Aluo’s heart sank. She wasn’t unaware that even if Li Zhaoting didn’t love Feng Suzhen, he still had some sibling-like affection for this childhood friend. Most importantly, he valued the past kindness of the Feng family—he had emphasized this repeatedly.
But even if he didn’t love her, she didn’t want to see this person!
However, something suddenly rose in her heart!
Damn it! How could she have forgotten—if Feng Suzhen stayed in the palace, only then could she get revenge. She also wanted her to taste the bleeding pain in her heart when she had seen Lian Yu treating her so wonderfully back then. Wasn’t Li Zhaoting the man she had loved for over ten years? She didn’t believe she felt nothing. After she suffered pain, she would find ways to eliminate her!
Her mind turned over countless thoughts, but her face fell silent. Li Zhaoting gently released her, “What’s wrong, unhappy? I always thought you would understand me. So in the end, I still can’t compare to Lian Yu? If Lian Yu had made this request, would you have refused?”
Aluo smiled bitterly, “You know the grievances between her and me. Keeping her here naturally displeases me, but no matter how displeased I am, how could I not fulfill your righteousness? I’m just moved in my heart. She hates me for taking you away—her loathing for me will only run deeper than mine. I fear there will be many troubles in the future.”
“Set your mind at ease. How could I let her interfere with you? What am I to you, and what is she to me—don’t you understand?” Li Zhaoting’s eyes showed a trace of comfort and indulgence as he stroked her hair again.
“With your words, I’m reassured.” Aluo’s face still showed unease, but she smiled slightly in her heart. She seemed to see her past wishes slowly coming true. She hesitated to speak, and Li Zhaoting’s sharp eyes noticed, asking gently, “Do you have other concerns?”
“Is there news of Xiao’an and Murong Ding? Xiao’an ruined half my life—I want to settle this account with her properly. You… won’t object, will you?” She lowered her eyes as she spoke.
Li Zhaoting lifted her chin, giving her assurance, “Don’t worry—if you don’t take this revenge, I’ll take it for you!”
Her features were delicate, with this half-sorrowful expression like pear blossoms in rain. Last night, that feeling left in his palm made him look at her now with slight emotion stirring in his heart. He couldn’t help but lower his head to kiss her.
Aluo yielded gracefully. After a long moment, he left, and Mei’er entered to pay her respects.
“You’ve returned?” she said softly. Mei’er smiled, “Yes, Miss left first with Minister Li. This servant packed belongings through the night, and Minister Li’s people brought me back today.”
“How foolish of me—what won’t this palace have in the future?” Aluo spoke as two lines of tears slowly flowed down, yet her lips curved in a thin smile.
Mei’er watched in confusion. She had never seen someone who could be so sad yet truly happy at the same time.
After leaving Aluo’s bedchamber, Li Zhaoting asked Xiaosi, then went to where Wei Wulei had temporarily stayed last night.
Seeing him come, Wei Wulei was both surprised and delighted, her cheeks flushed red as she hurried to greet him, “Wulei pays respects to the Young Master.”
Li Zhaoting raised his hand in a gesture of support, “Is Miss comfortable with her lodgings? Yesterday came and went in haste—I didn’t have time to exchange even half a word. I hope Miss won’t blame me.”
Wulei’s face heated with both shyness and uncontainable joy. She was someone with considerable depth, usually having complex feelings toward Wuyan and Wuxia, but not showing it outwardly. Wuxia was born of the principal wife, superior to others, and imperious—she acknowledged this but didn’t envy Wuxia’s marriage. That crude fellow Chao Huang wasn’t to her liking at all. She preferred Wuyan’s marriage—a young monarch, full of talent, with handsome features. How many women dreamed of such a good man?
Now her own marriage was no less than Wuyan’s. Since the war began, learning from her second brother that this Young Master was this year’s runner-up in the imperial examinations, she had been full of expectation. Yesterday, when he leaped down from his horse in silver-white armor under the clear moonlight with unparalleled bearing, she was smitten at first sight.
Now that he had condescended to visit, being so courteous in conversation—how could she not be pleased? She quickly replied, “Young Master’s words are too kind to Wulei. That Wulei could see the Young Master is already joyful—how dare I disturb you when you have important matters? The palace is the finest place in the world—if I weren’t comfortable here, I’d deserve heavenly punishment. Moreover… being so close to the Young Master… Wulei’s heart is… delighted.”
