When facing such forceful fist attacks, unless driven by hatred for someone who killed one’s parents, it’s better to admit defeat early rather than fight at a disadvantage.

Poor Mu Hanjiang had entered a fierce beast’s cage and was struggling desperately to save face.

Though he hadn’t received the true teachings of the Xiao family, he had studied under a renowned martial arts master and diligently practiced swordsmanship for many years.

However, in martial arts, natural talent outweighs hard work, and Feng Yuan was someone with exceptional talent.

Mu Hanjiang was primarily skilled in swordsmanship, so fighting barehanded like this was disadvantageous. Combined with Feng Yuan’s natural strength, Mu Hanjiang gradually began to struggle.

Just as Mu Hanjiang was about to lose the upper hand, Feng Yuan seemed unsatisfied and, with bloodshot eyes showing killing intent, actually reached behind his waist and pulled out a short blade.

Xiaoying couldn’t help but frown. He hadn’t been drinking, so why was he acting so crazed?

Could it be… he had long harbored murderous intentions toward Mu Hanjiang? As these thoughts flashed through her mind, Feng Yuan’s blade tip was already lunging toward Mu Hanjiang’s chest like a bear hunter going for the kill.

Perhaps it is in moments of extreme danger that one’s potential is activated.

In that split second, Mu Hanjiang barely managed to snatch the short blade from Feng Yuan’s hand, then, with a twist of his wrist, violently plunged it into Feng Yuan’s arm.

In an instant, blood splattered across the forest.

“Enough! Master Mu, you’re drunk!” Xiaoying shouted, finally stopping the two men fighting for their lives.

Mu Hanjiang stared blankly at the Grand Prince with the short blade stuck in his arm, seemingly unable to believe that he had turned defeat into victory and beaten Feng Yuan.

In his stupor, Mu Hanjiang’s face showed no joy but gradually turned ashen as he glared at Feng Yuan: “You… did that deliberately!”

Feng Yuan didn’t speak, only standing up despite the pain, looking at Mu Hanjiang with a relieved smile.

Mu Hanjiang’s expression was furious, his eyelids trembling slightly, as if he were the one who had been stabbed.

He suddenly turned and left without looking back.

The two men had enjoyed their fight, but it was Yan Xiaoying, the spectator, who had to deal with the aftermath.

The Grand Prince claimed his injury wasn’t serious and told her not to call for a physician. He just took some medicine and bandages, asking Xiaoying to come to his room to help dress the wound.

Feng Yuan had always been ruthless—without needing Xiaoying’s help, he gritted his teeth and pulled out the short blade himself. Before the blood gushed out, he pressed on the acupuncture point to stop the bleeding, gesturing for Xiaoying to apply medicine.

However, the wound was so large that it couldn’t heal without stitches, so Xiaoying had already heated a needle and used thread to stitch it up.

Feng Yuan remained silent, with only large beads of sweat continuously flowing down his forehead.

Halfway through the stitching, Xiaoying suddenly burst out laughing.

Feng Yuan asked with his eyes closed, “What’s so amusing?”

Xiaoying suppressed her laughter and said, “Nothing, I just think you’re… quite interesting. What? You saw that Master Mu was unhappy, so you deliberately provoked him to let him vent? You were willing to pay a high price, letting him stab such a good arm? And I thought you two didn’t get along!”

Feng Yuan wasn’t surprised that Xiaoying had heard about his past with Mu Hanjiang, and simply replied, “I don’t like owing people. I owed him a knife wound, now we’re even.”

He was referring to ten years ago when he had attempted to assassinate Mu Shen but accidentally injured Mu Hanjiang.

Repaying an arm for a knife—he had truly gone mad!

Xiaoying applied medicine to the sealed wound and bandaged it before looking up at Feng Yuan.

She had originally thought Feng Yuan was dark-hearted and cold, only calculating and meticulous in his dealings with others.

Those ten long years of imprisonment would have distorted even a good person beyond recognition, leaving them only desperately venting their resentment.

