After the New Year, even though it was the New Year, the snow did not stop. After snowing all night, a layer of white frost piled up in the yard.

When He Yan woke up, Xiao Jue was gone again.

Strangely enough, she was not a lazy person. When she lived in the big shop in Liangzhouwei, she was the only one who woke up before dawn in a room full of men. But I don't know if it was because Xiao Jue's bed was extra soft and warm, so she slept soundly at night and got up late in the morning. Or it was because Xiao Jue got up too early. Anyway, when she woke up, there was no one around her.

He Yan rubbed his eyes and sat up, threw back the quilt and got out of bed. After a quick wash, he put on his outer clothes and opened the door. As soon as he opened it, he saw a cold light.

Xiao Jue was practicing sword in the yard.

This guy also understands the principle of "three days without practice makes the hand rusty", and now that he is not in Liangzhou Guard, he still hasn't stopped training. He Yan simply leaned against the pillar to watch him, and by the way, to see where Xiao Jue's swordsmanship has improved over the years.

It was cold in the morning, but Xiao Jue was only wearing a frosty-colored suit. When he wore dark clothes, he looked cold and dignified, but when he wore light clothes, he looked particularly bright and elegant, reminding people of the beautiful young man who was always ranked first in Xianchang Pavilion.

The Xiao family's yard is very large. Except for the pomegranate tree outside the window of Xiao Jue's study, there are no plants or trees. The open ground is very suitable for practicing swordsmanship. With a sweep of the sword, the snow in the yard is blown everywhere by the sword's energy. The blade of the Yinqiu Sword is crystal clear, and the person facing it seems to be in a painting, with stunning light.

As He Yan watched, his hands began to itch. He quickly returned to the house and grabbed the Qinglang hanging on the wall.

Qing Lang had wiped it many times since she got it back from He Rufei, but she had never used it once. There was really no occasion to use it. After all, Shuojing was not a battlefield, and one could not draw a sword and compete with others at any time. But today was a good day, and since Xiao Jue was also practicing swordsmanship, it would be a good idea to see if the gap between the first and last place in Xianchang Hall was still as insurmountable as before after such a long time.

He Yan took off her cape, took Qing Lang with her, chuckled, and walked out the door. Xiao Jue had his back to her. She suddenly drew her sword and stabbed at Xiao Jue from behind, shouting, "Xiao Jue, let me try your sword!"

The young man suddenly turned around and threw the drink in his hand towards Qinglang with a crisp sound. The next moment, both of them took a few steps back.

Xiao Jue looked at her and raised his eyebrows slightly: "Fencing?"

"Don't dare?" He Yan tapped his toes lightly, laughed loudly, and rushed towards him with his sword.

"I'll keep you company." His voice was also warm, and it sounded particularly pleasant in the early morning after the snow.

Qingmei came out holding a broom, and saw two people practicing sword in the yard, and was stunned for a moment. Although she knew that He Yan was powerful, she had always heard about it from others and had never seen it with her own eyes. Now seeing He Yan's smooth sword moves, she was amazed and nervous, and murmured: "Young Master, please show mercy, our young lady is delicate and weak..."

Fei Nu happened to be walking in from outside. Upon hearing this, he couldn't help but glance at He Yan. He Yan was just turning his head to avoid Xiao Jue's Yin Qiu. He kicked the trunk of the pomegranate tree in the yard and used the force to fly back. The kick seemed unintentional, but it made the whole trunk tremble slightly, and snow fell to the ground.

He looked away, not really understanding where the words "slim and frail" came from.

He Yan turned his head and looked at Xiao Jue.

It is a very pleasant experience to duel sword skills with Xiao Jue.

This man's swordsmanship was already very good back then, and now after many years, it has become even more sophisticated, and it is somewhat similar to He Yan's own sword moves. After all, her swordsmanship was taught by Xiao Jue at the beginning, and even now, some of the original shadows are still left. It's just that the fool who was always accidentally hit on the head by the scabbard in the bamboo forest under the moonlight, now has a long sword in his hand, like a flying dragon and a flying swallow, extremely agile, and it is difficult to tell who is the winner in the exchange with the young man.

"Fei Nu guards," Qing Mei couldn't understand, and asked the people around her: "Did the young master give in to the young mistress?"

