“I’ve been waiting for you for quite a while!”
Murong Xue’s voice rang out suddenly, carrying a trace of resentment mixed with playful teasing.
Under the moonlight, the Ninth Princess of Northern Yan was dressed in fitted riding attire tonight, accentuating her graceful and captivating figure with a unique charm.
She looked Li An up and down, letting out a snort of laughter.
“Lord Li… had too much to drink? Or… has someone drained you dry?”
Those words nearly made Li An jump on the spot.
Did this Northern Yan princess install surveillance inside the Empress’s Cining Palace or something? How did she sound so certain?
“Your Highness, what brings you here so late at night?”
Li An forced himself to remain calm, casually straightening his collar as he countered with a question.
This was one of Li An’s specialties—when he didn’t want to answer something, he redirected the conversation by throwing out another question.
Even though his legs were still a little weak, he had to maintain the dignity of Great Qi’s top scholar.
Murong Xue did not answer directly. Instead, she smiled and stepped closer.
The scrutiny in her gaze made Li An’s scalp prickle.
“I came to wait at the palace gates because there are urgent matters I need clarified face to face.”
As she spoke, she pulled out a letter from her sleeve, waved it before his eyes, and handed it to him.
Li An opened it—and his eyes widened.
Damn it.
Every single word he had said in court today had been recorded verbatim.
“Technological colonization,” “cultural infiltration,” “eroding the fighting spirit of the grassland warriors”…
Good grief—he had nearly forgotten that Northern Yan had plenty of spies in the Great Qi court.
And the notes were so detailed.
What was this? Were Northern Yan’s people running real-time stenography at other nations’ court assemblies?
“Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?”
Though Li An understood perfectly well that Murong Xue had come to demand answers, he feigned ignorance.
Her smile faded, and her voice turned cold.
“Lord Li, tell me.”
“In court, you spoke passionately about using sweet potatoes to weaken Northern Yan’s warriors and using divine iron techniques to make us dependent on Great Qi.”
“Did you mean those words?”
“Or…”
Her tone sharpened, her beautiful eyes locking onto him.
“Have you been playing me—and all of Northern Yan—for fools from the very beginning?”
Li An’s heart skipped.
His entire performance in court had been obtained intact by Northern Yan.
“Your Highness, this place is full of eyes and ears.”
Lowering his voice mysteriously, he said, “Why don’t we step aside and speak privately?”
Murong Xue looked at him suspiciously. After a moment, she nodded.
“Very well. I’d like to see what new story Lord Li can spin.”
She waved her maids away.
Li An glanced around. Seeing the imperial guards stationed at a distance, he quickly led Murong Xue toward a shadowed corner by the palace wall.
“Your Highness, hear me out.”
He wore an earnest expression.
“Yes, I said those things in court.”
“But my purpose in saying them… was out of necessity.”
Murong Xue sneered.
“Necessity? It sounds more like an excuse.”
Li An hurriedly waved his hands.
“Your Highness, think about it—if I hadn’t spoken that way, would those conservative old fogeys have allowed the divine iron formula and sweet potato seeds to leave the country?”
“That Prime Minister Wang Fu wanted to skin me alive!”
“If I didn’t present a convincing theory, they’d have accused me of colluding with the enemy and treason!”
Murong Xue frowned slightly.
She had to admit he had a point.
The old foxes in Great Qi’s court were not easy to deal with.
“And what about your ‘technological colonization’ and ‘cultural infiltration’ theories?”
Her tone remained skeptical.
“Were those lies too?”
“Of course they were lies!”
Li An answered firmly.
“Your Highness, you must distinguish between performance rhetoric and heartfelt truth.”
“Everything I said in court was for Great Qi’s officials to hear.”
“Please don’t take it to heart.”
He even thumped his chest.
“My loyalty to Northern Yan is witnessed by Heaven and Earth!”
Murong Xue studied him for a long while, her gaze still filled with doubt.
“Lord Li, with that silver tongue of yours, I truly don’t know how much to believe.”
“You say one thing in Great Qi’s court and another to me.”
“Why should I believe that what you’re saying now is the truth?”
That was a good question.
Li An cursed inwardly.
Yes—how could he make her believe him?
Words alone wouldn’t suffice.
He needed proof.
After a moment of thought, he lowered his voice cautiously.
“Your Highness, did you notice the few inconspicuous attendants in your delegation?”