But observing his actions today, Xiaoying found she couldn’t quite understand the Grand Prince anymore.

He was different from the other members of the Feng family. While Xiaoying could anticipate the backup plans of others, she could never accurately predict Feng Yuan’s.

Because she never knew what Feng Yuan truly cared about.

Just like tonight’s incident, when that knife went in, Mu Hanjiang was shocked, and Xiaoying was also somewhat dumbfounded.

Now looking back, perhaps Feng Yuan had truly cherished his friendship with Mu Hanjiang…

But hearing her speculation about the feelings between the two, Feng Yuan merely smiled, “You’re overthinking. I just didn’t want to return to the military camp and was looking for an excuse.”

Feng Yuan’s eyelashes were too thick; when slightly lowered, they were enough to hide the thoughts in his eyes.

However, when he raised his eyes, the light within them could pierce straight through one’s heart, making it uncomfortable to look at them for too long.

“So, are you going to explain why you deliberately used words to provoke the dispute between Mu Hanjiang and me tonight?”

Mu Hanjiang had always been somewhat fixated on not receiving the true teachings of the Xiao family, and the young woman’s earlier words about “inheritance” were what triggered the two men to fight.

Xiaoying gave an unusually honest answer: “I originally just wanted to drive him away. Who knew that such a refined young gentleman would become so easily provoked when drunk? I’m sorry. Had I known you would get stabbed, I wouldn’t have said a word even if I had a stomachache from eating.”

Of course, this was half the truth. The other half was that she was the culprit who had tricked Master Mu in circles, so naturally, she wanted to drive him away.

However, Feng Yuan seemed extremely satisfied with this answer, a faint smile appearing on his face.

It was unclear whether it was because Xiaoying didn’t like drinking with Mu Hanjiang, or because she criticized Mu Hanjiang’s poor behavior when drunk, or perhaps because she was concerned about his injury.

…

Even the most intoxicating wine has a day when one must sober up.

The next morning, Mu Hanjiang seemed to still be recovering from his hangover, looking somewhat dejected overall.

The busy Master Mu wasn’t in a hurry to leave today but stood in the courtyard, frequently looking in the direction of Feng Yuan’s window.

Standing on the second floor, Xiaoying observed this scene and couldn’t help but feel an itching in her hands, wanting to return to her old occupation and write a passionate, intertwined, and bizarre drama script for this pair of former close friends.

However, what concerned her most wasn’t the love and hatred between those two.

In this instance of impersonating a shadow guard, she had snatched the “Courage” rank shadow guard’s waist token from that deaf-eared shadow guard.

The pattern on that black meteoric iron waist token was indeed identical to the one in her memory.

However, the newly promoted shadow guard was not very old and couldn’t possibly have been the mysterious leader during the Meng household massacre seven years ago.

Xiaoying noticed that the waist token had the White Water Vajra engraved on it to ward off evil, one of the Eight Vajras of Buddhist significance.

By this logic, there should be nine individuals in the “Courage” rank of shadow guards.

Shadow guards who reached this rank all had exceptional skills, but this newly appointed one lacked experience, which was why he had fallen for Xiaoying’s lowly trick.

She just didn’t know which one had gone to the Meng household to commit the atrocity back then. If only she could get the shadow guards’ register!

To clarify these matters, she first needed to establish a good relationship with the head of the shadow guards, so Xiaoying enthusiastically waved at Mu Hanjiang.

Mu Hanjiang was aware of how embarrassing he had been in front of the princes last night, so he merely paid his respects briefly before turning to go to the dining hall for breakfast.

Xiaoying was also hungry, so she went downstairs to have breakfast with Mu Hanjiang.

When the Grand Prince came down with his arm in a sling, Mu Hanjiang put down his bowl and paid his respects to the Grand Prince, seemingly intending to apologize.

However, Feng Yuan didn’t even glance at him, dismissing the topic with just one sentence: “I accidentally scratched myself, what does it have to do with you?”

