Chapter 83: News

"What's wrong with you?"

Noticing his movement, Cheng Feng sat up as well and asked softly.

"Didn't you hear something?"

Cheng Feng nodded, his tone as usual.

"I heard it."

Gu Shang looked at him, his face full of incomprehension.

"Then why aren't you going to protect your master?"

Cheng Lei added another quiet explanation.

"If the master hasn't given a signal, it means he doesn't need us. Besides, there's someone keeping watch outside."

A flicker of deep thought crossed Gu Shang's eyes.

The Cheng Family actually has a rule like this?

The master standing in front of his guards?

Truly unheard of.

Meanwhile, Cheng Chengxuan was about to blow out the candle when a cold flash of light suddenly struck his eyes; he dodged sideways with extreme speed.

At the same instant, an arrow sliced through the air past his ear with a faint ringing hum and vanished in a flash.

Then came a 'thud' as it drove firmly into the bookshelf behind him.

Cheng Chengxuan held his breath and focused his mind, carefully and quickly stepping to the window to look in the direction the arrow had come from, but apart from the wind and the occasional bird cry, there was no further movement.

It seemed the other party's real intent wasn't to harm anyone…

"Young General, are you alright?"

Cheng Sen asked softly from outside the door.

"I'm fine. You don't need to go after them either."

"Yes!"

Cheng Chengxuan turned to glance at the arrow on the bookshelf; the arrow was carved with a familiar pattern, and a strip of cloth was tied to it.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, then quickly walked over and untied the strip of cloth.

Looking at the writing on it, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

The candle was blown out, and Cheng Chengxuan's room merged with the thick black night outside.

But soon, a faint sound of a window shaking rang out, and after a moment, the room fell silent once more.

In the woods on the mountain, a figure leaned against a tree out of sheer boredom. Hearing the movement, the person spat out a grass stem from his mouth and spoke in a roguish tone.

"How about it? Has my archery improved a lot?"

Thinking of how he had already dodged, yet the arrow still grazed past his ear, Cheng Chengxuan frowned slightly.

"It really is much stronger than before."

"But it's still not enough."

The person stretched lazily while turning around.

"Hold it!"

"I never said I wanted to compete with you."

"But speaking of which, I traveled thousands of miles for you, day and night, trudging over a long journey, and right now I'm starving. Are you really going to show up empty-handed?"

"Stop showing off that pitiful bit of learning you've got left in your belly in front of me!"

Cheng Chengxuan shot him an annoyed glare and tossed him the small cloth bag hanging at his back.

"Has there been any news from court lately?"

The person took it and opened it for a look. Inside was something he had never seen before—yellow on top, grain by grain. He bent his head to sniff it, and there was a faint, unique fragrance of grain.

"What is this? Never seen it before. Can you eat it?"

Cheng Chengxuan reached out his hand.

"If you're not eating it, give it back!"

"Don't! I'm practically starved to death."

Saying so, the person opened his mouth and bit into it, nodding repeatedly as he ate.

"Not bad, really delicious."

"You, as a person, are fine in every way, except you're too sharp-tongued, and your personality is dull and boring. How are you going to win a girl's heart in the future like this?"

Listening to his words, Cheng Chengxuan lowered his eyes in thought and murmured softly.

"Is that so?"

Is he really that boring?

The person opposite pricked up his ears to listen carefully. Hearing this line from him, he immediately pointed at him and started making a fuss.

"You—you're not right!"

"Usually when I call you boring, you always act like you don't care, and you even say you're not interested in taking a wife and having children."

Then the person edged closer, nudged Cheng Chengxuan's arm with his elbow, and wore a mischievous grin.

"You couldn't have taken a liking to some girl, could you?"

"Which family's? What does she look like? How old is she? When did you meet her? Out with it."

Cheng Chengxuan stepped aside two paces, dodging his hand.

