Feng Jiu was rendered completely speechless by the retort.

Who said the Ninth Imperial Uncle did not like to talk and was not particularly skilled at it? With such eloquence and dexterity in argument, would those people truly believe it if told?

A single phrase — “an act of wisdom” — had indeed demolished her “muddying the waters” theory without leaving her a single leg to stand on.

Still, what the Ninth Imperial Uncle said was not wrong. A superior who does not know how to employ people is destined to toil away in drudgery for the rest of their days.

“But Ninth Lord, do you not feel that even if the people under you are truly capable, you yourself should also be somewhat busy — so as to set an example?”

“This Prince’s abilities are far too formidable. If this Prince were to be busy, where would there be any room left for them to exert themselves?”

He lowered his head to look at her, and something flickered faintly in those beautiful eyes of his. For just a fleeting instant, Feng Jiu thought she glimpsed a smile deep within his gaze.

But in that same fleeting instant, that faint glimmer had already vanished, leaving her with no choice but to wonder whether her eyes had been playing tricks on her just now.

“If this Prince’s subordinates were not given the chance to exert themselves, they would never be cultivated into formidable attendants. Would that then be this Prince’s fault as well — Jiu’er, wouldn’t you say so?”

He called her Jiu’er again!

Feng Jiu’s heart gave a sharp lurch, and her legs nearly went weak beneath her.

Ninth Imperial Uncle — was it intentional? Was it, or was it not?

Still, what had he just said? This Prince’s abilities are far too formidable?

Pfft, pfft, pfft — Ninth Imperial Uncle, was it really good to be this arrogant? Did he have any idea how to write the words “modesty” and “humility”?

Although, Feng Jiu knew that the Ninth Imperial Uncle most likely knew perfectly well how to write them. He simply could not understand their meaning.

Ah well — the man simply had the capital to be insufferably proud and domineering, and she could not refute a single word he said.

“Ninth Lord, being too arrogant is not a good thing — retribution will come for it.” She felt the urge to roll her eyes.

“It does not matter. This Prince is not arrogant — this Prince speaks nothing but the truth, always.” He replied calmly.

Feng Jiu very nearly spat blood. This was not called arrogance?!

Very well — he was simply speaking the truth. Ah… really. Spending time around someone so extraordinarily accomplished was enough to leave a person utterly crushed in spirit.

“Ninth Lord, that is…”

“You want this Prince to return to the manor to rest?” The man’s gaze appeared gentle, yet the feeling of him watching her — why did it carry the air of someone who might swallow her whole at any moment?

Feng Jiu shivered involuntarily without warning. She very much wanted to nod and say yes, yet she did not dare.

“I…”

“If you say yes, this Prince will leave immediately.” His words were utterly serious — not the least bit like a joke, nor like someone sulking. Because there was not the slightest sign of displeasure to be read from him.

“R-really?” Sending this formidable presence away could truly be that simple? It came down to a single word — yes?

She very nearly blurted it out right then and there — yes, yes, yes! Yet why was it that the Ninth Imperial Uncle appeared not the least bit angry, and yet his gaze was so terrifying?

No — his gaze was perfectly still and calm, like the gentle warmth of a spring-day stream, not frightening in the least.

Yet her poor little heart simply could not withstand it, trembling incessantly.

Then… would not looking at him make it any easier?

Feng Jiu immediately averted her gaze and chose not to look at him. “The Ninth Prince’s Manor was built with such grandeur, and the bedchambers within are particularly spacious and comfortable — nothing at Tianji Hall can compare. So, Ninth Lord, you may as well return to— that! Ninth Lord, you may stay wherever you wish! Feng Jiu has not the slightest objection!”

What did it mean for that large hand to land on her shoulder just like that? The shock of it sent every word Feng Jiu had been about to say plunging back down her throat, and what came out instead was everything above.

“Splendid.” A trace of a smile, barely perceptible, passed through the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s eyes, and he was at last satisfied with her: “This Prince prefers to rest in your bedchambers.”

“…” Could he perhaps be the slightest bit more roundabout and not quite so direct?

But what had just happened? Why had a large hand been placed upon her shoulder? Was that not a blatant act of intimidation?

“Ninth Lord…”

“This Prince despises, above all else, people who go back on their word.” A trace of cold crept into his expression.

Feng Jiu hunched her neck slightly. “Then… what if someone were to go back on their word before you?”

“Strip her bare and throw her on the bed.”

Pfft! But what about if it were a man?

The mere thought of the Ninth Imperial Uncle stripping a man bare and throwing him on the bed nearly sent her into fits of laughter.

“Naturally, the prerequisite is that the person in question is a woman this Prince has taken a liking to.” He added.

A woman he had taken a liking to… Feng Jiu’s heart gave another tremble, then another, setting off an endless wave of speculation.

In the end, barely managing to suppress the wild thoughts churning within her, she said: “Then… if it were not a woman the Ninth Lord had taken a liking to…”

“Then they would be stripped bare, bound up, and sent out to parade through the streets.”

“Well then — Ninth Lord, although the bedchambers at our Tianji Hall may not be as spacious as those at the Ninth Prince’s Manor, they can be made very comfortable. Ha.”

She let out a hollow laugh, and her entire spirit wilted completely.

“Splendid indeed.” Zhan Qingcheng continued walking forward. At the fork in the road, naturally the path taken led toward Tianji Hall.

As for the Ninth Prince’s Manor — however spacious, however comfortable, without a certain someone there, it had nothing left to draw him at all.

Feng Jiu felt as though she had clearly dug a pit and buried herself in it.

Did she want to be stripped bare and thrown onto a bed by the Ninth Imperial Uncle, or to be stripped bare and bound up for a street parade by the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s men?

Very well — wanting neither, her only option was to return to Tianji Hall together with the Ninth Imperial Uncle.

Yet they had only just turned off the fork onto another long street and taken several dozen steps, when Feng Jiu’s expression suddenly changed.

The Ninth Imperial Uncle was still walking ahead of her, though he had come to a halt a little further on.

Feng Jiu stepped out from behind him, looked at the figures approaching them from the front, and — once the initial flash of surprise had passed — became utterly expressionless.

Spending time at the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s side, after a length of time, she had learned to wear that same icy mask.

On the road ahead, four people were approaching.

Feng Jiu had not expected that, after half a year’s separation, she could remain so calm upon seeing these four again.

Ha — should she perhaps rush forward and tear each and every one of them apart before the rage in her heart could be considered satisfied?

On the battlefield, not only had she been persecuted by Tuoba Keyan — she had also been hunted down by Night Rakshasa and Elder Stone, who had disguised themselves as soldiers.

She had believed that within the Ninth Imperial Uncle’s military camp, only those two had wished to eliminate her. In that, she had been gravely mistaken.

The reason she had been so severely wounded and had slept unconscious for so long lay with two other masterminds — Cold Moon, who had been single-mindedly bent on taking her life, and Emperor Ji, who, after deliberating for so long, had ultimately decided he wanted her dead as well.

Having barely escaped the chaos of war, she had then been struck by a palm from Emperor Ji. Feng Yinan’s injuries had not originally been so grave — had Cold Moon not stabbed him with a sword, he would never have been wounded to that extent.

At that time, the two of them had truly been pushed to the very brink of annihilation. Had Xue Gu not turned back, she and Feng Yinan would surely have died at the hands of these four acting in concert.

She had vanished for so long. And now, at last, these enemies were coming to her door one by one?