Green Mountain

The spring hunting banquet was filled with clinking cups and joyful dance and music.

However, amidst the undercurrents, guests occasionally stole glances at the Crown Prince and Prince Fu, with no one truly able to drink at ease. In previous years, guests would actively propose toasts to the Crown Prince, offering pleasant courtesies.

But this year, it was different, as the Crown Prince sat behind the table, pouring his own drinks.

Chen Ji glanced sideways, noting the Crown Prince's ever-gentle demeanor, akin to jade, unbothered even when Prince Fu took the main seat. Could such a person be truly so ruthless?

Yes.

Chen Ji only trusted his own judgment.

As he pondered, Prince Fu suddenly stood up, carrying a jug of wine as he left the main seat. Draped in a black official robe, he stood in front of the Crown Prince's table, casting a large shadow.

The guests beside the Crown Prince rose one by one, pretending to find others to toast to, leaving a large space between the two.

Prince Fu poured the Crown Prince a cup of wine: "Your Highness, please."

The Crown Prince did not look up at him but picked up the wine cup and drank it all.

Before he could set the cup down, Prince Fu filled it again, letting the wine spill between his fingers: "Please."

The Crown Prince looked at his wine-wet hand, once again holding the wine cup and drinking it all.

When Prince Fu filled it the third time, the Crown Prince looked up at the tall Prince Fu before him: "What is the meaning of this, Royal Brother?"

Prince Fu sneered: "This is to teach you not to refuse a toast only to be forced to drink."

The Crown Prince looked at his sharp-edged brother, unchanging in expression: "Royal Brother, aren't you afraid of being punished by Father when we return to the capital after doing so many insubordinate things today?"

Prince Fu was unconcerned: "You still don't understand one thing. As long as I don't want that position, no matter how big a mistake I make, I am still his son. A son's mistakes can be dealt with by a beating. One beating isn't enough, then two, if two aren't enough, then three. Anyway, I can take it. But you're different. You dream of sitting in that position. Now, you are not his son anymore; you are his enemy."

The Crown Prince nonchalantly replied: "Royal Brother truly does not want to compete?"

Prince Fu placed the wine jug on the table, pressing his palm on the lid with a cold smile: "I am different from you. You want many things but dare not say them. Whereas when I say I don't want to compete, I truly don't want to."

The Crown Prince smiled: "The Hu Family and the Empress don't think so."

Prince Fu leaned down, closely staring at the Crown Prince: "No matter, though I lack grand wisdom, my means to disgust people are top-notch, and you will get to witness them."

The Crown Prince's smile remained: "Royal Brother, let's wait and see."

The atmosphere between the two solidified, and the guests fell silent.

As tensions were nearing a peak, musicians from the Music Performance Department carrying their instruments filed in through the archway and settled on the red carpet.

The crisp sound of a pipa being tuned swiftly melted the heavy atmosphere between the Crown Prince and Prince Fu.

The Crown Prince gently said: "Royal Brother, let's listen to the opera."

Prince Fu laughed freely and returned to the main seat.

The sound of the pipa rose, and actors began their gentle singing.

As Chen Ji listened to the opera, he realized that the so-called 'Immortal's Guidance' was actually a story of the founding emperor of the Ning Dynasty. During a campaign when he was defeated in Ganzhou, he got separated from his troops while fleeing and accidentally wandered into a forest.

With miasma spreading throughout the forest and the direction indistinct, a gigantic white serpent, three zhang and two chi long, slithered out to guide the emperor out of the miasma.

After he left the miasma, he thanked the white serpent, which then spoke in human tongue: "The Yuqing Primordial Heavenly Venerate of East Kunlun sent me to guide you. You may take the divine sword from my belly to act on behalf of Heaven. The world belongs to the virtuous."

Thus, the emperor raised his waist knife and beheaded the white serpent, which transformed into white clouds and dissipated, leaving behind a divine sword that cut through iron like mud.

This National Guardian Divine Sword now hangs behind the plaque in Jianji Hall.

Chen Ji couldn't help but delve into his thoughts upon hearing this, thinking that if he hadn't known about the Forty-nine Heavens, he would have dismissed it. But now that he knew, the story seemed rather peculiar... Did the Ning Dynasty really receive aid from the Forty-nine Heavens when it was founded?

