“I’m so wronged,” Shen Zechuan said. “Now, if anything goes awry, it’s bound to be blamed on me, Shen Lanzhou.”
“Since your return, turmoil follows you everywhere,” Xiao Chiye said. “Little Fuze, the National University, Pan Rugui—how is it that every single matter seems inseparable from you?”
Shen Zechuan laughed wryly. “Indeed, why am I always entangled? Don’t you understand the reason? Years ago, Young Master Xiao found me at the Tea Stone Abyss. Had he ended me with a single stroke, none of today’s troubles would exist.”
Xiao Chiye stripped the branches from a twig. “Back then, you fought to survive. Now you know what it feels like to live?”
Shen Zechuan’s eyes were calm—so calm that it unsettled Xiao Chiye.
This man was peculiar.
At the banquet that day, it had been the same: every action carried a sense of “the past has already ended.” Yet on that snowy night five years ago, Xiao Chiye clearly remembered the eyes Shen Zechuan had when he bit him.
This unsettling quality was like a bottomless abyss. The sharp hatred once surging now seemed ground down, leaving no clue as to his limits. When humiliated before a full hall, he bowed with a smile—Xiao Chiye’s praise of “remarkable” had been sincere.
A person who could endure to such a degree, the darkness beneath that calm was all the more chilling.
“What living feels like…” Shen Zechuan smiled again. “At the Temple of Atonement, day and night, I’ve felt it. Coming out, life feels even more precarious. I treasure my life, fear it deeply. Yet the charges demand me, lives demand compensation. I, Shen Lanzhou, have only this one life—how could it suffice? I flatter and supplicate, all in hope that Second Young Master and the nobles may grant clemency. Now, if you require an explanation, Second Young Master, at least give me a reason.”
Hearing this, Xiao Chiye shifted his thoughts. His instincts were sharp, and Shen Zechuan’s obedient compliance always carried an underlying unease. No matter how he tried, he could never discern truth from lies.
He didn’t trust a single word Shen Zechuan spoke—just as that night, Shen Zechuan had said it was all part of the act. Everyone was acting; why take it seriously?
Yet lies leave traces. In the capital’s underworld, even lowly tiers reveal clues. If Shen Zechuan placed people around Li Jianheng, they would hardly be experts—at most, bribed servants or attendants.
Li Jianheng’s matter had flaws both inside and out; if unchecked, future trouble was inevitable. Ever since being tethered to Prince Chu’s ship, Xiao Chiye had slept little.
“Came to play, and it’s turned into an interrogation,” Xiao Chiye said, shifting tone, blowing leaves off a branch. “Recently, I heard someone’s been asking about you, near Prince Chu’s notice, so naturally I had to ask.”
“You come to play with me,” Shen Zechuan said, “and I lose a night’s sleep.”
“Can’t put it like that,” Xiao Chiye said. “Life’s not easy for you, nor pleasant for me. If we turn the page on old matters, perhaps we can let bygones be bygones.”
Shen Zechuan laughed. “Countless lives lost across six provinces—Second Young Master wants to let bygones be bygones?”
“Times are different,” Xiao Chiye finally dropped the twig and stood. “You enjoy the favors of the Hua family, and the Empress Dowager’s favor is yours. How dare I offend you? Let’s consider ourselves acquaintances in passing, yes, Lanzhou?”
Shen Zechuan only smiled. “Second Young Master, fare well.”
Xiao Chiye mounted and looked down at him. “When do you plan to return the ring, Lanzhou? A broken ring—worthless, only irritating. Not returning it makes it seem precious.”
“I wear it on me,” Shen Zechuan said. “I rely on your fierce aura to ward off evil. How could I give it back easily?”
Xiao Chiye cracked the whip. “Don’t you know? You, Second Young Master, are a force of malevolence.”
Shen Zechuan watched him vanish into the distance. His smile faded, leaving only an inscrutable coldness. The sunset slanted orange light across his feet, stretching toward the shadow of Xiao Chiye’s receding figure.
That night, the sky a canopy of stars, Grand Tutor Qi opened a newly drawn map for Shen Zechuan.
“Though the former Eastern Palace lacked authority to command border troops, it knew the deployment of garrisons. Here is Li Bei County.”
“Backed by Hongyan Mountains, west to Luoxia Pass, east to the twelve border sand divisions,” Shen Zechuan traced the eastern Hongyan range. “Autumn nears. The border cavalry’s pastures are insufficient; they’ll seize supplies from nearby trade posts. Xiao Jiming wants to mobilize, yet why has no petition reached the capital?”
“Because the emperor is ill,” Grand Tutor Qi pondered. “This spring, Xiao Jiming sent only one petition. He must have agents in the capital. That none have submitted petitions indicates one thing.”
Shen Zechuan whispered, “The emperor’s days are numbered.”
