“Eunuch, are you trying to scare me? He is just General Zhenhai, can’t I teach him a lesson?” Du He did not think so.

“General Zhenhai is nothing compared to your status as a consort. Of course, you can teach him however you want. But if you are also going to teach the Emperor a lesson, then things will not be good.” Yu He smiled, an unfathomable look crossed his face.

Du He froze. “When did I teach the Emperor a lesson?”

“With regard to the Four Seas Sect pledging allegiance, the Emperor even awarded a pirate like Yan Zifang with the title of General Zhenhai. His Majesty specially settled them down in Chang’an as an expression of his generosity. The Emperor believes that Yan Zifang is able to change for the better. Yet, you ask people to capture Yan Zifang and even want to imprison him. Aren’t you embarrassing General Zhenhai? No, you are embarrassing the Emperor. With this scene that you created, are you trying to entrap Yan Zifang or are you trying to say that His Majesty has misjudged Yan Zifang? If the Emperor hears about this and starts to investigate, you will be the only one at fault. Ultimately, you will be the one that is punished.”

Du He woke up to reality and immediately asked the guards to stop. He then sneered at Yan Zifang, “Count yourselves lucky, I will let you all go this time.” He pulled Zhang He along and left.

Xu Liangping was delighted that he would not offend either party and left.

Yan Zifang knew clearly what had happened and went to thank Yu He. “I wonder how I may address you.”

Yu He’s smile reached his eyes. “My name is Yu He. I serve Concubine Yan in the Royal Palace.”

Yan Zifang was wondering why Du He let him go. It turned out with every tall mountain, there was a taller mountain.

“Eunuch Yu, thank you for saving us.”

“It is a small matter not worth mentioning.” Yu He changed the topic. “I saw the embroidery of foreign ships in the palace. It is extremely interesting. I asked around and found out that it was based on the blueprints of foreign ships that General Yan had presented to His Majesty. I have always yearned for the ocean and wanted to find an opportunity to seek your guidance. I never thought that I would meet you today.”

“You have done me a huge favour. In the future, if you have any questions about the ocean, you can look for me. I will always welcome you.” Yan Zifang cupped his fist.

Yu He did not stand on courtesy. “Okay, I will definitely pay you a visit in the future. I still have things to do. I will take my leave.” He took a step before stopping. “General Yan, I have something that I don’t know if I should say.”

Yan Zifang replied politely, “Please go ahead.”

“It is difficult to establish oneself without a backing in Chang’an.” Seeing Yan Zifang frown, Yu He smiled. “This is just a reminder out of goodwill. I did not mean anything else.”

After Yu He left, Yan Zifang fell into deep thought.

When Yan Zifang finally finished his duty, he walked into a wine house and called for a jar of wine. He drank alone, feeling slightly down. When he was a pirate fighting for justice, people despised him. Now that he pledged his loyalty to the court, there were still people looking down on him. In Chang’an, although he was standing on concrete ground, his heart was still unsteady. It was worse than when he was sailing.

“Stop drinking.” A fair hand pressed onto the side of the wine jar.

“Take your hand off.” Yan Zifang did not need to lift his head to know who it was.

Lu Yingying did not care about Yan Zifang’s cold tone and sat down calmly. “How did you injure yourself?”

Yan Zifang glared at her icily, “Don’t come near me.”

Lu Yingying was simply oblivious. “It is my decision whether to go near you or not. Even though I know that you wanted to kill me before, you could not bear to do it. You could have also hurt me on the day that we were outside the city, but you did not hesitate to let me go.” She even took his wine jar away. “You are injured, you shouldn’t be drinking.”

Yan Zifang did not allow her to make the decision as he stretched his muscular arm across, taking the wine jar back and pouring himself a cup.

Lu Yingying wanted to take it away but Yan Zifang grabbed hold of her wrist.

“Stop it! Why are you always trying to get close to me? I am a pirate that everyone looks down on. You are the daughter of a high-ranking duke. Our families have a blood feud. Don’t think that just because I cannot do anything to you all now, I am a toy for you all to play with. I am not a cat or dog that you can provoke!”

“I do not think that way.” His grip made Lu Yingying frown.

“Then what are you thinking? Could it be that you really like me?” Yan Zifang scoffed. 

Lu Yingying froze before casually admitting, “Yes, I like you.”

It was Yan Zifang’s turn to be taken aback. “What a joke.” He suddenly released his grip before throwing down a silver tael and walking out.

Lu Yingying sat there in a daze as she bit onto her lip. All the courage that she had stored since she was born was used to confess to him. Yet, she had failed miserably. Although she had expected this, her heart still aches as if it was being torn apart. People were greedy. It is not enough that they liked someone. They wish for the other party to reciprocate despite knowing that there was a huge uncrossable gap between them.

She picked up the cup of wine and downed it. Coughing violently, tears started flowing uncontrollably down her face.

Yan Zifang forced himself to not turn around. He knew she was innocent. Yet, every time he saw her, he would think of the huge snowfall that year and his parent’s bodies. How could she have any place in his heart?!

Yan Zifang walked too quickly and bumped into someone as he was leaving the wine house. “Sor--” He was about to apologise but the person left too quickly. The person even shielded his face with the bamboo hat that he had on.

In front of that man, was a group of men. They were all wearing bamboo hats and were in a rush. They fluttered like ash, as if they did not want to attract anyone’s attention. However, their behaviour made everyone want to avoid them as the crowd walked to the side to let the group past.

Yan Zifang did not stare at them for long since he was feeling troubled. He was also afraid that Lu Yingying would cling onto him and he would not be able to escape. Hence, he walked in the opposite direction. He never would have known that he had just brushed shoulders with his old friend.

The one leading the group was Hong Yide, a person who the Lu father and son pair wanted to kill.

The Lu father and son pair thought that Hong Yide was still in Guangzhou. They did not know that his real motive was to get revenge against Great Tang’s Emperor, Li Shimin. Of course, they would have to be in the city that the Emperor was in. However, Hong Yide did not know that the reason why he could come to Chang’an so easily was because of the person that was holding back the Lu army, Fu Tao. Fu Tao was helping Hong Yide to cover his tracks.

In Guangzhou, Fu Tao created a great fanfare of how they were there to catch the rebel troops. After he silenced Hong Yide’s subordinates, he falsely reported back. He intentionally let Hong Yide create trouble near Lu Yunji. It would be for the best if Hong Yide could tear open their base.

Although Yan Zifang did not recognise Hong Yide, Hong Yide had seen Yan Zifang. He disapproved of Yan Zifang’s decision to pledge allegiance to the Royal Court. However, he was too lazy to hate on Yan Zifang. Hence, he lowered his head and went in the opposite direction.