Chapter 46: Enmity (1)

Chapter 46: Enmity (1)

Pei Mingqi saw Le Wuya, freshly washed and clean, and without a word, pulled him into a tight hug.

A little aggrieved, he whispered, "I’ve missed you."

Le Wuya’s body tingled from the hug, and he looked up and teased him: "Last time I was gone for so long, you weren’t this clingy when I came back."

Pei Mingqi buried his face in the crook of Le Wuya’s neck, saying nothing.

Knowing he was shy, Le Wuya continued deliberately, "Why are you hugging me? I’m the number one villain under heaven, black-hearted and ruthless, unmatched by anyone. Don’t defile our great Master Pei."

Pei Mingqi’s face turned bright red, and he grumbled, "I’ll hug you anyway!"

Pei Mingqi wasn’t one to hold grudges. Once his anger had passed and they’d argued, it was over.

Could he really let Damuqi come between him and his little crow?

He just couldn’t.

The two of them, not wanting to fight again, chose to forget the squabbles before their parting. They went in and out together, ate and slept together, as if they were one person.

On the Dayu side, the mood was warm and affectionate, but for the Jing tribe, it was total chaos.

The "Copper Horse Victory" was an intolerable loss for them.

The current leader, Huyan Ding, was in a thunderous rage and demanded someone be held responsible for losing Copper Horse County.

After a detailed investigation, the blame landed on the missing Damuqi.

Dayu’s spies in Shuonan City seized the opportunity, following Le Wuya’s instructions to spread rumors:

Damuqi had fallen into enemy hands and, to save his own life, had turned traitor to protect himself.

Ordinarily, such a clumsy attempt at sowing discord wouldn’t have mattered.

But Le Wuya had a precise understanding of a ruler’s mind.

Da Yue had already passed away, and as for Helian Haohao, he had been bedridden for years due to war wounds. When news of his young son’s tragic death came from the front line—a man of deep feeling—he was overcome with grief and rage, his old wounds burst open, and he died.

The two were buried together on the south side of Yangshan City.

Their successive deaths did not, however, lead to the decline of the Da and Helian families.

Damuqi was in his prime, with an iron hand and a fearsome reputation.

Helian Che had come of age, inheriting his father’s bravery in battle and his mother Da Yue’s skills in leading troops and handling finances. He lacked nothing: funds, grain, weapons, and soldiers willing to die for him.

With these two in charge, the veteran troops not only stayed loyal to the Da and Helian families but also attracted a steady stream of Jing tribe soldiers to replenish their ranks.

The Huyan family’s situation, however, was rather awkward.

They had conquered their empire from horseback, yet the younger generation of Huyan generals had all died young—due to illness or war.

While the Huyan family faced a gap in talent, the Da and Helian families’ prestige grew day by day.

Damuqi was as violent as fire, while Helian Che’s temperament was completely different from his parents—gloomy, taciturn, and reserved, his heart hard to fathom.

The two with their strange dispositions, uncle and nephew, were bound to make the ruler uneasy.

If they were allowed to grow too powerful, future events would be even harder to predict.

But Damuqi’s rebellion was just a rumor. If the Huyan family truly imprisoned Helian Che or even executed him, the message of ‘killing the hounds once the hares are bagged’ would be all too obvious.

Damuqi had never married, had no wife or children, but had taken three adopted sons from among his younger subordinates.

These three, along with Helian Che—the only son of the Helian family—were stripped of all honors and demoted to the front lines as ordinary soldiers, to atone for Damuqi and prove their loyalty.

Everything unfolded exactly as Le Wuya had predicted.

The Huyan family couldn’t bear to lose the elite troops trained by the Da and Helian families. With such a good excuse, they would undoubtedly try to swallow them whole.

But soldiers gathered halfway might not be sincerely loyal, and trouble was likely to brew.

A little chaos—that was a good thing.

If the enemy was in disarray, the war could end a day sooner, and he could return to the capital earlier.

He missed his mother and his two older brothers.

Amidst his delight, Le Wuya also sensed something strange.

…Ever since the Damuqi incident, his father had been distant with him.

Le Wuya had always been a greedy child—he wanted love, and he wanted praise.

If something was good, he wanted to grab it.

