On the other side.

The palace gate creaked open, and Zhao Yishi, dressed in court robes, walked out.

Shen Chong approached him and whispered a few words in his ear.

Zhao Yishi silently glanced at the carriage and said lightly, “I’m hungry. Let’s go to Spring Breeze Tower for something to eat first.”

“Yes!”

Shen Chong extended his arm for the Imperial Grand Grandson to lean on, then guided him to the carriage. His other hand lifted the curtain.

Inside the carriage, at the intersection of light and shadow, someone beckoned to Zhao Yishi with a finger. Zhao Yishi suppressed a smile, borrowed a bit of Shen Chong’s strength, and stepped into the carriage.

The curtain fell with a “swish.”

Only then did Zhao Yishi laugh. “Why are you hiding here to see me?”

“Just got back and have been so busy my feet haven’t touched the ground.”

Xie Zhifei handed over a teacup. “I happened to be patrolling this area and got this idea.”

Zhao Yishi took the teacup and looked over Xie Zhifei’s face. “Darker and thinner.”

“Much thinner.” Xie Zhifei touched his face.

What a pity—this face felt much rougher now, weathered and worn.

Seeing his expression, Zhao Yishi laughed. “My Chengyu has worked hard on this journey. I’ll have Shen Chong get you some tonics later—from the palace, very nourishing.”

Xie Zhifei sent over a look that said “you still care about me” and reached out to touch Zhao Yishi’s arm.

“How is it? Has your injury completely healed?”

“It still hurts on rainy or overcast days.”

Zhao Yishi tapped him with his toe. “If you hadn’t come to see me today, I would have gone to see you tonight.”

In fact, after learning that Xie Zhifei’s party had returned, Zhao Yishi couldn’t sit still.

If Shen Chong hadn’t stopped him, saying the Zhu family matter was urgent, he would have summoned him last night.

“What is Zhu Xuanjiu’s heart demon?”

“Blood moon.”

Zhao Yishi was so shocked that the teacup in his hand tilted, and a few drops of tea spilled out. “How could it be a blood moon?”

Xie Zhifei shook his head, indicating he was also confused.

“Yan Sanhe went to the Zhu Manor today. I’ll go take a look in a while too. I came to see you now because I wanted to ask about your injury. Who did it—have you found out?”

Zhao Yishi drained his tea in one gulp and said with a cold laugh, “Apart from my dear Uncle Wang, there’s no second candidate.”

“That son of a bitch actually went ahead with it for real.”

Xie Zhifei couldn’t swallow this anger no matter what.

“Huairen, we can’t just let this account settle like this. Even if we can’t move against him right now, in the future…”

“Let’s talk about the future in the future.”

Zhao Yishi suddenly interrupted Xie Zhifei. “At morning court today, the Ministry of War presented a memorial. I have a bad feeling about it.”

Xie Zhifei’s heart tightened. “What kind of bad feeling?”

The memorial was delivered by express courier from the northern garrison. It stated that the Tatars had begun burning, killing, and plundering along Hua Nation’s borders again. The common people were suffering unbearably and petitioned for the court to send troops.

Zhao Yishi’s handsome brows furrowed tightly. “If troops are truly sent, it’s a good opportunity for the Prince of Han.”

Xie Zhifei had no objection to this statement.

The Prince of Han was originally a military general who had followed His Majesty in campaigns from childhood, establishing illustrious military achievements.

If the court truly wanted to send troops, the Prince of Han would absolutely not pass up such a good opportunity—he would certainly volunteer to lead the campaign.

Zhao Yishi’s voice suddenly lowered. “Among those in court who support the Crown Prince, most are civil officials. On the military side, most support the Prince of Han.”

If the Prince of Han requested to lead the campaign, His Majesty would most likely nod in agreement.

The Prince of Han would lead troops and naturally use his own capable subordinates.

Hua Nation hadn’t fought a war in many years—the military generals were bored out of their minds. This battle would be a perfect opportunity for the Prince of Han to consolidate the military officers’ loyalty. This was one ill omen.

