Futile Devices Scans

Kaiyang Avenue—upstairs in Yinghe Tower.

“There. The payment we agreed on.”

Inside Zhaixing Pavilion, Wei Fu used his fan to push a black lacquered wooden box inlaid with mother-of-pearl across the table. “You did a good job this time. I’ll come to you again when there’s more work. Remember to give me a discount.”

“…”

The handsome man in purple rolled his eyes dramatically. He had originally been reclining lazily against an armrest, his entire body radiating a dangerous, untouchable air, but that undignified expression ruined the effect. He looked very much as though he wanted to slap Wei Fu’s mercenary, hypocritical face away with the sole of his shoe.

He pressed the mechanism to open the box, spread out the silk inside, and skimmed it to confirm there were no problems before putting it away together with the box. He said coldly, “You’re still hoping there’ll be a next time? Aren’t you afraid he’ll skin you alive?”

“How could he?” Wei Fu retorted without hesitation. “His Highness has never had the heart to lay so much as a finger on me. Does Sect Leader Cheng usually treat you very harshly?”

Xie You Lan: “…”

Those enormous peach-blossom eyes, nearly identical to his own, gradually widened. Wei Fu covered his mouth and exclaimed, “Heavens! Elder Brother, you’re so pitiful!”

Xie You Lan: This bastard!

“When it comes to being a villain, I have more experience than you. I advise you not to celebrate too soon.” Xie You Lan could not exchange more than three sentences with him without growing angry. He ran his tongue along his gums and deliberately tried to frighten him. “At least I’m openly and honestly wicked. Whenever I occasionally do a good deed, Cheng Yu looks at me in a whole new light. But you? You spend every day pretending to be an upright gentleman. If he discovers that you’re actually so rotten you ooze black water, that contrast won’t be easy to accept—after all, he certainly didn’t fall for you because you’re good at scheming against people.”

Wei Fu: “…”

“That’s simply how the world judges things. When a villain does one good deed, it proves his conscience has not completely died and he may still turn back. But if a good person commits even one bad deed, every act of virtue he has accumulated throughout his life is wiped clean in a single stroke. Once a black mark stains white paper, it no longer deserves to be called white.” Adopting the air of someone speaking from experience, Xie You Lan delivered another blow. “Besides, what you did was not far removed from manipulating a sovereign and stealing a kingdom. Do you think he’ll be pleased?”

Wei Fu was finally shaken somewhat by his alarmist talk. He muttered uncertainly, “It was only a small stratagem. It wasn’t as wicked as you make it sound…”

“Look at that. He’s even wicked without realizing it.” Xie You Lan immediately clicked his tongue, shaking his head and sighing with exaggerated feeling. “With a black-hearted fox like you controlling the court, Longsha is completely finished.”

He propped up his cheek and watched with interest as Wei Fu fell silent, thinking, So even you, little debt collector, have days like this. After waiting a while without seeing Wei Fu’s eyes fill with tears, he was wondering whether he should administer a harsher dose when a tremendous bang suddenly rang out.

Xie You Lan nearly jumped along with the lid of the teacup on the table. Wei Fu slammed both palms on the table, seized his hand, and shouted with ringing conviction, “Elder Brother!”

Xie You Lan: “…What?”

Wei Fu said, “Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, and I know. If His Highness ever finds out, then you must have leaked it.”

Xie You Lan nodded. “Correct, so you—”

Before he could finish saying show me some respect, Wei Fu interrupted him solemnly. “If His Highness learns the truth and abandons me, I’ll tell Sect Leader Cheng that you helped me commit wrongdoing in exchange for the Earth Mirror Map!”

Xie You Lan: “?” What does that have to do with me?

“Don’t forget that you already made your choice back in Xiling. Between the Earth Mirror Map and Sect Leader Cheng, you can only have one!”

Enraged at being dragged into the water for no reason, Xie You Lan shouted, “You beast!”

