Liu Xian’an was still waiting for Liang Shu to explain where the path was, but Liang Shu turned his head and asked Chang Xiaoqiu: “How much do you know about Zhao Xiang and those who attended the banquet tonight?”

“What do I know?” Chang Xiaoqiu slowed down and managed to organize his thoughts before replying, “I didn’t know much about Zhao Xiang at first. He used to only contact my father, but during this trip to the south, I intended to get close to the people around him, and could more or less get some inside information about Dawn’s Gate. This person is actually a gambler, and has already lost his family fortune. It’s likely that he got dragged into the water by being tricked by the cult at the gambling table.”

As for the other sects attending the banquet that night, although Chang Xiaoqiu knew most of them, they were only acquaintances and not very familiar. He said: “Only the uncle in the green robes, Song Changsheng, has come to my home twice for drinks, so there is somewhat of a friendship. He’s a well-known swordsmith in the Central Plains, but he believes in the Baifu Sect for some reason.”

When everyone was tearing off their masks, Chang Xiaoqiu found that Song Changsheng was also at the banquet. He was so surprised that he couldn’t help taking a second look, but Song Changhsheng turned a blind eye to him and didn’t even meet his gaze, just chanting slogans and drinking.

“Maybe people who believe in cults are just like this,” Chang Xiaoqiu said. “In their eyes and hearts, only the Holy Maiden is left, and they no longer care about their relatives and friends in the past.”

Liang Shu said: “It is more convenient that the believers are insane.”

Liu Xian’an said: “How is that convenient?”

“It’s convenient for us to go up the mountain openly.” Liang Shu gave Chang Xiaoqiu some instructions. The young man was shocked at first, but then gradually became delighted, and asked with nervous excitement, “Just like that?”

Liang Shu nodded: “Just like that. It’s getting late, you should go back to your room in any case, lest Zhao Xiang get suspicious. In the next few days, you should observe clearly, and be clever.”

“Yes!” Chang Xiaoqiu said, “Then I’ll head back.”

Liu Xian’an also thought that this method of ascending the mountain was very feasible, at least much better than the climbing path.

After Chang Xiaoqiu left, he stood up from Liang Shu’s arms and was about to analyze the entire plan in detail, when thud, thud, footsteps suddenly sounded in the courtyard. Then they saw Chang Xiaoqiu appear at the door again, out of breath and unspeaking. He didn’t enter the room, but looked inside with a puzzled expression.

“Young Head Escort Chang, is there something else?”

“…….No, there isn’t,” Chang Xiaoqiu said hesitantly. It was actually that he ran out the door just now, and when the cool wind woke him up, he began to feel that something wasn’t right. As for what was wrong specifically, when everyone was discussing the plan just now, Doctor Liu seemed to have been sitting in His Royal Highness Xiao Wang’s arms?

Chang Xiaoqiu was stunned by the intimate image that emerged in his mind, and his first reaction was that he was hysterical after drinking that blood. He absolutely couldn’t believe that such a thing could happen, so he simply ran back to verify it with his own eyes. But there was nothing to see – His Royal Highness Xiao Wang was at the table drinking tea, while Doctor Liu was standing neatly beside him.

He consulted the doctor in a realistic fashion: “Doctor Liu, I seemed to have a bit of blurred vision just now, and had some uncontrollable imaginings.”

Liu Xian’an found some calming pills for him, and Chang Xiaoqiu swallowed them on the spot. Looking at His Royal Highness Xiao Wang and Doctor Liu again, they were innocent and decent, so it must have just been him earlier. Thus, he put this absurd matter behind him and returned to the inn to concentrate on being an undercover agent.

Zhao Xiang didn’t make things difficult for him because of taking off his mask, but on the contrary, he even praised him a little more. Because of Chang Xiaoqiu’s behavior of being the one to go first, he accidentally won Holy Envoy Yang’s favor and greatly increased Dawn’s Gate’s status among all the jianghu sects. Zhao Xiang changed his previous perfunctory and impatient attitude, and offered to take Chang Xiaoqiu up the mountain with him.

The time soon came to the nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, which was also the day everyone paid homage to the saint.

Liang Shu asked: “Do you want to go up the mountain?”

Liu Xian’an was a little surprised, not expecting that he would go along too, but he would go now that Liang Shu had proposed it.

He could go up the mountain tomorrow, but it was fine to go to the inn tonight.

Zhao Xiang had come to Raven City with a total of five disciples. It was unknown if he wanted to keep a low profile and avoid attracting attention, or if it was because he had already lost his whole family fortune gambling and couldn’t afford to hire more servants. In the dead of night, he put out the lights and went to bed. When he was about to close his eyes, the bed curtain shook slightly.

There was no one in the jianghu who wasn’t vigilant, not to mention that Zhao Xiang could be regarded as a master. He immediately noticed the abnormality in the breeze that should not have appeared, and reached his hand under the pillow to draw his knife, but it was already too late.

The severe pain in his neck made his eyes fly open wide, and he was furious that someone would dare attack him. He struggled to raise his upper body, but only had time to see a pair of eyes in the darkness, like lone stars hanging high above in the clear night.

Liang Shu raised his hand and hit him again, knocking him out completely. The candles in the room were re-lit, and Liu Xian’an took out the mask from his robes. Chang Xiaoqiu also slipped in from next door and saw the miracle doctor arranging tools on the table. He thought that he was about to change the prince’s appearance, never thinking that it would be the other way around.

Liang Shu ordered: “Lift your head a little bit.”

Liu Xian’an did as he said. He raised his head and closed his eyes, his long eyebrows like faint ink strokes. 

The beauty under the candlelight was fair enough to capture people’s souls – the soul of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang in particular, because only he could see it. Liang Shu felt refreshed to have been captured, and worked more gently as he held his chin.

And with such a meticulous Royal Highness Xiao Wang, the young man to the side began to stare dumbly again, and in the end, Gao Lin slapped him sober.

“Uh, I…….”

“Let’s leave them alone.” Gao Lin held his shoulders. “Go get ready, ba. We don’t know what’s going on atop that mountain yet, so you should be more careful.”

Chang Xiaoqiu nodded, and after a moment, he couldn’t help but ask: “Lieutenant General Gao, the prince is disguising himself to go up the mountain, but why is he bringing Doctor Liu with him?”

Gao Lin answered firmly, if there is a conflict and someone was injured, wouldn’t they need a doctor’s treatment?

Chang Xiaoqiu: “They would.”

Gao Lin: “Then that’s why.”

Just like that, he fooled the unfortunate boy.

When it was nearly dawn, Liang Shu and Liu Xian’an had disguised themselves as Zhao Xiang and another Dawn’s Gate disciple respectively. After they waited in the room for a short time, someone knocked on the door. “Master Zhao, Young Head Escort Chang, it’s clear.”

In the early morning light, Raven City was still half-awake and half-asleep. The streets were quiet, and only five large carriages were parked outside the city, each of which could hold nearly ten people. Liang Shu boarded one of them. The people inside the carriage saw this and said in displeasure: “Master Zhao, we’re all going alone. Why did you bring followers?”

Liang Shu pointed to his throat and coughed twice. Chang Xiaoqiu explained: “Master Li, Uncle Zhao is unable to make a sound because of his cold. He is also worried that the saint will ask questions, so he brought confidants who can understand his gestures and looks. It is entirely for convenience, not for putting on airs.”

The other party scoffed and did not speak further, reluctantly accepting this statement.

The carriage jolted, and the people inside grabbed onto the armrests. Song Changsheng was also in this carriage. Liu Xian’an had heard from his elder brother before that there was such a swordsmith in the Central Plains, and countless famous swords all over the country were made by him. Why would such a person who was not short of money or reputation, and was young and strong, join a cult?

Halfway through the journey, one person smiled and tried to strike up a conversation with him, but as a result, the moment he called out, “Mr. Song,” he received the cold sentence, “Why do you have to smile so ingratiatingly when we’re going to pay homage to the saint?” He was snubbed despite showing good intentions, and had no choice but to shut up.

The carriage finally stopped at the foot of the mountain, and they had to climb up on foot. It would take ordinary people several hours, but for martial arts masters, this rugged mountain road was trivial. Everyone leaped up one after another, and Liang Shu also grabbed Liu Xian’an’s waist and flew up with him. Chang Xiaoqiu watched from afar, and seeing that His Royal Highness Xiao Wang could match Zhao Xiang’s qinggong by seventy or eighty percent, he admired him even more and hurriedly followed.

At the highest peak of White Crown, a flower platform had been set up. The cold winter wind had frozen the petals transparent, and the saint was sitting on the stage in white robes, half of her face covered with a veil, and only her eyes exposed. She folded her hands in front of her, and her ten fingers were slender, her whole body as clear and beautiful as the flower bed. Her hair was black like clouds, and there were a few exquisite silver butterflies attached to it, their winds flapping slightly.

One disciple couldn’t help but take a second look.

“Bold!” The maid to the side scolded. Only then did the man come to his senses. A layer of cold sweat broke out on his back, and he quickly knelt on the ground to plead guilty, but someone had already stepped forward to drag him down. A tearing cry for help pierced through the air. Liu Xian’an looked sideways, and saw that the disciple was actually lifted up and thrown down the mountain alive.

Everyone at the scene turned a blind eye toward this, as if it was a mosquito or an ant that had died just now. Liu Xian’an glanced at the saint sitting on the flower platform again. She was about the same age as A-Yuan, but her whole person was ice cold, as if she had a pair of beautiful glass beads in her eye sockets, which could only rotate emotionlessly.

He lowered his gaze, but Wumeng Yunle also looked his way at the same time.

After checking the list that day, the maid said that the two men she had seen in the teahouse were not there, and asked: “The two of them were not good looking, why does the Miss want to investigate them?”

Wumeng Yunle didn’t know why she wanted to investigate them, and couldn’t just say that it was because they looked good from the back. In addition, she had sneaked out to the teahouse, which was a violation of religious decree. She must be punished if the Master found out, so she asked the maids not to mention this matter, and reluctantly moved on.

But now, she felt that the two people in front of her and the two people at the teahouse seemed to have some subtle overlaps. She couldn’t say where they looked alike, and couldn’t tell where they didn’t look alike. 

“Holy Maiden.” Seeing her lose her bearing, Master Yang had to cough and remind her.

Wumeng Yunle turned her gaze back, but was still internally mystified. She planned to remember the identities of these two and ask her brother later. The worship meeting was about to begin, and as always, Master Yang would say a lot of blatant nonsense about bringing glory to the world. All of the believers stood there and listened. There was a couple among them, and the husband was worried that the wife would be cold, so he kept holding her hand. The two of them were intimate and affectionate. Wumeng Yunle was looking at them, as well as Song Changsheng, but their attitudes were different. One was innocently envious of a girl, and the other was unspeakably mournful.

Because the teachings of the Baifu Sect were so long, obscure, boring, and nonsensical, the whole spiel nothing but oblations, Liu Xian’an could almost push out the next ten paragraphs after listening to just one. He began to feel sleepy, so sleepy that his eyes drooped.

Chang Xiaoqiu stood by his side. He could clearly see this, and was anxious, but didn’t dare warn him. He feared that if he woke him up, there would be a bigger commotion if the other party asked him about it in a daze, so he could only ask for help and gently clear his throat, trying to attract Liang Shu’s attention. When Liang Shu heard the sound, he glanced back, but wasn’t angry. He just took a step back and gently tugged this person to lie against his back so that he could sleep more comfortably.

“……..”

Young Head Escort Chang: I really don’t understand.

Liu Xian’an wasn’t completely asleep yet. He was still explaining to his friends in the Three Thousand Worlds, I have something to do today, so I don’t have time to talk. You fellows go back first.

The sages asked, if you have no time, then why did you come?

Liu Xian’an replied, I didn’t want to come either. I just closed my eyes a little bit, but the prince let me sleep on his back for a while.

It would be disrespectful to decline, you know?

---

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Chapter Seventy-Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy-Nine

Yan Mingting had already taken the initiative to remove his clothes. He lay down and said: “I’m ready, come on.”

Zhao Yelan looked at his tall, strong body in disbelief: “Me?”

“En, you used to like to be on top, ah.” Yan Mingting asked, “Could it be that you want to change positions this time?”

“I didn’t expect that you would have such beautiful dreams,” Zhao Yelan said speechlessly. Then he patted his leg. “Get up quickly and follow me to Nanjiang for treatment.”

“Won’t go. Why do you spoil the fun every time.” Yan Mingting turned over in a fit of anger, then found that his back was facing the other party and immediately turned back, aggrieved. “You always tell me to live a good life, but you just want to abandon me again. My flesh and blood are gone, and now even you’re gone. How can you tell me to live a good life?”

Zhao Yelan clenched his fingers tightly.

“I tried to live, but it was so difficult. There are traces of you everywhere in the house. As long as I drink, I can see you, but when I’m sober, it hurts. Even if I didn’t get poisoned this time, I wouldn’t listen to you anymore. I’ll tell you a secret, in fact,  I even prepared arsenic before I set off. I was just going to wait until I got my revenge and had nothing left to worry about, and then go see you with peace of mind after returning to Beijing to deal with the funeral.” Yan Mingting sat up and slowly hugged him. “You wait for me to come back.”

Zhao Yelan pinched his thigh fiercely.

“Hiss—” Yan Mingting rubbed his leg with a grimace. “This dream is so real, I actually felt pain.”

“It’s not a dream. I’ve already said it’s not a dream.” Zhao Yelan pinched his face again. “You take a good look at me. The one in front of you is a living person.”

Yan Mingting felt the pain, but couldn’t distinguish between dreams and reality. He looked at him blankly, and caught a glimpse of the mask beside the bed from the corner of his eye.

With trembling hands, he picked it up and put it in front of Zhao Yelan, then moved it away. His eyes darkened: “You’re Little Face?”

“I am.” Zhao Yelan paused, and was about to speak more, but the other party suddenly threw the mask away.

“How did you catch up? Are you imitating him again? How do you know what he looks like? Aren’t you mute? How can you still talk?”

Zhao Yelan went to pick up the mask and said: “Little Face is me, and Zhao Yelan is also me.”

Yan Mingting felt a burst of pain. He gripped his head with a splitting headache, and asked with an expression of pain: “Where is this place?”

Zhao Yelan couldn’t tell whether it was a symptom of the poison or whether he was wandering between reality and dreams, so he hurriedly stepped forward to hug him, patting his back and comforting him: “Fangli, Yan Fangli, listen to me when I say I’m not dead. I just took a drug to fake my death, and then someone sent me out. The person in the cemetery was just a substitute. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kept it from you. I shouldn’t have found out so late that I actually fell in love with you a long time ago.”

The person in his arms seemed to be less resistant to his words and embrace, so he continued: “Occasionally when you were sleeping, you would turn over and hit me with your hand, and I would pull your hair in retaliation. You don’t make a lot of noise when you eat, I just deliberately wanted to punish you, so I scolded you for eating like a pig. You have such a good, healthy physique, and I envy you for it, but I really hate horse stance even though I want to learn horseback riding and archery.”

Yan Mingting slowly raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked at him in disbelief.

Zhao Yelan stared into the other’s eyes and said: For your birthday, I bought you a total of twelve bunches of tanghulu, and I also bought you new clothes. I knew you didn’t need anything, and I didn’t know what gifts to get you, so I gave you all the gifts I received when I was young. I also gave you a painting, which was the portrait you had been pestering me about for a long time. It shows you riding a strong horse and holding a bow while shooting an arrow. It is the most beautiful and enviable appearance I could imagine.”

Something came to mind, and Zhao Yelan opened his bag. He took another painting out from it and handed it to him: “Actually, I made another painting at that time, and I always carry it with me.”

Yan Mingting opened the scroll with trembling hands. The person in the painting stood outside the gate of the General’s Mansion, turning his head and waving.

This was the last time the two of them saw each other, and it was also the scene that Yan Mingting couldn’t bear to recall the most.

The drawing paper was a bit wrinkled, and had presumably been opened countless times.

Teardrops fell on it, soaking the paper. He slowly raised his hand and caressed the other’s cheek in disbelief: “It’s really you?”

“It’s me.”

As soon as the words were spoken, Zhao Yelan was dragged onto the bed with irresistible force. His head hit the pillow, and as soon as he raised it, overwhelming kisses fell upon his face. Out of control, he kissed his cheeks and lips wantonly and forcefully.

Zhao Yelan pressed the other’s chest with his hands, trying to find a comfortable position, but his wrists were captured by the other party and pressed over his head.

“Are you trying to escape?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan shook his head, then raised his chin and kissed him proactively.

Yan Mingting’s reasoning almost broke in that instant. His mind was in chaos, and he didn’t want to distinguish between dreams and reality. All he knew was that he must catch the person in front of. Whether it was a dream or reality, he didn’t want to be alone when he opened his eyes again. The pain caused by waking up had almost driven him insane.

Zhao Yelan was about to be tormented to the point of madness. This was a post station room. There were not only soldiers outside, but also guests. He bit his lip tightly, raised his chin, and dared not make a sound.

“Why don’t you call my name?” Yan Mingting forcefully compelled him to speak out. “Didn’t you say you’re real? Then call me and prove it.”

Zhao Yelan couldn’t resist anymore, and let out a rough sob.

Yan Mingting embraced him for a long time, running his fingers over every inch of skin. Then he raised his head and stared at his flushed face and tear-stained eyes for a long moment: “Is it really you?”

“It’s really me,” Zhao Yelan said hoarsely.

