The news of Li Ningfeng’s return to the capital was like pouring hot water into a boiling oil pot.
This was undoubtedly good news for the Crown Prince’s faction, since Li Ningfeng and the Crown Prince had been friends since childhood.
However, Ying Jingjue had personally killed Li Ningfeng’s maternal uncle Luan Qingan, which made the First Prince and Third Prince’s factions uneasy, unable to help wondering—what if Li Ningfeng broke with the Crown Prince over this matter?
That would be their opportunity.
After Li Ningfeng had his imperial audience, His Majesty was greatly pleased and decreed that in three days, a welcoming banquet would be held at Taiji Palace.
Eastern Palace.
Ying Jingjue was just preparing to go to the Loyal Righteousness Marquis Manor when he heard a bold voice call from outside the hall, “Your Highness~”
Li Ningfeng, with a blade of grass plucked from who knows where in his mouth, crouched in an old tree outside Ying Jingjue’s hall, grinning as he greeted him.
“Long time no see, Your Highness. I heard you broke through to the Kaiyang Realm. Congratulations, congratulations.”
At the imperial audience, armor and weapons weren’t permitted, so he’d changed into dark blue fitted clothing. He’d been very composed during the audience, but now he looked like a second-rate hoodlum.
Ying Jingjue was speechless for a moment, then said irritably, “Get down here.”
Li Ningfeng moved his leg, then froze, his expression changing.
“…Damn, my leg’s numb! Ying Jingjue, save me, save me, save me!”
Ying Jingjue’s heart jumped. Before he could react, he saw his close friend fall with a thud into the grass below the old tree.
Ying Jingjue: “…”
His outstretched hand froze in midair.
Embarrassing.
The young Crown Prince’s expression changed in a second. He turned his face away ruthlessly and walked off.
Li Ningfeng stamped his numb foot, circulated his internal energy once, patted the dirt off himself, and quickly caught up. “Hey, hey, hey, why are you running? I came to talk to you about something.”
Ying Jingjue said, “Use the main entrance next time. Why do you always come here like a thief?”
Li Ningfeng laughed. He turned back and waved at the servants following them. Little Zhizi was perceptive and led the others to retreat to a distance.
Only then did he furrow his brow and say in a low voice, “Jingjue, what really happened with my uncle?”
Just on the road to the imperial audience, no fewer than three groups of people had mentioned this matter to him. Previously, while rushing to the capital, he hadn’t understood much about what had happened in the capital.
Only after returning to the capital did he learn that his maternal uncle Luan Qingan had been killed by the Regent Prince on charges of colluding with the enemy, and the entire Shunchang Earl’s Manor had been completely massacred.
Ying Jingjue sighed, guilt rising in his eyes, and told Li Ningfeng the whole story from beginning to end.
The previous generation of the Shunchang Earl’s Manor had no sons, only a pair of twin sisters.
The elder sister married the Loyal Righteousness Marquis as his second wife, while the younger sister remained at the Shunchang Earl’s Manor and took in a son-in-law. Luan Qingan was that son-in-law.
Over the years, Li Ningfeng’s mother, aunt, maternal grandfather, and maternal grandmother had all passed away in succession. The Shunchang Earl’s Manor was left with only this one maternal uncle, Luan Qingan.
His aunt had no children, and Luan Qingan had never remarried, so Li Ningfeng was willing to show this maternal uncle some respect.
But as for how much affection there was…
At least when Li Ningfeng first heard this news, his first reaction wasn’t anger but puzzlement.
He could even calmly come find Ying Jingjue to ask clearly about the cause of the matter.
“In these three years I’ve been gone, has the Regent Prince’s power already grown this great?” Li Ningfeng was nineteen this year. He’d garrisoned the frontier for his father at sixteen. For three years in the information-blocked frontier, aside from fighting and training troops, he rarely concerned himself with capital affairs.
Ying Jingjue nodded. “Father Emperor trusts and favors him greatly.”
