Empress? Seventh Master Xie was momentarily stunned.

Of course—although Eunuch Qi served the Emperor, in the current Imperial City, it was that Empress Chu who was truly in charge.

Even Xiao Yu obeyed her, so naturally the eunuchs, palace maids, and Imperial Guards all followed her orders as well.

“Why does the Empress want to see him?” he asked, his eyes wary.

This Empress Chu was not of one mind with the Xie family.

“Young Master Yanlai frightened His Majesty,” Eunuch Qi said. “Her Majesty demands he enter the palace immediately to give His Majesty an explanation.”

His Majesty? Seventh Master Xie hesitated. “Why not have Yanfang go see His Majesty first? After soothing His Majesty, it won’t be too late to see Yanlai.”

Eunuch Qi shook his head. “One person takes responsibility for their own actions—how can we have Young Master Yanfang explain on his behalf?” He stepped forward and looked down at the platform below, raising his voice. “Xie Yanlai! The Empress says you are unbearably mischievous and have disturbed the capital. You truly deserve punishment. She commands you to enter the city immediately bearing thorned branches to plead guilty.”

As he spoke, two eunuchs behind him stepped forward, holding several thorned branches in their hands.

Bearing thorned branches to plead guilty? Entering the city? Wasn’t this a public humiliation parade?

Everyone below the platform froze.

“But this is still punishment, isn’t it?” General Niu couldn’t help but complain. “Didn’t they say there was no crime?”

The others quickly restrained him again.

“That’s the Empress.” “The Empress presides over court audiences—her word is golden law. Whatever she says goes.”

“Even without presiding over court, the Empress has led border troops. She’s essentially our commanding officer. It’s natural for a commander to punish someone.”

Xie Yanlai paid no attention to everyone’s chatter, nor did he object or question. He simply curled his lip. “I knew she’d make a fuss.”

……

……

Seventh Master Xie rushed hurriedly through the family gate and ran straight into Steward Cai.

“Where’s Yanfang?” he asked.

Steward Cai pointed behind him. “Playing chess at the Waterside Pavilion.”

Seventh Master Xie paused mid-step. “He has guests?”

Steward Cai shook his head. “No, he’s playing against himself.”

Seventh Master Xie was both amused and exasperated. “When did he pick up this new hobby? He used to think even playing chess with others was a waste of time.” He strode quickly toward the back, soon seeing the young master sitting in the pavilion at the end of the curved water corridor.

The young master wore casual home clothes, one hand propping up his chin, the other holding a chess piece, his expression focused on the board.

“Everything was going fine,” Seventh Master Xie sat down and spoke directly. “But then Empress Chu had to interfere. I don’t know what authority she’s trying to assert, but she insists Xie Yanlai must bear thorned branches and plead guilty entering the capital.”

Xie Yanfang held the chess piece and smiled. “Bearing thorned branches to plead guilty? She learned that from me.”

Seventh Master Xie remembered—three years ago there had been such an incident, with the matter of Prince Wei of Handan wanting land, they had Xie Yanlai publicly punished on the street to conclude the affair.

“That time she interrupted it halfway,” he said with displeasure. “This time she’s actually using it herself.”

Xie Yanfang nodded. “Yes, that time she protected him, and this time is the same.”

Protected? Seventh Master Xie thought they might be talking about different things. Last time she had interrupted—that aside—but this time it was the Empress’s order. How was this still protecting Xie Yanlai?

Xie Yanfang said, “This bearing thorned branches to plead guilty has been one of the best methods for gaining fame throughout history.”

He placed the chess piece in his hand on the board with a crisp click.

……

……

When the majestic and massive city walls of the capital appeared before them, the soldiers entering the capital for the first time were not shocked by the city walls, but by the crowds outside the city.

There were so many people!

Though they knew along the way that it was different from the border regions, with prosperous towns and large populations, this was so crowded it was nearly blocking the roads.

“These are all people who came to watch the excitement,” the officials murmured.

Earlier at the capital garrison there had been quite a few spectators. The news must have spread to the capital by now. After this journey, people in the capital must have gathered to watch the excitement.

One official even smiled and said, “This is the Empress punishing Xie Yanlai—what kind of punishment would it be if no one saw it?”

These common people were probably deliberately assembled by the Empress too.

He gestured to the Imperial Guards. “Clear a path for School Captain Xie to enter the Imperial City.”

Actually, they didn’t need to give orders—the city guards were already dispersing the crowds on the streets. The Commander of City Defense approached, first greeting the officials. Without much talk, he called out for Xie Yanlai.