Yan Mingting seemed unable to believe it, and moved again, urging him to call out his name.

“F-Fangli!” Zhao Yelan called his name intermittently. He noticed that the other’s cheeks were wet, and raised his hand to wipe the other’s face.

“Are you real?” Yan Mingting asked.

“I’m real.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Zhao Mengting, not Zhao Yelan anymore.”

“Mengting, Mengting, don’t leave, okay? What can I do to make you stay? Mengting…..”

As night fell outside, the room gradually quieted down. Zhao Yelan lay weakly on his side, Yan Mingting still trying to identify him by his ribs.

Zhao Yelan said: “You didn’t know what my ribs looked like before, so how can you identify them now?”

“I can do it.” Yan Mingting touched his left ribs over his heart and said, “There’s a heartbeat here.”

The corners of Zhao Yelan’s mouth twitched, and he said in a low voice: “Keep this matter secret. Can you promise me not to spread it?”

Yan Mingting looked up at him for a moment, and was about to speak, when his head suddenly hurt again. His limbs began to feel weak, and he pressed his head in pain.

“What’s the matter? Is it the poison again?” Zhao Yelan heard the doctor say that this kind of poison surged up intermittently. He sat up at once. “I’ll go to the doctor.”

“No, don’t go!” Yan Mingting grabbed his hand. “You’re not allowed to leave. If you leave, you’ll be gone!”

“I’ll be back, I’m just going to get a doctor.”

“You can’t, you always say that before you leave!” Yan Mingting rolled in pain on the bed, but still refused to let go of his hand.

Zhao Yelan knew that this person thought he was a figment of his dreams again, so he lay back down and hugged him, saying: “Okay, I won’t leave. It’s getting late, let’s go to sleep early.”

“I can’t sleep, you’ll leave if I sleep,” Yan Mingting said with an expression of pain.

“I won’t. I’ll stay with you.”

Zhao Yelan comforted him for a long time before he fell asleep in pain.

Glancing at him worriedly, Zhao Yelan got up and picked up the clothes that had fallen on the floor. The sleeves were torn, so he could only bravely put on his mask and awkwardly open the door.

The guard at the door gave him an awkward look.

The commotion the two of them had made just now was not small, and Zhao Yelan couldn’t help feeling embarrassed at this moment. Fortunately, there was a mask to cover him. He ordered: “Go find some doctors, and find out if there are any Nanjiang witch doctors around here.”

The guard nodded, and before leaving, he couldn’t help but say: “I heard from another brother that you are very similar to the deceased Zhao-daren, and that is why the General made you work so hard to make this trip. In the future, I would like to ask you to help take care of the General. You are perhaps the only one who can persuade him to seek medical treatment.”

Zhao Yelan nodded: “Go.”

“Wait, there’s one more thing. Didn’t my brother say you were mute?”

“I was poisoned by an enemy, and my throat was ruined. I’m cured now,” Zhao Yelong bluffed.

“Okay, I’ll go get the doctor now!”

Zhao Yelan returned to the room. He picked up a wet handkerchief to wipe the marks left on his body, and couldn’t help muttering, “He’s still so capable after being poisoned.”

He lay down again and held the other’s hand, but couldn’t fall back to sleep. Then the doctor came and prescribed several medicines for Yan Mingting to relieve the pain, but the poison still couldn’t be cured.

After Zhao Yelan fed him the medicine, he went to discuss with the guards and said that he should be taken back to Nanjiang to find a local witch doctor. But they all lacked backbones, and didn’t dare to make up their own minds. They were afraid that Yan Mingting would wake up halfway and run back to the capital again.

“He won’t. I’ll find a way to convince him. You go arrange a carriage first. One team will be enough, and the rest will return to Beijing as usual,” Zhao Yelan said.

When the others heard this, they also felt that they could give it a try. Perhaps the General really regarded this man as Zhao-daren and would be willing to listen to him?

When everyone split up, a doctor suddenly asked to see him at the post station, saying that he heard General Yan had been poisoned at the southern border, and he had come here to treat him.

Zhao Yelan went out to take a look. He felt that this person looked familiar, but couldn’t remember who he was for the moment. However, his eyes landed on another person, who was dressed in the clothing of the Nanjiang people.

Although he had a bit of hope, Zhao Yelan still remained vigilant and said: “Who are you? Why did you come here of your own initiative?”

“I spent thirty years in the Imperial hospital before resigning,” said the leader. “A while ago, the General’s people found me and said he had been looking for me. When I inquired, General Yan happened to be nearby, so I rushed over only to find that he was poisoned.”

Zhao Yelan finally remembered where this sense of familiarity came from. In order to find the murderer who poisoned his father, Yan Mingting did indeed send someone to find the former Imperial Hospital Envoy. He said rejoicefully: “Wonderful, come inside, please.”

“This is a witch doctor I met in Nanjiang. We often exchange medical skills together. He will need to see him as well, do you mind?”

The soldiers were a little uncertain, and looked toward Zhao Yelan one after another, but Zhao Yelan had already brought him inside: “Please do your best. If you can detoxify him, I will reward you with one thousand pieces of gold.”

“No need, I just don’t want to see the General sacrifice his life for no reason.” The court envoy drove everyone else out of the room, leaving only a few helpers behind.

Zhao Yelan was watching from the side as the two doctors checked Yan Mingting’s physical condition. Unexpectedly, when the two took off his clothes, mottled and ambiguous marks appeared on his chest.

Zhao Yelan choked for breath: “……..”

Several guards immediately lowered their heads, and the two doctors subconsciously looked at Zhao Yelan.

Zhao Yelan really wanted to flee, but he couldn’t leave, so he could only lower his eyes stiffly, thankful that he still had the mask on him. Otherwise, he would have found a tree and hanged himself.

Fortunately, the two doctors were used to seeing extraordinary things, and didn’t make any remarks.

After confirming it, the witch doctor said that he could be treated, but the poison must be drained.

Zhao Yelan agreed straightaway. Just as long as he could be cured. However, when he saw the doctor cut Yan Mingting’s wrist open and blood flowed out like pillars, he couldn’t help but feel an ache in his heart.

He walked to the bed and held Yan Mingting’s other hand.

Time seemed to stretch. The doctors applied medicine to the wound, bandaged it, and said that they would return in three hours to continue detoxification. Zhao Yelan was so frightened that his face paled. However, what the envoy said next made his face turn red again.

“He may wake up a while later, but remember, don’t indulge in sex, so as not to let the toxins spread too fast through the body.”

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

After everyone departed, he stretched out his hand to straighten Yan Mingting’s sweaty hair.

After a while, a guard delivered porridge to the door. Yan Mingting needed to eat something during this time.

Zhao Yelan got up to take it, and just as soon as he closed the door, he heard a frantic voice: “Mengting!”

Zhao Yelan looked over immediately and saw Yan Mingting sitting up in bed and looked around in a panic. When he saw his figure, he called out again doubtfully: “Mengting?”

“I’m here.” Zhao Yelan stepped forward. “Are you hungry?”

Yan Mingting looked at him without saying a word.

“Come on, eat something first.” Zhao Yelan picked up the bowl, scooped up a spoonful, and fed it to his mouth. “Open up.”

Yan Mingting slowly opened his mouth like a marionette, doing whatever he was asked to do.

“Swallow it, ah.”

Yan Mingting didn’t even chew it, but swallowed it with a gulp.

“…….” Zhao Yelan fed him another spoonful and ordered, “You eat well for me.”

Yan Mingting was taken aback by this long-lost tone. He slowly reached out and carefully touched his cheek: “You’re real?”

“En, I’m real,” Zhao Yelan answered him patiently. Then he grabbed his hand and bit his finger. “Does it hurt?”

“It hurts.” Yan Mingting raised the other hand and looked at the bandages, asking in confusion: “What is this?”

Zhao Yelan explained: “This is from the doctor treating you. You’ll recover soon.”

“I don’t want treatment,” Yan Mingting said with a forlorn expression. “It’s good now, I can see you every time I wake up.”

“Yan Mingting, if you keep doing this, I will get angry,” Zhao Yelan said sternly. “When you are cured, you will be able to see me every day.”

“You’re lying to me again.”

“If I’m lying to you, I’m a dog.”

Yan Mingting glanced at him: “You’re a dog to begin with.”

“What did you say?” Zhao Yelan glared at him.

Yan Mingting was stunned, carefully sizing up his expression. It was so vivid. He hadn’t seen Zhao Yelan like this in a long time.

In countless dreams, Zhao Yelan had an obedient character in order to cater to his dreams, and he gradually became distant from Zhao Yelan himself.

But now, he seemed to see the angry Zhao Yelan appear in front of him so vividly.

Yan Mingting suddenly reached out and hugged him into his arms, not letting go for a long time.

“Do you feel like your chest is hot?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“Yes, could it be because my heart has begun to come alive again?” Yan Mingting asked.

“It is because you spilled porridge on yourself.”

“…….”

The treatment lasted for three days. The poison needed to be cleared every three hours, but every time afterwards, Yan Mingting remained awake, holding Zhao Yelan tightly with one hand for fear that he would no longer be by his side when he woke up.

The guards outside couldn’t help muttering, wondering if they should tell the General that this person was just a substitute he brought back from Nanjiang.

One of them was a guard who sent Little Face home before. He said: “I think it’s good this way. Before, I saw that Brother Little Face has a sincere affection for the General, and now he has actually saved the General’s life. It doesn’t make sense to make the General drive him away as soon as he recovered, ah. And you see the way the General clings to him now and can’t take his eyes off him.”

“Brother Little Face really loves the General a lot. The General gave him a Xuan Dynasty name, with the given name Mengting and the surname Zhao, ah. He’s not afraid of braving hardships, very respectable and admirable.”

Zhao Yelan stood upstairs listening to their conversation, and couldn’t help being amused. Only Zhao Xuan, Gu Niaoniao, and Yan Mingting knew the name Zhao Mengting, so these people ventured that it was Yan Mingting’s new name for him.

His mind took a turn, and he suddenly had an idea. If he wanted to do his best after making a mistake, he would let the world think that he was Zhao Mengting, who sacrificed himself for love.

Three days later, the treatment finally entered the final stage. Yan Mingting was lying in bed with a pale face. The doctor said he was at his weakest now, and the next thing was to see if he would wake up.

Zhao Yelan’s heart felt like it was suspended again, and he stayed by the bed day and night. He was unable to sleep late one night when he suddenly heard Yan Mingting shout in fright as he raised his hand: “Mengting, don’t go!”

“I’m not leaving.” Zhao Yelan held his hand and waited for a long time, but he didn’t wake up.

The next day, he heard him talking in his sleep again, but he couldn’t hear his babbling clearly. He lay down with his ear next to him and listened for a long time before he realized that his name was being called over and over again.

A few days later, there was still no sign of him waking up. Zhao Yelan was becoming increasingly worried, and the doctor said that he could whisper something in his ear to make him subconsciously want to wake up.

Zhao Yelan sat at the bedside alone and said: “Yan Fangli, I still have a lot of things I want to do. In the past six months, I’ve traveled around and seen many interesting things and scenery, but every time, I think about how I’m the only one there to appreciate such things. It’s really a pity. Can you go with me in the future?”

“I’m sorry, I underestimated your feelings too much. I thought that time could erase everything, but all that time gave us was regret. I shouldn’t have deceived you, nor should I have suppressed my emotions. If only I could have seen my heart clearly earlier.”

“Yan Fangli, I love you.”

Yan Mingting moved his fingers.

Seeing this, Zhao Yelan looked at him with joy: “Fangli, Fangli?”

However, there was no response from the other party. He was anxious to find the doctor, but just as he got up, he heard a weak voice. Although he couldn’t hear it clearly, it was indeed from Yan Mingting.

“What did you say?” Zhao Yelan immediately leaned closer to his ear, and heard him say weakly, “Say it again.”

“What did you say? Zhao Yelan repeated.

“You…..say that again.”

“I love you?”

“En.” Yan Mingting nodded his head with difficulty, without opening his eyes, and fell unconscious again.

Not long after, a guard knocked on the door. He delivered food to Zhao Yelan and told him to pay more attention to his body.

“Understood, thank you.” Zhao Yelan took the food and closed the door, and was suddenly taken aback by the person on the bed.

Yan Mingting had sat up silently. His face under the moonlight was extremely pale, and he stared at him with burning eyes as he said hoarsely: “Which man are you talking to?”

“A guard.” Zhao Yelan quickly put down the food, ran to the bed, and hugged him. “You finally woke up.”

Yan Mingting hugged him back and felt his heartbeat, then reconfirmed: “You’re really my Zhao Mengting?”

“Yes, I am your Zhao Mengting.”

Once Yan Mingting woke up, on the one hand, he needed to replenish his body and blood, but on the other hand, he couldn’t do so without someone’s help, specifically Zhao Yelan’s.

Whenever Zhao Yelan left his line of sight, he would immediately stop everything he was doing and look for Zhao Yelan’s figure without hesitating. After he overturned the dinner table four or five times in succession, Zhao Yelan no longer dared to make up false excuses for the guards. Thus, he could only stay by his side obediently and never leave, facing others with a mask during the day and seeing Yan Mingting with his true face at night.

But there was one problem. Yan Mingting would easily go mad when he saw his true face, and he had to remind the other party: “The doctor said you must abstain from sex.”

Yan Mingting was so angry that he beat his chest and stomped his feet.

It took about a month for Yan Mingting to regain about half of his original body strength, but fortunately, he had accepted that Zhao Yelan was indeed alive.

Recently, Zhao Yelan lived and ate with him every day, but when he woke up in the morning, the other party would always stare at him silently and say: “Is it you?”

Then Zhao Yelan would kiss him and tell him patiently: “It’s me, I’m Zhao Mengting.”

The army was about to arrive at the capital, so Zhao Yelan bid goodbye to them for the time being and waited for Yan Mingting at the post station outside the city.

Yan Mingting had originally refused to let him leave his side, and even wanted to follow him and take a fake death pill, not giving up until he heard that there wasn’t any more. So Zhao Yelan promised him one hundred and eighty times that he would wait for him outside the city.

After he returned to Beijing to deal with the follow-up matters, he would go on a tour of the mountains and rivers with him.

In fact, both of them were gambling. Zhao Yelan was betting on whether he would be bound by worldly affairs, and Yan Mingting was betting on whether he would leave without saying a word. 

But Yan Mingting had made preparations this time. The post house was surrounded by his secret informants, and Zhao Yelan couldn’t fly away even if given wings.

A few days later, a major incident occurred in Beijing. General Yan actually voluntarily relinquished his military power, retired, and went home.

After further inquiry, it turned out that General Yan, who was like a walking corpse a while ago, had actually found a man who looked very similar to Zhao Yelan in Nanjiang, and they were going to travel the rivers and mountains together.

At the beginning, no one was optimistic about it, and were quite critical of this matter. But many years later, all the news anyone heard was of General Yan and the man named Zhao Mengting’s adventures. A storyteller even wrote a storybook about it, which was very popular.

Zhao Xuan died half a year after Yan Mingting left Beijing.

When he heard the news, Zhao Yelan was planting flowers with Yan Mingting in Nanjiang. When the two returned to the small courtyard at that time, Yan Mingting teased him for pretending to be mute, but Zhao Yelan said: “Didn’t you tell me not to smile?”

Yan Mingting’s expression changed: “You always remember this. Who told you to deliberately imitate yourself?”

“Heh.”

“It’s true that you rarely smiled at me before,” Yan Mingting muttered.

Zhao Yelan smiled, and Yan Mingting also looked at him and smiled. Then they heard the news of Zhao Xuan’s death.

He was someone who had some friendship with him, after all, so Zhao Yelan burned three sticks of incense for him that night.

A few days later, Zhao Yelan said: “Now that Zhao Xuan has passed away, there is one less person in the world who knows who Zhao Mengting is. Why don’t we go tour other places first, and after a few years, we can go to places in the Xuan Dynasty.”

“Okay, ah, where do you want to go?”

“Jiangnan. When I passed by last time, I thought Jiangnan was very suitable for sightseeing.”

“We can do that. I will go wherever you want to go, as long as you don’t leave me alone.”

Zhao Yelan raised his head and kissed him: “That won’t happen again.”

Yan Mingting kissed him back, and the two rolled in the flowers, covered in petals and leaves.

In the evening, the two marched toward dusk and stepped in each other’s shadows.

Yan Mingting asked: “Why do I feel that you’re so happy when you talk about going to Jiangnan?”

“The main reason is that there is a lot of delicious food and many inns. You know this well.”

“I know, it’s very luxurious. It’s fine for you to plant flowers and dig in the ground for a day or two, but it would be difficult for a year or two,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan chuckled: “Right.”

“Then what are we waiting for? There’s no time like the present. We’ll set off tonight.” Yan Mingting tossed the hoe away. “Let’s go and live a good life. I’ve seen you touching the silver in the middle of the night more frequently than you touch me.”

Zhao Yelan laughed loudly and said: “Can we go to Jiangnan on horseback?”

“We can, what kind of horse do you want to ride?”

Zhao Yelan took a look at him, and suddenly placed his hands on the other’s back. Yan Mingting skillfully lifted him up.

“The moon is out.” Zhao Yelan looked up at the sky.

“Yes, ah.” Yan Mingting paused, then asked with a smile, “Do you hear what the moon is saying?”

“Ah? What is it saying?” Zhao Yelan asked curiously.

“It’s saying, Mengting, I love you.”

