The next day, the army returned in triumph.
The whole city buzzed with excitement; men, women, young, and old lined the streets in celebration. For a time, the streets were completely packed.
“Welcome home, Northern Frontier Army!”
As the procession entered the city, a strange atmosphere surged up along both sides of the official road—like a splash of water thrown into hot oil, only to be instantly covered with a lid, forcing all that sizzling fervor down beneath it.
People lowered their heads, but their eyes kept darting forward, stealing glances at the elite royal army riding past.
Mo Xi wore the uniform of the imperial guard. His long boots, reinforced with metal plates, rested in the stirrups. Aside from the belt and wrist guards that gleamed with icy silver, he was dressed entirely in black.
“Xi He-jun is so handsome, ahhh!”
“I’m dying, I’m dying.”
“I think he just looked at me!”
“Oh, stop kidding. The only person in his eyes is Princess Mengze, okay?”
“But he hasn’t married the princess yet… He’s already thirty, no wife, no fiancée, no concubines. Can’t I at least fantasize a little?”
As for the other generals and soldiers, they looked far more cheerful than Mo Xi.
Each of them happily waved to the welcoming citizens. Yue Chenqing in particular was absurdly delighted—even accepting flowers from young maidens and trying to tuck them into his hair. He only stopped after Mo Xi shot him a warning glance. Sulking, he instead held the flowers in his hands and sniffed them pitifully.
The official road was long. Yue Chenqing behaved for barely a moment before turning flamboyant again, smiling as he shamelessly flirted.
“Hello, miss~”
“You’re very pretty~”
“I am sincerely recruiting concubines. Food and lodging included.”
Mo Xi snapped, “Yue Chenqing!”
Yue Chenqing covered his mouth.
The Northern Frontier Army marched under gleaming armor, swords and spears flashing in the sun, their military bearing overwhelming. Their entrance was completely different from Gu Mang’s triumphant return years ago.
Back then, Gu Mang had ridden at the front, teasing cats and dogs along the road, while the soldiers behind him relaxed and laughed, happily accepting pastries and wine from the citizens.
But now the army was led by Xi He-jun.
Xi He-jun didn’t even smile.
Naturally, no one else dared get too rowdy.
The ride from the city gates to the royal palace took over half an hour. Once inside the palace, there was still the long and tedious ceremony of conferring honors—kneeling, bowing, thanking, endless formalities. By the time the banquet finally began, Mo Xi still found no peace.
In Yue Chenqing’s words—
He had to deal with all those noble ladies in a way that was “chaste yet cold, distant yet polite.”
As an aside, the first time Yue Chenqing jokingly described Mo Xi as “chaste,” Xi He-jun punished him by making him copy The Book of Female Virtue one hundred times.
Xi He-jun coldly remarked, “Yue Chenqing, do you even know what ‘chaste’ means? Come here. I’ll let you copy until you understand.”
But no matter how much Yue Chenqing cried while copying lines like ‘Virtue is endless, women’s grievances eternal,’ the joke still spread secretly through the army.
Everyone thought: That’s true.
Xi He-jun had waited for Princess Mengze for so many years that he remained unmarried at thirty. Just look at tonight’s banquet—a swarm of noble daughters surrounded him, chirping nonstop, yet he barely spared them a glance.
“Xi He-jun, it’s been so long since I last saw you.”
“Xi He-jun, you seem thinner.”
“Xi He-jun, do you like my hairpin today?”
Among these pampered daughters, the boldest was Princess Yanping.
She was Princess Mengze’s younger sister. This year she had just reached adulthood, but her figure had already developed into graceful curves. Every movement radiated vibrant youth.
She walked to Mo Xi with a smile, lips as lush as ripe berries.
From afar, Yue Chenqing saw this and nearly choked on his pastry. He hurriedly grabbed an old friend.
“Hey, hey, hey.”
Friend: “What?”
Yue Chenqing said excitedly, “Look over there!”
“That’s Princess Yanping and Xi He-jun… What’s so special? Princess Yanping doesn’t stand a chance.”
“No, no, no. I’m about to show you what true legendary chaste yet cold, distant yet polite looks like!”
Friend: “…Didn’t you suffer enough copying Female Virtue?”
Ignoring him, Yue Chenqing dragged his friend closer to eavesdrop.
“Brother-in-law,” Princess Yanping greeted teasingly as she stopped before Mo Xi.
Mo Xi lowered his lashes. At that title, he paused for a moment, then turned as if to leave—very chastely.
Yanping hurriedly grabbed him.
“Brother-in-law, you’re standing here with that stern face instead of talking to any girls. Are you mad my sister didn’t come?”
After a pause, Mo Xi replied coldly, “Princess, you have mistaken me for someone else. I am not married.”
“I’m just teasing.”
Suppressing irritation, Mo Xi answered distantly, “This is not something to joke about.”
“Okay, okay, don’t be mad. My sister wasn’t feeling well last month, so she went to the hot spring palace in Yangzhou to recuperate. She isn’t even in the capital. Otherwise, she definitely would’ve come to see you.”
Mo Xi knew Princess Mengze’s worsening health was inseparable from himself.
So he asked, politely, “Is she well?”
Yue Chenqing burst into laughter.
“Hahahahaha! What did I tell you?! Was I wrong?!”
His friend panicked at how loud he was. Even amid the noisy banquet, Xi He-jun might notice.
Not wanting to be implicated, the friend clamped a hand over Yue Chenqing’s mouth and dragged him away.
Meanwhile, Princess Yanping and Mo Xi continued.