"No need to give way." Fei Nu was slightly surprised, "Young Madam's swordsmanship is very good."

He Yan's swordsmanship is exquisite, with strange angles. Liu Buwang saw that she was a woman at first, and her sword moves were more "variable", not bound by form, and varied. Qinglang in his hand was like a blue cloud, dazzling people. Xiao Jue's sword moves were more "stable", with a strong sword spirit, and he became stronger when he met a strong opponent. He was surrounded by He Yan, but he could break every move. The cold color of the autumn wine was reflected with the snow on the ground, like a mirror or ice.

After fighting for more than ten moves, He Yan suddenly stepped back, lowered his head, covered his chest and let out a low cry.

Seeing this, Xiao Jue paused, put away his sword immediately, stepped forward to support her and asked, "What's wrong?"

He Yan was half-covered by him. She suddenly raised her head and smiled slyly. Xiao Jue was startled. The next moment, she slapped him. Xiao Jue stretched out his hand to block it, but was still slapped back a few steps.

"To defeat a wise general, you must defeat his emotions. By serving him with beautiful women, you can ease his will and weaken his body, and then you can turn defeat into victory."

The girl held a long sword and said proudly, "Commander Xiao is no good. He can't even detect the honey trap."

"Beauty trap?" He asked slowly, then chuckled after a moment and counterattacked with his sword.

He Yan raised his sword to block.

The two of them exchanged dozens of moves.

Xiao Jue restrained He Yan's arm with one hand. He Yan's hand was restrained from behind by him. This man actually had the time to tease her in her ear: "You call yourself a beauty? You are so confident."

"A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated." He Yan turned around suddenly, pulled his hand out, pressed the sword forward, and then turned around and stabbed with the sword.

The young man's eyes flickered, and he suddenly put his sword behind him, facing the opponent's sword. He Yan's sword was coming at him unexpectedly, and the sword tip was about to pierce his chest. He Yan was anxious and pulled back the Qinglang in her hand. However, the sword energy was moving forward, and she was also carried forward by the sword energy. There was no way to avoid it, and she was thrown into Xiao Jue's arms.

Xiao Jue was forced to hold her tightly in his arms.

"What are you doing?" He Yan asked angrily.

Xiao Jue replied slowly, "If a person does not harm himself, then the harm will be real." He looked down at He Yan, his lips curled slightly, "General He is no good, he can't even understand the self-torture trick."

"The self-torture tactic?" He Yan said angrily, "As the commander of the right army, do you think it is appropriate for you to use the self-torture tactic?"

"A soldier never tires of deception." He was calm and relaxed.

He Yan sighed: "Too despicable."

The man in front of her looked down at her, his black eyes hiding a hint of smile. He Yan was startled when she saw him slowly leaning over to her. She immediately closed her eyes nervously in shock.

The next moment, she felt a slight vibration from her chest. She opened her eyes and saw Xiao Jue staring at her, holding back his smile. He stopped just one centimeter away from her and raised his eyebrows and asked, "A honey trap?"

He Yan suddenly felt ashamed that he had been scolded and lost his mind. He turned around and walked away without saying a word.

Xiao Jue pulled her back again and kissed her gently on the forehead, "General He is awesome, I give in."

Qingmei: “…”

She turned her head away suddenly, put her hands in front of her eyes, and whispered: "...Why did it suddenly..."

Chi Wu didn't know when he came here, nor how long he had been watching here. He frowned and said, "This is not a sword fight, it's clearly flirting. Young Master is really... How can you treat Qian Qiu like this?"

When Qingmei heard this, she seemed to have just seen Chiwu. When she saw Chiwu, she remembered what He Yan had said to her on New Year's Eve at the He family. She immediately said nothing, holding the broom and went out without even looking at Chiwu.

Chi Wu was puzzled and asked Fei Nu: "I didn't provoke her, did I? What happened to her?"

Fei Nu: “…”

He patted Chiwu's shoulder, said nothing, and left.

…

That morning, a guest also came to the Prince's residence.

When Chu Zhao was welcomed into the hall, Ying Xiang was kneeling on the ground pouring tea for Guang Yan. When Guang Yan saw Chu Zhao, he just glanced at him and said, "What are you doing here?"

