Chapter 83

Chapter 83

This differential treatment based on the hierarchy of power, this cruel logic that placed his sincere affection beneath the authority of the emperor, stabbed into Nan Wuxie's heart like an icy dagger, bringing not only pain but also a humiliating sense of total negation.

What he could least accept was being overshadowed by the man on the dragon throne, especially in the eyes of someone he cared about.

"Fine, just fine. It seems I've been nothing but trouble for you."

Nan Wuxie spun around abruptly, and the golden eagle on his shoulder spread its massive wings, kicking up a gust of wind.

"Nan Yongci!" Wen Buchi called out, staring at his resolute back. The pent-up grievances, fears, and pressure of the past few days finally burst the dam. "You're always like this! Handing out whatever you feel like giving, never asking if the other person wants it!"

Nan Wuxie stopped in his tracks, whirling around, barely holding back fury and disbelief in his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?! Wen Buchi, I gave you that eagle because I couldn't stand seeing you bullied any longer! Tell me, aren't you a coward? Don't you even dare protect a bird? You—"

He bit back the words at the tip of his tongue, replacing them with something even more hurtful.

"I've seen through you, Wen Zhishi. You're all talk and no backbone! You put on a show of aloof pride on the surface, but deep down you don't have a shred of backbone! All you ever do is curl up and take it lying down!"

These words lashed like poisoned whips across Wen Buchi's heart, and his eyes instantly turned red.

"Yes! I have no backbone! Nan Yongci, I told you long ago that I'm not like you! You have a strong military force backing you, immense wealth and endless confidence. You have a way out—you can act without a care. But I have nothing! I have to think twice about every step I take! One wrong move and I fall into an abyss from which there's no return. I can't afford to lose! You look down on me from your high horse, and of course, you see me as groveling and despicable!"

"Look down on you??"

Nan Wuxie found this utterly preposterous. He laughed in disbelief, "Wen Zhishi, have you lost your mind? If I looked down on you, why would I go out of my way to get you credit and care whether you live or die? Why would I humble myself to come and give you this eagle? Do I look like I have nothing better to do?!"

He stepped forward, staring down at the person before him, "Don't put words in my mouth! Let me tell you, dignity starts with self-respect! This spine isn't something others hand you; it's something you fight for yourself! Only when you stand tall do people think twice before walking all over you!"

"Standing up for yourself? Is that what you call standing up for yourself? Like you?" Wen Buchi's voice rose. "Doing whatever you want without a thought for anyone else—that's your idea of standing up for yourself? Your version of 'standing up for yourself' is just forcing everyone to live by your rules!"

Nan Wuxie was stunned by these words, anger mixed with a trace of confusion and the sting of being wronged.

"When have I ever not considered others' feelings? When have I ever just done whatever I felt like?"

He was genuinely bewildered. In his simple logic, treating Wen Buchi well, protecting him, and giving him the best was the most direct, no-bullshit way to show his feelings.

"Haven't you, though?" Wen Buchi looked at him, his eyes brimming with long-suppressed disappointment and accusation. "Fine, then let's settle this today. Let's talk about you and me,"

He took a step forward, locking eyes with Nan Wuxie. "Between us, from day one until now—from the first time you pressured me in your mansion, to every time after that, and even today with this golden eagle—Nan Yongci, have you ever once asked me, 'Wen Buchi, are you willing?' Even my clothes have been chosen according to your taste. Did you ever once ask if I even liked them?!"

"You..." Nan Wuxie tried to interject, to explain, "I—"

But before he could finish, Wen Buchi cut him off coldly.

"Even when we kissed, you never once asked me if it was okay. Nan Yongci, ask yourself—did you ever give a damn what I think?!"

All the accusations came crashing down on him, and Nan Wuxie was struck dumb. It was as if he had been punched square in the face, his head buzzing.

