"Wait for me to come pick you up."
She probably understood: "Wait for me to come pick you up, instead of waiting for me to find a way to get you out."
"good."
Looking down at the melting snow on his robe, Yu Zigui responded in this way.
It was three days later when she left the Five City Governor's Office.
She didn't know when the snow stopped, because on the very day Ziyu left, she left the drafty women's prison and moved to a single cell comparable to the best one in the mortuary. This luxurious prison, even the change of clothes was the same one she always used, made her somewhat reluctant to leave.
"Please, young lady."
The prison warden even escorted her to the gate, treating her like a guest of honor and seeing her off to the very end. She was a little touched and gave a slight bow to the female prison head, with whom she had lived peacefully for three days.
Turning around, I saw a carriage parked in the silvery snow. Although it wasn't as luxurious as the one I'd brought to the capital, it was still quite conspicuous. This man was always flamboyant; whether he was a compassionate good Samaritan in the martial world or a powerful figure in the capital, he had never been low-key.
The car window was opened as usual, and Yu Zigui saw Shangguan looking at him leisurely, which made him unhappy.
"The youngest."
She was startled, and Shangguan squinted at the newcomer in the carriage.
"Sixth Senior Brother?" The person who should have been a hundred miles away appeared before her, which both surprised and delighted her.
Even dressed in thick winter clothes, Fu Xian still looked somewhat thin. He stepped forward and carefully examined her. "Have you been wronged?"
"No, there's food and drink inside, I'm doing very well," she said with a smile.
Fu Xian's expression softened slightly. "Let's go home with your senior brother."
"Go home?" She blinked, turned to look at the carriage, and saw that Ziyu's expression was not good.
"Seventh Brother has a house in the capital, where Master and Eleventh Brother have always lived. Now that all the senior brothers have arrived in the capital, A-Gui no longer needs to worry about anything."
Seeing her surprised and delighted expression, Fu Xian, just like in his youth, affectionately patted her head. But his gentleness stopped there. With his smile gone, Fu Xian looked up at the gate of the Five Cities Commandery, then slowly glanced at Shangguan.
"Young Master Shangguan always keeps his word and takes meticulous care of my youngest son."
"You can just say what you have to say," Shangguan snorted coldly.
"Alright, let's call off the previous agreement."
"What did you say?" Shangguan Yi's dark eyes narrowed slightly.
"Young Master Shangguan, didn't you hear me clearly?"
"Did you hear me? If it weren't for Zigui, would you even have the right to negotiate with me?"
The agreement was simply that Ziyu would follow his senior brother's wishes and coax her out of the capital, and then his senior brothers would offer her up as a side dish with both hands, thus completing the transaction and reaching a satisfactory agreement.
She had known this for a long time. Although Ziyu had said he wouldn't stop her, his private actions certainly contradicted this. From that blouse to the three days in prison, she had seen clearly that he and her senior brother were in the same boat.
Seeing the two exchanging sharp glances, she wisely stepped out of the fray, refusing to take sides.
Come on, come on! If a glare isn't enough, use a battle axe. Don't give her any face; she'll bring out every weapon imaginable.
"The youngest child can choose which side to go back to."
Why did the ball get passed to her? Seriously, my senior brother is really ruthless. He knows she cares about the sect, but he still made her say it herself, just because it would be a bigger blow to Ziyu.
Thinking of this, she sighed, hesitated for a moment, and looked at Shangguan. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Shangguan chuckle softly: "It's good to go back to your parents' home, so that Zigui won't complain that I'm heartless."
These words were spoken so boldly that she was dumbfounded, and when she looked at her sixth senior brother, his face had turned pale.
“The youngest daughter isn’t married yet, what’s with talking about her maternal family!” Fu Xian shouted.
To everyone's surprise, Shangguan didn't even look at him, but said to Yu Zigui, "I'll come pick you up after lunch."
"Shangguan Yi".
His voice was so suppressed it almost seemed to crack his frail body. Watching the carriage slowly depart, Fu Xian took a deep breath, making sure his anger had subsided, before looking at Yu Zigui.