He paused. “Ningfeng, I’ve wronged you. I couldn’t protect Lord Luan, and even…”
“This matter has nothing to do with you,” Li Ningfeng shook his head. “Your Highness’s days in the capital can’t have been easy either.”
“Grievances have their source, debts have their creditor. I’ll settle this account with the Regent Prince. However, Your Highness, I want to see the so-called evidence of my uncle’s collusion with the enemy.”
“There are records at both the imperial prison and the Court of Judicial Review,” Ying Jingjue detected something from his tone and immediately became alert. “Could it be…?”
Li Ningfeng shook his head silently. “Let’s go first.”
–
Regent Prince’s Manor.
After the last pill went down, Lian Shenwei, who had been unconscious for nearly half a month, finally slowly opened his eyes.
When unconscious versus awake, unless deliberately adjusted, the breathing frequency is different. Almost the moment he opened his eyes, the several people guarding his bedroom quickly surrounded him.
Tian Nan nearly wept with joy.
Beside him was a woman in fitted clothing with a cold expression—it was Ming Zhu, who had just returned not long ago.
Tian Nan exclaimed, “Master is awake! Mmph—!”
Ming Zhu covered his mouth with a cold face and shushed him, saying coolly, “Don’t disturb Master.”
Ming Zhu asked, “Physician Feng, how is Master?”
Feng Ke checked his pulse, and the stone that had been weighing on his heart finally fell. “Good that you’re awake, good that you’re awake. I thought you’d wake in five days, but instead, you stayed unconscious until now.”
“When Ming Zhu came back and saw you lying in bed like this, she almost beat Tian Nan to death. And your sworn sister—that girl comes here first thing every day when she returns. If you hadn’t woken up…”
Feng Ke recovered from his relief that his family’s reputation hadn’t been ruined in his hands. His chatter gradually faded as he stared at the eyes of the silent young man on the bed, slightly stunned.
Gong Du had been languishing in his consciousness sea for so long that he thought he was still an orb. Having just woken up, he was still in slack-off mode.
His eyelashes trembled. Unaccustomed to the light, his eyes stung, and soon a bit of moisture welled up.
Feng Ke instinctively softened his voice and waved his hand in front of Gong Du. “Hey, you…”
Gong Du’s eyes turned, and he opened his mouth slightly toward Feng Ke.
In his consciousness sea, when he’d been spacing out and slacking off, Little Light Orb often dangled in front of him to get his attention and would feed him snacks every time.
After many times, Gong Du had formed a conditioned reflex.
Seeing no food being offered, he closed his mouth again.
Feng Ke met his eyes and felt a constriction in his chest. Those eyes contained no emotion at all—frighteningly empty. His complexion was pale, the corners of his eyes tinged with red.
The moment he saw him, he opened his mouth as if wanting to say something, but didn’t make a sound and closed it tightly again.
This appearance instantly pulled Feng Ke back to nine years ago.
Back then, Lian Shenwei was still called Lian Yubai.
The world only knew that Lian Youwei of Fudu Manor had extremely high martial arts talent and was steady—the chosen heir as the next Manor Master. But they didn’t know that her younger brother, who by nature loved freedom and was carefree and pure, was the true prodigy.
Lian Yubai concealed his true name, wore a veiled hat, dressed in white robes, and wielded the Cangshan Sword. At a young age, he fought his way to the top of the Jianghu Winds and Clouds Rankings.
At seventeen, he had already reached the Tianquan Realm. He was the person in hundreds of years most likely to reach the highest martial arts realm—the Tianshu Realm.
Feng Ke also thought his friend would eventually stand at the pinnacle of martial arts.
Until he heard that Fudu Manor had been exterminated overnight—all two hundred thirty-seven people, not one missing.
Of course he didn’t believe Lian Yubai was dead. Upon hearing the news, he immediately rushed from East Lake to Jinling and went straight to Fudu Manor.
The bloody smell there hadn’t yet dispersed, but behind the manor were over two hundred new graves, the lingering scent of spirit money, and gray ash floating everywhere in the sky.
Occasionally, jianghu people who heard the news came to mourn—some filled with righteous indignation, others sighing with sadness.
