Luo Weiran looked at the inky black sky outside and couldn't help but smile, asking, "Tell me, how do you think Hou Wenji is defending himself before His Majesty right now?"
Zhuo Buyi, sitting inside drinking tea, smiled but didn't answer this somewhat pointless question. He and Luo Weiran hadn't known about Hou Wenji's secret meeting with Luo Wen at Kesheng Residence before. It wasn't until Liu Duxiu, the Divine Eye, returned and mobilized the Flying Fish Robe that Luo Weiran and Zhuo Buyi deduced that Hou Wenji was probably at Kesheng Residence.
Of course, even if they deduced that Hou Wenji was at Kesheng Residence, they couldn't possibly know what he was doing there. But that didn't matter; a quick look inside would reveal most of the truth. Zhuo Buyi saw Luo Wen at Kesheng Residence, trying to hide himself but ultimately forced to kneel on the ground along with everyone else. There were so many people in Kesheng Residence, but none of them had any connection to Hou Wenji except for Luo Wen.
This was something easily deduced; it didn't require much thought.
Although neither of them was certain what Hou Wenji wanted by secretly meeting with Luo Wen.
"Do you think... the other assassin might be one of Luo Wen's men?"
Luo Weiran asked with a smile.
Zhuo Buyi glanced at him and nodded, saying, "Most likely."
Luo Weiran then asked, "Then do you think Hou Wenji wanted to meet with Luo Wen alone?"
"Nothing more than he's after General Luo's scheme."
Zhuo Buyi's answer was concise and to the point. "Haha."
Luo Weiran chuckled. "Hou Wenji is a clever man, just a bit forgetful… He trusts you deeply, though that trust comes with conditions. But he's forgotten… I was the one who led you into the Intelligence Bureau, I was the one who entrusted you to him. No matter what, our relationship will always be closer than yours with him. The Imperial Guard… a low wall separates us into two courtyards, and also separates our hearts."
He walked back to his room and sat down, saying with a touch of melancholy, "Hou Wenji desperately wants to move the Intelligence Bureau from the shadows into the light, desperately wants the Imperial Guard and the Intelligence Bureau to be completely separated. The Imperial Guard is just the Imperial Guard, only responsible for His Majesty's safety. His Intelligence Bureau, however, will take over all the other affairs of the Imperial Guard, becoming a separate agency." "On the surface, he and I are of one mind, both wanting to expand the authority of the Imperial Guard. In reality… he secretly wants his intelligence agency to be separated from the Imperial Guard, becoming, or even suppressing, the Imperial Guard."
"Officially, his position is only the Deputy Commander of the Imperial Guard. In any case, for the proud and arrogant Hou Wenji, this is somewhat stifling."
Zhuo Buyi looked up at him and smiled, "Sour grapes."
Luo Weiran was taken aback, then smiled bitterly, "You're so sharp-tongued."
"What you just said was indeed sour."
Zhuo Buyi sighed, "If you've been suppressed by him for so many years, your thoughts might have changed."
"Yes."
Luo Weiran sighed, "I'm just a江湖 (jianghu) person..." "He's a commoner, while I'm from a prestigious family in the Sui Dynasty. A scion of a noble family, suppressed by me, a poor scholar, for ten years—that's quite a hardship, isn't it?"
Zhuo Buyi shook his head slightly. "What you should be thinking about now is how to act when Hou Wenji returns—whether to be magnanimous or petty. Should you calmly offer a few words of comfort, or pretend to be very angry and have a fight with him?"
"You!"
Luo Weiran rolled her eyes at him. "You've been in officialdom for so many years, yet you still act like a cold detached observer. It's as if everything has nothing to do with you."
"It has nothing to do with me anyway."
Zhuo Buyi shook his head, sipping his tea as he said, "Back when you brought me into the Imperial Guard, I told you... I have no talent for intrigue and backstabbing." "I can manage the menial tasks, just lifting a finger. But if it really comes down to choosing sides, I'll stay away, as far away as I can."
"Thinking about that now..."
Luo Weiran sighed, "When you first joined the Imperial Guard, you already guessed that Hou Wenji and I would eventually drift apart. So you made it so clear early on, it was just an excuse to avoid conflict."
"No wonder there's conflict."
Zhuo Buyi stood up, stretched, and said, "You wait here, I'm going back to sleep. I'm really tired today, my whole body aches and feels weak."
"You used the 'Draw a Circle on the Ground' technique today...did you think...would you try to trap Hou Wenji?"
As Zhuo Buyi reached the door, Luo Weiran looked at his back and asked.
Zhuo Buyi paused for a moment, then continued walking. "I'm not interested in things that are meaningless. Whether drawing a circle around oneself to imprison Hou Wenji or you is something you two seem to care about more than I do."
Luo Weiran chuckled, calling him a sarcastic jerk.
Zhuo Buyi replied, "Luo the Big-Faced!"
Luo Weiran had a rather long face; Zhuo Buyi had called him "Big-Faced" for a long time.
"One last question."
Luo Weiran asked Zhuo Buyi's retreating figure, "Did you plant the Imprisonment Heart in that kid?"
Hearing this question, Zhuo Buyi didn't even stop walking. He didn't answer, quickly disappearing into the night. Luo Weiran didn't get an answer, but it seemed to bring him more relief than if he had. No answer meant no. The Imprisonment Heart was such a terrifying thing; Zhuo Buyi had once said he might not be able to cultivate it in his lifetime. But Luo Weiran worried that if he really did cultivate such a heaven-defying method as the Imprisonment Heart… anyone would be filled with dread. ...
...
