Guxi stood with his arms crossed, leaning against one of the great stone lions at the gate of Prince Yao’s estate, watching the assembled officials in silence. He had witnessed more than his share of faces here, more than enough to have seen every shade of human nature laid bare.
He waited patiently, dressed in black, his ink-black hair bound up high, his features sharp and handsome. Were it not for his attire, anyone unfamiliar with him might have mistaken him for some young noble’s son from the capital.
Having remained quiet for so long, what radiated from him wasn’t the cold, hardened edge of a mercenary, but rather a certain gentle warmth — the kind that, the longer one looked, gave off a sense of comforting strength.
Finally, as the murmuring at the gate reached its peak, and the crowd of onlooking citizens grew ever larger, Guxi straightened, stepping forward.
“Gentlemen!” he called out, his voice loud and resonant, instantly drawing everyone’s attention — not just the assembled officials, but the surrounding citizens as well fell silent.
Only then did the officials notice Guxi at the gate, puzzling over him — wasn’t this the very guard who, a few days earlier, had come out to announce that Prince Yao was unwell?
“My lords, Prince Yao has sent this servant to deliver a message — he awaits your arrival in the Imperial Study!” Guxi announced loudly.
At these words, the already-silent crowd fell into an even deeper hush — utterly, completely silent, so quiet one could have heard a single pin drop.
Prince Yao… awaiting their arrival in the Imperial Study?
These words — didn’t they sound remarkably like what the young lord Jun Buli had just said himself — “dared show up before me without so much as offering a proper greeting”?
Wasn’t this the greatest joke imaginable?
Awaiting their arrival — a greeting to offer — these weren’t words one used lightly, were they!
At this moment, the expressions on the faces of the assembled officials were nothing short of a spectacle — not merely unsightly, but downright comical, each face contorted into its own unique variation of bewilderment.
“Gentlemen, please, do come along. You all know His Highness’s temperament — he doesn’t care to be kept waiting.” Guxi said, smiling faintly before turning to walk away.
Just moments ago it had been “awaiting your arrival,” and now it was “doesn’t care to be kept waiting”?
Suddenly, amid the silence, a series of thuds rang out — “thump, thump, thump” — as the officials, who had been kneeling all this while, found themselves unable to hold their positions any longer, collapsing one after another in a heap!
They had all guessed wrong. Nothing had happened to Prince Yao. Prince Yao had returned — and he was furious!
No one knew how much time passed before, finally, one of the officials — no one could say who — scrambled to his feet and turned to sprint toward the palace. In an instant, everyone else followed suit, scrambling up and running after him.
The scene was nothing short of spectacular. The onlooking citizens instinctively cleared a path, already buzzing with commentary!
And yet, when the assembled officials, breathless and gasping, finally reached the Imperial Study, Prince Yao was nowhere to be seen!
There sat Jun Buli, still dressed in that same black, form-fitting attire, which made his fair skin appear all the more delicate and refined, his bearing radiating unmistakable nobility.
He lounged casually, sprawled sideways across the seat of honor, absorbed in studying a register — one that recorded not only the names and positions of these officials, but their family circumstances as well.
Eunuch Xu and Murong Bohai were nowhere in sight — only Guxi stood attending at his side, straight and unwavering as a pine tree, hands clasped behind his back, all trace of his earlier warmth gone, replaced now by a stern, cold gravity.
For a moment, the assembled officials were utterly baffled.
Jun Buli seemed to have no intention of speaking at all. Even as the officials filed in, he kept his head lowered, paying them no mind whatsoever.
“This official pays respects to the young lord.”
Having learned their lesson from before, this time the assembled officials were wise enough to offer their greetings first — though not a full formal bow, merely a bent-waisted one, without kneeling.
Only then did Xiong Xiaobao lift his eyes to look at them. The officials waited for him to bid them rise — but he deliberately said nothing.
After all, though a full kneeling bow was the more formal gesture, it was hardly any easier than remaining bent at the waist — and these were all elderly officials present; holding that bent posture frozen in midair for long enough could very well be the death of them!
Seeing Jun Buli simply watching them, no one among the assembled officials dared make a sound, until Chancellor Li, standing at the front, spoke up respectfully. “Young Master, His Highness summoned us to the palace — might we ask… might we ask where His Highness is?”
“My father? Oh, he just went to see my mother,” Xiong Xiaobao answered.
At these words, the crowd was startled, momentarily unable to make sense of the situation, none daring to say much more. Only Chancellor Li ventured to ask again, testing the waters carefully. “Then… shall we wait here for Prince Yao’s return?” Jun Buli didn’t answer directly. Instead, he straightened up, and with a loud “thud,” tossed the register from his sleeve onto the table.
The assembled officials could hardly avoid looking at it — and the moment they did, every last one of them went pale. Of course they could read the names on that register!
This young master — surely he hadn’t taken it personally, back there at the gate?
Already anxious, the crowd grew all the more uneasy at the sight of that register.
At this point, Jun Buli finally gave a small, deliberate cough, and said, “This young lord has a matter he’d like to… inform you of.”
Inform them?
Given what had just happened, with the register laid out before them, the entire crowd grew wary of any such phrasing. Chancellor Li hastened to speak up. “Whatever the young lord commands, we will surely see it done with all our effort!”
At these words, Jun Buli burst out laughing at once. “Ha, how kind of you to offer, but this matter doesn’t require your effort at all. This king has already sent General Ouyang to handle it personally.”
There was no denying it — nearly every word Jun Buli spoke today seemed calculated to startle the assembled crowd.
General Ouyang? Wasn’t he the commander of the Eighteen Riders of the Dark Night? The safety of the entire capital rested in his hands!
What exactly had this young master instructed General Ouyang to do?
At this point, the assembled officials finally caught the faint scent of danger, of some scheme unfolding around them — not because they were foolish, but simply because they had never truly taken this young master seriously before.
And now, it seemed, that had been their mistake. It appeared Prince Yao had not, in fact, returned — they had been deceived!
A complicated look flickered through Chancellor Li’s eyes as he exchanged glances with several other officials. He was about to speak when Jun Buli flipped open the register on the table and said flatly, “This young lord, having grown up rather solitary, always did enjoy a bit of company. Now that my father has gone to see my mother, with no telling when he’ll return…”
Jun Buli paused there for a moment.
But the assembled officials before him were utterly baffled, unable to make sense of what he was getting at.
“This young lord does enjoy a bit of fun, so I’ve decided to borrow the young masters and young ladies of your various households, to keep this young lord company for a while at Prince Yao’s estate. I’ve already sent General Ouyang to fetch them. Gentlemen, I trust none of you object?”
At these words, never mind whether the assembled officials had fully grasped what Jun Buli had said just moments before — this single statement alone was enough to make every person present draw a sharp breath!
This… wasn’t this holding the sons and daughters of every household hostage at Prince Yao’s estate?
This… wasn’t this coercion, plain and simple, just dressed up differently?
Finally, Chancellor Li could bear it no longer, and cried out furiously, “Young Master, what exactly do you mean by this? Where is Prince Yao? We demand to see Prince Yao!”
The playful glint in Jun Buli’s eyes instantly turned cold, and he said, each word deliberate and precise, “This young lord just told you — my father has gone to see my mother, and I have no idea when he’ll return. If Chancellor Li wishes to seek out my father, I’d be happy to grant you leave to return to your hometown to go looking for him yourself!”
The moment these words left his mouth, four venomous beasts materialized out of thin air behind Jun Buli, arranged in a row like fearsome guardian spirits, glaring at the assembled officials!