"A marquis who can command the armies of the Four Territories—what emperor could tolerate him?" The Crown Prince continued speaking with a persistent smile, calm and composed. "If he dies, Beiman and Yanyang will halt their warfare, and the common people will live in peace and prosperity. What else do Xie Zhang and Xie Jue have to command the Iron Cavalry? The Northern Iron Cavalry may be a guardian deity in tis of chaos, but it is not in tis of peace. Xie Zhang and Xie Jue’s military prestige cannot compare to the Marquis. As long as the Marquis dies, the morale of the troops will crumble, and I will have the ans to seize control of the military. Once I grasp military power, what are noble families to ? If one family disobeys, I’ll eradicate one family; if two oppose , I’ll annihilate their entire clans. Eventually, they will obey. Under the heavens, within emperor’s domain, be it a noble family or the Marquis Zhenbei Mansion, they’ve been arrogant for far too long. It’s ti they learned whose realm Yanyang truly is."
Emperor Jianming felt a chill spread through his limbs, his heart racing in dread. Yet his son wore an amiable smile, as if recounting a casual tale. Emperor Jianming felt an intense fear.
"How do you plan to kill the Marquis?"
"I have already made arrangents. Once the timing is right, Father, you’ll naturally know." The Crown Prince’s confidence brimd over; even before Emperor Jianming, his claws began to show.
Emperor Jianming’s gaze fell on the chessboard. "What if you lose?"
If defeated, even the throne would have to be surrendered.
The Crown Prince chuckled lightly. "Father, when I hold the chess pieces, there is no losing strategy."
After Fengyu regained consciousness, Zhang Lingzheng forced four bowls of herbal dicine upon her. The dicine caused relentless vomiting and diarrhea, plunging her into agony, yet the snake-bitten area showed visible improvent. Su Yuejiao and Feng Shu expressed their endless gratitude toward Zhang Lingzheng. Fang Lingjun cradled Fengyu, crying uncontrollably, unwilling to let herself break down fully. She stayed to watch over Fengyu through the night. When Zhang Lingzheng reported grim prospects, Fang Lingjun’s face turned pale. Now that Fengyu had fought her way back from the brink of death, Fang Lingjun wept tears of joy. "Ayu, my life belongs to you. In the future, I’ll follow you through fire and water, no matter the cost."
Fengyu wiped away her tears. "Don’t say such foolish things. I only want you to live well."
Fengyu dismissed Fang Lingjun to rest, yet her own heart remained unsettled as she inquired about the Marquis and Xie Xun. Feng Shu gently reassured her, "Don’t worry. The Marquis’s arm was injured, but it’s not life-threatening. The Emperor and Crown Prince are also unhard. Rest easy and focus on recovering."
Fengyu’s mind eased slightly, and she drifted off to sleep. Upon awakening again, the setting sun burned low in the sky. Chunlu and Qiuxiang kept her company inside the tent, while Zhang Da stood vigil outside. With residual poison still lingering in her system, her appetite was poor. She ate only a bowl of bird’s nest porridge and could eat no more. Stepping out of the tent, she caught sight of Xie Xun.
From afar, Xie Xun spotted her, flashing a smile before striding toward her boldly, the hem of his robe fluttering in the evening breeze, his features illuminated by the remaining twilight. Fengyu thought to herself, what a dashing young man, handso and exhilarating like spring breezes in bloom.
Unable to help herself, Fengyu smiled as well. Xie Xun asked, "Shall we take a walk?"
"Alright!"
Nuanyang and Feiying, sensing the mont’s delicacy, led Qiuxiang, Chunlu, and Zhang Da farther away. Nuanyang had sohow offended Qiuxiang and spent the entire walk in vain trying to appease her cold deanor.
"I heard you injured the Marquis with an arrow? Didn’t you get a beating?"
