A letter delivered

Qi Yunheng's gaze was dark and chilling, his brows drawn together with fierce murderous intent.

Rage blazed in his chest, like a wild beast that had been provoked.

His teeth ground audibly, and only one word escaped his lips.

"Liar!"

He claimed he had fallen for me at first sight, then turned around and took a fancy to another man!

He lifted his eyes.

He snapped at the stunned man beside him, "Uncle Fu, never mention that man in This King's presence again!"

With that, he turned and left the Diligent Governance Hall.

Uncle Fu stared blankly at his retreating figure.

It was the first time he had ever seen his master so angry.

A glimmer flickered in his eyes.

It seemed Prince Yu did have his uses.

At least when his master spoke of him, his eyes were no longer utterly lifeless.

They had become much livelier.

His gaze fell on the wreckage strewn across the floor, and he sighed.

It was just rather hard on the tables.

Jin Kingdom.

The Eastern Palace.

"Achoo!"

Xiao Yu suddenly sneezed.

At that moment, he was confined to his bedchamber.

Knock, knock-

A sudden sound came from the window.

Xiao Yu rose and was about to go over to investigate when Qinggeng spoke through a mental transmission-

"Master, I sense another beast of the Mountains and Seas!"

"Yes, I noticed."

He went to the window, but just as he was about to open it, Qinggeng stopped him.

"Master, be careful! Let me open it," Qinggeng said, appearing before him.

Creak!

He opened the window, and a rooster with a human face hopped inside-

"Fuxi, it's you!"

Qinggeng exclaimed, "You're a ferocious beast. Why have you appeared in the mortal world?"

Fuxi snorted, passed him, and headed straight toward Xiao Yu.

Qinggeng immediately moved in front of Xiao Yu.

He bared his teeth at Fuxi. "What do you intend to do to my master?"

"Qinggeng, calm down."

Xiao Yu soothed Qinggeng.

He sensed no murderous intent from Fuxi.

He asked it, "Are you here for me?"

The next moment, Fuxi handed him a bottle of... medicine?

Xiao Yu took it in a daze and asked, "What's this for?"

"You have sullied my master's reputation. He orders you to end your own life."

Fuxi answered.

Xiao Yu's hand shook, and he nearly dropped the bottle onto the floor.

He looked up at it, the corner of his eye twitching wildly.

S-sullied?

Couldn't it phrase that differently?

He was perfectly innocent. He had never so much as touched anyone.

Noticing the clothes it wore out of the corner of his eye, he asked casually, "Did you come from Southern Zhao?"

Then, as though something had occurred to him, he stiffened slightly.

His eyes darted away, and he sounded a little guilty. "...Did Qi Yunheng send you?"

His ears suddenly turned bright red, and a trace of panic crossed his face. "Has he... heard all those rumors?"

It was over.

He had lost all face.

Fuxi flapped its wings and silently rolled its eyes at him. "What do you think?"

"Hurry up and drink it. I still need to get back and report to my master."

"What does your hurry to report to your master have to do with mine?"

Qinggeng turned to Xiao Yu. "Master, you mustn't drink it!"

Xiao Yu looked at the bottle in his hand and paused.

Then he went to his desk, picked up a brush, and wrote a letter.

He handed it to Fuxi. "I'm not drinking the poison."

What a joke.

He was still young.

There were so many wonderful things he had yet to experience. How could he throw his life away?

He said, "I've explained the circumstances in the letter. Just take it back for your master to read."

Southern Zhao.

The king's bedchamber.

Qi Yunheng was preparing for bed.

Knock, knock!

Uncle Fu knocked from outside the door. "Master, Fuxi has brought back a letter from the Jin Kingdom."

He asked, "Would you like to read it, Master?"

"No-"

Qi Yunheng was about to refuse.

Suddenly, he changed his mind. "Bring it here."

Creak!

Uncle Fu pushed open the door, entered, and presented the letter.

Qi Yunheng took it and unfolded it.

There, plainly written inside, were the words: You may poison my body, but you cannot stop my heart from loving you.

My heart loves you...

Qi Yunheng froze.

When he came back to his senses, his face instantly flushed crimson.

The letter seemed to burn in his hand, as though something had set it alight.

He crumpled it into a ball and threw it away.

Then, mortified and angry, he muttered, "Shameless..."

An inexplicable fire suddenly rose within him, burning fiercely and refusing to die down.

He paced over to his desk, picking up his brush and putting it down several times.

Then he picked it up again and wrote on the paper.

Even a rat has teeth, yet a man has no restraint. If a man has no restraint, what is he waiting for but death?

Suddenly, he felt that was not quite appropriate either, so he crumpled it up and threw it away.

He simply wrote words such as "shameless" and "brazen" instead.

Then he felt that was rather undignified, so he discarded it again and started over.

Uncle Fu stood to one side, silently watching him bustle about.

He kept his own contribution quietly to himself.

Jin Kingdom.

Xiao Yu had not expected Qi Yunheng to write back.

A sudden flutter stirred in his heart.

This was the first time he had ever received a letter someone had written to him.

The feeling was novel, with a faint undercurrent of excitement.

He eagerly unfolded the letter.

On the otherwise empty sheet, only one word was written:

Wan.ton.

"??"

What was that supposed to mean??

Furious, Xiao Yu crumpled the paper into a ball and hurled it out the window.

Wanton, my ass!

You bastard!

While he was at it, he threw Fuxi, who had delivered the letter, out the window too.

Fuxi: "??"

Bang, bang!

It quickly flew up and knocked on the window. "You haven't written back to my master yet!"

Uncle Fu had told it that it could only return once it had obtained a reply.

Bang, bang!

"You haven't-"

"Get lost!"

Xiao Yu cursed outright. "Just try knocking on my window again! I'll roast you into a chicken!"

At that, Fuxi immediately tucked in its wings. It dared not knock again and silently waited outside the window.

Seeing that it would not leave, Xiao Yu grew even angrier.

He opened the window and tossed Xiao Ba, whom he had been raising all this time, to it. "Take Xiao Ba back. I'm not raising Xiao Ba for him anymore!"

Bang!

He shut the window.

"Chirp..."

Xiao Ba gazed at the tightly closed window, hesitating to speak.

Seeing how furious Xiao Yu was, Xiao Ba did not dare ask to stay.

All Xiao Ba could manage was a timid "Chirp, chirp..." Goodbye...