T/N: Thank you to SleepySheep for the Kofi donation! Here’s a double update.

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Suddenly, Bai Su couldn’t help but muffle his laughter. This was the reaction that a person should have.

“Was that an adult coaxing a child, or was he just talking nonsense after being burnt out by fever? Zhanyuan, I didn’t expect you to have such a side. Is such a ridiculous thing worthy of your consideration? I didn’t believe such things when I was a child, and I don’t know what sort of lunatic would make up such strange ideas. If people could resurrect from the dead in this world, then my brother and your brother would have……many, many people would have come back, but why aren’t there any? If this was true, then why has the Board of Astronomy and Mathematics still not researched a way to make the Emperor immortal?”

Huo Fenglie paused. Then the teacup in his hand shattered with a crack, and tea spilled out.

Bai Su was startled, and quickly helped to change out the tea cup. He sent Huo Fenglie a strange look, wondering if it was his misunderstanding or if his words had exposed some sort of far-fetched idea and struck a blow to Huo Fenglie.

Suddenly, dark red flashed in Huo Fenglie’s eyes. Bai Su saw this and was given a big shock. He immediately said: “Zhanyuan, you…..”

“I’m fine.” Huo Fenglie shook off the liquid on his hand. His face returned to the indifference he had worn for several years. A trace of self-mockery curled up the corners of his originally tight mouth, and his whole aura dimmed.

Bai Su was about to persuade Huo Fenglie to go back and rest, but at this moment, the buzz around them suddenly became louder.

Bai Su raised his head at the oddity and let out a sigh. 

Huo Fenglie ignored it, but the next moment, a clear, distinct voice seemed to come from far away, with a rising intonation and its own unique smile. 

“General Huo, Young Master Bai.”

Huo Fenglie looked up from where he was sitting, and for an instant, the sun was so dazzling that he couldn’t see the face of the person in front of him clearly. He could only see the tall, straight body, his figure unconsciously canted to the right and his head tilted slightly.

It was an all too familiar posture, stunning Huo Fenglie.

He was like a young boy sitting obediently on a stool waiting for someone, until that person called, “Er-gou, let’s go.”

The boy looked up and saw a person standing in this posture with the light behind him, tilting his head and looking at him with a smile. “What? Have you waited long? Are you sleepy?”

The expression on Huo Fenglie’s face did not change, remaining cold. He just looked at the visitor blankly. Bai Su greeted the visitor in turn with a smile. 

“Young Master Liu.”

Liu Zhenqing bowed to the two of them and said: “I just want to thank the two of you for helping me survive. Thank you very much.”

“Young Master Liu, you’re welcome. Please sit down…..” Bai Su said.

Huo Fenglie’s lack of response made Liu Zhenqing, who had taken the initiative to come over, feel guilty. Examining his face, he didn’t look too good either. Was he still angry with him, or had he misunderstood him like everyone else and was uneasy about his harassment?

Liu Zhenqing maintained a stiff smile and continued to bow, saying: “General Huo, I also came to apologize. In order to protect myself, I talked nonsense in front of everyone and besmirched your reputation. It was truly an offense.”

Huo Fenglie’s pupils quivered. “En.”

What did ‘en’ mean? That he didn’t care about it and didn’t hold a grudge? Er-gou never talked much in the past, but why did he feel that he talked even less now?

Liu Zhenqing’s brow twitched, and he continued: “If General Huo blames me, I will accept any punishment you wish. And if you don’t blame me, I would like to leave the capital tomorrow. I have troubled General Huo.”

Huo Fenglie didn’t answer immediately, which worried Liu Zhenqing. He continued: “General Huo, I am just a nobody. I offended the Eighth Princess today, and I fear that if I leave any later, I will die.”

Bai Su sent a piercing look at Huo Fenglie, who seemed to be in a daze. He thought it must be due to his old injury, so he answered on his behalf, “You can rest assured of this. Since it was the Emperor’s order for her to be taken away by force, she will be placed into confinement when she goes back. In the short term, she will not be able to reach beyond the palace. And in the end, this matter had been an unreasonable disaster for you. Zhanyuan will solve it.”

