Lu Yunqi did not turn around.
"Lord Huang, isn't what you've borrowed from me far too much?" he said coldly. "My things don't hold value—but they cost lives."
Huang Cheng chuckled, coughing softly as he approached and patted the carriage.
"Indeed, indeed," he said. "Lord Lu, I must admit, I've come to understand something—you are a man of great affection, loyalty, and sentimentality."
Lu Yunqi, a man of affection? Such words sounded more like mockery. Jiang, the Jinyiwei captain standing nearby, gave a peculiar expression.
Lu Yunqi said nothing.
"Look at the wounds you've suffered because of Miss Jun," Huang Cheng remarked.
Lu Yunqi turned to glare at him.
"If Lord Huang has anything to say, just say it," he replied. "My personal affairs are none of your concern."
"I wouldn't meddle, except that my personal affairs happen to intertwine with yours. Thus, I thought we should discuss," Huang Cheng said. "If it were any other woman, as long as Lord Lu pleased, even a princess would be within reach—but this Miss Jun?"
He smirked, leaned closer to Lu Yunqi, and lowered his voice.
"She's connected to Duke Chengguo. That makes things difficult. His Majesty may forgo fatherly affection in the name of virtue, but he would never seize a subject's family for his own."
These words bordered on treason.
Among those who dared speak so boldly to Lu Yunqi—the Emperor's closest confidant—Huang Cheng was certainly the first.
"Does Lord Huang intend to retire and return to the countryside?" Lu Yunqi asked bluntly, his tone devoid of warmth.
Given the Emperor's temperament, if such words reached his ears, Huang Cheng would surely face retribution.
"Lord Lu, if I leave, you'll never see Miss Jun again for the rest of your life," Huang Cheng replied with a smile.
Lu Yunqi frowned slightly.
"Are you threatening me, or threatening her?" he asked.
Huang Cheng burst into laughter.
"Neither—I'm merely reminding you," he said. "Lord Lu, there's only one way to claim Miss Jun. That would be to topple the mighty mountain and drain the flowing water. If Duke Chengguo falls, she'll have no shelter. If De Sheng Chang collapses, she'll have no resources. Wouldn't that leave her at your mercy? And presently, the one most capable and most eager to bring down Duke Chengguo—I'm afraid—is me. So I can't leave. Were I to leave, you would only watch her become the Princely Heir's Wife, and one day the Duchess of Chengguo."
After delivering this in a single breath, he observed Lu Yunqi's peculiar expression.
The perennial stoic face of Lu Yunqi appeared eerie under the fickle glow of street lanterns—sometimes pale, sometimes shadowed—a strange and unsettling look.
Huang Cheng had never seen him like this before, especially that gaze.
It carried hints of coldness, resentment, and sorrow.
"Lord Lu?" Huang Cheng called softly.
Lu Yunqi's expression masked over, yet his gaze remained fixed on Huang Cheng.
"Such words—I've heard others speak them before," he said suddenly.
Others had said this? Huang Cheng's eyes flickered imperceptibly.
"Seems it's a truth everyone knows," Huang Cheng remarked. "Lord Lu, currently Duke Chengguo is highly favored. The Emperor relies on him as a symbol of prestige and won't act against him. However, Duke Chengguo is cunning—given time, he might even manipulate His Majesty. Hence, we must act swiftly to bring him out of favor. We need evidence of his misdeeds."
Lu Yunqi lightly uttered "Oh," his stance ambiguous.
Huang Cheng frowned; Lu Yunqi remained the Emperor's loyal dog, unquestioningly executing His Majesty's will. While the Emperor didn't currently intend to deal with Duke Chengguo, his vigilance toward the Duke persisted. All that was missing was a decisive trigger—a moment where his personal interests outweighed the need for decorum.
And who could sway Lu Yunqi, who stood closest to the Emperor? Perhaps only this unobtainable woman.
"Lord Lu, thus I'll borrow your carriage," Huang Cheng said, stepping aside as he covered his mouth to cough—a picture of frailty. "Age has made walking difficult."
Lu Yunqi nodded.
"Use it as you will," he said.
That—was it lent, or not?