Li Zhaoting smiled slightly, “Miss’s words are extremely pleasing. If you’re comfortable, good—this will be your home from now on.”
Hearing this, Wulei’s heart pounded. Though usually articulate, she was momentarily at a loss for words. After they chatted a while longer, Li Zhaoting left. She still gazed after him at the door, but since they weren’t yet wed, even appearing before him to leave more of an impression, she would still need to return to the residence soon. Otherwise, it would seem she lacked self-respect. She wouldn’t be like Gu Xiluo and Miaoyin, staying here directly until marriage. A lady of great family should have the bearing of one—in the future, she wanted the Young Master to value not only her family background but also her as a person.
Seeing Li Zhaoting emerge, Xiaosi asked with a grin, “Is Young Master going to Miss Miao’s next?”
Li Zhaoting raised his eyebrows slightly and lightly scolded, “What do you know? Miaoyin isn’t someone who makes a fuss—she puts me most at ease. Go to the imperial kitchen and have the food preparers make some Wei kingdom dishes to send to her. You personally make the trip and tell her I went to Miss Gu’s and Miss Wei’s places. When the matters at hand ease up, I’ll find her—she’ll understand my meaning.”
Xiaosi nodded but was still puzzled, “Why do you need to tell her you went to Miss Gu and the others?”
“If I don’t tell her, won’t she know? There are no walls in the palace that don’t let wind through. Has Lanfeng arrived?”
“He has.” Hearing his question, Xiaosi hurried to answer, then asked again, “Young Master, what kinds of things does Miss Miao like to eat?”
“The kitchen staff know Wei kingdom cuisine.”
Li Zhaoting’s voice came from a distance—he had already walked quickly toward the bedchamber. Only then did Xiaosi somewhat understand: the Young Master loved Miss Gu most, but liked Miss Miao best.
Si Lanfeng was waiting outside the hall for Li Zhaoting. Seeing him enter, he immediately approached and bowed, “Young Master.”
“You’ve worked hard.” Li Zhaoting patted his shoulder, “How did things go?”
After Si Lanfeng said “Young Master is too kind,” he immediately said, “Following Young Master’s orders, besides Wuqing, Lanfeng has also sent people to pursue and investigate the Murong army’s whereabouts.”
“Good.” Li Zhaoting nodded, then smiled faintly, “Did Teacher Wei say anything to you today? When Lian Yu sent me a letter through you describing Feng Suzhen’s imprisonment—did he blame you?”
Hearing this question, Si Lanfeng’s expression showed some subtlety as he lowered his voice, “I met with Teacher Wei early this morning. He asked me why I didn’t tell him first when Lian Yu sent the letter.”
“How did you answer?”
“I said because I also wanted you to use this opportunity to eliminate Lian Yu, but feared the Young Master would blame you afterward, so I still concealed it from you when sending the letter.”
“Clever.” Li Zhaoting nodded, then narrowed his eyes to gaze into the distance, “Some things he did went too far. The plague poisoning—I hadn’t decided yet, but he acted on his own. Using Feng Suzhen to coerce Lian Yu was also too despicable. Not to mention my connections with the Feng family—even if I had never met Feng Suzhen, such a victory isn’t what I would desire.”
“It’s just that he has merit in assisting me, so it’s inconvenient to investigate too deeply. Teacher Wei is someone with both loyalty and ambition.”
“But Teacher Wei… in Lanfeng’s opinion, currently still quite respectful toward the Young Master, not to the point of…”
Li Zhaoting’s lips moved slightly, “That’s now—who dares say what forever holds? When a person gets closer to the pinnacle of power, his desires grow greater. Even he himself can’t be sure.”
Si Lanfeng was first stunned, then nodded, “Young Master, among the Wei army, several deputy generals are loyal to Prince Jin and to the Young Master. Even if Teacher Wei has ambitions, they will follow the Young Master. Lanfeng is the same—we also have troops in hand.”
