On a rooftop, someone was running swiftly against the wind.

Wild laughter echoed continuously, only to be instantly scattered by the strong wind.

“Hahaha, making wedding clothes for others! Half a month of scheming, all for nothing!”

“Mu Si, you’re not young anymore. This increasing madness doesn’t bode well—it must be from being unmarried at your age. How about I discuss with Father King and help arrange a marriage for you?”

Mu Si: “…Murong Eighteen, do you have any humanity left!”

“No!”

The two sat down on the rooftop. They were now at the center of the imperial city, not far from the palace complex. All around the eight wards lived imperial relatives and nobles, officials of third rank and above. Further in, beyond the red walls and yellow tiles, stretched that vast expanse of magnificent palace buildings where lived the woman he held dear to his heart.

Murong Yi’s gaze swept around in all directions, then suddenly asked: “Which house belongs to the Rong family?”

Mu Si had previously led people to survey the terrain inside and outside the imperial city. Upon hearing this, he pointed to one house.

“Be human,” Murong Yi chuckled. “That’s clearly the prairie dog’s burrow.”

“Prairie dog?”

“Lives apart from others, doesn’t get close to people, wishes she could always dig a hole to bury herself in for comfort.” Murong Yi raised his chin. “Young Master Gu, Gu Xiaoxiao.”

“If the Crown Princess knew how you evaluate her close friend, she would surely be delighted.”

He had expected to hear his master’s sharp retort, but after a long while with no response, Mu Si turned his head in surprise to see Murong Yi lying on the roof tiles with his hands behind his head, sighing leisurely: “Don’t, don’t mention Crown Princess. Every time I hear that title, my heart aches, hurts, and panics.”

Mu Si wanted to laugh, but somehow couldn’t.

“Once I had a wife, right there before me. If I had just honestly married her, she would have been mine for life. But I had to make a fuss and insist on breaking off the engagement. Now I have to use tremendous effort to win her back.” Murong Yi looked like he very much wanted to slap himself.

Though Mu Si really wanted to see him do it, he still couldn’t resist his sharp tongue, saying: “There’s no need for such regret. Even if you hadn’t caused the engagement to be broken, the Crown Princess would have broken it off anyway. Even if the Crown Princess hadn’t broken the engagement, once war broke out between Liaodong and Da Qian, the marriage would have been called off just the same.”

“Should I thank you or beat you up?” Murong Yi lay facing the sky. After a long time, he was still brooding: “Tell me, how does a perfectly good living person suddenly become Crown Princess?”

“She didn’t change—you were just stupid. You didn’t figure it out for so long.”

“Actually, I did think of it, really, more than once. But you know, Doctor Kuang is now staying in the Ruzhou palace. He said that the Iron imperial bloodline is pure, and abilities must manifest before age twelve—if they don’t manifest, they absolutely cannot be of imperial blood. He also said that Tie Ci’s meridian circulation is abnormal, predicting that no matter how she learns martial arts, she would surely be unable to bear the burden… Who knew that old man’s words were completely wrong.”

“That’s not how you should put it. Though Doctor Kuang’s title includes ‘Kuang’ (mad), he’s always been extremely careful and prudent in his words and actions. In all these years, when has he ever said anything wrong?”

“That’s exactly why I believed him without doubt… Wait.” Murong Yi suddenly sat up. “What if he actually still wasn’t wrong?”

Mu Si was so startled by this statement that his back went cold.

Master and servant looked at each other, speechless for a long time.

Doctor Kuang never spoke falsely, yet Tie Ci became an exception. Was there something that happened in between that they didn’t know about, something that even Tie Ci herself didn’t know?

After a while, Mu Si said hesitantly: “Don’t overthink it. Maybe you just saw wrong. If the Crown Princess had such a fatal problem, how could Rong Pu not know? You say she can’t practice martial arts, but she’s clearly getting better and better at it with no problems. Maybe her very capable master helped her solve it?”

“Rong Pu only learned from Doctor Kuang for a few years in childhood and hasn’t seen Doctor Kuang in years since. He’s just a half-trained disciple, and being from a prominent family in the capital, Doctor Kuang probably never told him at all. Your suggestion that her master helped solve it has some possibility.” Murong Yi sat up. “Perhaps someday I’ll kidnap that old fellow to examine Eighteen.”

