Chapter 19

The Fifth Prince successfully escaped from Xue Jin'an's clutches. He relaxed, but a sharp, stabbing pain surged in his chest, making his face even more pale.

He clutched his chest tightly, taking several deep breaths to try and calm his racing heart, but to no avail; his breathing remained labored and labored, like a broken bellows.

"I'm leaving." He managed to squeeze out the words with difficulty, and stumbled away amidst the stares of Fu Lu and Shou Quan, who both looked at him as a big liar spouting nonsense and feared he would die on the spot.

The disordered, uneven footsteps gradually faded into the distance, and the old wooden door of the chiffon courtyard creaked and groaned as it slammed against the courtyard wall, bidding farewell to the guests.

"This is his first time using the main entrance." Xue Jin'an smiled encouragingly, like an elder watching a child grow up.

Turning to Fu Lu Shou Quan, he instructed, "Remember to remind him to close the door next time; he needs to develop a good habit."

"..." Master, that's not the point. The point is that you've fallen for his delaying tactic!

Fu Lu and Shou Quan exchanged a glance, their expressions helpless. They each sighed inwardly, yet simultaneously thought: This is for the best.

Although they would definitely help their master if he really wanted to kill someone and dispose of the body, it was still a life at stake, and the Fifth Prince was a prince, a brother of their master. It was best not to be ruthless unless absolutely necessary.

Of course, according to the master's plan, it would be very difficult to find out about them. Even if Consort Rong's people wanted to find out about the Fourth Prince, they would have no chance of obtaining evidence if they suspected the master.

However, for those in power, suspicion is enough. They don't even need to take action themselves; as long as they push their master to a high position, countless malices will come rushing in, and they will be like a rootless duckweed in the power struggle, knowing that there are people pulling the strings behind them, yet unable to speak out.

Just like Consort Zhen back then—no, perhaps without the support of her maternal family and the emperor's favor, the Seventh Prince would have died even more quietly.

The master is still young. Even if he has the means, courage, and determination, the saying goes that too much wisdom can be harmful. It would be better for him to restrain himself before he has fully grown his power.

As for the Fifth Prince's inevitable revenge after returning home, Fu Lu wasn't too worried. With Consort Zhen dead, no one, whether concubines or powerful officials, would care about a child struggling to survive.

As long as those people don't make a move, the princes are like tiger cubs with their teeth not fully grown. They can only bark and howl, and can't cause any trouble at all. I believe their master can keep them under control with one hand.

Even the current Crown Prince is the same.

Of course, while Fulu was confident in his master's strength and methods, he still kept a watchful eye. He whispered a few words to Shouquan, who nodded knowingly and quietly withdrew.

Shouquan was a new face in the Prince's quarters. Fulu took over Shouquan's connections and, in return, gave him all the jobs that allowed him to have close contact with Xue Jin'an. As a result, he hadn't left Qifeng Courtyard much since he arrived.

He already had a friendly and pleasing round face, and his personality, honed in the imperial kitchen, was completely without any sharp edges. He even seemed somewhat easy to bully, making him very suitable for gathering information in private.

Shouquan originally thought that he had come out too late and that it would take a lot of effort to find the Fifth Prince, but he did not expect that the Fifth Prince had hidden in the Green Bamboo Courtyard.

The Green Bamboo Courtyard has been emptied out. The Fourth Prince is claiming illness and staying in the Yihe Palace. The other servants have moved back to his former courtyard, the Suhui Courtyard, which is located to the west of the Princes' Residence, along with the Fifth Prince's Hanxiang Courtyard.

The fourth prince and the fifth prince were close in age and ranked next to each other, but in reality, they had never gotten along since childhood and rarely spoke to each other when they met.

The fourth prince thought the fifth prince was a very gloomy and useless person who only knew how to hide behind people's backs and sow discord. The fifth prince also thought the fourth prince was a brainless good-for-nothing who could do nothing but throw tantrums.

The two, who regarded each other as worthless, tried to stay as far apart as possible, even though they lived in the same western part of the prince's residence.

If it weren't for the fact that the eldest and second princes, who outwardly appeared to be brothers but were secretly at odds, were entrenched to the east, and that the two were simply too impatient with their feigned brotherly affection and didn't want to put on a show of brotherly love all the time, and that the third prince, a violent and reckless man, was stationed to the south... neither of them would have been willing to be neighbors with a heavy heart.

