The carriage rocked gently. Compared to the noisy wheels and lively crowds outside, the silence inside the carriage felt terrifying.
Wei Fu did not quite dare look at Yu Gong Zhao Ye. His emotions had risen quickly and now subsided just as fast. It wasn’t that he thought his grievances themselves were wrong; rather, he regretted accidentally ruining the image of understanding and considerate composure he had always maintained.
Was he angry?
Did he think I’d gone too far?
Would he… find me unbearably troublesome?
“If you shout any louder,” Yu Gong Zhao Ye said calmly, “then by tomorrow morning the whole city will know that Lord Wei got drunk in the middle of the night and tearfully demanded to know why someone hadn’t come climbing over his walls. At this rate, they might flatten your walls by dawn.”
Wei Fu: “……”
Not only had Yu Gong Zhao Ye failed to get angry, even the small amount of irritation he carried at the start had been shouted away by Wei Fu entirely. He only found Wei Fu’s serious indignation somewhat amusing, and a little pitiful too.
“When you were a mute little thing before, you only knew how to fake-cry and draw crosses in people’s palms. Now that you’ve grown up, your temper’s grown too,” Yu Gong Zhao Ye teased. “You’re busy enough every day that you don’t even have time to sleep, yet you still somehow find time to sit at home overthinking?”
Wei Fu: “……How do you know I don’t have time to sleep?”
“I know everything.” Yu Gong Zhao Ye did not admit he had climbed over the Chancellor’s residence walls. He merely reached out and tapped the dark shadows beneath Wei Fu’s eyes. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have presumptuously assumed that, compared to seeing me, you’d rather have a little peaceful rest.”
Wei Fu reacted instantly. He grabbed Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s hand before it could withdraw, warmth spreading inexplicably across the place beneath his touch. Lowering his eyes toward the corner of the small table, he said with feigned shyness, “Your Highness could rest together with me…”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye laughed softly and scolded him lightly, without real reproach, “Nonsense.”
Wei Fu absolutely intended to make trouble. Clinging to his sleeve and hand, he shook him insistently. “Did I travel all the way to Longsha merely to handle government affairs? Your Highness kills but refuses to bury the corpse afterward. No matter whose imperial court this grievance is brought before, His Majesty would have to uphold justice for me.”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye nearly got yanked off balance. Half smiling and half exasperated, he said, “Enough already, Lord Wei. What you’re describing is basically a honey trap. Over such a trivial matter, there’s no need to portray yourself as an idiot.”
Wei Fu’s palms were hot, pressed tightly against the sharp bones of Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s wrist, slowly ironing his stubborn feelings into his bloodstream. Yet his tone remained pitifully soft. “Since it’s only such a tiny matter, then can Your Highness stay with me tonight?”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye: “……”
Wei Fu dragged out the title pleadingly. “Your Highness——”
His Highness had suddenly gone deaf.
Rustling closer, Wei Fu pressed knee against knee with him and whispered softly, “A’Ying……”
The two of them, once dependent upon one another for survival, reunited years later beneath the night of a foreign land.
The changes of the world scattered like drifting clouds, yet the feelings of old companions remained the same as before. Even if Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s heart were forged from iron, he could not withstand such a plea in such a moment.
“Xie Ying” could not bear to refuse him.
To emphasize the importance of the Assistant Chancellor, the Chancellor’s residence had been rebuilt from an old royal estate. Aside from removing decorations that exceeded proper rank, the grounds remained equally vast, with elegant pavilions and exquisitely furnished halls. Unfortunately, Wei Fu had brought few attendants and no family members, so most of the rooms stood empty. Deep into the night, the entire estate lay silent and dark, appearing especially lonely.
Whether genuinely drunk or pretending to be, Wei Fu insisted on squeezing against Yu Gong Zhao Ye the entire way home. At first Yu Gong Zhao Ye tolerated it, nearly getting shoved into the wall. Eventually he became so annoyed he laughed instead, threatening to carry Wei Fu sideways into the residence. Startled, Wei Fu immediately straightened up and finally learned to hold his hand properly, tugging and pulling him all the way into the bedchamber.
Unable to stand the smell of alcohol on himself, Wei Fu went first to bathe and change clothes. A quarter hour later he returned with damp half-dried hair hanging loose behind him, only to find Yu Gong Zhao Ye still fully dressed, seated on the couch flipping through one of his leisure books.
Despite there being plenty of empty space, Wei Fu insisted on crowding right into his line of sight. “It’s late, Your Highness. Time to sleep.”
“Perfect timing.” Yu Gong Zhao Ye casually pointed across the room. “The bed’s already prepared for you. Sleep.”
Wei Fu hummed dissatisfiedly. “And then what? Does Your Highness intend to sit here watching me all night?”
Yu Gong Zhao Ye remained immovable and used Wei Fu’s own words against him. “I’ll go sleep on the floor in the woodshed next door. If you need anything, just call.”
“There’s no woodshed next door. The woodshed’s in the western courtyard, separated by an entire yard. Even if I shouted myself hoarse you wouldn’t hear me.” Using the towel he had been drying his hair with to fake wiping tears, Wei Fu whimpered mournfully, “What if I get thirsty in the middle of the night, or feel sick from drinking, or get a headache, or have a nightmare… and there’s not even a single person beside me to rely on? Ah, what use are lofty beds and soft pillows then? I may as well go sleep in the woodshed with Your Highness.”
This clingy creature truly never stopped!