Guangyan didn't dislike Chu Zhao, but he didn't like him either. It was fine when Xu Jingfu was around, but after Xu Jingfu died, Guangyan looked at Chu Zhao and all his dislikes came back. But if Chu Zhao had offended him in any way, it wasn't a big deal. After thinking about it, Guangyan just didn't like his humble background and his overly handsome appearance.

"To relieve His Highness's worries."

Guangyan sneered and said, "Relieve me of my worries?" He slowly sat up and looked at Chu Zhao, "Go kill that idiot Guangshuo now, and you will relieve me of my worries."

Guangshuo has been staying in the palace almost all the time recently, and his guards never leave his side. Guangyan's words were all spoken in anger.

"Are you anxious, Your Highness?" Chu Zhao asked gently without being angry.

"Chu Zilan!" The prince waved his sleeves impatiently, "Xu Jingfu is dead, so now it's his students who are teaching me how to do things?"

Chu Zhao said: "I just hope that Your Highness is well."

"Then don't talk nonsense!" The prince seemed to have expected what he was going to say, staring at him solemnly, "Don't forget your own identity, Chu Zilan. If something really happens to me, you can't escape, don't think about getting away with it, what you have to do now is to assist me in accomplishing things, instead of holding me back from behind. As for those sermons, put them all away for me, otherwise, Xu Jingfu's today will be your tomorrow!"

Ying Xiang stood quietly aside, lowering her head meekly. But if you looked carefully, you could see her slightly pale fingertips.

"You should go back." Guangyan stood up impatiently: "Don't hang around in front of me, it makes me feel annoyed!"

After a moment of silence, Chu Zhao remained expressionless. He stood up and saluted with a smile, "Then I will take my leave first."

"Wait." Guangyan suddenly stopped, glanced at Yingxiang, and said meaningfully, "Yingxiang, go and see Mr. Chu off."

Ying Xiang's body stiffened, and she responded softly, "Yes."

She walked up to Chu Zhao and whispered, "Let's go, Fourth Young Master."

The two of them left the hall together.

Although it was sunny today, it was still very cold. My feet left a thin footprint on the ground.

"Have people from Manningbu come here again in the past few days?" Chu Zhao asked softly.

"Yes." Ying Xiang replied, "Last night the prince came back from the palace, and those people came again."

The two of them were walking one step in front of the other, and were exactly one step apart. From the side, it seemed that they were just maintaining a polite manner and did not seem to be very familiar with each other.

"It seems that the prince has already made up his mind." Chu Zhao sighed.

Ying Xiang looked ahead, "What is the Fourth Young Master planning to do?"

Chu Zhao said: "Do your best."

"I heard that the Fourth Young Master had met Miss He once at night." Ying Xiang suddenly changed the subject, "You know, Miss He is now the sweetheart of Governor Xiao. If the Fourth Young Master uses Miss He as bait, at least he can solve the current urgent problem and have the capital to make a deal with Governor Xiao. Why should the Fourth Young Master give up?"

“That’s not necessary.”

Ying Xiang stopped.

Seeing her like this, Chu Zhao turned around and looked at her.

"The fourth young master once told me that Miss He would become the weak link of Governor Xiao." The woman in front of him had a gorgeous face, but her eyes seemed to contain ice, fragile and cold. Her voice was still soft, but her words were as sharp as a sword. "But now, the young master is wrong. She is not the weak link of Governor Xiao, but the weak link of the young master."

Chu Zhao looked at her quietly. After a while, he looked forward and spoke softly, "Ying Xiang, are you doing well in the Prince's Mansion?"

Ying Xiang was stunned. The coldness in her eyes just now dissipated into smoke in an instant. Her expression became a little confused. After a while, she lowered her head and said, "I am living a good life."

Chu Zhao smiled, "As long as you live well, that's all."

He continued walking forward, Ying Xiang paused and followed him.

The carriage stopped at the gate of the prince's residence. Chu Zhao turned around and looked at her, "Go back. You've been out for too long. I'm afraid His Highness will be unhappy."

Ying Xiang raised the corner of her mouth and smiled at him, but there was a hint of sadness in her smile.

Chu Zhao got up and boarded the carriage, which carried him farther and farther away. Ying Xiang did not go back immediately, but stood at the door, looking at the direction where the carriage was going away, until she could no longer see anything, then she slowly turned around and walked inside step by step.

