Zhongsun Ce’s voice rose higher and higher. “A’Mou is missing, and all signs point to disaster, yet he’s still being mocked all over Lingxu City! Even the rabble in the Lower City now dares point fingers at our family! Do they think they’re fit to?”

Zhongsun Chi’s hand was trembling, yet this time he used his staff to strike him. “I asked you a question. What exactly were you doing just now?”

“I went to teach Fushan Yue a lesson.” Seeing the old man glare, Zhongsun Ce hurriedly added, “I didn’t lay a hand on him. I only meant to make that fellow surnamed He beside him suffer a little! I went to kill the chicken to warn the monkey!”

He knew well enough that Fushan Yue had entered Lingxu City under orders from the ruler of Chiyan and was here on important business, which made him inconvenient to target directly.

Still, he found the so-called “special envoy” at Fushan Yue’s side even more hateful and deserving of death than Fushan Yue himself. After all, the special envoy had been the one who had exposed his brother’s collusion with Cen Boqing in coaching false testimony at Baishajue.

If not for that meddling bastard, Second Brother would have escorted Fu Songhua back to Lingxu City to report in, and none of this mess would ever have happened.

Killing him would serve as a good warning to Fushan Yue.

“That fellow surnamed He is the one who ruined Second Brother...”

“How did the Zhongsun Family ever produce an idiot like you?!” Zhongsun Chi could scarcely believe it. Before Zhongsun Ce had even finished, the old man’s staff came down in a rain of blows. One of them slipped from his grip and cracked across Zhongsun Ce’s nose bridge, sending blood streaming down his face at once.

“Withdraw it! Withdraw your arrangements, immediately!” The old man was so furious, so anxious, and had put so much force into the beating that his breath now came unevenly.

He was old, after all. Zhongsun Mou had only managed to prolong his life by buying back the elixir of youth from Qingfu Temple for him. Otherwise, his natural lifespan would have already claimed him, and this decaying old body of his would long since have been given to the sea.

The maid beside him hurried over to rub his chest and pat his back, then fed him a medicinal paste to restore his breathing and ease the flow of saliva and qi.

Zhongsun Ce lowered his head and stood in silence.

After a long while, Zhongsun Chi finally let out a deep breath and said, “Do you think I don’t know how ugly the rumors outside have grown? But the more things are like this, the less Fushan Yue and that brat surnamed He can be touched! If anything happens to either of them, all suspicion will turn on us at once! Deputy Cloud Envoy Bai is already watching us closely because of how slowly the elixir of youth investigation is moving. If the Crown Prince of Chiyan comes to harm now, do you think he’ll let us go without digging into us?”

Zhongsun Ce opened his mouth as if to speak, then stopped.

“The Lord Emperor already suspects I’ve used the elixir of youth in private. What good does it do our family if we give him even more reason to look on us with dislike at a time like this?” Zhongsun Chi’s beard was trembling with rage. “If you kill the man under Fushan Yue’s hand, will A’Mou come back? Can you guarantee that doing so will avenge him?”

Zhongsun Ce hesitated, then asked, “Great-Grandfather, have you really taken the elixir of youth?”

“Of course not!” Zhongsun Chi denied it in one breath, though inwardly cold seeped through him.

If that matter were ever proven, the Zhongsun Family would face catastrophe. The Lord Emperor might still show some regard for old ties, but the gods were never anything but cold and ruthless.

“But...” Zhongsun Ce swallowed the rest of what he had intended to say, and at last changed tack. “I’ll go withdraw the arrangements right now.”

Zhongsun Chi went on, “Fushan Yue truly has gone too far. After you withdraw whatever it is you did, you can go find the Fan brothers.”

Light flashed through Zhongsun Ce’s eyes. “Great-Grandfather is right. Fan Sheng and Fan Bao were publicly defeated by that He fellow. They’ve lost even more face than we have. Commander Fan definitely won’t be able to swallow that.”

“No hurry. We’ll plan everything carefully.” Zhongsun Chi urged him, “First, withdraw your arrangements. Go, quickly!” If only these younger generations had even twenty percent of human cunning and slipperiness, I wouldn’t have to worry like this.

