Although the Second Prince's yurt is not as spacious as the Khan's yurt, it is still extremely lavished. Items from Jiangnan's pottery to the Northern states' wooden crafts decorate it, added with a mat that was most probably from the Western states, it astounded the eyes and it is as beautiful as it is messy. However, what makes people glare is the mattress in the middle that uses god-knows-how-many fox pelts to weave.
Because on top of it lies two people.
A man and a woman, both of them half-dressed.
Any sane person, upon seeing such a scenery, would not be able to resist from imagining a few scenes in their heads.
The Second Prince did not order people to barricade the entrance just now, so those who came inside could no longer be chased out. It is too late.
"What is happening?" Jin Lian says in a shocked tone.
She recognizes the two people on the bed. The man is Feng Xiao, and the woman is the Second Prince's most beloved concubine.
In the yurt there is even the smell of blood, and looking closely at both of them, their bodies contain wounds of different shapes and sizes. There is a dagger next to them, and the rope tying them both has been loosened, but both of them were still in slumber.
Before the Second Prince can respond, Cui Buqu has asks in advance, "What is happening here? Why is my Vice Commander on the Prince's bed?!"
The Second Prince could only feel anger seeping into his mind. He did not even hesitate when he lunges himself onto Feng Xiao to pull his entire person up.
Before he lunges himself, Feng Xiao finally wakes up and groans as he rubs the side of his temple, but seeing the Second Prince in front of him, he suddenly screams and immediately delivers a punch at the Second Prince that flipped his entire person over.
On usual days, the Second Prince often bullies his servants, but how can he be Feng Xiao's match? The latter did not have inner strength, and with only a pair of fists made of flesh and bones, after a few punches, the Second Prince has been thoroughly beaten as he groans in pain. As the people from outside rushes in, the guards quickly pulls both men apart.
"How dare you hit me! I want to...you." The Second Prince cusses at him in Göktürk.
Upon his order, the Göktürk guards all wants to hold down Feng Xiao, but due to their ignorance, they were all flipped over and sprawl on the ground in the next moment, sharing the same fate with the Second Prince.
When Cui Buqu gives a cue, Qiao Xian immediately hurries over to help him.
"Everyone stop!" Jin Lian shouts, interrupting in the middle and stopping all the Göktürk guards that wants to approach them closer.
The Second Prince yells, "He slept with my women, and you dare to stop me?! Was your heart exchanged for one of theirs?!"
Of course Jin Lian refuses to believe that Feng Xiao would do something disgusting like that. But to sleep with another man's woman, with so many eyes looking at them, she could only assume that Feng Xiao is trying to look for a fight with the Second Prince, so he used his woman.
"Lord Feng, if you wanted women, I can get some for you. You can have as many as you like, but why did you take one of the Second Prince's?!"
Feng Xiao fumes angrily, "Rubbish! With my looks, how would I lack women who want to sleep with me from the Central Plains? You cannot even imagine the number of women who wants a one night stand with me, but I wanted none of them. It is obvious that the Second Prince is bisexual. He drugged me when I have my guard down and put me here when I was in a daze. He even wants an orgy! Have you seen me steal his woman and even injured myself? Go, ask your Second Prince why does he have such a shady hobby!"
There are a lot of people present who does not understand Han language, so Jin Lian repeats Feng Xiao's words once for everyone else to hear. They all look at Feng Xiao, look at the women on the bed, and decide, that yes, the first is indeed unusually handsome and good-looking, he could have all the women he ever wanted, why would he steal from the Second Prince? Then they look at the Second Prince, who is like his own father, a pervert through and through, so why is it so strange if he would do something like this?
The Second Prince looks at everyone, even his own servant, and he gives a knowing look, practically spitting out blood.
For god's sake. Even if he is a pervert, but he does not like men! He definitely did not have the strange habit of blood play on bed!
The First Prince speaks loudly, "Ade, even if you dislike men from the Central Plains, these are Lord Father's guests of honour. Why would not you even spare a guest? What do you think of the Eight Ministries as? Is it that, even for men in Kucha or Gaochang, you would just take any of them that catches your eyes?"
As he says this, among the guests who are present, those who consider themselves to be quite good-looking all take a step backwards.
Although they depended on Western Göktürk, they also know that the Sui Empire is powerful and cannot be bullied. Yet, the Second Prince could even attack an ambassador from the Sui Empire, so who would he dare not offend?
With his brother clasping a sentence on him like that, the Second Prince was so angered that he practically fainted on the spot.