"Let's go home."
As one of the three major festivals of the year, the capital city would not hold court or hold classes for three days after the winter solstice. From the emperor down to the common people, everyone would take advantage of this long holiday to enjoy themselves. In addition, this year is a year of great ceremonies, with the birthday of Emperor Shengde coinciding with the winter solstice. The Emperor's birthday celebration and the second year of the Lunar New Year are celebrated together. It should have been a very festive and lively occasion, so why is the capital so deserted?
Looking at the shops along the street with their doors tightly closed, Yu Zigui unconsciously slowed his pace.
"Make way! Make way!"
The armored guard galloped away, and the few pedestrians scattered, making the already quiet neighborhood seem even more deserted. The horse's hooves splashed dirty water onto the snow, instantly sullying its once pristine white color.
"If snow is not muddy, then water will become muddy; if people do not break their bonds, then friends will break their bonds. One who is near vermilion gets stained red, and one who is near ink gets stained black—this is the principle."
She glanced away and looked at Fu Xian. "Senior brother, who are you talking about?"
His pale eyes trembled slightly, and Fu Xian sighed. "Let's go."
Seeing his gloomy expression, Yu Zigui didn't ask any further questions and just followed silently. After passing through the inner street and approaching Xiaoshiyongfang, where high-ranking officials and nobles lived, they saw the crowd suddenly surge.
"Halt!" Several imperial guards shouted from a distance, shooing passersby aside.
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard."
"What happened?"
The pedestrians stopped in their tracks in fear and whispered among themselves.
"I heard it was a raid on their property."
"What's so surprising about confiscating property? Didn't the richest man in the capital have his property confiscated not long ago?"
"It's different. In the past, they raided the homes of wealthy merchants; today, they raid the homes of high-ranking officials."
"A high-ranking official? Which high-ranking official?"
"Ah, this is Lord Ji's house. I just delivered charcoal there a few days ago. It's true! Minister of Personnel, Lord Ji."
Ji Junze? She hadn't even seen him at the Daming Gate a few days ago, and now his entire family has been raided?
Yu Zigui stood on tiptoe to observe, and saw that among a group of officials in the distance, the leader had a somewhat mean face, and his slightly lowered eyes revealed a hint of smugness. He wore a rare white fox fur cloak, with a crane spreading its wings as if about to take flight embroidered on his official robes. In the Great Wei Dynasty, official robes were used to distinguish ranks, with the crane representing civil officials and the qilin representing military officials, the highest ranks.
“The current Grand Secretary is Zheng Ming,” Fu Xian said.
Just as Yu Zigui was about to ask further questions, he saw that Chief Minister Zheng suddenly stopped talking and looked excitedly into the room.
His official robes were gone, replaced by a square scarf binding his hair. Though a prisoner, the man who emerged did not appear disheveled. He slightly raised his head and said something to Zheng Ming. Though she couldn't hear him from a distance, she could see the confusion, bewilderment, and even a hint of disappointment in Zheng Ming's eyes.
"The victor is king and the loser is a bandit. As for you, there is nothing to say. I only ask that Lord Zheng order the return of the Korean envoy. If the foreign countries find out about Your Majesty's serious illness, then Great Wei will be in danger, and the people will be in danger."
Yu Zigui looked to her side in surprise, only to see Fu Xian's eyes remaining still as he read Ji Junze's lips.
"Youngest brother, I heard that you were imprisoned this time because of some Northern Di people."
Yu Zigui nodded: "It is said that the Northern Di man I defeated on the stage was the only son of the Southern King, and the men on the winter solstice were Northern Di assassins who came specifically to avenge him."
Fu Xianyi's eyes darkened. "No, it's not solely for revenge."
"Why?"
"The capital of the Northern Barbarians is a thousand miles away from the capital. Xianyu Geng suffered a great defeat at the beginning of the month, and you, youngest brother, were attacked on the ninth. If it weren't for the fact that the Southern King was outside the pass, then the Northern Barbarian assassins had already infiltrated the capital. Avenging Xianyu Geng was just an extra task for them."
