Autumn winds arose, and vegetation turned yellow.

In the courtyard’s long steps, moss traces ran deep.

In the Grand Tutor’s Manor, white silk lanterns under the eaves swayed unsteadily in the wind. In the ancestral hall, rows of black spirit tablets stood like inverted coffins, orderly arranged, their shadows stretching long in the dim candlelight.

Qi Yutai had been buried yesterday.

Though the Grand Tutor’s Manor’s legitimate son had been buried, the funeral was conducted with extreme simplicity. Sacrificial ceremonies for the dead were considered great omens of misfortune, so Qi Yutai’s cause of death was not publicized. The palace forbade discussion of the matter, and to the outside world, they only claimed that Qi Yutai had suddenly contracted a serious illness and died from severe sickness.

Although the sacrificial ceremony matter had not spread publicly, the common people inevitably harbored suspicions. Qi Yutai was in his prime years, and no one had heard of him having any chronic ailments before. His sudden illness and death simply could not be explained away. Instead, the previous fire at Fengle Tower was brought up again by people in the streets and alleys, discussed with great interest. What the truth was remained mysterious and confusing.

Low coughing sounds came from inside the room.

Qi Qing sat in the room.

Managing Qi Yutai’s funeral affairs had caused his already aged body to rapidly weaken. His dry, withered frame increasingly showed a kind of rotting, deathly aura.

Qi Huaying had already gone to rest. With Qi Yutai’s death, as the Qi family’s only daughter, she also had to receive guests who came to pay their respects, which was quite exhausting.

Emperor Liang thoroughly investigated Qi Yutai’s cause of death, with the Third Prince obstructing the investigation. How Qi Yutai died was not important; comparatively, the scattered sacrificial garments and ominous signs had become a greater crime. Those who came to pay their respects all put on expressions of grief, but underneath their faces were various—pitying, gloating, adding insult to injury—like a variety show with painted faces at a funeral.

He watched them all.

The surroundings became even more silent. The pale lanterns swayed wildly in the wind, and the greenish moonlight fell on the ground and on his face, like a ghost suddenly appearing while sitting alone in the hall.

In this silence, he suddenly spoke.

“Where has the convoy of accompanying medical officials going to southern Jiangsu reached?”

The steward bowed and replied: “Yesterday we heard they were about to cross the Guangyun River. Continuous rain has delayed them for some time. Once they cross the Guangyun River, they’ll reach Mengtai.”

Qi Qing closed his eyes.

The medical official convoy going to southern Jiangsu had departed several days ago.

On the plague relief medical officials’ roster, on the last day, Lu Tong’s name was suddenly added.

Chang Jin had dared to comply outwardly while opposing inwardly—truly audacious. This naturally bore Pei Yunying’s handiwork, but at that time, Qi Qing was busy with Qi Yutai’s funeral affairs and dealing with the Third Prince’s difficulties, unable to divide his attention, allowing Lu Tong to pull the rug from under his feet and completely escape far away.

Now that Qi Yutai’s funeral affairs were settled, it was time to settle old accounts.

He said indifferently: “Find someone to follow them. Look for an opportunity along the way to kill her.”

The steward shuddered: “Yes.” He was also worried, “But what about Pei Yunying…”

Last time when Pei Yunying came to the door with threats, his words still echoed. If something happened to Lu Tong, he would not spare Qi Huaying.

Qi Qing spoke coldly: “Arrogant youth.”

The young Palace Front Division Commander—after winning several moves, he didn’t know the height of heaven and earth. He only had two children. For the dead Qi Yutai, for the living Qi Huaying, Lu Tong must also die.

Whether she was in the capital or southern Jiangsu.

Whether the Qi family ultimately won or lost.

The steward dared not say more and accepted the order.

Qi Qing was silent for a moment, then suddenly said: “Wait.”

The old man lowered his eyes and slowly turned the prayer beads on his wrist.

Pei Yunying cared about this woman and would certainly arrange for people to follow and secretly protect her along the way. Acting now would inevitably alert the enemy.