“School Captain Xie,” he said. “Please proceed.”

Xie Yanlai dismounted, and the thorned branches were right behind him.

“Your clothes,” Eunuch Qi reminded from horseback. “Since this is pleading guilty, let’s be sincere about it.”

He had to remove his clothes too? This was truly punishment, the humiliating kind. Everyone’s expressions were complex—some indifferent, some smiling, some worried.

Xie Yanlai’s expression showed no shame or anger, but he frowned at Eunuch Qi. After sparring and brawling in the training grounds for so long earlier, his clothes were tattered. Eunuch Qi had urged them to leave immediately, and everyone couldn’t be bothered with washing up—they had just thrown on whatever clothes were available before setting out.

“Should have said so earlier,” he said impatiently. “I wouldn’t have worn any if you’d mentioned it.”

Eunuch Qi smiled. “Though the weather has warmed, the wind is still a bit cool. The Empress wants to punish the School Captain, not harm him.” He gestured to the eunuchs. “Quickly, help him.”

The eunuchs stepped forward to help Xie Yanlai with the thorned branches, but Xie Yanlai didn’t need their assistance. He tore open his robe himself, exposing his upper body, brushed aside the eunuchs, and strode toward the city gate.

The officials no longer followed—let the Xie family son enjoy this humiliating scene alone.

The bare-chested young man emerged from the formation, and the surrounding onlookers instantly fixed their gazes on him. Earlier there had been a mass of people—officials, soldiers, and eunuchs—making it impossible to tell who the main figure was, but now they finally identified him.

“Look, that’s him!”

“It must be him—the one who started the trouble. He deserves punishment!”

“This is Third Young Master Xie’s younger brother?”

“Don’t mention Third Young Master—what does this have to do with him? Don’t tarnish the Third Young Master for nothing!”

“I heard he’s a concubine’s son, and that concubine dumped the child with the Xie family and ran away.”

“What concubine? We don’t even know if that’s true or not.”

“The Xie family didn’t acknowledge him originally. It was Third Young Master Xie who took pity on the child nearly freezing to death in the snow in the dead of winter and persuaded his grandfather to recognize him.”

“You see? Tyrannical, arrogant, killing and setting fires—definitely not Xie family blood. He’s sullied the family gate.”

All around, people pointed and discussed. Though many spoke in low voices, with so many people even low voices gathered into a roar, and because of that roar, more people had to speak louder, and in an instant the street seemed to raise a tidal wave, crashing toward the young man walking in the center.

A soldier standing at the back couldn’t help but murmur, “That’s terrifying.”

Though they only said Xie Yanlai should bear thorned branches and plead guilty, both border troops and capital soldiers had each brought ten men along, in case the court asked questions.

They all stood behind the officials now.

General Niu was in a foul mood. Hearing the voice, he turned and scolded, “Useless! What’s so terrifying? Haven’t you seen people before? Haven’t heard cursing before? In every battle, were there few Xi Liang soldiers? The cursing was even louder than this! Acting like you’ve never seen anything—disgraceful!”

The soldier was thoroughly berated and said sheepishly, “But it’s different. These are… ordinary people.”

What about ordinary people? Were ordinary people more frightening than Xi Liang soldiers with blades who came to take lives? General Niu was about to scold again, but the words stuck in his throat—

Yes, sometimes ordinary people truly were more frightening than evildoers.

General Niu looked ahead. The young man walked neither fast nor slow. His upper body was bare, thorned branches on his back, walking lazily forward, completely unconcerned with the surrounding clamor.

Just like before battle formations—no matter how fierce the Xi Liang soldiers, no matter how dangerous the situation, he was never concerned, never afraid.

“Young Master isn’t afraid of anything,” General Niu said.

This was a phrase Xie Yanlai often said.

But being unafraid was one thing—this matter was frustrating! General Niu glanced behind him. The capital soldiers were mixed in with them, also stunned, and that general named Lin Kun looked quite upset.

Along the way, Lin Kun had comforted him, saying bearing thorned branches to plead guilty was nothing serious, just for show, and promised that after the matter was settled he’d show them a good time in the capital.

After that fight, their previous animosity had dissolved. If they hadn’t fought, even if this matter ended, the fire in the capital soldiers’ hearts wouldn’t have dissipated.

General Niu now understood why Xie Yanlai had done this.

Xie Yanlai had also said something else—he was himself, the border army was the border army.

General Niu now understood that too. He took it on alone, and the border army remained safe.

General Niu clenched his fists, his face flushing. And there was something else Xie Yanlai had said—because this was the capital. He was beginning to understand that a little now too.

