“This servant has committed grave sins, unworthy of Master and the Princess. Only death can atone for my crimes.”

On the yellowed paper, this simple line of writing was like the most profound verse, impossible to decipher.

Xiao Du set down the paper and irritably rubbed his temples. These past few days, he had analyzed these twenty-one characters repeatedly, yet still couldn’t understand their meaning. He stood up and slowly walked to the window, pushing it open to let the cold wind help clear his mind.

Autumn was now deep, and a pattering rain was falling. The gardenia tree that had once been fragrant with flowers and leaves now had only a few lonely withered leaves hanging from its tips, being battered by the cold rain until they swayed precariously, looking quite desolate. When would the person who used to sit beneath that tree reading ever return?

Raindrops fell steadily from the eaves, splashing on the ground and creating small puddles. Xiao Du unconsciously swept his gaze across these puddles when suddenly he had a revelation—puddles… ink marks… Why had Concubine Cai left so many ink marks in the blank spaces on the paper? He had thought they were caused by her panicked scribbling, but if this suicide note was a message she deliberately left behind, it must have been written after careful consideration. How could she allow any stains to remain on it?

Xiao Du reached out to grip the window frame, his knuckles turning white from the force. Perhaps what Concubine Cai wanted to say wasn’t hidden in the words, but in these ink marks.

He suddenly turned around and picked up the paper again to examine it closely. Indeed, those seemingly random ink spots appeared to be arranged in some kind of order, but where should he start deciphering them?

The incense burned and died out repeatedly while Xiao Du remained lost in thought, the paper creasing in his hands as he murmured, “What exactly are you trying to say?” Just then, sudden commotion came from outside the door, interrupting his thoughts. He frowned slightly, and before he could speak, he heard a servant outside shouting, “The Marquis ordered that no one is allowed to enter without his permission. Hey! You…”

Before the words were finished, the door was pushed open. Xiao Du’s anger dissolved into surprise when he saw who had entered. He quickly put away the paper and stood up with a smile, “Uncle Feng! When did you return?”

The person at the door was robust in build with a red face and white beard. He was currently pushing aside a shouting, obstructing servant like swatting a fly. The servant was already red-faced with urgency and preparing to complain, but seeing the Marquis’s attitude toward this rough man, he could only suppress his grievances and grumble quietly as he closed the door and left.

The man entered and casually sat down, saying, “Your residence has so many rules. Everyone insisted the Marquis wasn’t seeing guests. If I waited for them to announce me, who knows how many hours I’d have to wait, so I just came in myself.” Xiao Du just smiled indifferently and personally poured him tea, saying, “I heard from father that you were coming to the capital. I didn’t expect you’d arrive so quickly. Why didn’t you notify us first?”

The man drained the tea cup in one gulp and glanced around, “What? Don’t welcome me here?”

Xiao Du smiled and shook his head while refilling his tea, “Back then at Fury River Valley, if Uncle Feng hadn’t fought desperately to carve out a bloody path, I would have lost my life long ago.”

Recalling the iron horses and golden spears of those days, the man was filled with emotion. He set down his tea cup and slapped the table, “What ghost tea is this? So bland it tastes like bird water! Have them bring a jug of good wine so we can drink a few cups and catch up properly.”

This man was named Feng Yan, a captain in the Xiao family army. In his youth, he had followed Old Marquis Xiao Yunjing in campaigns everywhere. After Xiao Du entered the military camp, Feng Yan taught and trained him, making him practically half a master to Xiao Du. Recently, he had requested to retire from the court and return home. This time, he had specifically returned to the capital to see old friends. Born in the countryside, he had risen through military merit and the Old Marquis’s favor. Having spent years at the frontier, he was accustomed to crude speech and behavior, never caring about propriety or rank. Therefore, Xiao Du didn’t mind and actually felt quite close to him. He immediately ordered servants to prepare wine and food, and the two drank and chatted as if back in their military camp days.

After three rounds of wine, seeing Feng Yan’s eyes showing signs of intoxication, Xiao Du poured him more wine while asking, “Uncle Feng, what are your plans for returning home this time?” Feng Yan always said that soldiers never knew if they’d see tomorrow, and he didn’t want to burden some good girl, so he had never even taken a wife all these years. Therefore, Xiao Du often worried that when he left the battlefield one day, he would have nowhere to belong and nothing to care about.

Feng Yan lifted his head, his tongue already somewhat unsteady, “I’m a lone bachelor—what plans could I have? With the silver I’ve saved over the years, I bought an estate in my hometown. I’ll hire people to manage it and collect rent, living peacefully for a few years.” He raised his wine cup, his eyes somewhat hazy, “I only wish for no more wars in this lifetime. This old life of mine hasn’t been wasted.”

Xiao Du’s nose suddenly felt sour. How many old generals had spent their entire lives at the frontier, using their flesh and blood to protect the people and territory of this country? They either died on the battlefield or returned home with injuries, and in the end, even their names were forgotten.

He raised his wine cup and drained it in one gulp, his eyes slightly red, “To Uncle Feng! The Xiao family army owes you all!” Feng Yan waved his head drunkenly, then suddenly stared intently at Xiao Du, “Chong Jiang, are you truly willing to stay cooped up in this capital forever and never return to the battlefield? From the moment you entered the military camp at sixteen, I knew you naturally belonged there. That’s why I deliberately made things difficult for you, hoping you would make a name for yourself early. I never expected you to do better than I imagined.”

