Feng Yi’s rather delicate face alternated between green and white, while Kong Xirong sat with his head down, silent.
“If you and Xirong want to extricate yourselves, there’s a way,” Han Qian removed the saber from his waist and tossed it onto the stone table, saying, “Take this knife, run to the first courtyard at the head of Wuli Lane, kick down the door and go in, kill Spring Mistress, then go find Zhao Mingting at the Bureau of Operations and tell him that Spring Mistress and Yao Xishui are both agents cultivated in secret by the Marquis Xinchang residence these years. From then on willingly serve under Zhao Mingting’s command and become enemies with us here. One day when the Crown Prince ascends the throne, perhaps your merits won’t be lacking!”
“What, Yao Xishui is also an agent cultivated by the Marquis Xinchang residence?” Feng Yi’s eyes widened like saucers, staring at Han Qian in disbelief.
“Why do you think I’m mired so deep?” Han Qian smiled coldly, saying, “Do you think that women with pretty faces are all playthings for you to fondle as you please?”
Han Qian looked back at Xi Ren, pointing at the treetop and saying: “That crow has been cawing for ages, it’s very annoying. Kill it for me.”
Xi Ren glanced at Han Qian. She wore silver bracelets with bells on her ankles that would startle away the crow in the elm tree in the front courtyard with the slightest movement. She picked up the saber Han Qian had placed on the stone table, drew it and threw it forward. A sharp cold gleam flashed before their eyes. The crow had just taken flight from the treetop when it was split in half mid-air by the sharp blade. Blood and flesh along with a few feathers and fallen leaves dropped from the treetop…
At this moment, Feng Yi instinctively felt a chill at the back of his neck, as if cold air was creeping up. How could he have imagined that the tribal woman Han Qian brought back from Xuzhou would have such capabilities?
Gao Shao, Tian Cheng and the others were keeping watch in the front courtyard. Not knowing what had happened here to cause such a commotion, they rushed in with hands on their sabers. Han Qian waved his hand, having them retrieve the straight-backed saber that had been thrown into the front courtyard and was now stuck in the corner of the eaves.
He had originally thought Xi Ren would pick up a couple of broken bricks to knock down that crow and show off a bit to Feng Yi and the others. He hadn’t expected this woman to pick up his saber and throw it out, killing that crow so bloodily.
When Gao Shao brought back the straight-backed saber, seeing that a notch had definitely been chipped out of the blade, Han Qian’s heart ached as he glared hard at Xi Ren. He had heard this woman would throw little tantrums in front of Feng Changyu but was usually quite obedient. He hadn’t expected that at his side, her temper was clearly growing.
“Spring Mistress moved to Wuli Lane to watch you?” After quite a while, Feng Yi finally recovered, asking Han Qian hesitantly.
“I’m loyal to His Highness, my resolve unchanged. When one’s conduct is upright, one need not fear a crooked shadow. If Spring Mistress wants to move to Wuli Lane, can I stop her?” Han Qian said, “But you and Xirong, if you don’t want to be mired deep, you should make your decision early.”
Feng Yi and Kong Xirong looked at each other. If not for this tribal woman showing off this skill, they might still have had thoughts of killing Spring Mistress to silence her.
But with this tribal woman’s abilities, forget about Feng Yi’s mediocre skills—even the tall and burly Kong Xirong who had practiced martial arts since childhood might not be able to handle her calmly. In their hearts they thought, if Spring Mistress or those around her also secretly hid such figures, wouldn’t running over to kill and silence her be seeking death?
And if Spring Mistress didn’t die and couldn’t be silenced, they had no way to sever their entanglement with this side. They would become more and more deeply involved, more and more mired.
When the succession struggle truly reached the final moment of revealing the dice cup and announcing victory or defeat, would they be able to enjoy wealth and honor under their respective families’ protection? Or perhaps, exactly as Han Qian said, at that time they would become discarded pieces, ruthlessly abandoned by their families?
They didn’t know if Han Qian was deceiving them, but they could still remember yesterday in their drunken haze, occasionally glimpsing the ferocity and torment in Yang Qin’s eyes when drinking.
Of course, Feng Yi also remembered when the Xuzhou dispatches first arrived in Jinling—after his father went sleepless through the night, he summoned him for a severe scolding. Previously he might not have thought too deeply about it, but now he could understand that his father at that time had precisely read too much bloodshed and terror from the dispatches sent from Xuzhou to Jinling.
His father was afraid they were too deeply involved, afraid of bloody reckoning from Anning Palace and the Crown Prince’s faction in the future. But his father didn’t know that they actually had no way to sever their entanglement with the Third Prince.
“I’m different from you,” Feng Yi sighed and honestly told Han Qian, “After Xuzhou sent dispatches about the prison riot, not only can Xirong and I no longer control our monthly allowances, even the servants and guards around us were all replaced by my father and uncle. Yesterday we only managed to shake off these tails with Li Zhigao and the others’ help—we really have no way in the short term to help you scrape together so much money. Regarding the warehouse here, my father also ordered me to interfere less and absolutely not let it become connected with my Feng family.”
That Feng Wenlan and Kong Zhou were unwilling to let their sons become too deeply involved and strengthened restrictions on them did not exceed Han Qian’s expectations.
