Watching the stone door close once more, Xu Qingchen frowned almost imperceptibly. The Holy Maiden of the Southern Border was gradually losing her rationality. As long as everything proceeded smoothly according to the plan he and Princess Anxi had devised over the past six months, they could undoubtedly subdue the Holy Maiden and Prince Li’s forces in the Southern Border without shedding a drop of blood. Now, he should also consider how to make his escape. Since their objective had already been achieved beyond expectations, there was no point in staying here any longer. Moreover, the danger would only escalate as time went on.
The stone door was pushed open again from the outside. Xu Qingchen said calmly, “Is there something else, Miss?”
“Not the miss, but I have something to say, Brother Qingchen…” A clear, girlish laugh sounded from the doorway. Xu Qingchen froze, then swiftly turned to look. Standing by the half-open stone door was a lovely young woman in a pale yellow dress, smiling at him. “Li’er…”
Ye Li stepped forward, cheerfully surveying the surroundings of the stone chamber before grinning. “Elder Brother, it seems you’ve been living quite comfortably here.”
Xu Qingchen smiled at her. “Li’er, how did you get here?”
Ye Li blinked at him playfully, pointing at the still half-open door. “To welcome Qingchen Gongzi, of course.”
Xu Qingchen gave the doorway a thoughtful glance. “There are others outside?”
Ye Li tugged at his sleeve. “Never mind that for now. Let’s hurry and leave. If that woman comes back, things won’t be so pleasant.”
Xu Qingchen nodded. “You’re right. We can talk about everything once we’re out—such as how I suddenly acquired a fiancée?”
Ye Li’s smile stiffened for a moment before she chuckled awkwardly. “Brother Qingchen, don’t forget—once we’re out, my name is Chu Liuyun. Not knowing your own fiancée’s name would raise suspicions.”
Xu Qingchen quickly gathered a few items from the table and tucked them into his sleeves before following Ye Li out of the stone chamber. Outside, An Er and two unfamiliar shadow guards were waiting. Seeing Ye Li and Xu Qingchen emerge, they visibly relaxed.
“So Qingchen Gongzi really was here,” An Er said. “Miss, we’ll leave through the palace.”
“What about that woman?”
An Er replied, “Princess Anxi took the information we provided and led her people to the Saintess Hall. With those corpses added to the mix, that woman will definitely believe Princess Anxi is onto her. Right now, she’s probably bracing for a confrontation at the Saintess Hall.”
Ye Li nodded in satisfaction. “And the palace?”
An Er said, “Han Gongzi will create chaos in the palace when the time comes. We’ll take the opportunity to slip out.”
Ye Li nodded again. “Let’s hope Han Mingxi is as reliable as ever this time.”
An Er stifled a laugh. “Han Gongzi sent a message through An San—he guarantees he won’t disappoint you, Miss.”
“We’ll see.”Two shadow guards protected Xu Qingchen, with An Er and Ye Li positioned front and back. As they had anticipated, a long tunnel connected the palace to the Saintess Hall. Although the mountain behind the palace wasn’t hollowed out entirely like the Luo Yi Tribe’s, there were several stone chambers linked to the tunnel. Xu Qingchen had been held under house arrest in one of them. With Ye Li and the others leading the way, the group quickly reached the palace exit.
Xu Qingchen frowned and asked, “Where is the exit?”
An Er replied somewhat regretfully, “In the King of Nanzhao’s bedchamber. That Holy Maiden of the Southern Border is so insane—how dare the king build a secret passage in his own bedchamber? Isn’t he afraid she might kill him one day?”
Xu Qingchen wasn’t surprised and said calmly, “Under normal circumstances, the Holy Maiden of the Southern Border is absolutely loyal to the King of Nanzhao.”
An Er was puzzled. “Then what’s the deal with this one?”
Ye Li cut in, “We’ll discuss that later.”
An Er quickly complied and carefully pushed open the mechanism of the secret passage. The heavy stone slab shifted, revealing a spacious chamber. Once all five of them had stepped out, An Er resealed the passage. The two shadow guards darted out first, swiftly subduing the two guards who had come to investigate the noise. The guards collapsed silently before they could even make a sound.
Xu Qingchen glanced at Ye Li, whose expression remained unchanged, and his gaze flickered slightly. He pulled Ye Li to his side, and she looked up at him with a faint smile. “Big Brother, let’s hurry and leave.”
Xu Qingchen nodded. Exiting the King of Nanzhao’s opulent bedchamber, they encountered few guards along the way, and the scattered sentries were swiftly dealt with by the two shadow guards and An Er. Having planned their route in advance, they had little trouble leaving the palace and arriving at the secret hideout Han Mingxi had prepared for them.
