Yu Jingfeng’s words seemed to have made no impression on Zhan Qingcheng whatsoever. In fact, throughout everything Yu Jingfeng had said, Zhan Qingcheng had not so much as blinked.
He continued his careful study of the terrain map, committing every feature of every location firmly to memory.
This remarkable ability of the Prince’s to remember everything he laid eyes upon was something Yu Jingfeng genuinely could not replicate. A map this vast, encompassing the entire Wuhe kingdom — the Prince could commit it fully to memory within the span of two sticks of incense. Given that same map, Yu Jingfeng could not memorize it solidly even in a month.
How did one even begin to memorize such a thing? It was dense and intricate — everywhere you looked, the terrain was nearly the same!
And yet the Prince was simply different from other people. From the large-scale shape of an entire city to the direction and length of every individual street, as long as it was marked on the terrain map, he could recall it with perfect clarity.
This particular ability of the Prince’s — among everyone Yu Jingfeng had ever known, he had never once encountered its equal. The Prince was unquestionably one in ten thousand!
But knowing how formidable the Prince was, the question was — could the Prince not consider the current situation for just a moment?
“My lord, you must not leave the army. You absolutely must not!” Yu Jingfeng continued to remonstrate, undeterred even by the risk to himself.
Yet the Prince’s temperament was exactly this — whatever he had decided, no one could stop him. That was simply the way of it.
Zhan Qingcheng paid him no attention, exactly as Yu Jingfeng had fully anticipated.
With no other choice, Yu Jingfeng was forced to deploy his trump card. In any case, his one and only objective was to keep the Prince in Phoenix City.
“My lord, as things stand, Miss Jiu’er is still nowhere to be found.”
Of all things, it was only the mention of Feng Jiu’er that could interrupt Zhan Qingcheng’s train of thought.
Zhan Qingcheng’s eyes grew deep and still, his gaze taking on a heavy, settled weight. Though the lines of the terrain map still reflected in his vision, what was truly mirrored in the depths of his eyes was Feng Jiu’er’s slender silhouette.
Yu Jingfeng had no desire whatsoever to bring up anything that might make the Prince unhappy or cause him pain. But at this moment, aside from Jiu’er, there was simply nothing else that could put a stop to the Prince’s recklessness.
“My lord, numbers Eleven and Twelve have been leading a large contingent of people in the search all this while. Young Master Mu Mu’s people on his side have also been continuously searching — yet there is still no news of Miss Jiu’er.”
“But the place where Miss Jiu’er departed was this close to Phoenix City. If my lord were to leave at this moment, and Miss Jiu’er were to arrive, would she not find herself unable to locate you?”
Yu Jingfeng had followed Zhan Qingcheng for so many years — how could he not know what lay in the Prince’s heart?
Of course the Prince would want Miss Jiu’er to come to him first, above all others, when she arrived. If she went first to Young Master Mu Mu instead, the Prince would likely be furious all over again.
But if the Prince was not even in Phoenix City himself when Miss Jiu’er arrived, wouldn’t it be entirely natural for her to seek out Mu Mu first?
The Prince should understand perfectly well that leaving at this moment would mean losing the advantage. Shouldn’t he?
Yu Jingfeng waited for Zhan Qingcheng to make his final decision — to stay behind and hold Phoenix City.
Yet to his surprise, after a brief moment of brooding reflection, Zhan Qingcheng simply resumed his study of the terrain map.
Yu Jingfeng truly could not make head or tail of the Prince standing before him anymore. Could it be that the Prince had truly given up caring about Miss Jiu’er?
“My lord, Miss Jiu’er…”
“She is surely safe and unharmed — she simply has no wish to come back.” Zhan Qingcheng’s words were entirely beyond what Yu Jingfeng had anticipated.
“My lord, Miss Jiu’er… does not wish to come back?” Why would that be? Had the Prince already gotten word of Feng Jiu’er’s whereabouts?
