“I have the Feilong Shi’er Qi. That is enough.” Di Wuya gently ruffled Feng Jiu’er’s hair, his eyes brimming with reluctance.

Feng Jiu’er met his gaze and knew what he was thinking. Her heart ached a little too.

She pressed her lips together and nestled into his embrace.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, thank you for all your trouble.”

Di Wuya’s large hand settled on Feng Jiu’er’s slender shoulder, pulling her close, his chin resting atop her head.

On Qiao Mu’s side, knowing she had to part from Feng Jiang, her face had gone dark from start to finish.

Feng Jiang held her hand and gazed at her without blinking.

After Tang Xiaohua finished a cup of tea, she noticed the entire private room had grown rather somber.

“What’s the matter? It’s not as if you’re parting forever. Besides, how big can the Black Pool ley line even be? A month or so and you’ll have walked the whole thing, won’t you?”

“Look at you all — one princess, one imperial prince, and even a Ninth Imperial Uncle thrown in for good measure. I can accept all of that. What is there that you can’t accept?”

Her gaze landed on Qiao Mu, and Tang Xiaohua gave a thumbs-up.

“Qiao Mu, impressive! You’ve even gotten yourself an imperial prince, and one who looks at you so tenderly at that. I’m envious!”

“My dear.” Yue Jianfei also took his own wife’s hand. “I promise I will treat you well from now on.”

The implication being — he was no prince, no crown prince, but he could still give his wife the life of a crown prince’s consort.

Tang Xiaohua glanced sideways at the man who had once treated her poorly, then looked away without a trace of warmth.

“Hua-jie, Ninth Imperial Uncle is a prince of Bei Mu.” Feng Jiu’er looked at Tang Xiaohua, the corner of her lips curving slightly.

“He was already the emperor once, but…” She turned to look at her man, her expression brightening.

“He later abdicated in favor of his younger brother, so now he is still a prince.”

“Don’t tell me he gave up being emperor — for you?” Tang Xiaohua asked, furrowing her brow.

“Mm.” Feng Jiu’er nodded smugly. “So? Any objections?”

Tang Xiaohua deliberately let her mouth fall open — just for a moment — then closed it again.

That display of astonishment was thoroughly perfunctory.

“You — impressive!” Tang Xiaohua extended her thumb again, this time directed at Feng Jiu’er rather than Qiao Mu.

Feng Jiu’er laughed until her eyes curved into crescents, then leaned back and settled once more into the warmth of her man’s embrace.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, I’ll leave Father in your care.”

Feng Jiu’er lifted her eyes to Di Wuya for a moment, then let her gaze drift to Tang Xiaohua not far away.

“Hua-jie, once the Feng Clan matter is settled, I’ll take you to Bei Mu for a visit. Bei Mu is quite wonderful.”

“We’ll see.” Tang Xiaohua felt somewhat weighed down.

Why did she feel that every man around her was a good man — while her own husband…

“Haah!” Suddenly she let out a soft sigh and reached for the teapot herself.

“Xiaohua, let me.” Yue Jianfei seemed to sense something and took the teapot from Tang Xiaohua’s hand.

Feng Jiu’er pressed her rosy lips together and looked up at Di Wuya.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, when do you plan to set out?”

“Tonight.” Di Wuya lowered his gaze to the person in his arms.

The reluctance in his eyes grew deeper and deeper — no less than Feng Jiu’er’s own.

“Why must you leave in such a hurry?” Feng Jiu’er asked, knowing full well the answer.

He was leaving. She only wanted to talk with him a little longer — just talk.

“Don’t worry.” He bowed his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I will find our father. We will meet again very soon.”

Feng Jiu’er reached up a small hand and touched the man’s jaw. “It’s not that I’m not worried about Father — I’m worried about you. Truly.”

No one knew who might be there. Going to Peach Blossom Island now held far too many unknowns.

Di Wuya cupped Feng Jiu’er’s head in his hands and leaned down toward her.

Feng Jiu’er looked at the magnified handsome face drawing near, blinked, and immediately ducked her head.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, there are too many people here.”

“Are you bothered? If so, we can leave right now.” Tang Xiaohua raised an eyebrow.

“Not at all.” Feng Jiu’er smiled and clasped Di Wuya’s thumb, pressing his palm down, then turned back to face everyone.

“Since you’ve all made your decisions, let’s make good use of the time and discuss our plans.”

“Brother Yue, Hua-jie.” Feng Jiu’er pressed her lips together and stood.

She looked toward the Yue husband and wife and gave a bow.

“Once again, thank you for your trust, and for lending us your aid.”

“What are you saying?” Tang Xiaohua shot Feng Jiu’er a glance, a smile at the corner of her eye.

“You are the Night Prince’s treasure. Helping you is helping the Night Prince. When we find him, perhaps I can even…ahem, have a little chat with him.”

Feng Jiu’er glanced at Yue Jianfei, then sat back down.

“Hua-jie, you really deserve a scolding!”

“Xiaohua, trust me — I won’t ever do it again.” Yue Jianfei said pitifully.

Tang Xiaohua paid him no mind and looked up at Feng Jiu’er and Di Wuya.

“Whatever the plan, the Gate Master need only give the word. Although our Yue Family Army has no intention of joining the Dragon Shadows, for now we are all family.”

“Jiu’er, don’t forget — once this is all over, introduce me to your father.”

Feng Jiu’er smiled softly and gave a small nod. “Of course!”

Who didn’t know that Hua-jie was still furious with her husband?

Brother Yue was fairly pitiful right now — yet every pitiful person has their hateful side. He had made the mistakes first, so he could not blame anyone else for his situation.

But now was not the time for that. Everyone turned to work out their strategy.

The night deepened.

The next day, at the first light of dawn, brightness returned to the land.

Yet some had already departed. Those who remained carried a reluctance in their hearts that did not lessen with the rising sun.

Everyone was pressing forward on their own path, and Feng Jiu’er had no time for sentimentality.

She had worked through the night drafting an assault plan, and only managed less than an hour of sleep before dawn broke.

As the sun rose in the east, her brothers woke early and went about their tasks.

Feng Jiu’er ate a hasty breakfast, gathered everyone together, and began discussing the plan of attack.

In the outer hall of last night’s private rooms, Feng Jiu’er stood before a large map.

She had taken the maps her brothers brought in and drawn an enlarged rendering of the area around Lei Family Town.

Feng Jiu’er stood before the map, a slender wooden pointer in hand.

“This is the map of Lei Family Town. The four locations I’ve circled in red all have relatively large mountain gorges.”

“These are locations our brothers scouted.”

Feng Jiu’er looked around at everyone and pointed to four red marks in turn.

“Points one and two here — I suspect these are the routes Lei Shenbao used to escape, especially point two, which is comparatively more concealed.”

“Third Brother mentioned that Lei Shenbao has a renowned formation master at his side, though Third Brother has never seen this person.”

“Given what happened at the time, it is very likely we were impeded by a formation without even realizing it.”

“Miss Jiu’er, the situation on our end was much the same,” said Long Yi. “The enemy’s forces vanished very suddenly.”

Long Yi had been left behind by Di Wuya because it was the Feilong Shi’er Qi who had led the Longqi Army’s assault from the eastern side of Li City. Di Wuya had kept Long Yi in reserve.

Long Yi recalled the circumstances at the time and furrowed his brow.

“What formation could be so formidable?”