Wei Fu folded his hands beneath his chin and let out a sinister chuckle that made it obvious he and Xie You Lan were truly brothers. “If I can’t preserve my marriage, then none of us gets to live! Decide for yourself!”

Xie You Lan: “…”

One cup of tea later, the Lord of Beizhu Palace, who had just suffered a vicious threat, finally managed to send his disastrous younger brother away. He pressed his temples for a long while before gathering enough strength to rise and head outside. As he walked, he thought that since the Dongyu portion of the Earth Mirror Map was already in his hands, no matter how much money they offered next time, he would never accept another one of Longsha’s rotten jobs…

Clang!

A cold flash appeared through the crack of the door. From the side, a length of half-drawn cold iron suddenly emerged and barred the doorway with perfect precision, blocking his path.

The sword aura struck like frost. Xie You Lan involuntarily leaned backward, his Adam’s apple rolling once in alarm.

The bandit blocking his path wore plain, unadorned clothing. He did not resemble a guest of this restaurant, much less someone wealthy enough to enter this floor. Yet he had appeared silently like a ghost, calmly pressing the blade against Xie You Lan’s throat as he stepped into the room, casually hooking the door shut with one foot and pointing toward the vacant seat to signal that he should sit back down.

When holding a sword, he was forceful and brooked no argument, yet he had a distinctive pair of downturned eyes that looked exceptionally pure and innocent when he smiled.

“Let’s talk.”

“Wah!”

Wei Fu had only just stepped over the threshold of Yinghe Tower when the wind suddenly stirred behind his head. The next instant, this jade tree was uprooted by a violent gale. He had time to utter only a low cry before his entire body vanished from the entrance with a whoosh.

The kidnapping happened too quickly. A waiter wiping down a table turned around in confusion and rubbed his eyes. “Did a bird just fly past? Something flashed by. Or was I seeing things?”

In the small alley beside Yinghe Tower, the powerful chancellor who had flashed past stood obediently against the wall. He neither struggled nor resisted nor called for help. He merely lowered his voice to something quieter than a mosquito and coyly tried to dissuade his captor. “In broad daylight, abducting an innocent man like this… isn’t—isn’t that a little improper?”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye planted one palm against the brick wall beside his neck and said softly and coldly, “Yeguang is conducting official business. Whether it is proper or not is no longer for you to decide, Young Master Wei.”

Forced into a dead end, Wei Fu flattened himself against the wall and did not dare move recklessly. His gaze darted evasively downward, while his ears betrayed him by turning red first. “Th-then what instructions does Your Highness have?”

No matter how one looked at the pose and expression, something about it was wrong. It resembled a local tyrant bullying a respectable man. Yu Gong Zhao Ye stared at the tips of his ears and gave a cold laugh. Just as he was about to withdraw his hand and straighten up, an arm suddenly wrapped around his waist.

There was no special trick involved. Wei Fu was simply strong, locking his arm firmly around Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s waist and refusing to let him retreat.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye: “…”

Wei Fu said bashfully, “Sorry. Force of habit.”

Despite saying that, he showed no intention of releasing him. Instead, he pulled the chief official who had stormed over to demand an explanation into his arms, lowered his head, and delicately nibbled at his ear. “Go ahead and ask, Your Highness. I promise to confess honestly. I’ll confess to absolutely anything you want.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye kicked lightly at his shin from below. “Your hands aren’t behaving, so how could the rest of you possibly behave? Let go.”

“No,” Wei Fu refused decisively. “I’m afraid you’ll run. Interrogate me like this.”

“Which one of us is interrogating the other?” Yu Gong Zhao Ye reached up and flicked him sharply on the forehead. “Now you know how to be afraid. Why didn’t you confess earlier?”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s palm strength was enough to crack monuments and split stone. He restrained his force this time, so although the sound was crisp, it was not particularly painful.

Yet Yu Gong Zhao Ye usually did no more than pinch Wei Fu’s cheeks. He had never shown any fondness for flicking his forehead, perhaps because Wei Fu was tall and he found raising his hand troublesome. For him to go to the effort now was clearly aimed at Wei Fu’s boast that His Highness could not bear to lay so much as a finger on him.