“Yes, I’ve built relationships with them for many years. This is what Minister Feng taught me—always be prepared, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
“So this time you didn’t hesitate to have friction with Teacher Wei over Miss Feng?”
“Could there be any other reason?” Li Zhaoting said indifferently, then changed the topic, “There’s nothing to discuss about that woman. Lanfeng, go handle two matters for me. First, torture Lian Jie to see if we can extract the gathering place of the escaped army. Lian Yu was shrewd, sensing the border crisis, using twenty thousand troops as cover to send away the remaining seventy to eighty thousand, plus Quan Feitong’s diseased army—this adds up to nearly one hundred thousand. Even though my military strength is more than double, it’s still a menace.”
“But even Huo Chang’an is dead in battle—who do they have left who can lead armies?”
“Don’t forget Quan Feitong.” Li Zhaoting’s gaze deepened bit by bit, “However, given Xiao’an’s character, she absolutely won’t cooperate with Quan Feitong currently.”
Just as Si Lanfeng was puzzled, he heard him continue, “The second matter—help me find someone.”
“Who?”
“Quan Feitong.”
“The Young Master wants to separate him from Xiao’an’s Murong army, right?”
“No, I need someone to restrain Wei Chenghui. He is the best candidate. Others—whether you, Wuqing, or that old fox Huang Zhongyue—in my view, all are too inexperienced to stand as equals with Teacher Wei in court.” Li Zhaoting said slowly.
When Wuqing entered the room, Suzhen was in a daze, unaware even that someone had entered. She sat on the bed holding her belly, not knowing what she was thinking. Her head was wrapped in gauze, her shoulders showing faint bloodstains seeping through to her shirt, and the knee area of her pants was also dark red. His voice suddenly caught in his throat.
“Zhen’er.” Finally, he called out softly, taking a step forward, wanting to tightly embrace this sister he had held dear since childhood.
Suzhen was startled, looking over alertly. When she discovered it was him, she stood up abruptly.
“It’s you.” She smiled slightly, then suddenly bent down to pick up a broken cup from the floor and threw it at him forcefully!
Wuqing instinctively dodged aside. Suzhen watched coldly. She wanted to cry but could no longer shed tears, because the person in this world who would not avoid her hitting and scolding tantrums was no longer here.
“You know… this is the gift you give me for our reunion?” Wuqing pointed at the cup shattered into even more pieces on the ground, asking gently in return.
“I still want to hit you, Feng Shaoying.” Suzhen said slowly, her eyes full of fierce intensity, “Give me back Huo Chang’an’s life, give me back Zhuiming’s life!”
Wuqing held her gaze, “Regarding Zhuiming’s matter, I’m as pained as you, even more so—you weren’t there at the time, but I watched with my own eyes…”
“Human lives aren’t something you can dismiss with rolling around—it’s not something you can express with just words of pain and sorrow! Feng Shaoying, do you know what you’ve helped Wei Chenghui and Li Zhaoting do? Not just Zhuiming and Huo Chang’an, but the lives of those twenty thousand soldiers… How could you assist tyrants in their cruelty? Have you forgotten everything father taught us?” She stepped forward one by one, questioning word by word.
“Enough!” Wuqing sneered, “I know you suffered greatly at the hands of the old Wei thief. I will definitely settle this account for you! But what right do you have to accuse me? Feng Suzhen, you fell in love with your own enemy, showed mercy to the foe who destroyed our entire family—is this what father taught you?”
Suzhen laughed loudly, her eyes full of wordless sorrow.
“Brother,” she said in a low voice, “why did you never come to find me? Except for that one time, later you had many opportunities to talk properly with me. You were afraid I would side with Lian Yu, so you predetermined death sentences for him and me. But if you had just met with me once more, you would understand—many things are not at all what we originally thought.”
“Zhen’er, how humble were you before Li Zhaoting? You’ve always been a girl who acts foolishly for love—the same with Lian Yu. If I found you, you would pass Lian Yu’s lies to me. What would be the point?” Wuqing also laughed.
Hearing this, Suzhen lowered her head for a long time before raising her eyes to say, “So even in my brother’s heart, I’m a girl who humbles herself for love. You’re the same as Li Zhaoting—only Lian Yu knew who I really am. Heaven and earth know who I, Feng Suzhen, really am!”