Murong Xue blinked, surprised by the sudden shift.
“Attendants? What attendants?”
Li An gestured toward the palace gate.
“The ones leaving with you tomorrow.”
“Three of them are direct disciples of Mo Bai, leader of the Mohist school. Two others are core craftsmen skilled in forging divine iron.”
Murong Xue’s heart jolted.
“What did you say?!”
Li An continued:
“Your Highness, did you think I merely gave you formulas and seeds?”
“Without people who understand how to use them, they’d be useless in Northern Yan.”
“So I deliberately arranged for these men to mix into the delegation.”
“They’re the real experts.”
“With them there, the forging techniques and sweet potato cultivation methods can truly take root in Northern Yan.”
Murong Xue finally understood.
She had never imagined Li An would go this far.
Formulas and seeds were important—but skilled people were even more critical.
And Li An…
He had smuggled Great Qi’s top craftsmen out for her.
“Lord… Lord Li…”
“You… you actually…”
For a moment, she felt genuinely moved.
Li An remained calm.
“Your Highness, those claims about weakening Northern Yan’s spirit with sweet potatoes—that was nonsense to deceive Great Qi’s court.”
“Please don’t take them seriously.”
“The real purpose of sweet potatoes is to ensure Northern Yan’s armies have abundant provisions, so they can campaign far without logistical worries.”
“And the true value of divine iron is to forge weapons sharp enough to cut through steel, making Northern Yan invincible on the battlefield.”
“That was my true intention.”
Hearing this, Murong Xue felt even more touched.
Here he was, enduring suspicion while working tirelessly for Northern Yan.
She drew a deep breath to steady her guilt.
“Lord Li… I misjudged you.”
“I shouldn’t have doubted your loyalty.”
Li An waved it off.
“Your Highness overstates it. Honestly, I understand your concerns.”
“After all, my performance in court was very convincing…”
He laughed self-deprecatingly.
“But I had no choice. If I didn’t act convincingly, those old foxes wouldn’t buy it.”
Murong Xue nodded, admiration—and even reverence—filling her eyes.
“When I return, I will report your achievements to my father.”
“From now on, Northern Yan will be your backing.”
“No matter what trouble you encounter in Great Qi, Northern Yan will—”
“Murong Xue!”
A sharp female voice suddenly cut through the night.
Both Li An and Murong Xue startled and turned.
Liu Wanqing stood at the corner of the palace wall, her eyes blazing with jealousy.
Worse still—
The scene before her was far from innocent.
Li An was holding Murong Xue’s hand; in his excitement earlier, he had grabbed it without thinking.
Under the moonlight, the two stood far too close.
To Liu Wanqing, it looked exactly like what she feared.
“Li An!”
She strode forward.
“Explain yourself!”
“In the middle of the night, why are you holding this Northern Yan woman’s hand?!”
Li An inwardly wailed.
He quickly let go.
“Wanqing, you misunderstand—we were just—”
“Just what?”
She cut him off.
“Just discussing official matters here, in the dead of night?”
“Do you think I’m a fool?!”
Murong Xue chuckled lightly.
She adjusted her sleeve and spoke leisurely.
“Miss Liu, Lord Li and I were indeed discussing official matters.”
“The Northern Yan delegation departs tomorrow. There were things I needed to clarify with him.”
“What is wrong with that?”
Liu Wanqing sneered.
“Clarifying official matters? Does that require holding hands? Standing this close?”
“Murong Xue, do you think I can’t see what you’re up to?”
She turned and glared at Li An.
“And you! Li An! You just came out of the palace—your clothes are disheveled, your face looks—”
Her eyes suddenly locked onto his neck.
There, unmistakably, was a reddish mark.
A rather intimate one.
The Empress’s handiwork.
“What… what is that?!”
“Li An! Where did you go tonight? Who were you with?!”
“What is that on your neck?!”
Li An glanced down and went speechless.
A hickey?
The Empress actually left him a hickey?!
How was he supposed to explain this?
He couldn’t exactly say, “Her Majesty the Empress gave it to me.”
If he did, tomorrow he’d be on his way to the execution grounds.
“This… this…”
He stammered helplessly.
Liu Wanqing’s eyes reddened instantly.
“Wonderful, Li An!”
“You’re about to send off one Northern Yan temptress, and after entering the palace you’ve been fooling around with who knows who!”
