The issue of virtue and obsession held no interest for Cai Bo; he only cared about people.
"One after another, they're all so troublesome, each claiming to be brave and mighty." He looked at the letters on the table. "Wasn't Xie Yanlai supposed to be recuperating from his injuries? How dare he still issue orders? The enemy is using civilians as human shields, and he actually ordered the troops to retreat a hundred li, surrendering a city without a fight. What kind of bravery is that?"
Xie Yanfang laughed. "Ah, this is what you call virtue—quite reminiscent of Duke Xiang of Song."
Duke Xiang of Song wasn't exactly a model of virtue either. Cai Bo found it somewhat amusing, but thinking about the current situation, he couldn't bring himself to laugh. "The Xie family doesn't need his virtue."
After saying this, he couldn't help but pace back and forth.
"The conflict with Western Liang has been settled. Although Zhong Changrong didn't die, he lost an arm. He can take this time to recuperate."
"But now, all those who could compete for power have left."
He glanced at the letters on the table and let out a cold laugh.
"For the sake of military achievements and glory—with Her Majesty the Empress here, where do they get the right to claim such achievements?"
Xie Yanfang smiled. "Being able to fight alongside the Empress is the greatest achievement of all." Leaning against the armrest, he propped his chin on his hand and gazed leisurely out the window. "I'd very much like to go too."
"Young Master, you are already fighting alongside the Empress. If it weren't for you in the capital, how could the Empress have gone to confront Xiao Xun without any worries?" Cai Bo said.
Xie Yanfang shook his head. "It's not the same. The distance makes a difference, and so does the feeling."
Distance and feelings? Was he seriously thinking about this? Cai Bo sighed helplessly. "Young Master, please don't joke."
Xie Yanfang chuckled softly, pinched his forehead, and sighed. "No matter how thoroughly you plan things in this world, the outcome may not always be as you wish."
Cai Bo set aside his helplessness and returned to the previous topic, though a thought crossed his mind: the Young Master had been joking more and more over the past two years.
"They really think they're invincible and can act on their own." He looked again at the pile of letters on the table. "They don't realize that their current standing is only because someone gave them a helping hand."
A helping hand can lift you up, but the same hand can also strike you down.
Xie Yanfang sighed softly. "It's understandable. Even ants cling to life."
He smiled faintly, his eyes falling on the chessboard on the table.
"People are not the same as chess pieces."
Turning people into chess pieces is no easy task.
Such is the chess game of the human world.
"Enough, what's done is done. Let's not dwell on it. We should focus on the matters at hand." He straightened up, waved his hand to end the discussion, and turned his gaze to the map hanging nearby. "Let's hope our Empress achieves victory soon."
Cai Bo was somewhat displeased. "It would be good for the Empress to suffer a little hardship. Otherwise, she might truly believe she's invincible."
Xie Yanfang smiled gently. "The Empress doesn't need to suffer. As the Empress, she must be invincible." He pointed to the scattered letters on the table, each marked with different symbols. "Tell our friends over there that it's time for them to repay me."
Cai Bo acknowledged the order but added, "Young Master, you've done so much for the Empress. It's a pity she doesn't know any of it."
Perhaps influenced by Xie Yanfang, he suddenly felt like joking too.
Xie Yanfang laughed heartily, a soft glow shining at the corners of his lips.
"No, she doesn't need to know," he said.
Once all those irrelevant, tangled branches and vines were cleared away, and she had only him by her side, his intentions would become hers.
Just as he finished speaking, Du Qi pushed the door open and entered.
"Young Master," he said in a low voice. "Yu Shang has lost contact."Cai Bo looked at Xie Yanfang. "It seems the Border Commandery is quite perilous." He then asked Du Qi, "Is anyone inquiring about Yu Shang's whereabouts?"
Du Qi glanced at the report in his hand, nodding then shaking his head. "There are inquiries in Yunzhong Commandery, but they're from a few of his regular buyers. They claim Yu Shang owes them goods, delayed without delivery, and they can't find him, so they reported it to the authorities."
This seemed normal and unproblematic. Cai Bo looked to Xie Yanfang.
Xie Yanfang's gaze remained fixed on the map as he responded indifferently, "Is that so? No need to pursue it further. Just ensure his family is well taken care of."
The closest ties a person has are with their family; severing those connections erases their traces from this world. Cai Bo acknowledged with a "Yes."