Zhongsun Ce could not withstand the pressure and finally bowed before turning to leave.

But before he had even cleared the second gate, he nearly collided with a house servant rushing in from outside.

His face darkened. “Watch where you’re going!”

“This servant was wrong, this servant has no eyes, this servant was in a hurry!” The servant immediately rattled off a triple apology, then craned his neck toward Zhongsun Chi behind him. “Old Master, urgent news!”

Zhongsun Chi had no patience for urgent news, but still said, “Speak.”

“Important word has just come up from the Lower City. The post station in the southern quarter has exploded!” The servant was still panting. “The very one where the Crown Prince of Chiyan is staying! It exploded!”

“What did you say!” Zhongsun Chi surged to his feet so abruptly that he did not even reach for his staff. “Who was killed?”

“No one’s been reported dead.” That line made Zhongsun Chi let out a long breath, but the servant immediately added, “Though someone under the Crown Prince is said to have been injured.”

Zhongsun Chi snatched up his staff and struck Zhongsun Ce across the body with the backhand of it. “You wretch, kneel!”

Zhongsun Ce was horrified. “Great-Grandfather, it wasn’t—”

Before the word “me” could leave his mouth, he remembered the servant was still standing right there and immediately pointed outside. “Get out!”

Only after the servant scurried well away did he drop to his knees with a thud. “Great-Grandfather, this definitely wasn’t me!”

“If it was, then say it was. If it wasn’t, then say it wasn’t. Why even bother with ‘definitely’?” Zhongsun Chi glared furiously. “Who did you send to deal with He Xiao? And how were they supposed to do it?”

“I found two men through Silver Pine Gambling House in the Lower City. Even if they were exposed, the trail wouldn’t lead back to me.” Zhongsun Ce spoke very quickly. “But this He Xiao, people say that Cen Boqing used a curse master against him and the curse master suffered backlash instead. Also, even Fan Sheng failed to beat him down, so I figured he wasn’t afraid of spells, and his martial strength was high as well. That’s why I told them to use poison. Great-Grandfather knows me. A method like an explosion is far too conspicuous. I would never use it.”

Zhongsun Chi let out a low grunt. The boy’s words at least had some logic to them. “Not a single word of this leaked?”

“Not a single one!”

Zhongsun Chi’s eyes flickered. “Then who could have done it?”

The Cen Family? Or Yao Xingning?

Zhongsun Ce shook his head. “Even if no one died on Fushan Yue’s side, this still taught them a lesson. They shouldn’t be strutting through Lingxu City with their tails in the air.”

Zhongsun Chi said coldly, “Who taught whom a lesson? Do you think Fushan Yue will swallow this quietly? You clashed with him and even came to blows at Dun Garden just days ago. Do you think he won’t suspect you?”

“Uh...”

“If he suspects you, then the government offices investigating on his behalf will suspect our family as well!” Zhongsun Chi pressed a hand to his brow. “Those two men you hired through the gambling house, did they make a move already or not? Don’t let the investigators scoop them up along with everything else!”

“I’ll go ask at once.”

“And if they have already acted—” Zhongsun Chi’s wrist turned sharply, drawing a slicing arc through the air.

“Your great-grandson understands.”

* * * 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Several hours earlier.

The post station was a sea of flames.

In the depth of night, that explosion had thundered loud enough to shake the heavens. Every nearby resident, whether human or monster, had been jolted awake.

This was the post station district, where foreign envoys were concentrated.

The last time anything had happened in this district, it had merely been two petty thieves sneaking in to steal valuables, yet the whole city had still been mobilized to hunt them down. Hundreds of constables chased them down, driving them out by sheer force of numbers, and in the end, the government offices passed especially severe judgment, both thieves losing a hand.

Everyone knew this was not a place to start trouble.

And now, of all things, a nighttime explosion?

The county commandant of the south city government office lived nearby. He was personally jolted awake by the blast, threw on his clothes, and hurried over at top speed.

By the time he arrived, the fire had only just been extinguished. Gray smoke still drifted over the site, and fragments whirled through the air, stung people’s eyes in the wind, and mixed with the pungent smell of explosives until noses ran and tears streamed.

