At first light, Ji Changran immediately got dressed, got out of bed, and wrote a note. He called his attendant and instructed, “Deliver this to Minister Zhao of the Silver Green Guanglu Office before sunset. Order him to find an excuse to secretly meet with me along with Meng Ziyou.”

The attendant silently knelt and took the secret message, then disappeared quickly from the bedroom.

Ji Changran paced back and forth in the room, thinking, “I hope I’m just overthinking… That useless imperial brother shouldn’t have the ability to sway the Shen family.”

In these past two days, many students at Chongwen Academy had taken leave, using the preparation for His Majesty’s birthday as an excuse not to attend class. Once the princes left, their companion readers were automatically given days off—such a comfortable break.

Shen Xuefeng also envied those who could sleep in at home, but Ji Wu came every day without fail. There was no way around it; he also had to shoulder his backpack and get up early and return late.

The day when he and his sister had agreed to pick Ji Wu up from the palace was coming soon. But because of his timidity, Shen Xuefeng had not uttered a single word until now.

Taking advantage of the fact that several grand tutors at Chongwen Academy were absent today and lessons were light, he finally mustered the courage to speak.

“Third Prince, do you still remember what we talked about a few days ago? About me taking you out of the palace?”

Ji Wu’s eyes, usually calm and expressionless, stirred slightly at those words. He looked steadily at his young companion reader: “You want to take me out of the palace?”

“Yes!” Shen Xuefeng nodded earnestly. “Your Highness, rest assured, I always keep my promises. If you’re free, come visit my home.”

“Lord Shen and Princess Yongtai probably wouldn’t welcome me,” Ji Wu’s gaze deepened. “Besides, if palace staff discover it, neither of us will have a good outcome.”

He studied the youth’s expression carefully and spoke slowly, “Aren’t you afraid?”

How could Shen Xuefeng not be afraid? But he had already arranged everything. If nothing unexpected happened, there shouldn’t be any problems. Moreover, he was not forcing Ji Wu to leave with him. If Ji Wu was unwilling, he couldn’t exactly hold a knife to his neck and make him go.

It was just a simple invitation.

He was about to say it was fine if Ji Wu didn’t want to go, when he heard Ji Wu say, “In that case, I’ll respectfully accept.”

What??

Shen Xuefeng looked up, meeting Ji Wu’s meaningfully ambiguous gaze. He slowly said, “I look forward to Lord Shen’s performance that day.”

He was rarely so tempted by a suggestion from his companion reader and had to admit he was genuinely interested in him.

Yes, this was exactly what Shen Xuefeng should do.

Take him out of the palace, then wait for the right moment to act.

Not waste his days doing that boring, meaningless companion reader job.

Shen Xuefeng, don’t disappoint him.

As dusk fell, Ji Wu watched Shen Xuefeng board the carriage to the Shen Mansion, then silently walked out of Chongwen Academy.

He walked alone along a secluded palace path. After the time it takes to burn one incense stick, he arrived at his residence—a desolate and dilapidated small courtyard.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, Ji Wu lowered his eyes to look at the cobblestone path underfoot. The corners of his mouth lifted faintly as he turned and gently closed the gate.

With a slight creak, the high walls were immediately accompanied by the rustling of swaying trees. At that instant, a cold gleam reflected in Ji Wu’s eyes.

In the next moment, several assassins armed with flexible swords sprang out from the darkness like a whole nest.

Ji Wu turned nimbly to avoid the attacks of the flexible swords. As he raised his hand, a blade as thin as a cicada’s wing shot out swiftly from his sleeve.

Although it only grazed one assassin’s throat, it immediately sprayed blood on the spot, and the man died with eyes wide open.

More than a dozen assassins charged from all directions. Ji Wu lightly stepped on the wrist of the corpse beneath his boots, smoothly drew out the flexible sword from his waist, and slashed fiercely at the incoming assassins.

This number of assassins was nothing to him. In no time, arms and legs were severed, hot bodies lay scattered everywhere.

Ji Wu grasped the sword’s hilt with both hands, stepped on the last assassin’s head, drove the sword tip straight into his mouth, and with a twist of the blade, the head instantly exploded, brains splattering everywhere.