“So after two years at the frontier, you still only think about my sister? Don’t worry, it’s her old illness. A little rest and she’ll be fine.”
Mo Xi said nothing.
“But honestly, with her health the way it is, how could she even handle someone like you?”
As she spoke, her gaze lingered on Mo Xi’s long legs, then swept over the sharp bridge of his nose.
Such long legs.
Such a sharp nose.
And that sensual Adam’s apple.
Those elegant, slender hands with beautiful bone structure.
Just looking at him made it easy to imagine how strong this man was—and what it would feel like to be pinned beneath him.
Yanping sighed.
“If my sister stays sick forever, if she can never marry… are you really going to remain celibate for her your whole life?”
“…”
“That would be such a waste…”
She moved closer.
Her body carried the sweet scent of cosmetics. Jewels sparkled in her hair. A peony design adorned her forehead. As she leaned forward deliberately, the exposed swell of her chest trembled like polished jade.
“What about me?” she whispered. “I’m grown now. I’m no worse than my sister.”
Her soft hand reached toward his waist.
“It’s just sleeping together. Don’t take it too seriously.”
Her smile remained sweet as she lightly wet her lips with the tip of her tongue.
“You’ll like it.”
That did it.
Sleeping together. Don’t take it too seriously.
That sentence easily ranked among the top three things Mo Xi hated hearing most in his life.
Princess Yanping had failed to seduce him, yet somehow struck directly at his deepest wound.
“…”
Mo Xi looked at her.
After a pause, he said coldly, “Move.”
“H-Hey—!”
But Mo Xi had already brushed past her, brows lowered like drawn blades.
The tassels of Feiyao Terrace fluttered.
Mo Xi accepted another glass of amber-colored fruit wine from a servant and walked to the edge of the terrace. His long legs, wrapped in black military boots, relaxed slightly as he leaned against the vermilion railing and gazed at the city lights.
Away from the suffocating banquet hall, he finally breathed easier.
He took a sip of wine.
His Adam’s apple shifted.
For years now, he had endured overwhelming female attention.
But he still disliked it.
Still wasn’t used to it.
Once upon a time, Mo Xi had not been so admired.
When he walked through the streets, hardly anyone dared even glance at him.
Back then, his temper had been terrible.
How terrible?
Compared to that version of himself, the current Xi He-jun could practically be called gentle and kind.
Later, disaster struck his family. Everyone believed Young Master Mo was finished.
The noble cultivators refused to associate with him.
The lowborn cultivators didn’t dare approach him.
Only Gu Mang—that lunatic—feared nothing.
Only he willingly stood beside Mo Xi.
Only he chose to accompany that fallen young master.
He comforted him.
“It’s okay. Even if you’re no longer some noble young master, you’re still you. There’s fire inside you. Sooner or later, you’ll shine.”
“I can see it.”
“One day, others will too.”
Later, Mo Xi endured that hardship.
He truly escaped the shadow of the Mo family.
He fought across battlefields north and south, earning military glory surpassing even his ancestors. Eventually, no one saw him merely as the Mo family’s sole heir anymore.
They saw only Xi He-jun.
More and more women became drawn to him.
Then after Gu Mang’s betrayal, women’s preferences shifted completely.
They all began admiring Mo Xi instead.
Some even sighed:
“Men should be quieter. Quiet men are dependable. They won’t disappoint you like Gu Mang.”
“Xi He-jun may have a terrible temper, but he’s honest. Whatever he thinks, he says directly. He never pretends.”
There was even a courtesan who slammed her hand on a table and boldly declared:
“Xi He-jun is the purest man I’ve ever seen! Let me make this clear—if Xi He-jun ever visits me, not only will I refuse payment, I’ll pay him!”
The next day, Xi He-jun actually showed up.
Not to visit her.
He came to shut down the brothel.
“Tempting a divine lord. Shameless.”
After closing the establishment, Mo Xi furiously lectured them.
“Go home and live as respectable women.”
Then he stormed off in anger.
Leaving behind a chorus of screaming courtesans.
“Ahhhh! If Xi He-jun wants us to reform, then we’ll reform forever!”
“Xi He-jun is truly the best man in the world, wuwuwuwu!”
Utterly ridiculous.
People loved finding someone decent-looking to place on a pedestal, then projecting all their fantasies onto that person to give themselves light.
But Mo Xi had no interest in becoming some lifeless idol.
He wasn’t as righteous as they imagined.
He had desires too.
Desires too shameful to speak aloud.
But no one understood.
Just as no one remembered how miserable Mo Xi had once been.
So Gu Mang had been right.
And wrong.
Mo Xi had indeed escaped the Mo family’s shadow. Through his own efforts, he became dazzling in the eyes of others.
But he knew clearly—
That brilliance belonged only to the flawless Xi He-jun people imagined.
It had nothing to do with the lonely, struggling young man he had once been.
From beginning to end—
Only Gu Mang had walked toward that stubborn youth sitting alone in the corner of camp.
Only Gu Mang had sincerely been happy to reunite with his academy junior.
Only Gu Mang had joyfully reached out a hand, showing a bright little tiger tooth.
The campfire glowed warm.
Smiling, he had said:
Long time no see, Junior Brother Mo. Can I sit beside you?
—
“Long time no see. Can I sit beside you?”
Suddenly, behind him, a similar sentence sounded again.
Mo Xi’s fingers trembled.
He nearly spilled the wine in his glass.
As if in a dream, he turned.
He saw a familiar figure.
Standing beneath the paulownia blossoms of Feiyao Terrace.
Bathed in moonlight.
Quietly watching him.