Chapter 740

“Fang Qian, you’ve gone too far!” Xu Zifeng completely lost his composure, abandoning the tailing, and began arguing with Fang Qian at the corner outside the Ministry of Personnel; they hurled accusations at each other, drawing stares from passersby.

The spectacle lasted for a while until an official from the Ministry of Personnel stepped out to mediate, after which both men reluctantly ceased.

Fang Qian snorted coldly and strode off with a sweep of his sleeve.

Xu Zifeng stood where he was, his chest heaving violently; it took a long while before he gradually calmed down.

Once calm, a strange sense of confusion welled up in his heart.

He, Xu Zifeng, the rightful heir of the Prince of the South, a child of heaven, ought to stand atop the younger generation, looking down upon all others; bluntly put, just a few years ago, he had aspired to become emperor.

Yet now, why had he sunk to bickering like a market hag with Fang Qian, a lowborn official, over whose favor the Emperor favored more?

It felt as if two dogs competing for favor, baring their teeth at each other behind their master’s back, boasting that their stolen bone was bigger, smellier, trying to prove they were the one truly loved.

The thought made Xu Zifeng shudder involuntarily; a bitter, self-mocking expression crossed his face.

He shook his head, gazing at the direction where Li Chen had long vanished, his heart a tangle of emotions, no longer caring to follow further.

Just as Xu Zifeng was about to return home, dispirited, his peripheral vision caught another figure stealthily trailing not far behind Li Chen and Lin Yue’e.

The man concealed his aura masterfully; had Xu Zifeng not been mentally alert at that moment, he would have missed him entirely.

“Huh? Someone else?” Xu Zifeng frowned; his bruised mood instantly replaced by curiosity, “Is this one of the Emperor’s covert guards protecting him? Or someone hostile to the Emperor?”

Driven by a complex mindset—perhaps wanting to prove he wasn’t entirely useless—he decided to follow and find out.

He trailed the man cautiously, watching as the figure walked a stretch without any unusual action, then stopped in place after Li Chen turned down another street, staring at the spot where Li Chen had disappeared and letting out a deep sigh.

Was that sigh filled with helplessness and resignation?

Then, the man turned directly and walked toward the opposite direction of the imperial capital’s center.

Xu Zifeng’s suspicions deepened; he silently followed.

The man left the city and arrived at a remote hillside outside the walls.

There stood a lone grave, aged and weathered, yet the tombstone’s front was clean, as if regularly tended.

The mysterious man walked to the grave and knelt with a thud.

He silently burned some spirit money, then his shoulders began to tremble slightly; muffled sobs came in broken bursts.

“Father, your son has come to see you,” the man’s voice choked, “You know—I’ve always believed myself gifted, unmatched among my peers—but”

His voice suddenly turned fierce, laced with resentment and fury, teeth clenched: “But even if I train another ten or twenty years, I’ll never be a match for Li Chen in this lifetime! He’s a monster!”

At this, he jerked his head up, eyes bloodshot, flames of rage burning as if to scorch through heaven and earth: “But if I don’t avenge my father’s death—what face do I have to call myself your son?! What right do I have to bear the Wang surname?!”

Hearing this, Xu Zifeng, hidden in the shadows, perked up, holding his breath, expecting to hear some vow of enduring hardship, of sacrificing everything for revenge.

Yet what happened next left Xu Zifeng nearly dumbfounded.