After thinking it through, Xie Pingyue took the initiative at court and volunteered to suppress the bandits in Qingzhou.
This had originally been his plan anyway. If Xie Yi hadn’t caused so much chaos, why would he still be lingering in the capital now?
Just thinking about it twisted his expression.
Still—it wasn’t too late.
So what if Xie Yi had the Crown Prince backing him?
He was the commander of the Shuofang Army. Going to Qingzhou was entirely justified.
He believed Prince Qi would never miss a chance to undermine the Crown Prince’s faction. By then, not only would he get Qingzhou, he could reclaim the Zhechong Camp too.
He wanted to see how Xie Yi would survive in the Eastern Palace without it!
Brimming with confidence, Xie Pingyue stepped forward with his proposal.
As expected, the Crown Prince’s faction argued fiercely for Xie Yi.
But what he never anticipated—
Prince Qi, who was usually opposed to the Crown Prince at every turn, remained completely silent.
…
Back in Qingping Courtyard, Lin Zhizhi laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.
“Hey, surprise! Unexpected, huh?”
Just imagining Xie Pingyue staring expectantly at Prince Qi in court, only for Prince Qi to completely ignore him, made him want to laugh again.
Xie Yi’s gaze rested on the chessboard before him, his tone absent-minded.
“Prince Qi’s involvement can indeed catch him off guard. But precisely because of that, he’ll never hand over the Zhechong Camp to me. He commands the Shuofang Army—even the heir apparent cannot force him to surrender military authority.”
Lin Zhizhi froze.
“Then what do we do?”
Xie Yi didn’t answer, merely gesturing at the board.
“Your move.”
Ever since losing repeatedly to Xie Yi at gomoku, Lin Zhizhi had painfully reflected on himself and specially commissioned a chess set.
Chess had famously complicated rules—he fully intended to crush Xie Yi’s arrogance with it.
After Lin Zhizhi made his move, Xie Yi glanced at the position of the piece, his smile deepening.
“Chess is fair because both sides follow the same rules and wager the same pieces. Reality, however, is different. There are always things that stand above the rules—”
…
At court—
Ever since realizing Prince Qi had remained silent, unease had begun growing in Xie Pingyue’s chest.
Thinking back to Xie Yi’s confident composure, a terrifying possibility suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Xie Yi couldn’t possibly still be in contact with Prince Qi behind the scenes, could he? Or rather—had he secretly reached some kind of agreement with Prince Qi in exchange for his silence?
Xie Pingyue was both shocked and furious.
Was he insane?!
Didn’t he know how dangerous this was?!
The slightest flaw, and he would face the wrath of both the Crown Prince and Prince Qi. One careless step, and he’d die without even a whole corpse left!
Xie Pingyue knew Xie Yi was bold, but he never imagined he’d be this recklessly audacious—completely out of his mind!
At this moment, regret twisted his gut.
Had he known things would turn out this way, he would rather have offended the Crown Prince than staged that whole affair and personally released this dangerous beast.
At this point, he could no longer afford to care about appearances.
If this boy truly obtained military power, who knew what outrageous things he might do? He might even drag the entire General’s Manor down with him one day!
Xie Pingyue did indeed withstand pressure from the Crown Prince’s faction.
Until the Emperor, seated upon the throne, casually remarked:
“It’s only a Zhechong Camp. Let the younger generation have some experience.”
That single sentence settled everything.
Not only was the Zhechong Camp granted to Xie Yi—even part of Xie Pingyue’s Shuofang Army was split away.
The entire court erupted.
…
Lin Zhizhi widened his eyes.
“How did you know the Emperor would speak for you? Don’t tell me you…”
Xie Yi’s expression turned faintly amused.
“To that man, we are all merely chess pieces upon the board. Everyone on the board watches only the other pieces, yet never thinks about the hand outside the board—the one truly controlling their fates.”
“Each piece serves a different purpose: balance, division, control of the court. And an ambitious illegitimate son is perfectly suited to divide the Shuofang Army.”
Xie Yi captured one of Lin Zhizhi’s pieces and lifted his eyes with a smile.
“I merely became that piece at precisely the right moment.”
Those four words—precisely the right moment—contained every scheme and calculation he had made along the way.
An indescribable feeling rose in Lin Zhizhi’s chest.
In the original novel, Xie Yi had only ever been described as cold, cruel, bloodthirsty.
But how he had climbed from a powerless, unwanted illegitimate son—seen as inauspicious by everyone—to the great villain who would one day hold dominion over the world…
That part had never been told.
Yet Lin Zhizhi had followed him the whole way, seeing with his own eyes how Xie Yi forced open a path through hopeless dead ends.
It felt as though he could no longer simply treat him as a villain from a book, a mission target.
“Checkmate.”
The sound of Xie Yi tapping the chessboard pulled him back.
Lin Zhizhi looked down and discovered Xie Yi’s queen had struck from the diagonal, cutting off the king’s final escape.
Lin Zhizhi: !!!
Wait!
How did he win again?!
All of Lin Zhizhi’s emotional reflections instantly vanished. He slammed the table in disbelief.
“One more round!!”
—
The imperial decree arrived.
Xie Yi was appointed General of Western Expedition and ordered to lead the Zhechong Camp to Qingzhou to suppress the bandits—effective immediately.
The moment the decree was accepted, Qingping Courtyard burst into activity.
Though Lin Zhizhi had only possessed this body for a short time, he had somehow accumulated quite a lot of belongings.
