The Imperial Preceptor appeared, dressed in lavish purple robes and holding a fly whisk. He looked as otherworldly as an immortal crane, yet his icy gaze made him seem merciless.
With his signature silver hair and green eyes, Imperial Preceptor Zhang Lanhe was a beauty whose presence carried an extraordinarily dangerous pressure.
"You are the first person to offend His Highness like this in front of me. I will allow you to choose how you die."
When Zhang Lanhe saw from inside the carriage that Wei Hu's hand had almost touched Xie Huizhou, the thread of his reason snapped.
He did not know where the panic and anger rising from the depths of his heart came from. He only knew he disliked anyone treating Xie Huizhou this way.
He wanted to kill this brazen, insolent man who dared to flirt with Xie Huizhou.
For the first time, the cool and self-possessed Zhang Lanhe threw caution aside and sent the offender flying. Like a demonic beast guarding its territory, he would not let anyone else encroach an inch.
Wei Hu lay on the ground vomiting blood. When he looked up at this scene, he immediately remembered the rumors in Capital City that the Imperial Preceptor was a demon incarnate.
A powerful, beautiful, uncanny creature lurked in Capital City, and those he set his sights on could hardly escape death. When found, they were like flowers fallen into the mud, becoming unsolved murder cases in the Dali Temple's files.
It was said that someone had once stumbled upon the Imperial Preceptor revealing his true form, but everyone who had seen it had died.
"Lord Imperial Preceptor, to think you're here." Wei Hu's heart sank to rock bottom as though weighed down by a boulder. He wondered who Xie Huizhou could be to warrant such protection from the Imperial Preceptor, then quickly realized his identity. "Then you must be the Ninth Prince. I was blind not to recognize you."
He had heard that the Imperial Preceptor had recently taken a great interest in the ninth prince and was even willing to teach him personally. Now, having heard the rumors and personally witnessed the Imperial Preceptor sharing a carriage with the ninth prince and standing up for him, he knew their relationship was real.
Before Wei Hu came to Capital City, his family had repeatedly warned him that he absolutely must not provoke the Imperial Preceptor there.
He had run into an iron wall as soon as he returned to Capital City, offending both the Imperial Preceptor and the ninth prince at once. He was filled with conflicting feelings.
Fear arose in Wei Hu's heart, and he decided to submit. "Please spare my life. If I'd known you two were inside the carriage, I would never have offended you!"
As long as he survived, he could take revenge once these two fell from power.
At worst, he could have Fierce Tiger eat a few people in the busy streets later to soothe his temper.
Zhang Lanhe coldly shattered his delusion of surviving. "Words are useless. Tell me how you wish to die."
"Are you joking? Why should I choose how I die?" Wei Hu reacted violently beneath that inhuman gaze, instantly drawing his sword to defend himself and hurling insults without restraint. "Others might fear you, but I don't! A monster like you gets to be Imperial Preceptor? Today, I'll rid the world of you!"
He had spent so many years at the border and killed so many enemy soldiers. He refused to believe he could not kill him.
Hearing Wei Hu repeatedly strike Zhang Lanhe's sore spot, Xie Huizhou looked at him as though beholding a brave warrior. "Saying that in front of the Imperial Preceptor takes commendable courage."
Then you're dead for sure.
Zhang Lanhe's rise as the great villain in the original story owed much to his descent into darkness. All his life, others had looked at him strangely. Cruel words could chill even a summer's day, and he had gradually become twisted.
This was a sore spot no one could touch.
He quietly raised his head to comfort the Imperial Preceptor. "Don't listen to their nonsense. You have to believe there are people in this world with a thing for white hair who will like you."
Such beautiful silver hair and eyes like lake water, yet no one appreciated them. Their tastes were far too limited.
"I know."
Only then did Zhang Lanhe's mood improve a little. Without waiting for Wei Hu to speak, he moved to take his life.
"Attack!" Wei Hu kicked the tiger, urging him into battle. "Kill them!"
The ferocious tiger instantly cowered, shrinking into a corner and trembling as though he had seen some monster.
"Useless!"
Wei Hu fought back, but was defeated in just a few exchanges, his arm flying off to one side.
Blood splattered everywhere. Xie Huizhou felt as though he had returned to the wartime years ago, when Zhang Lanhe, clad in armor, had saved him from someone else's sword.
Both times, he had saved him in a moment of peril.
"My hand!" Wei Hu had lost an arm to preserve his life. Pale-faced, he lamented his ruined state. "Now that I'm like this, what am I supposed to do?"