Mu Hanjiang opened his mouth, then dismissed the attending servants. Xiaoying, showing good perception, pretended to go to the latrine to avoid being caught in another table-flipping incident between the two.

After everyone had left, Mu Hanjiang seemed to gather great courage and said to Feng Yuan, “During the first few years you were confined, I secretly went to see you several times…”

But he hadn’t entered the Tianlu Palace. Instead, he had peeked through the door cracks to slip in the storybooks he had once promised to A’Ruan, along with many other things that children considered treasures.

However, later his mother discovered his actions and reprimanded him. He also knew he shouldn’t be kind to someone who had tried to kill his father, but he believed in following through on promises. He had promised Feng Yuan and needed to fulfill those promises one by one.

After that, Mu Hanjiang never went to the Desolate Palace again.

Feng Yuan’s hand holding the bowl paused, and he said lightly, “I know.”

Afterward, both men seemed to have a tacit understanding not to mention past matters anymore.

Men’s relationships are sometimes strange. Yesterday, these two nearly beat each other senseless, yet today they could calmly drink porridge together.

Although they still didn’t talk much, there was much less hidden malice.

This made Xiaoying, who had returned to her seat, somewhat curious. She decided to watch her words and refrain from sowing discord, preserving the rare peaceful atmosphere between the two.

Afterward, the two men with their seemingly improved relationship somehow veered the conversation toward official business.

Feng Yuan’s Guardian General title was bestowed by the Emperor to give the Grand Prince an opportunity to satisfy his bloodlust.

The commander, General Chen, didn’t seem to value this Grand Prince much. After just one day at the military camp without even entering the commander’s tent, Feng Yuan was excluded from the military affairs discussions at the front camp, seemingly assigned a role akin to a stable keeper.

Mu Hanjiang’s suggestion was that since the Grand Prince was injured and couldn’t go to the military camp, he might as well assist in clearing out the remnants of the Meng family army.

If they could capture the “Little King of Hell,” it would be like cutting off Mount Ding’s arm, eliminating any possibility of counterattack from the remaining rebels.

Feng Yuan originally didn’t seem very interested, but after hearing Mu Hanjiang’s detailed account of his encounters with this nemesis, he finally became intrigued by the bandit’s cunning.

Mu Hanjiang waved for someone to clear the bowls and placed a military map on the table, explaining in detail his past encounters with the Little King of Hell.

Xiaoying held a bowl larger than her face, slurping rice porridge with wide eyes, listening with great interest from the side.

This hunt for thieves was like hounds chasing rabbits—once interest was aroused, it couldn’t be stopped.

Seeing this cunning, fat rabbit aroused the hunting instincts of the two gentlemen.

Especially Feng Yuan, whose eyes flickered more and more as he listened, seemingly provoked by this treacherous thief’s maneuvers, stirring his masculine competitive spirit.

Feng Yuan pointed to a location near Lianjiang on the map and asked, “Have you sent people to investigate the water docks here?”

Mu Hanjiang nodded: “You’ve also noticed how quickly he moves his troops? I’ve wondered if he might be using waterways? Because recently, with the requisitioning of grain and the transportation of troops for battle, all boats have been registered. I’ve checked the register and found no suspicious boat movements during those periods.”

Feng Yuan thought for a moment and said, “The other day, accompanying the Crown Prince to the market to buy things, I overheard the fried dough cake vendor arguing with his wife. His wife suspected him of hiding money, but the vendor explained that he had bought cheap flour recently, thus saving money. If that’s true, it suggests that smuggling boats are rampant in this area, and these boats are not registered.”

Xiaoying listened silently from the side, carefully swallowing the porridge in her throat.

She had nearly choked from Feng Yuan’s astonishingly accurate analysis, once again feeling apprehensive about this man’s keen observation.

Because she had indeed used ships several times, having Uncle Jin hire vessels from out-of-town smugglers through reliable connections.

Such ships had no registrations, left no traces of their comings and goings at the docks, and weren’t afraid of investigations.

If she had been facing Feng Yuan this past year instead, would she have become a prisoner long ago?