He'd never once thought about it. In his mind, kissing the other person, getting close to them, doing good things for them—all of it felt so natural, springing from the most direct impulse in his heart.

"I..." His Adam's apple bobbed. He couldn't understand. "It's just because... you're in my heart."

The words came out clumsy, even to his own ears.

"Isn't it because I like you that I want to kiss you? Isn't it because you're all I think about that I want to be close to you? I gave you the parrot, I gave you the eagle—all because... because I can't stand seeing you get pushed around and say nothing, because I don't want you to suffer even the slightest grievance. Was any of that wrong?"

By the end, his voice carried a hint of grievance and urgency that even he didn't notice.

Yet, he still didn't understand. He still took everything for granted.

"Yes! Yes!! Everything is because *you* want to! Did it ever cross your mind to ask if I wanted any of it?!"

Wen Buchi saw the genuine confusion and urgency in Nan Wuxie's eyes, and it only twisted the knife deeper. He shook his head, his voice dropping, heavy with exhaustion.

"Nan Yongci, you don't understand love at all. Do you even know what respect means? Your love is just coercion without regard for the other person's will, isn't it?"

"It's not force!" Nan Wuxie denied it outright, instinctively defending his feelings.

But the word "respect" hit him like a hammer. He realized he couldn't defend himself with any confidence.

He racked his brains, only to find that his understanding of "love" seemed limited to "wanting," "possessing," and "protecting."

Looking at his dumbstruck expression, Wen Buchi sighed and spoke the coldest words in the gentlest tone: "Nan Wuxie, what you feel for me is desire—the desire to conquer, physical desire, and perhaps... the desire to defy the man on the dragon throne by taming me."

He shook his head. "But it's not love."

The words were soft, but they struck Nan Wuxie like a thunderbolt, leaving him frozen in place.

No matter how sharp-witted he usually was, at this moment he was like an inexperienced child. All words were stuck in his throat. He wanted to refute, wanted to say it wasn't like that, but Wen Buchi's words were like a mirror, reflecting deep-seated motives he had never examined—or dared to admit.

He looked at Wen Buchi's reddened eyes and determined expression, feeling for the first time a panic and helplessness he had never known.

The sound of the argument faded, leaving only a suffocating silence.

The golden eagle shifted its claws uneasily, letting out a low rumble. Nan Wuxie stood at the doorway, watching Wen Buchi turn and walk back into the room. The door closed slowly in front of him, making a dull "bang" that completely cut off his view.

The eagle on his shoulder tilted its head, puzzled by its master's stiff expression. But Nan Wuxie just stood there, staring at the closed door, for the first time deeply doubting everything he had once believed without question.

***

Yan Dongshan had spent several consecutive days holed up in the Ministry of Justice, barely sleeping. Everyone Ge Dahai had come into contact with—from the innkeeper and fellow examinees to the street vendor who had only exchanged a single word with him—had been interrogated repeatedly, questioned down to the finest detail. Case files piled up half as tall as a man; every witness's testimony had been read to tatters. But the clues remained elusive, like stones sunk to the bottom of a river.

However, heaven never leaves one without a way out. Maybe it was Yan Dongshan's luck, or maybe it was the Su family's luck, or perhaps even the Jing Kingdom's luck. On this afternoon, a man suddenly showed up at the gate of the Ministry of Justice.

A middle-aged man in coarse linen clothing was led in by the clerks, his face a mixture of timidity and eagerness to claim the reward. He claimed to have seen the wanted notice and recalled that a few nights earlier, around the end of the midnight hour, after drinking, he was walking back from outside the city when he vaguely spotted a figure skulking toward the south bank of the moat.

Yan Dongshan immediately conducted the interrogation personally. The man knelt in the hall, cowering under the solemn atmosphere, stammering as he spoke.

Yan Dongshan had someone give him a bowl of water and asked patiently, "Did you get a clear look at the person's appearance?"

