Colonel Yu had an epiphany.

Right.

So delicate and tender.

Throwing a tantrum over the smallest matter.

Wasn’t that the exclusive privilege of wives?

A real man would rather die than ask for help with such things.

He let out a breath of relief, watching Tie Ci stride confidently toward the stone pile.

Although a general sleeping with a male servant still wasn’t great, at least his masculine dignity was preserved, which was also beneficial for the morale of our Da Qian army!

Tie Ci walked behind the stone, her face bearing a smile and her eyes expectant.

She had actually been coveting someone’s figure all along.

That slender waist and narrow hips – walking behind him, she had stolen many glances.

Today was perfectly legitimate – she absolutely had to give him a good pinch.

As a result, just as she turned around, she was pounced upon. The person chuckled against her neck and bit her.

Tie Ci covered her neck, suppressing a cry of surprise. She reached to feel his pants – already properly worn. Angry, she gave him a sharp slap.

The crisp sound made everyone outside, who had been listening with perked ears, shiver.

Wow, what kind of intense play was this?

However, Tie Ci soon emerged from behind the stone pile, clothes neat and expression composed, not even a hint of red on her face.

The kind who could change clothes and immediately receive envoys.

Her gentle yet clear gaze swept over everyone, making each person feel that the wicked thoughts in the depths of their hearts had been seen through. They all shamefully lowered their heads.

Only Dan Shuang curled her lip.

The Crown Princess had this ability – to act lewdly with a straight face while making those who suspected her lewdness feel like they themselves were the lewd ones.

Tie Ci glanced at Feiyu.

Feiyu smiled and untied his belt.

The lower back slightly concave, connected to a clear tailbone, with taut, delicate, smooth skin.

Tie Ci wondered: do men also have back dimples?

How sexy.

Now that slight hollow had a viper tattoo stuck on it, with the lower half of the viper’s body disappearing into the depths of his lower garment.

What should have been an eerie tattoo instead appeared somewhat mysteriously alluring because of this excellent physique.

A seductive demon.

The Crown Princess felt her throat go a bit dry.

She quickly coughed and turned to flee.

Leaving Feiyu with a satisfied smile as he slowly put his clothes back on.

At this time everyone had finished their disguises and followed the prisoner into the mountain crevice.

During the disguise process, they had kept that person’s eyes and ears covered, not letting him hear or see anything.

Not knowing how Feiyu had tortured him, the man was still alive and could walk, just with a pale complexion and strange walking posture. Escorted by two soldiers, he slowly walked toward the mountain pass ahead.

Tie Ci had the remaining soldiers take the old woman and child back to report the situation to Di Yiwei and notify the camp to prepare early.

The mountain pass where the Western Rong soldiers had entered was already half buried. The Western Rong soldier leading the way stumbled crookedly into a crevice.

Just as Tie Ci and the others were about to follow, the child who was about to be taken away suddenly rushed out, pointing at the crevice and shouting “ah ah ah” for a long time. Colonel Yu listened carefully to his mixture of local dialect and half-official language for a while, then said solemnly: “He says this road is a dead end, leading to a deep pit. This Western Rong barbarian has ill intentions.”

Tie Ci immediately looked back at the Western Rong man and indeed saw his pale face turn even whiter.

He actually had backbone – wanting to die together with them.

Feiyu leisurely strolled over and immediately gripped his throat.

The man rolled his eyes, his hands clawing futilely.

The child was still crying out. Colonel Yu said: “He says he’s familiar with all the roads in these mountains. He’s seen where these Western Rong barbarians come from. If the Western Rong barbarians can pass through, so can he. He’ll guide us, just asking that we support his grandmother, let him become a soldier, and let him eat his fill.”

Di Yiwei probably wouldn’t want such a small soldier, but seeing the child’s tenacity and agility, Tie Ci felt he was promising material. She immediately said: “I can’t guarantee whether you’ll become a soldier or not. I can’t guarantee how your whole life will go, but I can guarantee you won’t go hungry again, and your grandmother will live peacefully until old age.”

The child then ran over, slipping into the mountain forest like a loach.

Feiyu casually threw the last Western Rong soldier, who fell silently to the ground.

Ahead, Tie Ci and the others had already followed the child.

Just as Feiyu was about to leave, Mu Si came climbing over piles of mountain rocks, running toward him.

Feiyu stopped.

Although the three master and servants had all temporarily resigned their positions, Zhao San and Mu Si hadn’t traveled the same route as Feiyu, and Tie Ci didn’t ask about this either.

