Yanu shook his head and gestured a few times.

Feng Jiu’er understood — Xiao Yingtao and Mu Mu were both accompanying Feng Yinan.

At this time, Qiao Mu was naturally up front managing affairs at Tianji Hall.

She let out a soft breath and said, “Yanu, go prepare some food for Tuoba Keyan. In a while, I’ll personally bring it to him.”

That morning, her single word — “don’t believe you” — had likely hurt Tuoba Keyan. In truth, her own situation was genuinely a little difficult right now.

Who to trust, who not to trust — she herself didn’t know. That “don’t believe you” had merely been tossed out carelessly.

She had assumed Tuoba Keyan would understand, but quite clearly, he had taken it to heart and was now fixating on it.

Unexpectedly, Yanu shook his head, pointed toward the outside, then shook his head again.

“He still hasn’t come back?” Feng Jiu’er stood up, growing a little anxious.

That fellow — this was the Imperial City. He had once been the Great Prince of Rouhe, and there was no telling how many people in this Imperial City might recognize him.

Although the chances of running into someone who knew him were not great, still — there was always that possibility, wasn’t there?

“Could it be he truly doesn’t want to come back?” Jiu’er rubbed her brow and said helplessly, “Go prepare some food then. I’ll head out and look for him.”

Yanu nodded and turned to leave.

Feng Jiu’er tucked a short blade into her tall boot and immediately headed out the door.

——

From a distance, that silhouette over there seemed faintly familiar.

And yet, the quiet aura about him was completely different from the person he had known…

“Your Highness, is something wrong?” an accompanying guard asked softly.

The Eighth Prince, Zhan Lingtian, narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze on the grey-robed man passing below, his expression growing somewhat grave.

The subordinate seated across from Zhan Lingtian also glanced downward, and quickly spotted that grey-clad figure. “Your Highness, he… could he possibly be the Great Prince of Rouhe?”

Back when tensions between Rouhe and Bei Mu had run high, they had met before and even exchanged words. The Great Prince of Rouhe, Tuoba Keyan, had a fiery temper, but his appearance was strikingly handsome — he had left a very deep impression on all of them.

The man walking below now looked exactly like Tuoba Keyan — completely identical.

“Could it be that the Great Prince did not actually die in battle during that war?” The subordinate also furrowed his brow.

“Has anyone personally seen his corpse?” Zhan Lingtian’s gaze was locked on that figure. The resemblance was unmistakable, and yet the aura about him was entirely different.

“That, no one has.” The subordinate thought for a moment, then suddenly said, “Your Highness, why don’t I go and take a look?”

Zhan Lingtian waved his hand, and the man seated across from him immediately stood up. With a sweep of his arm, over a dozen plainclothes guards fell in behind him, hurrying down from the upper floor.

Walking along the street, Tuoba Keyan clearly sensed that quite a few gazes had fallen upon him. He glanced up — the atmosphere above that teahouse seemed a little off, though he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was wrong.

By the time he looked back, there were already more than a dozen people behind him.

Without any warning — not even knowing himself what he was hiding from — before those people could draw close, he immediately quickened his pace and turned toward the narrow alley up ahead.

The people behind him were not coming with good intentions.

He recalled that Feng Jiu had once told him that he was a foreigner, and that in this Imperial City he needed to be careful not to let people see through his identity. At the time, Feng Jiu had not explained exactly who he was — only that relations between the two countries were poor, and that if someone recognized him, there might be danger.

Thus, Tuoba Keyan’s instincts now told him that if the people behind caught up with him, his fate would likely not be pleasant.

After turning into the narrow alley, he immediately moved toward another lane.

But those behind him had sensed he was trying to flee, and quickened their own steps. Soon, the distance between the two parties had closed.

Tuoba Keyan was growing anxious. He had no lightness skill whatsoever at the moment — escaping was far easier said than done.

Ahead was another main street. He didn’t even know where he was now and could only vaguely make out the general direction of Tianji Hall.

But from here to Tianji Hall, there was no telling how far it was. The most pressing concern was that he might well be caught by the people behind before he even got there.

Just as Tuoba Keyan had no idea where to hide, someone suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him forcefully.

Pitch black! Tuoba Keyan had absolutely no idea what place he had been pulled into.

Just as he was about to struggle, the person behind him spoke softly: “Don’t move. It’s me.”

The vigilance in Tuoba Keyan’s heart dissolved in an instant.

Outside, those dozen or so guards charged past with long swords in hand, but none of them discovered their hiding place and pressed on ahead in pursuit.

Only once they were far gone did Tuoba Keyan murmur, “Jiu’er, I don’t know who those people were.”

“Mm.” Feng Jiu’er nodded and led him out of the hidden alley, heading off in another direction.

Before long, they had shaken off everyone and returned to Tianji Hall safely.

Jiu’er brought him to the east wing. Although Xiao Yingtao and the others were certainly still in the east wing looking after Feng Yinan, the east wing wasn’t too small — and when she had gone in, she had already observed that Xiao Yingtao was not out in the outer room.

They stepped briskly into Jiu’er’s bedchamber. Yanu had long since had the midday meal prepared.

“Who exactly am I?” When the room had only the two of them left, Tuoba Keyan looked at Feng Jiu’er with a face full of confusion. “Why were they trying to chase me? And who were those people?”

“I’ve told you before — you are a foreigner, and moreover from an ethnic group whose relations with Bei Mu are very poor.”

Sometimes, telling a lie was an exceedingly difficult thing. To keep one lie going required more and more lies on top of it.

And so Feng Jiu’er, selectively, told him a portion of the truth.

“You were once a foreign military commander — just as you might suppose, absolutely no friend of Bei Mu’s people.”

“As for Xiao Yingtao saying you caused the deaths of many people — I feel this kind of thing cannot be judged in terms of right or wrong. One can only say that each side serves their own master.”

Tuoba Keyan looked at her, uncertain whether to believe her words.

That Jiu’er wanted to comfort him was beyond doubt. Yet precisely because of such comfort, how much of it was truth and how much was softening, he could not be certain.

Even so, what Jiu’er said about him being a foreign military commander — that, he believed to be true.

“Did I… ever hurt Xiao Yingtao?”

“Mm.”

Tuoba Keyan let out a breath and decided to let go of his resentment over Xiao Yingtao’s rudeness today. Everything was most likely because he had truly committed no small number of wrongs in the past.

“Then did I… hurt you?” Tuoba Keyan asked again. Though his face showed little expression, it was plain to see that he was tense.

Feng Jiu’er gave a faint smile and pushed the bowl a little closer toward him. “Eat first. We’ll talk after.”

Tuoba Keyan felt a chill settle in his heart, and his mood sank once more in an instant.

He had after all hurt Jiu’er — perhaps deeply, grievously so.

What kind of person had he been in the past?