The Loyal Dead Soldier Did Not Plan to Run with a Bun (Pregnant) - Chapter 4

Wei Zheng had not expected that the Grand Tutor had truly come to check his schoolwork.

“Morning, I gather… the magnolia of the marsh… evening, I pluck from the islet… of… of…”

He remembered The Li Sao, but he couldn’t let it show that he knew it.

He recited it stumble after stumble. The Grand Tutor clutched his forehead in a headache, eventually unable to help but sigh, his heart filled with disappointment over his lack of progress.

He pulled out a cane. “Extend your hand.”

Wei Zheng opened his mouth as if to argue, but intimidated by the Grand Tutor’s authority, he didn’t dare to make a sound. After hesitating for a long time, he slowly extended his hand, palm open, pursing his lips and bowing his head, looking completely wronged.

If it were anyone else, their heart might have softened, but the Grand Tutor was incorruptible and impartial. However, the force with which the cane landed on his palm was neither too heavy nor too light clearly an intentional pull of his punches.

After only a few strikes, the Grand Tutor withdrew the cane. He rose, smoothed his sleeves, and said, “Let us end here for today.”

Wei Zheng’s face lit up with joy, and he gave a fawning smile. “Then can I go play now?”

The Grand Tutor’s eye twitched; he was clearly angered by his unmotivated and mischievous nature. He opened his mouth to reprimand him, but then thought better of it. The Virtuous Prince (Xian Wang) was nothing more than a dull-witted simpleton; no matter how much effort he put in, he wouldn’t learn anything. It would be better just to let him be.

He nodded slightly. “May Your Highness enjoy playing; this subject will not disturb you further.”

Wei Zheng cheered, ordered the steward to respectfully see the Grand Tutor out, and then led the maids in a grandiose procession toward the study.

The Grand Tutor’s gaze deepened as he observed the back of the Prince as he walked away. Unsure of what he was thinking, he let out another sigh, shook his head helplessly, and left with Li Dan.

After leaving the Prince’s estate, the Grand Tutor boarded his carriage and ordered the coachman to head toward the Imperial Palace.

In the shadows, Wei Er, who had been tailing him for a long time, quietly followed the departing carriage.

Inside the study, Wei Zheng dismissed all the maids.

“Duan Lin, the Grand Tutor paid a sudden visit. What do you make of it?”

He stood before the desk, hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on a travelogue opened halfway on the table.

Duan Lin stood behind him and replied, “Perhaps the Crown Prince has already begun to suspect you.”

In the case of Zhang Xing’s assassination, there was only a secret guard token as evidence. Although the Fifth Prince was suspected, there was not enough to charge him directly.

In the imperial court, the Crown Prince held absolute power, while the Fifth Prince was weak. The capable noble families in the capital were not yet daring enough to openly oppose the Crown Prince. Among the remaining princes, besides the Fifth Prince, there were only the young Eighth and Ninth Princes, and the foolish Virtuous Prince, who had been granted a residence outside the suburbs of the capital.

The Crown Prince was suspicious by nature; it was not impossible for him to suspect the Prince.

“Keep a close eye on the Eastern Palace.”

“Yes!”

Wei San had been searching for days but could not find the scoundrel. It was effortless for a secret guard skilled in disguise and stealth to hide where no one could find him. Other than swallowing his anger and treating it as if he had been bitten by a dog, there was nothing he could do.

Life had to go on, and missions had to be accepted. After Wei San had recovered his health, he took on the task of cleaning up the aftermath of Zhang Xing’s death.

It was midnight, and most households had extinguished their lights to sleep, but the mansion of the Minister of the Supreme Court, Li Changyan, remained brightly lit.

Wei San crouched on the roof tiles, his night-suit blending into the darkness.

He removed two tiles, and a warm, yellowish light shone through the gap. He leaned down, blocking the light with his body, and took in the scene inside the room.

“This subordinate did not know that you were coming, my lord; the hospitality has been lacking, and I hope for your indulgence.”

Inside the room, the Minister of the Supreme Court, Li Changyan, having removed his official robes, was pouring wine for the person across from him, his face filled with fawning and ingratiating smiles.

The gap Wei San had made was right above a ceiling beam, which happened to block seven or eight-tenths of the other person’s figure. Wei San could only vaguely see the person’s shape and could not guess who it was.

The man took a sip of the wine, waved his hand, and said, “It was my sudden arrival; it is not the fault of Minister Li.”

The two exchanged polite pleasantries. After three rounds of wine, Li Changyan dismissed the attendants in the room.

With no one else around, he finally asked the purpose of the visitor’s trip directly.

“I do not know why you have visited in the middle of the night…”

Before he could finish, both understood what remained unsaid.

The man laughed. “Minister Li, the Zhang Xing case has been dragging on without progress; His Majesty is already dissatisfied with your investigative capabilities.”

Besides that token and the body of the prostitute found in the cellar, there were no clues to Zhang Xing’s death. Not only was the Crown Prince concerned about the case, but the Emperor himself was paying close attention.

For an imperial official to have his head severed under the Emperor’s feet was a slap in the face not just to the Crown Prince.

“It is this subordinate’s incompetence.” Li Changyan’s face was bitter, and he sighed deeply. “The perpetrator’s methods were skillful, and all clues were cleaned away completely. I suspect that the token was likely left behind intentionally.”

The man did not comment, listening quietly to his grievances. After he finished speaking, he smiled with underlying meaning.

“Minister Li, your direction in the investigation is wrong. Why only focus on the clues at the crime scene? You must investigate from multiple directions.”