Yu Zigui was astonished. "Senior brother, you mean..."
"The Korean envoy is secondary; the Northern Barbarians are the real enemy." Looking at Ji Junze, who had already been put onto the prison cart, Fu Xian murmured, "I thought that person's heart had become corrupted, and he had gone astray, but I didn't expect that his resolve was still intact, that his resolve was still intact..."
In the Rong Mansion in the east of the city, the Tianlongmen were all gathered together.
"What! Ji Junze's family has been raided?" Xun Dao shouted before Fu Xian could finish speaking.
"Keep your voice down." Glancing at him, Rong Qi closed his fan and shut all the windows in the hallway.
"Isn't he very much favored by the emperor? When the emperor traveled incognito to Jiangdu two years ago, he was the emperor's closest advisor."
Luo Shi rambled on about his trip to Jiangdu, but as he veered further and further off-topic, Wei Jiu silenced the talkative king with a single acupressure strike. "The key isn't Ji Junze."
"Old Ninth is right, whether Ji Junze lives or dies is none of our business... Why did you hit me, you damned Old Eight!" Rong Qi covered his face with his fan and was about to lash out when he saw Old Eight winking and gesturing for him to look at his master.
“You are indeed a talented man,” Wang Shuren sighed.
"Didn't Master say that the more talented a person is, the greater their destructive power?" Eleven's unintentional remark made Wang Shuren pause slightly, and then he sighed again.
"You brat, don't you know your master is heartbroken?" Old Eight said through gritted teeth, twisting his ear.
"Eighth Senior Brother, spare me, spare me!"
"Alright, Eighth Brother, Eleventh Brother wasn't wrong," Fu Xian stepped in to smooth things over.
"Sixth Brother, Sixth Brother is still the fairest."
"But there's a premise to that."
"premise?"
Eleven looked at Fu Xian, and heard him speak slowly.
"If a talented person goes astray, the more talented they are, the more destructive they will be."
"Sixth Brother means that Ji Junze hasn't gone astray?" Rong Qi reacted the fastest.
"Impossible! Ji Junze knows what that dog emperor has done all these years. I, Xun Daotou, don't believe he hasn't gone astray!"
“Although Junze was power-hungry, in the end, he still thought of the people.” Wang Shuren sighed and looked at his silent young apprentice, “Agui, were the people who attacked you from the Northern Di the day before?”
“Yes, they are definitely from the North. They are not from the Great Wei, whether in terms of clothing, martial arts, or weapons,” Yu Zigui said.
"Then Xian'er's guess is pretty accurate; the Northern Di cavalry are already on their way south."
"master!"
Wang Shuren reassured his disciples with his gaze, and then said, "Tell me the truth, what was your original plan?"
Just as Fu Xian was about to lower his head and pretend to be stupid, he saw several people around him take a half step back in perfect unison, pushing him out.
Alright, you just wait!
Fu Xian glared fiercely, then looked up with gentle eyes. "My disciples came to the capital because they heard that the youngest brother was imprisoned."
"Who told you that?" Yu Zigui suddenly asked, but Eleven behind him shook his head vigorously to indicate that it wasn't him.
"Xiao Kuang".
"Xiao Kuang?" This time it was Yu Zigui's turn to stare wide-eyed.
“He rushed to the lower county overnight, begging me to save Ji Junze. Lao Yao is wondering why he didn’t ask his superiors, but instead came to me.” Seeing her frown, Fu Xian knew he had guessed correctly.
"Firstly, I have an army of refugees under my command. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. We originally intended to stir up a torrent to teach Shengde a lesson." Saying this, he bowed to Wang Shuren. "Master, please rest assured, your disciples are not ignorant of the greater good of the nation. Now, the external threats are worse than the incompetent emperor, and the cabinet is corrupted by the new officials. Rather than letting courtiers control the government, it is better to save Ji Junze's life. After all, as we can see from what just happened, Ji Junze... Third Brother has not yet lost his true nature."