Two carriages from the Prince of Zhongshan entered the capital, heading separately to the Grand Tutor’s mansion and the Crown Prince’s residence. However, they didn’t attract much attention.

The Grand Tutor’s mansion regularly received a stream of gifts and visitors, and officials and commoners were accustomed to it. Even the Prince of Zhongshan’s visit wasn’t particularly strange—the relationship between Deng Yi and the Prince of Zhongshan was already well-known to everyone.

Despite the Prince of Zhongshan committing such a grave error, not only had he escaped punishment, but he had also been granted the title of Garrison Prince. This was all due to the Grand Tutor’s influence.

It was only proper and reasonable for the Garrison Prince to send gifts to the Grand Tutor.

As for the Crown Prince of Zhongshan, the common people paid little attention to him. The incident of raising troops to enter the capital had already faded from memory.

Even the battles at the border prefecture had been forgotten.

Until troops galloped through the streets, instantly startling the people who had been either leisurely strolling or busily earning their living.

“Whose troops are these?”

“They’re from the Capital Garrison!”

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

“No, no, they’re going directly to the Imperial City. This must be urgent news.”

“Has something happened at the border prefecture?”

“I came from outside the city and heard that news from the Capital Garrison, says fighting has broken out!”

“Could it be that the Prince of Zhongshan is attacking again?”

Memories that hadn’t quite disappeared resurfaced. The capital became restless, with people flocking to government offices to inquire. The Five Cities Military Command had no choice but to patrol the city to explain and pacify the situation.

“No army is marching toward us.”

“Do not gather and spread rumors.”

“This is Capital Garrison military business. The Capital Garrison is conducting training exercises.”

This did nothing to reassure the people; instead, it led to more rumors.

“Impossible. What kind of training would have the postal soldiers running as if their bottoms were on fire?”

“I heard from a merchant that he saw a group of capital soldiers with bloody heads. It was terrifying.”

The atmosphere in the capital became very tense.

A group of officials with grim expressions hurriedly stepped into the Ministry of War.

“What exactly happened?” “The news about people arriving hasn’t been delivered yet, but news of fighting has already alarmed the city!”

“Are you saying you didn’t receive them properly?”

Hearing this, the officials from the Ministry of War also looked displeased.

“Sir, we truly did our utmost to receive them properly,” an official explained. “We formed a welcoming formation ten li away, cleaned the camp until it was spotless, prepared beef, mutton, wine, and meat in the kitchen, and even provided the finest fodder for their horses.”

The court officials frowned deeply: “Was there disrespectful language? Did the soldiers not respect the border army’s achievements?”

The court officials were well aware of the temperament of the Capital Garrison officers and soldiers. Stationed beneath the Son of Heaven, the southern and northern armies were carefully selected, of distinguished birth, and untamed.

The officials from the Ministry of War denied this again. “How would we dare to be disrespectful? The capital soldiers greatly admire the border warriors.”

Amid the clamor, a voice came in late: “…Even if the border army challenged us to a contest, we would yield three points out of courtesy.”

Hearing this, the commotion in the hall paused, and all eyes turned to the source of the voice.

The speaker was a tall guard. With so many officials looking at him, his already ruddy face turned even redder, and he stammered.

“So,” a court official raised his eyebrows and shouted, “You did provoke them and start a fight!”

The guard’s face flushed as he shouted, “We didn’t provoke them! They provoked us first!”

…

…

The compound housing the border army was a four-courtyard residence with exquisite carved beams and painted rafters.

Amid spring, the courtyard was filled with green shade, fragrant flowers, and birdsong.

For Xie Yanlai, the scene was both familiar and unfamiliar. It was familiar in that it resembled returning to a young master’s residence in the Xie family, unfamiliar in that he hadn’t lived in such an environment for a long time.

Xie Yanlai lay back on a lohan bed by the window, legs crossed and arms as pillows. On the small table were arranged dried fruits, preserves, fruit plates, and tea, but unfortunately, there were no beautiful maids to serve him by peeling the fruits and feeding them to his mouth—he still had to reach out and feed himself.

Xie Yanlai was too lazy to extend his hand.

Suddenly, a commotion arose, with quarreling, cursing, and the sound of doors being slammed. The birdsong and flower fragrance instantly disappeared. The gauze windows rattled, as if the wild spring winds of the northwest had swept in.

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

Xie Yanlai rolled over, rhythmically tapping his hand on his body, as if providing musical accompaniment to the noise outside.

The noise grew louder, with sounds of physical collisions joining the shouting.

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

“They’re fighting again outside.” The newcomer was a military officer with a helpless expression. “You’d better go take a look.”

Xie Yanlai faced inward without moving. If not for his fingers still tapping on his leg, one might have thought he was truly asleep.

He said lazily, “There’s nothing worth seeing now. I’ll go look if they lose—if they lose, I’ll make them pay.”

The officer felt he understood Xie Yanlai’s meaning—he was telling everyone they must win. But then again, he wasn’t sure he understood. Of course, it’s better to win in battle, but in the current situation, this wasn’t about looking good or bad.

The officer said urgently, “We can’t fight anymore. This is the capital, the Capital Garrison.”

“The Capital Garrison is still a military camp,” Xie Yanlai said. “Being a soldier means fighting all the time. If there are foreign enemies, you fight foreign enemies. If there are no foreigners, you fight your people. You always have to fight.”

The officer looked at the young commander lying on the bed, feeling both familiar and unfamiliar with him. What was familiar was this roguish air; what was unfamiliar was this indolence. Commander Xie in the border army also had this roguish manner, but it made people’s blood boil and was unstoppable. Now his roguishness seemed like he didn’t care about anything, wasn’t interested in anything, and nothing concerned him.

He didn’t care how the border army and the capital troops had started fighting, nor did he care how badly they fought.

“Commander!” the officer shouted, “We came to the capital to report for duty, not to fight!”

The clamor from outside rushed in: “You show your valor against the Western Liang at the border, and we admire you as heroes. But what kind of heroes are you to show your valor against us?”

The officer dodged a kick: “Look, look at this! We’re all imperial soldiers, all protecting the Great Xia. What does it look like, dividing into you and us?”

Xie Yanlai sat up, pushed the dried fruits on the table toward the officer, and said earnestly, “Brother Niu, don’t worry. Even divided into you and us, we can still protect Great Xia. Besides, the fighting has already started. No matter what is said, it’s useless. Why not let everyone fight to their heart’s content?”

The officer surnamed Niu said anxiously, “As the commander, if you say not to fight, how could it be useless? Commander Xie, what’s going on with you? In the border army, even when you weren’t in command, you would often direct battles yourself, claiming you had the final say.”

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

The officer didn’t quite understand. What about the capital? There are no other commanders in the capital now, so you have even more of a final say. Just quell any disturbances.

Before he could ask, angry shouts erupted outside.

“Stop at once!” “If you continue fighting, I’ll have you all locked up and dealt with according to military law!”

Like thunder cracking in clear skies, one after another, the clamor outside was scattered by the thunderous voice, but the thunder didn’t stop.

“Are you the border army?”

“On the border, do you fight the Western Liang people or your people?”

“Are you here to report on your valor in battle against Western Liang? Or did you come to show off?”

“Or perhaps you came to vent your grievances?”

The earlier words were tolerable—Xie Yanlai just listened while crunching on dried fruits. But upon hearing the last sentence, he tossed the dried fruit back into the dish and stood up.

“The scent in this capital is too strong,” he said, striding out.

The officer hadn’t yet reacted. What scent? What made this motionless young man move?