"When did you begin to suspect her?"
"Back in Tiannian Mountain, you reminded me that I had an insider."
Feng Xiao raised a brow. "I thought your suspicions ended after Fan Yun showed himself."
Cui Buqu said: "At the beginning, it did. But Fan Yun would only know my past. This is the reason the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai set up the trap for me in Boling. Yet after that I slowly realized, they didn't only know about my past, they even know about my whereabouts, where I'm heading, and what I'm doing. It's as if the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai could predict the future and set a trap a step ahead."
Feng Xiao: "The most obvious evidence is that before you arrived in Qixia Villa, the enemy already knew where you're heading."
Cui Buqu nodded. "Xiao Lu is not a god regardless of how clever he is. He cannot be informed of all matters large or small. The only explanation to this is that someone among us is a traitor, and this traitor isn't just any Zuoyue guard, because it's as if they have been walking side by side with me."
Feng Xiao: "But this is not enough to prove it was Qiao Xian."
Cui Buqu: "That is right. So I brought her on this journey, as well as Guan Shanhai. The journey to Guangqian Prefecture is a secret, so other than Guan Shanhai and Qiao Xian, there would only be Empress Dugu, as well as both Rong Qing and his servant who were only informed at short notice."
"After Rong Qing arrived in Guangqian County, he was hindered from all directions, as well as cheated and ambushed by Huang Lue and his people. The enemy even pinned the crime of Huang Lue's death on his head and killed Xiao-Liu. This proved that they cannot be people of Xiao Lu's."
"I picked out Guan Shanhai through effort. He served the army through three generations, had few dealings with the capital, and his background is clean. Regardless of how superhuman Xiao Lu is, he cannot reach out so deep into Guan Shanhai."
"So, there is only Qiao Xian. Only she could achieve all of these. She had been delivering information in the dark, passing information of my whereabouts to the enemy, so they could conveniently lay their traps."
Feng Xiao snorted. "She didn't know you still have a backup hidden in the dark. Originally, she could have had a countless number of opportunities to attack you, yet she hasn't made her move. This means that she still reminiscences in old sentiments."
Cui Buqu looked calm. "Since I have already raised my guard on her, how would I give her the chance? Even if she wants to assassinate me, she would not succeed. I would never entrust my back to the people I suspect."
Feng Xiao clapped his hand. "This is truly the all-resolute Cui Buqu! Speaking of which—"
Propping himself up with his elbow, he moved forward, fixing his gaze on Cui Buqu. "Would you entrust your back to me?"
As they met eye-to-eye, Cui Buqu could not escape it.
He could see his own reflection in Feng Xiao's eyes. It was too close, practically filling up Feng Xiao's irises.
A moment of silence.
"Master Cui, what did you find…" Rong Qing came running in as he panted. His voice stopped abruptly after discovering the strange atmosphere lingering in the room.
When both of them turned to look at him at the same time, Rong Qing forced a stiff smile onto his face and laughed. "Ah, keep going, the both of you. I will come back shortly!"
After he finished speaking, without waiting for their response, Rong Qing turned around and left, his footsteps quicker compared to when he came, like his tail had caught fire.
Feng Xiao reached out with a hand, holding Cui Buqu's jaw, turning it gently from Rong Qing's silhouette to look back at himself.
Cui Buqu wouldn't stand it, he lashed out cruelly, aiming for the back of his hand.
He caught thin air.
Feng Xiao was even quicker at drawing his hand back.
Cui Buqu laughed coldly, and then spoke slowly: "I would never entrust my back to an arrogantly unbridled, self-conceited and presumptuously narcissistic bloke."
Feng Xiao snickered, "Cui Buqu, you listed out so many virtues of mine, hasn't this just proved that you care, and how much I mean to you?"
Cui Buqu: "Feng-er, have you ever heard of a saying?"
Feng Xiao: "I'm listening with open ears."
Cui Buqu: "The first to ask, loses."