He suddenly tore open his robe. The soldiers beside him were startled.

“General Niu, what are you—” they asked. Before finishing, General Niu was already striding forward.

The soldiers didn’t need to ask anymore—they immediately understood what was happening.

“I’ve wanted to do this all along,” one soldier shouted, ripping open his shirt.

Following his action, a series of tearing sounds rang out. The officials who had been watching the excitement ahead were alarmed and turned around.

“What are you doing?” they demanded. “What kind of behavior is this!”

General Niu called out loudly, “We border troops are united. We plead guilty to His Majesty together with School Captain Xie.”

Without paying attention to these officials, he chased after Xie Yanlai.

Behind him, soldiers surged forward like a tide.

The tramping footsteps drew the onlookers’ attention away from Xie Yanlai to see ten soldiers with bare chests approaching boldly, startling them.

“We fought too,” the soldiers shouted. “We’ve come to plead guilty as well.”

So these are border troops? Real barbarians!

The capital’s citizens were minded to tease these country folk, and cries rang out again. “You don’t have thorned branches—we’ll give you some!” “Shout a few more times for us to hear—”

The jeering rose again like a tidal wave, even louder than before.

They’d teach these border barbarians a lesson—the capital wasn’t a place where they could run wild.

The wave surged backward. Xie Yanlai sensed it but didn’t bother looking back. Let them do whatever they wanted—he didn’t care.

But the wave had barely risen when it stopped again. Xie Yanlai heard even more concentrated footsteps behind him.

“General Kun!” Several capital soldiers grabbed Lin Kun, stopping him from tearing his robe and preventing him from going forward. “Don’t join the chaos. That’s the Empress, that’s the Xie family, and the Grand Tutor—”

Those border barbarians were simple-minded—seeing punishment, they only saw it as punishment. But they were in the capital, at the Emperor’s feet, and had seen plenty of power struggles. That was bloodless killing.

The matter of School Captain Xie’s punishment wasn’t a small matter at all—it involved the Xie family, the Grand Tutor, the Empress, the border army power struggle—

Better to mind their own business.

Lin Kun naturally knew all this even better, but he still shook off the soldiers.

“Why worry about all that?” he roared. “We fought with people and lost. They’re going to bear thorned branches and plead guilty, and we’re just watching the excitement? This General Kun can’t afford to lose that much face!”

Hearing this, the other soldiers no longer hesitated and tore off their robes one after another.

“The winners are punished, so the losers should be punished too,” they roared. “We acted recklessly and disturbed the citizens. We plead guilty to His Majesty!”

Even with ten more soldiers, their voices couldn’t drown out everyone else, but neither side raised a tidal wave again.

The onlooking citizens were stunned. From their words they understood these were capital soldiers. The earlier commotion had spread everywhere—everyone knew it was border troops and capital soldiers fighting.

The border troops had started trouble, and now they were punishing the border army’s military officer Xie Yanlai.

It was one thing for border troop soldiers to defend and follow him, but why even the capital soldiers—

“It’s not that strange,” someone in the crowd said. “They’re also at fault, right?”

So—

“So what? There are plenty of things where people are at fault, but the Empress didn’t say to punish them,” someone immediately retorted. “Don’t we know how slippery these capital soldiers are?”

Being at fault and then shamelessly refusing to admit it—how could they possibly come forward to accept punishment without being told to?

Are they crazy?

What’s going on? What does this mean? The capital soldiers got beaten and they’re still being so righteous?

All around, discussions and pointing continued, a buzzing sound, but it was only like water boiling—no longer a wave that could crash down.

Gazes no longer all focused on Xie Yanlai but looked behind him. Behind him, footsteps were chaotic. Xie Yanlai could no longer ignore them. He glanced back.

General Niu raised his fist and shouted, “School Captain Xie, we’ll accept punishment together!”

“We will too,” Lin Kun also shouted at him.

Xie Yanlai looked at them, frowning. “What’s wrong with you all?” He turned his head, ignoring them, and continued striding forward.

General Niu and Lin Kun didn’t mind his attitude. They laughed heartily, heads high and chests out.

The buzzing sound was like war drums, accompanying their footsteps.

“Look there!”

Suddenly a loud voice shouted.

“That Xie Yanlai’s body!”

His body? Gazes once again converged on the young man at the front. His bare skin was covered with a layer of dust, not looking clean, but it didn’t conceal his fit physique—

He had an upright back, broad shoulders, a narrow waist. Though his skin looked dirty, his muscles were solid, gleaming in the sunlight—

This body was actually quite good-looking.