Fortunately, after breaking up the fake Little King of Hell’s operation, Xiaoying feared the significant impact and had already ordered all the salt gang brothers except Uncle Jin to leave for several months, to return only after some time had passed.

Just as Mu Hanjiang was about to order the seizure of all smuggling vessels, Xiaoying softly spoke up: “The investigative spirit of you two gentlemen is truly moving to me, but… have you considered what impact such actions would have on the local people?”

Mu Hanjiang found the Crown Prince’s words somewhat absurd and couldn’t help saying, “Those ships disregard the law and make enormous profits. Can’t we investigate them?”

Xiaoying patiently enlightened this privileged official from the capital who didn’t understand the high cost of rice and flour: “If it were peaceful and prosperous times, with people content and well-off, yet still seeking profits through illegal means, then strict enforcement would be justified! But since the floods and unrest in Jiangzhe, the price of rice and flour has multiplied several times over. Even so, the grain shops frequently claim shortages, announcing they have no grain. If not for this situation, why would private sales of salt and grain be so rampant this past year? It’s because local officials have been ineffective, neither lowering taxes nor actively allocating sufficient grain. Instead, some officials secretly assist unscrupulous grain merchants in hoarding supplies to drive up prices. At this time, without good solutions to relieve the people’s grain shortage, strictly investigating boats isn’t catching bandits—it’s cutting off affordable grain routes and the livelihoods of ordinary people!”

Mu Hanjiang had always been responsible for hunting bandits and hadn’t paid much attention to these matters. Hearing the Crown Prince’s words, his brows furrowed tightly, wanting to refute but not knowing where to begin.

However… “Your Highness, you’ve just arrived here. How do you have such a thorough understanding of local livelihoods?”

Xiaoying had prepared for this and pointed at the Grand Prince: “How would I know such things? It was my Imperial Brother who explained it to me while we were touring the market.”

Feng Yuan glanced at the compulsive liar and placed a peeled egg in his fourth brother’s bowl, equally calmly lying: “This information about the people’s livelihood was explained to me by Master Ge before our departure. After arriving, I discovered that the Imperial Tutor’s great talent means his words were indeed true…”

At that moment, the two were mutually deferring, showing brotherly harmony and respect, extremely harmonious.

The originally peaceful breakfast was finally disrupted by uninvited guests.

“Ah, all the princes are here! Merchant So-and-so has been looking everywhere for you!” Accompanied by loud laughter, a tall, fat-headed, large-eared official entered the courier station with several people.

“Having two princes visit is truly an honor for Jiangzhe and a blessing for the people of Salt Prefecture!”

Judging by the color pattern on his official robe, he should hold the position of Prefect Governor.

Yet with two princes in the courier station, a mere local official laughing so freely showed inappropriate arrogance.

After the large-eared official introduced himself, the source of his confidence became clear.

It turned out he was the nephew of the Western Palace Consort Shang, named Shang Youdao.

Since the Tang family’s influence in Jiangzhe had collapsed, Prefect Shang, as the current Salt Prefecture governor, was now in charge of security and grain transportation in the Jiangzhe area.

Being Consort Shang’s man, Shang Youdao knew perfectly well the status of these two princes in the palace.

That Crown Prince was merely a figurehead, an incompetent puppet, not a true power, not worth the effort of burning incense to worship Buddha.

As for the Grand Prince, his temperament was somewhat manic. He was said to have come on imperial orders to kill, so it was best not to provoke him, but he wasn’t to be feared either.

Instead, it was Master Mu who was Princess Anqing’s only son and who, despite his young age, had taken over his father’s actual control of the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards, highly favored by His Majesty—he was the one truly worth currying favor with.

So Shang Youdao had wanted to visit Mu Hanjiang yesterday, but when he drove to the military camp, he didn’t find him.

Today, having finally found the right place, he came under the pretext of paying respects to the two princes, intending to get close to Mu Hanjiang.

After a few pleasantries, the two princes were pushed outside the crowd.