Wei Fu froze for a moment, like a dog that had never been struck suddenly receiving a kick. A thin mist immediately covered his eyes, and he whimpered as he buried his face against Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s shoulder.

“Did that hurt?” Yu Gong Zhao Ye had completely forgotten Wei Fu’s youthful history of trying to kill himself by running into a wall. He lifted his head to inspect him, pressed his fingers against the red mark on his forehead, and rubbed it gently. “So delicate. Interrogating you is surprisingly easy.”

Wei Fu was not hurt, but he had a guilty conscience, so regardless of everything else, he decided to act pitiful first. Leaning tearfully against Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s shoulder, he squeezed his voice until it sounded so aggrieved that it could drip water. “A’Ying, did you hear everything?”

“Mm.” The moment Yu Gong Zhao Ye remembered Wei Fu pounding the table at Xie You Lan, he wanted to laugh, but forcibly kept his face stern. “I finally caught hold of your fox tail. Behave yourself and confess voluntarily.”

These past few days, Yu Gong Zhao Ye had been circling around the king searching for the traitor, but no matter how he looked, none of the suspects seemed capable of it. At last, he learned from Yu Gong Ming that the information had come from someone in Dongyu, and suddenly realized something was wrong—it was simply too coincidental.

He had assumed that Yu Gong Ming had known about the king’s malignant illness for a long time and had endured silently, waiting until the Xiling Assistant Chancellor’s term ended before charging back into Longsha. But in reality, immediately before Wei Fu’s departure, Dongyu had just happened to uncover the Longsha king’s astonishing secret, promptly colluded with Yu Gong Ming, and sent him back to stir up trouble, only for the king to counterattack on the spot and capture the entire group.

Could it truly have been such a “coincidence”?

The king’s psychological burden was severe. He was so guarded against Yu Gong Ming that simply hearing of his return caused him to lose control. According to Wei Fu, once the king’s flaw had been noticed, Wei Fu asked a single question and Yu Gong Lie confessed everything, then conveniently renewed Longsha’s alliance with Xiling. Why, when it came to Wei Fu, had the king shown no caution at all?

“Yes,” Wei Fu said pitifully. “I knew a long time ago that the king had leprosy.”

“How long ago?”

“Er…” His eyes drifted. “Around the time you and Xie You Lan went to find my mother.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye: “?”

Wei Fu had spoken so hesitantly that Yu Gong Zhao Ye needed a moment to follow this enormous turn. “The year before last? You discovered it after you had only been here for half a year?”

“During that period, the king would ‘occasionally catch a chill’ every few days. Several times when I stood near him, I noticed faint red rashes on his hands. Once, he accidentally knocked over hot tea, and even when blisters formed on his arm, he did not react. It resembled the symptoms of leprosy recorded in medical books, so I sent the Egret Guards to investigate.” Wei Fu confessed softly, “The king had only recently ascended the throne then, and the palace was rather chaotic, so it was fairly easy to investigate.”

His photographic memory was absurdly useful. Even rote memorization of medical books had never failed him. Yu Gong Zhao Ye thought Yu Gong Ming truly should have been brought here to listen. This was the sort of talent Yeguang ought to recruit.

His heart gave a heavy thump as another thought suddenly occurred to him. “Then the time the king poisoned you—was that also…”

“Ahaha…” Wei Fu laughed dryly. “He discovered I was digging into his secrets behind his back. The king was striking the mountain to frighten the tiger, warning me to behave.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye: “…”

Thinking carefully about what Wei Fu had done back then—as a Xiling chancellor, he had monopolized court authority, become extremely friendly with Qiyun’s resident envoys, and secretly investigated the Longsha king’s unspeakable secret. The king had refrained from ruthlessly eliminating him purely because the backing behind Wei Fu was too formidable to provoke!