After finishing, Ji Wu threw down his long sword, his brows furrowed fiercely, his handsome jaw stained with blood.

Expressionless, he casually paced a few circles around the corpses.

It had been a long time since he had killed anyone.

As if accepting some extremely interesting challenge, Ji Wu’s lips curled slightly, his deep black pupils sparkling under the newly risen moonlight, mixed with an indescribable excitement.

Under the sparse moonlight, he directly took off his outer robe, casually threw it to the ground, and walked into the house.

A quarter of an hour later, he changed into a silver-gray silk outfit, raised an eyebrow as he surveyed the corpses scattered on the ground, kicked open the courtyard gate without hesitation, and left that desolate little yard.

On the slope of Poli Mountain on the outskirts of the imperial capital, Xiling Temple was just at the time of locking its gates.

In front of the ancient and solemn Buddha hall, a finely featured foreign-looking young man paced back and forth, glancing at Ji Wu reclining on a rattan chair.

“So according to you, this assassination attempt was arranged by Ji Changran?”

Ji Wu crossed his arms, lazily half-closed his eyes, ignoring him.

“Meng Ziyou is obviously a big prince’s faction supporter; how could Ji Changran make such a careless mistake and directly assign someone of his own, yet you still discovered it?” The foreign youth said irritably. “Three months ago I was attacked in Penglai, and I still don’t know which bastard was behind it.”

Ji Wu remained silent.

“Well, say something, Third Prince Ji,” the youth dragged out the words. “Since you arrived, you’ve been zoning out, lost in thought. You’re not right—something’s wrong with you.”

That form of address made Ji Wu frown. He took a thin blade from his sleeve and toyed with it as he said, “Ji Changran looks down on a useless piece of trash like me; naturally, he wouldn’t make a thorough plan.”

“He is trying, but compared to you pretending to be crazy and stupid, he’s several times worse. Now he can’t even be cautious,” the foreign youth nodded. “So, what’s your next move?”

“I planned to have you stab me a few times to put on a show with him, but unfortunately,” Ji Wu said lazily, “in a few days I’m visiting a friend’s house.”

The foreign youth was surprised: “What? You actually have a friend? How come I never heard about that?”

Ji Wu ignored him and stood up directly from the rattan chair.

The foreign youth’s eyes widened. “…Wait, you haven’t told me why you called me here today!”

Ji Wu just said: “Before sunrise, clean up my yard.”

“…”

The foreign youth’s veins bulged on his forehead. “Fine, fine. You woke me up in the middle of the night just for this, Ji Wu, you’re ruthless.”

The emperor’s birthday was approaching. Envoys from various countries came to pay tribute, and all the inns in the imperial capital were fully booked.

In the bustling streets and alleys, merchants and travelers gathered, but beneath the prosperous surface,

several forces churned with hidden currents and looming dangers.

Amid the clamor, a carriage bearing the Shen family crest rolled out of Yunliu Alley. The carriage was low-key, taking small roads and detours, heading toward a secluded gate of the palace.

The driver was Bai Hua alone, but numerous guards lurked hidden nearby to protect the carriage.

Even though young master Shen had suggested sending only one driver and going quietly and discreetly both ways, Bai Hua wasn’t really going to obey.

He was born to protect the young master; the young master’s safety came first, and everything else was secondary.

At this moment, Bai Hua didn’t yet know that the young master was about to bring a prince on board. As for Shen Yuhuai… he knew even less.

She had arranged a backdoor passage for her younger brother and deliberately lingered longer at the Changle Gate during patrol, from a distance spotting Shen Xuefeng holding an umbrella and sneaking along with a tall youth.

She immediately told the few imperial guards behind her, “Wait here at Zhuque Gate for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

The guards trusted her without suspicion: “Yes, Lord Shen.”

Shen Yuhuai’s gaze locked precisely on her younger brother. She saw the oil-paper umbrella shading both their faces, and the other youth was so tall that for a moment she didn’t recognize who her brother’s friend was.

