Unfortunately, in his previous life, he had no connections and hadn’t even met Feng Shuo once.

What a regret that was!

Fortunately, he had been reborn, and everything could start anew!

Lu Lingyuan held the token in his hand, a surge of emotion rising within him, filling him with a heroic spirit akin to “to repay you with golden towers and to die for you, dear friend.”

---

Jiang Yanyi watched as Lu Lingyuan chatted with Feng Shuo for a few moments before leaving, his face flushed with joy as if he had just successfully met his idol.

She fell into a deep silence.

Was this really the charming, outstanding second male lead from the original story?

Could he have also been reborn?

She didn’t stay lost in thought for long, as Feng Shuo had already entered the shop, carrying a tall stack of gift boxes.

He placed the colorful boxes on the table, looking at her, his ears turning red once more, and simply said, “Gift.”

Qiu Kui had never seen anyone buy so many gifts in her life, staring in curiosity.

Feng Shuo glanced at her, then picked up the smallest gift box and placed it in front of her.

Qiu Kui looked at the small box he had given her, then at the towering stack of large boxes he had pushed towards Jiang Yanyi, suddenly feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Feng Shuo said to Jiang Yanyi, “These are for you; there are more in the cart.”

As he spoke, he was about to go back out to get them.

Jiang Yanyi quickly called out to him, “General!”

Feng Shuo turned his head to look at her.

The sunset cast a warm glow on his delicate profile, and the cold, distant face she had perceived at their first meeting seemed to soften in this moment.

His deep phoenix eyes held a hint of a smile, like the scattered stars in the night sky. “What’s wrong?”

Looking at his subtle yet vibrant smile, Jiang Yanyi felt for a moment that all he did was to make her happy.

But she quickly extinguished that thought.

What was she thinking? He was just hurt by the girl he admired and was seeking another emotional outlet!

She said earnestly, “I can’t accept these. General, please take them back.”

The smile on Feng Shuo’s lips faded, and he looked at her, asking, “What?”

His gaze was so cold that Jiang Yanyi felt as if saying the wrong thing would result in her neck being snapped.

Instinctively, she shrank back, but she still needed to say what was necessary.

She met his gaze and said, “General, if you have someone you admire, you should treat her well. Even if you have an argument, you should wait until your anger passes before deciding whether to part ways or reconcile, instead of using a common girl as a distraction.”

Feng Shuo stared at her intensely. “Do you think I’m using you as a distraction?”

Jiang Yanyi wanted to nod but couldn’t muster the courage to do so under his penetrating gaze.

Feng Shuo took a step forward, his expression serious.

The last ray of sunset faded away, and the twilight spilled behind him like ink.

Jiang Yanyi couldn’t help but take a step back.

As she retreated, he moved closer.

Eventually, she found herself cornered against the wall, with no way to retreat.

He stood just a step away from her but didn’t come closer.

Still, Jiang Yanyi felt an overwhelming sense of pressure, as if a great net had ensnared her completely.

“Hua Hua…” Qiu Kui thought he was trying to bully Jiang Yanyi and rushed over to help.

Feng Shuo suddenly turned, filled with anger. “Step back!”

Qiu Kui was almost in tears, unwilling to leave but also too scared to approach. “Don’t bully Huahua!”

Jiang Yanyi feared he might vent his anger on Qiu Kui, so she quickly said, “It’s fine, Qiu Kui. Just go wait for me in the backyard.”

Qiu Kui shook her head stubbornly.

“Be good. I’ll make you red bean cake later,” Jiang Yanyi reassured her. “I need to clarify some things with the general.”

Only then did Qiu Kui reluctantly step back, glancing back multiple times as she entered the backyard.

Feng Shuo tossed a chopstick to close the door.

With a loud “bang,” the door shut, and the chopstick fell to the ground.

Jiang Yanyi’s heart inexplicably trembled along with it.

It was hard to imagine that a single chopstick could have such force.

She was cornered against the wall, twilight descending, and the streets grew quieter as passersby dwindled.

Even if someone walked by, they wouldn’t see this hidden corner.

Jiang Yanyi suddenly felt that she still didn’t know enough about him; otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen such a reckless method to confront him.

“A girl you admire? Why don’t you think that the one I admire is you…”

Jiang Yanyi heard him mutter with self-deprecation, his well-defined jawline appearing somewhat pale in the dim light.

Jiang Yanyi’s heart seemed to skip a beat, and she instinctively denied, “You… don’t tease me.”

“Tease?” A hint of mockery surfaced in his eyes. “Aren’t you the one teasing me?”

Jiang Yanyi was dumbfounded.

Why did it sound like she was the one who had abandoned him?

She felt both timid and awkward. “I swear I didn’t.”

Feng Shuo gazed deeply at her. “Didn’t you say I’m a good person?”

Jiang Yanyi nodded. “You are a good person; Master Li is a good person, Head Zhao is a good person, and Qiu Kui is also a good person.”

Feng Shuo: “…”

So in her eyes, a good person only meant that?

Was he merely being overly sentimental from the start?

His lips pressed into a near-straight line, and the coldness in his eyes spread layer by layer, masking the broken pieces of his heart.

Suddenly, he slammed his palm against the wall, startling Jiang Yanyi, who closed her eyes in fear.