In short, the Fifth Prince disliked the Fourth Prince very much, and last time he came, he avoided the Green Bamboo Courtyard.

Last time, Fulu was terrified by the Fifth Prince's act of squatting on the roof beam in the middle of the night. He was shocked, delighted, and angry all at the same time. He didn't dare to close his eyes to sleep at night. He would see ghosts at the slightest sound and would take a lantern into his master's courtyard to check the roof beam.

After a few times, just looking wasn't enough to reassure him. He wanted to climb up and take a closer look. Before climbing, he carefully approached Xue Jin'an and stared at him for a while, as if afraid of waking him up.

—Although Fulu already knew that his master was sleeping very well now, and even breathing pauses couldn't wake him up.

Then Xue Jin'an suddenly opened his eyes.

[Unidentified person detected attempting to take the phone. Security activated anti-theft function. Photo taken as evidence. Alarm to activate in three seconds. 3, 2... Alarm activated, beeping—]

Xue Jin'an's consciousness was thus pulled out of the Do Not Disturb mode and forcibly shut down hibernation.

After Xue Jin'an found out what Fu Lu was doing in the middle of the night, he used big data to calculate the Fifth Prince's behavior logic and pointed him in the right direction. He told him that if he was really worried, he should go and keep watch over there, because the Fifth Prince would definitely go that way if he came.

Fulu unconditionally believed his master's words and squatted there without asking any questions. He endured the cold wind all night until his face was stiff. The next day, he was free from that paranoid state.

As it turns out, Xue Jin'an's data analysis was very accurate; the Fifth Prince did indeed climb over the wall where Fu Lu had squatted today.

The fact that the Fifth Prince is now hiding in the Green Bamboo Courtyard can only mean that his health condition is really bad.

Shouquan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately waited outside without going in. About fifteen minutes later, the Fifth Prince came out again.

His complexion was still not very good, and his steps were somewhat unsteady and weak, but his breathing had finally become steady.

Shouquan followed at a distance, keeping a careful eye on the Fifth Prince, as he was a martial artist with keen senses. Following too closely would easily alert him.

He had assumed that the Fifth Prince, having suffered so much today, would surely go to Minghua Palace to complain to Consort Rong. Unexpectedly, the Fifth Prince simply returned to Hanxiang Courtyard and then stayed inside, remaining completely silent throughout the courtyard. No one informed anyone outside.

“I’ve asked around among different people, and their accounts are all roughly consistent. They say that the Fifth Prince was frightened and is bedridden. He’s not feeling well and hasn’t left his room for three days.” Shouquan paused, then also reported the news from Suhui Courtyard. “The Fourth Prince hasn’t returned yet either. Both of them have asked for leave from the study.”

Why is it that every single person his master sees falls ill and is bedridden? Fu Lu wondered, "Has the imperial physician been summoned?"

"It's all over. They say that the Fourth Prince had a nightmare and couldn't sleep at night. Consort Zhen has been chanting Buddhist prayers for several days because of this, and she looks haggard."

It was similar to the news coming from Yihe Palace. Fulu nodded, signaling him to continue.

Shouquan hesitated, "Something's strange about Hanxiang Courtyard."

"Not long after the Fifth Prince returned that day, he summoned the imperial physician, prescribed a medicine, and had the finest tonics boiled overnight, but..." Shouquan whispered in his ear, "he fed it all to the plum tree in the courtyard."

"Not a single bite?" Fu Lu was quite surprised.

Shouquan shook his head, "The head palace maid Hongling handled it herself; it didn't even reach the Fifth Prince."

Previously, the Fifth Prince did not have such a person by his side. What surprised Fu Lu even more was, "Hong Ling? The first-class head maid of Minghua Palace?"

Generally speaking, the people with more influence around a prince are eunuchs or wet nurses, while palace maids are mostly selected as concubines for the prince and are not much older than the prince himself.

Hongling was Consort Rong's confidante and was nearing the age to be released from the palace. She was a full twelve years older than the Fifth Prince, so there was absolutely no way Consort Rong would choose her as a concubine. Moreover, the future of a first-class palace maid was much better than that of a concubine without any title or status. She must have lost her mind to make such a choice.

Therefore, she must have been a spy placed by Consort Rong next to the Fifth Prince. Her direct handling of the medicine was Consort Rong's doing.

That evening, Fulu told Xue Jin'an everything, then pondered, "Your Majesty, Consort Rong seems to have a somewhat... attitude towards the Fifth Prince..."