After a moment, he spoke: “Act after reaching southern Jiangsu.”

“Yes, Master.”

…

The cold night was deep, the solitary lamp like a ghost. Tonight’s moonlight was more desolate than usual.

In the Privy Council’s secret chamber, there were no windows. Candles on the table and torches on the walls reflected each other, illuminating the old prison cell’s stone walls.

Xiao Zhufeng walked down the stone steps, placing a silver pot he held onto the table.

Pei Yunying glanced at it: “Tea?”

“Life is bitter enough already—let’s have some wine,” Xiao Zhufeng said. “To dispel your ugly worried expression.”

Pei Yunying smiled and watched Xiao Zhufeng pour a small cup of wine and push it in front of him.

He picked up the wine cup, played with it between his fingers, and “tsk”ed: “Drinking before departure—doesn’t this feel like a farewell drink before execution?” He paused, then continued, “Isn’t this a bit too inauspicious?”

“It won’t be,” Xiao Zhufeng sat down across from him, speaking flatly. “Unlucky in love, lucky in gambling. You’re completely defeated in matters of the heart, so our plan will definitely succeed surprisingly smoothly…”

Pei Yunying: “…”

He chuckled, lifted the wine cup to his lips, and as the wine entered his mouth with its pungent, stinging sensation, Pei Yunying frowned slightly.

“Hanxiang wine?”

Xiao Zhufeng shrugged: “Teacher brought it.”

The two of them had worked under Yan Xu in their youth. Xiao Zhufeng came first, Pei Yunying was a latecomer. All things considered, they had some camaraderie as fellow disciples.

Yan Xu was strict. When training martial arts, he often made them spar against each other, never stopping until they were beaten black and blue.

When they were young, they always couldn’t bear hardship. Yan Xu would wait until the lamp oil burned out before releasing them from the cell. At that time, they only hated that there was too much lamp oil, making the long night difficult to endure. Years later, looking back, they sighed that there was too little lamp oil, regretting the wasted time of their youth.

Back then, after each sparring session, Yan Xu would make them drink a pot of Hanxiang wine. Hanxiang wine was pungent and hard to smell, but it had remarkable effects for treating injuries. Both would drink it with frowning faces.

They hadn’t drunk it for a long time now.

After a while, Xiao Zhufeng mocked: “Do you still remember the first time you and I sparred? You were beaten flat on the ground, utterly wretched.”

Pei Yunying sneered: “You remember wrong. When selecting the marshal, you nearly got hacked to death by me.”

The two fell silent again.

Xiao Zhufeng was an orphan.

He grew up in the Charitable Youth Bureau and was taken away by Yan Xu at age five to become Yan Xu’s disciple.

Before Pei Yunying arrived, Yan Xu valued him most. After Pei Yunying came, the situation changed somewhat.

In youth, the desire to win was always strong. Xiao Zhufeng hated Pei Yunying, yet Yan Xu wanted to choose one of them to be planted as a nail in the Palace Front Division.

There were many competitions then, with both disliking each other and engaging in open and covert struggles. Until one time, when the two were executing the same mission and accidentally alerted others, Xiao Zhufeng was ambushed. Pei Yunying had already escaped but turned back at the last moment to take him along.

Both were severely injured that time. Afterward, Yan Xu harshly scolded Pei Yunying but specifically chose him to enter the Marshal’s Manor.

Later, Pei Yunying became the Commander, and he became the Deputy Commander.

The torches on the wall made the room’s lighting chaotic.

Xiao Zhufeng said: “Duke Zhaoning has approached you?”

“Yes.”

“Asking you to save the Pei family?”

“Obviously.”

Xiao Zhufeng was blunt: “Shameless.”

Pei Yunying sighed.

“You’re an orphan without a father, I have a father but am worse off than an orphan. Really don’t know who’s more unlucky.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a voice came from the cell: “Still in the mood for idle chat? I think those implicated by you two are the most unlucky.”

The two turned their heads. Yan Xu walked down from the stone steps.

