical Confucian drivel dozens, if not hundreds, of times before.
Nor was it because Xu Mengxi stood in the Prime Minister's Manor's way.
Tracking their quarry all the way west without relying on external aid proved her capability, but at best, she possessed only the caliber of a field commander. How could a mantis hope to block a carriage?
He wanted to kill her because of her status.
A living person had little use, but a dead one could be exploited.
If Xu Mengxi died here in the turbulent Western Border, not only would it bring no repercussions upon the Prime Minister's Manor, but her death could be pinned squarely on the Qin family—which could then be used to forge an alliance with that prominent figure in the Secret Investigation Bureau.
Rapidly weighing the risks and gains of such a move, Si Zijing quietly closed the distance behind the woman with the swaying ponytail.
Yet at that very moment—
Buzz—
A resonant hum reverberated across the entirety of Zhenxi Prefectural City, spreading outward through the sky. At the same time, Si Zijing sensed an oppressive, terrifying array aura instantly lock onto him.
He reflexively raised his head toward the heavens.
A translucent membrane of light was rapidly weaving and taking form across the vault of the sky.
The city-protecting array of Zhenxi Prefectural City had been fully activated.
Just as bewilderment and vigilance surged within his mind, Huang Shiwei's voice quietly sounded in his ear:
"Mister Si, come to the prefectural yamen. The Third Young Master is looking for you."
Chapter 637