"Hmm, it doesn't make sense, but it's none of our business." Xue Jin'an said calmly, as if it were none of his concern. "As long as Fifth Brother remembers to bring me a knife."

"...My lord," Fulu looked at his naive master with a pained expression. He hesitated, then carefully chose his words to reveal the truth in a tactful tone, "His Highness the Fifth Prince may not just be ill. Do you know what a delaying tactic is? This was during the previous dynasty..."

Xue Jin'an, who was already lying in bed, listened silently as he finished explaining the origin of the delaying tactic and then went on to talk about military strategies for defeating the enemy.

Xue Jin'an sat up again, watching as his eyes slowly widened, as if he understood. "You mean he used delaying tactics on me? He deceived me?"

"I see." Xue Jin'an tilted his head and pondered for a moment before concluding, "It seems I need to strengthen my body."

In this way, he can use his hands as blades to dismember people on the spot. As long as he is strong and fast enough, he is not afraid of falling for delaying tactics.

Xue Jin'an felt that his idea was correct, and that very night he dug out the fitness app that had been lying dusty in the corner of the folder for many years.

When the otaku first transmigrated to the modern world, his body was broken and extremely fragile, unable to withstand even a trace of spiritual energy. He downloaded this app to exercise, and at first he followed it seriously twice. Later, watching it was as good as practicing. And then... he became a master of mobile phones, fell in love with high technology, and became an otaku.

This software has been lying there ever since he was just a regular machine. Every time I clean up the memory, it's always on the list of infrequently used software. I always stubbornly insist that I'll keep it next time, but now that he's ascended to heaven and his machine has become a person, this software is still lying there collecting dust, never opened.

Xue Jin'an opened it after many years, and had to start by logging into her account.

After logging in, an advertisement for the "Anwangfu Private Army Training Camp Phase III Recruitment Plan" popped up on the homepage. The instructors listed on it sounded impressive but were not familiar with.

What about the swordsman who can slay all heroes with a single stroke? What about the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal who can kill one person in ten steps and leave no trace for a thousand miles? What about the peerless master who can cross the river on a reed and kill with a single petal or leaf?

Xue Jin'an clicked on it randomly, and then clicked out three seconds later.

Sorry to bother you with the member preview. He's poor and really can't stand these materialistic words.

The free section mostly contained videos uploaded by private (low-level) experts. Xue Jin'an watched several at double speed. At first, he didn't think there was anything wrong with them, but after watching more, he noticed that many of the basic exercises were similar, and he began to see the problem.

Xue Jin'an simply lacked standardized data; he only knew that everyone did things differently, but he didn't know who was right.

While Xue Jin'an was contemplating whether to uninstall the software, he came across an account whose profile picture was stamped with the words "By the mandate of Heaven, may your life be long and prosperous," which belonged to the Imperial Seal of the State—General Helian Cheng of the Northwest Army.

Helian Cheng's account contains training videos ranging from basic to advanced, divided into body-strengthening and internal energy-based versions, as well as tutorials on the use of different weapons and breakdowns of moves, etc. It can be said to have everything.

The only downside is that the video shows rows of soldiers shouting slogans and practicing, making it feel like military training.

But it's free! Xue Jin'an was very satisfied.

He was even more satisfied after practicing for two days, because General Helian Cheng actually sent him money!

The copper coins were strung together with a rope; although there weren't many, they felt heavy in the hand.

Xue Jin'an began to understand the joy of receiving a salary.

*

Three days later, the Northwest Camp

Helian Cheng and the quartermaster in charge of military pay sat facing each other solemnly.

The quartermaster, his eyes rimmed with bruises, said, "General, we have found the fifty coins that are missing from the accounts. They came from your personal guard."

Helian Cheng's eyes darkened, and he laughed angrily, "I've said before that there's no such thing as receiving a salary without working in my army, not even one person. I'd like to see who has the audacity to do that!"

The quartermaster gave him a long, wistful look and said slowly, "Actually, it's only fifty coins. Perhaps it's just a mistake..."

"You're stammering. Have you not found out, or are you afraid to speak?" Helian Cheng slammed his hand on the table. "Whoever it is, I, the general, will punish them severely."

The quartermaster glanced at him again before slowly uttering his words.

"Good news, we've found out."

"Bad news, it turns out it was you."

Helian Cheng slowly typed a question mark: Huh? Me?