He wore black robes with golden eagle embroidery gleaming on the fabric. Arm guards, long sword, and light armor were all equipped. The scar at the corner of his eye looked particularly fierce in the firelight.

“Are you both ready?”

The two responded affirmatively.

“I’ve arranged for people to hide your sister and Bao Zhu safely—no more worries behind you.” Yan Xu’s gaze swept over Pei Yunying, paused, and said: “Since you’ve been abandoned, you have nothing you can’t let go of. Pull yourself together. Learn from your sweetheart’s decisiveness.”

Pei Yunying was speechless.

Lu Tong had already left—indeed quite decisively.

Before she went to southern Jiangsu, while being confined and guarded at the Marshal’s Manor, he had received a letter delivered by Yin Zheng one night. It was written in Lu Tong’s own hand.

What was written in the letter was all about asking Pei Yunying to protect everyone at Renxin Medical Hall after her death, including appeals based on their past relationship, emotionally moving, with every word painstakingly crafted.

Even if the long-lived Qi Qing were to give final instructions before death, it probably wouldn’t be more thorough and decisive than this.

It was precisely because of that letter that he finally decided not to prevent Lu Tong from going to southern Jiangsu.

In this letter, he glimpsed Lu Tong’s death wish. A person determined to die—keeping her in the capital with Qi Qing would definitely lead to trouble.

Yan Xu looked him over, seeing the dazed look in his eyes, narrowed his eyes slightly, as if looking down on him: “You really do like her.”

Pei Yunying’s lips curved.

He had encountered many women.

Gentle and gracious like his mother, kind and open-minded like his sister. He had received much sincerity, much admiration, yet never expected he would end up liking such a person.

A woman who could frame him in front of everyone, a woman who appeared calm and composed on the surface but secretly held poison in her palm, ready to perish together with her enemy at any moment.

A woman who didn’t particularly like him.

Inescapable attraction, undeniable feelings…

Like the precarious wooden piece at the very top of the wooden tower in his study—with just a light touch—

A thunderous crash, defenses completely routed.

“What to do?” He smiled lazily. “We three master and disciples are all unlucky in love and abandoned. Perhaps it’s the bad feng shui of this place that always makes things go against our wishes.”

Xiao Zhufeng: “…”

Yan Xu didn’t want to deal with him: “Take your sword and get lost.”

The two stood up, took their swords, and walked out. When they reached the door, Yan Xu called them back.

“You two,” he was silent for a long time, then uttered: “Be careful.”

“Nagging.”

The two walked out of the secret chamber. Pei Yunying was in front when Xiao Zhufeng said: “Let me ask you something.”

“Speak.”

“That time when we competed for the Palace Front Division position—you had clearly escaped, so why did you come back to save me?”

Pei Yunying was startled, then laughed: “How do you still remember that?”

“Stop the nonsense.”

He said carelessly: “I’m a hero, you know. Seeing you beaten so badly, I felt bad about it and treated it as a good deed.”

“Oh.” Xiao Zhufeng stepped forward, passing him: “Hero, then you’d better be more careful tonight.”

“If you get hacked to death, I definitely won’t come save you.”

Pei Yunying made several “tsk” sounds: “Heart of stone.”

He pressed his hand on the silver blade at his waist, looked toward the thick night in the distance, and smiled: “Fine, tonight however many come, we’ll kill however many—”

…

“Dong—”

The distant bell sound floated over with the night wind. In the Hall of Diligent Government, Emperor Liang suddenly startled awake.

On the imperial desk, a bowl of brown medicinal soup was steaming slightly.

“Your Majesty,” the chief eunuch said in a low voice, “the medicine is getting cold.”

Emperor Liang stared at the silver medicine bowl before him, his eyes dark and gloomy.

In the imperial family, bowls, cups, and vessels were all made of gold. After the late emperor’s death, Emperor Liang had ordered all his daily utensils to be changed to silver. This had even caused impeachment by censors, who said it damaged ancestral rules.

However, rules were made by people. After he dismissed several old censors, no one mentioned this matter again.