“When handling a case, one must be flexible.”

Li Changyan paused, the wine cup in his hand gently rocking. He turned his gaze toward the man, testing him: “Your meaning is…”

The man lowered his head, picked up his wine cup, and took a sip. His posture was leisurely, but Li Changyan understood what he meant.

He lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes, and then he laughed heartily.

“Many thanks for your guidance.”

He stood up, raised his cup to toast him, and the two smiled at each other, lips curled, with everything understood without being said.

The rest was just pointless pleasantries. Wei San gently replaced the tiles, his form blending into the night like a ghost. He slipped out of the mansion right under the noses of the guards at the gate of the Supreme Court Minister’s mansion.

He returned to the dead soldier camp immediately and relayed the information he had overheard to Duan Lin.

Duan Lin praised him for a job well done. After giving him a few instructions, he told him to return and get some rest. Duan Lin then put on his outer robe, closed his bedroom door, and quietly slipped into Wei Zheng’s sleeping quarters.

It was now past 1:00 AM. Wei Zheng had already slept in his clothes, and he woke up instantly upon hearing the sound of the window being opened.

He squinted slightly, his eyes clear, his hand already gripping the hilt of the soft sword hidden under his jade pillow. After hearing three rhythmic knocks, he immediately relaxed his vigilance.

“What happened?”

He rubbed his temples, which were aching slightly from being startled awake, and rose to lift the curtain. There was no light on in the room, and the hazy moonlight spilled into the house through the window, barely allowing one to see the scene clearly.

Duan Lin briefly explained the news Wei San had gathered, and Wei Zheng immediately became interested.

“My Crown Prince brother couldn’t help himself so soon.”

He pursed his lips and smiled, his eyes filled with thick mockery. He whispered to himself, “As his younger brother, should I not help my brother worry a little more?”

He called out to Duan Lin: “Where was Zhang Xing’s head thrown?”

Duan Lin looked troubled. “The day it was retrieved, it was thrown to the wild wolves in the back mountain. If you wish to retrieve it, I fear it will not be a pleasant sight.”

It had been fed to wolves, and several days had passed since. Even if it hadn’t been eaten clean, it had likely rotted into a unrecognizable mess.

Wei Zheng, however, said it did not matter. “The coroners in the Supreme Court are no fools. You just need to retrieve the head. See who my Crown Prince brother has taken a fancy to and send it to them to lend him a helping hand.”

Wei San had spent half the night on the roof and was covered in dust. Not afraid of waking the sleeping Wei Jiu, he took his change of clothes and walked out the door.

Deep in the night, the bathhouse was empty, and naturally, there was no hot water, so Wei San had to draw water himself.

He treated himself to a rare moment of luxury, scrubbing himself clean from head to toe with soap beans, and the exhaustion that had been weighing him down was washed away.

He casually wiped his long, waist-length hair until it was half-dry. As he put on his undergarments, his movements paused for a moment; then, he tied his robe with lightning speed. He didn’t even have time to put on his trousers before reaching for the curved blade leaning against the bathroom wall, killing intent filling his eyes.

His voice was cold, without a trace of emotion: “Come out.”

The surroundings were extremely quiet, nearly silent, as if everything had been his imagination, but his instinct as a dead soldier told him someone was spying.

“I will say it one more time: get out, or I won’t be polite.”

The night wind blew the gauze curtains, rustling, and the candlelight flickered.

The more normal everything seemed, the more abnormal it was. Wei San tightened his grip on the hilt of his blade, stepping toward the window following his intuition. The moment his blade lifted the gauze curtain, a sudden change occurred.

“Sweetheart, you come out without even wearing your trousers—do you miss me that much?”

From behind the gauze curtain protruded a well-defined hand; slender fingers pinched the tip of his blade.

The flickering candlelight stilled. Wei San saw the face of the visitor—it was still the same human-skin mask of Wei Liu.

Looking at this man who had no shame whatsoever, he was so angry he laughed. “You actually dare to come back!”

Wei Zheng said, “I have been longing for my sweetheart so madly I cannot sleep through the night; how could I not come?”

Both were adult men; how could Wei San not understand the meaning of his teasing words? He felt as if he had been insulted by this scoundrel all over again, and the string in his brain called “reason” snapped.

A fierce look flashed in his eyes, and he twisted his wrist, thrusting the curved blade straight forward.

The sharp blade pierced the fingertip, and bright red blood pearls welled up, rolling down the blade.

Wei Zheng stepped back half a step to sidestep him. As if he could not feel the pain, he even had the leisure to tease Wei San: “Oh my, sweetheart, why are you so violent every time? This is not good.”

After finishing his exclamation, he changed his tone. “However, I like it very much.”

The fingertips pinching the blade, seemingly effortless, gave a light vibration that left Wei San’s entire arm numb, and the curved blade fell to the floor with a clatter.

Wei San reacted quickly to grab it, but Wei Zheng was even faster. A wave of his sleeve sent the blade flying.

The curved blade pierced straight into the bathroom wall, vibrating and humming.

Such strong internal energy!

Wei San was startled; he knew he was no match for Wei Zheng.

He glanced at the exit of the bathroom, wanting to retreat, but how could Wei Zheng not see he wanted to run?

He didn’t stay up all night just to fight with Wei San.

Wei Zheng’s gaze swept over the robe that was half-open due to the struggle, clearly seeing the beautiful, bright red marks, and the ambiguous, lingering faint purple traces.

He laughed meaningfully. “It seems you have recovered quite well.”

Wei San… Wei San gritted his back teeth in anger.