Immediately, several guards stepped forward to drag away the despondent Second Young Master and the tightly bound Ye Jun. Ye Tan’s gaze fell upon Ye Jun, watching as he was hauled a few paces away.
Remembering the tone Ye Tan used whenever he mentioned Ye Jun—which held a hint of nostalgia—I spoke up. "Wait. Leave Ye Jun here."
The guards released him upon hearing my words, taking only the Second Young Master. Ye Tan looked at me, his expression filled with confusion.
"Ye Jun, if you promise me not to cause trouble, I won't bind you," I said after a moment's thought. "Ah-Tan missed you quite a bit. Could you stay and talk with him for a while?"
Both of them were stunned. Ye Tan said hurriedly, "This subordinate never said such a thing."
"You are old friends and haven't seen each other in years," I countered. "Since we're free today, it's only natural to catch up. Why refuse?"
Ye Jun also spoke up awkwardly, "My master is suffering in a cell while I am treated as an honored guest. It doesn't seem right."
"Just pretend we're using your master's life to threaten you, and you're forced to comply out of loyalty," I suggested helpfully.
Ye Jun looked at Ye Tan, his expression subtle. "Ye Sha, this new master of yours is truly... unique."
I nodded proudly. "You're too kind, too kind."
After so many years, I finally had the chance to enjoy a proper meal in peace. Ye Tan was busy arranging communications with the Horizontal Alliance for the rescue efforts and the specific steps to dismantle the Zhongli Court, so he couldn't get away for the moment. I stared longingly at the table laden with delicacies and fine wine, but unfortunately, my hands were wrapped up like rice dumplings, leaving me unable to eat a single bite.
Ye Jun didn't pick up his chopsticks either, sitting quietly with his eyes closed. I asked, "Why aren't you eating?"
Ye Jun replied, "There is an order to status. How could I move my chopsticks before you?"
"It's fine, go ahead. Don't wait for me." I looked at the sweet and sour ribs before me, salivating. "I can't hold chopsticks right now. I have to wait for Ah-Tan to come back and feed me."
"Oh—" Ye Jun leaned back against his chair, propping his head with one hand and looking at me with a tilted smile. "I could feed you as well."
My eyes lit up. "Yes, yes, yes! Quick, quick! Those ribs right there, give them to me!"
"..." The smile in Ye Jun's eyes vanished. He sighed. "Do you even know what you're doing?"
Me: "Ribs, ribs, ribs, ribs, ribs, ribs, ribs."
Ye Jun sat up straight with a serious expression. "I think it's better to wait for Ye Sha to return."
Me: "???"
I slumped against the edge of the table in gloomy despair, waiting until the sky grew dark before I finally heard someone push the door open.
Ye Jun shook his head and complained, "Ye Sha, why did you take so long? You're too slow. Do you have any idea what almost happened just now? It was terrifying."
Ye Tan looked at him blankly.
Ye Jun said with a look of pained indignation, "Your master actually wanted me to feed him just now."
Ye Tan saw that the food on the table hadn't been touched and asked, "Why didn't you feed him?"
"..." Ye Jun let out a heavy sigh. "Sigh, forget it. I was overthinking. You two really are a perfect match in this regard."
Ye Tan realized I was nearly fainting from hunger and hurried to pull me into his arms, saying guiltily, "It was this subordinate's oversight. My apologies."
I spoke with a thread of breath, "Ribs... ribs... ribs..."
Ye Tan: "Understood."
Finally getting to eat meat as I wished, I was moved to tears. Ye Tan truly was the most obedient.
I then buried my head in my food, and for a while, there was silence. Once I wasn't so hungry, I regained some of my senses and could finally spare the attention to observe the current situation. Ye Tan kept feeding me, occasionally taking a few bites himself, without saying a word. Ye Jun didn't initiate conversation either, making the atmosphere somewhat cold.
I grew anxious watching them. "Ah-Tan, talk! What are you being shy for?"
Ye Jun laughed. "Ye Sha was always a man of few words. Don't force him."
Ye Tan gave him a resentful look.
I asked curiously, "Then how did you two communicate in the past?"
Ye Jun: "It was mostly me talking to myself... Haha, so I always thought Ye Sha didn't like me very much."
I hurried to speak for Ye Tan. "Not at all! He told me last time that he considers you a friend, but he didn't know if you'd remember him. He was quite dejected. You're the only person he's ever admitted is a friend."