There was no one in the palace, and the maidservant said to her, "Miss Yingxiang, His Highness wants you to go to the bedroom."

Her body trembled slightly, her lips turned pale, and she paused for a moment before lifting the hem of her skirt and walking towards the bedroom.

As soon as I arrived at the bedroom, I saw Crown Prince Guangyan leaning on the couch. When he saw Yingxiang coming in, Guangyan asked playfully, "Why did you take so long?"

Ying Xiang walked over calmly and smiled, "Long? Only half an incense stick of time. Your Highness, please don't find fault with me like this."

She half-knelt in front of Guangyan and leaned on his knees. Guangyan used to love her pitiful and lovely appearance lying on his knees. But today, his hand stroked Yingxiang's hair, and his tone was so gentle that it made people's heart palpitate, as if brewing the calm before the storm, "Half an incense stick of time is enough to do something? For example, report all the matters in the Prince's Mansion to Chu Zilan?"

"Your Highness?" Ying Xiang's eyes widened in astonishment. "What does this mean?"

The pair of hands that were gently caressing her hair suddenly tightened, strangling her throat. Ying Xiang's neck was slender and white, which made people feel pity at the sight of it. Now, in the palm of his hand, it seemed as if it would break at any moment, powerless and sad.

"What did Chu Zilan come to my house for today? He is not a worm in my stomach. He knows everything I am thinking. I went to the palace yesterday, and today he came to my house in a hurry. Yingxiang, Yingxiang," Guangyan stared at her and said viciously, "I underestimated you!"

Chu Zhao came too coincidentally. Of course, maybe it was because he was too anxious to stop himself, but he was exposed. Guangyan was a suspicious person in the past. The reason why he had never doubted Ying Xiang before was because this woman's appearance was really deceptive. She looked no different from any woman in this mansion who tried hard to please him in order to win his favor. And because she was sent by Chu Zhao, she had no one to rely on, so she served him extra hard.

To be fair, Guangyan had his reasons for doting on Yingxiang. Even if Yingxiang was sent to the palace, there were few people who could compare with her. But now that he knew that she was secretly passing messages to Chu Zilan in the prince's mansion, this little bit of doting on him turned into anger and humiliation of being betrayed!

"Bitch!" He suddenly let go of his hand and slapped the woman in front of him, causing her to fall to the ground and not get up for a long time.

"I said that you were so beautiful, and he was willing to give you to me when I asked him for you. He didn't even touch you for all these years." Guangyan smiled obscenely, "Chu Zilan has big ambitions. She keeps you like this just as a tool, and when the time comes, she will give you away as a favor. But Yingxiang," he squatted down slowly in front of Yingxiang, pulling her hair to force her to look up at him, "don't I treat you well? Now that you've entered my mansion, why are you still thinking about working for him? Have you forgotten that your current master is me, not Chu Zilan!"

Ying Xiang looked up at him. Her face was deeply scarred by the slap Guangyan had just given her. There was a little blood at the corner of her mouth, and there was a bruise on her neck. However, she did not show any anger or fear. She was still as gentle as usual, staring at Guangyan affectionately and whispering, "I am your Highness's person."

It is hard to imagine that a woman who is so charming and radiant does not have an arrogant and wanton personality. Instead, she is like a helpless white rabbit, always pitiful and submissive.

Guangyan loosened his grip, and she fell again, being kicked in the heart again.

"You are still pretending in front of me at this time. You are loyal to Chu Zilan and have deep feelings for her. However, he doesn't treat you as well as you treat him." Guangyan stood up and said in a sinister voice, "Tell me, if I kill you, will he avenge you?"

"I... am your Highness's person. If I die, it will be your Highness's ghost. It has nothing to do with the Fourth Young Master Chu." Ying Xiang replied softly.

"Well said." The prince clapped his hands in delight: "Since you are so good at speaking, it's no wonder that I have spoiled you for such a long time."

"But, you bastard, you have to know," he said with a gleam of evil in his eyes, "What I hate most in my life is infidelity. If you want to be an adulterer with Chu Zilan, I won't stop you, but you have to pay the price for what you have done."

He turned and looked at Ying Xiang.

Ying Xiang raised her head and met his gloomy and violent gaze, and could not help but shudder.

"I won't kill you, but I won't let you have an easy time either," he said.