Jin Si Yu slowly tidied a loose strand of hair at her temple and spoke with calm deliberation. “You don’t seem to care at all. Haven’t seen you seek out a physician or medicine. In fact, that poison has another level of transformation it could go. However, once activated, you would truly become a soulless porcelain doll. I didn’t use it before because I didn’t want to damage your intellect. Now, thinking back, I think it’s a pity. Tell me…” He gently stroked her hair with a slight smile. “Should I use it now?”

“Don’t!”

The voice came abruptly. Jin Siyu’s hand paused for a moment. For an instant, he thought it was Feng Zhi Wei, and withdrew his hand instinctively. But Feng Zhi Wei didn’t move at all. Only then did he realize the voice had come from outside the carriage. In fact, the voice even sounded somewhat familiar.

He stopped. A dark expression flashed across his usually gentle face before he smiled and said, “Ah, I was wondering who it could be. So it’s the young prince himself.”

Thwack, thwack.

Before the words had fully left his mouth, he was suddenly surrounded by sounds of ropes slicing through the air in all directions. A sharp flurry of sounds followed, and the carriage jolted, as if something had hooked onto it. Jin Siyu’s first reaction was to quickly pull Feng Zhi Wei into his arms. Just as he was about to leap out, several loud bangs erupted. The walls of the carriage on all four sides had suddenly disappeared.

Holding Feng Zhi Wei in his arms, Jin Siyu was left sitting on the lone base of what remained of the carriage. In the forest, on all sides, Jin Siyu’s men and the opposing sides were already at a standstill. And standing there with a carefree smile, hands behind his back, was none other than Lu Zhi Yan, the Young Prince of Changning. His gaze was arrogant, just like the strange bird perched on his shoulder.

“How does it feel?” Lu Zhi Yan asked with a grin. “Last time, I saw Gu Nan Yi do this with a carriage right here. I thought it looked fun, so I decided to take a lesson from it and try it today. I figured the person inside would surely find it refreshing.”

“If the young prince is so interested, then you should’ve sat in it yourself.” Jin Siyu smiled, calmly stepped off the carriage while holding Feng Zhi Wei. His eyes swept over the scene and said, “Such a grand display from Your Highness. Are you planning to personally see me off? You really are too polite.”

“Yes,” Lu Zhi Yan smiled as well. His smile was different from Jin Siyu’s warm one. His eyes flickered like a cunning young fox. “Your Highness is not such a good friend though. You were going to saunter off home without even a word. I had to chase you all night to catch up. How do you plan to thank me?”

Jin Siyu smiled faintly. “Anything I have on me, if the young prince takes a liking to it, then just say the word.”

“I’ve taken a liking to…” Lu Zhi Yan drew out his words as he walked closer, then suddenly pointed with a grin. “I want that chain—”

He was pointing to the Heartlock chain that was partially visible from beneath Jin Siyu’s sleeve.

Jin Siyu was taken aback for the briefest moment before Lu Zhi Yan swiftly added, “—the person it’s attached to.”

Unsurprised, Jin Siyu smiled nonchalantly. “Oh? May I ask Your Highness why?”

“This person is my enemy,” Lu Zhi Yan’s expression suddenly turned somber. “This jerk stole something important from me. Anyone who dares to lay a hand on the possessions of Changning, how would I just let them off so easily?”

“The young prince, accompanied by three thousand guards, was somehow still robbed?” Jin Siyu’s expression remained unreadable. “It must have been something very important.”

“It wasn’t that important. What’s important it’s my pride.” Lu Zhi Yan replied with a chuckle. “Besides… I’m also very curious about your relationship with this person. I remember the day he entered the city, your expression wasn’t quite right then. Also, that night banquet in Changping Palace. After thinking more about it afterwards, were you saving him? Or killing him? Or perhaps you wanted to kill but also wanted to save? Moreover, if I’m not mistaken, wasn’t Wei Zhi captured under Whitehead Cliff, and later escaped by jumping off the city wall? Although no one ever described what the scene was like at that time, but Your Highness, the commander-in-chief at the time, were you perhaps standing right on top of the city wall then?” 

“So what if I was? So what if I wasn’t?”

“So what nothing.” Lu Zhi Yan shook his head and strolled closer with a grin. “Whether Your Highness Prince An, like our dear Prince Chu, harbors a special fondness for our dashing young Lord Wei, is none of my business. We are allies now, after all. But Prince An is leaving the capital without even telling your allies? That’s not very loyal, is it? I know you must be planning to make it up to me. No need for any gifts. Since you don’t really have any use for this person anyway, why not give it to me? Let’s just consider it compensation. What do you say?”

“What reason would I have to compensate the young prince?” Jin Siyu raised a brow. “You chased after me in the dead of night, had your guards block my team halfway. In my opinion, you should be the one compensating me.”

“Really….” Lu Zhi Yan was quite close by this time. The strange bird on his shoulder turned its head and stared coldly at Jin Siyu. Its glass-like eyes glinted with a bluish light in the darkness. “Alright…I’ll compensate…” 

The words were dragged out, but before he could finish, Jin Siyu had already leapt back. At the same time, the strange bird suddenly spread its wings wide, and large flurries of short black feathers shot out from under the base of its wings like snow. The feathers weren’t shooting towards Jin Siyu, but they were instead towards Feng Zhi Wei, who was in his arms. Jin Siyu hurriedly flicked his sleeves to block it. In the next instant, Lu Zhi Yan’s body flashed forward like a ghost and reached straight towards Feng Zhi Wei’s chest with a laugh, “Compensate me!” 

His hand chopped downward toward Feng Zhi Wei’s chest. Jin Siyu’s eyebrow raised, anger filling his eyes as he raised his arm to block. With a loud bang, the two of them staggered slightly from the impact. Lu Zhi Yan’s reaction was extremely quick. While Jin Siyu was still swaying, his other hand had already slipped past Jin Siyu’s guarding arm and was once again reaching toward the same spot on Feng Zhi Wei. Jin Siyu immediately moved to block again. Lu Zhi Yan laughed, “Eh? He is not a woman. Why are you being so protective?” He raised his hand and reached toward Feng Zhi Wei’s underarm. 

He seemed to have already discovered Jin Siyu’s protectiveness towards Feng Zhi Wei and had completely abandoned any attempt to attack Jin Siyu directly. Instead, his every strike was aimed at Feng Zhi Wei. It was already inconvenient for Jin Siyu to be holding a person while still needing to guard against the bird’s possibly poisoned feathers. He was forced to retreat backward step by step, until his heels suddenly hit the wheel of the carriage, and could not retreat anymore. 

By this time, the guards on both sides were locked in full combat. Jin Siyu had planned to stealthily return to Dayue that very night. To avoid alerting anyone and to ensure reinforcement along the way, he had placed his guards along the route, spreading out his forces. Lu Zhi Yan, however, had a completely different style. He anticipated that Jin Siyu would definitely change carriages in this forest, so he had placed all his men here without any hesitation, lying in wait for their prey. At this point, there was a big gap in strength between the two forces. Jin Siyu’s guards tried to come to their master’s aid but were so embattled that they were unable to break through. 

Seeing Jin Siyu’s heel pressed against the carriage wheel, Lu Zhi Yan’s lips curled into a smile. He reached out his finger forward and said, “Hand it over!” 

With a ripping sound, Feng Zhi Wei’s collar was torn by his grasp, and scraps of fabric fluttered into the air. But Jin Siyu suddenly let out a low shout, “Now!” 


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