The cushion was made of soft, lustrous "Yanghu White" floral-patterned brocade, with a branch of hardwood set upright upon it.
The hardwood branched off at the top, bearing a few green leaves.
The servants in the hall dropped to their knees as one before it, for coiled brazenly on this branch was a green serpent!
Its body was as thick as He Lingchuan's fist, with a green back and a white belly. Every single scale was as sleek and lustrous as jade, bearing none of the icy chill typical of ordinary snakes.
Furthermore, its head did not resemble that of a snake. It had high brow ridges, deep eye sockets, a raised snout like an ox's, and a tuft of soft fur at the tip of its tail.
"Where is Fu Shanyue?"
It spoke in a childish, milk-fed voice, sounding just like a little boy if one kept their eyes closed. Yet the moment it opened its mouth, it revealed a maw of jagged fangs resembling crocodile teeth.
The servants trembled in terror. "Our Pr-Prince is out!"
"Where did he go?"
"W-We don't know!" Did Prince Yue ever have to account for his whereabouts to them when he stepped out?
Besides, Prince Yue had been leaving frequently of late, departing early and returning late. Most of the servants had not even caught a glimpse of him.
"What about the other one, the special envoy of the Crown Prince?" In that childish tone, an even stronger disgust emerged. "Bring him out!"
"Lord He is... isn't here either!" Everyone cried out bitterly in their hearts.
"Where did he go? You don't know that either?"
The Crown Prince of Lingxu suddenly reared up like a striking serpent. A powerful gust swept into the main hall, causing the hanging scrolls on the walls and the silver pots on the tables to sway wildly.
The servants knocked their foreheads against the floor. "Spare our lives, Your Highness! We truly do not know!"
Another servant stammered, "I heard... I heard the envoy went out today to tour the main city!"
The main city was vast, and He Xiao had legs of his own. Who knew where he had wandered off to!
The Crown Prince of Lingxu said coldly, "Is that so? Then I shall wait right here!"
If it chose to wait, who dared object?
The servants hurried to serve tea, pastries, and fresh fruit to the guards.
As for the Crown Prince of Lingxu, nobody knew its tastes, and whenever they tried to inquire, the guards ignored them.
This wait lasted an entire two hours.
During this time, the Crown Prince urged them several times and dispatched several servants from Panshan Residence to search for the missing men.
Yet both those searching and those being sought vanished without a trace.
As time dragged on, the Crown Prince of Lingxu grew increasingly irritable. It slithered down from the brocade cushion and circled the hall several times, the scales across its body flexing and parting slightly.
The tension in the room grew thicker by the moment.
With a sharp crack, the Crown Prince lashed its tail and shattered a chair to splinters.
Though snakes had long tails, they rarely possessed such terrifying power.
A guard ventured, "Your Highness, why not take a stroll through the gardens?"
"A wretched little yard like this, so cramped and ugly—you expect me to stroll through it?"
Everyone fell utterly silent, each passing second feeling like an eternity.
Not only the main hall of Panshan Residence, but even two adjacent buildings fell victim to the Crown Prince's wrath. Growing weary of smashing things itself, it ordered:
"Smash everything!"
The guards obeyed without a second thought. A deafening racket of destruction broke out: doors, windows, furnishings, antiques, the rockeries and landscaping in the gardens... every visible object was smashed to pieces.
Panshan Residence also had its own estate guards, but not a single one dared intervene. The chaotic crashes echoing from outside battered everyone's nerves.
Even as the sun sank toward the western horizon, neither Fu Shanyue nor He Xiao had returned.
A guard leaned close to the Crown Prince and murmured, "Your Highness has been away from the palace for too long. If we do not begin our journey back..."
The Crown Prince scoffed, "I'm not going back!"
Returning late was always troublesome, as the journey from here to the palace on Lingxiao Peak atop Tianxin Island was quite far.
Yet its wrath remained unvented.
Not only had its fury failed to subside, but bottling it up all afternoon had made it burn even hotter!
"These slaves are an eyesore!" It gestured at the dozen or so servants kneeling in a row against the wall. "Kill them! Leave none alive!"
The servants were stricken with horror. Some collapsed limp to the floor, screaming for mercy, while others threw all caution to the wind and bolted for the doors.