Zhao Yelan smiled and leaned on his shoulder, saying: “I also love the moon very, very much. I love him more than the moon can even imagine.”

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Extra 12: Faking Death (5) <<Table of Contents

After he said that, Zhao Yelan ignored him all night and went back to his room after dinner.

Yan Mingting knew that he had hurt his self-esteem, and gradually returned to his sanity. In the past few days, he hadn’t drank as much as before, and had become more sober.

He lingered outside the door for a long time, thinking about how to apologize. The door opened at this moment, the person inside about to come out. The two looked at each other.

After a moment, Yan Mingting spoke first: “Where are you going?”

Zhao Yelan glanced at him, holding a pack on his shoulders. Just as he brushed past, Yan Mingting suddenly grabbed his arm.

“You want to leave?” Yan Mingting frowned. “That won’t work, the army will arrive in Nanjiang tomorrow. The southern border will be in chaos, and a person with no strength could easily encounter danger.”

Zhao Yelan pursed his lower lip.

“You go back and rest first, and when the southern border is stable, I’ll have someone send you back in person, okay?”

Zhao Yelan lowered his head and didn’t answer.

Seeing this, Yan Mingting pulled him back and said: “I made a slip of the tongue just now, and there will not be a next time. But this is a matter of life and death, so you must listen to me. We are also friends, and I won’t harm you.” Yan Mingting said, “Otherwise, I will send someone to guard you day and night. Are you willing?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head violently.

“Then promise me you’ll stay here these days?”

Zhao Yelan nodded, then gestured a few more times.

Yan Mingting guessed: “Are you asking when I’m leaving?”

Zhao Yelan nodded.

“I will set off early tomorrow morning. It may be as short as a few days, or an unknown amount of time longer. But don’t worry, if I don’t come back for a long time, someone will send you back,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan frowned. He wanted to know what he meant by not coming back for a long time, but Yan Mingting couldn’t guess what he meant. He only told him to take good care of himself, then turned and left the room.

Zhao Yelan was inexplicably flustered. Yan Mingting’s tone of voice was normal just now, but he couldn’t help feeling like something was wrong.

At this time, there was some movement outside the inn. He opened the window and saw Yan Mingting riding a horse, leading a group of people and horses to disappear down the road without looking back.

Didn’t he say he was leaving tomorrow?

This liar!

Zhao Yelan hurried downstairs, trying to catch up, but was stopped by the guards at the door.

“Young Master, the General has ordered that you are not to go out. We will protect your safety,” a guard said.

Zhao Yelan pointed angrily in a distant direction. There must be something wrong with Yan Mingting, otherwise, why would he lie to him?

“I’m sorry, I’ll have to offend him.” Seeing that he wouldn’t listen, the guard knocked him unconscious and took him back to his room.

When he woke up again, it was already noon. Zhao Yelan went downstairs to stare angrily at the guard.

The other party smiled at him and said: “I know that you are also worried about the General, but if I didn’t knock you out, you may have affected the General’s plans. But don’t worry, he is the most powerful god of war in our Xuan Dynasty. Even the strong Mongolian army fears him, and the southern border is nothing to worry about. The army has already joined him, and there will be good news in a few days.”

Zhao Yelan couldn’t eat for several days, and sat in the lobby to wait for news. The guards received very little information, and most of it came from the mouths of transient commoners who came and went. 

People said that Yan Mingting had led the army into Nanjiang to rescue the old king, and joined forces with the Second Prince to attack the Third Prince and Eighth Princess. Nanjiang was already in chaos.

Some Nanjiang refugees fled to the Xuan Dynasty and insulted Yan Mingting at the inn for meddling in the internal affairs of Nanjiang. They were poisoned by Zhao Yelan that night and lay paralyzed in bed for a few days before recovering.

One night more than ten days later, Zhao Yelan was arranging herbs. The poison on his face had nearly recovered, and he felt relieved after taking the mask off.

And after he slowly put on the mask again, he reached out to hold a teacup, but it suddenly fell to the ground and shattered into pieces. He crouched down to pick up the pieces, but accidentally pricked his finger.

He looked at the red droplets of blood overflowing from his fingertip, and felt uneasy again for no reason.

He didn’t know how Yan Mingting was doing.

A few days later, he received news from the guards that Yan Mingting was about to return to the Imperial court. He breathed a sigh of relief at last, and packed his luggage together with the guards.

In the end, he found that the guards were not sending him to see Yan Mingting, but were bringing him to Nanjiang again.

He quickly grabbed a guard’s sleeve and pointed at the city gate, waving his hand and gesturing. “You don’t want to go home, but you want to see the General?” the guard asked.

Zhao Yelan nodded.

“That won’t work, ah. Before the General left, he only said that we should send you home once everything had settled down, and didn’t say that he wanted to see you. And he has already led the army back to the Xuan Dynasty, so you won’t be able to see him.”

Zhao Yelan was stunned, and couldn’t react for a while. The other party had simply left.

He returned to the house in Nanjiang again, and the guards also departed.

“Why did you come back alone? I thought you would bring that man back,” the cousin joked when he came out.

Zhao Yelan put down his luggage expressionlessly, and was suddenly at a loss for what to do.

Now that Yan Mingting had gone back, his identity would not be easily discovered, and he could think about where to go next. But he was completely uninterested, standing in the courtyard like a desolate dead tree.

The cousin asked while cleaning, “I only found out in the past few days that the person who took you away was the General of the Xuan Dynasty. You and him have known each other for a long time, right? Are you from the Xuan Dynasty?”

Zhao Yelan turned a deaf ear to him.

“A few days ago, he beheaded the Eighth Princess with his own hands, and I heard from the neighbors that he was smiling when he came out,” said the cousin.

Zhao Yelan thought to himself: He took revenge with his own hands, why should he not smile?

“He’s been poisoned, but he was still smiling. It’s unbelievable,” said the cousin.

“Poisoned? What kind of poison?!” Zhao Yelan looked at him fiercely.

“Don’t you know?” The cousin frowned. “The Eighth Princess was a master of poison. She poisoned him before she died. The king saw signs of the poisoning and wanted to find a witch doctor for him, but he refused and left with his army. If he doesn’t get treatment, he probably won’t live half a year. I don’t know what he’s thinking, he really doesn’t care about his life.”

Zhao Yelan felt that his whole body was drained of strength, and trembled as he grabbed the other’s collar: “Are you telling the truth?”

“It’s absolutely true. Many people in Nanjiang know about this. If you don’t believe me, go and find out for yourself.”

Zhao Yelan turned around and went into the room. He picked up his luggage and ran out the door, hired a carriage, and rushed off in the direction of the Xuan Dynasty.

If he was returning with the army, he should have taken the official road. He chased along this route for several days, but was entirely unable to catch up with the speed of the army.

At this time, the coachman told him that he could take a different trail, but the terrain was a bit rough.

Zhao Yelan resolutely chose the trail. The carriage shook for a long time, and then they reached a mountain.

“This carriage can’t go up the next mountain. You can climb over yourself, and hire a new carriage when you get to the town over there,” the coachman said.

Zhao Yelan began to climb the mountain with his pack on his back, but the things on his shoulders became heavier and heavier. He opened the pack and threw all the gold, silver, and jewelry onto the mountain, and discarded some other heavy objects before starting on his way again. Finally, at dawn, he found a new carriage and lay down inside it to catch up on sleep.

After constantly taking shortcuts like this, he finally caught up with the army on the eleventh day.

At this time, he was already at the Nanjiang border. He went to the post station to inquire about the speed of the army, and the post worker said that it would take half a day for them to arrive.

Only then did he support himself on a table and sit down tremblingly to order a pot of tea. He drank half the pot in one breath, then rubbed his sore and swollen legs.

In the evening, there was the sound of horseshoes outside, their speed very fast. As soon as Zhao Yelan heard the sound, he ran to the door and saw the momentum of thousands of troops and horses from a distance. But Yan Mingting was not in the lead.

Just when he was pondering, the person at the front tightened the reins and shouted to the people at the post station: “Go and find some doctors!”

Zhao Yelan’s heart skipped a beat. He held onto the door with one hand, his fingers tightly gripping the edge. Then he saw a carriage pull up from behind, and several people carried the unconscious Yan Mingting out.

When he passed by, Zhao Yelan subconsciously reached out to hold his hand, but was pushed away by the soldiers.

Yan Mingting was sent to a guest room on the second floor, and not long after, several doctors hurried over.

Zhao Yelan couldn’t even squeeze through the door. Soldiers were standing outside the room, all of their faces full of worry.

“The General is awake!” Someone called from inside.

Zhao Yelan raised his head, but was blocked by the people in front, and couldn’t see at all. Only Yan Mingting’s casual voice could be heard: “Why are there so many people around, all of you go away. The doctor said this poison can’t be cured, so can you just let me sleep for a while?”

The people inside tried to persuade him to seek medical treatment, but Yan Mingting acted extremely stubborn: “The doctor said there is no way. There is nothing to be done. Go out and let me sleep for a while.”

In the end, these people were all driven out by Yan Mingting, and when the door was closed, he lay down in the room and slept soundly.

After all the people around had dispersed, Zhao Yelan walked to the door. He tried to push the door open and go in, but was stopped by someone: “Who are you?”

“I’m his friend. I can persuade him.” The guard looked at him dubiously.

“His given name is Fangli. When he was at the border, he liked to eat tanghulu. After returning to Beijing, he often goes to the training grounds. His birthday is the thirteenth of the sixth month.”

After a moment, the guard finally let him in.

He locked the door and went straight to the bed. The person laying there was still sleeping, and his brow was furrowed.

Yan Mingting used to say that Zhao Yelan frowned in his sleep, but now he was like this.

He sat down on the bed and took his hand.

The other party didn’t respond, so he squeezed a little tighter: “Yan Fangli, wake up.”

The person on the bed moved his fingers slightly, and slowly opened his eyes. When he saw him, he didn’t reveal an overjoyed expression, but looked as if he had known he would come. The corners of his mouth hooked up, and he said in a warm voice: “Mengting, it’s so good to see you again.”

Zhao Yelan’s nose was sore: “When have you seen me?”

“I see you every day, when I’m drunk and when I’m dreaming.”

Zhao Yelan choked up. Controlling his voice, he said slowly: “That’s not the real me.”

“It’s you.”

“This right now is the real me.”

“Of course I know you’re real. Every time you appear, you’re real.” Yan Mingting said so, but didn’t dare to reach out and touch him, lest this dream be shattered again.

“Mengting, I will come to see you soon.” Yan Mingting smiled. “It’s not that I was disobedient and voluntarily gave up my life. It’s because they were too vicious and insisted on my death.”

“When you went to Nanjian for disaster relief and to get revenge, you didn’t even intend to come back alive, did you?”

Zhao Yelan lowered his head, lines of tears hanging from the corners of his eyes.

Seeing this, Yan Mingting immediately sat up and reached out to wipe his tears. When he touched the other’s skin, he stopped abruptly and stared at him for fear that he would disappear. But not only did the other person not disappear, he even raised his wet eyes to look at him.

“Yan Mingting, follow me back to Nanjiang for treatment,” Zhao Yelan said.

“I won’t go,” Yan Mingting said. “I must go back to the capital and burn incense for my parents, and tell them that our grievance has finally been avenged. Then I must prepare my tomb. I will be buried in a double coffin with you, and we can sleep together every day in the future.”

“Yan Mingting!” Zhou Yelan shouted sharply. “I’m not dead and neither are you!”

“It’s not easy for me to get to see you once, don’t say that you’re not dead. Come and see what I brought you from Nanjiang.” Yan Mingting felt in his robes, then took out an oddly-shaped hairpin. This was given to me by the king of Nanjiang. He said it is a priceless item. I thought it was very suitable for you at first glance, so I accepted it. Take a look, do you like it? If you like it, can you stay a little longer?”

“Yan Fangli, I’m really not dead.” Zhao Yelan held his face with both hands, and his lips were covered in tears when he bit him. There was a rusty taste in his mouth, and the tears were mixed with blood. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have deceived you.”

Yan Mingting couldn’t regain his senses for a long time. When the other party let go of him, he didn’t speak, but just licked his lower lip and looked at him without saying a word.

“Do you still not believe that I’m real? Would the me in your dreams do such a thing to you?” Zhao Yelan asked.

“Yes, ah.” Yan Mingting smiled shyly. “You’ve done it several times even more intimately, and then you would take off my clothes.”

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

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Extra 11: Faking Death (4) <<Table of Contents >> Extra 13: Faking Death (6)

Early the next morning, Zhao Yelan went downstairs to have breakfast. As soon as he walked out of the room, he saw Yan Mingting sitting in the lobby.

Zhao Yelan paused lightly, then went downstairs with his head lowered and specially picked a table with his back facing the other person.

The two of them sat just a few tables away, eating breakfast quietly without disturbing each other, but Zhao Yelan knew that Yan Mingting was staring at his back again.

When they were about to finish eating, soldiers came from outside to report to Yan Mingting about the situation of the Nanjiang royal family. The old Nanjiang king had been imprisoned by the Eighth Princess, and today was the day the Third Prince ascended the throne.

“Let’s go see the Second Prince first.” Yan Mingting got up and was about to leave, but when he walked to the door, he looked back at the person in the corner, pondering for a moment before he urged: “Little Face, I’m going out for a while, so don’t run around the inn.”

Once he left, Zhao Yelan walked to the gate, staring at the empty road in a daze. Then he returned to the room to rest for a while, packed his luggage, and prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, he was stopped by a guard when he reached the door. The guard glanced at his luggage, took him back to the lobby, and said: “Can you not stay for a while?”

Zhao Yelan looked at him blankly.

The guard said in a low voice: “Although I never met Zhao-daren, the General says you are very similar to him, so can you stay a few more days? The General has eaten a lot of meals recently, and even ate two buns in the morning.”

Zhao Yelan wanted to ask him, did Yan Minging usually not eat breakfast?

Unexpectedly, although the guard couldn’t read his eyes, he complained on Yan Mingting’s behalf on his own: “The General hasn’t eaten much in the past six months, either drinking or sleeping. It is only these days that he has slowly returned to his original appetite. Now is a critical period, so we subordinates all hope that you will stay with the General for a while longer. After he fully recovers, we will take you wherever you want, and we can give you money.”

Zhao Yelan handed him the luggage. The guard gave him a doubtful look, and Zhao Yelan pointed upstairs.

“Thank you!” The guard was overjoyed, and ran upstairs to deliver the luggage.

Yan Mingting returned in the evening. He had just sat down in the lobby when he heard a door open on the second floor. Zhao Yelan went out the door and went downstairs unhurriedly.

Yan Mingting stared at his figure, and unconsciously thought of Zhao Yelan’s posture when going down the stairs. He stared blankly until the other party sat down beside him, then returned to his senses and asked: “Why are you sitting at my table again? Weren’t you avoiding me this morning?”

Zhao Yelan gave him what was in his hand. It was a piece of paper with the word “eat” written on it.

“You’re hungry so early?” Yan Mingting called a waiter over, ordered several dishes, and asked him if it was enough. When he shook his head, Yan Mingting ordered a few more and said with a smile: “You pauper, why do you have this habit of extravagance and waste? Perhaps it is because I paid for it that you want to drain me dry.”

Zhao Yelan nodded.

“You are very honest,” Yan Mingting said.

When the dishes were all served, Yan Mingting awkwardly pointed to the seat across from him: “Why don’t you sit across from me.”

Firstly, he felt that the distance between them was too close and felt that this pauper had his eye on him. And secondly, sitting across from him made it easier for him to take a few more glances. He could always see the shadow of that person in this man, which was very satisfying.

Zhao Yelan disagreed. Sitting opposite the other person would risk his exposure. It was safer to be next to him with a mask to cover him up.

Yan Mingting’s persuasion was ineffective. As soon as he picked up his chopsticks, the other party picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in his bowl, then turned back awkwardly, not daring to look him in the eye.

Yan Mingting ate the piece of meat with a very complicated mood. “That…..”

The other party immediately gave him two slices of beef.

Yan Minging finished eating the beef: “I say…..”

Zhao Yelan picked up another fried egg.

After going back and forth like this, Yan Mingting had already eaten two bowls of rice, and couldn’t keep up with the speed the other party was picking up vegetables. Seeing the man pick up even more, he hurriedly pushed his hand away: “Don’t worry about me, eat it yourself, ah.”

Zhao Yelan fiercely put the vegetables into his bowl, then picked up his own bowl and began to eat slowly.

Due to the mask, he ate very little each time. After Yan Mingting finished three bowls of rice, he stared sideways at him and continued the topic just now: “You haven’t forgotten what I told you last night, have you?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head.

“So you don’t have feelings for me?”

Zhao Yelan lowered his head and pretended to be shy, glancing at him cautiously.

Yan Mingting: Oh no, he secretly loves me, ah.

It wasn’t just the food. He habitually went to get wine, but was stopped by the other party, who handed him a cup of water and pointed at it, making random gestures.

Yan Mingting: “You’re saying you boiled this water yourself?”

“…….” Zhao Yelan was silent for a moment, then nodded. He looked at him expectantly, then motioned for him to drink the water.

Yan Mingting couldn’t bear to brush off his kindness, so he drank it all in one gulp. His stomach was full, and he didn’t want to drink for the moment.

It went on this way for the next two days. During mealtimes, Zhao Yelan kept picking up food for him, and even thoughtfully brought him tea and water, which made him feel a little embarrassed. He pulled him aside and said in a low voice: “You don’t need to worry about me. You just need to be like you were before, understand?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head: I don’t understand.