Feng Shuo watched her tightly pursed cherry lips, which quivered like a trembling flower petal.

For a moment, he maliciously thought about kissing her and drawing blood to relieve the hatred boiling in his heart.

He truly leaned in closer but stopped just within reach.

In the end, he took a step back, suppressing the swirling black anger within him, and said, “I apologize for being abrupt.”

After saying that, he didn’t utter another word and turned to leave.

Jiang Yanyi stood frozen in place.

She saw his hand, which had been bandaged, tightly clenched into a fist, with fresh blood seeping through the white gauze.

She was stunned.

It seemed she had misunderstood him.

But… did he like her?

What did he like about her?

In an instant, Jiang Yanyi’s mind was a jumble.

---

Xing Yao had thought that after Feng Shuo went out for a walk, he would return in a much calmer mood.

However, when Feng Shuo returned to the residence, he exuded an even darker aura than when he left.

“Master… uh!”

Xing Yao had just stepped forward when Feng Shuo suddenly slammed him against the wall.

Caught off guard, Xing Yao was stunned by the blow, and several tiles from the eaves fell off as a result.

Feng Shuo was surrounded by an aura of rage: “Gather all the assassins at the training ground.”

Xing Yao watched Feng Shuo’s departing figure and, holding his chest against the wall, managed to stand up, thinking to himself that the last time the master had been this furious was when he learned that the late emperor wanted the grand empress dowager to be buried with him. What could have angered him this much this time?

That night, hundreds of assassins at the garrison training ground were beaten black and blue, collapsing to the ground without the strength to get back up.

“What kind of useless waste have I raised? Increase the training tomorrow!” Feng Shuo stood in the center of the training ground, his clothes drenched in sweat.

His face bore several scratches, making him appear even more savage, with an unyielding fierceness in his brows and eyes.

The fallen assassins dared not speak, internally lamenting their fate.

The autumn air was thick, and the lotus pond at the garrison had long withered, leaving only a few dried lotus pods standing.

The night air was freezing, and Feng Shuo stepped into the pond, bare-chested.

The blood oozing from the wounds on his hands spread out in the icy water, mingling with the water to diminish the scent of blood on his body.

He raised his hand, watching the blood that dripped from the bandages wrapped around his palm.

There was a trace of self-mockery and dejection in his eyes.

Footsteps approached from the shore; it was Xing Yao.

He held a letter in his hands: “Master, a secret report from our spies in the capital.”

The letter bore two secret seals, indicating that it was urgent.

When Feng Shuo turned around, his eyes were as cold as usual.

He walked to the shore, and a guard immediately brought him a cloak to put on.

Feng Shuo opened the letter, pulling out the paper and reading it quickly.

His brows furrowed slightly, and after a moment of contemplation, he brought the letter close to the candle held by the guard, igniting it and reducing it to ashes.

“The young emperor is planning to deal with the Chu family,” he said.

In that instant, Xing Yao weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

The emperor’s actions against the Chu family were likely related to the matter of Chu Changping bringing the coffin back to the capital.

They had no dealings with the Chu family, and among the current members, only Chu Changping was exceptional.

However, he had fallen out of favor with the emperor due to his marriage to the Princess, and since then, he had lost the emperor’s trust.

If Chu Changping were still the general in Yunzhou, Feng Shuo could support him, effectively securing an ally.

However, he had already been stripped of his military power by the emperor and was demoted to Yongzhou.

Yongzhou was even poorer than Xizhou, and it would take him at least ten to eight years to see any improvement there.

No matter how one looked at it, the emperor’s actions against the Chu family made it best for them to stand by and watch.

Feng Shuo took his time before making a decision, but Xing Yao had already guessed the general idea.

Since it concerned the court, Feng Shuo returned to his study to handle the remaining documents and letters.

He had already read the urgent letters with secret seals the previous night, and over the past two days, he had also read through most of the other letters.

Because he was feeling restless, Feng Shuo was not focused as he dealt with the letters that night.

He held the brush in one hand and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other: “Tea.”

Xing Yao quickly brought the tea.

Feng Shuo reached out with his injured left hand to take it, but the tea was still boiling hot, and he scalded his hand at the bottom of the cup.

Caught off guard, he lost grip of the cup, which fell onto the desk, spilling tea everywhere in an instant.

Feng Shuo didn’t care about his scalded hand and grabbed all the documents on the desk.

Xing Yao was terrified and knelt on the ground: “I deserve to die!”

Meanwhile, Fuxi quickly grabbed a clean handkerchief and spread it on the desk to prevent the tea from spreading.

Feng Shuo’s expression was dark as he remained silent.

After the table was cleaned up, he placed the documents and letters back on the desk.

Due to his frantic grab just now, although the letters hadn’t been soaked with tea, many of them had become wrinkled.

Feng Shuo intended to flatten those letters, but then he suddenly noticed a familiar large character written in small, beautiful script on the bottommost letter.

He pulled out that letter and glanced at the address it was sent to, his eyes narrowing involuntarily.

The Chu family in the capital?

The only person he had ever seen with such extraordinary handwriting was that little cook.

What was her connection to the Chu family?

He broke the wax seal on the envelope, taking out three thin sheets of paper.

The further he read, the more serious his expression became.

In the end, he could only utter a few words, not revealing his emotions: “You are Jiang Yanyi.”