Secondly, once the Prince of Han won the battle, another entry would be added to his record of achievements.

His Majesty already held enough disdain for the Crown Prince. If this happened, his heart would lean even more toward the Prince of Han. This was the second ill omen.

“This third ill omen…”

Zhao Yishi’s voice dropped to where only Xie Zhifei could hear.

“Even if the Crown Prince holds the positions of eldest and legitimate son, and the throne ultimately passes to him, as long as the Prince of Han has those military officers in hand, the Crown Prince’s throne won’t be secure.”

Xie Zhifei looked at Zhao Yishi’s face so close to his own, momentarily at a loss for words.

This was the Crown Prince’s obvious weakness.

The Crown Prince’s obesity and that crippled leg destined him to never lead troops into battle in his lifetime.

The Imperial Grand Grandson had been intentionally or unintentionally courting military officers these past years, trying to compensate for the Crown Prince’s deficiency in this area.

But how could someone who had never served in the military or fought in battle compare to the Prince of Han, no matter how much he courted them?

The Prince of Han and those military officers had gone through wind and rain together, drunk from large bowls and eaten large chunks of meat together, faced the enemy’s arrow storms together, and crawled out of piles of corpses together…

This kind of bond was forged through life and death, baptized by blood, tested by survival. No one could shake it, and no one could replace it.

The Prince of Han only needed a gesture, even just a look, and those military officers would firmly stand behind him.

It would be good if the Zheng family incident hadn’t happened, Xie Zhifei thought.

Grandfather, First Uncle, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, and Father were all excellent at leading troops into battle. If they were still here…

Suddenly, Xie Zhifei shuddered violently. Wait, I’m also from the Zheng family!

“Chengyu, what do you think of the Marquis of Wu’an’s heir?”

Xie Zhifei didn’t need to think before blurting out, “Rotten to the core, scum through and through.”

Zhao Yishi poured himself more water. “You should interact with him more. When the timing is right, bring him to meet me. It’s time to start positioning this chess piece.”

Xie Zhifei was stunned.

Interacting wasn’t difficult—the key was that this kid had improper designs on him, acting like a persistent dog. Just looking at him was annoying.

“Let Mingting interact with him instead.”

He casually made an excuse. “He Yun is close to my second brother, and my second brother and I don’t get along.”

“Chengyu.”

Zhao Yishi called softly. “You can’t write two ‘Xie’ characters with one stroke. Some things are in the past—no need to keep dwelling on them. Mingting can’t shoulder this important responsibility.”

It’s not dwelling for my sake, but for the sake of this body’s original owner.

The real Third Master Xie ultimately died at the hands of Second Master Xie!

Xie Zhifei wiped his face and said as if joking, “Let’s be clear first—Third Master sells his art, not his body. If that He fellow develops wicked thoughts about me, I won’t be polite.”

Zhao Yishi chuckled. “If that really happens, I’ll help you teach him a lesson.”

With no more worries, Xie Zhifei was straightforward. “Then it’s settled.”

Getting close to He Yun actually meant getting close to the Marquis of Wu’an.

The Marquis of Wu’an had declined the Du family’s marriage proposal, which was actually taking a step toward the Crown Prince’s side.

The situation was sensitive—it wasn’t yet time to openly associate with the Marquis of Wu’an. They could only use his dissolute reputation.

After all, dissolutes attract dissolutes.

Two dissolutes eating, drinking, and having fun together wouldn’t attract too much attention.

“By the way, Huairen.”

Xie Zhifei suddenly remembered something. “What was that box of mooncakes about?”

Zhao Yishi had been asked this by Pei Mingting too.

Just as he had asked Pei Mingting, he now asked, “Don’t you think this young lady is very interesting?”

A troublemaker is interesting?

Didn’t notice that!

Xie Zhifei shook his head.

Zhao Yishi’s eyes were like a deep, dark abyss as he softly said four words—

“One of a kind.”