He thought, just like when he was a child and skipped class to pick persimmons for his father, as long as he acted spoiled in his arms, everything would be fine.

Speaking of which, the secret tunnel he had dug into his father’s tent had yet to be discovered.

So, he decided to do it.

With rice candy, a local specialty Pei Mingqi had brought from Copper Horse City, tucked in his pocket, Le Wuya sneaked into the central command tent again.

But this time, his timing wasn’t great.

Halfway through his crawl, he heard voices in his father’s tent.

Deputy General Yu was discussing private matters with his father again.

Le Wuya had no intention of turning back today.

According to his plan, he would appear before his father, covered in dust, his eyes bright, and cling to his father’s leg, refusing to let go.

If his father didn’t pat his head, he wouldn’t leave.

Having made up his mind, Le Wuya didn’t retreat.

During the Copper Horse battle, Deputy General Yu had remained in the camp, and now that Le Qianzhang had returned to the camp, there were many military matters to go over one by one.

By the time Le Wuya reached the tunnel entrance, their conversation was nearing its end.

Le Wuya found a comfortable position, curled up at the tunnel mouth, imagining himself as a cunning little fox lying in ambush, waiting for Uncle Yu to leave before suddenly jumping out to scare his father.

Deputy General Yu praised, "General, you’ve earned another merit. The capital has received the news of the Copper Horse victory and greatly commends you for raising your son well."

The praised "son" was curled under the bed, and upon hearing this, he shook his head in self-satisfied amusement.

But Le Qianzhang, who was always gentle and deferential, did not give thanks. He just fixed his gaze on Deputy General Yu.

Deputy General Yu had served alongside Le Qianzhang for years; their relationship was deep, and their understanding of each other was extraordinary.

Just by catching Le Qianzhang's eyes, Deputy General Yu understood his meaning and could only smile bitterly: "I wasn't the one who reported it. I haven't corresponded privately with the Crown Prince for years."

In the tunnel, Le Wuya was carefully fiddling with the rice candy Pei Mingqi had brought back for him.

He hadn't lied to him; when placed in his mouth, it truly wasn't sweet.

Le Qianzhang hummed in acknowledgment.

"Wenling," he called Yu Cailiang by his courtesy name, "How has Ali been lately? Has anything changed?"

Deputy General Yu: "The young general is probably suspicious of something. Recently, whenever he captures informants, he always inquires about Damuqi."

He finished with a sigh: "Blood is thicker than water between uncle and nephew... this saying truly..."

The tent fell silent.

Deputy General Yu, realizing he had misspoken, slowly lowered his head under Le Qianzhang's silent, oppressive gaze.

Le Wuya held a mouthful of candy, looking up at the tunnel exit.

The candy softened and became sticky when it entered his mouth, hard to chew, needing to be sucked until it melted.

...What "uncle and nephew"?!

Le Qianzhang let out a low sigh: "To this day, I still don't know whether you acted with premeditation or on a whim that day."

Deputy General Yu immediately knelt, his face full of shame: "Wenling confesses his guilt."

Le Qianzhang: "I am not your master. Don't kneel; I don't deserve it."

Deputy General Yu moved forward on his knees and placed his hand on Le Qianzhang's arm, eagerly expressing his loyalty: "Wenling was young and rash back then, knowing no better, but over these ten-plus years, I've followed you through life and death, going through fire and blood several times. I've long given up thoughts of the capital's splendor. You must at least trust me a little! That day was truly an accident! Two other brothers and I infiltrated Ranqiu City to gather intelligence and spotted Helian Che paying for something. The pouch he used had the Helian family seal on it, so we followed him. Wenling thought that blow would surely be fatal! The Helian family only has a child left, and he's in our hands—they should have retreated by now, right? I wanted the war to proceed more smoothly. I never imagined... the capital had other plans..."

Le Wuya heard a familiar name.

Helian Che.

That was his enemy, a victim of his own stratagem to sow discord, now sent to the front lines to fight as a vanguard soldier, perhaps already fallen in some battle.

Le Qianzhang said indifferently: "The will of heaven is unfathomable. This is not your fault."

"The Crown Prince, on the Emperor's behalf, ordered you to raise the young general, all for this day..."