But Lian Yubai’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
In the following months, the assassins from Falling Moon Flow who had participated in the massacre of Fudu Manor fell one by one. Feng Ke guessed it was Lian Yubai’s doing. He chased these leads, frantically searching for Lian Yubai.
The Feng family practiced medicine and naturally had wide connections. Feng Ke mobilized every resource he could use before finally finding him in an underground facility in Beiyuan City, in the hands of a demon monk who specialized in refining medicine people.
Lian Yubai had been captured by that demon monk when he was exhausted from pursuing and killing Falling Moon Flow assassins.
His strength was formidable and his will extremely firm. The demon monk, as if he’d found a treasure, treated him as his most perfect medicine person for research and refinement.
When Feng Ke found him, Lian Yubai didn’t know how long he’d been there—his breathing barely sustained.
He was suspended from an iron pillar, his white clothes stained with blood, covered in wounds, his blood mixed with countless entangled toxic breaths, with one or two parasitic insects occasionally emerging.
His internal energy was depleted, his meridians all injured, yet he was still alive—living a life worse than death.
Feng Ke almost didn’t recognize him.
He brought him back to the Feng family. Together with his father, using every possible method, they managed to maintain the medicine and poison in Lian Yubai’s body in a delicate balance.
Because of this, Lian Yubai had completely become a special medicine person. He couldn’t use many basic medicinal ingredients. Illnesses like colds and fevers could only be endured on his own.
During treatment, they didn’t dare use anesthesia because once used, the toxins in Lian Yubai’s body would become unbalanced, and once unbalanced, his body would face rapid deterioration.
After losing balance, trying to achieve balance again would be harder than ascending to heaven.
Lian Yubai was unconscious for a month. When he first opened his eyes, the look in them was just like now—hollow, inexplicably causing panic in one’s heart.
Feng Ke gently called him again. “Lian Shenwei? Regent Prince? Carefree Little Stickler?”
They were brothers who had survived death together, and their families had been on good terms for generations. This nickname “Carefree Little Stickler” sounded contradictory but suited Lian Yubai perfectly.
Such a good-natured person who acted carefree, yet enforced their Lian family rules meticulously and scrupulously. Fortunately, the Lian family rules were just those few—otherwise, wouldn’t it be exhausting?
Gong Du blinked. “…Mm.”
Brain reboot successful. Acting mode online.
He raised his hand to shield his eyes, taking the opportunity to wipe away the tears stimulated by the light.
Seeing this, Feng Ke’s frown deepened. He helped him lean against the bed, lecturing, “You’re a sick person—don’t think about all sorts of things all day. What’s past is past.”
Gong Du: “…”
What had he been thinking about?
He coughed twice. Ming Zhu immediately poured a cup of warm water. “Master.”
Lian Shenwei drank two sips. His lip color looked better. “Ming Zhu is back? Does that mean Ningfeng has returned too?”
Ming Zhu and Tian Nan were his trusted confidants. Ming Zhu excelled at concealment—he’d sent her to the frontier to secretly protect Li Ningfeng from the shadows.
He paused, his brow furrowing lightly. “How many days was I unconscious this time?”
Feng Ke said irritably, “Nearly half a month. The Young Marquis just entered the capital at noon today and went to see the Crown Prince. People are holding a welcoming banquet for him in three days. You’re worried about him, but the Young Marquis has no idea who you are.”
Lian Shenwei said with amusement, “Did you eat gunpowder?”
Feng Ke sneered coldly, “I feel bad for my medicinal ingredients.”
He looked him over carefully. Confirming that Lian Shenwei’s eyes held a living person’s vitality and that he was truly alright, he imperceptibly breathed a sigh of relief. “The formula I improved earlier wasn’t bad. As long as you behave yourself, nothing will go wrong.”
Lian Shenwei pondered for a moment, then turned to Ming Zhu. “Did Ningfeng discover you were secretly following him?”
Ming Zhu shook her head. “He wouldn’t have. Master, rest assured.”
