As the day drew deeper into the night, the frosty cold air grew denser.
The fire sparks within the small furnace were nearing the end of their lives, flickering inconsistently. From time to time, a gust of wind would blow, yet it would struggle to resist from being snuffed out.
Chill winds billowed in from all four cardinal directions, seeping into the opening of their sleeves as it howled and wailed wildly.
Both people within the pavilion sat opposite of each other.
One of them presented a carefree and leisurely expression.
The other contradicted with a cold and stern one.
In the face of Cui Buqu's question, Xiao Lu wasn't even in a hurry. Instead, he laughed out loud, "Cui Buqu, oh Cui Buqu, as an intelligent man for your whole life, how are you suddenly a blunderer? If you have the guts to ask me for an alliance, why wouldn't I have the guts to ask the Göktürks for one?"
Cui Buqu glared at him for a moment; all the strict, steely air evaporated, and all of a sudden there wasn't even a spark of angry flames. He even nodded his head and agreed, "Pavilion Lord Xiao speaks the truth. It is I who neglected it."
Xiao Lu admired his ability to control himself. Had it been someone else who found out they were played here for half a day, they would have immediately lost their temper. Yet, Cui Buqu could still manage to suppress his temper calmly, and that Xiao Lu being unable to tell his current mood.
The horrendous rain had begun to quell and disperse with not a single trace being found on Cui Buqu's face.
But even if Cui Buqu looked calm on the surface, it didn't mean that he felt the same inside.
Guan Shanhai, who stood next to him, could not remain silent. "Those who are not people of our country will definitely have a different way of things. No matter what, you are still a Han. How dare you collude with foreign tribes to sow discord within the lands of the Central Plains!"
Xiao Lu mocked, "I am from the court of the Southern Dynasty and not a citizen of the Great Sui. In fact, you people are now at truce with the Göktürks and even offered a title of nobility to the Seventh Prince. Is this not colluding with Göktürks?"
Fury surged up within Guan Shanhai, but he forcibly suppressed it
Without Cui Buqu's order, he would not act rashly regardless of what occurred.
As he saw this, Xiao Lu smiled at Cui Buqu. "Although the people around you might not be particularly skilled in martial arts, they are far more loyal than my people."
Cui Buqu coldly said, "Tonight, you obviously lured me to this place to create an opportunity for Kuhezhen. What have both of you planned?"
Xiao Lu slightly smiled, "I came here to offer you an invitation for war. Would you dare accept?"
There was no hostile energy in his eyes. Instead, he looked gentle and peaceful.
It so happened that Xiao Lu always thought Cui Buqu was the one who understood him the most in this world.
If not for Cui Buqu's constant interference, the Thirteen Pavilions of Yunhai wouldn't continuously lose their people and suffer waves after waves of defeats.
It's such a pity. If two people who similarly possessed extraordinary talents and defects on their bodies could not be friends, then they are fated to be enemies.
In fact, they are enemies who wouldn't rest until one of them died.
In this world, relationships between two people were not restricted to just common relationships such as relatives, friends, and lovers. Something far harder to come by was a worthy rival.
Just like Xiao Lu, who was looking at Cui Buqu, a serene smile sitting on the curve of his lips as he waited for his answer.
Cui Buqu, too, was also observing Xiao Lu.
He saw the crazed ambitiousness buried within the other's peaceful facade.
He also understood why Xiao Lu would have such crazed thoughts—
Because he felt undeserved.
If one were to be born defective and dull-witted, it's not a bad idea to spend your whole life in a mundane way of living.
And yet, while the Heavens had bestowed upon him dazzling looks and extraordinary talents, it neglected to give him a good start.
He watched as the Southern Dynasty was being ruled by an incompetent Emperor. He watched as the Great Sui grew in power. He watched as Yang Jian was able to become an Emperor himself just because he'd given birth to a good daughter. Since these people who are more inferior than him could become Emperors, why couldn't Xiao Lu?