"Who would have thought that the fear-inspiring Master of the Dark Pavilion would now be like a gossipy old woman at the village mouth, prattling on about the Zhang family's this and the Li family's that!"

"I say, Chu Yuan, you've eaten your fill—shouldn't you answer my question now?"

After finishing off the remaining corn kernels and finding the cob inside inedible, Chu Yuan tossed it aside casually and clapped his hands.

"The other day, the Eldest Prince petitioned openly at the Imperial Court to overturn the case of the Pingnan Marquis Residence, enraging the Shunhe Emperor, who in a fit of fury banished him back to the Eastern Border."

Having said that, he sighed and shook his head.

"As for the Pingnan Marquis's disciple, he's actually not bad—about the only decent person with a conscience in the Da Yin imperial family, but unfortunately…"

A man dressed all in white is not permitted to appear among a crowd covered in ink.

"Minister Sun and Vice Minister Meng have gone quiet. For now, their situation is difficult, but still fairly safe."

"As for the Shunhe Emperor, he's become deafer and blinder than ever! The whole day long he acts as though with the National Preceptor around, everything is fine."

"Hmph!"

Hearing this, Cheng Chengxuan laughed coldly in his heart.

"Oh, by the way, how is that matter I asked you to investigate?"

Chu Yuan took a Little Booklet from his bosom.

"The Muyuan Kingdom's emperor is failing fast—likely won't last till this time next year—but the Crown Prince's seat remains unsettled, with the Second Prince and the Fifth Prince fighting openly and covertly."

"That Second Prince is impulsive, quick-tempered, and a bit simple-minded. His maternal grandfather was defeated on the battlefield by your Cheng Family years ago, and not long after, he died of frustration and illness."

You have a grudge with him, so this one's out of the running.

"As for the Fifth Prince, on the surface he's mild and refined, like a perfect Prince's Son, but in truth he's a scheming, treacherous sort."

Chu Yuan clicked his tongue twice.

"Neither of them is a good choice for an ally."

"If you truly want to use Muyuan Kingdom to accomplish your goals, I do recall someone."

Cheng Cheng looked at him and asked.

"Who?"

Chu Yuan smiled mysteriously.

"Do you still remember how that man in Muyuan Kingdom became emperor?"

Cheng Chengxuan nodded slightly.

"I heard the Muyuan Kingdom's Late Emperor was a devoted man—his harem held only one Empress, no other consorts at all, and the two of them had only one son, who was made Crown Prince from birth."

"Six years ago, when that Crown Prince was escorting the Empress back to her hometown for an ancestral rite, mother and son were both assassinated. The Muyuan Kingdom's Late Emperor, struck by grief and rage, couldn't hold on long and soon passed away as well."

Chu Yuan nodded.

"Brother succeeded by younger brother."

Then he gave a meaningful smile.

"But I've gotten word that that Crown Prince actually didn't die."

"A few years ago, he appeared within Da Yin's borders."

"You should know that the current commander defending Muyuan Kingdom's border is that Crown Prince's very own maternal uncle."

"Because of that connection, the Muyuan Kingdom emperor, for the sake of appearances, doesn't dare do much openly, but has been suppressing him in secret. And quite a few of the Imperial Officials in Muyuan Kingdom's court are in the same position as he is."

Cheng Chengxuan looked at him meaningfully.

"So you've already found his whereabouts?"

Chu Yuan clasped his hands behind his back.

"I have some leads. Still looking into it."

Having said that, he channeled his Lightness Skill beneath his feet, and his figure flashed away.

"Wait for my good news!"

Then another voice drifted over.

"Oh, by the way, I've left a few helpers for you!"

After Chu Yuan left, Cheng Chengxuan followed the Small path he'd come by and hurried down the Mountain.

Back in his room, his mind was full of what Chu Yuan had just said—thoughts tangled, not a trace of sleepiness.

"Where could that man be?"

But what he didn't expect was that before Chu Yuan could send word of that former Crown Prince of Muyuan Kingdom, someone else came knocking first.