He deeply regretted throwing his weight around in an unfamiliar place just because his sister was a favored consort.
He hated Xie Huizhou and Zhang Lanhe even more for showing him no consideration at all and wanting to take his life.
Wei Hu hurriedly ordered his guards to stop him. "Hold him off! I'm going to complain to my sister!"
Wei Hu fled with his severed arm and resentment in his heart. All he wanted now was to rush to the palace and lodge a complaint against the ninth prince and the Imperial Preceptor with the old emperor and Consort Wei.
A prince who received no attention had actually dared to hurt him!
"You didn't kill him. Letting him escape will bring endless trouble." Xie Huizhou was rather displeased by Wei Hu's escape. "This man avenges the slightest grievance. If you don't kill him now, he'll bite you once he has the strength."
Xie Huizhou had no intention of releasing a tiger back into the mountains. He preferred to root out trouble entirely and wondered whether he should send a Shadow Guard to intercept and kill him right now!
Wei Hu belonged to his fourth brother's faction anyway and would scheme against him sooner or later. Rather than kill him later and invite trouble, he might as well finish him off early.
"Your Highness, can you shoot a bow? I didn't see you hunt in person during the Spring Hunt."
Zhang Lanhe asked a completely unrelated question.
He regretted not giving Xie Huizhou his quarry that time, allowing someone else to get there first instead.
Xie Huizhou paused. "Not very well, so I didn't go and make a fool of myself. It would only have given people something to laugh at."
Without a good archery instructor, Xie Huizhou's skill with a bow could only be described as unremarkable.
"Let me teach you."
Zhang Lanhe had a guard bring his bow and arrows, placed them in Xie Huizhou's hands, and guided him hand over hand to draw the bow and aim at Wei Hu as he fled farther and farther away. "Ninth Prince, watch carefully. I'll teach you how to shoot fleeing prey dead and leave them nowhere to escape."
With someone pressed against his back, Xie Huizhou instantly stiffened. Zhang Lanhe's hands covered his as he drew the bow open, aiming at the fleeing Wei Hu.
My heart is beating so fast.
Why am I so nervous? My palms are almost sweating.
The Cloud-Piercing Arrow shot out with a whoosh and pierced Wei Hu's heart. The little black dot in the distance fell to the ground with a thud.
Wei Hu was dead.
This little tyrant of Capital City, who had let his tiger maul people, had been shot dead by his arrow. All the plot involving him had been swept away by the butterfly effect.
With a single statement, Zhang Lanhe sealed his fate. "Wei Hu unleashed a tiger to injure people in the street and intended to assassinate His Highness the ninth prince. His crimes were unforgivable, and he harbored treasonous intentions. The traitor has been executed in the street."
Xie Huizhou raised his eyes toward the tall, imposing palace nearby, his expression grave.
They had killed Wei Hu. The people backing him would not let this rest.
"Your Highness, don't worry. I have never feared their retaliation. I will protect you."
Too many people had died at Zhang Lanhe's hands. Whatever their standing in life, in death they were nothing but a handful of earth and posed no threat to him.
All that mattered was that those he cared about remained unharmed.
"Imperial Preceptor, with your strength, you'd be better suited to fighting on the battlefield." Won over by Zhang Lanhe's skill, Xie Huizhou asked curiously, "I wonder, why did you want to become Imperial Preceptor back then? What did you once want to do?"
The Imperial Preceptor did not look like a monk devoid of emotions and desires. He seemed more like a general who fought on the battlefield, or a powerful minister who manipulated the court.
His heart was not in the court, yet he had remained here until his death. That did not seem like Zhang Lanhe's style.
He was curious about Zhang Lanhe's past.
Zhang Lanhe fell silent for a moment. His thoughts from the past had long since grown hazy. "Long ago, I found life on the mountain dull. Drawn to the mortal world's splendor, I came down, and then I could never return. My fate was not my own, and I became Imperial Preceptor. Shall I cast a divination for Your Highness and see what fortune or misfortune lies ahead?"
"No, no. I'm not afraid of having all my fate foretold; I'm more afraid of heaven's fickle, unfathomable will." Xie Huizhou shook his head in refusal. "When faced with difficulties, I'd rather confront them and overcome them."
Even knowing he was destined to die at the hands of the man before him, Xie Huizhou did not fear this cruel reality. He made multiple preparations to seek a sliver of hope for survival.
The threads of their fate had already changed. Xie Huizhou felt he could avoid this ending in death.
"It's almost dawn. Let's set off."
Before you continue