“Then who can truly hold the Dragon Court? That’s why Xiao Jiming hesitates.” Grand Tutor Qi dipped his brush in ink, circling Li Bei. “Prince Chu’s ascension benefits the Xiao family. Their feud with the Hua family long restrained them; due to Zhongbo’s matters, they were at a disadvantage. Now, reversal is within reach. Xiao Jiming won’t miss this chance.”
“But you said that day,” Shen Zechuan pointed to the capital, “the gates of the capital remain closed. Xiao Chiye is effectively a hostage. With the Empress Dowager holding him, how can Xiao Jiming act?”
“Since you brought it up,” Grand Tutor Qi put down the brush, “I must tell you another matter.”
“Please, sir.”
“In your view, what kind of man is Xiao Chiye?”
Shen Zechuan lowered his gaze to the map. “Sharp, intelligent, dislikes acting step by step.”
“I think he is…” Grand Tutor Qi rubbed his hair, searching for words. After scratching his head, he leaned over the desk, whispering mysteriously: “I think he is Heaven’s opportunity for Li Bei—a prodigy.”
Shen Zechuan twirled his pen. “Why do you say so?”
Grand Tutor Qi crawled under the desk, pulling out his handwritten scrolls. Feeling old and forgetful, he recorded many things over the years. He flipped through several pages, then leaned over, pushing the scrolls to Shen Zechuan.
“These are details Ge Qingqing acquired from the Ministry of War. In the first year of Yongyi, eight years ago, Xiao Chiye, fourteen, followed Xiao Jiming to battle at the border sands. In midsummer, Xiao Jiming’s forces at the eastern Hongyan range were besieged by three divisions, cut off from retreat, trapped before Hongjiang River. Reinforcements from Li Bei were due within three days. Xiao Jiming faced an urgent fight, but the border cavalry was nimble. You know Li Bei had many armored cavalry—strong in direct combat, but ill-suited for hit-and-run. Delay would exhaust only Xiao Jiming’s troops.”
Grand Tutor Qi took a few gulps of wine.
“On the third night, the border forces withdrew like a tide. Their heavily guarded supplies were burned; the fire spread from the center, disrupting the rear. Xiao Jiming seized the moment, breaking through in one night. But Li Bei’s records end there. Your master had to gather the following details through effort. Guess who burned the supplies under the enemy? Allegedly, Xiao Chiye silently waded into a sewage trench along the river, crawling through filth half the night.”
Grand Tutor Qi stroked his chin.
“Such merit, yet Li Bei suppressed it. When Xiao Chiye arrived in the capital, he became a lazy idler—but can an idler endure such patience? Imagine: had he failed, his elder brother would have died. Yet he lay low two full days, waiting for the enemy’s vigilance to lapse before igniting the fire. Did he know the risk to his brother’s life? If the fire went awry, timing was off—too early, enemy strong; too late, Li Bei’s forces weak. He hit precisely the right moment. Without superlative insight, how could he succeed?”
Shen Zechuan seemed struck.
Grand Tutor Qi added, “Moreover, the boy is wild—he executed this with only a handful of men.”
He held up two fingers, pausing.
“Lanzhou, I think Pan Rugui, to avoid risk, assigned him to the imperial guard—a bad move. They thought the guard useless, yet these men had been loyal to the emperor, dismissed by the eight great families. Now, abandoned by the emperor, these twenty thousand are unclaimed. If in the hands of a playboy, it’s dangerous; if in Xiao Chiye’s hands… why would Xiao Jiming hesitate to mobilize troops to protect Prince Chu?”
I see!
Shen Zechuan suddenly understood what had eluded him.
He had thought that Xiao Jiming leaving Xiao Chiye in the capital meant he was a pawn. Either discard him or handle him cautiously. If cautious, Xiao Chiye shouldn’t approach Prince Chu so closely—otherwise it’s courting trouble, always cleaning up after him.
“This autumn cold will be fierce. We are weak; best to avoid trouble,” Grand Tutor Qi said, dry-mouthed. “The Empress Dowager, after the National University incident, is estranged from Xi Gu’an and the emperor. To secure power, succession is urgent. If anything happens to Prince Chu, the Xiao family risks everything. Xiao Chiye rushing to see you today must be on alert. But the Empress Dowager is even more vigilant. She would annihilate anyone threatening Prince Chu, as she did for Prince Ning. Ensuring the prince’s safety will not be easy.”
“Since the Empress Dowager won’t use Xi Gu’an, only Ji Lei remains,” Shen Zechuan’s eyes cooled. “The Embroidered Guards are experts—swift and deadly.”
“Then the tiger fight is inevitable,” Grand Tutor Qi said. “Now it’s your decision: pursue Prince Chu, or follow the Empress Dowager.”
Shen Zechuan extended his hand, covering the map.