Yan Xiaohan turned back, looking somewhat impatient, walking over to take the wheelchair from Du Leng’s hands, pushing Fu Shen to the pillar, extending his arm to firmly encircle him from behind, lowering his head to ask softly: “Where are you going, hmm? You’re leaving home just because I said a few words to you?”
Fu Shen said: “I’m not…”
Yan Xiaohan: “Think about it, if you were me, hearing that you and Wei Xuzhou were in the scripture building, seeing thick smoke from far away, how would you feel?”
Fu Shen: “I didn’t…”
Yan Xiaohan: “You weren’t inside, didn’t personally start the fire. But since you knew something was wrong in the building, why didn’t you have someone find me?”
Fu Shen: “…”
“Did I scold you wrongly?” Yan Xiaohan pinched his chin, forcing him to look up: “If something happens to you, can I still live? I know you’re not weak, but you have to admit that someone in a wheelchair is at a disadvantage against someone with normal legs. Jing’an, for other matters you can do as you wish, but in situations like this, don’t treat my words like wind, and don’t try to be good to coax me, okay?”
These words were heartfelt, Fu Shen’s throat tightened, hesitating before saying hoarsely: “I’m sorry.”
Yan Xiaohan snorted through his nose, not responding to this apology, only saying: “Remember this. We’ll settle the account when we get back.”
They say couples quarrel at the bedhead but make up at the bedfoot, but with Yan Xiaohan, he didn’t even give Fu Shen time to reach the bedfoot, pulling him back on the spot. Wei Xuzhou didn’t know what they said, but he seemed to see Fu Shen voluntarily raise his head.
Their lips touched briefly; Yan Xiaohan mischievously bit Fu Shen’s lower lip, saying perfunctorily: “Alright, let’s talk business… your knife was quite merciless.”
Fu Shen’s momentary anxiety was dispersed by these words, his body slowly warming from a cold state. He was half a beat slow to follow Yan Xiaohan’s sudden topic shift, looking confused: “What?”
Yan Xiaohan drew his knife, lifting the person’s face for Fu Shen to see: “An old acquaintance of yours, so changed you don’t recognize him?”
Fu Shen stared at the face, now as thin as a skeleton, for a moment, then said in surprise: “Yi Siming?
In the past, we rode side by side on Baoyan Mountain, and later in the Blue Sand Pass, the sky collapsed and earth split, with a fatal arrow. All past events have settled into dust at this moment of wordless confrontation – one severely wounded and unable to walk, the other covered in dust and frost.
“General Yi,” Yan Xiaohan blocked Fu Shen’s line of sight, forcing a smile: “Long time no see.”
I remember the Gold Cavalry Guard’s courtyard wasn’t located here, right?”
Yi Siming stared at him hatefully, hoarsely saying: “Yan Xiaohan, don’t be too pleased… One day, you’ll end up just like Fu Shen.”
“I’m not concerned about our fates. I suggest you first consider your own situation after entering the North Prison,” Yan Xiaohan sheathed his knife, saying: “Take him away.”
“How dare you!” Yi Siming struggled violently, shouting: “I am a third-rank Gold Cavalry Guard General! You cannot arrest me without the Emperor’s decree!”
Yan Xiaohan remained expressionless: “The Qingxu Temple’s Daoist Chunyang attempted to assassinate His Majesty during the Longevity Banquet. All Qingxu Temple personnel are awaiting judgment in prison. You were sneaking around the scripture building – how can we be sure you’re not a conspirator? I am officially investigating this case, and the Flying Dragon Guard can arrest you without a royal decree.”
“Nonsense!” Yi Siming shouted, “I knew nothing about Chunyang’s assassination attempt! I have absolutely no connection to this!”
Yan Xiaohan smiled slightly: “Oh? Then what were you doing in this scripture building?”
Yi Siming fell silent, as if choked. After a long pause, he finally said with difficulty: “I was just… looking around.” He slowly spread his mouth, revealing a spine-chilling smile.
“Is that Marquis Fu Shen from outside… General Fu?
” Chunyang Daoist said, with all his teeth knocked out, he mumbled unclearly, “Please let him come in and meet.”
Yan Xiaohan immediately regretted it, wishing he hadn’t brought Fu Shen to the Flying Dragon Guard. Because of the matter with Yi Siming, his mind was surely in turmoil. Yan Xiaohan was unwilling to let him return to the Yan residence alone and wanted to use the interrogation of Yi Siming as an opportunity to let Fu Shen recognize what kind of person he was facing, to prevent unnecessary sentimentality.
As fellow high-ranking officials, Fu Shen, who grew up in a noble family, had a noble status and broad vision, and was generally tolerant of outsiders’ offenses; while Yan Xiaohan had climbed up from the lowest ranks of the forbidden army, encountering countless obstacles along the way. If he weren’t ruthless and unforgiving, he would have died long ago, with not even his ashes remaining.
Due to their life experiences, their attitudes towards Yi Siming were vastly different. Now, Yan Xiaohan was trying to sway Fu Shen to his side, not daring to use too much force, afraid of breaking him.
At this moment, Chunyang Daoist took the initiative to meet Fu Shen, which made him start worrying again.
Fu Shen’s ears were sharp. Before Yan Xiaohan could make a decision, he had already slid out from the shadows in his wheelchair, signaling Yan Xiaohan to let him in.
“Be careful…
Before he could finish, Fu Shen patted him reassuringly on the back of his hand: “I’m here, don’t worry.”
He reached out to push open the cell door and let Fu Shen in.
Fu Shen didn’t waste words with Chunyang Daoist, saying flatly: “Speak.”
Chunyang Daoist let out a hoarse laugh, surprisingly cooperative: “General, where would you like to start? From when you received that broken arrow, or from when Yi Siming listened to Yang Hexuan and sought medicine at Qingxu Temple?”
Fu Shen was like suddenly struck by a poison needle, his pupils contracting: “It was you?!”
Chunyang Daoist’s remaining eye was startlingly bright, with a sharp gaze shooting out from beneath his messy hair: “General, now you know… This is retribution, heaven’s justice, all deserved!”
Like a thunderbolt echoing in his mind, all the fragmented clues assembled into a complete picture. In this game of chess between him and Emperor Yuan, the third person who had been lurking in the darkness and stirring up the winds had finally surfaced.
That broken arrow, which should have been buried underground, was returned to Fu Shen’s hands, allowing him to trace the truth behind the ambush at Qingsha Pass.
This person had been silently watching his movements, so while Fu Shen was searching for Mu Boxiu, someone conveniently “startled the snake,” causing Mu Boxiu to mistakenly believe Yi Siming wanted to silence him, thus biting back and revealing Emperor Yuan and Yi Siming’s entire plan to Fu Shen.
“No wonder… you wanted to assassinate the Emperor,” Fu Shen murmured, “‘White Dew Powder’ was prepared for Yi Siming from the beginning…”
Chunyang said contemptuously: “Yi Siming deeply hated this Yan official. With the Southern Court declining and the Golden Weapons Guard becoming weaker by the day, he looked down on the Flying Dragon Guard and was jealous of their glory, thus trying to curry favor with the Emperor.”
Fu Shen said: “So you had Yang Hexuan use ‘White Dew Powder’ on him.”
“Like dew, like lightning, like a dream, like a fantasy,” Chunyang said enthusiastically, “General Fu, do you know what kind of people are most likely to become addicted?”