Feng Xiao nodded his head. "What you mean is that you originally wanted to ask me the same thing? I know that although you're sharp-tongued, behaving like you're an entity high on a pedestal, untouchable by smoke and embers who take no one seriously, in truth, you'd bow the same way in front of the one and only graceful young gentleman like myself."
Cui Buqu gave an unbelievable look. "How can a thick-skinned person like you exist in this world?"
Feng Xiao sighed. "You're just jealous of my grace and envious of my face."
The "jealous and envious" Cui Buqu looked like he was forced to eat a rotten egg, and because that egg is stuck in his throat, he was forced to swallow it. The corner of his lips twitched vaguely.
He said with genuine earnestness: "Feng-er, sometimes there is something I really want to do to you."
Feng Xiao, "Feel me up? Molest me? Deflower me?"
Cui Buqu, "Poison your throat mute. Just by looking at your face alone would improve my appetite."
Feng Xiao laughed boisterously: "That can't do! If I was mute, who would play a battle of wits with you, Cui Buqu?"
Cui Buqu: "Xiao Lu wouldn't be bad."
Feng Xiao twitched his lips. "A little fella who hides in the dark refusing to show himself. A firefly like him wants to fight the moon for glory? Since you know Qiao Xian is one of his people, why haven't you made your move? Are you reeling out the line further to catch an even bigger fish?"
Cui Buqu remained silent for a while, "Four years ago when she just met me, she was so down in the dumps that it was difficult to put into words."
Feng Xiao, "It was faked."
Cui Buqu, "All along the way, she had quite a lot of opportunities to assassinate me, but she didn't do that."
Feng Xiao, "Just to make it more believable. If you can't bear to do it, let me do it."
Cui Buqu, "There is no need. I will give her a chance, and let her make her own choice."
Feng Xiao sighed, "How cold an exterior and how warm a heart you have, Cui Buqu!"
Cui Buqu laughed coldly, "How outspread your feathers are, Feng Yuntian."
"I like it more when you describe me being elegant and graceful."
Feng Xiao spread his fan open, rising to his feet. "I like to drink, but I don't like tea. So, I choose the Stormy Tavern. However, what about your trump card? They might have already made preparations on these two places. Whether this is a trap or new lead, we wouldn't know. Cui Buqu you're known for excellent strategies. Surely you wouldn't let Guan Shanhai and I fight a battle of one-man armies?"
Cui Buqu waved his hand. "I've no cards left. Xiao Lu has forced me to a tether's end. Otherwise, how would I ask you for Pei Jingzhe? I even wanted to ask if you could deploy a few people from the Jiejian Bureau here and help us live through this stage!"
"I'm terribly sorry. The Jiejian Bureau has no more people to spare, otherwise how would I, the Second Commander, come myself?" Feng Xiao gave a profound look as if he wanted to penetrate into the other's heart and read his thoughts, "Not leaving behind a path for yourself to fall back on? This doesn't sound like you, Cui Buqu."
Cui Buqu sighed. "Yang Yun is like an agitated dog that wants to jump over the wall. Xiao Lu fears that long nights would be haunted with dreams. He would definitely make his move within these two days. There's no time to mobilize Zuoyue guards from other places. Even a man of wisdom with a thousand worries would slip his foot; with a powerful enemy like Xiao Lu present, perhaps I even have to make up for it using my life."
Feng Xiao sighed with him, looking like he truly sympathized: "That is to say, Master Cui truly is quite pitiful this time."
Cui Buqu also said sorrowfully: "Truly. Truly."
Two old sly foxes, one sitting and one standing, were giving out the same sorrowful and bitter laugh as they looked at each other.
...
Inside another room.
There were similarly two people.
The two people looked at each other. One practically as expressionless as Cui Buqu, and the other beneath her gaze didn't know what to do.
"You don't look very happy." Pei Jingzhe spoke slowly.
"Since when have you come?" Qiao Xian finally opened her mouth.
