After setting down his teacup, Shu Changyu raised his eyes toward Jing Mu.
“Thank you, Your Highness, for saving Huzhou City from this crisis. If Your Highness had not arrived, Huzhou City would have fallen today,” Shu Changyu said.
Jing Mu looked at him and gave a low hum.
Even Jing Mu’s voice had completely changed. Unlike Shu Changyu’s clear and gentle voice, Jing Mu’s was extremely low, carrying a magnetic quality that made one’s heart tremble, rich and mellow like strong liquor.
Shu Changyu paused before continuing, “May I ask how many troops Your Highness has brought this time?”
Jing Mu did not answer him immediately.
Shu Changyu raised his eyes and directly met Jing Mu’s deep, unreadable gaze. Those eyes were staring straight at him without blinking.
Shu Changyu’s heart gave a hard thump.
Just then, a delicate, sweet cry like an oriole emerging from a valley rang out in the reception hall of the Huzhou prefectural office.
“Papa!”
Several people in the hall looked up and saw the tearful Huzhou prefect standing at the doorway, holding Shu Xunzhi by the hand.
Jing Mu’s eyes instantly became sharp as he looked at Shu Changyu.
Shu Changyu’s heart trembled. Over there, Shu Xunzhi had already released the Huzhou prefect’s hand and charged over on her two little legs. The little girl had clearly been crying for a long time, her eyes swollen to the point that she could barely open them. She ran to Shu Changyu, threw her arms around him, and burst into loud sobs.
“Papa!” she cried. “Brother Kongqing said something would happen to you! Papa, Xunzhi was so scared!”
Shu Changyu could feel Jing Mu’s knife-like gaze. He instinctively lowered his eyes and stroked the little girl’s head, his voice immediately becoming gentler. “Brother Kongqing was just trying to scare you. Look, Papa is right here. See? Nothing happened to me.”
Meanwhile, the Huzhou prefect trembled as he knelt before Jing Mu.
“This subordinate thanks Your Highness for saving us! On behalf of the people of Huzhou, this subordinate thanks Your Highness!”
As he spoke, he bent down to kowtow. Before his waist could even bend, Jing Mu grabbed him by the arm.
The Huzhou prefect had not expected Jing Mu to possess such tremendous strength. With Jing Mu gripping his arm, he could not move even a fraction, and could only rise along with the force pulling him up. When he stood, he raised his head and glanced at Jing Mu, only to inexplicably shudder under that terrifying gaze.
However, that gaze was not directed at him.
It was directed at Shu Changyu, who was currently enjoying a tender father-daughter moment.
Over there, Shu Changyu stroked Shu Xunzhi’s head, then lifted her up and settled her on his lap. He looked up at Jing Mu and smiled.
“Your Highness must forgive us for the spectacle.”
Then he turned toward the Huzhou prefect.
“Prefect Zheng, have the people all been moved back now?”
The Huzhou prefect sighed.
“They have. The enemy troops were also heavily guarding the rear gate. If Your Highness had not arrived, I fear this time…” At this point, he sighed and wiped his eyes.
Shu Changyu smiled. “Prefect, rest assured. The danger has now passed.”
Then he looked toward Jing Mu and asked again, “Your Highness, how many troops have you brought? We can make arrangements and deploy the forces accordingly, so that—”
“Fifteen thousand.”
Jing Mu coldly interrupted him.
“Thirty thousand entered the city. The remaining one hundred and twenty thousand are dispersed along the two wings.”
As Jing Mu spoke, he did not look at Shu Changyu.
Instead, Jing Mu was staring intently at the little pink dumpling nestled in Shu Changyu’s arms.
When Shu Changyu had picked up Shu Xunzhi, she had been very young and severely malnourished. Thus, even now she was still very small, much tinier than other children her age. Although she was already four years old, she looked as though she had not yet reached three.
Shu Xunzhi also sensed that icy, blade-like gaze examining her.