The Eighth Princess was only the beginning. Liu Zhenqing could only say: “In fact, I was going to leave the capital yesterday with General Huo’s assistance. I really didn’t lie about this, but now…..” Liu Zhenqing glanced at Huo Fenglie and said shamelessly: “Didn’t I offend General Huo? I fear that General Huo won’t help me in his anger, hehehe…..”

Huo Fenglie finally answered: “Rest assured, tomorrow…..will be arranged according to your previous words.”

Liu Zhenqing immediately breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, General Huo. Then I won’t bother you anymore. I’ll take my leave.” Having said this, he left without hesitation.

Bai Su was a little surprised. He had seen Liu Xiaozhu’s entangled attitude toward Huo Fenglie before, and it was unusual for him not to stay longer at this moment. After all, he had just invited him to sit down. He didn’t even grasp this kind of opportunity……it seemed that it was as He Lan and Qin Yu had said. Liu Xiaozhu had even forgotten his love for Huo Fenglie after losing his memory.

But there was one thing that Bai Su found strange.

“Why did he choose this troublesome time to leave? Is he in a hurry?”

“I don’t know.” Liu Zhenqing’s behavior was indeed strange, but Huo Fenglie didn’t intend to look into it too deeply.

“If the Emperor begins to investigate the Imperial Examination fraud, it will be even more difficult to get out of the city, and it will truly depend on you.” As Bai Su spoke, he glanced at the First Princess and Rong Shiming, then said slowly, “The premise is that you don’t cause any trouble today. After all, you can’t antagonize the First Princess too much, otherwise you will be accused of having merits so great that they threaten the throne.”

The outing banquet was full of young people, so there were naturally various games, competitions, and contests for peers to show off amongst themselves.

Thinking way back, there were two people who dominated the top of the list at such gatherings – Liu Zhenqing in the literary category, and Huo Feihan in the martial category. The two of them monopolized all the fame, praise, and admiration.

As for Li Xingruo? That girl alone had the best medical skills, and no one could compare with her. She was not good at anything that talented girls should traditionally be good at, and she never cared about the looks and comments of others. She was just herself. Therefore, this sort of gathering was of benefit to her, in that she could gather people to study their pulses. She could be considered a special existence.

And because they often traveled as a group of three, they became known as the “Three Heroes of the Capital” at that time: Wu Huo, Cai Liu, and Yi Li.^[1] They had also become the most colorful trio of two men and one woman in the capital.

Nowadays, the games played were basically the same. Every time there was an event, there were people eager to come forward and show off. Even the two cousins had gone up a few times. Their qualifications were mediocre and they gave no outstanding performances, but they had no self-awareness and insisted on getting involved.

The only ones who didn’t participate at all were Liu Zhenqing and Huo Fenglie.

No one on Huo Fenglie’s side dared to challenge him, and who would invite Liu Zhenqing? For good or ill, Liu Zhenqing didn’t care about his face, and adopted the three principles of ‘no’: “I don’t understand, I don’t know how, I’m not good at it.”

Although he received a lot of contempt, at least he was safe.

However, this calm was soon broken. The noisy crowd soon attracted the attention of everyone present. Even the First Princess, who was playing alone with the girls, came to take charge of the overall situation. “What is this?”

“Cousin, we’re competing to solve the Thousand Locks. Someone lost and refuses to admit it.” After speaking, Rong Shiming glanced at Third Young Master Liu, who was shaking with anger.

Thousand Locks was a competitive game that had emerged more than ten years ago. The game consisted of several people randomly selecting small toys and contraptions to unlock, either taking turns or going at the same time. If someone couldn’t solve it within a certain amount of time, that person was out. This tested both ability and luck.

After all, there were duplications in the small toy market. People who liked to play might have been exposed to them and already know the solutions, so at this time, the competition was to see who was faster. 

However, small toys were updated quickly, so in order to make the party more interesting, the organizer of this kind of game would usually find new products for everyone to play.

“The items were chosen at random. I’m not making things difficult for you, you agreed to the bet yourself. Third Young Master Liu, please.” Rong Shiming finished speaking and looked at the third cousin proudly.

Some fellows around him echoed Rong Shiming and shouted, “Get down and bark like a dog!”

“Do it quickly, bark!”