Before they could even sit down to catch their breath, Han Mingxi’s flamboyant voice rang out from outside the courtyard.
“Jun Wei… your lord has returned—why aren’t you rushing out to greet me?”
As they turned, a dark figure leaped gracefully from the wall, heading straight for where Ye Li stood.
“Young Master Han!” An San, who had been following him, broke into a cold sweat and quickly called out.
At the same time, Xu Qingchen and An Er stepped forward, blocking Han Mingxi’s path. Xu Qingchen smiled coolly. “Young Master Han, what are you doing?”
Only then did Han Mingxi realize that the person standing beside Xu Qingchen wasn’t his beloved Jun Wei but a delicate young girl in a soft yellow dress.
“Uh… this…”
Ye Li quickly retreated behind Xu Qingchen, peeking out with only half her face visible. “Brother Qingchen…”Han Mingxi saw that the young girl seemed frightened by him and couldn't help feeling ashamed. As the renowned Wind and Moon noble who had charmed countless beauties over the years, when had he ever behaved so improperly toward a lovely maiden? To salvage his image, he immediately flashed his signature charming smile, raised an eyebrow at the figure behind Xu Qingchen, and said gently, "My apologies, miss. I'm Han Mingxi. Did I startle you just now? Allow me to make amends."
Ye Li, hiding behind Xu Qingchen, replied in a crisp voice, "No need, but please don't... do that again in the future. After all, men and women should maintain propriety."
Han Mingxi's lips twitched. He really wasn't some lecher—he had simply mistaken the person standing beside Xu Qingchen for Jun Wei! Speaking of which, where was his dear Jun Wei?
"Zhuo Jing! Where's my Jun Wei? Why is everyone here except him?"
Ye Li couldn't help but glance skyward—since when was he your brother? An San's face darkened as he silently observed Han Mingxi's stubborn expression before replying, "The young master never said he was coming here."
Han Mingxi frowned. "Why wouldn't Jun Wei come?"
An San answered, "This place was arranged by the young master for you to prepare for Xu Gongzi."
Han Mingxi shot an unhappy glance at the ever-graceful Qingchen Gongzi, feeling inexplicably sour. He muttered resentfully, "But I prepared all this for Jun Wei..."
An San couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Our young master already has accommodations."
Han Mingxi scoffed. "How could where you're staying compare to what I prepared? Had I known it wasn't for Jun Wei, I wouldn't have gone to such trouble." He then glared pointedly at Xu Qingchen.
Xu Qingchen, noticing the look, smiled faintly. "Thank you for your efforts, Han Gongzi."
Han Mingxi snorted lightly and waved his folding fan. "Fine, since you're Jun Wei's elder brother, I won't argue with you. So where is Jun Wei? If he's not with us and not with you, where did he go?"
An Er quickly glanced at Ye Li before answering, "Well... on the way back, Young Master Chu received some news and left first. He said he had matters to attend to but would return to meet up with us later."
"Is that so?" Han Mingxi was skeptical, but An Er's serious expression seemed convincing enough. In the end, he huffed and strode off in a huff.
Watching Han Mingxi disappear into the courtyard, Xu Qingchen turned to Ye Li with a faint smile. "Little sister, it seems quite a lot has happened on your journey to the Southern Border?"
Ye Li gave him an ingratiating smile. With Xu Qingchen's sharp mind, it wasn't hard for him to deduce that Chu Junwei and Chu Liuyun were the same person.
Xu Qingchen chuckled at her uneasy expression and nodded. "It's been nearly a year since we last met. Shall we go inside and catch up?"
Ye Li blinked helplessly before stepping aside and murmuring, "After you, elder brother."
In the study, Xu Qingchen sat calmly behind the desk, watching Ye Li's guilty expression. She stood to the side with her head lowered, her eyes darting around as she occasionally peeked up at him.
Just as the previous generation of the Xu family feared Xu Hongyu the most, the current generation of Xu children—including Ye Li, who had spent much of her childhood with them—feared Xu Qingchen above all others."Big brother..." Seeing Xu Qingchen silently staring at her without saying a word, Ye Li called out softly with a hint of grievance. Xu Qingchen sighed lightly at her pitiful expression and said, "It's been a while since I last saw you, and you've grown quite bold, even daring to act pitiful in front of your big brother?" Ye Li blinked her eyes, pouted, and said, "Big brother... Li'er isn't acting pitiful. Why are you angry with me..."
Xu Qingchen raised an eyebrow. "Li'er doesn't know why I'm angry?"