She looked up and saw that fierce-looking general brother glaring harshly at her. Frightened, she immediately shrank into Shu Changyu’s arms.
Hearing that number, Shu Changyu felt slightly relieved, but he was still uneasy. Zhuo Renyue now occupied four prefectures. If they wanted to ensure peace in the south, they had to completely wipe him out.
Shu Changyu subconsciously furrowed his brows as he began thinking, paying no attention to the others.
Just then, he heard Jing Mu ask, “Lord Zheng, where will this prince be staying in Huzhou?”
The Huzhou prefect froze.
The thirty thousand soldiers Jing Mu had brought could squeeze into the military camp if necessary, but Jing Mu held a position of such high authority that he absolutely could not stay there.
After thinking for a moment, the Huzhou prefect said, “There are several vacant rooms in my humble residence. If Your Highness does not mind…”
“Then this prince will stay at Lord Shu’s residence.”
Jing Mu interrupted him.
“When this prince was young, I had some teacher-student ties with Lord Shu. Borrowing a room at Lord Shu’s residence will also be more convenient.”
As he said this, Jing Mu turned his head toward Shu Changyu, his expression cold with a hint of mockery.
“Surely Lord Shu’s residence does not lack a vacant room?”
Shu Changyu froze for a moment and instinctively replied, “There are some.”
Hearing this, Jing Mu immediately stood up and picked up the Mo Saber leaning against the side. The heavy clang of metal startled Shu Xunzhi, making her tremble again.
“Lead the way.”
Jing Mu looked at the guard beside him. Then, without even saying goodbye to anyone, he turned and walked out.
Shu Changyu did not remain there for long before returning to his residence.
By then, the entrance to his manor was already under extremely tight security, with Black-armored soldiers stationed all around it.
Shu Xunzhi, who had been badly frightened by Jing Mu earlier, became even more frightened when she saw that everyone guarding the entrance was dressed in the same clothes as that terrifying general brother.
“Papa,” she whispered carefully into Shu Changyu’s ear. “Who is that scary brother from earlier?”
Shu Changyu paused, then smiled and stroked Shu Xunzhi’s head.
“He is a general who came from Zhaojing to save us.”
Shu Xunzhi drew out an “oh” for a long moment.
“Then General Brother is a good person.”
Shu Changyu hummed in agreement.
Shu Xunzhi quietly muttered to herself, “But that brother looks really fierce.”
The two of them did not encounter Jing Mu along the way.
After Shu Changyu returned to his own courtyard, he had Kongqing take Shu Xunzhi away.
The physician from the residence came in and re-bandaged Shu Changyu’s wound. Over the past few days, Shu Changyu had been too busy to care for his injury while on the city wall. He had merely allowed the military physician to wrap it hastily, relying on painkillers to keep going.
Now the wound was badly inflamed.
The physician insisted that he rest immediately and could no longer exhaust himself.
Shu Changyu agreed. After eating something, he lay down to rest.
In any case, reinforcements had arrived now, and Jing Mu had arrived as well. The burden on Shu Changyu’s shoulders had suddenly been lifted.
After more than four days of exhaustion came crashing over him, he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Yet before falling asleep, his mind was still filled with Jing Mu’s image.
Meanwhile, Jing Mu had been assigned to a small courtyard.
This courtyard was directly adjacent to Shu Xunzhi’s residence, while it was somewhat far from Shu Changyu’s residence. Shu Changyu’s residence in Huzhou was not large, and this was the only vacant courtyard remaining.
The guard who had led him there was rather apprehensive of this cold-faced, silent menace.
He had vaguely heard of how iron-fisted Prince Dunqin was even while in Huzhou. Now that he had seen the man himself, he found that he truly was someone who rarely smiled or spoke.
After leading him into the courtyard, the guard wanted to take his leave.
But Jing Mu stopped him.
“That little girl from earlier. What is her relationship with Lord Shu?”
Jing Mu’s voice was cool and steady, his tone carrying considerable authority and intimidation.
