"There’s no way I missed!"
The archer leapt down from the rooftop.
The Commander of the Imperial Guard called his men over to handle the corpse and take away the barely breathing Beiliang spy.
The archer personally inspected the arrow lodged in the spy’s chest. "How could this be..."
The Commander of the Imperial Guard remarked, "Alright, alright, your archery has improved so much that even I was fooled. I almost thought you killed the man. Forgot to tell you, the Grand Commander actually wanted him alive."
The spy made a last-ditch, deadly move that could have injured the Grand Commander; the archer never intended to leave him alive.
"You intervened? Did you deflect my arrow?"
The Commander of the Imperial Guard responded, "Your arrow is so fast, how could I stop it? Admit you missed—it’s no shame. You’re only sixteen, why so concerned about saving face?"
The young archer corrected him.
"Alright, alright, seventeen, seventeen!"
The Commander placated him like coaxing a child.
The blue-clad youth, with his large bow and quiver, approached Lu Yuan and said aggrievedly, "I didn’t miss."
Lu Yuan chuckled and tossed him a box of Great Zhou’s Osmanthus Cake.
Sitting by the roadside, the youth opened the box and counted the cakes. His handsome brows furrowed. "One is missing."
Lu Yuan tossed him another box, which happened to have one extra piece.
The youth transferred the extra cake to the first box, his furrowed brows finally relaxing.
The Commander of the Imperial Guard approached the carriage and politely said to Meng Qianqian, "Madam Lu, were you injured?"
Meng Qianqian replied, "No."
The Beiliang spy, injured while abducting her, had stained her clothes with blood.
The Commander of the Imperial Guard nodded, "The carriage is damaged. Madam, please take another."
Under his lead, Meng Qianqian entered another carriage.
Lu Yuan was already inside, with the same lazy and unrestrained demeanor, his lips curled slightly but his smile reaching nowhere near his eyes.
Meng Qianqian sat far away, as if trying to edge herself out of the carriage.
Lu Yuan smirked. "Are you really this afraid of me?"
Meng Qianqian serenely replied, "I almost died at the Grand Commander’s hands; how could I not be afraid?"
Lu Yuan gave a cold chuckle without offering any retort, nor did he inquire how she had been abducted by Beiliang spies.
Not a word was spoken for the rest of the journey.
The carriage arrived at the Governor Mansion.
Lu Yuan stepped onto the coachman’s rock-solid back with his polished, expensive shoes and casually issued his command to an unknown recipient, "Take her to Tinglan Garden."
The well-trained servants of the Governor Mansion were momentarily surprised but showed not a trace of it in their expressions.
Though it was Meng Qianqian’s second time at the Governor Mansion, she hadn’t entered before. Having no knowledge of Tinglan Garden, she followed the servants in silence.
"Miss, please come in."
The maid, unaware of her identity, addressed her as "Miss" due to her youthful appearance.
Meng Qianqian entered the side room.
"This servant will fetch water. Please wait a moment, Miss."
The maid had just left when a small figure, clad in tiger-headed shoes and hat with a vivid tiger-print cotton jacket, scurried in.
Her movements were agile; she hoisted her short legs to cross the tall threshold but tripped herself inside.
Meng Qianqian glanced back, "Zhaozhao?"
The little one immediately burst into grievance, sitting on the floor, her small pout trembling as her large dark eyes welled with tears.
She was about to cry!
Meng Qianqian stepped forward to pick her up but reconsidered, seeing her own blood-soaked clothes. Instead, she patted the child’s tiger-headed hat.
The little one pointed outside, babbling angrily with a fierce expression!
Though Meng Qianqian couldn’t understand her, she felt inexplicably that the child was berating someone—perhaps quite rudely.
After washing her face and changing into clean clothes, Meng Qianqian fed the little one a hearty meal.
Bao Shu, full and contented, gleefully wiggled her tiny feet.
"Waaaaah," she pointed outside while nestled in Meng Qianqian’s arms.