However, before the opera concluded, one could hear hurried footsteps and the rustling sound of straw coats outside the Red Leaf Villa.

The next moment, Jiefan Guards, clad in straw coats and bamboo hats, filed in through the archway, their garments carrying a chill of wind and frost.

The Jiefan Guards rested their hands on their waist knives, their gazes hidden under the shadows of their hats. The banquet lamps illuminated their bodies but could not pierce through the straw coats and hats, and people could only see the lower halves of their faces, obscuring their expressions.

Yet the guests distinctly felt their cold gazes slowly sweeping over them from under the hats.

The guests were all shocked; no one had expected the Jiefan Guards to arrive so quickly. The musicians, panicked, clutched their instruments and hurried to the corners of the banquet.

The Jiefan Guards, seeing the Crown Prince and Prince Fu, did not salute or greet them. The lead Jiefan Guard showed his waist tag and spoke bluntly: "Where is the body?"

The Crown Prince pointed north: "In my bedchamber over there."

The Jiefan Guard calmly said: "Lead us there. From this moment, Jiefan Guards take over the defense of Red Leaf Villa. No one is to leave without permission."

The Crown Prince softly instructed his attendant by his side: "Take them."

The Jiefan Guards wasted no further words. Five followed the attendant to inspect the corpse, while the rest removed the hand crossbows from their waists and ascended the towers of Red Leaf Villa.

This Red Leaf Villa, being a temporary residence for the Royal Family, had five towers overlooking the entire estate, locking down all exit points.

Chen Ji frowned in thought; logically, it should take until dawn to return to the capital from Red Leaf Villa, even with the fastest horse.

How did the Jiefan Guards arrive so swiftly?

The Crown Prince also asked the attendant who had earlier gone to deliver the report: "How did you return so quickly?"

The attendant explained: "I hadn't reached Fengtai Station yet when I happened to meet this group of Jiefan Guards who were heading to Datong for official business and came first to Red Leaf Villa upon encountering this matter."

The Crown Prince nodded: "Quite coincidental."

Someone whispered, "What should we do now? Do we wait here for Jiefan Guard to investigate?"

Prince Fu lazily replied, "How long would that take? We might as well rest early, gentlemen, for you have the spring hunt tomorrow."

Someone was taken aback: "After such an incident, there's still going to be a spring hunt?"

Prince Fu glanced sideways, teasingly: "The spring hunt is an established ceremony of the court, how can it be canceled for a trivial matter? Even if the sky falls, the show must go on. Besides, the Imperial Decree has arrived, promising titles. Gentlemen, you'll have to go all out for these honors that your ancestors may never have received. Enough, everyone go back to rest, Jiefan Guard will summon you if needed."

The Crown Prince turned back and instructed Mr. Liao: "Mr. Liao, arrange accommodations for the guests."

Mr. Liao nodded in agreement.

He beckoned to the clerks at the Red Leaf Villa, and dozens of them, carrying lanterns, led the guests to their designated residences.

Chen Ji walked side by side with Zhang Xia, but at a fork in a small alley, the two clerks ahead aimed to separate Chen Ji, Qi Zhenzhuo, Zhang Zheng, and Zhang Xia, one going left and the other right.

Zhang Xia stopped at the fork and asked, "Which courtyard am I staying in?"

The clerk hurriedly replied, "Second Miss Zhang, you and your brother are staying at the Spring Dew Courtyard."

Zhang Xia asked again, "Which courtyard are Chen Ji and Qi Zhenzhuo staying in?"

The other clerk replied, "I am to lead Master Qi and Mr. Chen to the Winter Snow Courtyard."

Zhang Xia closed her eyes to recall: "One is at the far east and the other at the far west. Who arranged this?"

The clerk hung his head: "I don't know."

Zhang Xia frowned and asked: "Who was the Banished Immortal Residence next to the Winter Snow Courtyard assigned to?"

The clerk was taken aback, surprised that Zhang Xia was so familiar with the Red Leaf Villa: "It is where the noble lady of the Qi family resides."

Zhang Xia asked again, "And who is living in the Juxian Residence next to the Spring Dew Courtyard?"