Several guards rushed forward, brandishing their blades to cut them down.
Shrieks of terror and agonized wails rang out everywhere.
Two pageboys were quick on their feet and outpaced the rest, dashing all the way to the front gate.
A guard caught up and aimed a slash at one pageboy's back. By sheer chance, the boy stumbled at that exact instant, dodging a lethal blow, but the long blade hacked deep into his left shoulder. He let out a shriek far louder than a slaughtered pig.
"Where do you think you're running?" The guard kicked him down, planted a foot heavily onto his back, and struck again.
This time, the blade pierced straight through his heart, followed by a vicious twist.
His breath gave out instantly.
The shriek cut off abruptly.
A giant ape bounded past the guard, overtook the second pageboy, and slammed a fist into the boy's forehead.
The boy was already unconscious before he even hit the ground.
The giant ape strode over and delivered a rapid barrage of heavy blows—thud, thud, thud—pulverizing him into a pulp.
Task complete.
The guard spat on the corpse before returning to the main hall to report.
Right outside the main gate of Panshan Residence, two corpses lay dead, blood and mashed flesh covering the ground.
While the palace guards were carrying out the butchery, the gathered onlookers had scattered like startled birds and beasts for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
Yet once the blood began trickling down the stone steps, they gathered again to gawk and point fingers.
This was the Chiyan Kingdom's official post, Prince Yue's temporary residence! For the Crown Prince of Lingxu to barge in and butcher people here—heavens, what an earth-shattering scandal!
The intricate web of grudges and politics behind the incident set the crowd's imaginations racing.
After another two hours, darkness had long since fallen, yet the intended targets still had not appeared.
"Fu Shanyue offended Little Xing. I cannot let him off comfortably," the Crown Prince of Lingxu seethed in frustration. "Burn this residence to the ground!"
Before long, flames engulfed the courtyard.
In late autumn, the air was crisp and dry. With the guards pouring oil onto the structures, the blaze fed on the wind and quickly raged out of control.
The mount of the Crown Prince of Lingxu took to the road once more, thundering out through the gates of Panshan Residence and speeding toward Chikan Peak in the center of the lower city. The transfer node for the Jinghong Crossing was situated there, offering direct passage to Tianxin Island above.
Commoners along the path scrambled out of the way in panic.
The entrance of Panshan Residence was blocked solid by crowds; people of all descriptions had gathered to gawk and trade gossip.
In all of Lingxu City, this was likely the liveliest spot that day.
Among the crowd were numerous scouts who took in the entire scene before swiftly slipping away to report back to their respective masters.
***
Two more street corners, and He Lingchuan would arrive at Panshan Residence.
Armed with a Chiyan envoy pass, He Lingchuan could ride his bighorn rock sheep at any hour, ambling leisurely homeward.
The bathhouses in Lingxu City were far more lavish than those anywhere else—they were bathhouses, not perfume shops—with expansive facilities and exceptionally skilled attendants. He Lingchuan's nerves had been stretched taut over the past several days, so soaking in the hot spring for nearly half a day and having his muscles worked loose had relaxed his whole body, making him feel as though he had been reborn.
Venerable Muling's prophecy, "Meet Huan, leave your dwelling," seemed not to have come to pass. He had been out the entire day without running into anything out of the ordinary.
As for Panshan Residence where he lived, he had never imagined anything could go wrong there.
At present, the Chiyan delegates enjoyed immense prominence in Lingxu City. Who would brave universal condemnation just to cause trouble at Panshan Residence?
Could the word "Huan" not refer to the Baihuan bird after all?
He let the rock sheep amble forward on its own when the sound of flapping wings suddenly echoed overhead.
He Lingchuan looked up just in time to see a goshawk swoop straight down, alighting upon the rock sheep's massive horns. Before it could even fold its wings, it cried out urgently, "Halt! Go no further!"
Startled, he asked in a low voice, "What happened?"
"Turn back at once and head to Lanshan Residence. I'll explain on the way."
He Lingchuan patted the rock sheep on the head, and the mount immediately wheeled around, breaking into a swift trot.
Lanshan Residence was ten li away, but with the goshawk guiding them, there was no danger of losing the way.