Meng Qianqian sighed, "Your father’s too brutal—I wouldn’t dare wander around or I might not even know how I died."
Just then, Lu Yuan appeared at the door: "..."
Eventually, the two made their way to the garden.
Lu Yuan despised noise. In his mansion, even the servants dared not raise their voices. For years, the Governor Mansion had been like a stagnant pond.
Yet, this entire afternoon, Bao Shu’s carefree laughter echoed throughout the garden.
At dusk, Lu Lingxiao arrived.
Lu Yuan met him in the flower hall.
Lu Lingxiao bowed respectfully, "I heard that the Grand Commander personally captured the Beiliang traitor with the Imperial Guard and brought my wife to the mansion for interrogation. My wife has no connection to this matter. Please, Grand Commander, show the truth."
Lu Yuan gave him a meaningful look. "General Lu is swift indeed; just one day has passed, and you’ve already found your way to the Governor Mansion. I almost thought you’d forgotten all about it."
Suppressing his displeasure, Lu Lingxiao replied solemnly, "I had not expected the Grand Commander would personally oversee this interrogation; I thought it would be handled by the Jinyi Guard Bureau."
Lu Yuan smiled, "Your timing is impeccable. Join me in questioning the captive alive."
Lu Lingxiao had no choice but to agree, "Yes!"
The two descended into the Governor Mansion’s dungeon, where the air reeked of blood.
Lu Lingxiao had seen countless horrors on the battlefield, yet the atmosphere here left him undeniably uneasy.
Screams echoed from a chamber, the source clearly undergoing unimaginable torture.
Lu Yuan turned back, his smile aimed at Lu Lingxiao.
Steeling himself, Lu Lingxiao followed him into the chamber.
The spy was bound, hands suspended high on a pillar, his body covered in whip marks and burn wounds. The stench of scorched flesh made Lu Lingxiao frown deeply.
Lu Yuan gestured with his hand.
The guards administering the torture stepped aside.
Smiling, Lu Yuan stared at the spy and asked, "Who let you into the pass? What’s your objective?"
The spy weakly mocked him, "Objective... naturally to... kill your Great Zhou’s... Emperor..."
Lu Yuan chuckled, "Is that so? If I’d known earlier, perhaps I wouldn’t have stopped you."
Lu Lingxiao froze in shock, turning to stare at Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan pointed at Lu Lingxiao. "This is General Lu; surely, you recognize him?"
The Beiliang spy smirked at Lu Lingxiao, "Recognize him... how could I not..."
Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
The spy said to Lu Yuan, "You asked... who let us into the pass, did you not? Wise as the Grand Commander is... surely you can guess..."
Lu Yuan grinned. "Are you implying General Lu is the one who allowed you to cross Yumen Pass?"
Lu Lingxiao’s face turned grim. "Don’t talk nonsense! I’ve never seen any of you before!"
Lu Yuan, amused, said, "General Lu, no need to rush; let him finish speaking."
Lu Lingxiao clenched his fists tightly.
He thought to himself that Lu Yuan had arranged this—bringing him here to incriminate him. Because he refused Lu Yuan’s offer of allegiance, the Grand Commander must now be resorting to this devious ploy to destroy his hard-earned reputation and military merit.
The spy laughed manically, "How coincidental... that I captured his wife as a hostage... It was all part of the plan..."
Lu Yuan’s eyes gleamed with dark amusement. "So, you’re saying Madam Lu is one of your collaborators as well?"
The spy sneered, "Indeed! The two of them... are Beiliang’s spies, hidden... inside Great Zhou..."
The shimmer of a blade.
Lu Lingxiao stared in disbelief at the Brocade Spring Saber impaling the spy’s chest.
Lu Yuan withdrew the blade and tossed it to a nearby Imperial Guard, then retrieved a pristine white handkerchief to wipe his hands, his demeanor tranquil and detached.
"Some words are better left unsaid."