Emperor Liang pushed aside the memorials piled like mountains on the imperial desk, reached for the medicine bowl, and drained the medicinal soup in one gulp.

The medicine was bitter. After drinking it, a sour, bitter aftertaste remained in his throat. He raised his hand and wiped away traces of medicine from the corners of his mouth with a silk handkerchief.

“This evening, the Empress came by and encountered Noble Consort Chen at the door. The two had an argument,” the chief eunuch observed the emperor’s expression and spoke carefully. “Later when the Empress Dowager came, the Empress and Noble Consort each returned to their palaces.”

Emperor Liang rubbed his temples.

The Empress came for the Crown Prince, and Noble Consort Chen also came for the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince had been confined for a long time, and both sides were getting impatient.

His intention to change the heir apparent had shown signs early on. The two factions in court argued endlessly, but the emperor’s mind had never changed. Yuan Yao—from the beginning, he was the person in his heart to inherit the throne.

Yuan Yao was clever and brave, most similar to himself.

Just as he resembled the late emperor.

Because of this resemblance, the late emperor particularly favored him, so much so that his elder brother, Crown Prince Yuan Xi, despite being elegant, knowledgeable, and talented in both civil and military arts, still could not match his position in the late emperor’s heart.

Supporters said the late emperor might have intended to change the heir apparent. He hoped in his heart but was ultimately disappointed.

The father who showed favoritism with his words still wanted to hand the kingdom over to his elder brother. So Yuan Xi died in that autumn flood, the late emperor fell seriously ill and died, all his brothers died or were disabled, and he ascended to the throne with unlimited glory.

Fate was like a wheel, turning endlessly. When he had Yuan Yao, he favored Yuan Yao most.

Yuan Zhen was reckless and mediocre, not imperial material. He also disliked the Empress. What he feared most was still the Qi family—that Grand Tutor who had once supported his ascension to the throne and now supported the Crown Prince’s succession.

However, Qi Qing was old after all.

An aging tiger was nothing to fear. With his only son already dead in the sacrifice, without him having to act, Qi Qing had already lost his fighting spirit and was nothing to fear.

Emperor Liang looked at the empty silver bowl on the table, a flash of killing intent in his eyes.

He would never learn from the confused and hypocritical late emperor. Whichever son he liked, he would make that son emperor. Imperial power was supreme—having reached the heights, why should he fear others? Naturally, everything should go as he wished, without restraint, without relying on ancestral rules.

He would clear all obstacles for Yuan Yao—

“Did the Empress Dowager leave any message?” Emperor Liang asked the chief eunuch.

“No,” the chief eunuch said. “Your Majesty, forgive this servant. At that time, seeing the Empress was very angry, I was afraid of troubling Your Majesty and didn’t dare report it.”

Emperor Liang waved his hand impatiently.

When the Empress came, it was nothing more than pleading for Yuan Zhen. Now that the overall situation was decided, between his two sons, he chose Yuan Yao.

The Empress Dowager had been devoted to Buddhism for years and never interfered in court affairs. This was also why she had remained safe all these years.

Emperor Liang was willing to continue the charade of maternal kindness and filial piety with her to the end.

But there was still one person—

“Has Prince Ning made any moves?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, Prince Ning has not left his manor for several days. Nothing unusual has been observed.”

Emperor Liang’s expression darkened.

Prince Ning was the only brother he had left alive. When he returned to the capital and ascended the throne, with his siblings meeting misfortune one after another, if Prince Ning also met with trouble, it would inevitably cause gossip.

He spared Prince Ning’s life, keeping him as a joke, both despising and guarding against him.

But recently, he had vaguely felt a sense of crisis.

Having kept him around for so many years, it was time to eliminate this last useless chess piece.

Outside the window, the night was deep and heavy. The thick ink-like darkness was like a bottomless abyss. The howling night wind made eerie whistling sounds, accompanied by some chaotic and alarmed shouts.

Emperor Liang suddenly looked up.

“What’s that sound?”