Futile Devices Scans

“Your servant Yu Gong Zhao Ye greets Your Majesty. May Your Majesty enjoy sacred peace.”

“Prince Yu Gong has arrived.”

Mu Heng raised a hand to bid him rise. Without wasting words on pleasantries, he went straight to the point. “I summoned you alone today to discuss the case of the Ten Aspects Sect rebels from the other day. There are no outsiders here today—only trusted confidants who know the full story. There is no need for formality.”

The last time Mu Heng received the envoy delegation had been in the Fengchen Hall of the outer court. This meeting, however, was set within Xianxiang Palace in the western gardens of the inner palace.

The closer one drew to the inner court, the tighter the guards became. That proved how highly trusted the summoned ministers were. Yu Gong Zhao Ye swept his gaze over the two officials seated below the emperor. On the right sat Wei Fu in scarlet official robes. On the left sat an unfamiliar man—upright and striking, dressed in a dark blue martial uniform embroidered across the shoulders with white egret patterns, a black iron ring on the index finger of his left hand.

Wei Fu took the initiative to say, “Allow me to introduce him to Your Highness. This is Zhong Yi, Commander of the Egret Guards, courtesy name Chuiyun.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye inclined his head. “Commander Zhong.”

Zhong Yi required no introduction. He had been observing Yu Gong Zhao Ye from the moment he entered. Returning the greeting, he said, “Prince Yu Gong.”

When martial artists shared the same room, they naturally sized up and tested one another’s presence. Their gazes met briefly before both lowered their eyes in acknowledgment.

Before coming, Yu Gong Zhao Ye had already known whom he would meet today and what topic they would discuss—

When Wei Fu had visited Duke Zhenguo’s estate two nights earlier, he had already warned him in advance.

This Commander Zhong was the son of Mu Heng’s wet nurse. From childhood he had been brought into the palace and raised together with Mu Heng. From the time they babbled their first words, he had accompanied Mu Heng’s every step, eating and sleeping beside him, never apart. Closer even than real brothers. After reaching adulthood, he took command of the Egret Guards, the emperor’s most important personal troops, becoming in truth the foremost man above all other ministers.

While eating the oranges he had brought, Wei Fu vividly recounted childhood stories to Yu Gong Zhao Ye.

“Chuiyun looks a little cold, but he’s actually very approachable. Back when His Majesty temporarily stayed at our estate, Chuiyun was the one who first greeted me during morning drills. He even taught me how to mount and dismount a horse in a more stylish way. But His Majesty was very petty. He believed he and Chuiyun were the closest people in the world and refused to let anyone come between them.”

“He was also terribly afraid the two of us would leave him out. Back when we first met, His Majesty forced himself to wake up early for an entire month. Every day he sat there like the Queen Mother of the West, staring at us during morning training. Of course, he still failed to persist in the end, and eventually it became us finishing training before waking him for breakfast.”

“Chuiyun? Half the reason His Majesty became so overbearing is because of him.” Wei Fu muttered complaints under his breath. “One summer the palace bestowed lychees. Following a fragrance recipe from a book, I blended incense from the leftover lychee peels. I only ended up with less than two taels’ worth. His Majesty liked it very much and took more than half. He used it all up after only burning it a few times. Who could have expected that the next year Chuiyun would still remember it? Somehow he got hold of an entire cart of lychee peels and worked me like a donkey, making me blend over ten jin of incense cakes for him just to curry favor with His Majesty. I suspect there’s still some left unburned to this day…”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye laughed softly and pushed the osmanthus fermented rice wine toward him. “Drink something sweet. You’ve eaten too many oranges—your words are turning sour too.”

Wei Fu immediately denied it. “That was all from childhood. I’m not jealous at all. I was merely helping Your Highness understand the relationship between His Majesty and Chuiyun.”

At the corners of Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s lips lingered a faint smile. “Fine. You’re not.”

As though afraid he would not believe him, Wei Fu emphasized once again, “I truly am not jealous. Even if I couldn’t become sworn brothers with the Son of Heaven, the three of us are like siblings. The two of them have always treated me very well.”

“Speaking of that, after your eldest young master committed such acts, how was he still able to remain in officialdom?”