Deputy General Yu forced himself to argue for a few sentences, then seemed to think of something. He pressed his lips together, a hint of joy appearing on his face: "General, you should be happy! The young general is dutiful and loyal to us! When the Emperor sees the victory report and knows you have raised the young general to be so accomplished, he will surely be delighted!"

"I didn't raise him," Le Qianzhang said with a faint bitter smile. "I don't know how to teach him. If I raised him well, he would come to kill his own clansmen; if I raised him badly, he would parade around as the illegitimate son of the General’s Mansion, ruining the reputation of General Zhaoyi's estate."

"It would be best if he were... a child without ambition, not too clever, loves to act spoiled, who likes reading and calligraphy, with no interest in archery or horsemanship. That would be perfect."

"By then, the military post of General Zhaoyi would have no heir, and the Emperor could freely appoint a person to his liking to take over."

At this point, Le Qianzhang fixed his gaze on Deputy General Yu's pale face: "These words of mine are truly treasonous. If you wish to report them, you may submit another memorial to the Emperor."

Deputy General Yu was silent for a long time, his face burning hot.

He probably understood that the so-called "person to his liking" was the milk brother of the former Crown Prince, now the current Emperor—that is, himself.

He forced a smile: "General, why such gloomy thoughts?"

Le Qianzhang replied: "If you were Ali's father, watching him so happy every day, yet always afraid that one day his happiness might fade, you would have such reflections too."

Le Wuya put another piece of candy in his mouth.

Perhaps it was too cold underground; he curled up slightly, using his hand to pull his clothes tight over his chest, trying to fend off the creeping cold.

Later, he realized that the cold wind was not coming from outside, but leaking from within himself.

Afraid of freezing to death underground, Le Wuya slowly turned around and crept back the way he came.

But somehow, though the tunnel was clear from end to end with only one fork, Le Wuya inexplicably turned into a dead end.

He didn't stop until he hit the impassable wall of earth.

Pressing his hand against the hard soil in front of him and confirming that he could go no further, he let out a soft breath of cold air, pressing his forehead against the dirt to clear his mind.

Tired from crawling, he curled up in the dark, cold end of the dead-end tunnel, giving in to exhaustion.

The rice candy melted slowly; amid the rich fragrance of rice candy, the sweet syrup finally flowed into Le Wuya's mouth.

In the rich fragrance of rice candy, Le Wuya thought of many things, from day until night.

...

When Pei Mingqi found him, Le Wuya was sitting with his knees hugged, under the stars by the camp, above the moon's reflection in the river.

He had clearly just bathed; his long hair, half-dry, hung over his shoulders, hanging in tight curls.

He was softly singing a song in the Jing tribe language:

"A jug of old wine on my shoulder, I ride my horse, waiting for the girl to come after me, but the one who comes chasing is my mother, hey..."

It's my mother.

Pei Mingqi didn't understand, but he loved hearing Le Wuya hum and sing—it always lifted the spirits.

He plopped down beside Le Wuya: "What are you singing? Sing it again."

Le Wuya's grape-like purple eyes rolled and fixed on him, as a bit of moonlight fell into them, making them especially moving.

Pei Mingqi felt inexplicably nervous under his gaze and quickly looked away: "What are you looking at me for?"

"Pei Mingqi, Pei Fengyou, Little Phoenix." Le Wuya grabbed Pei Mingqi's arm, calling him by various names in a wild, playful tone.

After calling out, he suddenly veered off into a direction Pei Mingqi never expected: "If I were a Jing person... if I were Damuqi, and you captured me, and I fell into your hands, would you kill me?"

Pei Mingqi was initially happy being called those names, but at this ridiculous question, he immediately scowled: "What the hell kind of question is that?!"

Le Wuya shook his arm like he did when they were children begging for treats: "Tell me."

Pei Mingqi could never resist that; shaken, he relented.

After thinking carefully, he had an answer.

"No, I would treat you with respect and try to win you over to surrender. If you were willing to surrender, that would be good. If not, I would keep you locked up for sure, never deprive you of food or drink, and find a way to bring your family to you, waiting for you to have a change of heart."

Le Wuya looked at him, knowing he meant it from the heart.

Pei Mingqi was kind-hearted.

He had always known that.

"You're a real good phoenix," Le Wuya said sincerely. "I am a bad crow."

Pei Mingqi's heart lurched, thinking that Le Wuya was still dwelling on their previous quarrel, and he said hastily, "You are not bad!"