"Master!" Ye Tan's ears turned bright red, and his chopsticks snapped with a sharp *crack*.
Ye Jun laughed. "Oh? I'm that important? I'm truly flattered."
I grabbed a pair of new chopsticks and stuffed them into Ye Tan's hand, soothing him, "We're all on the same side, what's there to be shy about?"
Ye Tan seemed angry about something, resentfully poking at the rice in his bowl without speaking. *Sigh, this poor kid has even learned how to throw a tantrum.*
I asked again, "Ye Jun, ten years ago, did you originally want to take the title of 'Ye Sha'?"
Ye Jun said, "How could that be? Am I mad? Why would I give up a good life just to carry a discriminated title and be cursed at everywhere I go?"
I was stunned. "...You had such insight ten years ago? You truly are clever. I'm impressed."
Ye Jun smiled proudly. "You're too kind, too kind."
I asked, "Then why did you want Ah-Tan to lose to you back then?"
"Because he said he wanted the title of 'Ye Jun'..." Ye Jun glanced at him subtly and said with regret, "I admit I couldn't match him in terms of loyalty. Unfortunately, fate is a fickle thing." Ye Jun gave a faint smile. Though he came from the background of a hidden guard who never saw the light of day, his temperament was more refined than that of a wealthy young master. That smile almost made me daze off. "Over the years, I've come to feel more and more that selecting a 'Ye Jun' is probably just picking a decorative vase who knows how to make the master happy."
"...Master," Ye Tan finally couldn't help but interject in a low voice. "Let's not mention these old matters anymore. Can we... change the subject?"
"Fine, fine, fine. Whatever you say." Seeing his embarrassed look, as if he wanted to crawl into a hole, I couldn't help but pat his head. "What does Ah-Tan want to talk about?"
"Your internal energy... again..." Ye Tan whispered.
"Ah, it was destroyed again by the Second Young Master when I was first captured." My internal energy had been drained twice, yet my body hadn't actually worsened. After a simple rest, I could move as usual. It must have been because of the medicine Jun Wuwang gave me. "But it's no big deal now. While I was in the cell, someone fed me some kind of miraculous medicine..."
"Who?" Ye Tan sensitively caught onto this person whose timing was suspicious no matter how you looked at it.
Me: "It was Jun Wuwang, the man in the fox mask."
Ye Tan frowned upon hearing this, biting the tip of his chopsticks in frustration. "This subordinate is not even as useful to Master as a stranger of unknown origin."
I laughed. "Are you jealous?"
Ye Tan: "...Huh?"
Having eaten and drunk my fill, I patted his shoulder with satisfaction. "Since you're so shy, I won't disturb your reunion. You two talk privately; I'm going back to lie down."
Ye Tan hurriedly tried to explain again, "This subordinate was not being shy!"
Ye Jun smoothly cut him off. "Young Master Jun is truly considerate. Thank you."
After eating, I went back and had a comfortable sleep, not expecting that my peaceful days would end right there.
Starting that evening, people began visiting one after another. The courtyard became as busy as a marketplace, bustling with activity. There were those who insisted on coming to give thanks after being rescued, those who couldn't find their relatives and came to seek help, those who came to discuss borrowing troops to take down the remaining branches of the Vertical Alliance, and those who cried out hoarsely, demanding to settle scores with the Second Young Master.
Ye Tan felt these people were far too noisy and were disturbing my recovery. He thought they all deserved to die and asked for permission to cripple them all and throw them out, but I desperately held him back.
After this battle, the reputation of One Sword Tomb had finally been somewhat salvaged in the eyes of the martial world. We couldn't afford to mess it up at this critical juncture.
After some discussion, we reached an agreement with the Horizontal Alliance. A few high-ranking members in charge would discuss the follow-up matters, while all other unnecessary people were kept outside.
However, many of the highly respected seniors who originally managed the Horizontal Alliance had perished after being captured. It was a time of chaos, so while the number of visitors had decreased significantly, it was still quite a lot.
Since that meal with us, Ye Jun had obediently returned to the prison to accompany his master.
The people of the Horizontal Alliance were impatient to kill the Second Young Master to vent their anger, and word of this naturally reached the prison.
The Second Young Master himself was indifferent to these arguments, acting as if life and death were of no consequence. He lay motionless on the ground. Ever since that final meeting with the Eldest Young Master, he hadn't uttered another word.