Xie Yanfang picked up a letter from the desk and headed out. "I'm going to the Imperial Palace to see Xiao Yu."
...
...
As Xie Yanfang approached, he heard commotion from the front of the hall from afar.
On a mild early winter afternoon, sunlight warmed the air. A chair with a felt cushion was placed before the bedchamber, where Xiao Yu sat clad in the Dragon Robe, hands resting on the armrests, a smile on his face as he watched the lively scene unfold.
Two young eunuchs were grappling with each other, their robes disheveled and faces bruised, yet they showed no signs of stopping.
The attendants standing around watched silently.
"What's going on here?" Xie Yanfang walked over and asked with a smile.
Xiao Yu chuckled. "Uncle, you're here. I need an ink-grinding attendant for my study, and both of them want the position. To be fair, I told them to settle it with a fight."
Xie Yanfang nodded. "Good. Let them earn what they seek through their own ability—that's fair."
An attendant nearby presented a plate of pastries. "Your Majesty, the peach shortcakes you requested."
Xiao Yu took one and gestured to Xie Yanfang. "Uncle, try one. They're freshly made and especially delicious." He then instructed someone to bring a seat for Xie Yanfang. "Who knows how long this will take? Sit and wait."
Xie Yanfang also took a peach shortcake but declined the seat, smiling. "It'll be over soon." He pointed toward the scuffle and said to Xiao Yu, "That one is more skilled—"
As he spoke, one eunuch seized the other and slammed his head hard against the ground. The latter cried out, twitched and struggled briefly, then lay still.
Blood spread across the bluestone pavement.
"I won, I won!" the victorious eunuch exclaimed joyfully, oblivious to the gravity.
Xiao Yu nodded. "You've won. My study will be entrusted to you from now on."
The eunuch kowtowed fervently, his forehead smeared with blood—whether from his own wounds or the blood on the ground. "This humble servant thanks Your Majesty."
Xiao Yu swallowed the pastry and rose from the chair. "Clean this up." With that, he headed inside.
The kowtowing eunuch expressed gratitude again and tried to stand, staggering but not falling as three or four attendants rushed to support him.
"Be careful." "Don't move, we'll help you." "Let's get you treated first." "I'll fetch someone from the Imperial Hospital."
The once-overlooked eunuch was escorted away amid concern.
Other attendants dragged off the dead eunuch and splashed water to wash away the bloodstains.
"Your Majesty," Xie Yanfang followed Xiao Yu into the hall, "you shouldn't do this in the future."
Xiao Yu glanced back at him, feigning unease. "Uncle, I've done wrong."
But there was no trace of unease in his eyes.Xie Yanfang did not expose the child's pretense, smiling as he said, "Your Majesty may do as you wish, but do not provide reasons—let them find their own justifications."
The unease on Xiao Yu's face faded, replaced by thoughtful contemplation. "I understand now. I should not make them compete against each other; rather, they should desire to compete for my favor." He sighed at this point. "Yes, my approach was improper. It would reveal my boredom and amusement at others' expense."
Xie Yanfang asked, "Then what should Your Majesty do?"
"I shall observe and reward the victor of the competition," Xiao Yu replied. "This time, the sequence was reversed."
The child now openly displayed the mischievous side of his nature before him, and Xie Yanfang smiled without comment.
Xie Yanfang took out a letter. "It is not exactly good news. Recently, Sister Chu has not achieved any victories and has instead lost two cities."
A smile spread across Xiao Yu's face as he reached for the letter. "Any news of Sister Chu is good news."
Yet he sighed softly, a hint of regret in his eyes.
"In that case, Sister cannot return to celebrate the New Year with us."
...
...
When the winter wind blowing against their faces felt like stinging sand, the first snow of the third year of the Xingping era arrived.
Chu Zhao pulled up her wind-blown hood and saw a troop of cavalry galloping toward them from afar.
Through the snow and wind, the first things that caught her eye were the fluttering banners—among them, the familiar standard of the Border Army and another banner, both familiar and unfamiliar, bearing the character "Liang."
Someone coughed heavily beside her.
"Your old acquaintance has arrived."
Chu Zhao turned to look at Xie Yanlai, who was wrapped tightly in a cloak with only his eyes visible.
"Our—" she corrected with a smile, "old acquaintance."
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