“My lord, are you saying…”
“I do not know where she is at the moment. But she must be somewhere not far from me — and yet she has no wish to show herself.”
Zhan Qingcheng’s expression was somewhat cool, yet the moment he spoke of Feng Jiu’er, the look in his eyes softened of their own accord by several degrees.
“The reason she does not wish to come back is that she does not want her appearance to plunge me into an even more difficult position.”
Yu Jingfeng looked at the Prince, and thought it through carefully — even he seemed to understand a great many things in a single instant.
Was the Prince simply too keenly perceptive of human nature — or was it merely that he knew Feng Jiu’er too well?
“Only when I am stronger — truly formidable — will she feel secure enough to return to my side. I will give her absolutely no reason to choose anyone other than me.”
With a crisp snap, the last section of the terrain map was committed to memory, and he rolled it up and put it away.
Zhan Qingcheng lifted his outer robe from the rack and draped it casually over his shoulders, then strode briskly toward the door. “Summon that brat!”
A thought struck Yu Jingfeng, and he couldn’t help but say, “My lord, I’m afraid the Young Master may not be willing to…”
“Then tell him this: if Phoenix City falls, he will never again have the right to see Jiu’er.”
He was gone. Yu Jingfeng was left utterly thunderstruck — the Prince had actually just walked out like that!
In the distance, Long Yi appeared to have already been waiting there all along. Yu Jingfeng felt a fresh pang of heartbreak — the Prince had taken Long Yi with him, had taken along several of the brothers from the Feilong Shi’er Qi, but the Prince had left him behind.
Of course Yu Jingfeng knew: the reason the Prince had left him behind was because he had a task of critical importance, just like Young Master Mu Mu — absolutely no room for any mishap.
But still — he wanted to follow at the Prince’s side. He wanted it so, so much!
Wailing inside, the Prince’s heart was truly merciless — far too merciless!
In an instant, those several figures had vanished from sight. Yu Jingfeng exhaled a long breath, bereft and at a loss — yet at the same time, his admiration for the Prince deepened by several more measures.
Swift and decisive, brooking no hesitation whatsoever — that was an absolutely fitting description of the Prince. Of all the people under heaven, who else possessed the Prince’s particular spirit and boldness of vision?
“Huo Yan!” he called out.
Huo Yan, who had caught up and arrived here two days ago, materialized from some corner or another and asked quietly, “Master Yu, what is your instruction?”
“Go back to the city and tell General Mu that the Prince invites him to listen to an empty-city stratagem. If he does not come, Miss Jiu’er will surely laugh at him for lacking the backbone.”
Huo Yan heard this and was thoroughly bewildered. The Prince wanted General Mu to come and listen to a theatrical performance at a time like this?
And what did any of it have to do with Miss Jiu’er? Miss Jiu’er was here? He had been here a good long while and had plainly never seen Miss Jiu’er.
“Um, Master Yu…”
“Don’t worry about any of the rest of it. Just deliver my exact words to General Mu — he will understand.”
Yu Jingfeng made a rare show of depth and inscrutability. Of course, it was only in the presence of the Prince that his own intelligence ever found itself outclassed.
In front of everyone else, his intelligence was perfectly adequate.
Huo Yan still didn’t understand, but since it was something the Prince had instructed, he naturally had to see it done properly.
“Understood. I’ll go at once.” Huo Yan gave a nod.
“Go quickly and return quickly — make haste. The General must be brought here before daybreak.” Yu Jingfeng lowered his voice. “The Prince’s secret order: no one is to be informed of this except General Mu.”
“Understood!” Maintaining secrecy — as a deputy commander, even without Yu Jingfeng’s reminder, Huo Yan knew exactly what to do.
“I take my leave!” Huo Yan clasped his fist in a salute, turned, and departed.
Yu Jingfeng watched the direction where Zhan Qingcheng and the brothers of the Feilong Shi’er Qi had disappeared, and couldn’t help but breathe out a long, long sigh.
The Prince was breathtakingly audacious. May everything, by some fortune, go smoothly.