Prince Zhongshan’s two carriages entered the capital, proceeding separately to the Grand Tutor’s residence and the Heir Apparent’s post station, but they didn’t attract much attention.

Gift-bearing carriages and horses came and went ceaselessly at the Grand Tutor’s residence. Officials and common people were accustomed to it, so even Prince Zhongshan’s arrival wasn’t particularly unusual. Deng Yi and Prince Zhongshan had deep connections—this was already common knowledge.

Prince Zhongshan had made such a grave error, yet not only was he unpunished, he was even granted the title of Prince Zhenguo. This was all due to the Grand Tutor’s influence.

For Prince Zhenguo to send gifts to the Grand Tutor was perfectly reasonable and proper.

As for the Heir Apparent of Prince Zhongshan’s side, the common people paid it no mind either. The matter of marching troops into the capital had already faded.

Even the border campaign had been forgotten.

Until soldiers on horseback galloped through the streets, instantly jolting awake the common people who had been either leisurely strolling or busy making their living.

“Whose troops are these?”

“The Capital Guard!”

“They’re heading toward the Ministry of War—”

“No, no, they went straight to the Imperial City. This is an urgent report!”

“Has something happened at the border?”

“I came from outside the city and heard news from the Capital Guard that fighting broke out!”

“Could Prince Zhongshan be attacking again?”

Memories that hadn’t yet faded were dredged up. The capital grew restless and uneasy. The common people surged toward government offices with inquiries, forcing the Five-City Military Commissioner to patrol the city with explanations and reassurances.

“No troops are attacking.”

“No gathering or spreading rumors.”

“It’s Capital Guard military affairs. The Capital Guard is conducting training exercises.”

This failed to reassure the common people; instead, even more rumors spread.

“Impossible. What kind of training makes post station soldiers run as if their backsides are on fire?”

“I heard a merchant say he saw a group of Capital Guard soldiers covered in blood with broken heads—very frightening.”

The atmosphere in the capital became tense.

A group of officials’ faces darkened like the bottom of a pot as they hurried into the Ministry of War.

“What exactly is going on?” “News of the fighting has alarmed the city before word of their arrival even reached us!”

“They say you failed to host them properly?”

Upon hearing this, the Ministry of War officials’ faces also looked unpleasant.

“My lord, we truly did our utmost to host them properly,” one official explained. “We lined up to welcome them for ten li, the camp grounds were swept clean and looked brand new, beef, mutton, and wine were prepared at the kitchens, and we even prepared the finest fodder for the horses.”

The court officials frowned deeply. “Was there disrespectful speech? Did the soldiers refuse to acknowledge the border army’s achievements?”

The court officials all knew the temperament of these Capital Guard troops—at the feet of the Son of Heaven, the Southern and Northern Armies were carefully selected, came from distinguished backgrounds, and were arrogant and unruly.

The Ministry of War officials denied it again. “How would we dare show disrespect? Toward the brave warriors of the border army, the Capital Guard soldiers are extremely admiring.”

Amid the clamor, a voice came a beat slower: “…Even when the border army wanted to spar with us, we yielded to them by three points.”

Upon hearing this, the clamor in the hall paused, and all eyes focused on the source of the voice.

The speaker was a tall military guard. With so many officials staring at him, his dark red face flushed even redder, and he stammered.

“So,” a court official raised his eyebrows and shouted, “you did provoke them into fighting!”

The military guard’s face reddened as he shouted back, “We didn’t provoke them—they provoked us first!”

……

……

The camp assigned to the border army was a compound with four courtyards, with ornately carved beams and painted rafters, extremely exquisite.

In the height of spring, green shade filled the courtyards, with fragrant flowers and singing birds.

For Xie Yanlai, this scene was both familiar and strange. Familiar because it was like returning to the young master’s residence of the Xie family; strange because he hadn’t lived in such an environment for a long time.

Xie Yanlai lay on his back on an arhat couch by the window, feet crossed, head pillowed on his arm. On the side table sat dried fruits, candied preserves, fruit plates, tea and water. Unfortunately, there were no beautiful maidservants to peel the fruit and feed it to him—he still had to reach out and feed himself.