Women on the street couldn’t help standing on tiptoe. Young ladies covered their faces halfway with fans. Men snorted.

This reaction seemed wrong? The old and young standing before several shops on the street quickly raised their voices to remind everyone, “Ah—so many scars!”

“Ah, was that scar from a blade?”

“Look, that wound is still fresh!”

The voices from the street echoed repeatedly in everyone’s ears, making all gazes converge on the young man again. Through the dust, they saw that this handsome body was indeed covered with ferocious scars.

When they clearly saw those terrible injuries, many people gasped.

“My heavens!” Qi Leyun nearly tumbled out the window. “Was his shoulder almost cleaved open?”

The young ladies half-hiding behind fans widened their eyes, wanting to look but afraid. “How frightening!”

One girl who had been in the back with no interest in watching suddenly pushed forward when she heard about the wounds, excitedly pointing things out to everyone.

“That’s a blade wound—this injury is at least half a year old.”

“Fresh wounds are much more frightening than this. The flesh splits open. Now look at his left ribs there—that’s a spear wound. Different from blade wounds, see? Doesn’t it look like a flower? Spear wounds look better than blade wounds.”

Could wounds be described as beautiful? The girls were both amused and exasperated. This silly girl was from a medical family. Though women couldn’t practice medicine, she could only study privately. Originally she didn’t dare let people know, fearing other girls would shun her and refuse to play with her. But ever since that year’s Chu Garden literary gathering where the girls freely displayed their skills, she no longer had to hide.

“I can’t tell if they’re beautiful or ugly,” one girl sighed, pressing her chest, staring blankly at the young man striding down the street. “I’ve never seen anyone suffer so many wounds and still… be alive.”

The girls all stopped laughing and looked at the young man. Their hearts suddenly felt heavy. Suddenly one girl threw down a flower she was holding, as if wanting to use it to cover the terrible scars on the young man’s body.

The flower coincidentally landed on the young man’s shoulder. Small as it was, it couldn’t cover anything, but it made the alert young man look up.

The slanting spring sunlight bathed his face. His eyes were like lake water, with sunlight breaking within them, rippling with light.

His gaze was very unfriendly, sharp as a sword, piercing into the hearts of the girls at the window.

In that instant, all the girls held their breath. The clamor on the street could no longer be heard—only the thumping of their own hearts.

Actually, three years ago they had seen Xie Yanlai. At that time he was also parading through the streets, bare-chested, with someone wielding a whip to strike him. Each lash split his skin and flesh open. But at that time they only felt frightened and disgusted, with no other thoughts.

At that time, the youth had also raised his head, facing mockery and disgust, defiantly surveying his surroundings.

When he looked up then, there was also something striking about him, but it quickly faded—just a handsome face, after all.

Three years had passed. The youth had grown up, become even more handsome, and it wasn’t just his appearance—light radiated from his very bones, brilliant and dazzling.

“Good thing his face wasn’t injured,” Qi Leyun murmured.

The people on the street also seemed to have lost their voices, not knowing whether they were stunned by the wounds or by his face.

Of course, not everyone was silent. Voices rose one after another.

“So many wounds—were they all from killing Xi Liang people?”

“He’s border army—he’s a hero who killed Xi Liang bandits—”

“Heavens, so many wounds—who knows how many fierce battles he’s been through.”

“The war has been going on for two years—”

“Hero and brave warrior—welcome to the capital—”

Accompanying the shouts, more flowers were thrown at the young man.

This time they came from the onlooking crowd on the street, not fresh flowers but silk flowers, apparently just removed from some woman’s hair.

The silk flower landed on Xie Yanlai’s back, bounced once, and fell.

The woman who threw the flower was a peddler with a basket, her head wrapped in a kerchief. This silk flower was her only ornament. As gazes from all around fell on her, her face flushed red. She didn’t know why she had suddenly thrown the flower.

“Heroes should wear flowers!” Women’s voices rang out from windows on the second floor.

With these shouts, more fresh flowers and silk flowers were thrown down.

Some landed on Xie Yanlai’s body or head, some on the ground. Regardless of where they fell, these flowers were like drops of water falling into a hot oil pan, instantly making the previously calm surface erupt with crackling and popping.

“Heroes should wear flowers!”

Countless shouts rang out all around. However, not many people held fresh flowers in their hands—mostly it was the onlooking women throwing hairpins and flowers from their heads. There were ornate ones and simple red silk strips, white-haired old women, and young girls held in their parents’ arms. The little girls didn’t know what they were doing, just thinking it was a fun game, happily throwing their little silk flowers—but lacking strength, they only landed on the heads of people in front, drawing laughter.