When Zhuo Buyi was imprisoned in the Iron Walls, he told Luo Weiran, who came to visit him, that the prison was the best place to train the mind, a place that could be both agonizing and exhilarating. He suddenly had a bizarre idea: what if there were a technique that could plant a prison in a person's heart, allowing the person who planted the prison to perceive everything that person thought, even from a great distance?
This technique would be incredibly fascinating.
He told Luo Weiran this as a joke, but Luo Weiran remembered it deeply because he knew Zhuo Buyi… he would try anything Zhuo Buyi conceived.
The most terrifying aspect of this method was its silence. No one knew whether their mind had been silently controlled, and no thought could be hidden from others. Once the prison was planted, every thought and action of that person would be detected; there were no secrets whatsoever. Unlike mind reading, planting a prison in the heart establishes a direct, terrifying connection between the caster and the recipient.
A terrifying technique.
Luo Weiran knew Zhuo Buyi was a genius, a genius among geniuses. Even confined within iron walls, he could still comprehend such a terrifying method as drawing a circle on the ground to imprison himself. If he were allowed to roam freely, who knew what other horrifying things he might devise?
Therefore, for years, Zhuo Buyi had been confined to the Imperial Guard.
Years ago, His Majesty the Emperor asked Luo Weiran how to truly make someone like Zhuo Buyi serve the court. Luo Weiran remained silent for a long time before saying, "Confine him with emotion." Besides these four words, he couldn't think of any other way to make Zhuo Buyi obedient. The Emperor then asked, "How can we prevent Zhuo Buyi from causing worry?" Luo Weiran again remained silent for a long time before answering, word by word, "Let him be troubled by worldly affairs and desires, unable to cultivate in peace."
As long as he's constantly busy with trivial matters and doesn't have much time to focus on cultivation, his progress will slow down, or even stagnate. Only in this way can Zhuo Buyi be less terrifying.
The Emperor nodded and said, "Zhuo Buyi's cultivation was already a self-imposed prison, but now... you've drawn another great prison for him."
This prison was called the Imperial Guard.
In fact, that was indeed the case. Zhuo Buyi was constantly entangled in the trivial matters of the Imperial Guard, leaving him with very little energy for dedicated cultivation. Over the years, Zhuo Buyi's cultivation seemed to have made no progress at all. He was already so terrifying back then, but years later, he seemed to have truly stagnated.
The night was as thick as ink, impossible to dispel.
Fang Jie leaned against the bed, looking at the night outside the window, feeling the refreshing breeze blowing in. The pain in his body had lessened considerably; at least it didn't paralyze him. This was the second time he had felt this way, the excruciating pain that was simply unbearable. Last time, it hadn't given Fang Jie much to think about, but this time, he had to seriously consider why this was happening.
Pain!
Why this sudden and irresistible pain?
When he saw Mu Xiaoyao slowly walking towards him, he suddenly remembered something. On the way to the capital, he had asked Mu Xiaoyao what cultivation felt like. Mu Xiaoyao's answer was just one word… pain!
Pain?
Fang Jie let out a long sigh, unable to help but ask himself: Am I… cultivating?
Mu Xiaoyao walked to the bedside, sat down in a chair, picked a grape from the plate, peeled it, and held it to Fang Jie's lips. Watching him eat the grape, she habitually reached out and wiped the corner of his mouth: "Can't sleep?"
"Mmm."
"Still in pain?"
"Mmm."
"How much pain?"
"The kind of pain that keeps you awake."
Fang Jie's answer was shameless, and a cunning lie. His insomnia wasn't due to pain, but because he had many unresolved issues.
"Let's talk. Talking might distract you and make the pain less," Mu Xiaoyao said.
Fang Jie hummed in agreement, then thought for a moment and said, "I think I know who ordered the man who tried to kill me that night. I saw Luo Wen at Keshengju today. If I'm not mistaken, he was with that man who could move freely within Mr. Zhuo's self-imposed prison. That man was clearly familiar with Mr. Zhuo's methods because he wasn't surprised at all… So, he must be from the Imperial Guard."
"Tell me what that man looks like."
Mu Xiaoyao said, "I've seen Hou Wenji."
Fang Jie described the man's appearance, and Mu Xiaoyao nodded confidently: "That's him."
"It seems the Commander of the Intelligence Bureau has some matters to discuss with General Luo in private."
Fang Jie couldn't help but chuckle coldly.
Mu Xiaoyao remained silent, unsure what to say. Fang Jie smiled, not wanting to continue the topic.
"Sister Xiaoyao."
"Hmm?"
"I want to sleep, but what if I can't fall asleep?"
"I…don't know."
"What did you do when you couldn't sleep when you were little?"
"Uh…"
Fang Jie moved further into the bed and said earnestly, "Why don't you try to coax me again?"
Mu Xiaoyao hesitated for a while, but ultimately didn't refuse. She lay down next to Fang Jie, but for some reason, her body was tense and uneasy. Fang Jie naturally snuggled into Mu Xiaoyao's arms, inhaling her refreshing fragrance, and said, "I remember when I was little, I liked to…"
"No!"
"Just once, okay?"
"No!"
"I'm injured, and it hurts terribly."
"No!"
"I have the martial arts academy exam the day after tomorrow… If I can't sleep, I won't have any energy."
"…"
"Sister Xiaoyao…"
Fang Jie's tone was full of pleading. Mu Xiaoyao bit her lip, then suddenly swept out the candlelight in the room. In the darkness, the beauty's breathing was slightly rapid.
"Through the clothes," she said.
Her voice was almost inaudible.
"Okay."
The man chuckled smugly in the darkness, his hand reaching out to cover a peak. In summer, clothing was thin, and Mu Xiaoyao's perfect curves, lying on the bed, were faintly visible in the night. He skillfully found that small protrusion, so alluring.
The beauty beside him, her breath sweet as orchids.