Even if his quest to become an Emperor failed, investing himself in such an eventful, fiery life full of tempests would still be better than serving an Emperor like the one in the Southern Dynasty and endure the shame that came along with it.
Cui Buqu looked the other in the eye.
Within their dark abyss, a spark of fire came to life, refusing to be snuffed out even in the coldest nights of winter.
He refused to bow his head to anyone, even if that person was the Emperor.
"Cui Buqu, you understand me, but you cannot win me."
Xiao Lu pointed to Cui Buqu's chest, finger hovered in the air, then pointed back to himself.
"You are cold from your skin to your bones, but your heart is warm. And I am not the same—"
He suddenly smiled.
"From inside out, I am cold and heartless. Even through extreme measures, I would never be kind."
"So, Cui Buqu, are you accepting this battle?"
"If you refuse, then you've lost. Leave the capital immediately and go far away, promise to never interfere in the worldly matters here. I will not make it difficult for you."
His tone was light and elegant as if he was holding a flower branch, admiring it as he twirled it around.
A string tightened in Qin Miaoyu's heart. Even if she knew that Cui Buqu would not just drop and leave irresponsibly, she couldn't resist feeling nervous.
She was even more worried. If Cui Buqu disagreed, this fellow surnamed Xiao would certainly use force and attack them.
But before Cui Buqu could answer, the sound of horse hooves came from afar.
Dust flew into the air in a sickening sight.
Qin Miaoyu turned around abruptly.
A man on a horse was coming from the city's gates.
The man was bent over, both legs clinging tightly to the horse's belly, begging the handsome steed to gallop faster.
A wild breeze blew his sleeves up high, yet his figure was blurry beneath the shadow of the lantern.
"Commander Cui!"
The person impatiently spoke before he arrived. He shouted from afar.
Nothing could hide the agitation in his voice, as if he was carrying an extremely urgent message.
Cui Buqu suddenly looked at Xiao Lu.
"What have you done?"
Xiao Lu cockily replied, "Take a guess."
There was no need for Cui Buqu to guess. Pei Jingzhe very quickly came forth on the horse.
From afar, under the thinning, faint light, Qin Miaoyu and the others could see cold sweat plastered all over Pei Jingzhe's forehead, turning his face a pale shade of white.
"Commander Cui, something's happened!"
Pei Jingzhe couldn't care less about the fact that Xiao Lu was present. He quickly added, "Something happened in Prince Qin's manor. The Crown Prince, the Crown Prince's concubine and the others are all injured. They even said—said that my Lord is the initiator. Now, my Lord has been locked into the dungeon!"
Qin Miaoyu and Zhangsun Bodhi were taken aback where they stood. Regardless of what happened, they would ever expect this kind of incident to happen.
They quickly thought of Xiao Lu and gave him a hostile look.
Xiao Lu reminded them gently, "If all of you return now, perhaps you could be there on time to beg for mercy on his behalf."
Cui Buqu glared at him with hostility. With large steps, he walked next to Pei Jingzhe and climbed on the horse. Turning around, he dropped an order, "Seize Xiao Lu and forbid him to enter the city", and then he rode on the fast horse into the city.
Very quickly, his figure got lost behind the gates.
Faced before a few people surrounding him, Xiao Lu's bodyguards also stepped forward, both sides confronting each other.
Xiao Lu didn't move. Since he had no intention of going forward to catch up to Cui Buqu, he neither intended to attack Qin Miaoyu and the others.
He adjusted his sleeves and a smile ghosted on his face as if he'd taken everything into account.
"You people want to keep an eye on me here, yet I do not wish to waste my time with you."
"Tell Cui Buqu, good luck being on his own."
...
Cui Buqu rode very quickly. As the horse spread its limbs running across the main road, at the same time, Cui Buqu's insides were thundering and churning.
A gust of turbulent wind washed over him like a knife, practically cutting down a layer of skin.
At this moment, most of the people within the city had already dispatched to watch the lanterns. Within the large capital, the main path was void of people on both sides. The handsome horse dashed through swiftly without hindrance.