Prefect Shang seemed to have many official matters to discuss with Master Mu and had no time to exchange pleasantries with the Crown Prince and Grand Prince.

“Master Mu, I’ve been saying all along that you should inform me if you want to hunt bandits. Why did you go to East Field Village to set up defenses so quietly the other night? You should know that I have clues about those bandits. If you hadn’t alerted them, we could have followed the trail to find their lair…”

Yan Xiaoying watched Shang Youdao coldly, recalling that when she interrogated those impostor bandits at night, they said they had people above them who had paid them to do such deeds.

But when asked specifically who had directed them, they couldn’t say, only providing the name of a middleman.

Uncle Jin had left a note for her under a stone by the path outside the courier station this morning.

Earlier, under the pretext of going to the latrine, Xiaoying had gone out for a stroll and retrieved the note.

It said that the middleman was a gambling den manager whose cousin happened to be the steward of the local prefect Shang Youdao, and the gambling den’s mysterious owner seemed to be none other than this unspeakable Prefect Shang.

Xiaoying silently pieced things together in her mind, figuring out the situation.

Initially, with Jiangzhe suffering from floods, the embezzlement by corrupt local officials had been mutually concealed and hadn’t leaked out.

Because her foster father had seized a batch of grain that corrupt officials were about to embezzle to aid disaster victims, this had drawn heavy troops from the court.

But based on the amount of grain her foster father had seized, it should have been a local minor case at most. How could it have attracted the Third Prince and Mu Hanjiang, true dragons of suppression?

Only after entering the Ministry of Revenue as the Crown Prince and examining the accounts did she understand—the grain and silver attributed to the Meng family army had been inflated dozens of times.

A small local case had snowballed into a major case that shocked the entire court.

It was because of this shock that Mu Hanjiang further uncovered a series of corruption cases in Jiangzhe, provoking the Emperor’s fury and subsequently causing the downfall of the Tang family’s National Uncle.

Now the waters of Jiangzhe were getting murkier, with not just corrupt officials but also many bandits emerging.

It made sense—the Meng family army was too disciplined to provoke the court’s desire for punishment.

But various bandits like the fake “Little King of Hell” were different.

They burned, killed, kidnapped, and committed all kinds of evil, making the already wounded Jiangzhe even more chaotic.

In this way, not only would the unsavory matters of the Tang family’s illegitimate brother be exposed, but these people could also be used to do dirty work under the name of rebels.

The newly appointed Salt Prefecture Governor Shang Youdao had ambitions, wanting to raise three blazing fires—clearing corruption, eliminating bandits, and displaying political achievements.

Currently, Shang Youdao was still complaining incessantly to Mu Hanjiang.

“Master Mu! Didn’t I already notify you in advance? You should have handled it properly, but instead, you took action without a word. I heard you even got lost, allowing those insignificant county officials to claim the credit. How… unfortunate!”

Shang Youdao didn’t know that Master Mu was proud and rebellious and, fearing information leaks, never cooperated with local officials. Yet he kept regretfully scolding him.

Xiaoying sat cross-legged in a nearby chair, leisurely listening for a while, then suddenly coughed, “Prefect Shang, your eyes are quite large, but they can’t seem to see people! I’ve been left out here for a long time. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Shang Youdao, amid enthusiastic conversation, was suddenly interrupted by the frail young man with thin legs, and glanced at him with displeasure before forcing a smile: “Your Highness, the Crown Prince, do you have any official business to discuss with me? Oh, right. The prefecture recently got a new theater troupe, and some of the actors look quite good. Would you like to go strike the opening gong for them and bring them some good luck?”

After speaking, Prefect Shang burst into laughter again, and the local officials behind him also joined in with obliging smiles, making the atmosphere lively and harmonious.

But gradually, they found it harder to laugh.

Because this golden-crowned, jade-belted, delicately sculpted Crown Prince suddenly erupted with anger, violently throwing a cup of hot tea, complete with lid, into Shang Youdao’s face.