“You might as well daydream. He’s Father King’s treasure—Father King would never lend him to you.”

“Just kill that old man then.”

“Easier said than done, but I know you would never actually kill him. When he was severely injured on his way back to Ruzhou, you clearly had the chance but didn’t deliver the fatal blow.”

Murong Yi snorted but said nothing.

Did Mu Si think he harbored childish affection for his father or still held hope?

Ridiculous.

Such a father, with only Liaodong’s foundation in his heart, his children merely pieces he weighed and placed on the Liaodong map’s chessboard when needed.

Such a father, he felt, deserved killing.

But when it came down to it, he could never bring himself to act.

Perhaps because deep inside there was still a line—those who deceived, humiliated, harmed, or sought his life, he would show no mercy.

However, this father, strictly speaking, had never harmed or deceived him.

He had merely been absent and negligent, causing him to once fall into an abyss.

He frowned slightly, unwilling to think of that indifferent expanse of white under the clear blue sky of the capital. He stood up and suddenly leaped away.

Mu Si didn’t know where he was going and could only get up to follow.

“I’ll ask you once more—where does that white lotus live?”

Mu Si had no choice but to point in a direction.

Murong Yi put on his mask and held out his hand to Mu Si.

Mu Si reluctantly pulled out a set of large-sized women’s clothing from the bundle behind him.

Murong Yi very skillfully changed into it and swept down with flowing sleeves.

Moments later, the usually vigilant guards of the Rong residence discovered an intruder.

The person could have blended in originally, but unexpectedly, the military-minded Old Madam Rong had clear regulations about the servants’ clothing and never allowed the maids to wear those flowing, seductive dresses. So this arrogant female thief in a gold-sprinkled six-panel skirt was immediately spotted by a nanny from Old Madam’s courtyard who had come out on business.

The nanny had originally only seen a flash of flying clothing hem and thought it was some rule-breaking maid wearing inappropriate clothes. She called out intending to give a good scolding, but just as she spoke, the person vanished.

The nanny wasn’t flustered and immediately pulled out the whistle she carried, blowing it.

As soon as the whistle sounded, the Rong residence, which had seemed to have few guards, suddenly had countless people emerge from every corner.

They were quite shocked—they hadn’t expected anyone to dare break into the Rong residence in broad daylight. These rather elite guards immediately perked up, determined to show their master the benefits of “raising soldiers for a thousand days to use them for one moment.” Whistles sounded continuously, voices called from left and right, and people rushed from all directions to surround and intercept the audacious thief.

The little thief wasn’t flustered either, moving in and out of the vast multi-courtyard complex. Though appearing chaotic and disorganized, she was actually proceeding toward her target with great purpose.

During this, the female thief was cornered five or six times, but each time she broke through the encirclement. The thief’s martial arts were superb and her strikes ruthless, making the guards even more alert and vigilant. With such a powerful opponent desperately pushing inward, she must have great ambitions—perhaps she intended to assassinate their Da Qian’s pillar, the backbone of all officials, Chief Minister Rong! How could this be tolerated!

The guards fought even more desperately in pursuit, dispatched people to protect the Chief Minister and all the masters, and sent word outside the residence to call for Capital Prefecture soldiers and troops from the Five Military Commissioners.

They watched as the female thief struggled through heavy encirclement until she broke into Rong Pu’s study.

The guards breathed a sigh of relief. The study was currently empty, as Rong Pu hadn’t been in the residence for two years, and there was nothing important there.

The guard captain immediately ordered everyone to carefully surround and approach the study, lest the cornered enemy become desperate.

The Rong residence guards calculated that the study surely wasn’t the intruder’s destination—she was just temporarily hiding. They were busy arranging troops and setting up heavy protection around where the Chief Minister was located when suddenly those surrounding the study heard a clear shattering sound from within.

Then the female thief leaped out from the roof. She neither went to the inner courtyard nor to the Chief Minister’s main courtyard, but after a few bounds, actually just ran away.

The crowd, who had been on high alert, looked at each other in bewilderment.

All that thunder with so little rain—what was the point?

Everyone was still afraid of a trap and waited a while more. After confirming no one was inside, they rushed through the door.