When Yu Gong Zhao Ye arrived earlier, he had happened to glimpse Wei Xiu returning home from office. Judging from his robes, he held a sixth-rank post. Though his situation now was certainly inferior to Wei Fu’s, Yu Gong Zhao Ye still felt it unfair when he recalled Kui Yue saying how Wei Xiu had deliberately delayed the rescue and attempted to let Wei Fu fend for himself back then.

“Since Your Highness has already investigated the whole story, you surely know the methods he used to delay things at the time. Honestly, regardless of his motives, judged purely by his actions, he truly was following the rules. There was no clear fault to pick apart.” Wei Fu drew out a silk handkerchief and slowly wiped away the juice on his fingers. “Besides, everyone believed I was dead back then. So even if my elder brother failed to send rescuers in time, what of it? Were they supposed to punish the legitimate eldest grandson of Duke Zhenguo’s estate just to pay for the life of a mute?”

“And the emperor tolerated it?”

Wei Fu said, “At the time, His Majesty was still only a prince. His wings had not yet fully grown. The late emperor had always hoped His Majesty would maintain good relations with Duke Zhenguo’s estate. So even if His Majesty disliked Wei Xiu, he could not directly tear relations apart with the duke’s household. Under everyone’s tacit understanding, the matter was allowed to pass. After all, the dead were already dead. It was enough to fool the ghosts.”

When he spoke of these things, there was no obvious sorrow in his tone, only a trace of ridicule—not directed at anyone in particular, more like the wine flavor hidden in the osmanthus fermented rice wine: present, but not intoxicating.

“Once I returned to Fengdu, both the palace and the estate gave me generous compensation. Naturally I could not be too inconsiderate and insist on ruining such a harmonious atmosphere.”

Silence amounted to indulgence. Sometimes a matter passed on the surface, while inwardly it never truly passed. Yu Gong Zhao Ye asked, “Have you forgiven him?”

“It doesn’t really count as forgiveness… but it’s also not as though I must take revenge or see him ruined before I can feel satisfied.” Resting his chin in his hand, Wei Fu spoke earnestly. “After all, he wasn’t the mastermind behind the assassination. He was only some insignificant bystander on the edges. Besides, if not for that run of terrible luck, I would never have met Your Highness. I even cured my muteness because of it. Looking at it that way, it was rather worth it.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye shot him a reproachful glance, meaning: “How can life-and-death matters be calculated like that?” But before he could speak, Wei Fu smiled and rushed ahead:

“Besides, true feelings still exist in this world. Chuiyun went to avenge me before his wounds had even healed properly. He threw a sack over Wei Xiu and beat him up. Chuiyun enjoys enormous favor from His Majesty and normally never uses his position to bully others outside official duties. Yet after beating him, he voluntarily went to plead guilty before His Majesty. Honestly, I have nothing left to resent, hahaha…”

His eyes curved with laughter, brimming with candlelight, even carrying a kind of carefree innocence. The smile softened Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s expression slightly.

“Does the emperor usually govern his subordinates very strictly?” Yu Gong Zhao Ye asked. “From my perspective as an outsider, you and Zhong Yi are his closest confidants, holding immense power, and yet you are remarkably restrained and disciplined.”

“His Majesty is a born ruler. ‘He uses emotions the way one uses troops.’ He always knows when to trust and when to withdraw, and he never crosses the line in his heart.” Wei Fu answered leisurely. “Chuiyun has risked life and death for His Majesty countless times, yet he has never believed himself irreplaceable or unshakable in His Majesty’s heart. Compared to him, what do the rest of us amount to? What face would we have to cause trouble by relying on His Majesty’s favor?”

One of Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s brows lifted slightly. Wei Fu saw what he was puzzled about and smilingly explained, “Chuiyun is vigilant even in times of peace, always placing himself at the edge of a cliff. As for His Majesty… the imperial heart is difficult to fathom. I dare not make reckless judgments. But I’m certain Chuiyun matters far more to him than Chuiyun himself believes.”

“And you?”

“Me what?”

“What weight do you hold in your emperor’s heart?”

