“Master, stop drinking and go home!”

“Go home for what? To watch them pack while leaving me alone—solitary and miserable, a lonely ghost, unable to clap with one hand, admiring my own excellence?”

Huang Qi sighed deeply.

It seemed his master was truly anxious. Otherwise, how could he produce such cultured and meaningful phrases?

“How about… we talk to Master and Madam about going along for a while too?”

“Play your sister!”

A knuckle knock landed, and Pei Xiao himself winced as he shook his hand. “That’s fleeing for their lives, you idiot!”

The idiot quickly changed his tune. “Then Master just shouldn’t get involved. Stay honestly in the capital, listen to Master and Madam, marry a proper young lady, and have a fat baby boy.”

“Have your sister!”

Pei Xiao nearly sprayed wine in his face. “Young Master here doesn’t fancy proper young ladies. I like the wild ones, the roguish ones, the flirtatious ones, who can fight and seduce men.”

If you can’t bear to part with Miss Li, just say so. Why put up this pretense about being solitary and miserable?

Huang Qi hugged his head and crouched in the corner, thinking he might as well take a nap. Master would probably be drinking gloomily all night.

The door creaked open from outside.

“Who let you in?”

Huang Qi jumped up. “Don’t you know my master… Your Highness?”

Huairen?

Pei Xiao quickly stood up to greet him.

Zhao Yishi removed his cloak and tossed it to Shen Chong behind him, then waved at Huang Qi.

The door quietly closed.

“Huairen, why did you return to the capital? What if His Majesty finds out? Won’t you be punished again?”

“I’d return even if it meant a beating.”

Zhao Yishi pointed to a chair, indicating he should sit. He poured himself a cup of tea and added a bit to Pei Xiao’s cup.

“Mingting, why does Chengyu want to leave the capital?”

This question sobered Pei Xiao up halfway. He pretended to be thirsty and reached for tea, his mind racing.

Forget it.

Both Xie Wushi and Yan Sanhe had warned him—he couldn’t tell!

The teacup landed heavily on the table with a “thunk.”

“How would I know? After entering the palace once, Yan Sanhe said she wanted to leave the capital, and Xie Wushi said he’d go with her.”

Pei Xiao looked indignant. “Even threw both of us aside. Tell me, is he human?”

Zhao Yishi sipped his tea while observing the expression on Pei Xiao’s face.

“What about the Xie family side? Is he really disregarding and ignoring everything?”

“I questioned him about that too—for a woman, you don’t even want the Xie family anymore?”

“What did he say?”

“He…”

Pei Xiao steeled himself and continued making things up.

“He told me to mind my own business. I got so angry I had a big fight with him. That’s why I came here alone to drink gloomily.

Huairen, that guy has been bewitched by Yan Sanhe now. Ten oxen couldn’t pull him back.”

Zhao Yishi frowned, the teacup he was bringing to his lips pausing before he drank it anyway.

After setting down the cup, he looked quietly at Pei Xiao, his well-defined face showing a hint of anger.

“Mingting, you and Chengyu are the people I trust most. Besides you two, I have no other friends. He wants to leave, and I’m reluctant to let him go. I want to stop him, which is why I risked coming here.”

Zhao Yishi leaned forward half an inch. “Tell me… how should I stop him?”

Stop him for what?

Be careful or you’ll get dragged down too!

Pei Xiao responded with an appropriately cold laugh.

“Better not to stop him. The sky will rain, mothers will remarry—just let him go. What deep brotherhood? It’s all bullshit!”

Zhao Yishi’s face gradually darkened, his tone displeased. “If I don’t stop him, who will I entrust this entire operation in the capital to? Who can I entrust it to?”

“Give it to me, I’ll take over!”

Xie Wushi, you go traveling mountains and waters with Yan Sanhe, taking Miss Li along, while I’m stuck cleaning up your mess. You really are a beast!

And I still have to cover for you, you beast.

Pei Xiao gritted his teeth. “Later when I’m promoted and wealthy, I’ll let that bastard regret it!”