“How you ate, drank, and walked in the past, you should do the same now.” After speaking, Yan Mingting sighed in disappointment and stared blankly at nothing, adding: “If you want to imitate him, you should imitate him.”

Zhao Yelan turned around and ran back to the room. Yan Mingting thought he had given up out of embarrassment, but didn’t expect that the other party would come back soon and show him a piece of paper with three words written on it—

How to learn?

Yan Mingting laughed helplessly. He was laughing at him for being foolish enough to want to imitate someone he didn’t know, and at himself for being foolish enough to be shamefully moved by the behavior.

If he never saw Zhao Yelan again in this life, even seeing a shadow of him was good.

Yan Mingting told him many things, starting from the beginning: “The first time we met was at my mansion. The terrible thing was that I had been poisoned and was extremely ugly, so he didn’t even take a fancy to me. If I had known that I would like him so much in the future, I would have been a villain back then and taken him away directly. Even if he hated and resented me, it would be better than the eternal separation between man and heaven nowadays. The second time we met, we got married. I looked better than before, but we were so wary of each other at the time.”

After talking for more than two hours, Zhao Yelan was not sleepy at all. He had never known these things from Yan Mingting’s perspective, and he had so many habits that he wasn’t even aware of.

“Once he finished horse stance, he would snore lightly as he slept, which was very cute; if someone nearby spoke to him, he must first turn his eyes in that direction, and then his head. This is a defensive posture. But when he looked at me, he would turn his head first and then look at my face carefully without noticing what he was doing. He looked very good when he ran. Every time I dragged him to run, I would always follow behind, because his hair fluttered like catkins blown by the wind. He would always stop to breathe against the third pillar when he ran to the back courtyard, because there were the fewest people there, and he was most afraid of shame.”

He said a lot of things intermittently, saying whatever he thought of. Yan Mingting was more like a narrator, taking the opportunity to say these words to him and tell him bits and pieces of before.

When Zhao Yelan left, these memories were slowly sealed away. No matter who he mentioned Zhao Yelan’s name to, the other party thought he was crazy, and would insist on reminding him: “Wake up, he is already gone.”

No one was willing to listen to his confessions. It was just that when he was drinking and talking drunk again, everyone advised him to be sober and rational. But how could he be sober and rational when his soul had left?

The dusty memories opened up like a flood. Even Yan Mingting was surprised that he could remember so many trivial things, and his voice choked up unconsciously.

At this time, a hand patted him gently on the back.

He slowly relaxed. Looking up at the stars in the sky, he said hoarsely: “Which star do you think is him?”

Zhao Yelan pointed to the brightest one.

“No, that’s not him,” Yan Mingting said firmly.

Zhao Yelan pointed to the dimmest star and looked at him.

“That’s not him, he’s here.” Yan Mingting pointed to his chest.

The two stared at each other in silence for a moment. Then Zhao Yelan slowly leaned over and hugged him.

Yan Mingting didn’t know if this was an encouraging and comforting hug, or a loving hug. He couldn’t think about such things for the moment, and vented the joy and pain brought on by those memories through this warm embrace.

Zhao Yelan felt a slight chill on his neck. He didn’t move, and just felt the other silently cry. His body was hugged tightly, and his ribs were almost crushed, but he didn’t say anything about the pain. Because the other party was hurting worse than him, the kind of pain that had no physical wound, but would hurt all over when touched.

Zhao Yelan finally felt a trace of regret.

He was not a person who regretted much. Once he made a decision, he would not regret it. In everything he did in the past, he took into consideration the worst result, and he would weigh the pros and cons. Only after he could accept the price to be paid would he put all his eggs in one basket.

But now, he somewhat regretted.

Zhao Yelan took this identity and escaped from the perilous court and the abuse of the common people, but still didn’t feel true freedom, because his heart was attached to another person.

He couldn’t bear for him to be hurt, and couldn’t bear to see him drinking too much. He was willing to accompany him back to this small inn on the border of the Xuan Dynasty, just to see him a few more times.

In the barren land of his heart, seeds somehow began to germinate and break through the ground.

“I’m sorry.” After Yan Mingting had vented his emotions, he let go and turned around, walking quickly back to his room.

Zhao Yelan also stayed up almost all night.

The next day, when he got up to change, his eyes glanced over his few simple clothes, and he put on a set of bright ones instead. Yan Mingting stared at him intently as soon as he went downstairs.

Looking at the other party, Yan Mingting felt awkward again. He felt that after hearing stories about Zhao Yelan last night, the other party had seriously imitated him.

He couldn’t help but want to look more, but reminded himself from time to time that this was wrong.

Zhao Yelan sat down beside him.

Almost instantly, Yan Mingting smelled a fragrance. It wasn’t the sachet that Zhao Yelan usually used, but one that he had never smelled before. Perhaps it was some flower or plant from the south.

He subconsciously glanced down at the sachet the other party was wearing, then silently raised his eyes and only looked at the food on the table. The other party didn’t take the initiative to pick food for him today, because he had said that Zhao Yelan would not pick food for him.

He seemed to be imitating him in essence.

Yan Mingting sneaked a glance from the corner of his eye and saw that his clothes and demeanor were more and more similar to Zhao Yelan’s. And he was wearing a mask, so couldn’t he imagine that Zhao Yelan’s face was hidden beneath it?

“Mengting,” he blurted out.

Zhao Yelan turned to look at him.

“Are you satisfied with breakfast today?”

Zhao Yelan nodded.

The corners of Yan Mingting’s mouth turned up uncontrollably, and he quickly picked up some food for him: “Mengting, eat more.”

Zhao Yelan saw the mound pile up in his bowl, so he picked up the green vegetables on top and put it into the other’s bowl.

So alike, so alike!

Yan Mingting gave a quiet laugh and grabbed the bowl directly. He even forgot to pick up more sides, and ate more than half of the bowl of rice plain.

Zhao Yelan noticed his actions, and couldn’t hold back his sudden smile.

Yan Mingting paused, and said seriously: “Don’t smile, you don’t look like him when you smile.”

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

---

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Extra 10: Faking Death (3) <<Table of Contents >> Extra 12: Faking Death (5)

For the next few days, Yan Mingting stuck behind Zhao Yelan like a dog skin plaster.

After getting drunk that night, Yan Mingting already thought they were good brothers, and came to the door to find him very openly.

The cousin drove him away with a broom as usual, but Yan Mingting said, your cousin and I are good drinking buddies, and he will not drive me out.

The cousin looked at Zhao Yelan for his answer. Zhao Yelan turned around and pretended not to see, so the two of them assumed that he had acquiesced.

Yan Mingting immediately walked up behind him and asked: “Little Face, did you not drink alcohol last night? Do you remember what I said yesterday?”

Zhao Yelan was arranging herbs in the courtyard. He just stood there, staring intently at Zhao Yelan’s back as if he must see another shadow of that person, and said: “I seem to have been confused by drinking, and can’t remember what I said. My memory is spotty. Recently, my drinking capacity has really gotten worse.”

Zhao Yelan paused for a moment, then picked up the basket to set it on the eaves and let the herbs dry. He lifted it above his head and stood on tiptoe, but Yan Mingting suddenly appeared behind him and took the basket, easily setting it on the eaves.

“…….”

Zhao Yelan turned around and looked at him silently.

Yan Mingting pressed his head to compare their heights. Zhao Yelan reached his chin: “You’re as tall as him.”

Hearing this, Zhao Yelan purposely stood on tiptoe.

Yan Mingting smiled: “What? Are you still not convinced, ah? There’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s just that I’m too tall.”

Zhao Yelan tried his best to stand on tiptoe. His figure was a little shaky, and he raised his chin proudly, which made Yan Mingting laugh out loud.

After a moment, Yan Mingting pressed the corners of his eyes and murmured: “Thank you. I can’t remember the last time I laughed.”

After following Zhao Yelan around like this for a few days, Yan Mingting suddenly disappeared and didn’t return for an entire day.

In the evening, Zhao Yelan gazed at the sunset and pounded medicine every now and then.

“You’ve been messing around all day.” When the cousin passed by, he couldn’t help but say, “Your thoughts aren’t on this, so you might as well go find him.”

Zhao Yelan returned to his senses and cast him a cold glance. The cousin smiled awkwardly. He had almost forgotten his identity, and actually regarded him as a cousin.

After dark, various birds chirped outside and made the room feel even more desolate.

He sat at the table with a stack of paper in front of him, trying to write quietly, but as soon as he pressed down with the brush, his stroke went crooked. Ink dripped onto the paper and blurred. He scratched the paper distractedly a few times, and then dropped the brush restlessly, spilling a few drops of ink.

At this time, there was movement in the courtyard. He immediately looked up and saw a black shadow jump from the courtyard wall and head straight to the window. Leaning his upper body through the window, Yan Mingting stared blankly at him and was about to speak, when he caught a glimpse of a ghostly talisman. He asked curiously: “Are you learning to write?”

Zhao Yelan blinked slowly, then nodded.

“I’ll teach you.” Yan Mingting came directly through the window, moving a chair to sit down beside him. He asked: “What characters do you want to learn?”

Zhao Yelan was deep in thought when he heard him say: “Let me teach you to write your name. I’ll write it down first, and then you can copy it.”

Zhao Yelan watched him write the words “Little Face” on the paper. The corners of his mouth twitched, but he still picked up the brush with his entire hand instead of his fingertips.

“No, no, your posture is wrong.” Yan Mingting took the brush and showed him the correct posture. “Try again.”

Zhao Yelan pretended to try a few times before he could use the correct posture. When he wrote, it was deliberately shaky.

“Don’t shake,” Yan Mingting instructed. While paying attention to the movements of his hands, he was gradually drawn to them.

“Wait.” Yan Mingting suddenly called for him to stop.

Zhao Yelan looked at him doubtfully. At this moment, Yan Mingting reached out to grasp his fingers, and gently pulled his little finger up.

“That’s how he holds the brush.” The corners of Yan Mingting’s mouth twitched. “The words written this way are very beautiful. You should try it too.”

Zhao Yelan looked at his fingers for a long moment. Even he hadn’t noticed that his little finger was slightly loose when he held a brush. This was a habit from when he was young, when he would imitate his mother holding her embroidery needle.

After he finished writing the words “Little Face” crookedly, he looked at Yan Mingting and beckoned to him to teach him new ones.

Yan Mingting wrote three words on the paper, and when he finished writing, Zhao Yelan was stunned for a moment.

Zhao Mengting.

Zhao Yelan’s eyes moved slightly. Looking at him blankly, he pointed at the words on the paper and waved his hands again, indicating that there were too many strokes and he couldn’t write it.

Yan Mingting had his own set of sign language logic, and asked: “You mean to say that you like this name very much? How many times do you want to write it?”

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

Yan Mingting: “Since you like it too, write it a few more times. How about I write with you?”

The two sat in front of the desk and wrote the same name. It took Zhao Yelan a while to write these words so that they didn’t look like his own handwriting at all.

He turned his head and glanced at Yan Mingting. He had thought that the other party would have written a lot after such a long time, but there was only the ‘Zhao’ character written. The rest was still unfinished, and he was staring at the paper in a daze.

When Zhao Yelan handed over his own paper for him to check, Zhao Mengting’s three huge characters appeared in front of him, and Yan Mingting’s eyes surged with heat, tears trailing from the ends of them.

Zhao Yelan was startled. He put down the paper in a panic, and reached toward his pocket. He stopped abruptly, then reached over and wiped the tears on the other’s face.

In a short while, Yan Mingting may have found that it was too embarrassing to display such behavior in a sober state, and he didn’t have the pleasure of venting drunkenly, so he gave a straightforward explanation: “I’m not crying, I just have tears in my eyes.”

“…….” Zhao Yelan was silent for a moment, then nodded as if he believed this nonsense.

Yan Mingting didn’t write any more. He stood up and said: “Nanjiang may not be peaceful in the future, you should be careful not to get caught up in it.”

Zhao Yelan frowned slightly. Seeing that he was about to leave, he unthinkingly grabbed the other’s sleeve, his eyes full of doubts.

Yan Mingting understood the look in his eyes, and explained: “Your Eighth Princess and Third Prince are planning to usurp the throne. They’re going to do it tonight.”

Zhao Yelan didn’t understand why he hadn’t stopped it. If it wasn’t stopped, it might affect the safety of the Xuan Dynasty, and that wasn’t Yan Mingting’s style.

“I will kill the Eighth Princess with my own hands, but I need a legitimate reason.” Yan Mingting gritted his teeth and said: “When my father died of poison, the poison came from her.”

Zhao Yelan suddenly realized that he must have learned of this from the former crown prince, so he rushed to the southern border.

But if the General of the Xuan Dynasty killed a princess of Nanjiang without authorization, it would inevitably lead to disputes and war, so he was waiting for the princess to commit the crime of treason first.

He even suspected that Yan Mingting had secretly facilitated this treason. The timing was too coincidental.

Zhao Yelan let go of his hand. He wouldn’t stop him from taking revenge.

Unexpectedly, after the other party left, he suddenly ran back and said: “You come with me. An innocent person could be hurt by mistake, I can protect you.”

The two looked at each other for a long moment, and Zhao Yelan’s heart wavered.

If he went with him, he would have to be vigilant at all times. Perhaps he would reveal his identity, and then everything he did before would be in vain.

He couldn’t go with him.

“Are you coming?” Yan Mingting asked again.

Zhao Yelan closed his eyes, intending to follow the choice he had decided on. Then, in the next moment, his body stood up involuntarily and he began to pack his luggage non-stop.

When the two left, Yan Mingting specifically asked: “What about your cousin? Do you want to take him with you?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head. He pointed toward the cousin, then pointed at the people in the next house, indicating that his family was there.

But Yan Mingting thought he wanted to bring those family members, so he urged the cousin to pack up quickly.

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

The cousin took his wife and children by the hands and asked with a blank expression where they were going?

Yan Mingting said that something was happening, and it was best to leave here immediately.

But the cousin subconsciously looked at Zhao Yelan. When he saw him secretly shake his head, he knew that his family couldn’t tag along. He waved his hand and hugged his wife and child: “We won’t go. This is our home, and we won’t leave it even if we die. You take my cousin away, ba. He’s still young, you must protect him and treat him well in the future.”

In the end, Yan Mingting only took away one person, and the two came to the gate of the city. Soon after, a group of subordinates appeared.

Zhao Yelan looked around, and was relieved to see nobody he knew.

Yan Mingting issued a few orders to his subordinates, then led them into the territory of the Xuan Dynasty. They would stay in the town closest to Nanjiang and wait for the army to arrive behind, as well as for the Nanjiang royal family to send out a distress signal before openly sending in troops.

“You should rest early, we’ll be living here temporarily for the next few days. Don’t run out if you have nothing to do,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan nodded. He tossed and turned that night. He had unexpectedly returned to the Xuan Dynasty, so he might as well wait for the incident at the southern border to end before finding a reason to leave.

After fleeing all night, he felt a little thirsty, so he got up and fumbled around in the dark to pour water, and then heard erratic footsteps outside. He could probably guess who it was, and opened the door. It was Yan Mingting.

“Did I disturb you?” Yan Mingting apologized, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t sleep, so I just wanted to walk around.”

Zhao Yelan made a gesture.

Yan Mingting: “Are you asking me why I can’t sleep?”

He finally guessed it right for once. Zhao Yelan nodded.

“I don’t know, I just couldn’t fall asleep after a long time.” Yan Mingting looked at him and said softly, “But for some reason, seeing you these days inexplicably reassures me. I just wanted to see if you were asleep.”

Seeing the haggard look on his face, Zhao Yelan subconsciously grabbed his wrist and tugged him into the room, but the other party suddenly broke away from his hand. He reacted very quickly, a vigilant look in his eyes.

Zhao Yelan tilted his head, expressing his doubts.

“What are you touching me for? It’s still the middle of the night, and you want to drag me into your room?” Yan Mingting touched his wrist and pressed it to his chest, asking: “You don’t like me, do you?”

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

“You can’t like me,” Yan Mingting said. “There is someone in my heart. Although he disappeared from the world, he still lives in my memory.”

---

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Extra 9: Faking Death (2) <<Table of Contents >> Extra 11: Faking Death (4)

Zhao Yelan was dazed for a moment. Then he remembered that his eyelids were also swollen and he had the mask on. There was a slight difference from his original appearance, otherwise Yan Mingting would have already recognized him.

He breathed a sigh of relief at this thought, and looked blankly at Yan Mingting.

“Who are you?” Yan Mingting asked again, exerting some strength with his hand.

It hurt, and Zhao Yelan looked down, grabbing his hand.

Looking at the top of his head, Yan Mingting felt that he was even more similar to Zhao Yelan.

When he was walking on the road just now, he was inadvertently drawn to the person in front of him.

The body shape was almost exactly the same. The same figure, the same slender waist, and the same proper walking posture. This caused him to rush to the other party without hesitation.

He hugged the other person into his arms, but even as he patted him, there was no response, and he smelled a foul scent. He couldn’t help being startled, and released his grip doubtfully, lowering his head to sniff his neck.

Zhao Yelan knew he was sniffing him, and was glad for the first time that the herbs stunk.

Yan Mingting plucked up his last ounce of courage, and reached out with trembling hands to remove the mask, but was stopped by the other party.

Zhao Yelan pointed at his own face, ah’d several times, and gestured with his hands.

