“Tell me, where is she planning to go?” Yin Gezhi asked.

The cold voice suddenly rang out from behind, startling Ling Shu into a yelp as she reflexively jumped into Feng Yue’s arms.

Seeing her lunging forward, Feng Yue didn’t even have time to cry out before both she and her injured hand were crushed under the full weight of the girl.

Yin Gezhi paused, looking at the person on the couch with rare sympathy in his eyes.

“…Ling Shu.” After taking a moment to recover, Feng Yue weakly looked at the person on top of her, her voice trembling: “I’ve treated you well and even promised you all the silver in my jewelry box after I die, but you don’t have to be in such a hurry to kill me!”

Ling Shu was dumbfounded, scrambling up awkwardly with a pitiful pout: “Your servant didn’t mean to! Are you alright, Master?”

“Not at all, I’m dying!” Feng Yue moaned in agony, looking at her with mournful eyes: “Though I might be able to cling to life a bit longer if you make me a bowl of your special taro soup.”

“I’ll go make it right away!” Nodding eagerly, Ling Shu gathered up her skirts and rushed out, completely forgetting what had frightened her in the first place.

The door opened and closed, and the pure and innocent maid dismissed without any suspicion. Feng Yue let out a sigh of relief, moving her throbbing hand as she turned to look at the person by the couch.

Yin Gezhi was still staring at her, his gaze like the night sky, enveloping her in deep darkness.

“Courtesans climbing the social ladder is nothing unusual,” Feng Yue spoke up, explaining with sincerity: “So since there’s a birthday banquet at Minister Li’s mansion, naturally I planned to go and make an appearance.”

Minister Li, one of the Crown Prince’s three tutors, had been granted permission by His Majesty to establish his residence outside the palace. His fortieth birthday was approaching, and naturally, there would be a banquet, but…

After quietly observing her for a moment, Yin Gezhi asked: “You plan to perform the same dance as last time at someone’s birthday banquet?”

Letting out a light laugh, Feng Yue replied: “How could I? Minister Li is known for his integrity. I merely planned to work as a temporary maid, helping to serve the guests.”

“Oh?” Slowly sitting down at the edge of the couch, Yin Gezhi looked at her, his eyes full of mockery: “Being a maid doesn’t pay much, certainly not as much as your usual work. Who are you trying to seduce through the Minister’s mansion?”

Cold sweat broke out on her back, but Feng Yue withstood his intimidating presence, smiling seductively: “Is my Lord jealous? Don’t worry, that was arranged before. Now that I’m serving you, naturally, I won’t go.”

What a cunning woman, Yin Gezhi thought, feeling increasingly suspicious. Ordinary courtesans would blanch at the slightest threat, but her? No matter how fierce he was, she maintained that same fox-like smile.

Something wasn’t right.

“I’ll book all your time for the next few days,” he lowered his eyes and said: “Why don’t you accompany me to Mount Zhaoying tomorrow?”

Mount Zhaoying? Feng Yue was startled, looking at him in disbelief: “It’s so far away, can we even get there tomorrow?”

A glint flashed in his eyes as Yin Gezhi leaned forward, his slender fingers slowly tracing the side of her face: “You’ve been to Wei?”

Her whole body shuddered as Feng Yue’s vision darkened momentarily.

This was bad, she knew Yin Gezhi was deeply calculating, every word a potential trap. She’d been very careful to avoid them, yet still fell in.

What to do when you can’t avoid it? Make something up!

Taking a deep breath, Feng Yue sighed: “That was long ago. To be honest with my Lord, I grew up in Lidu in Wei, so I know Mount Zhaoying is east of the city.”

What kind of nonsense is this, suggesting a casual trip from Wu’s Yincheng to Mount Zhaoying in Wei? Are you mad?

“You’re from Wei?” Yin Gezhi frowned.

“Indeed.” Feng Yue’s eyes welled with tears, looking pitiful: “But my family came to Wu three years ago. Shortly after arriving, my parents fell ill and passed away. Unable to survive alone, I had no choice but to sell myself as a courtesan to make a living.”

Three years ago? His pupils contracted as Yin Gezhi suddenly gripped her chin, lifting Feng Yue’s face and examining it carefully: “What’s your real name?”

Her throat tightened as Feng Yue struggled slightly, pretending to be scared as she closed her eyes and timidly said: “My real name… I’m of humble birth and never attended school, how could I have a proper name? Usually, they just called me Er’ya.”

It’s not her.

Shaking his head, Yin Gezhi released her, thinking himself foolish. What good would knowing her name do? He didn’t even know the name or appearance of the person he was looking for, yet he’d developed this habit of questioning everyone from Wei.

Moreover, the person before him reeked of the pleasure quarters, more degraded and undignified than any courtesan he’d met, soft as boneless flesh without a shred of pride. She was completely different from that green, stubborn person who was as headstrong as a little donkey.

Rubbing his brow, Yin Gezhi suddenly felt his mood sour. He sat on the couch with lowered eyes, and after a long while, asked hoarsely: “Did your family leave Wei because of the war?”

