As the stone door closed once again, Xu Qingchen’s brow furrowed imperceptibly. The Holy Maiden of the Southern Frontier was gradually losing her sanity. If everything proceeded according to the plan he and Princess Anxi had devised over the past six months, they could take control of both the Holy Maiden and King Li’s power base in the Southern Frontier without bloodshed. Now he needed to consider his escape. Since he had already exceeded his objectives, there was no point in staying here any longer. Moreover, this place would only become more dangerous as time went on.
The stone door was pushed open again from the outside, and Xu Qingchen spoke flatly, “Does the lady have more business?”
“The lady doesn’t, but I do, Brother Qingchen…” A clear, sweet laugh rang out from the doorway. Xu Qingchen started and quickly turned to look. At the half-open stone door stood a petite woman in goose-yellow robes, smiling at him. “Li’er…” Li’er stepped forward, cheerfully surveying the stone chamber’s environment, and said, “Big Brother, it seems you’ve been living quite well here.”
Xu Qingchen smiled as he looked at her, “Li’er, how did you come to be here?”
Ye Li winked at him, pointing at the still half-open stone door with a smile, “To welcome Young Master Qingchen, of course.”
Xu Qingchen thoughtfully glanced at the doorway, “Are there others outside?”
Ye Li pulled at Xu Qingchen’s arm and said with a smile, “Never mind that now, let’s hurry and leave. It wouldn’t be good if that woman came back.” Xu Qingchen nodded, “Li’er is right. We can discuss everything once we’re out, like how I suddenly gained a fiancée?”
The smile on Ye Li’s face instantly froze. After a moment, she laughed awkwardly, “Brother Qingchen, remember that once we’re out, I’m called Chu Liuyun. Not knowing your own fiancée’s name would be quite suspicious.” Xu Qingchen quickly gathered a few items from a nearby table to take with him, then followed Ye Li out of the stone door. Outside, Dark Two waited with two unfamiliar guards. Seeing Ye Li and Xu Qingchen emerge, they all breathed sighs of relief and said, “Young Master Qingchen was indeed here. Young Miss, let’s exit through the palace.”
“How is that woman?”
Dark Two replied, “Princess Anxi took people to the Holy Maiden’s Palace based on the information we provided. With those corpses as well, that woman will believe Princess Anxi is onto her. She must be waiting anxiously at the Holy Maiden’s Palace right now.” Ye Li nodded in satisfaction, “And the palace?” Dark Two said, “Young Master Han will create confusion in the palace, allowing us to escape during the chaos.” Ye Li nodded, “Let’s hope Han Mingshi proves reliable this time.” Dark Two lowered his head and chuckled, “Young Master Han had Dark Three relay a message, promising not to disappoint Young Miss.”
“Let’s hope so.”
The two guards protected Xu Qingchen while Dark Two and Ye Li took positions in front and behind. As they had anticipated, a long tunnel connected the palace with the Holy Maiden’s Palace. Although the mountain behind the palace wasn’t completely hollowed out like Luo Yi’s section, there were several stone chambers connected to the tunnel. The room where Xu Qingchen had been confined was one of them. With Ye Li and the others leading the way, the group quickly reached the palace exit. Xu Qingchen frowned and asked, “Where’s the exit?”
Dark Two said somewhat regretfully, “In the Nanzhao King’s bedchamber. That Holy Maiden is so unstable, yet the Nanzhao King dares to have a secret passage in his chambers? Isn’t he afraid the Holy Maiden might kill him someday?” Xu Qingchen wasn’t surprised and said calmly, “Under normal circumstances, the Holy Maiden would be loyal to the Nanzhao King.” Dark Two asked in confusion, “Then what’s going on now?”
Ye Li interrupted, “We’ll discuss that after we leave.”
Dark Two quickly agreed and stepped forward to carefully activate the secret passage’s mechanism. As the heavy stone moved aside, a spacious palace chamber appeared before them. After all five people had exited, Dark Two resealed the secret passage. The two guards moved ahead first, just in time to grab two guards who had come to investigate the noise. The two guards didn’t even have time to make a sound before silently collapsing to the ground. Xu Qingchen glanced at Ye Li’s composed expression, his eyes flickering with thought. He pulled Ye Li to his side, and she looked up at him with a faint smile, saying, “Big Brother, let’s hurry and leave.” Xu Qingchen nodded.
After leaving the Nanzhao King’s luxurious palace, they encountered a few guards along the way, and the few they did meet were dealt with by the two guards and Dark Two. Because they had planned their route, the group reached the secret location Han Mingshi had prepared for them with almost no effort.