The guard hurriedly replied, “Your Highness, that girl is named Shu Xunzhi. She is Lord Shu’s…”
Jing Mu frowned.
“Her surname is Shu?”
The guard quickly said, “Yes. She is Lord Shu’s daughter.”
Jing Mu did not respond.
The guard hurriedly withdrew.
Jing Mu stood there with a frown for a moment. Then one corner of his lips curled upward as he muttered thoughtfully to himself,
“…Daughter?”
Then his expression completely disappeared. His cold, sinister gaze was filled with suppressed, surging emotions.
He stared intently at the rain-filled sky and said coldly,
“Shu Changyu… Shu Changyu, you really have some nerve.”
He had never expected that after traveling thousands of miles and rushing here day and night without rest, he would see not only a Shu Changyu drenched like a drowned rat in the rain, politely courteous toward him, but also Shu Changyu’s child.
In his previous life, Shu Changyu had already dared to have a child with someone else behind his back.
Although the child had not been born by Shu Changyu himself, he had nevertheless raised the child together with another woman for several years.
So how had this child appeared now? Where had she come from?
Jing Mu thought bitterly, Shu Changyu, you really are heartless.
Even now, he still felt that three years ago had been nothing more than a dream.
He had believed that he had finally moved Shu Changyu’s heart.
But after Shu Changyu returned home and reassured him, he had turned around, refused to explain a single word, and simply left for Huzhou.
At the time, it had taken Jing Mu a long while to recover. He repeatedly turned over the words Shu Changyu had said before leaving.
Indeed, Shu Changyu had never been someone willing to remain content with the status quo and live an ordinary life.
The imperial court was in chaos. Given Shu Changyu’s personality, it was impossible for him to ignore it.
Shu Changyu possessed extraordinary talent. He was meant for a vast world and could not afford to waste it.
But for the sake of that, Shu Changyu had abandoned him and left on his own.
Jing Mu knew what power and authority meant to Shu Changyu.
In his previous life, it was precisely because he had tried to remain detached from worldly struggles that he had paid the price. His family had been destroyed, and he himself had been left disabled.
Only by holding power firmly in his own hands could Shu Changyu feel secure.
Jing Mu understood this.
But in this life, Jing Mu had thought things would be different.
Especially when they were in Zhili, Shu Changyu’s behavior had made him vaguely feel that Shu Changyu was no longer so obsessed with power.
Jing Mu had believed it was because of him.
He had even secretly felt pleased with himself over it.
But later, he discovered that he had been wrong.
Not only was Shu Changyu still obsessed with power, he was exactly the same as in his previous life.
For that useless thing, he could even abandon himself.
Jing Mu tried to understand him.
After all, Shu Changyu had returned home only to suffer condemnation from his family. He must have felt weak and powerless, which was why he had once again begun yearning for the immense authority he had possessed before.
But the more Jing Mu tried to make excuses for him, the more wronged he felt.
I love him so much. Why… can’t he give me a little more in return?
At the very least, why couldn’t he stay?
For three years, Jing Mu had endured without coming to find him even once.
He had been trapped in his own thoughts.
That feeling that power was more important to Shu Changyu than he was had made him feel inferior and obsessive.
So he had simply gathered all the power in the capital into his own hands and waited for Shu Changyu to return.
But…
He had not waited for Shu Changyu to come back.
Instead, Shu Changyu had nearly died alongside this miserable little city at the hands of the rebel army.
How can this person be so selfish?
He leaves whenever he wants.
And when he says he is going to die… he nearly really did.
Jing Mu stood beneath the eaves, staring at the bell swaying from side to side beneath the beating rain, his emotions surging violently within him.
In his heart, he repeatedly murmured Shu Changyu’s name, gritting his teeth.
He had whispered this name to himself thousands upon thousands of times. It was almost carved into his heart.
But never once had it hurt as much as it did today, when he finally saw him again.