He only planned to bring necessities and leave everything else behind.
Unfortunately, he had previously tossed all kinds of random purchases into boxes. Now, finding anything meant opening each one and digging through them.
Then, in a corner, he found a sandalwood box decorated with gold inlay and jewels.
For a moment, he couldn’t remember what was inside and casually opened it.
The instant he saw the contents, memory flooded back.
Snap.
He slammed it shut again.
How had he forgotten to get rid of all the junk Prince Qi had sent?!
Lin Zhizhi was thoroughly depressed.
Normally it would be one thing—but this time Qingli was staying behind in the capital.
Qingli was famously meticulous. She cataloged everything and checked things regularly.
Lin Zhizhi couldn’t even imagine the expression she’d make if she saw this box.
But throwing it away wasn’t easy either.
He held it like a scalding hot potato.
That was when Xie Yi walked in.
His gaze lingered briefly on the box.
“Having trouble with something?”
Lin Zhizhi coughed lightly, pretending calm.
“Do you have any way to hide this box so Qingli won’t find it?”
Xie Yi raised an eyebrow.
“Yes.”
Lin Zhizhi immediately shoved the hot potato at him.
“Then it’s yours!”
He didn’t care where Xie Yi hid it—as long as he avoided social death.
A few days later, once the Zhechong Camp had completed preparations, Xie Yi led the troops toward Qingzhou.
At first, the journey felt exciting to Lin Zhizhi.
Very quickly, however, the jolting carriage had him sick enough to throw up.
Not wanting to slow the army’s pace, he grit his teeth and endured it.
Watching everyone else ride horses only made him more envious.
For this trip, Qingli, Shen Xian, and Zang Feng remained in the capital. Only Songlü and Shuangren accompanied them.
Lin Zhizhi had something like a “shared battle scar friendship” with Songlü and felt much closer to him.
So during a rest stop, he quietly approached him.
“…When you have time later, could you teach me to ride?”
Songlü blinked.
“I don’t mind, but Young Master Lin, why not ask Master to teach you?”
The moment the words left his mouth, Xie Yi approached carrying a kettle of hot water.
He wore light armor, sword and metal plates clinking softly with each step.
It was Lin Zhizhi’s first time seeing Xie Yi in armor.
The fitted armor emphasized his tall frame, muscles shifting faintly beneath the movement—a wild, heroic sharpness about him, like a sword finally drawn from its sheath.
He handed over the hot water and produced a small pouch of preserved fruit.
“Bought these from nearby farmers. Make do for now—we’ll camp tonight.”
Lin Zhizhi took the water.
It had a strange taste, but once swallowed, his upset stomach eased considerably. He popped a preserved fruit into his mouth, the sourness instantly suppressing the urge to vomit.
He felt alive again.
At some point, Songlü had vanished.
Xie Yi sat beside him, one knee propped up.
“Want to learn riding?”
Lin Zhizhi scratched his head awkwardly.
“Everyone rides horses except me. I’m the only one in a carriage. Kind of embarrassing…”
“Fine.”
Xie Yi agreed immediately.
“I’ll teach you.”
Lin Zhizhi froze.
“That’s really not necessary. You’re the commanding general—you’re busy. Songlü teaching me would be enough.”
The smile at Xie Yi’s lips faded slightly.
In the distance, Songlü shivered.
Strange.
Hadn’t he listened to Qingli’s instructions? Whenever Master and Young Master Lin were together, he was supposed to quietly disappear…
After a short rest, the army continued onward.
By sunset, they finally stopped to establish camp.
Though Songlü looked rough around the edges, he was surprisingly thoughtful.
“Young Master Lin, I’ll pitch your tent for you.”
In military camps, only officers ranking captain or above usually enjoyed private tents.
Lin Zhizhi already felt awkward enough riding in a carriage. How could he ask for special treatment too?
“No need. I can share with you.”
Both of them were Xie Yi’s attendants, after all.
Unexpectedly, Songlü looked horrified and shook his head frantically.
“No no no! Better if I set one up just for you!”
At that moment, Xie Yi emerged from the command tent and casually said:
“No need for the trouble. He’ll stay in my tent.”
Lin Zhizhi: !!!
Songlü visibly relaxed.
“I’ll move your things over, Young Master Lin!”
Then vanished instantly.
Lin Zhizhi didn’t even get the chance to stop him.
As commander, Xie Yi still had countless matters to deal with and left after saying only that.
It wasn’t until nightfall that Lin Zhizhi finally sneaked into the command tent like a thief.
Though the guards had clearly been instructed not to stop him, the embarrassment remained.
Extreme embarrassment.
If he’d known, he really should’ve let Songlü pitch him a separate tent.
The command tent was divided into a meeting area and sleeping quarters.
Lin Zhizhi assumed Xie Yi would still be busy.
Instead, he found him already seated inside.
Seeing him enter, Xie Yi calmly said:
“Sleep early. We travel again tomorrow.”
Lin Zhizhi hesitated at the sight of the single bed.
Something suddenly occurred to him.
Lowering his voice, he asked:
“You asked me to stay here because Prince Qi’s spies are still following us, right?”
The lamp wick popped softly, candlelight flickering.
The warm glow softened Lin Zhizhi’s porcelain-pale skin into jade-like warmth, while the tiny mole at the tip of his nose added something gentler—and more dangerous.
Xie Yi suppressed the darkness in his eyes.
His throat bobbed.
“Who said there were spies?”