The county commandant was more nervous than anyone. “What happened? Was anyone hurt?”

If something went wrong at the post station, then his official post was at risk right along with it.

“The special envoy of the Crown Prince of Chiyan and two guards were injured. The blast originated in the east wing on the second floor, the room nearest the street corner.” A subordinate pointed out the location. “That room was some distance from the others, so no other guests were hurt. The kitchen and wood storage room below happened to be empty as well.”

As he strode inward, the county commandant asked, “Was His Highness the Crown Prince injured?”

“No. He was far from the blast site.” The constable answered, “We’ve sent men to keep searching the point of origin in case there’s more explosive powder that hasn’t gone off yet.”

The county commandant let out a long breath and entered another row of guest rooms.

The original quarters were no longer safe, so after the explosion, Fushan Yue and the others were temporarily moved there.

The county commandant immediately paid his respects to the Crown Prince of Chiyan and inquired after his well-being.

Fushan Yue’s expression was cold as ice. “It’s only been eight years since I last came to Lingxu City, and public order has already deteriorated this badly? People now dare strike even at the post station?”

In the chill of late autumn, cold sweat broke out instantly down the county commandant’s back.

“This humble official will absolutely get to the bottom of it!”

He then went to check on the injured. The two guards were only lightly hurt—one had suffered a cut across the face from flying debris during the explosion, and the other had been blown over by the shockwave and was still dizzy even after getting back to his feet.

However, the Crown Prince’s special envoy was more seriously injured than either of them. He was covered in blood and even coughed up blood. After taking his pulse, the physician said his internal organs had been shaken.

The special envoy explained that he and the Crown Prince had only just returned from drinking outside. He was about to enter his room when he suddenly felt an urgent need to relieve himself, so he turned away and went back out.

He had barely gotten two steps from the doorway when the room exploded behind him.

The blast hurled him several meters through the air. He smashed through a wall and landed in another envoy’s room, setting off a chorus of shrieks from men and women alike.

Fortunately, he had not been in the center of the blast, and he also happened to be carrying a defensive magical artifact. That was the only reason he had not been killed.

Even so, he remained half-dazed and complained of splitting pain in his head.

As he spoke, more blood began running from his nose. The county commandant hastily urged him to rest properly.

Just then, a subordinate came hurrying in with news: an eyewitness had reported a possible suspect.

The county commandant strode out at once.

No sooner had he left than Fushan Yue stepped inside and looked at He Lingchuan. “Your insides really aren’t hurt?”

He knew very well how tough this bastard’s vitality was. The Wind Demon had not managed to kill him, Fushan Yue himself had not managed to kill him, and Fan Sheng had not managed to kill him either.

Could one minor explosion really finish the job?

“Well, I won’t die.” He Lingchuan rinsed out his mouth with water, but the froth he spat into the spittoon was still red. “Though I’ll admit that blast packed a punch.”

He wiped the blood trailing from beneath his nose as he said it.

A vicious light flickered in Fushan Yue’s eyes. “Who do you think did it?”

If the attack had been aimed at him rather than at He Lingchuan, Fushan Yue did not think it would have killed him, but being set up always felt especially infuriating.

“If we’re making up a suspect list, that list is going to be very long.” He Lingchuan smiled bitterly. “On this whole journey, how many people have I managed to offend?”

Fushan Yue patted his shoulder. “They were after me. You were only being used to send a warning.”

Otherwise, why would the explosives have been planted in his room rather than Fushan Yue’s? He understood perfectly well how these things worked.

Jiao Yu jumped into the room as well. “Kill the chicken to warn the monkey?”

He Lingchuan shot it a glare. “Who’s the chicken?” So just because it knows two idioms now, it thinks it’s cultured?

Jiao Yu huffed twice at him, then turned to Fushan Yue. “The stablehand at the post station happened to be up relieving himself. Less than ten breaths after the explosion, he saw a man in black vault over the wall from the courtyard beneath the special envoy’s room and flee toward White Stone Street. He moved like someone highly trained.”