The third cousin said furiously: “You…..you all banded together to deceive me. You pretended to be incompetent and tricked me into the game!”

“It’s true that we’re not good at it, but we’re better than you,” Rong Shiming said with a smile. “Hurry up, Third Young Master Liu. If you don’t bark, everyone will laugh at you for daring to bet but not paying up.”

“Brother…..” The second cousin was truly anxious now, and sent the third cousin a look.

The third cousin’s expression was ugly. He could only plead for mercy, hoping to get a different punishment. This was really too insulting.

Rong Shiming raised his eyebrows and said: “It is impossible to change it, unless we play again and Second Young Master Liu competes with me. If he wins, the punishment will be canceled. If he loses, he can also get down and bark like a dog!”

There was a burst of laughter as soon as these words came out, and a burst of shame and anger on the faces of the two Liu cousins, but the third cousin was unwilling to accept the punishment. The second cousin hesitated, but finally decided to accept it.

He didn’t do it so much out of brotherhood, but because he was better at this than the third cousin. He had also taken over a caravan that bought and sold small toys, and when he was observing the competition between the two just now, he felt that Rong Shiming couldn’t beat him.

But after a while, the second cousin’s face turned even uglier than the third cousin’s, because he had also lost. Although he got lucky this time and they were all small toys that he had played with, he actually lost to Rong Shiming in terms of speed. He finally understood that when dealing with the third cousin, Rong Shiming hadn’t used the entirety of his abilities. He hid it, just waiting to trick them.

The jeering around them grew louder and louder. The two of them were really going to be forced to get down and bark like dogs. Even the First Princess was not going to stop this farce.

When Rong Shiming saw that the two of them weren’t moving, he said: “How about you find someone to help you bet again?”

This sentence gave them hope. They quickly looked at the people around them for help, but who would dare to step forward and touch their misfortune? And even though there were people who didn’t get along with Rong Shiming, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to get into trouble in the game that Rong Shiming was best at. Only these newcomers who hadn’t attended many parties would step into the trap.

Seeing that no one was willing to step forward to help, the two of them were so anxious that the veins on their foreheads practically popped out.

At this time, Rong Shiming narrowed his eyes, feeling that the time was almost up. He was about to add another sentence when a voice suddenly sounded from outside the crowd.

“I’ll play.”

As soon as these words came out, the crowd moved aside. Liu Zhenqing, who had been hiding at the tables, unwilling to participate in the games, actually stepped out.

Rong Shiming’s eyes lit up, and he watched eagerly as Liu Zhenqing walked over.

The two cousins’ faces were full of disappointment. They had previously come in a carriage with Liu Zhenqing, where they had seen him play with the Nine Links without solving any of them. Naturally, they didn’t believe in Liu Zhenqing. Little did they know that this was Liu Zhenqing’s habit when waking up in the morning, just playing with something in his hands without solving it at all.

“How can you do this, ah! Don’t humiliate us!”

“You weren’t good at this before you lost your memory, and now you won’t remember the simplest ones!”

In this competition of skill, it would be better to kneel down and beg Rong Shiming for forgiveness, and maybe he would let them off. After all, they knew they must have been targeted because of Liu Zhenqing.

The two of them hinted at him with meaningful looks.

“I don’t know much about this, but I can’t watch my two brothers be humiliated, ah. And…..even if I didn’t volunteer, Young Master Rong would have called me up, right?”

Liu Zhenqing regarded Rong Shiming with a half smile. He had been paying attention to this game from the beginning because it happened to be something he was interested in. It made his hands itchy. But from the start of the gambling, Liu Zhenqing was aware of Rong Shiming’s intentions.

Without him going up to play on his own, Rong Shiming couldn’t put his plan into action and could only fish out his target through the two Liu family members.

Rong Shiming said with a malicious smile: “Brothers naturally share weal and woe. Could it be that you would watch your two younger brothers be punished while you stood aside? How improper, ba.”

“Of course it’s improper, aren’t I here now? Isn’t it the same bet?” If he returned home like this, he would probably not be able to leave the capital if his two uncles and aunts made a fuss. And even if one plan failed, there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be another one, so it was better to pick what he was good at.

