Lu Rui’s voice vanished behind the iron walls. Overhead, the sharp blades descended with a grinding sound, moving very slowly. It was clear they wouldn’t reach their heads within half an hour. Lu Rui’s purpose had never been to take their lives.

Feng Zhiwei sighed and remained silent for a long moment before turning to smile at Gu Nanyi. “Who would have thought? Our Zhixiao is actually an imperial—”

Before she could finish, Young Master Gu suddenly strode over and without a word, stretched out both arms and pulled her tightly into his embrace.

Feng Zhiwei’s remaining words were instantly cut off by this soul-stirring embrace.

She stood there stunned, feeling Gu Nanyi’s arms very tight and forceful, in a posture that seemed to want to completely embrace her and press her entirely into his chest, densely enveloping her. He pressed his face tightly against the top of her head, also in a posture that seemed to want to meld himself to her. His uniquely clean and fresh scent swept over her, both familiar and strange—familiar was the scent and the person, strange was the feeling the young master gave her at this moment. Such strength and heat, no longer carrying that habitual touch of detachment, but for the first time, completely giving her his heart and soul, hoping to merge with her without division.

Feng Zhiwei’s heart surged slightly at this complete openness and devotion, remembering that jade-carved ice block of a youth when they first met in the Imperial Capital—it felt like a lifetime ago. She suddenly very much wanted to raise her hand to stroke his hair and eyes, but her arms were tightly bound by the young master. He used such great force, as if afraid that if his hands loosened even slightly, she would fly away from his embrace.

Then she felt more weight on her head as Young Master Gu gently rubbed his face against her hair. His usually inflectionless tone now seemed to have softness and undulation, saying lowly: “You’re so wonderful…”

The corners of Feng Zhiwei’s lips curved into a smile, thinking that many people would hear such a simple phrase countless times in their lives, but for him, for herself, it seemed to be the first time. “You’re so wonderful, you’re so wonderful”—the simplest yet most sincere words. Those not immersed in this moment could never understand the weight contained in these three words.

This was his expression, his opening, his understanding of affection and most direct response.

The young master continued slowly rubbing against her hair, seeming to find the satin-like touch very smooth and comfortable, reluctant to let go. Then he murmured: “…I also want to be good to you…”

“You’re already good enough to me.” Feng Zhiwei sighed softly. “Nanyi, I hope you understand all the truth and beauty in this world, but I don’t want you to carry burdens because of it. Just be yourself.”

But Gu Nanyi didn’t seem to be listening to her words. He only persisted, repeating in a low voice once more: “…be good to you…”

Feng Zhiwei found this tone somewhat strange and was just about to ask when Gu Nanyi’s head had already lowered, sliding along her hair down to her cheek. Their slightly cool and smooth skin pressed together. Though both had been somewhat cool just moments ago, in an instant they generated subtle warmth, startlingly warm. Hazily, somehow one turned their head slightly, and between lip and lip came a warm, soft touch as they brushed past each other.

Like startling lightning cleaving the sky, splitting through that heavy deep darkness; or like jade stone thrown into rippling water, spreading infinite ripples. In a trance, the heart trembled as primordial chaos split open, somewhere a string resonated, sending forth trembling sound.

Feng Zhiwei’s face flushed. She turned her head and raised her hand to push, but Young Master Gu had already released her, standing dazed with his hand touching his lips. His face veil lifted at one corner from this motion. His jade-colored slender fingers rested beside thin red lips, reminding one of red agate served on a jade plate—because of the extremely vivid color, the contrast was sharp and alluring.

Watching his reminiscing gesture, Feng Zhiwei’s face turned crimson. She quickly stepped back, suddenly hearing a sound from overhead. Thinking the blades had arrived, she quickly looked up, only to discover the blades hadn’t fully descended. Instead, from one corner of the ceiling, something seemed to flash by, though she couldn’t see clearly what it was.

Over there, Gu Nanyi came back to his senses and drew the jade sword from his waist. First he struck at the crossed double blades at the door. As soon as he made his move, the double blades indeed began to move. With a clang and sparks flying everywhere, even Gu Nanyi’s short sword, which clearly was no ordinary weapon, couldn’t sever those blades.

“Don’t waste your effort.” Feng Zhiwei glanced at the blades now near their heads and pulled Gu Nanyi to crouch under the desk below. “We’ll just wait for someone to open the door for us.”

Suddenly someone outside laughed “haha” and said: “Where is your Grand Marshal? Calling me over urgently in the middle of the night, saying he has a gift for me. Yet he doesn’t show himself—what kind of host is this?”

