Рrinсе Yin, nursing а hаngover, ореnеd his еyes and fоr а moment fеlt just as bewildеrеd аs Fеng Yuе. With grеat difficultу, he turned his head to loоk tоward thе bedsidе.
"Вrоthеr Yin!" Yi Zhangzhu сriеd, hеr еуes swоllen from weерing, sobbing аs she spokе, "My fаther is deаd, murdеrеd in his рrisоn сеll!"
After а briеf pаusе, Yin Gеzhi prоpреd himself up аnd sаt, his voiсe hoarsе as he said, "I knоw."
"Ноw cоuld he be murderеd? Zhu'еr dоesn't undеrstаnd! Suсh а gооd man—whо wоuld want his lifе? Thе Wu Kingdom's vеry fоundаtiоn was built bу him, аnd it wаs bеcause оf him that the peoрle of Wu cоuld live pеaсеful lives!"
Вuried under the covers, Feng Yue finally couldn't resist poking her head out and speaking the truth: "The Wu Kingdom's foundation was laid by the royal ancestors. General Yi truly doesn't have that much credit; the battles he won were all wars of aggression against other states. And it has nothing to do with the people of Wu."
"You!!" Startled by this sudden appearance, Yi Zhangzhu stared at Feng Yue in disbelief, then slowly turned to look at Yin Gezhi, tears streaming down her face. "What kind of time is this, Brother Yin? How could you still be here... carrying on with her?"
Yin Gezhi frowned and glanced at Feng Yue.
Feng Yue shrugged. It wasn't her fault—last night, he had been moaning in his sleep and wouldn't let go of her hand, so she had no choice but to sleep here. Besides, who saw them "carrying on"? Their clothes were perfectly intact!
Seeing both of them silent, Yi Zhangzhu choked back a sob, turned her head, and continued crying. "Fine, now that my family is destroyed and I'm left with nothing, none of you care about me anyway. I... I'll just leave!"
"Zhangzhu," Yin Gezhi said, "General Yi's body still needs to be prepared for burial. Where do you think you're going?"
"Me? What about you?" Lifting her eyes to look at him again, her gaze now filled with hatred, Yi Zhangzhu gritted her teeth and said, "You always claimed to respect my father, so why aren't you going to prepare his body? How could you let him be murdered and not even try to find out the truth?"
"Miss Yi," Yin Gezhi said, his tone suddenly shifting as his gaze sharpened at her frenzied appearance. "Preparing the body is a duty reserved for the three closest clans. I have no right to overstep. As for the general's murder, the Crown Prince has already entrusted the investigation to Grand Marshal Meng. It's not something I can interfere with. Before you blame others, shouldn't you first understand the situation?"
Startled by his tone, Yi Zhangzhu was momentarily stunned, staring at him blankly.
"You are kind-hearted, raised under General Yi's protection, innocent and naive—all of which are rare and precious qualities. But General Yi is no longer here. You can't be willful forever, always looking for others to take responsibility or cry to when something happens. No one is born to serve the General's Mansion. You are inconveniencing others, asking for their help. Shouldn't you be a bit more courteous?"
In all her life, Yi Zhangzhu had never been shouted at like this. She stood there, completely stunned.Yin Gezhi was already in a foul mood after being woken up by the noise, and with a hangover headache, he finally spoke without holding back: "You always say the Crown Prince has wronged you, that he doesn't help or dote on you anymore. But how have you treated him all these years? Have you forgotten? A dignified Crown Prince, not only did you shut him out, but you also expected him to be at your beck and call, to prioritize you above all else, or else you'd be unhappy and complain to Her Majesty the Empress. He has a good temper and has always indulged you, but what about you? Every time you see me, have you ever considered his dignity? Haven't you always pushed him aside, showing him no respect at all?"
"You also blame me for not doting on you, not being good to you, not knowing how to speak. But, Miss, have you ever spoken to me properly? You never say directly what you want or what you want to do, forcing me to guess, and then getting angry when I can't. After so many times like this, my patience naturally wears thin."
"If one wants to be loved, one must first love oneself. But if one only loves oneself without returning love to others, who wouldn't be disappointed in you, except for General Yi?"
Feng Yue couldn't help but applaud silently. That made sense.
Yi Zhangzhu fell silent for a long time, staring deeply at Yin Gezhi before gritting her teeth and saying, "If love can only continue when there is something in return, then Your Highness's feelings are truly worthless!"
At first glance, that sounded like a reasonable statement! Love should be selfless, without expecting anything in return!
But Feng Yue blinked and asked, "Miss Yi, didn't you also like Prince Yin very much at first? Why does it seem like you don't like him as much now?"
"He treats me like this, and I'm supposed to keep clinging to him?!" Yi Zhangzhu said angrily. "I'm a young lady, I'm not that shameless!"
"..." So, men are supposed to be shameless, always giving unilaterally to maintain this noble love? And once they can't keep it up, it means their love isn't genuine or deep enough?
Feng Yue smiled and buried her head again.
Yin Gezhi sighed. "Forget it, you should go and handle the aftermath."
Angrily standing up, Yi Zhangzhu asked, "So you mean you won't get involved?"
"I'm afraid I can't help."
"Fine!" Taking a deep breath, Yi Zhangzhu nodded. "You said it yourself."
With that, she turned and left.
