s.h.i.+ Junhe thought, “Wenren Chi loves you secretly. If you take the initiative, there might be something wrong.”

But he couldn't say that. So he replied, “Didn't you promise to make a large piece of embroidery of hibiscus for Baoning? You just have a start, but you want to go out every day. With your skill, can you finish it before her wedding? Do you want to find somebody to make it for you?”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was good at embroidery, but she did it unusually slowly. When she was a child, she had a friend who insisted on asking her to make her a small piece of embroidery as a birthday gift. Qingxue had no choice but to agree. At last, she wanted to go to the military camp with s.h.i.+ Lei and couldn't finish the embroidery in time. s.h.i.+ Lei told her to find a maid to finish the task for her. Later, she even cut the connection with that friend whom she thought as a burden.

Although s.h.i.+ Lei incited her to do that, she always took it as a shame. When s.h.i.+ Junhe mentioned it, s.h.i.+ Qingxue blushed with shyness and stopped talking about going out but agreed obediently, “I am not going, okay? Please don't bring it up anymore.”

s.h.i.+ Baoning turned her eyes from s.h.i.+ Junhe to Qingxue occasionally and thought of something. Then she nodded seriously with determination. “I see. I will go to the Wenren Family's mansion later.”

However, s.h.i.+ Baoning was bound not to see Wenren Chi this time. As soon as she reached his mansion, the butler Li told her that the young master had just gone out.

s.h.i.+ Baoning didn't see him. But it was not that Wenren Chi avoided meeting her on purpose. Somebody had invited him to the Juxian Restaurant.

“Your Highness, why did you invite me here?” Wenren Chi got straight to the point, not arrogant or humble.

Mo Junjiu was clear about this man's character and didn't mind. He made a gesture to invite him in and smiled. “We haven't seen each other for a long time. We should keep in touch.”

Wenren Chi had to sit down. He didn't get an answer, so he kept silent and stared at the cup of tea in front of him, as if he could see something amazing.

Mo Junjiu tried to chat with him several times but couldn't continue because of his simple answers. He had to smile bitterly. “General Chi, are you so unhappy to have a talk with me?”

“Your Highness, you get me wrong. I am not talkative. Please forgive me.” Wenren Chi remained calm.

Mo Junjiu realized that this guy was a hard nut to crack and had no choice but to talk business. “General s.h.i.+ wasn't injured in the battle on the Qingluo Mountain but got my father's praise and claimed all the credit for him. However, you didn't get any profit. What a pity.”

“Hmm,” Wenren Chi just replied softly. n.o.body knew if he agreed with Mo Junjiu or just expressed that he had heard what was said.

Mo Junjiu was desperate. “Are you willing to get this result?”

Wenren Chi looked indifferent. “Everything is set in stone. It doesn't matter if I am willing.”

But Mo Junjiu refused to let it pa.s.s. “Let's forget about the past. I heard that the victory on the Qingluo Mountain this time was because King Rui's heir gave the advice, and then you led the soldiers to defeat the bandits. s.h.i.+ Junhe did nothing but got the reward. It's not fair, right?”

Wenren Chi glanced at him and asked meaningfully, “Does the reward you mentioned mean that His Majesty granted my marriage to Infanta Baoning?”

“Eh…”

Wenren Chi didn't make it clear, but Mo Junjiu knew the hidden meaning in his words, so he said awkwardly, “I know you don't want to marry the daughter of your father's murderer, but it is impossible for you to seize control of the s.h.i.+ Army unless you marry s.h.i.+ Baoning. You don't hope to see that the soldiers trained by General Wenren with his effort of a lifetime were controlled by somebody else, who even killed him.”

“s.h.i.+ Junhe gave me all the loyal subordinates cultivated by my father when he recommended me to the City Guardian Army. All the soldiers left in the s.h.i.+ Army were trained by the s.h.i.+ Family, so we shouldn't say that the result of effort was grabbed.”

Mo Junjiu was disappointed at Wenren Chi and glared at him. “You don't know that s.h.i.+ Junhe did so in order to control the s.h.i.+ Army more.

Think about it. The people he gave to you were loyal to General Wenren and had important positions in the s.h.i.+ Army. He couldn't win them over, so he expelled them. Only you foolishly took it as his kindness.”

Wenren Chi sneered. “What's done is done. Your Highness, what do you think I should do?”

Mo Junjiu pretended to ponder for a while before saying, “The s.h.i.+ Army is too powerful now, especially after they easily killed the bandits on the Qingluo Mountain, which confirmed its high status. But sometimes, the one who sits too high would be unstable. Power should be balanced.”

Wenren Chi acted as if he didn't understand. “Your Highness, what do you mean?”

“Sometimes, it would make people relaxed if the military power is controlled by two talented leaders. Do you think so?” Mo Junjiu smiled mysteriously.

Wenren Chi lowered his head. “I don't have the family name of s.h.i.+. I don't think I am a talented leader as you mentioned.”

But Mo Junjiu laughed. “All people think that the s.h.i.+ Army should be controlled by a man from the s.h.i.+ Family, but with your position in the army and your ident.i.ty as a son-in-law of the s.h.i.+ Family, it is easy for you to divide the power. I'm sure that is what my father wants, too.”