“You can’t speak?” Yan Mingting was stunned for a moment.

Zhao Yelan nodded.

Yan Mingting was full of doubts, and went quiet. But he still wanted to find out, and said: “I want to see.”

Seeing that he was about to touch the mask, the person suddenly pressed his hand down forcefully.

“Who are you? What are you trying to do to my cousin?!” A middle-aged man spoke fiercely and pointed at Yan Mingting.

Yan Mingting was momentarily dazed. Looking at the middle-aged man’s appearance, he was a southern Xinjiang native with a heavy accent. Yan Mingting couldn’t help but frown: “He’s your cousin?”

“Yes, ah, my cousin!” The man glared at him, and grabbed Zhao Yelan to leave. “Let’s go home.”

This person was a servant hired by Zhao Yelan in the local area. In order to prevent his whereabouts from being discovered by people from Xuan dynasty, he specially found a clever middle-aged man. He warned him in advance that if any people from the dynasty appeared, he should come out and pretend to be his relative. People in the surrounding neighborhood heard that this man had a cousin who was now living at home, and nobody doubted it.

As usual, he wore the clothing of a person from southern Xinjiang, and brought this “cousin” with him when he went out today. He had just gone to inquire about Yan Mingting’s affairs by himself, and accidentally got separated for a while. Fortunately, the other person arrived in time.

“Wait, wait a minute, what’s your name? Are you a local?” Yan Mingting followed them, unresigned.

“Why do you care so much? What do you intend to do to us?!” The cousin said fiercely.

“Ah, ah, ah.” Zhao Yelan took the opportunity to remind his cousin that he was currently mute.

The man reacted immediately, continuing: “Do you think that because he is mute, he is easy to bully? Let me tell you, as long as I’m around, no one can bully him!”

It had to be said that this servant was a good hire. Without giving the game away, and with a natural tone, even he almost believed it, let alone Yan Mingting.

“I’m sorry, perhaps I’m drunk and mistook this person.” Yan Mingting stopped dejectedly.

Zhao Yelan breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn’t tell if he was glad or disappointed. 

He looked back at Yan Mingting.

He had just taken a glance when he found Yan Mingting following sneakily.

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

He turned his head and walked unhurriedly, listening to the footsteps behind him. They were also unhurried, maintaining the same pace and always keeping a short distance away.

When he returned home, he glanced back. The other party had stopped a few meters outside the gate, watching him silently.

“Go, go, go! Go away!” The cousin took a broom to chase him away.

Yan Mingting tossed some silver coins to the cousin. This was a trick he learned from Zhao Yelan. As long as there was silver, there was nothing that one couldn’t do.

“Why is he wearing a mask?” Yan Mingting asked.

The cousin took the coins as expected, and said: “When he was a child, he fell onto a brazier and burned his face. He can’t bear for people to see him, and is very withdrawn and introverted, so I prepared a mask for him.”

Zhao Yelan stood in the house, thinking that he must give this cousin more money.

Half an hour later, Zhao Yelan went to sit in the courtyard and make medicine. He had recently taken a liking to this job, and when he had nothing to do, he would do this to pass the time.

But today was different. As soon as he raised his head, he saw Yan Mingting sitting on the courtyard wall, gazing at him quietly without saying a word.

The cousin thought he had gone, but this was not the case. This fellow had been hiding in the shadows, and hadn’t shown up until Zhao Yelan appeared.

He shook his hands, pretending to be flustered, and ran into the house. After a moment, the cousin came out with a broom to drive him away: “Go, go away! Don’t you understand human language? Stay away from my family’s house!”

Yan Mingting looked at the man behind the cousin. He was trembling, terrified. This saddened Yan Mingting – Zhao Yelan wouldn’t be afraid of him.

Zhao Yelan had really disappeared from the world. The people in the mansion said that they watched him die, and saw him lying in the coffin for three days without a sound. There was no possibility of resurrection.

He would often fall into a tangle of reality and dreams, and for a while, he felt that Zhao Yelan might still be alive. Maybe it was like he read in books, and Zhao Yelan was an alluring spirit or a divine being. He came to the world and left after a calamity, but he was still living in some unseen part of the world. After some time, such as this exact moment, he had to accept reality.

He lowered his eyes, gripped the sword in his hand tight, and went to get on with his business. 

Zhao Yelan watched his departing back, looking him up and down desperately.

After returning to the house, the cousin asked him: “He didn’t come to abduct you, did he? Do you know each other?”

“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask.” Zhao Yelan rewarded him with a piece of silver.

The next day, Zhao Yelan spent the whole day sitting absent-mindedly at home. He sat in the courtyard to make medicine, and didn’t notice anyone nearby.

After dinner in the evening, the cousin said that there was a Gu festival unique to Nanjiang that night, and the streets would be lively. He asked him if he would go.

He didn’t like noise, but for some reason, he didn’t refuse.

Most of the people on the streets were from Nanjiang. They carried baskets full of exotic flowers and plants, and everyone introduced their goods to one another.

After a while, he got separated from the cousin. He searched around, then suddenly paused and looked straight ahead. Yan Mingting was standing in the crowd, staring at him intently.

Neither of them moved until someone pushed past Zhao Yelan, and he had to move. He turned around to walk back.

When he reached a secluded place, he stopped and turned to look at the other party, tilting his head in doubt as if asking why the other party was following him.

“Why aren’t you going?” Yan Mingting walked forward slowly, saying, “Keep going, don’t stop.”

Zhao Yelan didn’t move, still waiting for his answer.

After a long silence, Yan Mingting said softly: “You look like someone, especially when you’re walking.”

Zhao Yelan pursed his lips, but the other party couldn’t see it.

“Go on, I won’t hurt you. I just want to send you home,” Yan Mingting said. “Of course, if you want to go somewhere else, you can. I don’t mind walking for a while.”

Zhao Yelan shook his head, indicating that he didn’t want to leave, and sat under a nearby tree.

Yan Mingting sat next to him, looking at him sideways.

Zhao Yelan thought for a moment, then hunched down unobtrusively, lowering his head awkwardly to play with his fingers.

“But you don’t look like him when you’re sitting. He always sits upright, with his head held high. He’s not easy to mess with,” Yan Mingting said.

Zhao Yelan slanted a glance at him.

“Want a drink?” Yan Mingting asked suddenly, and took out a bag of money. “I’ll give you the rest of my drinking money, how about it?”

Zhao Yelan agreed, but didn’t take the money. Yan Mingting’s tone was a little disappointed: “If it was him, he would rather not drink, and would rather take the money.”

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

The two of them went to the nearest tavern. Yan Mingting ordered a dozen jugs of wine in one go, and without speaking to him, opened a jug and drank it himself.

Zhao Yelan knew that he was a good drinker, and could hold a thousand cups when drinking with the soldiers, but he had never seen him drink one pot after another like this, like he wanted to get drunk.

After he drank several jugs of wine one after another, Zhao Yelan couldn’t bear it anymore. He knocked several jugs of wine next to him to the ground, and when the other party looked over, he pretended to have knocked them down accidentally and withdrew his hand in a panic.

“Oh, I forgot you were still there. Do you want to drink?” Yan Mingting shook the jar and said drunkenly: “How’s your drinking capacity?”

Zhao Yelan didn’t respond.

“He can’t drink. He can’t drink at all.” Yan Mingting smiled, then suddenly lay on the table, looking at his profile. He said: “Do you know who I’m talking about?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head.

“I’m talking about my wife. We worshiped heaven and earth together. Oh, I forgot to mention, he’s also a man.” Yan Mingting laughed. “Do you like men? Do you know what it is to like men?”

Zhao Yelan was silent.

“I like him, he smells good.” Yan Mingting pondered for a long moment, but couldn’t explain it. He took another sip of wine and said: “He’s really intoxicating.”

Zhao Yelan poured a cup of water and set it in front of him. The other party didn’t take it, and only continued to drink, his mouth filled with alcohol: “Do you know what his favorite thing is? He likes to dress up beautifully. I have never seen a man like him who dresses up every day, like a peacock.

Zhao Yelan took advantage of the night to covertly cast him a cold stare.

“But he just fluttered in and entered my heart.” Yan Mingting slowly pushed himself up to sit. Staring at the wine in his cup, he asked word by word: “Tell me, why did he leave?”

Zhao Yelan lowered his eyes, his crow feather eyelashes covering his emotions.

“They all say he had a relapse of his old sickness and couldn’t be saved, but I’ve always felt that he left me on purpose. He gave me the happiest birthday ever, and arranged everything. He even got a new pen for the rabbit in the yard, but refused to wait and see me one last time!”

Zhao Yelan moved his hands under the table, and slowly clenched his sleeves without saying a word.

“Why did I go to Jiangnan, why did I go, ah?” Yan Mingting stood up, the wine jug wobbling, and walked toward the railing. He looked in the direction of the Xuan Dynasty, then accidentally fell to the ground. He had no desire to get up. He just turned over and lay there, then lifted the jug and poured wine into his mouth. The wine splashed down his cheeks and onto his neck and clothing.

Zhao Yelan went forward to help him, and it took a long time to help this drunk to lean against the railing behind him. He also sat powerlessly against the railing.

Yan Mingting slowly shook his head, then looked at him and asked: “What’s your name?”

Zhao Yelan pointed to his mouth, indicating that he couldn’t speak.

“You’re wearing a mask, so I’ll call you Little Face. Nice to meet you, Little Face,” Yan Mingting said to him.

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

“Little Face, can I come drink with you again?” Yan Mingting asked.

Zhao Yelan: “…….”

“If that won’t work, I’ll just watch you do it. You’ll just have an extra follower.” Yan Mingting reached into his robes to take out money, but he forgot that his money bag had been given away just now. After a long moment, instead of money, he took out a sachet.

Zhao Yelan recognized it at a glance. This was the one he wore most often.

Yan Mingting held the sachet. Whatever he thought of, he pressed his forehead against the sachet and suddenly choked up, crying bitterly with trembling shoulders.

His eyes hidden under the mask reddened helplessly, but Zhao Yelan tried his best to suppress his emotions. He was about to take out a handkerchief, but then thought of something, and put it back before tremblingly wiping Yan Mingting’s face with his sleeve.

Yan Mingting pulled his sleeve and wiped his face vigorously, saying hoarsely: “Thank you.”

Zhao Yelan shook his head, indicating that he was welcome.

Yan Mingting handed the sachet to him: “Smell it, does it smell good?”

Zhao Yelan took a sniff and shook his head.

“You don’t know quality!” Yan Mingting’s eyes were red and swollen. He carefully put the sachet into his robes and took out a jade pendant, shaking it in front of him. “I’ll give you another chance. This is what he wears on his body all the time. Take a look. Does it look good?”

Zhao Yelan shook his head.

“No vision!” Yan Mingting finished speaking viciously, then ignored him.

After a long while, just when he thought Yan Mingting was asleep, he suddenly heard him ask quietly: “Do you think he ever liked me?”

Zhao Yelan’s eyes moved slightly, and he looked at him without speaking.

A long moment passed, until the moonlight was covered by dark clouds. He nodded slightly.

Yan Mingting’s eyes lit up. He immediately became more energetic and asked: “When do you think he fell in love with me? How much does he like me?”

These questions could not be answered by nodding or shaking his head. Zhao Yelan simply made a few random gestures with his hands. In any case, the other party couldn’t understand and wouldn’t remember.

Who knew that Yan Mingting would say happily: “You mean he fell in love with me the first time we met? Only, because of his identity, he restrained his emotions? And after marrying me, he suppressed his love? Although on the surface, he ignored me, his love had been deeply rooted for a long time, and he loved me so much that he couldn’t extricate himself?”

Zhao Yelan: “ ? ”

---

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Extra 8: Faking Death (1) <<Table of Contents >> Extra 10: Faking Death (3)

T/N: Okay, I’m posting the last six “alternate reality” extras today, because these are waaaay too angsty for any gap between them, and I want you to reach the sweetness at the end as soon as possible. Enjoy!

---

When Zhao Yelan opened his eyes, he found that he was in a carriage, wearing women’s clothing with his face covered by a scarf.

He opened the curtain and asked the coachman: “Where are we now?”

“Almost to the Western Regions.”

He sat back again. His accompanying luggage he had prepared earlier was also there, none of it left behind. It had been handed over to Gu Niaoniao in advance.

He had taken the false death medicine the third day after Yan Mingting left. For the first two days, he wore the sweetgrass sachet to create the illusion that his old disease had relapsed, and then he took the medicine. There was a little pain during the process, but he soon fell into a deep sleep.

In fact, it was most appropriate to implement the plan when Yan Mingting left. No one would open the coffin for an autopsy. Only Yan Mingting had the courage. As long as the people in the house confirmed his “corpse” with their own eyes, they would not dare to move it without authorization.

And Yan Mingting, who was far away in Jiangnan, would receive the letter from the capital. Adding in the journey back, it was likely that “he” would have been buried in the ground for half a month, and Housekeeper Qin may not allow Yan Mingting to dig up the coffin and open it.

With the servants saying the same thing, Yan Mingting could only believe that he had really passed away.

When he thought of what kind of expression Yan Mingting would wear upon hearing of his death, he didn’t dare think about it further, and closed his eyes, letting himself fall asleep.

It wasn’t until he heard more voices outside that he lifted the corner of the window and found himself in a frontier town. Most of the people here had dark skin, and their voices were quite loud.

At this time, he noticed a familiar figure in front of him. It was Zhong Yuehong passing by with her men. He immediately put down the carriage curtain, and heard someone ask Zhong Yuehong: “Tell us more about the General and Zhao Yelan.”

“What Zhao Yelan, that’s disrespectful! He’s the one the General married, you must call him Zhao-daren, otherwise be careful of military law if the General finds out!”

“The General is biased toward him so soon?”

“That’s not called bias, it’s called preference.” Zhong Yuehong said with emotion, “I’ve seen what it’s like when the General likes someone. When we went hunting before, wasn’t he always the most prominent? As a result, during the last autumn hunt, he actually captured a rabbit alive without killing any prey.”

“Why?”

“To make Zhao-daren happy!”

As the voices faded away, Zhao Yelan slowly closed his eyes and suddenly noticed a line of wetness on his cheek. He wiped his cheek in surprise and looked at his wet fingertips, biting his lower lip hard.

He couldn’t regret it.

Time would erase everything, and soon, he and Yan Mingting would forget about each other.

He was so certain, but didn’t expect that when he heard news of Yan Mingting again, he would knock over the teacup in his hand in a panic.

At that time, he had been in the Western Regions for over a month.

The Western Regions and the Xuan Dynasty had been friends for hundreds of years. After the exchange of commerce and trade, merchants from the Xuan Dynasty often came to buy spices and cloth from the Western Regions to sell back home.

Several merchants were chatting while waiting for the boss to prepare the goods in a spice shop.

Zhao Yelan was sitting on the other side. He was dressed like a Westerner, and didn’t attract their attention. Listening to them discuss how to sell their goods after returning home, he felt bored, and was about to leave when he suddenly heard them mention Yan Mingting’s name.

After more than a month, hearing Yan Mingting’s name from someone else felt like it had last happened a lifetime ago.

Two days ago, Gu Niaoniao had sent a letter, which mentioned how she sent him out of the city, along with some trivial matters. But she never mentioned Yan Mingting, perhaps to avoid stirring up second thoughts within him.

“We won’t sell in Jiangnan this time. There’s a drought, and I don’t know if we can survive there,” One person said.

“That’s right, ah, but it’s admirable that General Yan is still taking the time to lead his army to Jiangnan for disaster relief.”

“Ai, he’s really miserable. He went to Jiangnan a while ago to suppress bandits, but Zhao Yelan passed away. It only took him three or four days to rush back, and I heard he ran several horses to death. Those of us who often travel know that it takes more than three or four days of travel day and night. I reckon he never closed his eyes.”

“I heard about it from a friend in the capital. When he returned, even the housekeeper in the mansion couldn’t recognize him right away. His eyes were bloodshot, and he didn’t look like a human being anymore. As soon as he returned, he said that he would open the coffin to see Zhao Yelan one more time. The housekeeper and servants all knelt down and begged him not to do it. He was buried in the ground, so let Zhao Yelan be buried in peace. Everyone watched Zhao Yelan die with their own eyes, and it was impossible for him to have been poisoned, because Zhao Yelan’s personal servant was always there to serve him.”

“Ai, it’s really pitiful. When I first heard about their marriage, I wasn’t optimistic at all. I just wanted to see if the General would kill Zhao Yelan. Who knew that this person would already be dead, and I would regret it.”

“You can say that again. General Yan is very kind to the common people. I was ridiculed before by someone saying that the status of a merchant is low, and it was him who helped me vent my anger when he passed by. I heard a while ago that he won’t eat or drink anything, and stays in the ancestral hall all night. After a few days, he lost more than ten catties. If he continues like this, he probably won’t live long.”

With a crash, the two heard the sound of a teacup smashing to the ground opposite them. They looked up and only saw a man from the Western Regions lowering his head to pick up the pieces in a flustered manner, and continued chatting.

“So I figure that when he took the initiative to go to Jiangnan for disaster relief this time, he actually didn’t intend to live on at all.”

“Many people think this way. I heard that when he went south, he brought Zhao Yelan’s memorial tablet with him.”

Zhao Yelan didn’t know how he got back to his residence. The newly-hired servant brought his meal to his room.