“Yes!” freed from his grip, Feng Yue seemed to relax a bit, her tone full of contempt: “Wei was always at war, it was so annoying! It would have been fine if they were winning, but then General Guan betrayed the country! My father said, that with General Guan’s betrayal, Wei surely had no future, so he took my mother and me away. Heh, he wasn’t wrong – two years later, didn’t Wei fall?”

His body stiffened as Yin Gezhi turned to look at her, his gaze extremely complex.

Seemingly oblivious to his expression, Feng Yue continued her mockery: “When I was little, I thought General Guan was the most loyal minister in the world. Everyone said he was faithful to his ruler, traveling thousands of miles to support the king, and surrendering his military seal at the gates of Lidu upon returning to court. They praised him to the heavens, but what happened? He turned out to be a selfish, greedy fraud who threw his ruler and the common people into chaos for his wealth and glory!”

“If I could see him now, even though I can’t fight, I would kill him!”

Perhaps she got too excited, as she pulled at her injured hand, making Feng Yue hiss in pain. Tears instantly streamed down her face as she cried out, “It’s splitting open, it’s splitting open, it hurts so much…”

After staring at her for a while, Yin Gezhi asked in a low voice: “Do all common people hate General Guan so much?”

“Of course!” Feng Yue said indignantly: “It’s because of him that Wei has become so pathetic, having to cede territory and suffer humiliation just to survive!”

Yin Gezhi fell silent.

The Guan family had been loyal for generations, all serving as generals. Guan Canghai had been a god of war serving under the King of Wei for ten years, rarely losing battles and amassing glorious military achievements. Yet at the Battle of Pingchang, he allegedly leaked military intelligence, leading to the deaths of fifty thousand Wei soldiers in Ghost Valley. He wanted to believe General Guan wouldn’t do such a thing, but at the time, only he and General Guan knew the marching routes and strategic deployments.

If it wasn’t him, it could only have been Guan Canghai.

After that devastating defeat, upon returning to camp, he received letters revealing correspondence between Guan Canghai and General Yi of Wu, their contents fully explaining why those fifty thousand soldiers had died. Enraged, he confronted Guan Canghai, and the weather-beaten man looked at him in panic:

“Your Highness, how could I have betrayed our country? How could I possibly have done such a thing?”

Pale excuses, without a shred of evidence to refute the accusations. The Crown Prince of Wei, having crawled out from among fifty thousand corpses, looked at him with bloodshot eyes and ordered him to be escorted back to the capital, along with the incriminating letters, for the Emperor to deal with.

He knew he couldn’t calm down, so he wanted to hand this matter to outsiders for objective handling, believing they would be more impartial than himself.

But by the time he returned to the capital, Guan Canghai had already been found guilty with conclusive evidence, and the condemned man had taken his own life in prison.

Everything seemed right, yet something felt wrong. In his confusion, he received an imperial edict to personally go to the Guan residence and arrest all remaining family members. Nine generations were to be executed, with servants and maids either banished or forced into prostitution.

Still harboring doubts, he found Guan’s second son and asked: “Has the Guan family been wronged?”

The disheveled youth, though dressed in rags, maintained an unyielding dignity as he looked at him and replied word by word: “Father is dead, his hot blood has cooled, and the extinction of the entire Guan lineage is the best ending. Since a hundred years of loyalty couldn’t withstand half a day of slander, what difference does it make if we were wronged or not?”

Then, wearing his chains, he knelt before him and knocked his head three times forcefully: “May His Majesty of Great Wei reign supreme, never again to have loyal ministers!”

Those four resounding words made Yin Gezhi’s heartache. He raised questions about the court’s verdict, but successive wars broke out, Wei was attacked from both sides, and military secrets continued to leak. Yin Gezhi donned his armor and took to the battlefield, no longer able to attend to other matters. The fate of the Guan family was sealed amid his busy days.

Recalling all this now, Yin Gezhi suddenly felt alarmed.

Had Guan Canghai betrayed the country? What if he hadn’t?

“Feng Yue!”

A shrill voice rang out from beyond the door, like a needle scratching iron, startling both occupants of the room back to their senses.

Yin Gezhi looked toward the door with great irritation, while Feng Yue wiped away her tears and responded: “Madam Jin, I’m here.”

The door was pushed open as Madam Jin entered, fanning herself with a handkerchief. Seeing Yin Gezhi, she finally moderated her voice, smiling sweetly: “My Lord is still here, pardon my intrusion. It’s about our upcoming performance at Menghui Tower that was arranged earlier. We’re putting on ‘The Tragic Beauty,’ and Feng Yue has the role of a general. The costume has just arrived.”

The maid following behind carried in a white suit of armor with a silver-gray robe underneath, looking quite imposing.

Yin Gezhi frowned, looking at the armor and then at the half-dead enchantress on the couch, saying: “Even if it’s just a play, she shouldn’t play the role of a general.”

“Why not?” Giving her a puzzled look, Madam Jin walked to Feng Yue’s side and said: “Her hand isn’t an issue, I’m not asking her to fight, just to stand there wearing the armor.”

“It’s not because of her injury.” Remembering those days of blood-stained yellow sand, Yin Gezhi’s eyes turned cold: “It’s because she’s too base and filthy. Wearing that armor would be an insult to the countless heroic spirits who died for their country!”