Prince Xihuai’s eyes were red-rimmed, his voice weak and listless: “Going back… whether to collect the bodies of His Majesty and the Empress Dowager, or to guard their tombs! I must return!”

“Has Your Highness never considered that if it’s truly too late… then don’t go back? Continue traveling south to those places with clear mountains and beautiful waters, warm all year round, settle down and become a wealthy man?” Xiao Rongyan looked earnestly at Prince Xihuai, taking the opportunity to share his thoughts. “In the State of Wei, Your Highness has helped me in many ways. I sincerely wish to purchase property for Your Highness… I can fulfill Your Highness’s former wish to be a leisurely wealthy man for life.”

Prince Xihuai looked at Xiao Rongyan, his eyes growing even redder, already clouded with moisture but carrying a smile: “Rongyan, though this prince has made many friends in my lifetime, the only one who could truly pull me up in times of crisis is you! In this lifetime… having you as a friend, I truly have no regrets!”

As he spoke, Prince Xihuai’s tears fell. He quickly wiped them with his sleeve, let out a long breath, gave a sorrowful, low laugh, then composed himself and looked up earnestly at Xiao Rongyan.

“Rongyan, you must not return to the State of Wei! Though you are from Wei, your shops are spread across all nations, and… you are the betrothed of the State of Jin’s Princess Zhenguo. Although Princess Zhenguo faces difficulties with childbearing, she is indeed a rare beauty. If you marry into the Bai family in the future, you’ll be Jin’s imperial relative—surely no one would dare look down on you!”

“If you’re too concerned about offspring, absolutely don’t take concubines, and don’t philander within Jin’s borders…” Prince Xihuai laughed again at this point. “I forgot—you don’t fancy such things! Good… that’s good! If you truly love this Princess Zhenguo, you can adopt an heir in the future!”

Prince Xihuai rambled on, his words somewhat incoherent, yet all spoken from the heart, final instructions he wanted to give his friend Xiao Rongyan.

Xiao Rongyan clenched his fists and said: “Your Highness need not return to the State of Wei. When the Empress Dowager and Chancellor Gongsun ordered Your Highness to seek a path of survival for Wei, weren’t they also hoping Your Highness could preserve a bloodline of Wei’s royal family for the future?”

Hearing Xiao Rongyan’s words, Prince Xihuai looked confused like a child, then his gaze cleared after a moment.

He shook his head with a self-mocking laugh: “I know what kind of material I am, and the Empress Dowager and Chancellor Gongsun know even better! With these shoulders that can’t carry burdens and hands that can’t lift anything… expecting me to plan for the future is a joke! I’ve failed Chancellor Gongsun. He was so busy, yet still had to teach me on my imperial brother’s orders, but every time I made Chancellor Gongsun so angry his beard bristled—I never once satisfied him!”

Prince Xihuai sighed deeply: “I am a prince and grandson of Wei. When Wei faces difficulties, I am incompetent… I cannot raise a sword to kill enemies and defend our territory, nor do I have the courage to die for my Kingdom. Returning to Wei to accept whatever fate awaits is the greatest loyalty I can manage!”

“Your Highness…”

“Rongyan, I know you’re my good brother. Don’t try to persuade me further—my mind is made up. I’ve spent half my life eating, drinking, and making merry. This is the first time I feel I’ve made a proper decision, shown a man’s resolve! It’s just… not being able to drink and sing with you anymore is somewhat regrettable!” Prince Xihuai sniffled and smiled at Xiao Rongyan like a fool. “But this can’t be helped. I am a prince and grandson of Wei. Even if I’m usually worthless, when the nation faces a crisis, I cannot shame my ancestors. Otherwise, when I meet my father emperor someday, I’ll get beaten—I took plenty of beatings from my father emperor as a child. If not for my imperial brother… I might have lost my hands!”

“Speaking of my imperial brother, he was a good emperor… and an even better brother. Curse the State of Yan… for killing my imperial brother! I should have been the one to die! I’m the most useless person in Wei’s royal family, always causing trouble for my imperial brother. Every time, it was my imperial brother who cleaned up my messes…”

Prince Xihuai rambled while tears fell, his sleeves already soaked through.

All these words were simply because Prince Xihuai sensed the nation’s destruction was imminent—his heart was both panicked and frightened.

“When I meet the father emperor and my imperial brother in the future, the only thing this prince can say is that I didn’t hide away when my motherland faced disaster. I can tell my imperial brother that I returned, and though I could not save the Kingdom… I wasn’t spineless enough to only think of my escape. Perhaps this might give my imperial brother, who was always disappointed in me, just a tiny bit of comfort, making him feel I had some redeeming qualities.”

Prince Xihuai didn’t know how long he had been talking. Outside, the sky had already darkened. Sitting in the darkness, Prince Xihuai finally spoke to Xiao Rongyan with a hoarse voice: “Rongyan, for the road ahead, don’t risk danger with me anymore! You’ve already done enough for me, fulfilling both a Wei citizen’s heart toward his motherland and the loyalty between us brothers. From this moment… I’ll walk my path. I don’t want to implicate you, my brother, any further.”

Prince Xihuai only dared say these words to Xiao Rongyan in the darkness—otherwise, he feared he wouldn’t have the courage to speak them.

After all, throughout this journey, Xiao Rongyan had been his greatest support. Several times when escaping death, it was Xiao Rongyan’s assistance that saved him; otherwise, he didn’t know how many hundreds of times he would have died.

Today’s Prince Xihuai surprised Xiao Rongyan again and again.

“Our brotherhood in this life has reached its end. Rongyan… what I owe you, I will repay double in the next life! Believe me!” Prince Xihuai’s tone was firm.

“I believe Your Highness.” Xiao Rongyan said.

“That’s good… that’s good! I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me. In the past, in Wei, relying on my power and influence, I swindled many treasures from you, but never managed to get things done for you. Thinking about it now, I’m deeply ashamed! I’ve cheated many people out of rare treasures… sometimes I don’t even believe myself! Others just didn’t speak up because I was my imperial brother’s most beloved younger brother! Now that Wei has declined and I’m falling like a homeless dog, it’s rare that you still believe me! You are my true good brother!”

That day, on the second floor of the small courtyard in Daming Prefecture’s inn, Prince Xihuai seemed to be confessing his past sins, recounting all his memories.

The next day, before dawn, Prince Xihuai ordered his subordinates not to disturb Xiao Rongyan and departed after packing.

Yue Shi accompanied Xiao Rongyan as they stood on the ridge of the inn’s highest observation tower, watching Prince Xihuai’s people load their carriage and slowly leave the inn…

Yue Shi asked Xiao Rongyan, “Master, should we stop Prince Xihuai? Last night, Prince Xihuai received the latest news about the Rongdi Ghost-Faced General. Departing now, he should want to reach Xiangliang before the thirteenth of the first month to intercept the Rongdi Ghost-Faced Prince in Xiangliang! Prince Xihuai has specific information about the Ghost-Faced Prince. If Prince Xihuai manages to intercept the Rongdi Ghost-Faced Prince…”