Seeing that the Shen family carriage driver held up the Jade Token of Princess Yongtai and smoothly passed through Changle Gate, Shen Xuefeng grabbed Ji Wu’s hand, a victorious smile on his face: “Your Highness, let’s hurry inside.”

Ji Wu obediently let himself be led, his eyes falling on their intertwined hands, a dark and hard-to-describe feeling swirling deep in his eyes.

Young Master Shen’s hand was very soft; having never done hard labor since childhood, his fair and translucent skin faintly revealed veins beneath, without even a thin callus, the touch extremely pleasant. Compared to him, Ji Wu’s arm was stronger, with distinctly visible blue veins on his skin, and his grip was firmer.

At that moment, Shen Xuefeng suddenly pulled his hand away.

Ji Wu’s eyes darkened slightly, just then he heard his young attendant say, “Your Highness, we’ve arrived. You should get on the carriage first.”

The green oil-paper umbrella lifted; Bai Hua, pulling back the carriage curtain, saw Ji Wu’s face and immediately turned pale with shock: “M-Master, this…”

“Shh—” Shen Xuefeng quickly made a silence gesture. “Don’t be too loud; it might attract attention.”

“Shen Xuefeng, stop right there!”

Before he could finish speaking, a sharp scolding rang out.

Turning around, he saw Shen Yuhuai’s beautiful face filled with fury, clad in armor as she strode quickly toward him.

Shen Xuefeng’s face turned pale; he immediately stepped in front of Ji Wu and out of habit covered his mouth to cough lightly.

“Don’t pretend with me. Get over here now,” Shen Yuhuai said angrily, “How dare you bring a prince out of the palace!”

Even if Ji Wu was out of favor, he was still His Majesty’s son, so leaving the palace wasn’t something he could just do.

Shen Yuhuai felt a wave of fright, but stepped forward to calm herself first, then folded her hands and bowed to Ji Wu: “Greetings, Third Prince.”

Ji Wu slightly lowered his head in return: “Greetings, Lady Shen.”

“My younger brother is immature; I hope Your Highness can let him off this time and treat this as childish nonsense, ending here.”

Shen Xuefeng was clever and mischievous since childhood, full of tricks. At first, Shen’s parents and Shen Yuhuai were quite hopeful, thinking maybe the boy would follow his father’s footsteps and be gifted for the imperial exams.

But gradually they realized all of Shen Xuefeng’s cleverness was applied to crooked schemes!

This time, with such boldness, he actually brought a prince out of the palace without permission. Thinking this, Shen Yuhuai glared at her brother again.

It was understandable. After all, Shen Xuefeng had been a modern person in his past life and was now living again; naturally, his way of thinking was unique. To him, this was no different from skipping school to go out and play.

However, seeing his sister truly angry, Shen Xuefeng sheepishly lowered his head.

Ji Wu saw the young attendant’s frustrated and gloomy expression and didn’t directly answer her question but instead wore a grateful look on his face: “This matter is not entirely Xuefeng’s fault. Fortunately, Lady Shen’s timely reminder on the way out of the palace prevented what could have been a great disaster today.”

Hearing this, Shen Yuhuai was slightly startled, then after some thought actively explained, “Your Highness, please do not misunderstand. I happened to be on guard duty in the palace today and accidentally encountered Your Highness and my younger brother. It was not intentional.”

Ji Wu nodded, then turned and said, “Xuefeng, since that’s the case, I can’t leave the palace with you.”

The well-prepared plan fell through. Shen Xuefeng was somewhat disappointed and dejectedly said, “Sorry for causing trouble for everyone. I know I was wrong.”

Before he finished speaking, his vision went dark for a moment, then he saw Ji Wu lean down close to his ear. In the breath that sprayed over him, Ji Wu spoke word by word:

“Even without all this, I could still leave the palace and find you.”

Shen Xuefeng blinked.

What did that mean?

He rubbed his itching ear and before he could react, Shen Yuhuai pushed him onto the carriage.

The wheels moved slowly as he pushed open the carriage window and looked back at Ji Wu’s tall, upright figure standing still on the spot, his eyes dark and silently watching him leave.

The last thing Shen Xuefeng saw was Ji Wu mouthing two words to him:

“Wait for me.”