Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“I don’t really know. Your name sounds familiar to me and it feels like we have had a long term connection, but I cannot remember where I have heard it from.” Wei Ci gave them an appropriate smile, clasped one of his hands on his other, then bowed to Liu She and his son. He acted neither haughty nor humble and said to them, “Since you and your son are already home safe and I have accomplished the mission my master assigned to me, I will take off right away––just in case my master is waiting for my report.”

Liu She tried to persuade him to stay for a bit but Wei Ci still took off with the reason that he needed to report to his master.

Xu Ke asked Jiang Pengji secretly, “Is that a new friend you made?”

Jiang Pengji rolled her eyes at him; she didn’t consider Wei Ci her friend. Obviously, for some unknown reason, Wei Ci repelled her. It was not hostile, but it clearly wasn’t friendly. As long as it wouldn’t jeopardize her safety and Wei Ci was not willing to share his secret, she was not going to dig up why.

“We just met. His master gave him the order to guard me and my father back home.”

Mater Yuanjing? Xu Ke was a bit startled. According to the Langjun, they had gone to Ji Shan Hot Spring for a hot spring bath, and once there they encountered the well-known Master Yuanjing. He was an idol for numerous young people in Dongqing Dynasty––and Xu Ke was one of the pursuers.

“That Langjun is Master Yuanjing’s apprentice?” Xu Ke asked. He couldn’t help but compare himself to Wei Ci.

“Yeah, he is one of Master Yuanjing’s special apprentices. He has some secrets but…” Jiang Pengji beamed a smile and said to Xu Ke with confidence, “A person can be a thief but he cannot prevent being stolen from. I’m waiting to see how long he can hold his secrets in.”

Xu Ke was in a daze. He had no idea what his Langjun meant. What was more, why would his Langjun use the metaphor of a thief?

******

Wei Ci had a nasty headache. It was already beyond his plans to see Jiang Pengji the day before, and then he had met Xu Ke today. What was scarier was Xu Ke was already assisting the future emperor. That was definitely abnormal.

Thinking about Xu Ke and picturing the face he saw earlier, Wei Ci felt a bit tangled up. There must be something wrong with me. When did my emperor start getting along with Liu She so well? How did my emperor get to know Feng Jin when she was so young? When did Xu Ke start assisting my emperor?

It wasn’t something wrong with him, but his emperor. Remembering the familiar facial expression, her behavior, and her combat skills, Wei Ci denied the idea.

What he didn’t expect was that the ridiculous things were not yet finished.

The moment he arrived at the mansion where the students of Langye Academy stayed, he sensed sharply that the atmosphere was bit weird. He looked around and saw that both the students and Master Yuanjing had chilled faces. The scene made him frightened and he had a bad hunch about it. “Master, I made sure Liu She and his son got home safely.”

“Yes, I know.” Master Yuanjing seemed to age all of a sudden. His usual, smiling lips went flat and his eyes had a sense of coldness to them.

“What has happened to you, master? Why do you look so worried?”

Master Yuanjing schooled his expression, but the depression on his face was still easily recognizable.

“I’m okay. You guys go do your homework and make sure you stay in the house for the next few days.”

He pushed against the table to help himself stand. He wobbled while he was walking, which concerned Wei Ci.

The suffocating quietness faded away after Master Yuanjing left room. Wei Ci looked at Zude. “Zude, you are always there taking care of Master. Do you have any idea what happened to him?”

The day Zude was enrolled in Langye Academy, he recommended himself to look after Master Yuanjing. Even though Zude was not always thoughtful and he had a different ideology than Wei Ci, he was extremely respectful towards Master Yuanjing. He followed Master everywhere and never left him behind.

Zude felt tense when he noticed the attention from his classmates. It was hard for him to open his mouth. “Master forbids me to say a word.”

Wei Ci’s face set hard and stood up quickly. If Zude wasn’t going to tell, he would find it from another source.

Most of the other students were reacting the same way. Watching the vacant hall, Zude ground his teeth and slammed his fist against the table to release his anger. “Damn Nothern Borderline!”

******

There was something going on with Jiang Pengji, too. She looked at Feng Jin, whose arm was wrapped. His left arm was stiff and it looked funny as he lifted it.

“It was your own fault for trying to be a hero. Why didn’t you ask for me to help when you knew you couldn’t defeat them?”

Feng Jin only gave her a bitter smile. His face was still pale but he seemed much better than the day before. “As a man, I won’t allow myself to be rescued by a woman.”

Jiang Pengji tried to hide her despise from him and asked, “Then why did you ask your servant to get me last night?”

Feng Jin blinked. He didn’t care about his appearance. He stared at the chess board while using his one hand to support his chin. “Because I suddenly realized that I should be judging you by the normal standard in which I judge other women. Guys in the world will feel small in front of you. It won’t be shameful for me to ask for help from you.”

Jiang Pengji was speechless after hearing his theory.

Feng Jin put down one of the chess pieces after pondering for a long time. He said to her, “I thought I dodged a bullet because that royal highness would have kept the trouble away from me. But it seemed it was just all in vain.”

“No zuo, no die. He was just asking for it. I sent some of my people to fish for information and we finally figured out what really happened last night.” Jiang Pengji gave him a cold face as she thought about her next move for the chess game. She said to him, “That royal highness is truly spoiled. His family gives him whatever he asks for. When has he ever been through anything frustrating? He was very well aware that he was dealing with a group of people from the Northern Borderline yesterday for auditing the best girl in the whore house. Instead of backing off, however, he went forward and provoked them. He gave the order to his servant to start the fight.”

The result was that the royal highness of Zhen Bei Marquis won the beauty, but several guys who tried to fight for the girl with him were beaten to death. It was not a big deal to have some people killed in the incident. What was a pain was that one of the casualties was a high rank in the Northern Borderline.

Now the Northern Borderline wouldn’t let it go and they were forcing Dongqing Dynasty to figure out how they should deal with it. From what Feng Jin had been through, their emperor was leaning towards standing at the Northern Borderline’s side.

As long as his throne was not jeopardize, any conditions could be considered.

At that moment, Liu She brought back some terrible news. They found a black sheep to take the blame, who just so happened to be someone Jiang Pengji knew. But it was not who everyone had expected.

It was one of Master Yuanjing’s apprentices, Han Yu.

“What does Han Yu have to do with this?” Jiang Pengji was smart, but she found it hard to understand. What string could they pull with Han Yu? They couldn’t just find a random person on the street… But it was actually a coincidence.