“With all the time you spend rambling and talking nonsense, you could already have finished a whole night’s sleep,” Yu Gong Zhao Ye snapped, throwing down the book. “How old are you already that you still need someone to accompany you while sleeping? Forget embarrassing—you don’t find it awkward?”
Wei Fu had already discovered the secret to handling him. Instead of arguing, he merely pretended to yawn, forcing out a convincingly watery tear. “Sleep, Your Highness. I’m so sleepy.”
“……”
The assassin’s ultimate weakness proved astonishingly effective. Yu Gong Zhao Ye closed his eyes and forcibly swallowed ten thousand sharp remarks. “Just this once. Now get over there and lie down properly.”
Wei Fu’s bed was wide enough for two people with room to spare. Yu Gong Zhao Ye got shoved to the inner side because, according to Wei Fu, “if I get up for water in the middle of the night I might accidentally step on you.” Yu Gong Zhao Ye thought sourly that now suddenly he no longer needed someone taking care of him. But Wei Fu truly seemed exhausted to the extreme. Pulling the blanket over both of them indiscriminately, he mumbled “so comfy,” wrapped an arm around Yu Gong Zhao Ye, and promptly fell into deep sleep.
Yu Gong Zhao Ye: “……”
He sighed soundlessly, feeling as though he had exhausted all the temper of his lifetime, and closed his eyes helplessly.
Beneath the starless, moonless night sky, some people drank themselves senseless, some slept peacefully, and others were currently fleeing for their lives.
Kui Yue sprinted through the forest, dodging left and right as her figure flickered unpredictably, narrowly avoiding the hidden weapons flying at her like torrential rain. Flames flickered everywhere among the trees while dozens of disciples from Beizhu Palace searched with torches, shouting noisily:
“Little thief, surrender at once! Every mountain entrance below is guarded. Even if you grew wings, you still wouldn’t escape Jiuyin Mountain!”
This time she had truly raised the price on the spot—what she’d accepted was practically life-buying money. Kui Yue had never imagined that the background of a noble young master from Fengdu like Wei Fu would involve such tangled martial-world grudges. Old events twisted together beneath layers of dust, and most terrifying of all, at the end of those tangled roots coiled a venomous snake—
A violent gust suddenly struck from above. Kui Yue rolled across the ground, heedless of mud and fallen leaves, barely avoiding the blow. Immediately afterward came a crack as the tree she had just been leaning against snapped cleanly in half.
Before she could even feel fear, Kui Yue bent backward sharply to avoid a dart flying toward her face. Using the momentum, she flipped into a crouch and drew a short sword like lightning, stabbing upward at the enemy before her.
The move concealed its edge within concealment itself, so fast that neither the attack nor its trajectory could even be seen, making evasion impossible. Yet the ghostlike pursuer neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, he extended two fingers and caught the blade barehanded in midair, wrenching hard. The short sword flew from her grip and embedded itself into a tree trunk behind them.
Kui Yue had never before seen anyone catch a sword with bare hands like that. Shocked, she sucked in a sharp breath. Then a contemptuous laugh sounded above her head.
“Little mouse, is that all you can do?”
Before she could fully stand, the man’s leg swept across precisely into her shoulder well, kicking her flying backward. Her back slammed hard into a large tree.
Kui Yue collapsed into the fallen leaves. It was already too late to flee. Five or six long blades were drawn at once against her throat while someone swiftly bound her hands to prevent resistance. A man in black stepped forward to search her body, gathering the scattered odds and ends hidden in her sleeves and presenting them to the leader for inspection.
That man slowly approached. The pale snow-blue hem of his robes swayed before her eyes. The stitching was meticulous, the tailoring impeccable, spotless and utterly wrinkle-free—far from the attire of ordinary Beizhu Palace disciples. Trapped within the narrow circle of blades, Kui Yue struggled to raise her head, trying to see clearly who exactly this opponent was who had completely overpowered her.
The leaping firelight illuminated half his face. Even at the edge of life and death, the sight distracted her in shock.
Not only because his beauty carried a faint aura of dangerous wickedness that rendered everyone else around him indistinct by comparison, but because from this angle, his features looked subtly familiar.
Kui Yue knew who he was now.
“Palace Master Xie……”
Xie You Lan casually sifted through the pile of junk, then accepted a sword from a subordinate. Lifting her chin with the blade, he pressed the icy sword tip against her throat like the tongue of a snake. “Who sent you? Why were you sneaking around Beizhu Palace asking about Jiang Feng Xun?”
Kui Yue’s thoughts raced frantically. “No one sent me! I merely heard rumors in the martial world and came out of curiosity to investigate. I absolutely meant no offense. If I’ve offended Palace Master Xie in any way, I can apologize. It’s all a misunderstanding…”
“All lies.”
Xie You Lan interrupted her calmly. “I already gave you a chance to confess honestly. Since you insist on seeking death, then I’ll fulfill your wish.”
“No matter what you discovered, no matter how great a storm you hoped to stir up, you can explain it slowly to the King of Hell below.”
The blade bit into flesh, bringing sharp pain. Xie You Lan attacked with clear killing intent, refusing her any further chance to defend herself. He intended to kill her on the spot.
Sword-light and blood flashed before her eyes. Kui Yue only felt coldness at the side of her neck as despair instantly overwhelmed her. At the brink of death her mind went completely blank. Pure instinct drove her to seek help as she whispered hoarsely:
“Brother!”
The sound was weak and frightened, thick with sobs—yet it successfully halted Xie You Lan’s descending blade.
Futile Devices Scans 
Leave a comment