Xiao Du recalled past events and found them somewhat amusing, but his laughter gradually turned to tears as he shook his head and said quietly, “I won’t go back… and I can’t go back…”

He didn’t continue, and Feng Yan didn’t ask further. The rich wine aroma in the room overpowered the incense. If they added the scent of roasted meat and mare’s milk, it would be the smell of the frontier. Xiao Du’s eyes became profound in this aroma, while Feng Yan seemed already drunk.

His eyes half-closed, his hands barely able to hold the wine cup, he slurred, “Earlier… went to see the Old Marquis. He said you’ve been listless and hiding in your room all day because your wife ran away.” He suddenly slammed his cup on the table and shouted, “A man among men… a military commander, acting half-dead over some woman—what kind of talk is that! Such a waste of Uncle Feng’s training…”

Xiao Du thought: You don’t even have a woman yourself, of course you don’t understand. But he still smiled placatingly, “Father exaggerated. It’s not about any woman—I just have some things I can’t figure out, so I need to think them through.”

But Feng Yan smiled slyly, “Uncle Feng didn’t come empty-handed this time. I brought you a gift, boy. It’s in your room. Go back and look quickly. Then everything you can’t figure out will become clear.”

Xiao Du found this strange but assumed he was talking drunk and didn’t take it to heart. However, Feng Yan suddenly became excited, constantly urging him to hurry back to his room to look. Unable to resist his persistence, Xiao Du had to instruct servants to arrange a guest room for Feng Yan and help him rest there after he finished drinking.

When Xiao Du returned to his courtyard, he found that the maids and servants standing guard there all had strange expressions. They had been whispering among themselves, but when they saw him coming, they glanced toward his room with meaningful smiles.

Xiao Du became curious about Uncle Feng’s “gift.” He stepped forward and pushed open the door. At that moment, the servants guarding the door immediately scattered, leaving him standing there staring blankly at his bedroom, which appeared completely normal.

Xiao Du found this puzzling. He strode inside and looked around but couldn’t find any so-called gift. Just as he was wondering, he suddenly noticed the silk quilt on his bed was raised high and gently rising and falling.

Someone was in the bed! Xiao Du was startled, then frowned. He never would have thought that Uncle Feng, an old bachelor, could pull such tricks. Did he really think Xiao Du couldn’t live without a woman and that stuffing some random woman in here would solve his problems?

He felt both angry and amused, finally shaking his head helplessly and shouting toward the door, “Xiao Chun!”

Xiao Chun was outside chatting animatedly with the maids. Hearing the Marquis call him in at this moment, he froze, then hurriedly ran in while stealing glances at the bed and asking tentatively, “Marquis, what are your orders?”

Xiao Du pointed coldly at the quilt, “Take this person out of here.”

Xiao Chun turned pale with fright and hurriedly gestured while stammering, “This… can’t take her, can’t take her!”

Xiao Du raised an eyebrow, “Are you rebelling against me? When I tell you to take her, you dare refuse?”

Xiao Chun’s face crumpled like a bitter melon as he grumbled inwardly: I wouldn’t dare take her even if anyone else told me to! He hurriedly approached with a placating smile, “Marquis, please listen to me. This person really can’t be taken away! She is…”

Xiao Du impatiently waved to interrupt him, saying coldly, “I don’t care who she is—get her out! If you can’t bear to part with her, take her to your room.”

Xiao Chun’s mouth fell open, and he nearly cried out loud. Terrified and about to kneel, he stammered, “This servant doesn’t dare… doesn’t dare! Marquis, please look and see who’s inside!”

Xiao Du stared at him suspiciously, then reached out and pulled back the silk quilt. The moment he glanced at the bed, his eyes widened as he froze there, his heart pounding.

He saw Yuanxi lying inside, her face full of anger, glaring at him fiercely, her gaze seeming to contain knives and swords. After his initial shock came wild joy, his mind went blank, not knowing what to do with his hands and feet. When he came to his senses, he quickly put the quilt back down and kicked Xiao Chun with his toe, saying harshly, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier!”

Xiao Chun finally breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his sweat, thinking: You had to listen first for me to tell you early! But he smiled placatingly, “It’s all our fault. We wanted the Marquis to see for himself to give you a surprise.” Remembering what the Marquis had said about taking her to his room, he broke out in a cold sweat again. Next time he definitely wouldn’t play with surprises—he might lose his life doing so.

But Xiao Du had no time to argue with him now. He only stared at that face he had missed for so long, casually waving behind him, “Get out of here!” Xiao Chun felt as if granted amnesty, quickly bowing and slipping out while carefully closing the door behind them.

Xiao Du gazed tenderly at the person lying in bed, but saw her eyes full of even greater anger, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t speak. Only then did he realize she seemed to have her pressure points sealed! He quickly leaned down to unseal them.

Yuanxi had been inexplicably kidnapped and was already terrified, then inexplicably thrown here. Earlier she had heard him talking about taking her out, and she had been holding back a bellyful of anger. Finally freed, she sat up angrily and shouted, “Xiao Du, you shameless scoundrel! You’re as unreasonable as that stupid bird you sent!”

Xiao Du had prepared many things to say to her and had practiced countless scenarios of their reunion. Now he was stunned by her tirade of curses. After a while, he caught onto her words and asked blankly, “Bird? What bird?”