The voice was young, its tone arrogant and unrestrained. Then someone, presumably a trusted aide Lu Rui had left behind, laughed in reply: “The Grand Marshal said he wanted to give you a surprise and must trouble you to come in person. We lowly ones won’t accompany you.”

“What mystery are you playing at, Old Lu?” The person strode over. Hearing his voice, Feng Zhiwei smiled unsurprisingly and took out a piece of paper from her bosom, writing a few words using Gu Nanyi’s knee as support.

The person reached the door and first exclaimed in admiration at the double-blade mechanism, then poked his head through the gap. Feng Zhiwei poked her head out from under the desk and greeted him with a smile: “A’Si, how are you?”

Young Prince Lu Zhiyan of the Changning Vassal State, seeing that it was actually Feng Zhiwei who emerged, immediately brightened, his eyebrows dancing with delight: “It’s actually you! Truly a wonderful gift! Oh my, Lord Wei, Marquis Wei, how did you also fall into such a miserable state?”

“Miserable?” Feng Zhiwei looked at herself with a smile. “I don’t think so. Am I not peacefully reclining here, awaiting your grand arrival?”

“Blade door before you, sharp blades overhead, yet Marquis Wei lies peacefully within—truly the bearing of ancient knights, haha.” Lu Zhiyan squinted one eye to look at Feng Zhiwei. His gaze flashed with slight helplessness and regret. Suddenly he sighed and extended his hand: “Fine, I know you want to use those three conditions to make me release you. Hand it over—two remaining.”

“Ah… truly a case of losing Jingzhou through carelessness… such a pity… such a pity…” Feng Zhiwei sighed slowly, took out the paper with Changning’s seal, and handed it over. “The first request—let us both out.”

Lu Zhiyan suddenly withdrew his hand, crossed both arms over his chest, squinted his peach-blossom eyes, tilted his head to look at Feng Zhiwei, and said slowly: “I suddenly feel—why should I accept them back one by one, letting you control me? Why can’t I just take all three back at once?”

“Oh?” Feng Zhiwei looked at him with a smile. “How would you take them back at once?”

“For example,” Lu Zhiyan smiled, revealing white teeth. Just now he looked like a peach-blossom-eyed fox; now he looked like a peach-blossom-eyed wolf. “Speed up those blades a bit, slice you up with a crack, and once you’re corpses, won’t the items return to me?”

He slyly squeezed his eyes: “I promised to give you three requests, but I never said I couldn’t retrieve them this way, right?”

“You really want to kill me?” Feng Zhiwei looked at him with interest. “Have you thought about how to handle the aftermath?”

Lu Zhiyan turned to look around in all directions, tapping his fingers on the wall. In the clear echo of iron, he said idly: “This room is a detachable mobile room, right? After you die, this room can probably be turned into an iron coffin, containing the corpses of Tiansheng envoys, appearing in some wilderness outside Jincheng. The rest can be left for our Regent Prince to worry about. Best if Tiansheng rages and sends troops to attack—hehe, settling the old grudge from twenty years ago once and for all. How satisfying would that be?”

“How satisfying! Then your Changning Vassal State could either fish in troubled waters or start anew. In any case, best if Tiansheng and Xi Liang don’t form an alliance—the more chaos, the better. In chaos, someone can profit as the fisherman.” Feng Zhiwei applauded. “What a fine calculation, what a fine calculation.”

“Your praise.” Lu Zhiyan bowed elegantly, all aristocratic manner.

“Then let’s do it that way.” Feng Zhiwei crouched under the desk. The long blades had already reached above the desk, the blade tips piercing countless holes in it. Before long they might pierce through to her head. She didn’t even glance at them, saying very sincerely: “However, I advise you—when preparing iron coffins for us, remember to prepare one for yourself too.”

“What do you mean?” Lu Zhiyan looked at her askance.

“Those who are arrogant and conceited may live through today but not survive tomorrow evening.” Feng Zhiwei said lightly. “You’ve underestimated others and naturally must pay the price.”

Lu Zhiyan said nothing, his lips curling, though his expression grew more grave. This one was also clever, knowing whom Feng Zhiwei was referring to.

“The Regent Prince is wildly ambitious and maintains friendly relations with everyone—Tiansheng, Changning Vassal State, even Da Yue. Now all gathered in Jincheng, the Regent Prince is trying to find the most reliable ally among them. This is a bold attempt and also a risky move.” Feng Zhiwei smiled. “Since he dares to do this, how could he not guard against conflict erupting among the three parties to Xi Liang’s detriment? I think if you truly attack us here today, once Tiansheng raises an army of retribution, tomorrow the Regent Prince will have a way to hand you over—you’re currently in Xi Liang, not in Changning.”