But he somehow manages to retain a breathe and scolds the First Prince, "You like men, but do not for one second think that I am the same as you! Do you think that Lord Father is oblivious? He knew it since the beginning, that is why he..."
"Ade!" This time the one who stifled him is the Kedun. Her face that has always been kind and gentle is currently veiled by a dark, threatening curtain. The way she looks is also more intimidating than before, "You dare to do something like this, yet you still strive to shove your responsibility onto others. Men! Bring the Khan here!"
"What is all the ruckus going on?"
After half a day, the patriarch himself has arrived.
Khan Apa's hand is holding the hand of a young woman, and even when they have come to a place like this, he still refuses to let go of her. The level of their closeness is quite obvious.
Cui Buqu casts them a glance. That woman is wearing a headdress, and adorns her body is the attire of Kucha. She is really beautiful, almost comparable to Qiao Xian. If Qiao Xian's beauty is one of frost and coldness, then this woman's beauty is one of gentleness. Even when she smiles, it seems to have added fragrance to the wind.
No wonder Khan Apa refuses to leave her side, that he even refuses to attend the banquet.
Now he takes a look at the Khan, his footsteps were light, and his head is full of sweat. He appears to have just braved through a ferocious 'battle', the father truly is like the son.
Khan Apa did not notice the sensual gazes of people around him. He looks around once, before furrowing his brows, "Ade!"
"Lord Father, it is this man!"
The Second Prince points at Feng Xiao, scolding as he speaks. He really is mad to the brink! With every ten sentences he says, nine of them were cussing at Feng Xiao, then the First Prince. Khan Apa listened until his head is clouded full of questions, before becoming impatient.
"The Shaman is dead, yet you only care about your woman!" the Khan points at the Second Prince's nose as he scolds him, then he turns to scold the First Prince, "And you have the guts to blend into the crowd here. Where is the corpse of the Shaman? I want to see the elder!"
The big Kedun says, "My Khan, I have already ordered some men to take care of the Shaman's corpse. I can accompany you on this trip."
"Khan!" Cui Buqu's expression is grim, "I feel very sorry for the Shaman's death, but the Second Prince just wanted to accuse us of the murder, yet in secret he did something like this. I need someone to hold this responsibility!"
"After I settle all arrangements for the Shaman, I will give all of you an answer." Khan Apa glazes over, "I also hope that this matter will not affect the gathering tomorrow, and involve that of my friends and allies."
Of course, everyone promises that they would not be affected.
Khan Apa brings both his wife and concubine and all his most important subjects, before rushing quickly to leave the venue.
"Lord Father!" The Second Prince calls after him in dissatisfaction.
But the Khan did not turn back, he did not even pause his feet.
The Second Prince know that this matter would not come to a conclusion tonight, so he can only shoot Feng Xiao a glare and say something which means 'we are not finished yet' before quickly leaving to run after his father.
As they watch everyone leaving one by one until all's left are Cui Buqu and his company, and the woman on the bed who is currently still in slumber, only did Feng Xiao speak, "Qiao Xian, come here and help me up."
At first, Qiao Xian thought that these blood was made by Feng Xiao just to purposely disgust the Second Prince, but when she walks close to Feng Xiao, she could feel an even denser scent of blood and she grows suspicious.
Cui Buqu seems to vaguely know what happened, so he says, "Bring him back, then we shall speak."
As the three of them return to their yurt, Feng Xiao immediately peels his clothing off himself after he lies down on the blankets.
Not waiting for Qiao Xian to scold him, he has already taken off all his clothes and turn around. On this shoulder blades, there is a gashing wound so deep that his bones could be seen, greets both of their gazes.
On top of it, there is also a few fingerprints, as if Feng Xiao is also suffering from internal bleeding.
Cui Buqu allows Qiao Xian to bring some medicine to patch Feng Xiao's wound for him.
Only then did Qiao Xian understands, "Just now, you purposely made those small little wounds on yourself and that woman?"
Feng Xiao lets her put on medicine for him as he tries to relax, not showing any look of pain, "Naturally. Otherwise, how can I veil the smell of blood?"
Cui Buqu, "The Second Prince is easily angered, but he is not a fool. Very quickly he will know what is going on. Even if he cannot come to this conclusion, Fo Er will remind him."
With Feng Xiao's skills, even if the Second Prince uses a dozen methods, he could not have been able to hold him down, so let alone create so many wounds on his body.
Feng Xiao says half-heartedly, "Let us speak of it again after tonight has passed."
Cui Buqu raises his brow, "With your martial arts, it is difficult for you to find a match, let alone in such a faraway place like this, surely not many people can beat you?"