“Do you have any regard for my feelings?!”
Murong Xue watched the drama with amusement.
She had noticed the mark on his neck long ago.
That was why she teased him about being “drained.”
So—there was another woman in the palace?
Interesting.
This top scholar truly lived up to his reputation.
But what did that have to do with her?
In the grassland tribes of Northern Yan, politics was practical—and often chaotic. There were even cases where a son inherited his father’s harem.
For Murong Xue, she didn’t even mind becoming Li An’s concubine. As long as he was willing to help Northern Yan, it didn’t matter how many women he slept with.
Besides…
Seeing Liu Wanqing so furious and jealous, she felt an inexplicable sense of pleasure.
“Lord Li, it seems your domestic affairs are quite complicated,” she said teasingly as she prepared to leave.
“I won’t disturb you any longer.”
“However…”
She stepped closer to Li An and whispered in his ear:
“The delegation departs tomorrow. Lord Li, don’t forget to come see us off.”
“I still have a few things I’d like to discuss with you… in private.”
With that, she shot him one last flirtatious glance and turned away.
Her graceful departing figure made it seem as if she didn’t take Liu Wanqing seriously at all.
Liu Wanqing was so angry she nearly ground her teeth.
“Murong Xue! Stop right there!”
But Murong Xue ignored her completely, leaving with her maid.
Instead of chasing after her, Liu Wanqing turned to glare at Li An.
“Li An!”
“You must give me an explanation today!”
“That mark on your neck — who left it?!”
Li An felt utterly wronged.
How could something like this possibly be explained clearly?
“Wanqing, it’s a long story…”
“I don’t care how long it is! Explain it right now!”
Looking aggrieved, Liu Wanqing said,
“When I wanted to get close to you… you refused. So why did some little vixen from the palace get there first?!”
Li An felt deeply miserable.
Could he really tell her the truth?
He took a deep breath and activated his silver tongue.
“Wanqing, listen to me.”
“This mark… was left at the banquet tonight.”
“You know how it is — after three rounds of drinks at a celebration, everyone gets tipsy.”
“One second-rank official got overly excited and insisted on calling me brother…”
“He was drunk and emotional. When he patted my shoulder, his fingernail accidentally scratched me…”
Liu Wanqing’s eyes were filled with suspicion.
“Scratched by a fingernail? Li An, do you think I’m stupid?”
“This is clearly… clearly that kind of mark!”
Her face flushed red, but she refused to back down.
“Don’t think I don’t understand!”
“I’m innocent!” Li An protested.
“It really was a fingernail scratch!”
“That official had strong hands and long nails…”
“If you don’t believe me, ask the people who were there tomorrow!”
Liu Wanqing stared at him for a full ten breaths.
Under her suspicious gaze, Li An didn’t falter in the slightest.
His thick skin had been tempered through countless trials — as solid as divine iron.
Finally, her attitude softened somewhat.
“Even if I accept that explanation…” she still pressed on, “What about you and Murong Xue?”
“Why were you two pulling and tugging each other in the middle of the night?”
Li An put on a righteous expression.
“That was official business!”
“The Northern Yan delegation leaves tomorrow. Murong Xue is in charge, and there were details to coordinate.”
“You know this peace negotiation involves technical transfers.”
“If those matters aren’t clarified before they leave, who takes responsibility if something goes wrong?”
Liu Wanqing frowned.
“Did you have to stand so close?”
“And hold hands?”
Li An sighed helplessly.
“I was just pointing something out for her!”
“She’s unfamiliar with where the delegation is stationed, so I pointed the direction.”
“Who knew you’d see it and think we were holding hands?”
Liu Wanqing was half-convinced. She had only seen the scene, not heard their conversation.
“Is that really all?”
“Really!”
Li An thumped his chest.
“I, Li An, swear to Heaven that there is absolutely nothing improper between Murong Xue and me!”
“If you still don’t believe me, come with me tomorrow to see them off.”
“Watch with your own eyes whether I do anything inappropriate!”
That finally reassured her somewhat.
She released his collar, though her expression remained displeased.
“You’d better be telling the truth.”
“If I find out you lied…”
“You know the consequences!”
Li An nodded repeatedly.
“Of course, of course. When have I ever lied to you?”
The moment he said that, he felt a little guilty.
Since meeting Liu Wanqing, he’d lied to her more times than he could count on two hands.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
The night deepened. The imperial guards at the palace gates had begun their patrols.