The study door was half-open, nothing had been disturbed, except on the treasure display shelf facing the door, the purple jade ruyi that had been placed in the center had fallen to the ground and shattered into scattered purple fragments.

The guards were shocked and confused.

All that mobilization, such a massive formation, such killing intent and imposing manner, such fierce momentum—all just to break a vase?

Why don’t you just fly to heaven instead?

Moments later, Rong Pu, who had been heavily protected with the Chief Minister in the study, hurried back.

His expression was very unpleasant.

The purple jade ruyi was bestowed by the Emperor, kept in a box on the treasure shelf, secured with a stand and cushioned with brocade inside the box. Even if there were impacts, it absolutely could not have fallen.

Clearly, someone had deliberately taken it out to smash it.

Looking at the degree of shattering, it must have been thrown with great force.

Rong Pu’s gaze searched the room, wanting to see what else in the study had been damaged.

Then his gaze fell on a painting scroll on the wall.

It was a “Tiger’s Mouth Food Snatching” by a famous painter from the previous dynasty.

That painter was also a court official who excelled at painting tigers. This painting was originally created to satirize the greed of court officials at the time. Because of its lively painting technique and elegant brushwork, Rong Pu liked it and hung it in his study.

Now on that old scroll, which was already covered with many seal impressions, someone had dipped into the ink pad on his desk and boldly stamped a new seal at the very top in a most conspicuous place.

“Qinde Zhi Bao” (Treasure of Qinde).

Rong Pu’s eyes narrowed.

This was the Crown Princess’s private seal!

Forging imperial private seals was a capital crime involving nine generations of the family, and there were secret marks within them. Scrolls that had been sealed were all kept in the deep palace, making them impossible for ordinary people to forge.

Who had stamped the Crown Princess’s private seal on his painting?

There were many calligraphy and paintings in the study, yet it was stamped on this particular one with satirical meaning—”Tiger’s Mouth Food Snatching.”

Threatening him that competing for the Crown Princess was snatching food from a tiger’s mouth, while also satirizing him for previously taking credit for someone else’s life-saving deed in Yongping.

And like declaring ownership, using the Crown Princess’s private seal.

Going to great lengths to break in just to do such a thing.

This covertly arrogant behavior, this quietly malicious action—who else but that person could it be?

The Crown Princess’s private seal was actually in his possession.

Rong Pu had always been composed and able to control his temper, but at this moment his expression changed slightly. In his mind, the Crown Princess had always been someone who kept public and private matters separate, not swayed by personal feelings. Something as important as the imperial heir’s private seal would never be given to anyone under any circumstances.

Yet the facts were slapping him in the face.

Had their relationship already reached such a degree…

Footsteps sounded behind him. Rong Maochuan stood at the doorway, seeing the purple jade fragments on the ground, his expression changed slightly.

Rong Pu instinctively shifted his body to block the seal on the painting, turned to smile at Rong Maochuan: “That thief probably wanted to steal something, got startled, and accidentally broke something.”

Rong Maochuan’s gaze passed over his head and landed on the painting, nodding: “Clean it up and report it to the palace as an apology.”

Breaking imperial gifts was a serious crime in ordinary official families, but in the Rong residence it was nothing.

Rong Pu nodded in agreement, watching his grandfather leave with a normal expression, unsure whether grandfather had actually seen the seal on the painting.

There was no way to tell from his expression—after all, he was a high minister with great composure.

Rong Pu looked back toward the horizon, murmuring: “Are you still not giving up…”

…

It wasn’t long before Tie Ci received two pieces of news.

One was that the purple jade ruyi had been smashed, and the other was that the cat had been stolen.

Such boring and malicious behavior.

When she received the news, dusk was just falling. The palace servants were lining up to light the lamps throughout the palace, and bright yellow lights came on one by one, making heaven and earth seem to float with countless gentle night-shining pearls.

She stood in a patch of warm yellow light, the scroll in her hand tightening slightly.

Rong Pu didn’t enter the palace, only had someone come to the palace to report. After a long moment, Tie Ci said to Chi Xue: “Say that I understand, and bestow a bushel of pearls on the Rong residence.”

Chi Xue acknowledged and went to handle it.

Emerald Cloud Dragon Soaring incense was added to the eggplant-purple glazed lion-eared incense burner. This incense was made by masters, with extremely rich smoke and fragrance. The smoke swirled and lingered like emerald dragons, condensing before her eyes for a long time without dispersing.