Yin Gezhi rubbed his temples, got up to close the door, then took off his outer robe and lay back down to rest.
"Your Highness," seeing that he was now fully awake, Feng Yue didn't dare to act recklessly anymore and asked respectfully in a low voice, "Aren't you worried about Miss Yi?"
"Her father died by your hand, and you want me to worry about her?" Yin Gezhi turned his head and stared at her with a deep gaze. "Should I tie you up and send you to the main hall then?"
Shrinking her neck, Feng Yue forced a smile. "Didn't you say yourself that you liked Miss Yi? Now that her father has indirectly died because of you, aren't you going to show any remorse?"
"The remorse I needed to show, I've already shown over the past year," Yin Gezhi said. "Since entering Wu, I've granted her every request—that's all I could do. After all, Yi Guoru had to die, but she is innocent."
"Now, the one who deserved to die is dead, and I've expressed all the remorse I needed to. Everyone should go their own way."Shivering slightly, Feng Yue couldn't help but say, "I thought I was ruthless enough, but it turns out you're the ancestor of ruthlessness! You started compensating her a year ago. If Miss Yi knew that your so-called 'liking' was just compensation for her father's impending death, wouldn't she be furious to death?"
"She asked me to say it, not me," Yin Gezhi replied. "It was her own fifteenth birthday gift request."
What on earth? Feng Yue's mouth fell open. There was such a birthday gift?
Yin Gezhi said with a calm expression, "When I first arrived in Wu Kingdom, many young ladies from Shadowless City liked to visit the Envoy's Mansion. Miss Yi seemed unhappy about it, and once happened to overhear someone asking me if I had someone I liked. So she told me that from then on, whenever anyone asked, I should say I liked her. Seeing me hesitate, she said it could be her coming-of-age gift."
Feng Yue was stunned. After thinking for a moment, she completely understood. After all, someone like Yin Gezhi would be surrounded by young women wherever he went. He was brought back by General Yi, and he treated Miss Yi well, so she naturally felt this person should belong to her and shouldn't be coveted by others. Yin Gezhi was genuinely good to Yi Zhangzhu, to the point where she almost thought he was truly blind to like Miss Yi.
"But..." Feng Yue frowned. "After spending so much time together, people say familiarity breeds affection. Do you really have no feelings at all?"
Glancing at her disdainfully, Yin Gezhi said coldly, "If she were a girl who made people feel comfortable to be around, I might have hesitated a bit when making the decision."
Unfortunately, he found it truly torturous, so much so that he felt a year of compensation was sufficient, without any sense of guilt.
He really wasn't a good person.
After silently looking at Yin Gezhi for a while, Feng Yue got out of bed to fetch water and wash up.
Yin Gezhi wanted to continue sleeping, but the noise outside gradually grew louder, and he finally couldn't sleep anymore.
The news of General Yi's death didn't spread beyond Shadowless City. At dawn, the emperor even issued an edict seeking medical treatment for General Yi, pardoning all his crimes and ordering him to recover and return to the battlefield.
For a moment, everyone was confused. When Yin Gezhi returned to the Envoy's Mansion with Feng Yue, even Guan Zhi came to ask, "Was General Yi saved?"
With a cold laugh, Yin Gezhi shook his head. "Someone who has already reported to the underworld, who could save him?"
"Then..."
"General Yi is Wu Kingdom's guardian general. The Song Kingdom has repeatedly invaded the border, intending to attack Wu. If they learned of General Yi's death, their army would likely press the border immediately," Yin Gezhi said, sitting down inside the room. "This is probably the Wu royal family's delaying tactic."
Unfortunately, it could only delay for a while, not forever. The Song Kingdom would eventually attack Wu.
Uninterested in listening to him, Feng Yue yawned and looked around, appearing very lazy. Lingshu bounced over with mung bean cakes. She didn't avoid anything anymore and openly opened the hidden layer inside to look at its contents.
"Everything is ready. Three people will return to Wei first, and someone will meet them in Lidu."
These people must have been waiting all along. As soon as they heard about Yi Guoru's death yesterday, they started packing to return home, right? Feng Yue smiled and shook her head. They were all people who didn't like leaving their homeland, yet they stayed with her in Wu Kingdom for three years. It wasn't easy.Xiangyu Street had once been completely burned down and later rebuilt, with all the shops along the street changing owners. New stores opened—a general goods shop, a pastry shop, a blacksmith’s, and shops selling flowers and wine. For a time, Shadowless City regarded this street as a marvel because it had recovered so quickly, and many of the newcomers were refugees from the Wei Kingdom. The local government even increased patrols along the street to prevent any potential unrest.
However, three years passed, and thanks to these people, Xiangyu Street became bustling and lively without a single incident. People often praised the warmth and enthusiasm of those on this street. No one knew that the owner of the general goods shop had once been a centurion in the Wei Kingdom, the burly blacksmith had once been a famous strongman in Lidu, and even Zheng Shi, who sold pastries, had once worn armor and served in the military. Behind every ordinary, smiling person in plain clothes lay a remarkable story.
These stories, however, need not be told to frighten anyone.
"Thinking of returning to the Wei Kingdom?" Yin Gezhi suddenly asked.
Feng Yue snapped back to attention, raised an eyebrow, glanced at the letter in her hand, and then at the person who hadn’t even turned his head toward her. She couldn’t help but frown. "Do you have eyes on the back of your head too?"
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