Some shop made a grand gesture—servants brought out baskets and baskets of fresh flowers. People on the street scrambled to grab them and throw them at the young general bearing thorned branches with his bare chest.

For a moment, the street was like a rain of flowers.

“This scene—” A guest sitting in a tall building overlooking it all couldn’t help but say, “I feel like I’ve seen it before.”

“More than once too,” someone else stroked his beard and smiled.

Yes, more than once. Last year when His Majesty returned to court after the personal campaign, flower rain fell all over the main street. Later there was another day when flower rain flew through the main street. Though they said it was a group of women enjoying spring and having fun, word eventually got out—it was the Empress returning and passing through the street.

After the Empress fought Xi Liang in the north and besieged Prince Zhongshan, she returned quietly to the capital without alarming the citizens or officials.

Now once again flowers flew through the street, falling on the Xie family son bearing thorned branches to plead guilty.

Was this punishment or celebration?

“A hero and brave warrior,” the guest who first spoke picked up a decorative radish carving from his plate and threw it down. “This should be celebrated!”

More and more flowers were thrown. At first they aimed at Xie Yanlai, but later they were for all the soldiers.

“They’re all heroes and brave warriors.”

“Look—their bodies all have wounds too.”

The soldiers walking behind Xie Yanlai were excited and nervous. This, this—they hadn’t expected this at all. They just wanted to accompany Xie Yanlai in pleading guilty. How did they end up being praised?

“Defending the nation and slaying enemies—they are Da Xia’s good sons!”

“Look at that soldier—only fifteen or sixteen, right? Still just a child.”

“Look at that soldier—he has a fresh wound, still bleeding—”

Well, forget that one—that was from the fight—the sparring match—just now. The soldier being pointed at was somewhat flustered.

“What’s there to panic about! We dared to spar with border army heroes. Even bleeding is glorious!” Lin Kun said boldly, reaching out to clap that soldier. “Straighten your back—don’t shame me—”

As he spoke, he reached out and caught a red silk flower thrown from the street. His sharp gaze captured the young lady who threw it, and he raised his eyebrows with a bright smile, throwing her a flirtatious wink.

That young lady and the women around her laughed together.

Lin Kun pinned the silk flower at his temple, looking at the young man’s back submerged in the rain of flowers ahead.

“This old fellow has lived so many years, and this is the first time I’ve encountered something so fun,” he laughed. “Many thanks, good brother.”

The chaotic rain of flowers and clamor formed a curtain, separating the officials standing outside the city gate. The officials’ expressions were complex.

The will of the people? Spontaneous celebration? They didn’t believe it at all.

It must be a trick by the Xie family. Their mocking gazes all converged on the Xie family members.

Seventh Master Xie had already returned home first. The ones remaining here were several young masters. Their faces were now alternately red and pale—whether from excitement or something else, it was hard to say.

“How… how is this happening?” Xie Xiao murmured. He also didn’t believe this was spontaneous from the citizens. This was clearly arranged by someone.

Among the crowd, who knew how many people were hidden, fanning the flames and stirring up this excitement?

Not the kind of excitement they wanted.

Who did this?

Their gazes fixed on the red-robed eunuch. That old eunuch squinted his dim old eyes at the scene ahead, pointing and discussing with the two young eunuchs—

“This servant has never seen such excitement,” he said with a smile. “This errand has truly been eye-opening.”

Fresh flowers, silk flowers, and red silk flew chaotically, landing softly on bodies and heads, not like whips bringing searing pain.

The clamor raised a wave even larger than before, but now as it crashed against him, it wasn’t fierce at all—instead it was like a spring breeze embracing him.

Xie Yanlai looked ahead, his vision somewhat blurred.

He still remembered last time, on this familiar yet strange street, he had walked alone while fierce waves crashed around him and a whip struck from behind. Then he had raised his head and seen that girl standing at a second-floor window.

Then that girl had rushed down and spread her arms to shield him from behind.

“Wait!”

Xie Yanlai closed his eyes briefly. Though she later went to see Xie Yanfang, though many people said that girl had ulterior motives, though he said so too, though he believed it—this matter could indeed benefit that girl.

But he knew that regardless of what that girl planned afterward, in that moment, the moment she rushed out, she was just trying to protect him.

Xie Yanlai opened his eyes and looked up. There were women’s laughter at second-floor windows, but she wasn’t among them. However, she was still protecting him.