Tie Ci gazed into the void. After a long while, her fingertips unconsciously traced in the smoke, and the smoke swirled and moved along her fingertips, gradually actually forming the shape of a human face.

Tie Ci was startled, not expecting her fingertips to be so inspired as to draw that person’s likeness.

With no wind in the room, that face drifted and moved before her, finally slowly dissipating.

There was a slight sound at the door. Tie Ci turned to see Chi Xue standing there.

Her expression was both calm and complex.

Master and servant regarded each other wordlessly.

After a while, Chi Xue said: “Master, have you thought about the future?”

“Naturally.” Tie Ci said, “Punch the Xiao family, kick the Rong family, hold great power, and unify the world. That’s what I plan to do in the future.”

Chi Xue said: “Unifying the world, conquering Liaodong, capturing the Liaodong heir as your captive—isn’t that in your plans?”

Tie Ci hadn’t expected Chi Xue to say something so domineering, and couldn’t help but laugh: “I think that’s feasible.”

Chi Xue said: “I think he’s feasible too.”

Tie Ci smiled and shook her head.

No, it wouldn’t work.

Murong Yi had struggled desperately for the throne—it had become his obsession.

She wouldn’t give up the imperial throne and territory for him, so what right did she have to ask him to give up the throne and his obsession for her?

But she could defeat him honorably and make him submit.

Before that, there should be no factors affecting a fair confrontation.

For example, private feelings.

Master and servant silently faced each other in the darkness.

Suddenly there was a faint “whoosh” sound in the distance, and a point of deep red shot up into the night sky.

Tie Ci turned, very surprised.

The capital usually forbade fireworks and firecrackers, only allowing them during festivals. Now, in neither New Year nor festival time, who was setting off fireworks?

Looking at the direction, not far from the palace complex, it was the southeast imperial city where high officials and nobles gathered.

“Whoosh.” Another firework shot up into the sky, exploding in mid-air with thousands of emerald petals spreading, blooming in the dark blue night sky, instantly dimming the stars and moon.

“Whoosh, whoosh” came continuous sounds. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—the sky was instantly painted in seven brilliant colors like a giant brush, reflecting half the sky in colorful clouds. Half of the capital was startled, with countless people calling their children and rushing out their doors to look up at the sky.

The patrol soldiers of the Capital Prefecture and Five Military Commissioners were also startled, rushing in groups toward that location.

Chi Xue suddenly exclaimed: “That direction seems to be the Qi residence?”

Tie Ci was startled.

She suddenly dropped her book, strode out the door, and walked up to the two-level platform in front of the palace, looking up.

In the back courtyard of the Qi residence, Qi Yuansi, who had just finished practicing a spear routine, sheathed his weapon and stood still, looking in surprise at the fireworks shooting up from above his family’s residence. From the direction, it should be the back cross-courtyard where the servants lived in groups, but why would the servants be setting off fireworks for no reason?

These gorgeous and varied fireworks were very expensive—the Qi residence only set off some during festivals. The servants couldn’t afford them either.

Qi Dudu had gone out to drink with friends. Qi Yuansi hurried toward the back cross-courtyard in surprise.

The courtyard of the back cross-courtyard was already filled with Qi residence servants, pointing at the rooftop in amazement.

There were two people on the roof, a man and a woman. The man was casually wearing a mask, and the woman wore a face veil with flowing skirts, looking extremely beautiful in bearing, though oddly tall—even taller than the already very tall man. On the woman’s shoulder crouched a cat, with distinctive heart-shaped tri-colored markings.

The two were busily moving a large pile of fireworks on the roof, completely ignoring the people below.

The Qi family servants had initially thought it was one of their masters whimsically setting off fireworks, but now seeing they were two strangers, they all looked at each other in confusion.

Strange things happened every year, but this year was especially odd. Which idiots would run onto someone else’s roof to set off fireworks?

When Qi Yuansi arrived in the courtyard and saw they were two strangers, he naturally couldn’t allow such presumption and was about to shout for them to be driven away. The woman on the roof suddenly sat down, lifted her skirt hem, rolled up her sleeves, and called down with a smile: “Little Qi, long time no see. Today big brother is treating you to fireworks.”

Everyone: “…”