Pei Jingzhe sighed inwardly. "I came with my Lord. He let me follow Master Cui closely before, and just now, someone really did try to assassinate him! Though, I stopped him."
"Sent by whom?" Qiao Xian's expression changed, "Is the Commander alright?"
Pei Jingzhe would honestly answer any question, so he replied honestly: "Nothing happened this time, but if the enemy does not succeed, they will definitely try again. I'm afraid my skills are insufficient, but it might not be the case next time."
Qiao Xian didn't hesitate before getting down the bed to put on her shoes. Pei Jingzhe immediately stopped her.
"Now that my Lord is present, you can rest assured and take care of your wounds!"
"Right, with Feng Xiao's presence, naturally I shouldn't worry." Qiao Xian laughed at herself.
Pei Jingzhe could hear the undertone of her words, so he couldn't help asking: "Are you harbouring prejudice against my Lord?"
Qiao Xian twitched her lips. She said nothing, as if everything she was disgusted by was compressed into this gesture.
Pei Jingzhe blinked and had no choice but to change the subject. "On the last trip, my pay was almost fully cut."
Qiao Xian really did raise a brow. "Is the Jiejian Bureau so poor that they'd even embezzle their own member's pay?"
Pei Jingzhe smiled: "Not really embezzling. I failed to do a good job, and my Lord simply used this as a punishment."
Qiao Xian grumbled: "Feng Xiao really is a miser!"
Pei Jingzhe chuckled as he listened. "My Lord only often frightens me that way, but there are not many times he actually does it. To me, he is my teacher. Without him, I wouldn't have learned so much. Perhaps I might even have turned into an ignorant little rogue who had no goals. What about you? How did you join the Zuoyue Bureau and be under Master Cui? He never trusts people easily, but those who are able to gain his trust would surely have virtues that surpassed others."
He didn't know which sentence he said touched Qiao Xian, but the latter was stunned for a moment.
...
"So, we can only wait for the prey, like wolves and rabbits waiting for the enemy to make their first move?"
Feng Xiao had already left the room.
Pei Jingzhe and the others were talking inside another room.
Rong Qing and Cui Buqu both sat under a tree facing each other. The first couldn't sit still, his heart was wandering. After some time, he couldn't help but ask.
The entire post house was quiet in the day. So quiet that it didn't look like someone was living there.
"No." Cui Buqu shook his head.
Rong Qing was filled with hope.
Cui Buqu: "The enemy is the wolf. We are the rabbit."
Rong Qing: "…"
Cui Buqu: "Wait, that isn't right either. You and I, we are two rabbits."
Rong Qing laughed bitterly. "I have already written the edict and sent it out of the city on a fast horse."
Cui Buqu: "Do you have a copy of the edict?"
Rong Qing curiously: "No, why?"
Cui Buqu replied sympathetically: "Your edict will never be delivered out. If we are lucky, we might still be alive after a few days. Then you'd need to write a new one. If you have a copy, then you can save the breath."
Rong Qing's tongue formed a knot, glaring at him for half a day. He couldn't help saying: "How would you know my edict will never be delivered out? The post official who helped me even received an additional letter from me, so that he could receive a bonus from my residence once he arrived at the capital. He would definitely ride through day and night to make it in time—"
Wheeze!!!
Before he could finish his words, he watched in shock as a flying arrow flew from the outside into the courtyard, pinning something onto the pillar not far away from them.
It pierced three inches into the wood, and pinning on it was a very thick letter. Rong Qing remembered very clearly that it was the letter he'd given to the post official.
Presently, the arrow was dull and devoid of light. The letter held traces of blood. There were even a few strands of hair.
Rong Qing abruptly turned around to look at Cui Buqu.
Cui Buqu consoled him: "This is only the beginning."
Rong Qing: "…"
====
[DB: There's a big scene coming in 4 chapters, stay tune! ^_^ also p.s.: Everything said in this chapter is important to the next 4 chapters aside from Feng-er brightening the day with his theatrics.]