The clerk hung his head even lower: "I don't know."

Zhang Xia smiled: "We won't stay at the Spring Dew Courtyard. My brother and I will stay in the east and west wing rooms of the Winter Snow Courtyard."

The clerk panicked: "How can that be? I dare not lead arbitrarily, we must follow the arrangements on the roster."

Zhang Xia did not wait for him to lead the way and headed straight for the Winter Snow Courtyard: "Then you need not lead, I know where it is."

Behind them, Qi Zhaoning suddenly stopped them: "Wait, how can you stay together?"

Zhang Xia turned back with a sidelong glance: "Staying in different rooms, how can that be counted as staying together? My brother is here, what is there to avoid?"

Qi Zhaoning frowned: "But that's in the same courtyard. Haven't you learned Women's Precepts? How can you act so recklessly?"

Zhang Xia replied matter-of-factly: "I haven't learned them, so what?"

Qi Zhaoning was taken aback.

When she wanted to refute further, Zhang Xia had already walked far away.

Upon entering the Winter Snow Courtyard, Chen Ji turned back to close the courtyard door when he saw Zhang Xia looking at Qi Zhenzhuo: "You go next door and stay with your sister."

Qi Zhenzhuo hesitated but finally succumbed to Zhang Xia's gaze and turned to the Banished Immortal Residence.

Zhang Xia closed the courtyard door, immediately turned around, leaned against the wooden door, and whispered: "Be careful, those people aren't Jiefan Guard."

Zhang Zheng and Chen Ji's pupils suddenly contracted.

No wonder Zhang Xia insisted on staying in the Winter Snow Courtyard, no wonder she wanted Qi Zhenzhuo to leave; in such a major event, not a single outsider can remain by one's side.

Chen Ji glanced around, pulled the two into the main room, and nonchalantly lit a candle.

He stuck close to the door, peering outside through a crack: "You can speak now."

Zhang Zheng asked in doubt: "Axia, how do you know they're not Jiefan Guard?"

Zhang Xia sat by the square table and whispered: "Their hand crossbows have subtle differences from those of Jiefan Guard. Although both are made from bull spine tendons, the bowstring of Jiefan Guard's crossbows has silkworm silk mixed in. These people's bowstrings clearly lack silkworm silk, making the luster different."

Chen Ji pondered: "If used long enough, even if silkworm silk is blended in the making, the bowstrings would lose their luster."

Zhang Xia suddenly fell silent; Chen Ji's words made sense, and she seemed to have another secret.

She remained silent for a moment: "I have my reasons for being so sure; you don't need to worry about how I know. What's important is, who dares to impersonate Jiefan Guard right under the Emperor's nose? What do they intend to do?"

Zhang Zheng lowered his head in thought: "The Crown Prince? Prince Fu? Only these two could gather so many Death Soldiers, and only these two would have the capability to hide so many hand crossbows."

Privately stashing crossbows is a major taboo in the Ning Dynasty, and impersonating Jiefan Guard is an even greater taboo. Whoever dares to commit such an act had no intention of letting these fake Jiefan Guards survive.

These people impersonating Jiefan Guard surely understood they couldn't live after succeeding in their mission.

These are true Death Soldiers.

Zhang Zheng speculated: "Could it be Prince Fu? He seemed to be targeting the Crown Prince today, could he be trying to seize the position of Crown Prince?"

Chen Ji closed his eyes: "It's not Prince Fu. Though he is lazy and reckless, he is extremely measured. He has made many mistakes over the years, yet he still enjoys prosperity in the Capital thanks to knowing what he can and cannot do. As long as he remains measured, even if he took the opportunity to beat the Crown Prince, he wouldn't die. But impersonating Jiefan Guard and privately stashing crossbows are too great of offenses—it amounts to treason."

Zhang Zheng frowned: "Then it's the Crown Prince? Would he do something so foolish? Even if he wanted to die, there's no need to play such a big game, right? He could simply hang himself on the beam with three feet of white silk."

Zhang Xia looked at Chen Ji, speaking gravely: "The spring hunt must happen, it absolutely cannot be canceled midway. No matter who is impersonating Jiefan Guard, you must keep your distance from both the Crown Prince and Prince Fu tomorrow to avoid getting caught up in it."