Cui Buqu raised his eyes slightly.
These lanterns of the city that never sleeps illuminated the skies. The cold came, the wind rose and the cloud surged, with the intention to freeze and shatter the world.
He originally wanted to trespass the palace gates, but as he came to its centre, he pulled the reins in and drew the horse's forelegs up into a long, tearing neigh with its head up high.
Cui Buqu remained silent for a moment, then turned around to head into another direction.
This path had never delayed him for a single second. Until he was before the gates of the great prison, Cui Buqu suddenly felt that the upper half of his body had frozen numb, that the hand he'd been holding the reins with was stiff and cold. The moment he relented them, his knuckles and joints whined.
As he proclaimed his identity, the watchmen by the gates gave him incredibly reluctant faces, yet they didn't dare hold him back. The Zuoyue Bureau and the Ministry of Justice often interacted with each other. They all knew that this Zuoyue Commander had a special identity and was a stubborn man.
Normally, he would not appear in person for such cases, but tonight, the situation was special. The watchmen all knew the reason Cui Buqu came.
They still allowed him inside but didn't forget to remind him not to stay too long, as well as compliment them more in front of their superior when he had the time.
Standing by the gate, the black hole looked like the entrance into a sinister forest, prepared to swallow everyone down at any time.
Normal people would have loathed this place and want to stay as far away as possible from here, or even better, they would rather not take a step into this place even once in their lives.
Yet, Cui Buqu had paid this place a visit many times, even to the point that he wasn't quite sure how many times in total.
Because the Zuoyue Bureau had no private prison. Many suspects and criminals were temporarily locked up here once they arrived in the capital, and executed after their sentences were decided.
But this time, something was quite different.
With this first step in, Cui Buqu suddenly paused.
He started coughing.
One cough followed the last, coughing until his chest hurt.
Only then he recalled that he'd been rushing too fast, being in the cold on horseback worsened his pain. This sort of feeling was not a pleasant experience for someone who was in long-term ailing health.
Especially when he dismounted, his footsteps staggered and his breath stifled in his chest, clashing cold and warmth together. The more it happened, the more his discomfort surged up.
He knitted his brows together tightly, yet couldn't suppress the itching pain in his throat. Those series of coughs all surged up his throat before they were forcibly swallowed down.
Those watchmen were quite worried as they watched. They immediately asked after him in a soft voice, but they didn't know that Cui Buqu had been through these experiences far too many times in his life. He was long used to them as a natural occurrence.
After he endured these coughs, he straightened his back and stuffed the handkerchief into his sleeve, raising his footsteps to walk into the great gates of the prison.
His footsteps resounded dully within the empty space like an invisible heavy rock falling onto the suspect's body piece by piece.
It was unknown where a whimpering cry reverberated from, or what the content of a few random mutterings was; some people even threw themselves against the prison bars and wailed loudly.
Cui Buqu was accustomed to scenes like these. His footsteps didn't slow down. Instead, some cowardly suspects withdrew themselves timidly at the cold glares he gave them.
The deeper the criminals were located in the prison cell, the graver the crimes they have committed.
It was obvious that tonight, if no one dared to be as bold as to assassinate the Emperor, then no one should have been past Feng Xiao's cell.
In the deepest parts of the prison cell, one person sat on his knees, enjoying the treatment he's been given in a single cell. Hearing these familiar footsteps getting closer and closer, he was even in the mood to count in his heart.
Five, four, three, two, one.
A turquoise sleeve really did appear within his vision.
The other turned his body to face him and stood up. From Feng Xiao's perspective, he could see half of his face.
Cui Buqu mocked, "Commander Feng's expression appears to be quite well."
Feng Xiao chuckled lightly, "Aren't I just a beauty waiting to be rescued by my hero, Commander Cui?"
Translator's Notes
Feng-er: Ququ my feathers hurt. I need ur love to recover T^T ❤ ????
Ququ: Step aside, your A-Qu is here.