He stared at the food silently for a long time. The food here was far inferior to that in the capital. There were so many delicacies in the capital, good wine and good food. Why wouldn’t that idiot Yan Mingting eat it?

With complicated feelings, he wrote two letters. One was to Gu Niaoniao, and the other he asked her to send to Yan Mingting far away in Jiangnan. In the letter, he wrote as if they were his last words on his deathbed, saying that he had a premonition that his end was approaching. He thanked him for his company during those days, and hoped that he would live well in the future.

A few days later, he was still tossing and turning. He didn’t know what the situation was like with the drought in Jiangnan, and feared that Yan Mingting would be dragged down by depression before the letter reached his hands.

Thinking of this, he packed his luggage, left the Western Regions, and headed all the way south.

He wasn’t looking for the man, only traveling. Going to Jiangnan was the same as going to the Western Regions, Zhao Yelan thought.

It was only that the journey from the Western Regions to Jiangnan was extremely long, and the terrain was remote. When passing through the highlands, his body reacted uncomfortably. He was dizzy, short of breath, and nauseous for several days, and took some time to seek medical treatment from a doctor.

The journey initially would have lasted a month, but it took two months for him to reach the border of Quzhou. He heard that it had finally rained in Zhihuai and Huaizhou. Yan Mingting was also about to leave for the capital with his army, and was staying at an inn in the city. Many people went to visit him, but unfortunately, General Yan was so drunk that he didn’t recognize anyone.

Zhao Yelan entered the city at night, near curfew. He wore plain clothes and smeared dark color over his face. Pretending to be an attendant, he came to Yan Mingting’s room. He waited for a long time until he heard the subordinate inside come out. Seeing him with his head bowed, the subordinate thought he was an attendant and said: “You go and clean up the General.”

Zhao Yelan walked in with his head down and saw from a distance the person lying down on the bed. He couldn’t help but slow his pace, and when he saw the person’s face clearly, he couldn’t react.

How had Yan Mingting become like this? He reeked of alcohol, and had an unshaven beard, sunken cheeks, and dark skin. It was as if he had aged ten years.

Zhao Yelan felt a slight pain in his heart. Seeing that he was drunk and unconscious, he went forward with a handkerchief to wipe his face.

The other party moved after a moment. He reached out to the side and hugged the pillow, whispering: “Mengting, Mengting, I’m back.”

Zhao Yelan was startled. His eyes grew slightly wet, and he blinked vigorously to squeeze away the moisture.

“I’m back. Can you please not leave me?” Yan Mingting hugged the pillow in his arms, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

Zhao Yelan’s hands trembled at the sight. Just as he was about to wipe away the lines of tears, he saw Yan Mingting slowly open his eyes. He took a hasty step back, turned around, and ran out.

“Mengting, Mengting!” Yan Mingting opened his eyes and saw the running figure from the back. It looked very much like Zhao Yelan. He got out of bed quickly, but lost strength in his legs and feet, and fell to the floor.

His subordinate hurried in and helped him up.

Yan Mingting pointed at the door and said: “Quick, I saw Mengting, stop him quickly!”

“General, you’re mistaken, it was only an attendant just now. You drank too much and you’re talking nonsense.”

“But I think I really saw him!”

“This is the 127th time you’ve talked drunk, General.” The subordinate couldn’t bear it, and said: “Zhao-daren is dead, ah. His servant and Housekeeper Qin watched him die with their own eyes.”

Yan Mingting said dejectedly: “Why did he die? I haven’t explained my feelings to him yet. Why did he die?”

Zhao Yelan remained in the city for two days, and when Yan Mingting led the army to leave, he mixed in with the crowd and watched him go.

He had seen his own letter on Yan Mingting’s body that night, and believed that Yan Mingting would obediently live a good life.

So he continued to travel south. He said it was for leisure, but in order to avoid being discovered by others, he hid the entire way. He couldn’t relax at all, especially as the weather in the south grew hotter. The mosquitos were huge, and the land was deserted, so he went west and came to southern Xinjiang.

In the blink of an eye, it was winter. He stayed in southern Xinjiang for more than a month, and bought a secluded house, intending to live there for a year before making any plans.

On New Year’s Eve, he sat alone in the house, listening to the sounds of firecrackers and fireworks outside, which made the place seem even more deserted.

There was a charcoal brazier in front of him. He repeatedly looked at the letter Gu Niaoniao had sent a few days ago, ignoring the questions about his health and focusing on the things related to Yan Mingting.

This was the first time Gu Niaoniao had mentioned Yan Mingting in a letter in half a year, and it was about him remarrying.

Seeing that Yan Mingting was growing depressed and lifeless, the ministers in the court and central government began to introduce new people to Yan Mingting, but few were willing to marry their daughters to him.

Because of Zhao Yelan’s death, Yan Mingting’s fate as an evil star was confirmed.

As for Yan Mingting’s feelings about all this, the letter did not mention them. 

He instinctively thought that Yan Mingting would not intend to remarry, at least not so quickly, but he couldn’t help thinking — what if? What if Yan Mingting met a suitable woman and married her to soothe his soul?

On New Year’s Eve, a time of family and happiness, Zhao Yelan was depressed and alone until dawn.

Spring in southern Xinjiang was the season for all kinds of flowers. These flowers were not only for beauty, but also had other functions. Many kinds of poisonous vegetation grew here.

When he went out once, his face accidentally brushed a poisonous weed. As a result, his entire face became swollen and red, looking extremely irritated. How could he allow people to see him with such a face?

A witch doctor applied medicinal herbs to his face, and said it would take seven days for the swelling to subside. He looked into the mirror and almost went blind. Then he went to the street to buy a mask.

He sniffed his body again and found that the scent of the herbs covered up the scent of his sachet. He was about to go home, but heard someone mention Yan Mingting, saying that the General of the Xuan Dynasty had killed the former crown prince more than half a month ago.

Astonished, he went over to inquire about it, and discovered that Yan Mingting had found out that the person who had killed his father was the former crown prince.

He let out a sigh. While inwardly cursing the former crown prince, he couldn’t help but think that Yan Mingting would be happy after finally slaying his enemy.

He was thinking too hard as he walked forward with his head down, and unexpectedly bumped into someone. He had no time to deal with passers-by, so he raised his foot and was about to walk around them, but the other person also moved to block his way.

Frowning, he raised his head in dissatisfaction, but upon seeing the other’s face clearly, he froze on the spot.

Yan Mingting!

Why was he here?

“Who are you?” Yan Mingting asked, lowering his eyes to stare carefully into the eyes exposed by the mask.

---

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Extra 7 <<Table of Contents >> Extra 9: Faking Death (2)

Lucas didn’t speak, and only hugged Luo Ran tightly, wrapping his arms around the other’s back.

He remained in this posture for a long time, as if he had completely lost his strength.

“Why are you crying?” Lucas saw Luo Ran’s reddened eyes.

“I’m not.” Luo Ran shook his head.

He could just feel that the Alpha connected to his spirit was sad. Really, truly sad.

As angry as Lucas was with Cyril, he was just as angry with himself, perhaps moreso.

Luo Ran said: “Admiral, I always think about how great it would be if I had met you sooner.”

If he was right there after Lucas lost Alton, that would be so great.

“I often think so too.” Lucas stroked the back of Luo Ran’s head and said: “Let’s go back.”

Luo Ran took Lucas’s hand, and the two boarded the aircraft together.

Lucas leaned back in the chair and raised his head, adjusting his spiritual state.

This was no trivial matter. After submitting the investigation results and evidence to the court, the court session should start tomorrow.

Lucas thought to himself, could it be that those who had died were also secretly helping him?

After all, the evidence had been submerged by the heavy snow of an avalanche back then, buried deep. No one could find the evidence, and even Cyril couldn’t destroy it. But now, perhaps because of the insect, or perhaps because of natural geological movement, the avalanche recurred and brought back relics from the battlefield back then, which were found by Kleiman.

Without these two avalanches, nobody in this life would have known that it was the star pirates’ bright spear and his own family’s dark arrow that had killed Alton and his elite vanguard.

Of course, if Cyril hadn’t acted guilty and refused to let Kleiman go all these years, Kleiman wouldn’t have gone back to the snowy mountain and used people from the Luobing royal family to investigate.

Now he was reaping the consequences.

He noticed that Luo Ran was looking at him. Lucas smiled and said: “Don’t worry, I’m the Admiral. I’m the Admiral who protects the Empire and its people.”

—I am proud and unfallen, advancing bravely.

“En.” Luo Ran lowered his eyes and said: “I will accompany you. You protect the Empire and its people, and I will protect you.”

Maybe Luo Ran couldn’t help much on the battlefield, but he felt that he could handle official duties for Lucas, and deal with all kinds of conspiracies and people in the capital so that Lucas would not be stabbed in the back by his own family like Alton was.

With him around, he wouldn’t let Lucas’s spiritual power go out of control, nor let him suffer the fate of most Alphas above S-rank.

Lucas was taken aback.

Then Lucas grabbed Luo Ran by the collar, pulled him in, and kissed him on the spot.

Luo Ran was already used to Lucas’s straightforward, crude, and direct love style, so he closed his eyes and let Lucas bite him.

Lucas pressed the man against the window of the aircraft and kissed from his lips to his Adam’s apple.

This was their first moment of tenderness since being separated for a while.

“Ranran.” Lucas grabbed Luo Ran’s hand and bit it, saying: “Mine.”

Like a puppy.

“Okay…..” Luo Ran gently pushed Lucas away, blushing as he said: “I need to return to the office and prepare the court documents……”

“En.”

After the court session, they would return to the battlefield again.

. . . . . . . 

The next day, Cyril was sitting in the position of the accused, covered in injuries. He had a red and swollen face, and was trembling all over — it hurt.

Cyril accused the First Prince, trying to place all the blame on him, and his lawyer was also exonerating Cyril.

The voice on the personal communicator was indeed Cyril’s. The time and date records on the communicator and the coordinates in the conversation all matched.

“Mr. Cyril has no military power and no influence, and the Aldor family has targeted him. With no family inheritance or influence, how could he dare do such a thing if no one influenced or coerced him?”

“And Cyril was told at the time that the information he provided would only lead to discord between them, and the younger brother who bullied him many times would get taught a lesson by the star pirates. He didn’t know that the consequences would be so serious. He was deceived.”

Lucas really believed that Cyril didn’t know what the consequences would be back then. He was deceived by the star pirates, and thought that at most, Lucas would be killed. He had thought that Lucas was the only one in that ravine operation, and that Alton was in the north.

After all, Cyril was not that courageous. He was essentially a coward.

The First Prince had been accused, so there were naturally lawyers to defend him.

Lucas and Luo Ran were sitting in the plaintiffs’ seats, watching them quarrel amongst themselves.

Watching the fires burn across the river.

Luo Ran glanced at Lucas. He smiled slightly and shook his head.

Dogs biting dogs.

In this plight, Cyril had no choice but to bite the First Prince. At the least, he could provide evidence of the private contact between them.

But the First Prince had more evidence.

The First Prince had no faith in Cyril from the beginning, and even regarded him as a back-up. Evidence was preserved for every action. Therefore, at this moment,  the First Prince successfully pushed the previous charges of embezzlement onto Cyril.

He picked himself clean.

The trial lasted for several days.

The Starnet was also very lively.

XXXX: Fortunately, Cyril was expelled by the Marshall and the Admiral! He’s not worthy of the surname Aldor! He’s just a motherless gutter rat! I’m so angry! I’m so angry ah! ! ! How could he do this! ! !

XXXX: Right! Disgusting! ! ! Aaaaaah how can there be such a person, ah!! Admiral Alton, wuwuwuwu……He was our hero, ah, I’m really crying. Why was he killed by this dirty piece of trash?

XXXX: Requesting the harshest punishment for Cyril! Death by a thousand cuts can’t make up for his sins!

There was a lot of scolding on the Starnet. The topic amongst the public these days was Cyril, and they all cursed and spurned him.

XXXX: Cyril and the First Prince are biting each other and breaking news! God, there’s so much information, ah. And I don’t know about a beast like Cyril, but why do I feel that the First Prince isn’t a good person?

XXXX: Cyril says that the First Prince instigated him to collude with the star pirates and embezzle, and the First Prince says that Cyril used his name to pay bribes. Who should I believe?

XXXX: Upstairs, let’s trust the Admiral. The Imperial politicians are so annoying.

XXXX: God, ah. I have chills all over. How could the eldest Aldor son collude with the star pirates……how did the marshall and his wife educate their children? Fortunately, the Admiral grew up under the knees of Admiral Alton. It’s true that Cyril is a beast, but in the end, he doesn’t have too much power in his hands. But if the First Prince really colluded with the star pirates, the Empire is really over. Aaaaaah, what are those who collude with the star pirates thinking, ah! Why are these people so disgusting! !

. . . . . . . .

In any case, the reputation of the First Prince was still damaged by Cyril’s biting.

And Cyril was completely beaten down by the First Prince.

It was originally a death sentence, but Lucas “pleaded” as the Aldor heir to have him transferred to the military prison.

For life.

This matter was considered to be over.

After the final trial ended and Cyril was imprisoned, the marshall called Lucas to the main house. 

Lucas could probably guess what was going on.

“The formalities have been completed. You just need to sign.” The marshall looked indifferent inside the study as he lightly pushed the documents on the desk toward Lucas.

“From now on, you will be the head of the Aldor family, and no one within the family will disobey you.”

There was also a sandalwood box on the documents, containing the Aldor seal.

Lucas said nothing.

“Aldor will depend on you from now on.” The marshall’s wife who was sitting to the side seemed to have aged several years overnight. Her face was haggard, but she still said with a smile: “You are a good boy. You and Secretary Luo will have a good life together in the future. Tomorrow, your father and I will go to the little Aldor planet Ty to live our lives. We won’t be in the capital anymore. We’ll be glad if you come to see us, but we won’t bother you. The planet Ty is very beautiful, and we can raise small animals. It won’t be boring.”

Lucas still didn’t speak.

The marshall hesitated for a moment before speaking.

He usually spoke very little, but it was different this time.

“Lucas, I admit that I did not do well.” The marshall said: “I didn’t do my duty well. I’m sorry.”

The marshall had gone to the battlefield when he was young, and was seriously injured within a year. It was a tragic defeat. After he returned to the capital, he was unable to move for several years, and he was also replaced as the Aldor commander.

It could be said that the marshall had a bad start, and was forced to quit the battlefield before he could finish his career. Since then, his personality had twisted into indifference, and he was willing to marry his wife because she would never leave him, and would take care of him when he couldn’t take care of himself.

Other than occasionally speaking a few words to his wife, the marshal no longer did anything or cared about anything.

He no longer fulfilled the duties of a father or of a marshal.

“En, you are a good boy. It is us who are wrong.” The marshal’s wife’s eyes were slightly red. She approached Lucas, and her outstretched hand paused, then retracted.

“I’m sorry, Lucas.”

Lucas lowered his eyes.

After a long moment, he said, “En.” But there was no emotion in it.

Then, Lucas took the documents and the box, strode downstairs, and left.

“Admiral.” 

Outside the house, the sun was shining. Luo Ran stood waiting beside the aircraft. When he saw Lucas coming, he immediately stepped forward.

“What’s wrong?”

Lucas shook his head, reaching out to gently hold Luo Ran’s hand.

To hold the only thing he had left.

“Let’s go.” Luo Ran smiled and boarded the aircraft with Lucas.

. . . . . . .

The day after the trial ended, Lucas and Luo Ran boarded the battleship and returned to the Luobing front.

Cyril was imprisoned at military headquarters, and there would be better days from now on. The marshal and his wife left the capital. Everything was settled.

But at this time, the First Prince took advantage and naturally placed all the blame on Cyril.

The investigation department had originally found the subtle connection between the First Prince and the star pirates, but now it directly became Cyril, and the the First Prince also requested that the case be closed.

“There is no one who doesn’t wet his shoes when he walks by the river. There will be results if we continue to investigate.” Lucas sneered coldly. “Have the investigation team continue to look into it.”

“En.”

The journey was long. Luo Ran and Lucas sat on the deck of the battleship, watching the stars. Luo Ran suddenly said: “Admiral, after this battle is over, I want to go back to the cemetery in Pure City.”

Although he didn’t know who his parents were, there were family members in that cemetery.

Lucas was shocked. He turned to look at Luo Ran.

“The Admiral has kept things from me.” Luo Ran pulled him down by the chin and said with a smile: “The Admiral had designs on me since long ago.”

“…….” Lucas turned his head and scoffed coldly. “First let me say, I didn’t have anything to do with you before, so don’t go imagining things.”

“Really? Then someone as low as me could still be selected as Secretary of the Empire, ah?” Luo Ran said with a smile: “The Admiral is very good.”

“…….”

“Shen Xiluo brought that information to me!” Lucas attempted to argue.

Luo Ran paused.

Although it was Lucas who accepted him in the end, if there were no secret moves made by Shen Xiluo in the beginning, Lucas would not have been able to see it.

Why did Shen Xiluo do this?

Besides this, Luo Ran had another point of doubt. 

“Admiral, did you participate in the Alliance Sports Competition five years ago?”

“Alliance Sports Competition? There is such a strange thing?” Lucas frowned. “What are you talking about?”  

“Five years ago,” Luo Ran repeated. “There was a very grand sports competition five years ago, and also this year.”

“Yeah?” Lucas said indifferently: “I don’t remember.”

“The Admiral must remember……right, it was near the time Adjutant Wang got married.” Luo Ran said: “Does the Admiral remember what happened after Adjutant Wang got married?”