Feng Xiao, "It is as if the enemy knew I would be there, so they purposely created an array at the stone hut to lure me in. However, their martial arts are quite beneath me, so using this advantage, only did I manage to escape."
Thankfully he encountered the Second Prince's servant when he was escaping, so he follows the man into the Second Prince's yurt and knock the woman unconsciousness, using this opportunity to create a mess of the Second Prince.
Cui Buqu, "So you killed the HeiYue Shaman?"
Feng Xiao, "This is the strange thing about all of this. I wounded that person, and I can verify that their wounds are not light, but when a martial artist achieves a level like theirs, it is impossible that they would be killed by me just like that. The fire at the stone hut, also only broke out after I left."
Qiao Xian analyses, "Could it be that after you left, someone even more powerful went over and killed the HeiYue Shaman?"
Feng Xiao, "In the whole of Western Göktürk, the only one who can achieve that, other than me, can only be Fo Er."
He turns to look at Cui Buqu.
Cui Buqu shakes his head, "Ever since the banquet begins, Fo Er has been there, he's never left."
Feng Xiao, "Then, this is even stranger."
Cui Buqu, "There is another possibility."
Feng Xiao and Qiao Xian both turns to look at him.
Cui Buqu says calmly, "Before you pay a visit to the HeiYue Shaman, he is already dead."
Feng Xiao sits himself up, yet he accidentally tore open a wound, so he couldn't help but inhales a sharp breathe.
Cui Buqu says, "The person who fought with you, is very likely the one who murdered the HeiYue Shaman. If they can kill or trap you, added with the HeiYue Shaman's corpse, then they could push the entire blame onto you. However, you escaped, and the other could only burn the corpse and destroy all the evidence."
Feng Xiao sighs loudly, "Then how would they know I would be there? Going to the stone hut was a last minute idea by myself. Even Jin Lian does not know of it."
Cui Buqu, "Their target might not be you, but only because you conveniently ran into it. I am curious why do they want to kill the HeiYue Shaman? Is this person a member of Western Göktürk, or one of the ambassadors that came forth to participate in the gathering?"
Feng Xiao, "Perhaps they have a grudge against the HeiYue Shaman, so they used the gathering, when outsiders are aplenty, so that they could do it secretly."
The future is unpredictable, even intelligent people would have their own share of unexpected moments.
Just like now, even Cui Buqu feels that they are slowly running out of ideas, and their task is getting more and more difficult to achieve.
It is as if Qiao Xian could read his mind, so she speaks to comfort him, "I originally thought that the First Prince would hide in a corner and remain silent, but I did not expect him to squabble with the Second Prince. It could be seen that your initiative to contact the First Prince is a right choice to make."
Cui Buqu, "Their brotherly relationship has been fractured since long. Even the kindest giants would have a temper. The First Prince has sit cooped up for so long with all his feelings, he is nearly at his limit. The words I said were only a booster for him. I can only say that the First Prince is someone to be proud of."
The First Prince's mother, the big Kedun, would usually not speak much, but the fact that she would appear during such an important and dire moment proves that she is not as useless as Jin Lian thought she was.
However, these are all complications in the clan of Western Göktürk. They can make use of them to their advantage their alliance with the Sui Empire, but right now, these facts do not help their current situation much.
"Tomorrow, during the gathering of the Eight Ministries," Cui Buqu says, "We need to ensure you can show-off to the best of your abilities, but when the Second Prince returns to his senses, tomorrow he would definitely think of ways to give us trouble. Fo Er would also use the opportunity to defame us, he might even attempt to take your life. You..."
He stares at Feng Xiao, and did not continue anymore.
Feng Xiao stares back at him.
The Commander of the Zuoyue Bureau who is famed for being unmoved and unwavered, it is such a rare moment to see him hesitating between his decisions, not willing to let Feng Xiao endanger his own life.
The fact that he remains quiet, his gaze clear, has already champion the effect of a thousand words.
For the first time in forever, a crack spilts open Feng Xiao's stone-cold heart, softening it a little.
He tells Cui Buqu, "This is only a small wound. There is no need to worry. You can tell them tomorrow to give me all they have got."
Cui Buqu gives him an expression that is difficult to describe, but he smiles faintly, "This is good. Then I will entrust everything to you, Brother Feng."
Feng Xiao: ???
This is too quick! Would he not even pretend to be caring or humble?
He is the one who suggested it, but why does he feel so forced all of a sudden?
As if that motherfucker's tastes are good!