“Jun Wei… your young master has returned, why aren’t you coming out to welcome me?” Before anyone had a chance to sit down and catch their breath, Han Mingshi’s extremely narcissistic voice rang out from outside the courtyard. As they turned around, a dark shadow gracefully descended from the wall, pouncing toward where Ye Li stood.
“Young Master Han!” Dark Three, who followed behind him, broke out in a cold sweat and called out hurriedly. Xu Qingchen and Dark Two also stepped forward simultaneously to block Han Mingshi. Xu Qingchen smiled, his expression both warm and cool, “Young Master Han, what are you trying to do?” Only then did Han Mingshi realize that the person standing beside Xu Qingchen wasn’t his beloved brother Jun Wei, but rather a petite young woman in goose-yellow silk robes. “Uh… this…” Ye Li quickly retreated behind Xu Qingchen, only half her face visible as she called out, “Brother Qingchen…”
Seeing that he had frightened the young lady, Han Mingshi felt deeply ashamed. When had he, the romantic young master who had navigated the sea of romance for over a decade, ever been so discourteous to a beautiful young lady? To salvage his image, Han Mingshi immediately displayed his trademark romantic smile, raising an eyebrow at the figure behind Xu Qingchen and saying softly, “My lady, I sincerely apologize. I am Han Mingshi, and I’m truly sorry for frightening you earlier. Please accept my apologies.” Ye Li, still hiding behind Xu Qingchen, said in a clear voice, “No need, just… please don’t do that again in the future, Young Master. After all, there should be propriety between men and women.” Han Mingshi’s smile twitched. He wasn’t a scoundrel; he had just mistaken the person standing beside Xu Qingchen for Jun Wei! But speaking of which, where had his dear brother Jun Wei gone?
“Zhuo Jing! Where has my dear brother Jun Wei gone? Everyone else is here, so why is he missing?”
Ye Li couldn’t help but look skyward – whose brother was she supposed to be? Dark Three’s face darkened as he silently observed Han Mingshi’s insistent expression and said, “The young master didn’t say he would come here.” Han Mingshi complained, “Why wouldn’t Jun Wei come here?” Dark Three replied, “This place was arranged by our young master through Young Master Han for Young Master Xu.” Han Mingshi cast an unhappy glance at the elegant Young Master Qingchen, feeling inexplicably sour inside, and said mournfully, “But I prepared it for Jun Wei.”
Dark Three couldn’t help but roll his eyes, “Our young master has his accommodations.” Han Mingshi pouted, “How could where you’re staying be as comfortable as what I prepared? Had I known it wasn’t for Jun Wei to stay in, I wouldn’t have gone to such trouble.” He finished with another fierce glare at Xu Qingchen. Xu Qingchen noticed this and smiled faintly, “Many thanks to Young Master Han.” Han Mingshi let out a light snort, waving his folding fan as he said, “I’ll let it go since you’re Jun Wei’s big brother. But where is Jun Wei? If he’s neither with us nor with you, where has he gone?” Dark Two quickly glanced at Ye Li and said, “Well… Young Master Chu received a message when we returned and had to leave first. He said he had something to handle but would return to meet with us shortly.”
“Is that so?” Han Mingshi was half-believing, perhaps convinced by Dark Two’s somewhat serious expression. Finally, Han Mingshi snorted and swept away in his sleeves.
Watching Han Mingshi disappear into the courtyard, Xu Qingchen turned back to look at Ye Li with a gentle smile, “Little sister, it seems you’ve had quite a few adventures on your way to the Southern Frontier?” Ye Li gave Xu Qingchen an ingratiating smile; with his intelligence, it wasn’t difficult to guess that Chu Jun Wei and Chu Liuyun were the same person. Xu Qingchen smiled at Ye Li’s uneasy appearance and nodded, “It’s been almost a year since your big brother has seen you. Shall we go inside and talk?” Ye Li helplessly blinked her eyes and stepped aside, saying softly, “After you, Big Brother.”
In the study, Xu Qingchen sat behind the desk, calmly watching the guilty-looking Ye Li. She stood to the side with her head lowered, her eyes darting about quickly, occasionally stealing glances at Xu Qingchen. Just as the previous generation of the Xu family feared Xu Hongyu most, the current generation of children feared Xu Qingchen most – including Ye Li, who had spent much of her childhood in the Xu household. “Big Brother…” seeing that Xu Qingchen was just quietly staring at her without speaking, Ye Li called out in a small, pitiful voice. Looking at her woeful appearance, Xu Qingchen sighed lightly and said, “It’s been so long, and Li’er has grown quite accomplished – even learning to play pitiful with Big Brother?” Ye Li blinked her eyes and pouted, “Big Brother… Li’er isn’t playing pitifully. Why is Big Brother angry…”
Xu Qingchen raised an eyebrow, “Li’er doesn’t know why Big Brother is angry?”