Mu Si rushed over and whispered a few words in Feiyu’s ear.

Feiyu raised an eyebrow.

Mu Si’s gaze passed over him to look at the backs of Tie Ci and Dan Shuang ahead, saying softly: “Young Master, the opportunity is rare…”

Suddenly Tie Ci and Dan Shuang both turned back to look this way.

Mu Si paused, his tongue suddenly tangling as he babbled: “…but it’s not absolutely necessary. Perhaps you should think it over more carefully…”

Feiyu stared at him, saying ominously: “Yes, maybe Miss Dan Shuang is waiting for you. Why don’t you hurry and catch up?”

Mu Si: “…Ah yes… ah no… you’re teasing me!”

“I’m teasing you, you lust-addled fool.”

“You talk as if you’re perfectly virtuous,” Mu Si retorted. “Oh no, you probably dream of Ye Ci sitting in your embrace, right? But she won’t even sit there, and I can see you’re dying of anxiety.”

Feiyu chuckled, spread his arms wide, and spun in a circle before him.

The fan at his waist swayed open.

Mu Si was baffled.

Peacock displaying?

Seeing he didn’t get it, the peacock simply thrust his hip forward.

The fan hit Mu Si, and with a “cha” sound, a fan rib shot out. If Mu Si hadn’t dodged quickly, he would never have been able to marry anyone in this lifetime.

Mu Si caught the fan rib and examined it carefully, his expression changing slightly: “Abyssal iron?”

Feiyu looked at him with a smile: “Guess who gave me this fan?”

Mu Si: “I don’t know.”

Feiyu: “Guess! Aren’t you always so clever?”

“No.” Mu Si said expressionlessly, “I’m lust-addled and know nothing.”

Feiyu inserted the fan rib back in place and chuckled: “Fine, fine, I understand your jealousy turning to hatred. After all, you still haven’t received any gifts from any girl.”

Mu Si was hit where it hurt and walked to one side with an ashen face, not wanting to deal with this shameless person anymore.

However, Murong Yi tossed something over: “Catch it.”

Mu Si didn’t want to catch it, but his hands didn’t obey.

“Leftover scraps, made something for you to play with.”

The object landed in his palm – just an iron ring made of abyssal iron with a slightly protruding spike inside. When Mu Si touched it, there was a “click” sound, and the spiked small section of the ring flipped over, putting the spike on the outer ring.

Mu Si couldn’t understand this design, only finding it ugly and useless. Such a small spike couldn’t be used as a weapon – was it just for playing with?

For his woman, he carefully designed protective armor, but for him, he just used such an ugly thing to brush him off.

Besides, he naturally had abyssal iron weapons – what use was this chicken rib-like thing?

He raised his hand to toss it back: “Don’t hurt my eyes with such an ugly thing!”

Feiyu tossed it back: “A master’s gift cannot be refused. Not only can’t you refuse it, you must wear this hair crown every day to prove your loyalty to me.”

This thing was actually a hair crown? Would wearing it cause nightmares?

Mu Si rolled his eyes skyward, walked away a few steps, and still put it on with disgust on his face.

Over there, Tie Ci stopped to look at the master and servant pair, vaguely feeling that something was about to happen.

Feiyu met her gaze and his heart softened. He said to Mu Si: “Let the eldest prince patrol the border as he will. Let’s spare him for now. I can go from Western Rong through Liaodong too.”

Mu Si rolled his eyes, thinking to himself: is that the same thing? Such a huge detour!

It was with great difficulty that, due to Western Rong’s unusual activity, the king worried about unrest at the Liaodong border and sent the eldest prince to inspect. The eldest prince hadn’t yet made contact with the Liaodong border troops. There was a stretch of road close to the Western Rong and Da Qian borders that was quite desolate. An assassination there could be blamed on Da Qian or Western Rong – truly a heaven-sent opportunity.

Yet this person was planning to let it go so lightly.

The eldest prince was different from the second, fourth, and others. He had always seen himself as the heir to the throne, living reclusively as a precious son who shouldn’t risk danger, rarely venturing out, and when he did, he was surrounded by attendants like clouds.

He also didn’t casually make friends, and wouldn’t leave Ruzhou without royal command.

Whether approaching through his daily relationships or his movements, it was very difficult to find opportunities.

Compared to the greedy second prince, the rash fourth prince, and the gambling-addicted eleventh prince, the eldest prince was the most difficult to deal with and most capable.

In the past, no matter how big the matter, Murong Yi would never give up such an opportunity.

After all, delays could lead to complications.

Mu Si frowned, thinking that such changes in his master might not be good for him.