“That was when the star pirates entered the Luobing mountains.”

Because of Wang Qiuyang’s marriage, there was a small loophole in the defenses of the mountainous area at that time.

Lucas still remembered that battlefield.

But Luo Ran’s memory was very good. He said: “Wrong, that battle was nine months past Adjutant Wang’s wedding. Does the Admiral remember what he was doing?”

“How can I remember what happened so many years ago!” Lucas said: “But I don’t have any impression. Was it really that long?”

“En.”

It looked like Lucas didn’t remember either.

Luo Ran frowned slightly, and then asked: “Admiral, what happened with the wisteria flowers and the cabin you mentioned before?”

“It’s nothing.” Lucas raised an eyebrow and said: “Are you jealous?”

“No, I’m just asking casually. I know more about the Admiral than he does about himself, why would I be jealous?” Luo Ran smiled, and likely had his answer. 

Luo Ran then went to look for Shen Xiluo.

As a field doctor, Shen Xiluo followed Lucas most of the time, and was also currently on the battleship.

“Secretary Luo?” Shen Xiluo was still going over materials in the room, and was a little surprised by the arrival of Luo Ran.

“You’re a rare visitor.”

Luo Ran said with a smile: “Doctor Shen, I want to ask you a few questions.”

“Ask.” Shen Xiluo pushed up his glasses.

Luo Ran pulled up a chair and sat down, saying: “Dr. Shen passed by me in the recruitment building, and at first sight, he knew that I was a 3S Omega, right?”

Shen Xiluo was taken aback for a moment, and then said: “Yes.”

“At that time, the Admiral had just returned from the battlefield and lost Alton, and his spiritual strength was very unstable, so you deliberately selected me, right?”

“……Yes.”

“You hoped that I would help the Admiral, and I really did. In my second year as the Admiral’s secretary, he had a complete breakdown and lost control, so I teamed up with you to pull off a deception.” Luo Ran lowered his eyes and said: “I took him to live in the wisteria garden in the suburbs, isolated from the world, and I used my spiritual power to ease and repair the Admiral’s spiritual injury. The Admiral and I spent nine months there.”

Shen Xiluo frowned, then stood and said with a frown: “You remember?”

“Only a little bit, mostly based on clues.” Luo Ran smiled and said: “At that time, in order to hide my identity as an Omega, you lied to the Admiral and said you had created that white tea incense, so that I would not be discovered even if I released my pheromones. Of course, mainly because of that Admiral’s spiritual breakdown at that time, his mind was unclear and he didn’t notice.”

“Yes.” Shen Xiluo nodded.

Luo Ran went on to say: “And you and Lu Cheng kept it a secret because the enemy was invading at that time, and the Admiral hurt me by accident, didn’t he.”

“…….” Shen Xiluo didn’t speak.

Luo Ran’s mental gap and many years of spiritual trauma had been caused by Lucas.

Luo Ran couldn’t laugh or cry.

“Doctor Shen, did you really think I would mind?”

“At that time, the relationship between you and the Admiral was not as deep as it is now, and……” Shen Xiluo said: “The Admiral may mind very much.”

Luo Ran paused.

Soon after, Luo Ran said: “Then don’t say anything.”

After leaving Shen Xiluo’s office, Luo Ran leaned against the wall and couldn’t help but chuckle.

His spiritual power was attacked, and his memory was a little fuzzy.

But he remembered many bits and pieces.

For example—

He had received his first mark at that time.

---

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Chapter Seventy-Eight << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eighty

Not long after the bedside alarm rang, Bo Yueming woke up easily and turned it off.

He frowned for four or five seconds, and after forcibly driving away his drowsiness, he reconfirmed the time on his phone—

Eight o’clock in the morning.

Bo Yueming exhaled lightly, turning his attention back to the warm quilt.

His lover was leaning into his arms as usual. Most of his face was buried in the thick quilt, with only a bit of curled hair exposed, uniquely cute.

“Kitten.”

Bo Yueming stroked his lover’s hair, doting on him with a smile. “Wake up.”

Pei Yi, who was half asleep and half awake due to the alarm clock, misunderstood. He turned his back immediately and murmured, begging for mercy, “Won’t come, won’t come……”

“I, I’m going to be crippled, I really can’t hold on……”

“…….”

Bo Yueming smiled helplessly, and drew closer to tease, “Let me see, where are you crippled?”

Pei Yi shrank back under the quilt, dodging even more intensely as he sleep-talked, “Crippled, crippled. You’re fierce, I can’t.”

Bo Yueming lifted the quilt slightly and kissed his lover’s red earlobe. “Hey, I’m not joking, it’s time to get up. Didn’t you say that today is the first day of work after the new year, and you have a meeting at the studio?”

This half-month of annual leave, regardless of the length, had caused Bo Yueming’s biological clock to mess up for the first time.

But he kept his lover’s words in mind, and set the alarm clock for eight o’clock last night before going to bed.

“M-meeting?”

Pei Yi’s “career DNA” lurking in his bones finally rebooted, and his reasoning returned.

He opened his eyes in a daze, confirmed the situation in front of him, and then moved back into Bo Yueming’s embrace. “It’s all your fault.”

Bo Yueming couldn’t restrain his smile. “Huh?”

Pei Yi felt sore all over, and complained in a low voice, “If you break it, will you pay for it? There’s no good place on my entire body.”

He had joked on the night of New Year’s Eve, but the other party had taken it seriously.

From the start those few days ago, the two of them could still exercise restraint. During the day, they would normally go downstairs to walk the cat and go to Old Mrs. Bo’s main house for a meal.

Until New Year’s Eve—

Pei Yi understood the profound meaning of “misfortune comes from the mouth” for the first time, but he indulged in the other party’s caresses again and again.

Every night, he begged for mercy with an empty head.

Bo Yueming disagreed with him for once. “Little Sir, which time didn’t you hear me saying you didn’t have to? Didn’t I give you time to rest these two days?”

After the bit of fuss the morning before, they went to bed like usual in the evening.

Pei Yi neither listened nor owned up to it. “In any case, it’s not my fault.”

Bo Yueming said, “Okay, it’s my fault.”

Pei Yi’s eyelids drooped, and he couldn’t open them. He said in a teasingly spoiled manner, “Mr. Bo, I don’t want to work hard anymore. You can make money to support me.”

“Okay, ah.” Bo Yueming knew he was joking, but responded cooperatively.

Pei Yi hummed happily. “What time is it?”

“Ten past eight.”

Bo Yueming patted his shoulder twice, and said patiently, “Kitten, it’s really time to get up. Otherwise, do you want me to call and ask for leave, and say the reason is that—”

“N-No leave!”

Pei Yi stubbornly sat up from under the quilt. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Inspector still sleeping comfortably in the cat nest, and suddenly slumped onto Bo Yueming’s body, unbalanced.

“Er-ge.”

Bo Yueming saw that he was having a hard time getting up, and still pampered him. “I’ll take you to wash up, okay? You’ll wake up more after.”

Pei Yi quickly nodded. “En.”

Before transmigrating, it was difficult for Pei Yi to get up easily during the day because he stayed up every night to create games. But every time he had a serious job during the day, he would still force himself to get up and take a shower.

Unexpectedly, after dating Bo Yueming for a few months, he had completely transformed into an early morning lazybones.

Pei Yi hooked his lover’s shoulders and suddenly remembered an insult he had seen on the internet before—

Being spoiled in love made a person armless and legless!

After Bo Yueming announced that he had recovered his eyesight, driver Lao Fu had more free time, for no other reason than that his boss liked to personally send his Little Sir to work.

The car stopped outside the main entrance of the building where the studio was located.

“Thank you for your hard work, Bo-shifu.”

Pei Yi smiled and unlatched his seatbelt, asking casually, “Er-ge, I think I need to hurry up and take the driver’s license test. What do you think?”

The original owner had been a fool for many years, and didn’t have many “skill certificates.” Even his education was bought for him with Old Mr. Pei’s money and contacts so that he wouldn’t lose face.

Pei Yi didn’t agree with this approach, of course, but fortunately his own knowledge reserves were still sufficient.

He really wanted to learn new things, and could also make the effort.

Bo Yueming replied, “It depends on what you want. Even if you find it troublesome and don’t want to take the test, that’s fine. I’ll take you wherever you want to go, and if I’m not able to, there is also Lao Fu.”

“Okay, let’s wait for a bit.” Pei Yi looked at the phone. It was 8:55. “I’ll go up first.”

In any case, it was the first workday of the year, so he couldn’t be late in front of his employees.

Bo Yueming quickly grabbed his hand, leaning over to kiss him gently. “Go, call me if you need anything.”

“En.”

Pei Yi got out of the car and hurried into the building.

The elevator went up and paused at the first floor, and as soon as the door opened, Pei Yi ran into Li Yuan.

They hadn’t seen each other for a while. Li Yuan obviously had a little more flesh on his cheeks, and the wolf tail that the other party had grown long years ago was also cut short, but the small puff looked as cute as ever.

Pei Yi exchanged smiles with his friend and walked in. “Little Mr. Li, why are you here at the last minute today?”

Li Yuan covered his lips in an odd way and explained vaguely, “There was a bit of a traffic jam.”

Pei Yi raised his eyebrows slightly, and his eyes unconsciously fell on the other’s right foot. “Is it better? Did you drive yourself this morning?”

“After a half month’s rest, it’s much better.”

Li Yuan only answered the first half of the sentence, then changed the subject deliberately and looked at himself in the elevator mirror. “Pei Yi, do you think I’m getting fatter?”

Pei Yi nodded cooperatively. “En, your cheeks have improved a bit. That’s pretty good.”

Li Yuan said half-truthfully, “During the holiday, Brother sent me soup and food every couple of days.”

Especially bone broth and pig trotter soup. There was a big pot of it every time, and he couldn’t exercise, so he gained a lot of weight in just half a month.

These remarks sounded indifferent on the surface, but there was closeless hidden within them.

Pei Yi joked, “What? Brother only brought food to you? I’ll send him a WeChat message now.”

As he spoke, he really opened Qin Yishun’s WeChat account without being polite at all, and tapped out a sentence—

“Brother, you’re biased, you only sent food to Pear Garden.”

Then, in front of Li Yuan, he sent the message.

Li Yuan smiled, and complained, “Childish.”

The elevator stopped at the floor of YWY Studios.

The two restrained their teasing and stepped into the studio one after another.

Xian Nancheng and Lou Yang, who they hadn’t seen in some time, were sharing materials. The latter saw the two titular “bosses” and greeted them with a smile.

“You’re finally here. Happy New Year.”

“Sister Yang, Brother Xiang, long time no see,” Pei Yi greeted. “Especially Brother Xiang, you worked hard on the New Year.”

Xiang Nansheng put on his black-rimmed glasses and said, “It wasn’t hard, it was as it should be.”

Li Yuan confirmed the time. “The team leads of all the departments are ready. We’ll have a meeting in half an hour.”

“Okay, Little Mister Li.”

They spoke in harmony.

Pei Yi sensed Li Yuan’s gradually growing confidence, and hooked his shoulders, responding, “Okay, Mr. Li.”

Li Yuan replied in the presence of all, “Mr. Yi, don’t be like this.”

Laughter came one after another. The atmosphere in the studio was very relaxed. Lou Yang and Xiang Nansheng looked at each other, and both had the same thought—

Compared to the kind of game studios where the top and bottom positions were obvious and the bosses were strict, this sort of atmosphere was better for the happiness of the employees.

. . . . . . .

Half an hour later, the meeting began.

The content of the first meeting of the year was very clear-cut. First, they summarized the holiday data of The Last Fog 1.0, and then clarified the monthly preparations for The Last Fog 2.0 mobile game version.

There were only four month before the mobile game launch that they had planned for June.

However, as early as when the studio had started version 1.0, Pei Yi and Lou Yang had simultaneously refined the NPC characters and story structure, so one-third of the project had been completed.

“I suggest that we recruit two or three more technical programmers as soon as possible to share the work pressure.”

As the technical director, Xiang Nansheng said bluntly, “In addition, the servers in the studio need to be greatly expanded.”

Compared to the stand-alone version 1.0, the mobile 2.0 version would greatly enhance the interactive experience, and data processing would be cumbersome and complicated.

The server expansion and increase was not only in preparation for the 2.0 mobile game, but also for the future 3.0 online game.

When Xiang Nansheng was still at Youming Studios, their most popular mobile game “Search for Another World” completely crashed because the server was out of operation, leading to problems such as large-scale disconnections and freezes among players.

It was because of this occurrence that Xiang Nansheng and Ke Ming had a falling out, and the former didn’t want to encounter such problems at his new job.

Pei Yi’s style was to always be serious during work meetings. “Director Xiang, don’t worry. Mr. Li and I will find people to implement these two points as soon as possible.”

He looked around. “If there are no problems, let’s end the meeting here. Everyone had worked hard.”

Before they knew it, they had already completed a two-hour meeting.

Li Yuan remembered something, and added, “The others can leave. Director Lou and Director Xiang, please stay for a while.”

In contrast, they were the real core components of the studio.

Soon, there were only the four of them left in the conference room.

Pei Yi looked at his friend beside him. “Pear Garden, what is it?”

“I have something I want to discuss with you—”

Li Yuan connected his computer to the projector screen and opened a saved page. “Here, take a look.”

Pei Yi concentrated on the large characters at the top of the homepage. “China Original Game Design Competition?”

Li Yuan nodded, explaining his thoughts, “Should we take The Last Fog 2.0 and participate in the competition?”

Pei Yi and Lou Yuang’s gazes happened to meet, and they saw the confusion in each other’s eyes.

One of them was a transmigrator, and the other had stayed overseas all year round, so they weren’t familiar with the competitions in the Chinese game circle.

Xiang Nansheng was the most familiar with this competition among them, and took the initiative to say, “This original game design competition has been going on for seven years. It’s the ultimate original game design award in the Chinese game circle, with three places to win each session.”

“Nearly all the hottest games on the market have participated and won awards, and there are free project funds and support afterward.”

High value, high player trust, and good benefits after winning the prize.

Two years ago, Xiang Nansheng and Ke Ming participated in the sixth selection with “Search for Another World,” but unfortunately lost in the final round amongst five entries.

Even so, Ke Ming took the title of “Top 5 Finalist in the Chinese Game Design Competition” and still launched the game “Search for Another World.”

It could be seen that even without an award, it was a good thing to be shortlisted until the last moment.

“If we participate in the competition and win a prize, we’ll be able to have extra publicity for The Last Fog project. Is that your intent, Pear Garden?”

There were no outsiders for the moment, and none of them were formal when addressing the others.

Li Yuan nodded. “That’s right, Brother Xiang!”

“After all, our studio is newly established and does not yet have a reputation inside or outside the circle. No matter how good The Last Fog 1.0 is, most players won’t remember our studio.”

Since their original game was not backed by a top company, they must find a way to create honors and achievements for themselves.

Li Yuan looked around, and finally locked eyes on his friend. “Our game can be exposed step by step after it goes online, but since we have the opportunity to create exposure in advance, why not give it a try?”

Pei Yi’s eyes flickered slightly. “Who says we won’t try? Haven’t I just heard about this? Since it’s a competition, isn’t there a registration process and deadline?”

“It’s ten days after tomorrow. Twenty participating games will be screened and accepted within a week, and an invitation letter will be sent to the producer.”

The location of the competition was set in Haishi every year. There would be a business conference first, then a screening, and finally, the winners would be announced and subsequent exposure and support would be provided.

Getting the general idea, Pei Yi was certain. “Then let’s hurry and sign up. When we’re shortlisted, Pear Garden and I will take a trip to Haishi.”

Lou Yang asked with a smile, “You’re so confident we’ll be shortlisted? Aren’t you afraid we’ll be eliminated in the first screening?”

Faced with this teasing, Pei Yi did not show any lack of confidence. “Sister Yang, we’re rushing to win the prize.”

They had worked hard for such a long time. If they were eliminated in the initial screening, then everyone in the studio would have to change careers.

What Lou Yang admired most was Pei Yi’s wild self-confidence. “En, we’re rushing to win the prize!”

Pei Yi heard movement outside the conference room, and at once changed his words to say cutely, “Okay, before we win the prize, let’s fill our stomachs first. I’m hungry.”

Li Yuan closed the computer and quickly said, “I agree.”

. . . . . . .

The information and certificates for YWY Studios were completed in their entirety, including the settings of the Last Fog game, so the registration process was very smooth.

Within a week, Pei Yi learned the news of their successful nomination from his friend.

Bo Yueming said next to him, “What are you smiling about? Is the pig trotter soup that Mr. Qin gave you so delicious?”

“Of course it’s delicious, try it—”

Pei Yi moved closer with the small bowl and took the initiative to feed his lover. “But I’m not smiling because of this.”

Bo Yueming drank the fresh soup. “Then what are you smiling about?”

Pei Yi briefly explained how the game was entered and shortlisted before mentioning the main point, “Li Yuan and I will go to Haishi in two days.”

Bo Yueming’s eyes shifted slightly, and he asked in detail, “When? How many day?”

“Um…..”

Pei Yi thought about the specific dates. “We’ll leave this Sunday and come back next Friday. It may take five to six days round-trip.”

“…….”

Bo Yueming went a bit silent upon hearing this timeframe.

Pei Yi put down the soup bowl and asked uncertainly, “Er-ge, do you not want me to go?”