The man held the bowl, licked his chapped lips, and tried to recall: "R-responding to Your Honor, it was too dark, didn't see clearly... I just... I felt it was a pretty young man, maybe... around twenty years old?"

"Any other distinguishing features?" Yan Dongshan pressed, his official authority intimidating.

The man frowned, thinking hard for a moment, then suddenly said, "Oh, right! I remember... that person probably wasn't from the capital!"

"Oh?" Yan Dongshan leaned forward slightly. "How could you tell that?"

"No, no... not from his looks...! It's because... I was also heading that way that night, not too far away, and I heard him... say something to someone, just a snippet," the man explained eagerly. "He had a bit of an accent... from the Chuanzhou region, like. Different from the capital dialect."

"Chuanzhou accent?" Yan Dongshan's eyes flashed. With examinees from all over gathered in the capital now...

He pressed on immediately: "Do you remember what he said?"

The man's face fell, and he waved his hands frantically: "Your Honor, please be clear! It was pitch black, two strangers passing by—why would I pay attention? A phrase or two just drifted over on the wind. Seemed like something about 'getting on in years' and 'no need'... I really didn't catch it! Who could have known there'd be a murder later?!"

This was entirely reasonable, and Yan Dongshan understood that ordinary people wouldn't pay attention to strangers' conversations.

He waved his hand, had the man taken away for a detailed record, and ordered a reward to be given.

Although the clues were vague, the combination of "Chuanzhou" and "early twenties" pointed unmistakably in one direction.

"Investigate every *juren* from Chuanzhou currently in the capital, in their early twenties!" Yan Dongshan commanded.

Almost at the same moment Yan Dongshan obtained this critical lead, an even more shocking piece of news spread like wildfire throughout every corner of the capital.

Today, Su Zhanyu proactively submitted a petition, requesting an audience at the palace.

This was nothing short of an unprecedented event. The Su family was already at the center of a storm. What did Su Zhanyu intend by this? Was he bowing to pressure to explain himself to His Majesty? Or had he devised some countermeasure?

For a time, all factions caught wind of the news, and speculation ran rampant—some rejoiced, others worried.

When word reached the Ji residence, Meng Yigui was like a cat on a hot tin roof. The instant he heard that the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice were investigating *juren* in their early twenties from Chuanzhou, he was terrified out of his wits. Then, upon learning that Su Zhanyu was entering the palace at this critical juncture, he was scared out of his mind.

"Lord Ji! Master Ji! This—this is obviously aimed at me!" Meng Yigui’s voice trembled, his words incoherent. "They’re about to find me! And Su Zhanyu is entering the palace at a time like this—nothing good will come of it! What should we do?!"

In stark contrast to his panic, Ji Zhou remained eerily calm. He slowly toyed with his teacup and said in a flat tone, "Young Master Meng, don’t be hasty. If Su Zhanyu’s audience with His Majesty had produced any drastic measures, an edict would have already been issued from the palace by now. How could everything still be so calm and quiet?"

He took a sip of tea and continued, "You are too anxious. You’re losing your composure."

Ji Ye furrowed his brow. Though not as composed as his son, he knew that panic was useless at a time like this. He said solemnly, "Zhou’er is right. The more critical the moment, the more we must keep our cool. Go back now, act as usual, and don’t let anything slip. Leave everything to me and Zhou’er to plan."

Meng Yigui, coaxed by the two, barely managed to steady himself and left in a state of uneasy daze.

The moment the study door closed, the calm on Ji Zhou’s face gave way to icy murderous intent.

He looked at his father and said flatly, "Father, this man cannot be allowed to live any longer."

Ji Ye was silent for a long time, his eyes showing complex emotions, but eventually hardened and slowly nodded.

"Make sure it's handled cleanly."

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Author's note: Hmm, which readers have been making organic posts about this on that other app? I happened to scroll past a few posts—sending you all kisses~ Also, please don’t argue, everyone~ I hope my dear readers can always be in a good mood~