The two of them had quarreled to the point of red in the face and shouting before, but once they argued, it was done. Even when bringing up old grudges, Le Wuya had never spoken to him with that kind of expression and tone.

He stammered, "You are just smarter than others, thinking deeper and further... you... you..."

In his urgency, Pei Mingqi couldn't care about anything else. He pulled Le Wuya into his arms and shook him roughly. "Forget everything I said! Quick!"

Le Wuya, with his hair tousled, leaned on his shoulder and let out a quiet laugh.

Pei Mingqi asked nervously, "You're teasing me again, aren't you?"

Le Wuya: "Mm, teasing you."

Pei Mingqi thought: Liar.

Pei Mingqi did not understand what Le Wuya was thinking, only that he was hurting.

Pei Mingqi coaxed him, "I'll take you to Tongma to eat roast lamb. It's really expensive; my salary might not be enough. I'll ask my father for money and buy it for you. Whenever you want to go, just let me know."

"Mm."

"I'll take you to pick flowers, ten thousand of them. Look at the stars and count ten thousand."

Such sweet words brushed past Le Wuya's ears like a spring breeze.

They just brushed past, never sinking in.

He nodded slightly. "Mm."

......

The next day, Le Wuya dressed himself up nicely and stood respectfully outside Le Qianzhang's tent.

Le Qianzhang, returning from training troops, ran right into him.

Le Qianzhang first averted his gaze, exhaled, then met his eyes calmly. "Wuya, something up?"

Le Wuya had long been accustomed to that sort of behavior for the past seventeen years.

Before, he thought his father was a righteous gentleman who had made a mistake once, resulting in him, his eldest son, and that he didn't know what attitude to adopt towards this unfamiliar illegitimate child, so he always seemed nervous.

Now, he understood everything.

Le Wuya, dressed in plain clothes without armor, smiled with his hands behind his back. "There are indeed some things I want to discuss with Father."

Le Qianzhang looked him up and down, then took his hand and squeezed his hand.

"You've lost some weight lately," he said. "If the army food doesn't suit you, tell me. I'll give you some money, and you can go out with Fengyou to get some good food."

Le Wuya's eyes flickered, then quickly returned to a bright expression. "Thank you, Father!"

Le Qianzhang took Le Wuya's hand and walked into the tent. "What is it?"

Le Wuya, imitating his childhood manner, sat at his feet like a lost and obedient little fox. "Father, I miss my mother."

Feeling the slight stiffness clearly in Le Qianzhang's body, Le Wuya looked up at just the right moment. "Father, where is my mother's grave? I want to visit her."

Le Qianzhang averted his gaze and pondered for a moment. "We are at war now; you cannot leave the camp without permission. Once the war is over, I will take you to see her."

"Really?" Le Wuya rested his chin on his knee, tilting his head slightly. "Father, can you tell me about my mother?"

Le Qianzhang knew that this son would not be dismissed anytime soon. He reached out and touched his temple. "Ask me anything you like."

But Le Wuya did not give him the chance to fabricate.

He tilted his head and stared fixedly at him. "When did you and General Da Yue meet?"

Le Qianzhang: "...Who?"

"General Da Yue," Le Wuya said, still maintaining an intimate posture, leaning against Le Qianzhang, looking at him eagerly. "Isn't she my biological mother?"

Le Qianzhang steadied himself slightly, not fooled by his words. "What nonsense is that? Who told you?"

"Deputy General Yu has been staying in the camp with me these days, occasionally drinking. I heard him make such crazy talk when drunk, and I couldn't help but be curious, so I came to ask Father..." Le Wuya's eyes were clear, but every word was dripping with poison. "Is it true?"

Le Wuya knew that the reason Deputy General Yu repeatedly stopped him from fighting the Jing tribe was because he felt guilty, knowing that his momentary greed for fame back then had led to this human tragedy.

But to Le Wuya, this guilt meant nothing to him.

Although Deputy General Yu felt guilty, that guilt only existed in his heart; he had not yet done anything to make up for this sin.

At least he was alive to feel guilty.

Le Wuya had not come to call them out or punish them, nor had he come to cry and scream, demanding to know why his father and Deputy General Yu had deceived him.

He had come to get revenge.