“You absolutely must treat your imperial father with proper filial devotion in the future…” Yu Gong Zhao Ye instructed weakly.

“Ah? Oh. Haven’t I already secured Longsha for him?” Afraid that the longer Yu Gong Zhao Ye reflected, the angrier he would become, Wei Fu hurriedly confessed everything in one breath like spilling beans from a bamboo tube. “Later, when my term was nearing its end, I wanted a legitimate reason to remain. The most direct method was to make the king voluntarily request that the alliance with Xiling continue, so I needed to create a crisis for him. I exchanged the Dongyu portion of the Earth Mirror Map with Xie You Lan and had him transmit the information to the Dongyu court, luring Yu Gong Ming into returning to seize the throne.”

“Once Yu Gong Ming took the bait over there and the king sensed here that he had come with hostile intentions, the two of us already understood what was happening, so we simply laid everything out and discussed a response. That was how we settled upon all the later arrangements.”

For a long while after hearing this, Yu Gong Zhao Ye made no sound. Wei Fu timidly raised his eyes and stole a glance at him. That hard, pale profile was solemn as frost and snow, his long lashes lowered in silence. It was exceptionally pleasing to the eye—and lethally dangerous enough to remove both Wei Fu’s legs on the spot.

Remembering Xie You Lan’s threats, Wei Fu immediately began trembling with fear, his fur nearly standing on end. “A’Ying…”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye knew he had been like this since childhood. Once he decided to do something, he would disregard danger and use every possible means to accomplish it. Yu Gong Zhao Ye had assumed that Wei Fu abandoning a stable career in Xiling and running to Longsha as Chief Minister was already the utmost limit of outrageous behavior. He had never imagined this stubborn creature could become even more insane.

Sovereigns, thrones, treasures coveted by everyone beneath Heaven, even his own life—there was nothing Wei Fu did not dare use as a wager. He had endured silently, hidden in wait, and exhausted every scheme. With all that effort, he could have ascended Longsha’s throne himself, turning his palm to summon clouds and his hand to produce rain, yet in the end, everything landed lightly within one narrow alley.

“You nearly schemed our king out of existence. Why are you suddenly trembling now?” Yu Gong Zhao Ye tugged at the smooth ends of his hanging hair and lectured him sternly. “If anyone should be trembling from delayed fear, shouldn’t it be me?”

He did not appear angry. Wei Fu leaned in and kissed him. Seeing that he did not avoid it, he immediately pushed his luck, rubbing against his ear and whimpering, “I know I was wrong. I’ll devote myself to assisting the king properly from now on. Your Highness, please don’t abandon me.”

In front of Yu Gong Zhao Ye, he acted frail and pitiful, as though anyone could bully him. He was nothing like the man who had slammed the table and shouted at Xie You Lan, All of you will be buried with my love!

Yu Gong Zhao Ye had heard Xie You Lan’s lofty argument from next door, but he did not feel any great contrast. Who did not know that this fox spirit could bite? In all the world, Wei Fu was probably the only one who still believed he behaved obediently.

To be meticulously obtained and wholeheartedly loved by someone so insane without realizing it sounded somewhat frightening. But perhaps Yu Gong Zhao Ye had spent too many years as an assassin—he happened to enjoy licking blood from a blade’s edge.

Just as his heart would tremble subtly whenever he saw Wei Fu genuinely angry, now that he saw the true face beneath all of Wei Fu’s calculations, he instead felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye curled a finger beneath Wei Fu’s chin and drew him over to exchange a kiss. Half teasing and half thoughtful, he asked, “Young Master Wei’s methods of manipulating hearts are practically sorcery. Everyone beneath Heaven is held in your palm. Is whether you are kept or discarded truly something I have the authority to decide?”

Wei Fu’s features relaxed beneath the kiss, and even his gaze became clear. Groping for Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s hand, he drew it over and pressed it against his chest. His heart pounded vividly against the center of his palm, nearly drowning out his softly spoken reply.

“But I am already in Your Highness’s palm.”

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