“That’s not it, if you’re willing to pursue career advancement, of course I’ll support you.” Bo Yuemign feared that he would misunderstand, so he explained earnestly, “It’s just that I can’t go with you during this time.”

Old Mrs. Bo’s health was not as good as it was before her illness, and the main branch had just been uprooted, so the position of chairman had been temporarily handed over to Bo Yueming.

As for the position of general manager, it was completely handed over to Bo Jiao, and Bo Wang, who had just joined the group, changed his spoiled temperament and started as a project assistant.

Three new executives had taken office, and Bo Yueming was very busy during this time.

Pei Yi chuckled. “You have your career, and I have mine. There’s no need for you to accompany me.”

Bo Yueming spoke what was in his heart. “I’m afraid you’ll be in danger.”

He really didn’t want to experience the danger and fear of the past for a third time.

“Er-ge.” Pei Yi held Bo Yueming’s face and said word by word, “I’ll be there to participate in a game competition, not to fight for the assets of some wealthy family. How could it be so easy for me to get into trouble?”

“Pear Garden will be with me the whole time, and the organizers also have security measures in place.”

Bo Yueming knew this was the case, and said in a nearly inaudible voice, “En.”

Pei Yi saw that his lover still had doubts, so he took the initiative to raise his hand and say, “Er-ge, I will send you a message every morning, noon, and night to report that I’m safe.”

“This is a must.”

Bo Yueming pinched Pei Yi’s earlobe lightly and discussed with him, “Kitten, let me talk to Mr. Qin about the situation and ask the STS Haishi branch to send a couple of people to protect you secretly, okay?”

Pei Yi had originally wanted to say that it wasn’t necessary, but at Bo Yueming’s anxious and pleading look, he could only respond, “Okay.”

After saying so, he leaned closer and kissed the person in front of him. “Er-ge, don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

“En.”

. . . . . . . .

The China Original Game Design Competition had received backing from the relevant departments to be held for the eighth time in a row.

This year’s organizers had increased their investment and directly contracted the airline tickets and hotel accommodation expenses for the various game producers.

The flight arrived at the Haishi airport at 8:30 in the evening.

Pei Yi donned his mask and peaked cap again, and walked through the airport with his friend.

While they walked, Pei Yi took advantage of this time to ask, “Li Yuan, while we’re in Haishi, keep calling me by my game ID.”

“The fewer people who know my real name, the better.”

Li Yuan responded with a smile, “I understand, didn’t you explain it to me a long time ago? I even used your English ID name on the form I submitted to the organizers.”

The Chinese game circle was all-encompassing, and many game masters used nicknames. The competition organizers had no restrictions in this area.

Li Yuan asked, “Why don’t you want to reveal your real name?”

Pei Yi replied, “No particular reason. It’s just that I’m used to using the Will ID to mix in the circle, and everyone might be relatively familiar with it.”

So far, the games developed by Pei Yi had filled in the production column of his ID, and there had previously been a small wave of popularity on Weibo and game forums.

In a conference event with gamers, it was more convenient to take out the ID.

Other than that, Pei Yi deliberately kept his secret because—

He and Bo Yueming were lovers, and the latter was temporarily the top executive chairman of Bo Group.

The status of such a “wealthy family” was too well-known, and he might be envied by others or plotted against by people with ambitions.

Since he worked hard for his career, in terms of family background, the less people knew, the better.

As soon as the two walked outside the pick-up gate, they caught sight of the staff sent by the organizer holding a sign to pick them up. The two sides briefly introduced themselves, and then headed to their reservation at the five-star hotel.

In the car, Pei Yi brought up business. “Xiao Chen, may I ask, is the list of the shortlisted games and producers out yet?”

“The organizers intend to officially reveal them at the opening ceremony tomorrow morning.”

The staff member Xiao Chen answered while driving, “But they aren’t deliberately hiding them—”

“Tomorrow morning is the opening ceremony, and other than those from Haishi, other game producers from abroad have already checked into the hotels arranged by us.”

“Teacher Will, Mr. Li, perhaps you will meet some game masters later whom you know or who are familiar with your ID.”

“En.”

Pei Yi and Li Yuan looked at each other, and saw the expectations in each other’s eyes.

In this sort of game competition, the first part was a learning exchange, and the second part was the competition and awards.

It was almost ten o’clock when they arrived at the hotel and checked in.

“Teachers, I won’t follow you up. You should rest well tonight. If you need anything, you can contact me on WeChat at any time.”

Xiao Cheng’s footsteps paused at the elevator door as he recalled something. “By the way, there is a 24-hour buffet on the eighth floor of the hotel. You can enter by reporting your room number.”

Li Yuan nodded. “Thank you for your hard work.”

The double room in this hotel was quite spacious and tidy. Pei Yi put down his luggage and invited, “Pear Garden, want to go down and eat something?”

In any case, it wasn’t a familiar bed, so he wouldn’t be able to sleep right away tonight.

Li Yuan also felt hungry. “All right.”

Having reached an agreement, the two left the room.

Pei Yi picked up his cell phone as they walked. “I’ll call home to report my safety.”

Li Yuan feigned disgust. “Be careful where you’re going, don’t drop your phone.”

Pei Yi scoffed. His eyes remained on the phone, his fingers tapping quickly—

“Er-ge, I’ve arrived at the hotel and everything is going well. Now I’m going to eat some supper at the hotel restaurant with Pear Garden.”

“By the way, this is the address and room of the hotel. You’re welcome to send someone to do the guard rounds at any time.”

The return message on WeChat came very quickly. It seemed that Bo Yueming had been waiting for him to message—

“Don’t eat too much before bed, your stomach will be uncomfortable. If you can’t sleep, just take out my jacket.”

When Pei Yi saw the second sentence, his cheeks burned.

He glanced covertly at his friend, for fear of being caught by the other party.

It was always difficult for Pei Yi to fall asleep in a strange bed, but it would be too much to bring the quilt for a business trip that was less than a week—

So, when he was packing his luggage the night before, he secretly stuffed Bo Yueming’s coat in, thinking that he would put it next to the pillow or under the quilt as he slept, so that he could fall asleep with a familiar sense of stability.

The phone vibrated again. Bo Yueming on the other side had sent a picture of Inspector soundly asleep.

Ever since the two got together, Inspector could only sleep in the cat nest every night, but tonight was one of the rare times it could occupy the foot of the bed.

“Little Sir, Inspector misses you very much.”

Pei Yi looked at this silliness that had come immediately, and understood the deeper meaning behind it. A deep smile appeared in his eyes.

“Then tell Inspector for me that I miss him too.”

Ding—

The elevator door opened.

Li Yuan, who was standing in front, put his phone down first and reminded, “We’re here.”

“En.”

Pei Yi followed his friend out the door, and suddenly caught sight of a figure around the corner.

It was someone inexplicably familiar.

---

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Chapter Seventy-Seven <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy-Nine

The Dawn’s Gate Sect was neither big nor small in the Central Plains martial arts circle. The leader, Zhao Xiang, was well-known for having a loud voice, and could talk to everyone he saw like a brother, as if he had a friendship with everyone in the world. It was not surprising that such a person would be targeted by the Baifu Sect.

“Uncle Zhao.” Chang Xiaoqiu knocked on the door and asked politely, “May I come in?”

Zhao Xiang opened the door. At this time, there were no guests in the room, and there were only two hot cups of tea on the table. He asked: “What is it?”

“Just now, someone rushed to knock on my door, and then left in a hurry,” Chang Xiaoqiu said. “I was worried that something had happened, so I came over to check.”

“It’s alright, come in.” Zhao Xiang had no doubts about this explanation. He knew that with Chang Xiaoqiu’s martial arts, it was absolutely impossible for him to slip out of his window and return to the next room in such a short period of time, so he only judged the abnormal noise as some kind of animal.

The room door was closed.

In another room, Liu Xian’an asked: “Does the prince think that Chang Xiaoqiu can convince the other party?”

Liang Shu said: “It should be fine. It’s only a meal, and Chang Xiaoqiu can be regarded as a member of the Baifu Sect at present. If Zhao Xiang still wants to ask for money from Chang Wanli, it won’t be too unsightly on the surface.”

The two waited for a short period of time before Chang Xiaoqiu returned. Sure enough, Zhao Xiang did not refuse his request, but only said that he must obey the rules during the banquet and not talk or wander around.

His face was flushed, as if something major had been accomplished. He stood upright as if waiting for His Royal Highness Xiao Wang to assign him a new task, and actively asked: “Is there anything I should say at the banquet?”

“No need, so as not to alert the enemy,” Liang Shu said. “This lord will go with you.”

Chang Xiaoqiu became increasingly excited, so much so that Liu Xian’an wanted to give him two needles, so that the young man would not pass out due to excessive emotion. But Chang Xiaoqiu was not willing to have his attention diverted, and just continued to gaze at Liang Shu with blazing zeal. If not for the wrong timing and half-dead father back home wanting to cultivate to immortality, he wanted to talk endlessly about his grand dreams and immediately ride a fast horse to the Northwest and become a long sword piercing the clouds to guard the country’s border.

He was excited to this extent into the evening.

Liu Xian’an did not go along, but waited for the two of them at the inn. After a while, a guard of Xiao Wang Palace reported that a carriage had picked up Zhao Xiang and Chang Xiaoqiu and brought them to Yang Manor in the north of the city.

“Yang Manor?”

“Yes. After making some inquiries, we found that the owner of the manor is named Yang Yao, a well known jade merchant in the city. He goes to Cuili City to sell goods now and then, and his business is very big. Aside from Zhao Xiang, the guests attending the banquet tonight all drove carriages out from various inns, and the rough estimate is that there are about twenty to thirty people.”

Twenty or thirty people could already be regarded as a large banquet.

At this time, Yang Manor was already decorated with lamps and festoons, and there were many guests.

Chang Xiaoqiu followed Zhao Xiang inside. The banquet was not in the front hall, but down one corridor and then another, and then they entered a dark, empty room with no windows at all. The two came late, and when they were seated, there were already more than a dozen people at the banquet. However, they didn’t converse with one another, and only sat quietly, looking at people from the corners of their eyes and sizing them up.

Chang Xiaoqiu gazed around for a moment, and then quickly looked away. This room was tightly guarded, and he didn’t know if the prince could follow him in, but even if he couldn’t follow, this did not affect his brave and invincible image of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang. Chang Xiaoqiu sat with his back straight, with a sense of having a mission to accomplish, because if the prince didn’t follow him in, then the rest was up to him!

“Cough.” Someone coughed from the next chair, and the group immediately became quieter. At this time, an old man wearing brocade robes walked out slowly. It was Yang Yao, the owner of Yang Manor. It stood to reason that he was just a merchant, a lord who had no status no matter how rich he was. Presently, he looked as dignified as an emperor, and everyone had to stand up and salute him.

“Greeting Holy Envoy Yang!”

“Dispense with the courtesies, everyone, sit down.” Yang Yao raised his hand. “Since you were invited to come here, you must have contributed to the growth of my teachings. You are one of us, and you need not be restrained.”

Chang Xiaoqiu sat back down on his chair. The dishes were all well-prepared, with a rich and fragrant aroma, but few people ate and no one spoke. He thought to himself, what are you all doing here? Sitting here hurts my ass. “Holy Envoy Yang” at the head seat began to speak again, talking about the teachings of the Baifu Sect in a vain and boring way. After talking nonsense for a long time about sisters and brothers loving one another, he finally got to the point and asked everyone at the banquet to remove their disguises and show their true selves to the others.

As soon as these words were uttered, the scene immediately became a little more uneasy and oppressive. As Liu Xian’an had guessed before, since they chose to cover their faces, it meant that each was a person of status in the Central Plains. The Baifu Sect was presently classified as a cult by the Imperial court. If others knew who they were…..they were a little hesitant, and nobody wanted to go first.

 But Chang Xiaoqiu was very straightforward. He had long wanted to see what kinds of fools believed in that greedy and twisted holy lady. So he slapped the table and stood up, tore the mask from his face, and raised his arms with a shout of, “Baifu Buddha Mother, save the common people!” He was proactive and pious. Zhao Xiang couldn’t even stop him if he tried, and sat aside to stare angrily.

Yang Yao laughed and applauded: “Good, good, little brother, that’s very good! What is your name, which sect do you come from?”

“I am the young head of the Wanli Escort Bureau, Chang Xiaoqiu!”

“It turns out to be the young head of an escort bureau. Heroes truly do come from the youth, how refreshing!” Yang Yao glanced around the table. “What about the rest of you?”

“…….”

There was no way to hide. After a dead silence, a second person removed his mask. 

Then a third.

Then a fourth.

More and more faces appeared, and Chang Xiaoqiu looked at them one by one, inwardly surprised. He had originally thought that his father had been stimulated, and the Baifu Sect took advantage of that, but among the group of people attending the banquet tonight, there were many leaders of great sects. How had even these people lost their minds? They had entered the water and were willing to be commanded and controlled by this old man surnamed Yang. If he said to take off the mask, they would take off the mask……when it came to controlling people’s hearts, cults really had skill.

“Good, hahahaha!” Yang Yao laughed again. “After seeing one another’s true faces, you will truly be regarded as my Baifu disciples in the future! Come!”

As soon as he clapped his hands, one of his subordinates immediately brought a large jug of wine. After opening it, Yang Yao didn’t pour it for everyone, but took a dagger and cut his finger, sprinkling blood into the wine. “Now it is your turn.”

Starting from the first chair, the disciples held the wine and cut their hands to bleed. Chang Xiaoqiu did as commanded, with an ominous premonition in his heart. This stuff couldn’t be for drinking……right?

It really was for drinking.

After everyone had mixed in their blood, the light red wine was poured into each of their cups. The candlelight danced, making the shadows on the walls look like some kind of hideous beasts.

Chang Xiaoqiu picked up the wine cup. It was like holding a cup of thick syrup scooped up from hell, overwhelming his stomach, and he really wanted to run away on the spot.

His hands trembled slightly, and his fingers were pale.

“Baifu Buddha Mother, save the common people!”

His ears were full of people’s shouts.

. . . . . . 

The night was already very deep.

The brazier in the room was a bit hot, but Liu Xian’an didn’t feel sleepy, so he went out to get some fresh air. The entire back courtyard was surrounded by people from Xiao Wang Palace, so it was extremely quiet. He had just found a chair to sit in when two people suddenly dropped down from the wall. When one of them landed, he staggered to the corner of the wall and vomited desperately. Inside the room, A-Ning was shocked and ran out to see what had happened.

Liu Xian’an asked: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing happened, he just ate something unclean.” Liang Shu said, “Go and pour him something to wash his mouth.”

A-Ning made a sound of acknowledgement and hurriedly helped Chang Xiaoqiu to the room. Liu Xian’an asked further: “What did he eat? It looks as if there were poisonous insects at that banquet.”

“I’m afraid it wasn’t as good as poisonous insects.” Liang Shu gave him a rough summary of what had happened that night. “He just gritted his teeth and drank it, without letting the others see any abnormalities.”

“Who were the people at the banquet?”

“All of them were from the jianghu, similar to Zhao Xiang, and many were of higher status than him.”

Liang Shu said: “Before, you and I were still guessing why the Baifu Sect chose a lonely and dangerous peak as the location to worship the saint, but now we have our answer. It turns out that it is not just a test for believers. They bothered to win over such a large number of martial arts practitioners, and it is clear that their next step is to make trouble for the Imperial court.”

Once there was chaos in the Central Plains jianghu, it would obviously be more serious than chaos in a town or city. Liu Xian’an asked: “Then what is the prince’s next plan?”

Liang Shu said: “We’ll go and meet that holy Baifu maiden who confuses people’s hearts first.”

Liu Xian’an reminded: “But this time, if the prince still wants to follow in secret, I’m afraid it will be tricky.”

He tugged Liang Shu by the sleeve into the room, where there was a map spread out on the table. “Just now, I was studying the terrain of White Crown. It is a lone peak, like a writing brush stuck into the flat ground. There are only two climbing paths, and if the Baifu Sect people have the slightest bit of brains, they will have them guarded. The prince can only go up the mountain from here.”

Liang Shu asked: “Here won’t work?”

“It might, but it will be dangerous.” Liu Xian’an frowned. “The poisonous miasma and forest of thorns at the top of White Crown are all located at this area, and even animals find it extremely difficult to climb.”

Liang Shu pondered for a moment: “Actually, it may not be necessary to go up this way.”

Liu Xian’an looked at the map again: “But there is no other way.”

Liang Shu moved his face closer: “Give me a kiss, and afterward I’ll tell you where the path is.”

Second Young Master Liu was very unrestrained in this respect, because he himself wanted to kiss him very much and it could not be considered a disadvantage. Thus, he simply kissed him twice and asked: “Where is the path?”

Liang Shu, however, was tickled by this sensation of a dragonfly touching the water lightly, and grabbed this person to have him sit on his lap, needing to hold him before he could say anything. Liu Xian’an couldn’t sit still for a moment, and wrapped one arm around his shoulders and braced one hand against the table. He looked up just in time to see Chang Xiaoqiu come in, and asked him: “Young Head Escort Chang, are you feeling better?”

Chang Xiaoqiu had just been through a round of vomiting, and was very weak. His mind was not clear, and he just let out a flimsy “En” and moved a chair over to sit down, looking at the two cordially.

He didn’t see anything improper about the ambiguous sitting postures of His Royal Highness Xiao Wang and the miracle doctor.

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Chapter Seventy-Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy-Eight