Zhao Yishi was stunned for a moment, his expression calming down. He seemed quite satisfied with Pei Xiao’s initiative to take on the work, though his gaze swept back and forth across his face, seemingly hesitating whether he could handle that operation.

After a long time, he suddenly changed the subject.

“I heard you were summoned to the palace by His Majesty?”

“Indeed we were.”

“Why did His Majesty summon you to the palace?”

“How would I know?”

Pei Xiao made a gesture of covering his forehead.

“Huairen, to be honest, I’m still dizzy and confused now, like I had a dream.”

Zhao Yishi shifted his gaze away, looking faintly toward the window. “What did His Majesty ask you?”

Seeing his gaze shift away, Pei Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. “He just asked Yan Sanhe a few questions.”

Zhao Yishi seemed startled and suddenly turned his gaze back. “Why ask her?”

Pei Xiao’s eyes unconsciously dodged.

“I want to know too. What His Majesty said was like speaking in riddles—I couldn’t understand a single sentence.”

“His Majesty only spoke in riddles with Yan Sanhe and only saw her. She must be unusual.”

Zhao Yishi’s brows furrowed.

“Mingting, Chengyu is absolutely not the type to disregard everything just for beauty. I need to investigate Yan Sanhe carefully. Shen Chong!”

“Investigate what!”

Hearing his own voice crack, Pei Xiao quickly recovered.

“I, I mean, Chengyu is the type who won’t turn back until he hits the southern wall. Just let him hit it. He’ll have his days of regret!”

Yes.

He’ll have his days of regret!

Zhao Yishi picked up his teacup and slowly finished the remaining tea. His throat, moistened by the liquid, was particularly clear.

“Mingting, that strategist Dong Xiao by Prince Han’s side seems…”

“What happened to him? Did something happen? Did you find him?”

“Why so nervous?”

Zhao Yishi patted his shoulder, his smile as faint as a passing breeze. “It seems he’s vanished like vapor—my people can’t find him no matter how they search!”

Oh my!

Can’t you finish a sentence in one breath?

Pei Xiao, terrified of exposing himself again, quickly grabbed an empty wine cup and placed it in front of Zhao Yishi.

“Drink! From now on, Young Master here doesn’t want to mention that bastard even once!”

“Good!”

Zhao Yishi’s eyes hid a cold smile.

…

The bright moon faded, dawn rose.

On the blue stone bricks, a carriage moved neither fast nor slow toward the city outskirts.

Inside the carriage, Zhao Yishi leaned against the wall, silent. In the dim light and shadow, only his dark eyes were exceptionally gloomy.

Pei Xiao’s words had no flaws, yet everywhere he dodged. His expressions and movements were impeccable, yet everywhere overly dramatic.

When Xie Zhifei got sick, this kid would shed tears. Now that Xie Zhifei was abandoning him for a woman, just drinking gloomily?

Hmph!

If he took a knife and charged over to kill someone—that would be the proper reaction for Young Master Pei.

“Shen Chong, they knew long ago but kept only me in the dark!”

Zhao Yishi slowly closed his eyes.

Though the initial stages of this friendship came from his calculations, as time went on, he’d invested genuine feeling.

Pei Xiao was simply amusing and cheerful. Xie Zhifei was steady and capable. With these two by his side, left and right, they added a touch of warmth to his long, difficult life as Imperial Grandson.

Ten years—he’d always firmly believed that even if everyone in the world betrayed him, these two would never turn against him.

Yet he never imagined it was all an illusion.

“Shen Chong.”

“This servant is here!”

“Mingting is still useful to me. Don’t touch him for now.”

“Yes!”

“Those two…”

Zhao Yishi softly expelled a single word from his mouth: “Kill!”

“Yes!”

After Shen Chong responded, he asked again, “Your Highness, there’s one more person. How should she be dealt with?”

Zhao Yishi opened his eyes. Something flashed through them.

“She once saved my life. I’ll spare hers!”