Perching atop these massive horns was far more comfortable than clutching a tree branch. The goshawk ruffled its feathers before speaking:
"His Highness specifically dispatched me to circle above Panshan Residence to stop you from going home. The Crown Prince of Lingxu is inside Panshan Residence right now!"
He Lingchuan thought he had misheard. "Who?"
"The Crown Prince of Beijia, the Emperor's only son!"
"Why is it running over to my residence instead of staying in the palace where it belongs?" The two matters seemed completely unrelated... Wait, no, there seemed to be a connection after all.
Cen Boqing, whose guilt He Lingchuan had firmly established, had a capable wife named Yao Xingning.
What had Fu Shanyue and Bai Ziqi told him before?
Yao Xingning was the Crown Prince of Beijia's childhood playmate!
It could even be said that the young Crown Prince's life had been saved by Yao Xingning, which was why the bond between them ran as deep as siblings.
Hiss... What good could possibly come from the Crown Prince of Beijia paying a visit at a time like this?
Nine times out of ten, it was here looking for trouble.
The goshawk did not dare speak ill of the Crown Prince of Beijia behind its back, and merely said, "His Highness intended to return long ago, but upon receiving this news en route, he went straight to Lanshan Residence."
Even Fu Shanyue was steering clear of its sharp edge; He Lingchuan certainly had no intention of throwing himself into the fray.
If the Crown Prince of Beijia beat him to death, its father would probably just scold it a few times and let the matter drop.
If he beat the Crown Prince of Beijia to death, Lingxu City would skin him alive.
Either way, he would be the one getting the short end of the stick.
The rock sheep trotted briskly along with the flow of traffic, its hooves clattering steadily, and soon arrived at Lanshan Residence halfway up the mountain.
This was an elegant pavilion nestled inside a bamboo grove, backed by the mountain and facing a stream. Even in late autumn, Chinese roses and balsams bloomed in abundance, humming with bees and flitting with butterflies, designed precisely to offer a pocket of tranquil seclusion amidst the bustling city.
It was a place where guests could drink tea, play Go, hold discussions, and naturally, dine as well; it made for an excellent setting to conduct business and entertain honored guests. The only catch was that the prices were steeper than outside—substantially steeper. A single starter dish of crispy fried dried fish cost half a mace of silver.
Outside, that same amount could buy over a dozen jin of dried fish.
Fu Shanyue occupied a private pavilion all to himself. Seeing He Lingchuan approach, he quickly waved him over:
"Come, have dinner. My treat tonight!"
The fierce tiger Jiao Yu was crouching nearby; seeing He Lingchuan, he immediately stood up and gave a friendly chuff in greeting.
He Lingchuan gave Fu Shanyue a sidelong glance. "Since when are you so generous?"
Over the past several days, this fellow had freeloaded food, lodging, and wine at his place without paying a single copper.
"Courtesy demands reciprocity!" Fu Shanyue laughed heartily. "Where is the wine?"
Someone stepped forward immediately to pour the wine.
Delicacies and fine dishes were brought forth in an endless stream.
Before all the dishes had even been arranged on the table, Fu Shanyue waved the servants away. The goshawk flapped its wings and flew out through the window once more.
It still had a mission: to fly back to Panshan Residence and scout from high above.
He Lingchuan stroked the tiger's broad head. "Because of Yao Xingning?"
The question seemed to come out of nowhere, but Fu Shanyue understood perfectly:
"Most likely."
"When can we go back?"
"Once it leaves." Fu Shanyue lifted his cup and took a light sip. "The Emperor has only this one child and treasures it like a pearl. I have no wish to touch his reverse scale."
"What if it comes back tomorrow?" He Lingchuan picked up a piece of dried fish with his chopsticks—mm, very fragrant indeed. "Can you guarantee you'll dodge it every time?"
"We will cross tomorrow's bridge when tomorrow comes." Fu Shanyue was hardly an even-tempered man himself; though his lips were curled in a grin, there was no mirth in his eyes. "Once it returns, word will almost certainly reach the Emperor's ears."
"Relying entirely on the Emperor to keep it in check?"
"What else?" Fu Shanyue cast him a dark, sullen glance. "In all of Lingxu City, who would dare lay a single finger upon it?"
It was not as if he was the only coward around.
Chapter 587