“Let’s head back first,” Li An said, taking Liu Wanqing’s hand toward the Number One Scholar’s Residence.
“It’s not safe for you to be out alone this late.”
Though still somewhat upset, Liu Wanqing didn’t pull her hand away.
The two walked side by side under the moonlit imperial street. All was quiet, save for their footsteps and the occasional sound of the night watch.
“Li An,” she suddenly said.
“Hmm?”
“You really… don’t have feelings for that Northern Yan princess, Murong Xue? Nothing else?”
“Of course not. She’s a princess of Northern Yan; I’m an official of Great Qi. Our interactions are purely diplomatic.”
After a moment of silence, she asked again,
“What about her saying she would ‘marry no one but you’?”
“That’s her business. What does it have to do with me?”
Li An decisively pushed the responsibility away.
“She can marry whoever she wants — it won’t be me.”
“I’m the top scholar of Great Qi. Marry a Northern Yan princess? That’d be treason!”
That made sense.
Liu Wanqing’s mood improved slightly, though she still muttered,
“Still, you must be careful…”
“That Murong Xue is clearly no simple woman.”
“Don’t let her bewitch you.”
“Got it,” Li An replied.
But his real concern was the system mission.
That cursed fifteen-day deadline still hung over his head.
Thinking about it filled him with irritation.
Forget it. Deal with what’s in front of him first.
Once the delegation left tomorrow, and those Mohist disciples arrived in Northern Yan and began their work…
The system should detect Northern Yan’s rising national strength, right?
At that point, his life should be safe.
Hopefully.
The moonlight was cold as their silhouettes gradually disappeared into the distance.
Behind an old locust tree not far away, a slender figure dressed in black watched silently.
Hongmei withdrew her gaze and vanished into the night without a sound.
She needed to organize everything she had seen and heard tonight into a secret report.
Li An and Murong Xue’s private discussion.
Information about the Mohist disciples.
And… Li An and Liu Wanqing’s conversation.
Each piece of information was worth a fortune to the Blackwater Terrace.
But she didn’t intend to report everything truthfully.
Because some words, once passed along…
would only put Li An in greater danger.
“Li An, you fool,” she murmured resentfully, looking in the direction he had gone.
“Do you even realize you’ve been dancing on the edge of a blade?”
This was a night destined for sleeplessness.
Inside the palace walls, Empress Sun Ruoxi lay upon her phoenix couch, a satisfied smile on her lips.
Deep within the inner palace, Emperor Zhao Ling’er sat alone in the imperial study, staring blankly at the flickering candlelight.
At the Duke’s residence, Liu Wanqing tossed and turned, unable to sleep, her mind full of the mark on Li An’s neck.
As for Li An…
He lay staring at the ceiling with only one thought in mind:
See off the delegation tomorrow.
Send Murong Xue away.
Send off the Mohist disciples.
And then…
Then I’m going to the temple to burn incense and pray to Buddha!
Pray that Northern Yan quickly uses those technologies!
Pray the system detects their national growth soon!
Pray that my life is spared!
With a long sigh, he closed his eyes.
Outside the window, the eastern sky was already turning pale.
…
The next day.
The day the delegation was to depart.
Outside the northern gate of the capital, a grand convoy stood ready.
As Great Qi’s chief representative in the negotiations, Li An had to personally see them off.
When he arrived, he saw Murong Xue standing beside the lead carriage.
Today, the Ninth Princess wore a fiery red riding outfit, looking even more valiant and striking.
From afar, she was breathtaking.
But Li An had no mood to admire beauty.
Because beside him stood a walking jar of vinegar.
Liu Wanqing had insisted on coming early in the morning to “supervise” him.
Unable to refuse, Li An brought her along.
“Lord Li!”
Seeing him, Murong Xue immediately smiled and stepped forward.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Come, I’ve prepared fine tea in my carriage. Join me?”
As she spoke, she grabbed his arm and led him toward the carriage.
Liu Wanqing’s face instantly darkened.
“Murong Xue! Let go of him!”
Murong Xue glanced back at her, smiling sweetly.
“Miss Liu is here as well?”
“Perfect. Why don’t you come up for tea too?”
With a triumphant look at Liu Wanqing, she stepped into the carriage.
The curtain fell, cutting off the view from outside.
Liu Wanqing stamped her foot in anger.
…
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