Ye Li shook her head, and Xu Qingchen asked, “Who is Chu Jun Wei? And who is Chu Liuyun?”
Trying to beat around the bush with Big Brother was futile. Ye Li lowered her head in defeat, “Big Brother…” Xu Qingchen pointed to the chair in front of him and said, “Sit down and tell me everything slowly.” Ye Li obediently sat down on the chair and proceeded to relate everything in detail, from being schemed against by Ye Yue in the capital to finding Xu Qingchen in the Southern Frontier, leaving nothing out. When Ye Li finished speaking, she realized her mouth had become dry. Looking up, she saw Xu Qingchen offering her a cup of tea. Ye Li smiled softly and quickly took it, taking a sip. After she had moistened her throat, Xu Qingchen looked at her and said quietly, “Let’s set aside the matter of Ye Yue’s scheming for now. Why did you specifically go to Guangling to find Han Mingshi? And why bring him to the Southern Frontier?” Ye Li said softly, “I didn’t want to alert anyone in the capital, so it wasn’t convenient to use the Determined Nation Prince’s Manor’s secret guards. Han Mingshi followed on his own; I didn’t bring him.”
Xu Qingchen gave her an ambiguous smile and said, “Not wanting to alert people in the capital was indeed well-considered, but did you ask about Han Mingyue’s relationship with the Determined Prince? What if people found out that the dignified Determined Nation Princess was using an alias at the Heavenly Unity Pavilion? Most importantly, if Han Mingyue truly wanted to investigate, do you think he wouldn’t be able to discover your identity? If he were to interfere, what would you do then?” Ye Li glanced up at Xu Qingchen’s still-smiling handsome face, “I left Dark Four to monitor the Clear Wind Bright Moon Tower. If Han Mingyue returns, he will notify me immediately. Besides, I didn’t entrust any truly important matters to the Heavenly Unity Pavilion. I just wanted them to help the secret guards divert some attention.”
Xu Qingchen nodded and said, “You pass on that matter. Now then… who told you to go provoke the Sick Scholar?”
“Big Brother knows about the Sick Scholar too?” Ye Li asked. Though the Sick Scholar was famous, he was a jianghu figure, and Ye Li was curious about how Xu Qingchen knew of him.
Xu Qingchen looked at her calmly, “Ling Tiehan, the master of the King of Hell Pavilion, is my friend.”
Ye Li was struck speechless, silently looking skyward in her heart. She had just been planning how to scheme against the Sick Scholar, but he remained a dangerous existence. “Big Brother, if I did something to the Sick Scholar, it wouldn’t affect your friendship with Pavilion Master Ling, would it?” Xu Qingchen raised an eyebrow, “What do you plan to do to him?” Ye Li furrowed her delicate brows and carefully explained the matter of the Blue Falling Flower. After listening, Xu Qingchen remained silent for a moment before saying, “So, you’re worried he’ll get the Blue Falling Flower and use it against the Determined Prince, and you want to eliminate this threat preemptively, while also thinking the Blue Falling Flower might help the Determined Prince’s illness? You certainly think for Mo Xiuyao’s benefit – it seems you’ve truly taken your role as Determined Nation Princess to heart. Father and Uncle have always worried your personality was too placid, but they probably wouldn’t want to see you taking the Determined Prince so seriously either.”
Made uncomfortable by Xu Qingchen’s words, Ye Li said awkwardly, “What are you saying, Big Brother? Mo Xiuyao has always treated me well. Since I’ve married him, of course, I hope he stays well. Or does Big Brother want him to die quickly and leave your poor cousin a widow?”
Seeing Ye Li’s forced righteousness, Xu Qingchen smiled amusedly. He coughed lightly and said, “Very well, just be careful with the Sick Scholar matter. As for Ling Tiehan, I’ll communicate with him myself. The King of Hell Pavilion won’t trouble you.”
“Thank you, Big Brother,” Ye Li smiled.
Xu Qingchen looked at her with an ambiguous smile and said, “No need for thanks, Cousin Li’er. Now let’s discuss the matter of my fiancée. By the way, I’ve already had people send pigeon messages back to the capital to notify those who need to know.”
“Ah… Cousin… how could you? No, wait, how did you do it so quickly?!” Ye Li felt a headache coming on just thinking about how many letters she would receive about this, and how her first and second uncles would lecture her in the future.
Xu Qingchen smiled, “Actually, I had someone send a message back on the first day I heard about my fiancée coming to Nanzhao. Or did you think Big Brother couldn’t send messages while under house arrest? The replies should arrive in about five days at most, Little Sister Liuyun…”
Ye Li couldn’t help wanting to grab her head and groan. Big Brother was truly too… too devious!