"Good deeds are forgotten, bad ones spread far and wide—it traveled fast indeed." Xie Xun, his hands clasped behind his back, walked alongside Fengyu. The springti hunting ground was picturesque, flowers carpeting the hillsides, mountainous ridges undulating beneath the soft twilight glow—a landscape suffused with the tender scenery of spring.
Fengyu chuckled, wondering at Xie Xun’s audacity. He said, "The real culprit is Second Brother. He created trouble; I bore the bla."
"So it was the Second Young Master..." Fengyu mused. "Though the young Marquis is arrogant and unruly, he doesn’t strike as soone who would shoot the Marquis. That’s rather unfortunate for you."
"I’m used to it." Xie Xun remarked casually, sensing Fengyu harbored inexplicable admiration for his Second Brother. Eager to sully that impression, he continued, "Second Brother, though reserved and unassuming, sees through everything with piercing clarity. Anyone who wrongs him always pays the price. He never gets his hands dirty, letting others fight his battles, looking all magnanimous while being calculating to the extre, harboring nothing but sches."
Fengyu was speechless.
Does Xie Jue know you’re maligning him like this?
Unable to contain her amusent, Fengyu asked, "Have you gone to battle for him too?"
Xie Xun, indeed the vanguard fighter for his Second Brother, winked at the Third Miss, expertly teasing, "This Marquis only goes to battle for the Third Miss."
His gaze burned with intense, searing heat. Fengyu, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, attempted to conceal the wild pounding of her heart—though ultimately, it was in vain.
The breeze lifted the ends of the Third Miss’s hair ribbon, drifting it to Xie Xun’s face. His palm itched to catch it, but just as he reached out, the ribbon fluttered away, leaving Xie Xun sowhat disappointed.
Having narrowly escaped death, Fengyu relished these gentle, joyful monts. Xie Xun seed unconcerned about whether she responded, simply content to accompany her on this walk amidst the spring breeze and the setting sun.
Flowers blanketing the mountains swayed in the wind. Xie Xun voiced his curiosity, "When the snake bit you, why didn’t you break the Soul Suppressing Pearl?"
Fengyu, upon being bitten, had contemplated death but never considered swapping fates with Xie Xun. Even as Fang Lingjun treated her wounds, the thought of swapping lives seed like nothing but a route to burdening the young Marquis with undue suffering. Months ago, at death’s door, she might have unhesitatingly made that exchange, willing to use Xie Xun’s body to survive, indifferent to its consequences.
Yet lately, throughout a long, long ti... such thoughts of exploiting Xie Xun had vanished.
"I thought about it, but there wasn’t ti."
"Liar!" As Xie Xun plucked a flower, his playful gaze lingered upon the bloom. "Fang Lingjun said that when the snake struck, you were calm enough to instruct her on treating you. You knew the dangers of the venom, knew that every mont’s delay could an death in the forest."
Once, he’d said the Third Miss was ruthless, selfishness guiding her actions. In monts of peril, she would unhesitatingly use him as a shield. So why the change in heart now?
Fengyu’s gaze fell upon the flower, much like the tender blossom within her heart budding anew. She smiled faintly, "The young Marquis saved my life. I used to act selfishly, driven only to survive, treating you unfairly. Now I’ve figured it out—my destiny is mine to shoulder alone; I won’t implicate others."
"Indeed, changing one’s nature is no small feat. Has the Third Miss truly comprehended so quickly?"
Pressed step by step by Xie Xun, Fengyu grew flustered. His expression softened, his tone carrying a quiet intensity. "Is admitting you like really so difficult?"
Fengyu’s heart pounded furiously, her efforts to suppress its fervent rhythm proving utterly futile.
The exuberance in Xie Xun’s gaze dimd slightly, a flicker of fear surfacing as he confessed, "When I found you, the venom had spread throughout your body, your breath a re whisper. You ca so close to dying alone in the depths of Xiyanshan. Carrying you out, only one thought filled my mind—this lifeti, I will marry no one but you. No matter how much you evade or refuse , I’ll never give up."
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