“However, as Master predicted, the Northern Yi barbarians from the frontier sent quite a few masters to try to kill him. They used poison and assassination without restraint. I secretly intercepted several attempts, and the Young Marquis was also alert. He returned to the capital safely.”
Tian Nan added, “In the capital, the Northern Yi people’s reach isn’t that long.”
Lian Shenwei asked, “What’s Ningfeng’s current realm?”
Ming Zhu replied, “Peak of Tianheng Realm. He can be called first under the Tianquan Realm.”
He’s improved so much—a trace of a smile passed through Lian Shenwei’s eyes. He was somewhat curious to see which step of Elder Sister’s Snow-Bearing Sword Technique he’d learned.
“First under Tianquan Realm?” Tian Nan huffed. “Master, I’m very strong too.”
Lian Shenwei recalled the welcoming banquet he’d prepared for Li Ningfeng in three days and smiled. “You’ll have a chance to spar with him.”
“Jingjue said he’d take over the Wei Manor matter. So many days have passed—it should be concluded by now. How was it handled? Tell me.”
Tian Nan said, “His Majesty also entrusted the Nan’an cheating scandal to the Crown Prince to handle. The capital is quite lively. The scandal investigation is over halfway done, and the Crown Prince is doing well. Mingqin has also handled several good cases at the imperial prison.”
“The Wei Manor matter was resolved early. Because the fire destroyed the manor and they couldn’t truly determine guilt, the Crown Prince temporarily had the Wei Manor people’s corpses buried. He personally went to the Wei Manor and won quite a bit of support from Wei Li’s students.”
Lian Shenwei’s expression was indifferent. “Jingjue personally handled Wei Li’s funeral?”
Feng Ke inwardly hissed and quickly looked up, desperately making eyes at Tian Nan.
Tian Nan: “…”
He silently covered his mouth.
Lian Shenwei lowered his eyes. After a moment, he slowly drank from the slightly cool water in his hand. “Speak.”
One calm word made Tian Nan’s scalp nearly explode. He wished he could slap himself twice on the spot.
His master loved the Crown Prince but hated Wei Li—when he died, his hairpin had even been cut off. The Crown Prince had held a funeral for Wei Li—wasn’t this deliberately adding insult to injury for his master?
His brain must have short-circuited for him not to realize and to just blurt it out.
Lian Shenwei said, “If you don’t speak, you needn’t stay by my side anymore.”
“I’ll speak, I’ll speak!” Tian Nan quickly released his hand and stammered, “…It was the Crown Prince who presided over Wei Li’s funeral. Because there was no direct evidence and the court was in an uproar, the Crown Prince said the dead are greatest. Since Wei Li had been his teacher, he collected Wei Li’s body, had people keep vigil for seven days, and after the customary Buddhist rituals, buried him in the Wei family ancestral tomb in the suburbs.”
Feng Ke thought it was over.
Tian Nan wasn’t clear on the situation, but he knew the inside story.
Of all the people that brat Ying Jingjue could collect remains for, why give Wei Li such great honor? Though Ying Jingjue didn’t know the truth, Wei Li was after all one of the masterminds behind the massacre of Fudu Manor…
Feng Ke secretly glanced at Lian Shenwei’s expression.
Wasn’t this boy Jingjue stabbing knives into his maternal uncle’s wounds?
Just slightly putting himself in Lian Shenwei’s shoes, Feng Ke was already suffocating.
Wouldn’t this truly make him faint with rage?
Lian Shenwei only felt the veins at his temples throbbing violently.
The smile at the young man’s lips gradually flattened. He turned the teacup in his hand, the metal thumb ring on his left thumb colliding with the cup body, producing subtle friction sounds.
After a moment, he threw off the blanket and sat on the edge of the bed wearing only his inner garments, his pale feet on the black velvet carpeton the floor, his blue veins clearly visible.
Bang!
Lian Shenwei suddenly shattered the teacup.
“Bastard!”
***
Author’s Note:
Maternal Uncle Lian: (Drawing sword jpg.)
Little nephew: QAQ I’m sorry, Uncle, I didn’t know (kowtowing frantically)
***
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Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152