Lu Zhiyan sneered coldly. Though still disdainful, his expression was no longer as casual as before.

“Moreover, Lu Rui may not be willing to take on this trouble. As the Regent Prince’s confidant, his notifying you to come today may not have been with good intentions.” Feng Zhiwei smiled casually. “Well then, Young Prince A’Si, stop wasting time here. Even you yourself know that you cannot kill us today. Want to see me in distress begging for mercy? Forget it.”

Lu Zhiyan stroked his chin, looking at her with great interest, suddenly saying: “Has anyone told you that you’re actually quite domineering?”

Feng Zhiwei answered gently: “Everyone praises me for benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness; for being gentle, kind, respectful, frugal, and modest.”

“Haha.” Lu Zhiyan laughed dryly, then suddenly said: “…Earlier at the Changping Palace banquet, did you ever go to the terrace at the water pavilion in Changping Palace’s main hall?”

“There’s a terrace there?” Feng Zhiwei looked surprised. “If I’d known there was a terrace, I would have gone to rest there. The main hall was so noisy—my head is still buzzing.”

Lu Zhiyan glanced at her suspiciously. Thinking that reliable answers could never be obtained from this person’s facial expressions, he could only sigh and spread his hands.

Feng Zhiwei took out a paper scroll stamped with Changning’s seal and handed it over.

Lu Zhiyan, somewhat unwilling yet somewhat relieved, reached through the blade door to receive it.

The moment his fingertips were about to touch the scroll.

Feng Zhiwei’s fingers suddenly flashed forward like lightning, grabbed Lu Zhiyan’s fingers, and yanked inward!

Lu Zhiyan’s attention was entirely on the scroll. How could he guard against this person suddenly attacking at this moment after all that negotiation? With this yank, his arm was immediately pulled into the blade door!

The blade door, disturbed, immediately began to cross and descend!

Lu Zhiyan’s arm was about to be severed at the elbow!

“Click.”

A hidden mechanism sounded. The crossing double blades, when only a hair’s breadth from Lu Zhiyan’s elbow, suddenly stopped!

“Drip.”

In an instant, a drop of water fell to the ground—cold sweat the size of a bean rolling from Lu Zhiyan’s forehead.

“Haha.”

Short laughter came from Feng Zhiwei. Without any appropriate guilt or unease for her treacherous harm, she stared at the side of the blade door and laughed: “As expected, someone is controlling it.” Her finger flicked, sending a pebble shooting out, lodging precisely where that “click” sound had come from. The blade door shook, then stopped moving.

That shake of the blade door frightened Lu Zhiyan into another cold sweat. But Feng Zhiwei had already calmly extracted the scroll from his stiff fingers with a smile, saying gently and softly: “Something so precious, wasted on such a small matter—I can’t bear it.” While brazenly stuffing the item back into her bosom, she calmly pushed away Lu Zhiyan’s hand and leisurely led her Young Master Gu across the blade door. Before leaving, she even remembered to pat the stunned Lu Zhiyan, leaning close to his ear to smile: “Oh, Young Prince, actually that terrace is quiet and cool—quite nice indeed.”

She walked away with leisurely composure, leaving Lu Zhiyan standing there in a daze.

After a long moment, in the silence suddenly burst a furious shout:

“Wei Zhi!”

At the Grand Marshal’s residence, the young Changning prince had once again suffered defeat at Feng Zhiwei’s hands. Feng Zhiwei departed gracefully, yet Lu Rui made no move, seeming either to have given up or to be very confident in himself. Three days later at the formal imperial audience, when the two met outside the court, they merely cupped hands and laughed heartily as if nothing had happened, then went their separate ways.

Entanglements between great personages don’t settle every matter clearly like market folk do, demanding repayment with blade and spear. Whether to repay immediately, how to repay, or simply not repay at all—each naturally has their own set of rules. Feng Zhiwei watched Lu Rui’s frail-looking back, smiling quite meaningfully.

Before the imperial audience, Feng Zhiwei and Xi Liang’s Ministry of Rites and Palace Attendants Office spent three full days arguing about whether to perform the kowtow ceremony at the audience. The other side demanded kowtowing; Feng Zhiwei only agreed to bow. They said their imperial sovereign was supremely exalted; Feng Zhiwei said she was not their subject. They asked whether their envoys could also see the Tiansheng Emperor without kowtowing. Feng Zhiwei said your late sovereign once held the whip and stirrup at my Emperor’s horse, entering and exiting with kowtow ceremonies—your late sovereign kowtowed, so dare you not? After three days of verbal battle, the Ministry of Rites and Palace Attendants Office took turns and were all defeated. Finally, the Regent Prince made the concession, indicating that visiting envoys need not kowtow. This seemingly boring war of words was actually a matter of paramount importance in establishing diplomatic protocol between the two nations, concerning national dignity. When news returned to Tiansheng, the Emperor was immediately greatly pleased and, in the name of preserving national dignity, sent an eight-hundred-li express dispatch immediately promoting Feng Zhiwei up one rank of marquis.