Xie Yanlai was too lazy to reach out.

Suddenly, a commotion arose—shouting, cursing, and the sound of doors being pounded. The birdsong and floral fragrance instantly vanished. The gauze windows rattled as if swept by the violent spring winds of the Northwest.

This scene was actually familiar to him. The border army camps were just like this—noisy and clamorous.

Xie Yanlai turned over, drumming rhythmically on his body with his hand, as if providing musical accompaniment to the clamor outside.

The sounds grew louder. Besides cursing, bodies began colliding.

Xie Yanlai lay on the couch, seeming about to be lulled to sleep by these sounds, until footsteps sounded outside and someone pushed the door open with a bang.

“They’re fighting again outside,” said the visitor, a military officer with a helpless expression. “You’d better go take a look.”

Xie Yanlai faced inward, unmoving. If not for his fingers still tapping on his leg, one would think he’d truly fallen asleep.

He said lazily, “What’s there to see now? I’ll go look when they lose—if they lose, I’ll give them hell.”

The military officer thought he understood Xie Yanlai’s meaning—that everyone must win—but then felt he didn’t understand. Of course winning a battle looks good, but in the current situation, it wasn’t about looking good or not!

The officer said urgently, “We can’t keep fighting. This is the capital, the Capital Guard.”

“The Capital Guard is still a military camp,” Xie Yanlai said. “Being a soldier means fighting. When there are external enemies, fight the external enemies. When there are no external enemies, fight your own people. There’s always fighting to be done.”

The military officer looked at the young officer lying on the couch, finding him both familiar and strange. Familiar was this roguish air; unfamiliar was this languor. Captain Xie had this same roguish air in the border army, but that roguishness made people’s blood boil, made them unstoppable. But his current roguishness seemed indifferent to everything, uninterested in anything, as if nothing had anything to do with him.

How the border army and Capital Guard came to blows, he didn’t care. How badly they fought, he also didn’t care.

“Captain!” the military officer shouted. “We came to the capital to report for duty, not to brawl!”

The loud clamor from outside rushed in: “You showed your might against Xi Liang at the border, and we admire you as good men, but showing your might against us—what kind of good men does that make you!”

The military officer stamped his foot. “Look, look! We’re all imperial soldiers, all defending Da Xia. Making such a fuss and dividing into ‘us and them’—what does that look like!”

Xie Yanlai sat up, pushed the dried fruits on the table toward the military officer, and said earnestly, “Brother Niu, rest assured. Even dividing into ‘us and them,’ we can still defend Da Xia. Besides, they’ve already started fighting. Saying anything is useless now—better to let everyone fight to their heart’s content.”

The officer surnamed Niu said urgently, “You’re the commanding officer! If you go out and tell them to stop, how could it be useless? Captain Xie, what’s wrong with you? In the border army, even when you weren’t the commanding officer, you often directed battles yourself, claiming you were in charge.”

Xie Yanlai smiled slightly. “Because this is the capital.”

The military officer didn’t quite understand. What about the capital? Right now there’s no other commanding officer in the capital, so you’re even more in charge. Just suppress the trouble and be done with it.

Before he could ask, angry shouts rang out from outside.

“Everyone stop!” “If you keep fighting, I’ll have you all locked up and dealt with by military law!”

Like thunder on level ground, one shout after another. The clamor outside was scattered by the blasts, but the thunder didn’t stop.

“Are you people the border army?”

“In the border army, do you fight Xi Liang people? Or do you fight your own?”

“Did you come to report on your bravery against Xi Liang in battle? Or did you come to show off your might?”

“Or perhaps, you came to vent your grievances?”

The earlier words were one thing. Xie Yanlai just listened, still pinching dried fruit and crunching away. But upon hearing that last line, he tossed the dried fruit back into the plate and stood up.

“The stench of the capital is too strong,” he said, striding out.

The military officer hadn’t yet reacted. What stench? What made this immovable young man finally move?