Ye Li shook her head. Xu Qingchen asked, "Who is Chu Junwei? And who is Chu Liuyun?"
Trying to beat around the bush with her big brother was utterly futile. Ye Li lowered her head in defeat. "Big brother..." Xu Qingchen pointed to the chair in front of him. "Sit down. Sit down and explain slowly." Ye Li obediently sat on the stool and recounted everything in detail, from being schemed against by Ye Yue in the capital to finding Xu Qingchen at the Southern Border, leaving nothing out. By the time she finished, her throat felt dry. Looking up, she saw Xu Qingchen handing her a cup of tea. Ye Li smiled faintly and quickly took it, taking a sip. After moistening her throat, Xu Qingchen looked at her calmly and said, "Let's not talk about being schemed against by Ye Yue for now. Why did you specifically go to Guangling to find Han Mingxi? And why did you bring him to the Southern Border?" Ye Li replied softly, "I didn’t want to alert anyone in the capital, so I couldn’t use the shadow guards of the Ding Royal Palace. Han Mingxi followed me on his own—I didn’t bring him."
Xu Qingchen looked at her with a faint smile. "Not wanting to alert the capital is indeed a reasonable consideration. But have you asked what relationship Han Mingyue has with Prince Ding? What if outsiders find out that the dignified Princess of the State disguised herself to visit the Pavilion of Heavenly Unity? Most importantly, if Han Mingyue truly wanted to investigate, do you think he wouldn’t be able to uncover your identity? What would you do if he interfered?" Ye Li glanced up at Xu Qingchen’s still-smiling handsome face. "I left An Si to monitor the Clear Breeze Bright Moon Pavilion. If Han Mingyue returns, he’ll notify me immediately. Besides, I didn’t entrust the truly important matters to the Pavilion of Heavenly Unity. I just wanted them to divert some attention away from the shadow guards." Xu Qingchen nodded. "I’ll let that pass. Then... who told you to provoke the Sick Scholar?"
"Big brother knows about the Sick Scholar?" Ye Li asked. Though the Sick Scholar was famous, he was a figure from the martial world, and Ye Li was curious how Xu Qingchen knew of him.
Xu Qingchen looked at her calmly. "Ling Tiehan, the leader of the King of Hell Pavilion, is a friend of mine."Ye Li was left speechless, silently looking up at the sky in her mind with exasperation. She had just been contemplating how to scheme against Sick Scholar, but he remained a dangerous figure. "Elder Brother, if I were to do something to Sick Scholar, would it affect your friendship with Ling Gezhu?"
Xu Qingchen raised an eyebrow. "What do you intend to do to him?"
Ye Li furrowed her delicate brows and carefully explained the matter of the Underworld Flower. After listening, Xu Qingchen fell silent for a moment before saying, "So, you're worried that if he obtains the Underworld Flower, it might pose a threat to Prince Ding. You want to eliminate this danger preemptively, while also considering that the flower might help Prince Ding's condition—hence you want to secure it as well? You certainly know how to think for Mo Xiuyao. It seems you’ve truly embraced your role as the Princess of the State. Father and Uncle have always worried that your temperament is too indifferent, though I doubt they’d want to see you place too much importance on Prince Ding either."
Hearing this, Ye Li felt somewhat flustered. "Elder Brother, what are you talking about? Mo Xiuyao has always treated me well. Since I’ve married him, of course I want him to be well. Or do you wish for him to die quickly so your poor cousin becomes a widow?"
Watching Ye Li feign indignance, Xu Qingchen chuckled lightly. Clearing his throat, he said, "Fine, be careful with Sick Scholar. As for Ling Tiehan, I’ll handle communication with him. The King of Hell Pavilion won’t trouble you over this."
"Thank you, Elder Brother," Ye Li said with a smile.
Xu Qingchen looked at her with an amused expression. "No need for thanks, Cousin Li’er. Now, let’s discuss the matter of my fiancée. By the way, I’ve already sent a carrier pigeon back to the capital to inform the necessary people."
"Ah… Cousin… How could you? No, how did you act so quickly?!" Ye Li could already imagine the flood of letters she’d receive and the lectures from her uncles, making her head throb.
Xu Qingchen grinned. "Actually, I sent the message the very first day I heard about my fiancée coming to Nanzhao. Did you think just because I was under house arrest, I couldn’t send word out? At most, we should receive a reply in five days. Cousin Liuyun..."
Ye Li couldn’t help but groan, wanting to clutch her head. Elder Brother was just… too wicked!
－－－－－－Author’s Note－－－－－－
New colleague arrived, busy training them. Can’t write properly with someone sitting beside me~ Only half a chapter today, apologies~
OpenNovel