On the day of the imperial audience, the young Emperor was considerably more proper, merely a decoration on the dragon throne. What caught Feng Zhiwei’s attention was the curtain-veiled Grand Empress Dowager Dong—this woman who held power over the rear palace, legendary for her formidable methods, was not as majestic, noble, proud, and severe as she had imagined. On the contrary, the voice coming from behind the pearl curtain was warm and kind, with the familiar softness of a neighborhood woman. The young Emperor also seemed very attached to her. Even more remarkably, between Grand Empress Dowager Dong and the Regent Prince, there seemed to be great understanding, even a flavor of mutual respect. Feng Zhiwei looked left and right, feeling that everything about the highest rulers of this Xi Liang imperial court departed from conventional understanding—truly an anomaly.

Even more miraculous was that the young Emperor attending court actually brought Gu Zhixiao along, having her symbolically hold a box while standing beside the fan-wielding palace maids. The small girl, delicate as carved jade, attracted the attention of Xi Liang’s assembled ministers. Gu Zhixiao showed no stage fright at all, her dark eyes looking all around. Seeing Feng Zhiwei looking at her, she wrinkled her nose and made a fist-pumping gesture in the box.

Feng Zhiwei was astonished, thinking: No way? Could the young Emperor really have been beaten into submission by her? The men of Xi Liang, from young to old, truly have mostly miraculous qualities.

After the audience came the customary banquet. Dozens of tables were set up in Longyan Hall. Feng Zhiwei was long weary of this lifestyle of drinking wherever she went. After the Emperor made his appearance and toasted three cups, she wanted to take the young master to stroll around. But then she saw Young Master Gu give Gu Zhixiao a hand signal. Gu Zhixiao, who had been dawdling behind the Emperor, immediately turned around cheerfully and walked away. The young Emperor tried to hold her back, but Gu Zhixiao swiftly raised her finger and made a gesture of poking his eyes. The child immediately withdrew his hand. Palace maids and nannies all around covered their mouths and laughed. No one took the child’s playful gesture seriously—only Feng Zhiwei saw it and quietly broke into a sweat—could it be that Gu Zhixiao really had pressed down on that child at midnight, threatened to poke his eyes, and viciously scared him into submission?

She became curious about what that father-daughter pair was up to. Young Master Gu rarely gave active instructions to anyone, and it seemed he even wanted to hide it from her. What did he want to do?

She excused herself to use the facilities and followed them out intentionally or unintentionally through the coming and going crowd. She watched as the one large and one small figure turned into a garden and sat before a rock garden, seemingly watching water and fish.

Feng Zhiwei, using the explosion of fireworks overhead as cover, walked a few steps closer and concealed herself behind that cluster of rock gardens.

But the father and daughter didn’t speak. In the night wind, one large and one small silhouette sat in silent overlay, with a steady, towering peace. Each quietly listened to the sound of carp leaping in the pond, heard the water ripple with occasional gentle sound.

When these two were together, even Gu Zhixiao seemed to prefer quiet more. She sat on Gu Nanyi’s knee, her small face seriously watching the fish. After a long moment, she pointed at the fish and said profoundly: “These fish are freer than me.”

Gu Nanyi also watched the fish with a serious expression. He watched the fish, but his heart kept turning over the thoughts he’d been considering for three days, just not knowing how to speak to his daughter. At this moment, he finally seemed to have found an opening and immediately continued: “You can be freer than the fish.”

Gu Zhixiao turned to look at him, eyes smiling into slits. “You’ve come to take me back home?” As she spoke, she was about to jump from his knee and pull him away, but Gu Nanyi held her down.

Gu Nanyi held his daughter, carefully and thoroughly examining her eyes, gently stroking her tender little face with his fingers.

In his usually calm-as-still-water gaze was a rare tenderness and reluctance, as if seeing something extremely beloved in his life that in one instant must be personally relinquished by his own hand.

He said: “Xiaoxiao.”

This was the first time Gu Nanyi had called his daughter this way, yet he said it fluently and naturally, as if he had called her this many times in his heart, settled and persistent.

Behind the rock garden, eavesdropping Feng Zhiwei’s heart suddenly trembled.

Gu Zhixiao stared at those glittering eyes behind the veil and suddenly quieted down as well.