Chapter 3

Chu Zhaoyou sat on the ground, feeling anxious, while the man in black sat beside him, equally troubled.

He rested his wrist on his knee, his hand supporting his chin, contemplating a plan. If it were just a regular curfew, it would be manageable, but now, with a ban on anyone leaving the city, he couldn’t just vanish into thin air. This was a problem.

Moreover, he was accompanied by a silent, black-clad tag-along.

“Why are you following me?” Chu Zhaoyou asked.

The man in black remained silent.

“What do you do?” Chu Zhaoyou inquired.

He hoped the man wasn’t a wanted criminal.

The man in black opened his mouth and, under Chu Zhaoyou’s watchful gaze, furrowed his brow. “I… I don’t know.”

Could he be a simpleton?

Chu Zhaoyou asked again, “Do you know where we are?”

“…”

“How old are you? Are you married?”

“…”

“What era is it now? Do you know the regent?”

“…”

Three questions, no answers.

Chu Zhaoyou was certain: this was a dead soldier, failing his mission and succumbing to poison.

“Poor thing… But you can’t follow me,” Chu Zhaoyou patted his head. “Do you know what I’m going to do? I’m going out, and with you, I can’t.”

He pointed to the towering city wall.

“Ah—hey?”

A sense of weightlessness surged, startling Chu Zhaoyou. His waist was tightly encircled, and he was pressed against the man in black. His feet left the ground, and he could even see the brightly lit palace in the distance.

Silently, like a bat carrying autumn leaves, they glided over the four-sided city wall. The leader of the Imperial Dragon Guards, with his men, was rushing to the next search point, not even looking back.

Chu Zhaoyou was stunned, his jaw dropping, feeling like a mountain dweller riding a high-speed train for the first time. The coins he had scattered for the beggars were worth it!

The night air was chilly as they flew over the houses and trees outside the capital, until they reached a mountain. Chu Zhaoyou instinctively held the man closer for warmth.

His breath brushed against the man’s neck, and the moonlight illuminated his skin, as white as jade, and the hard, muscular body beneath. Ice-cold and strong, like sculpted jade.

I’m not that jealous.

After enjoying the breeze for a while, Chu Zhaoyou realized that the man was relentlessly charging forward, seemingly unwilling to stop unless prompted.

Ahead was a lake, and behind them, they had just passed a dilapidated temple in the woods.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Chu Zhaoyou cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted in the man’s ear.

An abrupt halt nearly caused Chu Zhaoyou to lose his grip.

“You’re amazing!” Chu Zhaoyou praised, pointing to the rundown temple peeking through the trees. “We’ll rest there tonight.”

Not far from the mountain, there was an official road leading to the capital. Despite the bustling road, the temple was desolate, with damaged Buddha statues. Chu Zhaoyou frowned. Could it be haunted, scaring off the worshippers?

Scaring himself, Chu Zhaoyou jumped behind the man in black, clutching his robe, and asked if he knew how to start a fire by rubbing wood together.

“Rubbing wood together?” the man in black repeated, looking at Chu Zhaoyou curiously.

“Forgot you’re a simpleton,” Chu Zhaoyou crouched down, picked up a large piece of wood, and placed it with a pile of dry leaves. Then, he found a stick and rubbed it against the wood.

“Just like this, until the fire starts.”

After rubbing the stick for a while, Chu Zhaoyou’s hand grew sore. He handed the stick to the man, not expecting much. “It’s okay if you can’t do it. We’ll manage to sleep—”

Sparks flew.

“Wow!”

The faint glow of the fire illuminated Chu Zhaoyou’s eyes, and he patted the man’s shoulder, admiringly. With his affectionate peach blossom eyes and his elegant attire, he looked like a young girl eloping with her lover.

Chu Zhaoyou arranged a pile of dry leaves and twigs, barely creating a bonfire that illuminated the temple, casting light on the mottled murals and the lowered eyes of the Buddha.

“Hey, why is your neck so red?” Chu Zhaoyou noticed a red patch on the man’s neck and leaned over to check. “It’s okay, not an allergy… Did I get too close and make you hot?”

The man in black wouldn’t answer such a complex question. Chu Zhaoyou nodded to himself and rambled on, “Are you hungry… I don’t have anything to eat even if you are.”

He regretted not sharing one of the meat buns with the man in black earlier, considering the great help he had provided. Tomorrow, he would buy him some food. Chu Zhaoyou closed his eyes and counted the silver in his arms. Five taels quickly turned into one, money flowing like water.

“The next time we see a mountain chicken, we’ll catch it and roast it. That way, we can save money,” Chu Zhaoyou thought contentedly before falling asleep. If he were alone, he would at most pick up a bird’s egg, but having a skilled companion made a difference.

…

At the Regent’s Palace, Qian Shicheng arrived to beg for forgiveness. He had searched the entire city but found no trace of His Majesty. The day after tomorrow, the Yuexu Country to the south would come to pay tribute to the capital. If His Majesty was absent, it would be a problem.

Although the Yuexu Country was small and not to be feared, with its territory by the sea, scattered islands, and an unconquerable army, once left unattended, it could turn into a maritime threat.

He felt responsible and could not escape blame for his failure.

The atmosphere at the Regent’s Palace tonight was unusual, with hurried figures coming and going, appearing more urgent than the Imperial Dragon Guards.

Qian Shicheng went straight to the inner hall and found the main seat empty. Xiao Heng’s chief of the secret guards, Zhou Qi, was frowning.

Zhou Qi was responsible for secretly monitoring the officials, traveling around under the pretext of doing business, inspecting and supervising the localities. Qian Shicheng, as the public leader of the Imperial Dragon Guards, rarely crossed paths with him unless it was a major issue.

Before he could speak, Zhou Qi said, “His Highness has disappeared.”

“What!” Qian Shicheng had not panicked when searching for His Majesty, but now he was truly alarmed.

Ultimately, His Majesty was merely a symbol of good fortune for Da Chu. The regent was the one making decisions for the country. Even if His Majesty was absent from a foreign audience due to an excuse of being unwell, it would not affect the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The premise is that the regent is present.