“What do you yourselves want to do?” Han Qian asked.
“Of course we’re willing to be loyal to His Highness.” Feng Yi said, though his tone was still so uncertain.
“With this intent, and being the marquis residence’s study companions and aides, can anyone really use the name of disobedience to bind your hands and feet?” Han Qian countered.
Since the previous dynasty, the realm had been governed by filial piety. Disobedience was a grave crime, but in the present age, besides “a son does not disobey his father,” even more important was “a subject does not disobey his sovereign.”
In other words, no matter how powerful and authoritative Feng Wenlan was in the Feng family, no matter how his word was law, he could not openly prevent Feng Yi from fulfilling his duties as an aide and study companion to the marquis residence. This was a duty assigned to the Feng family by Emperor Tianyou himself.
Of course, to truly have Feng Yi stand on their side still depended on whether they had the courage to oppose their fathers within their families and those others who were unwilling to become entangled with the Third Prince. This obviously wasn’t something Feng Yi and the others could accomplish in the short term.
Hearing Han Qian say this, Feng Yi’s heart naturally smiled bitterly, secretly sensing how many people in the world could be as decisive as the Han father and son, breaking with their clan so cleanly and without dragging their feet?
Just as Feng Yi and Kong Xirong were hesitating uncertainly, the sound of horse hooves came rumbling from the distance. Hearing several horses stop outside the front courtyard, Han Qian asked in puzzlement: “Who would come calling so early for no reason?”
After a moment, Old Zhao came running from the front courtyard to report:
“People from the Feng residence have come, asking for Young Master Feng and Young Master Kong to return to the residence?”
Feng Yi and Kong Xirong both looked terrible. Yesterday they had gone through great difficulty to shake off several household troops who were following them closely in order to welcome Han Qian back to Jinling. Last night they had also stayed at Wanhong Tower without returning. They hadn’t expected these household troops to track them down to the Han mansion early this morning to drag them back.
Of course, coming here obviously couldn’t be these household troops acting on their own initiative.
Han Qian indicated for Old Zhao to let the Feng residence people in. After a moment, several burly men wearing leather armor walked in. Sure enough, they weren’t the Feng family servants he was familiar with from the past who spent all day accompanying Feng Yi eating, drinking and playing around Jinling.
The middle-aged man in the lead had a face as lean as a knife, radiating a stern aura. Unwilling to have any entanglement with Han Qian, he placed one hand on the saber at his waist, nodded slightly to Han Qian, then said to Feng Yi and Kong Xirong: “Third Young Master and Young Master Nephew haven’t returned all night. The master worried something happened and ordered us to search the city all night. Please, Third Young Master and Young Master Nephew, come back to the residence with us now.”
Kong Zhou came from a poor background. In his early years he was merely a minor officer in the Huainan Army. After marrying Feng Wenlan’s sister, borrowing the Feng family’s influence, he rapidly rose through the military ranks to become a great general at the deputy commander level.
When calculated carefully, the Feng family’s power was much stronger than the Han family with their tradition of two provincial governors. Moreover, the current Han family had already fallen into serious division.
“Han Qian has just returned to the capital after being away for several months. Xirong and I are staying here to reminisce with him. We’ll return to the residence ourselves.” Even if Feng Yi didn’t dare defy his father’s will, in front of Han Qian he absolutely didn’t want to be ordered around by household servants. With a gloomy face he told the several Feng residence household troops to withdraw first and not chatter endlessly here.
“Please don’t make things difficult for this subordinate, Third Young Master.” The middle-aged man insisted.
“Not long ago, there were also servants in this residence who didn’t know their place as slaves, but their end was miserable,” Han Qian looked at Feng Yi, saying indifferently, “Feng Yi, do you want me to help you teach these fellows who don’t know what’s good for them how to observe their place as slaves?”
“…” Feng Yi was startled. He didn’t dare imagine the terrifying situation he would face upon returning after his father’s trusted confidants were killed here. With a stern face, he urgently berated the newcomers: “What are you all babbling about? Get lost and go back! Do I need you slaves pointing fingers at where I go?”
Those men glanced at Han Qian. They had heard of the Han father and son’s deeds and didn’t dare be too presumptuous or actually forcibly drag Feng Yi and Kong Xirong away in front of Han Qian. They glanced at Han Qian unwillingly but still withdrew first.
“See, isn’t the matter easily resolved?” Han Qian spread his hands toward Feng Yi with a smile, “His Highness will also arrive at the Garrison Military Office before noon. When we meet His Highness there, you can request from His Highness a formal official position to serve as bureau chief or directly command troops. Then in the future you’ll be counted as serving in the same court with others…”
“Alright,” Feng Yi said reluctantly, “It’s just that Xirong and I have limited abilities. Even if we have the will, we may not be able to help much.”
Seeing Feng Yi and Kong Xirong so hesitant and uncertain, Han Qian knew that whether it was the Dragon Sparrow Army or their initial foothold in Xuzhou, they hadn’t reversed much of the disadvantage in court. He only smiled: “What you can do, His Highness should be clear about in his heart. Don’t belittle yourselves…”