However, when he turned to glance at Dan Shuang, that girl like ice and snow in the crowd, his heart also softened.

Suddenly he understood his young master.

He sighed softly, indicating to Feiyu that he would continue following from afar with Zhao San, responsible for information transmission, and would look for another opportunity later.

After he had walked far away, he suddenly slapped his forehead and cursed his bad memory.

How could he forget to tell him about the successful cancellation of the engagement!

Previously, he had been accompanying the young master in the military camp where communication was inconvenient. After the young master left the camp, he and Zhao San found the hidden contact responsible for liaison messages nearby and learned that the court had agreed to Prince Da’an’s request to dissolve the engagement.

This was good news, but he later forgot about it when he heard news about the eldest prince.

Additionally, the person responsible for transmitting messages also said that people from the capital had sent messages saying they were returning. The Embroidered Guards’ message transmission was numbered, and the numbering on the new message showed that another one had been sent previously, but Mu Si had no recollection of it.

He hadn’t heard the young master mention it either.

Could it have been lost en route?

That group from the capital had gone to assassinate the Crown Princess and investigate Ye Shiba. They couldn’t return without orders – returning could only mean there was no need to remain on that front.

Was it because they felt that since the engagement was dissolved, there was no need to assassinate the Crown Princess, so they returned on their own?

But that would still require the young master’s orders.

Mu Si couldn’t figure it out. Now in Yongping, far from the interior, there was no way to investigate immediately. He could only attend to his own affairs first, closely tracking the eldest prince’s movements to find another opportunity to strike.

Feiyu watched him disappear behind the rock pile, then looked up toward the west.

Perhaps not far away on the ancient road, at the junction of desert and grassland, the eldest prince’s convoy was slowly advancing.

Suddenly he met Tie Ci’s gaze looking back at him.

That gaze held no questions, but there was a hint of worry.

This made his heart warm, and the boiling emotions in his heart were suddenly suppressed as he quickly caught up with her.

Tie Ci didn’t ask many questions either. Ahead was a very narrow path with loose stones constantly falling from the mountain walls on all sides. There were traces of artificial excavation on both sides, and occasionally they could see corpses of Western Rong soldiers killed by falling rocks.

Tie Ci watched the child ahead leaping skillfully like a monkey and felt a strange sensation.

For a moment she couldn’t figure out what was strange about it.

Behind her came the sound of stumbling. She turned back and saw Rong Pu supporting himself against the cliff wall, his face somewhat pale.

Seeing her look back, he immediately straightened up composedly and said to Yang Yixiu beside him: “Watch how you walk, don’t bump into me.”

Yang Yixiu: “???”

Did I bump into you?

Tie Ci glanced around and said softly: “How about I carry you?”

It wasn’t that she didn’t know to avoid suspicion, but this path was really difficult to walk, and besides her and Feiyu, no one else could carry someone while walking here.

Having Feiyu carry him was absolutely impossible – with deep pits just a few steps away, Feiyu would definitely throw the person into a pit while carrying him.

Rong Pu’s eyes flashed with what seemed like delight, and he immediately supported himself against the cliff wall again, saying with difficulty: “Then I’ll trouble you…”

Before he finished speaking, Feiyu nonchalantly suddenly inserted himself between the two, raised his hand to rest on Rong Pu’s shoulder, and said affectionately: “Pu’er, what are you saying? Are you tired? If you’re tired, I can carry you. We’re men – we can’t hold back the team.”

Rong Pu raised his hand, pinched Feiyu’s fingertips, and gently put them back in place, smiling: “Thank you, but please don’t be too intimate, lest people see and suspect you of being a cut-sleeve. It doesn’t matter if they suspect you, but it would be too unfair if they suspected me. After all, I’ve always been a proper man.”

Feiyu’s eyes flashed.

The two looked at each other as if sparks flew.

After a moment, Rong Wei laughed heartily and walked over.

Rong Pu straightened up and like magic pulled out something resembling an umbrella from his backpack, using it as a walking stick and walking steadily.

Tie Ci: “…”

Why didn’t you take it out earlier?

Did you have to have this Asura field scene before giving up?

She was too lazy to deal with these two anymore and left them to walk ahead by herself. Above the narrow path, tree shade blocked the sun, making the light very dim, and mist had begun to rise faintly in the forest.

She walked at the very front, having Feiyu walk at the very back, guarding front and rear.

The child’s figure was bouncing up and down ahead. Having eaten his fill, he seemed very energetic in these mountains. When a large pit appeared ahead, he didn’t climb down but took a running start and leaped across it.