Mo Junjiu didn't mince matters. Wenren Chi knew that as long as he agreed, Mo Junjiu would surely help him seize control of the s.h.i.+ Army.

He might agree without hesitation if it was before he went to the battlefield. But after the battle on the Qingluo Mountain, he had changed some of his thoughts unexpectedly.

If Wenren Bo were still alive, he would never agree to divide the s.h.i.+ Army.

“Your Highness, thanks for your advice, but the s.h.i.+ Army stands for the military defense power of Mo Country, and a slight move in one part may affect the situation as a whole. Although I don't like some of s.h.i.+ Junhe's decisions, I won't put the country in crisis for my own private interest,”

Wenren Chi said sincerely, not only to show his att.i.tude but also to exhort Mo Junjiu.

But Mo Junjiu's face darkened, and he snorted. “General Chi, you are going to be a son-in-law of the s.h.i.+ Family soon, and I can understand that you don't want to be s.h.i.+ Junhe's enemy, but in the past, you always said you would take revenge, and I have made plans for you with effort. Now you want to back out. You are not reasonable enough, right?”

“Effort?” Wenren Chi looked cold. “Qingxue secretly went to the Qingluo Mountain to offer help, but you sent people to a.s.sa.s.sinate her and almost killed her on the way. This is what you called effort?”

“What?” Mo Junjiu was stunned, seemed not to know something like that had happened.

Wenren Chi thought he was still playing dumb. “Only the secret guard I left in Duke s.h.i.+'s mansion knew that Qingxue would go to the Qingluo Mountain. Can you say that you don't know about it, Your Highness?”

Mo Junjiu didn't look well and said crossly, “I was clear that she secretly went to the Qingluo Mountain, but I don't know anything about the a.s.sa.s.sination you mentioned.”

“Yes? What a coincidence. I heard that your people happened to go to the Qingluo Mountain, taking the same way as Qingxue.”

“I didn't…” Mo Junjiu wanted to deny, but Wenren Chi's expression of certainty made him realize that it was useless to argue.

He said impatiently, “What if I happened to take the same way as her? It didn't mean that I did something to her. What's more, she is Yuzhen's bestie. I wouldn't hurt her for Yuzhen's sake.”

“So your people followed Qingxue in order to protect her on the way to the Qingluo Mountain?”

He intentionally made it sarcastic. Mo Junjiu was embarra.s.sed after hearing that.

He goggled in a fret. “So what if it was me? She is kind of s.h.i.+ Junhe's most loved daughter. If she dies, it would give s.h.i.+ Junhe a blow. Then it would be easier for you to…”

Wenren Chi's voice was cold. “Your Highness, I don't care what you want to do, but you can't hurt s.h.i.+ Qingxue. Hope you can understand my baseline.”

Mo Junjiu got stiffened and looked at Wenren Chi in astonishment. He almost a.s.sumed that the man in front of him was an imposter. Since they started to have connections, they were not close, but Wenren Chi was always emotionless, and he hardly overreacted. Why would Wenren Chi warn him because of s.h.i.+ Qingxue?

Was it because…?

Mo Junjiu's expression changed and he suddenly laughed weirdly. “It seems that I have done something wrong. I should have sent somebody to propose marriage to the sixth lady of the s.h.i.+ Family, right?”

“You…” Wenren Chi's eyes turned cold, but soon he controlled himself. He lowered his head and said calmly, “Your Highness, stop joking. It would be unworthy if we end our cooperation because of a joke.”

It was Mo Junjiu's turn to look pale. He hadn't thought that Wenren Chi would threaten him with disrupting their partners.h.i.+p owing to Qingxue.

He snorted. “General Chi, you are really sentimental. For s.h.i.+ Qingxue's sake, you can even put the job to avenge the murder of your parent out of your mind? But…

If Lady Qingxue knows that you once tried to harm her father and almost made him die on the Qingluo Mountain, what do you think she would do?”

Wenren Chi remained unmoved and looked at Mo Junjiu coldly, with a little killing intent that only he knew.

Mo Junjiu seemed not to feel it and took a sip of tea leisurely. Then he said unhurriedly, “I am not afraid to tell you frankly that Duke s.h.i.+'s family has become a thorn in my father's flesh now and would be destroyed sooner or later. Even if you don't take action, somebody else would do it.

Why not kill him earlier? You can avenge your father, and when the s.h.i.+ Family is in decline, whether Qingxue stays or leaves would be at your option. Then you can have your career and beauty. Isn't that great?”

“Yes?” Wenren Chi remained expressionless and asked, “You told me from the beginning that s.h.i.+ Junhe killed my father in order to seize control of the s.h.i.+ Army that year, but the evidence is just a few words. It's hard to convince me. Do you think so?”

Mo Junjiu felt nervous and thought, “It's true that the beauty is a disaster. Wenren Chi believed me in the beginning, but now he questions me because of s.h.i.+ Qingxue.”

However, he looked unhurriedly and responded, “What you called a few words is a letter written by my great-aunt, and she made it clear that she intended to kill General Wenren. The letter was sent to s.h.i.+ Junhe who was fighting against the enemy far away on the border, and then the news spread that General Wenren died in the battlefield in order to save s.h.i.+ Junhe. Isn't it enough?”

With the black characters on white paper, Mo Junjiu was not afraid of confrontation.