“Me?” Wei Fu thought about it, then smiled easily. “I merely benefited from knowing him since youth and having some old affection between us. In His Majesty’s heart, I’m probably about equal to a Duke Zhenguo estate—good to have, certainly, but if it disappeared, he might feel a little unaccustomed at first. In time, though, he would adjust.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye fell silent in thought. Seeing him say nothing, Wei Fu suspiciously leaned closer. “Your Highness isn’t secretly calculating accounts in your heart, are you? Don’t tell me you think making me Assistant Chancellor was a loss.”

That ever-present gentian fragrance wrapped around Yu Gong Zhao Ye faintly as Wei Fu moved.

If one spoke of risking life and death together or bonds forged in youth, Wei Fu was no less than Zhong Yi. Judging by Mu Heng’s attitude toward him, he was certainly far more than some dispensable minister. There was no need for him to speak of himself so lightly.

He had possessed this habit ever since the days when he was mute, and even now it had never fully healed—perhaps no one had even noticed. Wei Fu was accustomed to placing himself in the “secondary” position. In the emperor’s eyes, this became being sensible and tactful. Within Duke Zhenguo’s estate, it became brotherly harmony and respect. In outsiders’ eyes, it became the modest conduct of a gentleman. Whenever there was a difficult choice, he was always the first one to compromise himself. As long as people compensated him afterward, explained the greater good and how difficult things had been, he could coax himself into feeling better.

But he was not some saintly bodhisattva without desires. How could there not be even a trace of grievance in his heart?

According to the principle Yu Gong Zhao Ye had summarized—“the more lacking something is, the tighter a person grasps for it”—Wei Fu’s repeated emphasis on Zhong Yi’s importance in the emperor’s heart was probably driven by some hidden and unconscious desire for affection. He wanted more attention from an elder brother or friend. At the very least, he wanted to be firmly chosen once.

So Yu Gong Zhao Ye tapped Wei Fu lightly between the brows and gently pushed him back into his seat with one finger. “You rank first with me, satisfied now? In the future, there’s no need to envy others or speak so belittlingly of yourself.”

Wei Fu: “……”

Holding his bowl of sweet fermented rice wine, he silently curled into himself. Yu Gong Zhao Ye saw the tips of his ears turn red as fire and thought to himself that this time, he had probably guessed correctly.

After everyone exchanged greetings, Mu Heng casually said, “Sit.”

Yet neither of the two men moved. The air instantly fell into a subtle silence.

Wei Fu hesitated and froze in place.

Zhong Yi’s gaze was restrained and calm. Even when observing someone, he remained extremely controlled, lacking the blunt aggressiveness ordinary people often displayed. Yet precisely because it was concealed rather than obvious, it felt even more oppressive.

Though Yu Gong Zhao Ye could not discern his intentions, he could sense that silent scrutiny. For assassins and killers, being stared at like this was usually a sign that someone was about to make a move. He knew his identity could not be hidden from the people present anyway, and he could not be bothered to continue pretending. Calmly, he raised his eyes and met Zhong Yi’s gaze head-on. The two sides entered a brief standoff.

A bad feeling suddenly rose in Mu Heng’s heart. Something troublesome seemed about to happen. “What is it?”

The corner of Zhong Yi’s mouth lifted into an eager smile.

When expressionless, he appeared composed and steady enough to fool anyone. But once he smiled, a spirited youthful vigor emerged. “I have long admired Prince Yu Gong’s great reputation. Today, having the fortune to meet you in person, might I ask Your Highness for a few pointers?”

Mu Heng: “？”

“I dare not claim such honor.” Yu Gong Zhao Ye answered readily. “This foreign minister has likewise long admired the martial arts of the Central Plains. My skills are rough and crude. I ask Commander Zhong for guidance.”

Wei Fu: “Eh?”

Mu Heng was afraid the two of them would demolish the building. “If you’re going to fight, go outside!”

Zhong Yi smoothly followed the suggestion and raised a hand toward the hall exterior. “Thank you, Your Majesty, for granting permission. Your Highness, please.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye: “Please.”

Wei Fu: “…Bring out some melon seeds too, thank you, Your Majesty.”

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