Tie Ci praised him.

This pit was nothing to her, but for that child, this leap was quite remarkable.

He was excellent material with great potential.

Tie Ci was moved by talent and wondered whether to recruit this child into the Nine Guards when they returned.

She also took a few running steps and leaped over the large pit. With her extraordinary abilities, after a brief running start, she moved like riding clouds and mist, continuing far beyond the large pit with her body still moving forward.

Then she looked up and suddenly couldn’t see the child in the misty fog!

Startled, she instinctively looked around in all directions and didn’t pay attention to her feet.

Her feet were also shrouded in thick fog, making it impossible to see clearly for a moment.

Suddenly sensing danger, she instinctively stopped and leaned backward.

Her boots stepped on rotten leaves and dry branches, making a “hiss” sound as they slid in a straight line before barely stopping.

The fog was broken by her movement, revealing emptiness ahead.

In front of her was actually a cliff!

Looking more carefully, this cliff wasn’t deep or wide, but the bottom was full of jagged rocks – falling down would definitely be bad.

In the situation just now, there was a large pit before the cliff. The large pit made people take a running start, and if they couldn’t stop after running over and the fog rose, they could easily fall down!

Had that child fallen down?

Tie Ci looked down. She didn’t see anything, then looked up and suddenly saw the child jumping up and down on the opposite cliff.

He seemed very anxious, constantly gesturing.

Tie Ci remembered that Colonel Yu had instructed him earlier not to make sounds, lest other Western Rong teams hear from afar and ambush them. The terrain here was unfamiliar to them, making it easy for accidents to happen.

But in such a deadly place, still not making sounds…

This child was a bit single-minded.

At this time, there were continuous footsteps behind her. The soldiers behind were all young people who, seeing Tie Ci’s large strides looking graceful and dashing, imitated her one by one, taking running starts to leap over pits and charge forward.

Tie Ci called out in a low voice: “Stop, there’s a…” Before she could finish, Tian Wu had already charged over from behind.

This big guy was heavy and charged over like an elephant thundering in a mad rush. Even if she shouted for him to brake now, it would be too late.

Tie Ci suddenly half-knelt on the ground. With a “zheng” sound, the jade brush at her waist shot out and embedded in the ground in front of her. Tie Ci gripped the jade brush tightly with her hands, knees against the ground, body leaning forward, her back at an angle, head slightly lowered.

With a “bang,” Tian Wu crashed into her back.

Tie Ci was pressed so that her whole body bent forward, but then she turned sideways and reached back with one hand, pulling Tian Wu’s massive body so that he flipped over her back and landed on the ground beside her.

At the same time, Tie Ci shouted: “Everyone stop, there’s a cliff, don’t take running starts!”

A soldier behind charged over but was blocked by Tian Wu. The soldiers Da Wu and Xiao Wu behind finally managed to stop.

After everyone came over, they all stared at the short cliff in amazement.

The child pointed to the cliff face, and only then did everyone discover there were old vines on the cliff. The child had used the old vines to swing across.

Just as everyone was about to do the same, Feiyu came over, checked the old vines, added another one, and then let everyone swing across.

This time Feiyu went first, with Tie Ci last, and she inconspicuously held Rong Pu behind her.

Rong Pu lowered his eyes, also hiding behind her to avoid being discovered by Feiyu, quietly waiting.

Tie Ci suddenly felt somewhat between laughter and tears.

This situation was exactly like seeing concubines competing for favor when she was little.

At that time, she vaguely remembered Father Emperor seeming troubled but secretly pleased.

Now she just found it ridiculous.

Actually, why did Feiyu need to guard against rivals like guarding against floods?

Father Emperor could have three palaces and six courtyards, but she could only have one National Father.

Having great power and an indulgent harem wasn’t impossible, but she felt that one man was already like five hundred ducks – annoying enough. Why look for more trouble?

Looking at Feiyu’s behavior, if she really had three palaces and six courtyards, there would definitely be corpses everywhere in the end.

Who could be his match?

After most people had crossed, she casually picked up Rong Pu and swung across.

When Feiyu looked up and saw this, his face immediately darkened.

What was worse was that this green tea Rong Pu, swinging in mid-air for just that brief moment, immediately opened the umbrella in his hand.

That light blue umbrella seemed specially made, opening like a blue flower among the green cliffs. He and she with their clothes and ribbons flowing in the wind, gracefully glided across together.

It was truly a beautiful and well-matched scene.

Everyone who had already crossed the cliff cheered.

Except for Feiyu.