Liu Zhenqing’s expression revealed no timidity at all. Rong Shiming’s eyes narrowed. After all, he had suffered so much because of this person that it was nearly a conditioned reflex. But whether in his own investigation or what the two Liu family members had just revealed, he shouldn’t be good at this. Was he already prepared to be humiliated together and gain a good reputation for brotherhood?

Everyone thought the same. It made sense. It was better for three people to be humiliated together than for one person to live an ignoble existence, and their reputations would be relatively better.

The two brothers had nothing to say. It couldn’t get any worse.

Rong Shiming hesitated for a moment, but couldn’t help saying: “After so many opportunities have been given, it naturally can’t be so simple. This time, the stakes must be raised.”

“Oh? What are the stakes?” Liu Zhenqing had expected this. He couldn’t just imitate a dog barking. The damage from the blow would be too low.

“If you lose, in addition to your two younger brothers being punished, you will also get down and bark like a dog, but also…..” Rong Shiming suddenly raised his leg and stepped on the chair beside him, saying fiercely, “Crawl through here!”

Thunder struck, and everyone gasped simultaneously. This was even more humiliating than barking like a dog.

The First Princess spoke in a timely manner, “Shiming, that…..”

“Cousin, it depends on whether or not Young Master Liu dares to go through with it. If he dares not, I won’t gamble, and his two younger brothers will carry out their punishment,” Rong Shiming sneered.

Everyone couldn’t help but look at Liu Zhenqing, feeling that this request was a bit too much. Knowing that he would lose, Liu Zhenqing wouldn’t suffer such humiliation for his two cousins.

They saw Liu Zhenqing raise his eyebrows as if he couldn’t decide. It seemed that he was very hesitant, and would probably refuse. The crowd was disappointed. After all, they all had the mentality of watching scandals and seeking novelty.

But the next second, Liu Zhenqing nodded and said, “Sure.”

Everyone stared at Liu Zhenqing in astonishment. They weren’t hallucinating. He had actually agreed.

In fact, Liu Zhenqing had hesitated just now because he thought, isn’t this a bit childish? He was a little suspicious of Rong Shiming’s true intentions. Was it really as simple as demeaning someone? It would be a shame not to injure or maim him after all this effort, ah.

Rong Shiming was also a little surprised. He had prepared other tricks to force him to agree, but didn’t expect that it would be so simple. Was there something fishy going on? Rong Shiming couldn’t help feeling shaken.

“Really?”

“Of course. But Young Master Rong raised the stakes. I can’t just assist people, isn’t this bullying me? If Young Master Rong loses, how about doing as you said? Do you dare?”

Rong Shiming scoffed. He felt that Liu Zhenqing was bluffing. How could he lose?

“This is a matter of course.”

Liu Zhenqing immediately turned to look at the First Princess up above and said, “Your Highness bears witness for us.”

The First Princess was taken aback, and thought that this member of the Liu family was truly annoying. He actually thought he could win. Wasn’t he just adding this because he didn’t want her to stand up for Rong Shiming and prevent him from being punished?

“All right,” the First Princess said coldly. She remembered that nuisance being extremely good at this. Someone had once challenged him at a party. He took advantage of the situation to ostentatiously show off his skills, and blindfolded himself to compete with the other. Then he directly defeated them, causing their innermost being to crumble, and they never dared to play this kind of game again.

Now, members of his clan were going to be humiliated because of this game. How amusing. It was simply retribution.

And…..did the First Young Master of the Liu family think that Rong Shiming was just trying to humiliate him? The fun was yet to come!

. . . . . . .

“This is really…..” Bai Su watched the development of this situation and said, “Sure enough, Rong Shiming really doesn’t intend to let Liu Xiaozhu go. Zhanyuan, in this situation, if Liu Xiaozhu loses, it seems…..it won’t be convenient for you to help.”

After talking at length, he noticed that no one was paying attention and turned around to look. Huo Fenglie was watching the crowd with a heavy gaze, uncertainty on his face.

Then he said: “Perhaps…..he won’t lose.”

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[1] Wu (martial) Huo, Cai (talent) Liu, and Yi (medical) Li. ⮐

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Chapter Twenty << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twenty-Two