Saying those words, Lu Yunqi mounted his horse. A throng of Jinyiwei surrounded him, and the group departed ahead.
Watching them leave, Huang Cheng did not linger. With assistance from servants, he boarded the carriage, its wheels creaking as it rolled into the night.
The night deepened. At Lu Mansion, the bright lights revealed a sense of unease among servants and maidservants—caused by Lu Yunqi's injuries.
No one dared ask, staring fearfully as he strode toward Princess Jiuli's quarters. Preventing any from announcing his arrival, he stood outside the door.
The summer brought light screens, which with the glow of lamps inside appeared like clouds and radiance. Through this veil, one could see the woman seated within. Clad simply, the intense illumination only served to enhance her elegance.
Though alone, every movement exuded dignified grace—the innate nobility instilled by generations of imperial upbringing.
"Jiuli has never sat like this before," Lu Yunqi remarked.
The sudden voice made Princess Jiuli lift her gaze.
"You've returned," she said without alarm.
Perhaps since the Crown Prince's abrupt death and the Crown Princess Consort's suicide, nothing could truly rattle her.
"Is Jiuli's posture improper again?" Princess Jiuli teased with a smile.
She would perch on rocks or climb up trees—rarely sitting properly, and even then, she'd soon fidget and slouch. Her antics had earned her regular scolding in youth.
"Not improper—rather carefree," Lu Yunqi replied. A faint smile tugged at his lips, as if Princess Jiuli's posture brought him glimpses of another figure—a woman who, despite sitting formally, revealed stocking-clad feet peeking from beneath her skirt.
Afraid she'd catch cold, he had warmed them with his hands, yet even in his palms they playfully wriggled.
Princess Jiuli stayed silent, evidently uninterested in dwelling on that topic.
Lu Yunqi remained outside, not entering.
"Princess, have you ever resented your current circumstances?" he suddenly asked.
Her present life—father dead, mother gone, demoted from a golden-branch princess to something akin to a prisoner.
Princess Jiuli lifted her gaze and gave a faint smile.
"I don't resent them," she answered. "Because I believe in destiny."
Destiny—was it truly unalterable?
"But what if it's not destiny?" Lu Yunqi countered.
"Then it must still be destiny," Princess Jiuli replied softly, neither alarmed nor curious about his words' implications.
Though seemingly cryptic, her statement held its own intrigue. Lu Yunqi chuckled faintly.
"It's enough if the Princess believes," he said, turning away.
Princess Jiuli paused her needlework.
"I believe—in destiny. I believe destiny has its fairness," she murmured, her voice gentle but resolute.
Meanwhile, Lu Yunqi, as he walked away, spoke slowly.
"I don't believe in destiny," he muttered, gazing at the darkness ahead. "I don't believe I can't keep her."
Engulfed by shadow, he disappeared. The Lu Mansion fell eerily quiet, as though utterly deserted.
In stark contrast, Duke Chengguo's residence was lively.
With a howl, Zhu Zan leapt from the bed, scars from his sword wound starkly visible!
"Does it hurt?"
Before he could shout, Miss Jun spoke up on her own.
"I'll be gentler."
This was nothing like when he'd been beaten half-dead for killing Lord Huang's nephew—her treatment of his wounds then had been forceful and rough.
Zhu Zan cast her a glare, then lay back down.
"Let me make one thing clear—don't get any ideas. I fought Lu Yunqi not for your sake," he declared.
Such words seemed less than convincing. Everyone knew Lu Yunqi coveted Miss Jun. As her man, Zhu Zan must have been driven by jealousy rather than any other motive when he fought Lu Yunqi.
"Then for whom?" Miss Jun asked. "Princess Jiuli?"
Zhu Zan's body stiffened, tension arching through him as if he were about to spring up. Yet, ultimately, he didn't move, merely turning his face inward.
"It has nothing to do with you!" he retorted sullenly.
Neither an admission nor a denial—his response carried an inexplicable sadness.
Of course, it had everything to do with me, thought Miss Jun, gazing at him—for I am Princess Jiuli.
If she revealed this sentence, how would he react? The thought suddenly crossed Miss Jun's mind.