One of his legs and one of his hands had been crushed by Jun Wuwang. They had remained untreated and were now completely useless, with no possibility of being healed.
I knew he would never have any fighting spirit left in this life. I discussed whether we could simply cripple his martial arts and spare his life.
Half of the people disagreed, so Ye Tan went out to "reason" with them. I don't know what he said, but when he came back, they were all perfectly obedient.
I was stunned.
It turned out Ye Tan was so good at reasoning.
Ye Jun expressed his gratitude to me.
I said, "The Second Young Master crippled both me and Ye Tan once. Now that we've returned the favor, we're even."
On this day, a group of over a dozen people arrived in a grand fashion to report the current situation of the Zhongli Court and the Vertical Alliance to Ye Tan.
There weren't many people in the Zhongli Court who were truly loyal to the Second Young Master. Most were forced by his overwhelming power and pressure, especially the control of poison and parasites. Now, weighing the pros and cons, they were surrendering one after another.
The Vertical Alliance was even more interesting. Most of the people there had no idea their superiors were actually taking orders from the Second Young Master of the Zhongli Court. Upon learning the truth, they immediately exploded, and infighting had already broken out.
However, their roots were deep, and though they were failing, they weren't dead yet. It wasn't something that could be resolved overnight. It would take some time to completely clear and straighten everything out.
After the report was finished, they exchanged a few pleasantries with Yang Qingzhou, wishing him good health and so on. After dawdling for a long time, they were finally kicked out by Ye Tan.
At that time, the Eldest Young Master of the Zhongli Court was still squatting by the door waiting for news, so he came face-to-face with them.
The seniors of the Horizontal Alliance politely bowed and greeted the Eldest Young Master before leaving cheerfully.
The Eldest Young Master, left idle with nothing to do, was extremely confused. Unable to contain himself, he rushed in to ask me, "Why hasn't anyone dealt with me yet?"
Me: "Why should we deal with you?"
Eldest Young Master: "I'm also a member of the Zhongli Court, and the biological brother of your most hated enemy. Even if you don't take your anger out on me, you shouldn't treat me as an honored guest, right?! Didn't you see that old man from Qiu Manor just now? He was smiling as he praised me. I was scared out of my wits."
Yang Qingzhou smiled and said, "Most of us have received favors from the Eldest Young Master. How could we return kindness with enmity?"
The Eldest Young Master was confused. "...When did I ever do so many good deeds?"
Yang Qingzhou began, "A few years ago during the drought in Yan Pass, you sent grain..."
The Eldest Young Master was stunned. "There was a drought in Yan Pass? When did that happen?"
Me: "?"
Yang Qingzhou continued, "When Old Mr. Qiu's granddaughter went missing, you were the one who sent people to bring her back..."
The Eldest Young Master was stunned again. "Old Man Qiu has a granddaughter? How come I didn't know?"
Me: "??"
Yang Qingzhou went on, "Last year, when Su'er and I were transporting goods through Wei County and encountered bandits, you sent people to rescue us..."
The Eldest Young Master was utterly shocked. "Where is Wei County? I've never even heard of it!"
Me: "???"
Yang Qingzhou: "..."
Yang Qingzhou listed over a dozen more incidents, and not a single one was something the Eldest Young Master knew about.
It was clear now.
If these things weren't done by him, then the person who did them must have been...
The Eldest Young Master froze. "No wonder... These past two years while I was traveling around, I always felt people were treating me better and better. And every time I returned to the Zhongli Court, he would always find a way to send me away, never letting me interfere in the war against the Horizontal Alliance... He had it all calculated from the beginning."
On the surface, the Second Young Master, Zhongli Zixi, had sidelined the Eldest Young Master, but it turned out he was doing so to ensure that if he ever fell, the Eldest wouldn't be implicated.
Now that his plans had failed, the Eldest Young Master, who should have been at the unavoidable center of the storm, had emerged completely unscathed thanks to the Second Young Master's arrangements.
Since the Second Young Master could plan to such an extent, he surely could have found a way to prepare for himself as well.
Yet, from beginning to end, he had only prepared a way out for the Eldest Young Master.
I cleared my throat. "The Second Young Master will be leaving in a few days. Do you... want to go see him? He was glorious for a lifetime, and to end up like this today, he must be very sad in his heart."
The Eldest Young Master was also dazed for a moment, the simple disgust and hatred he previously felt for the Second Young Master no longer present. But after lowering his head and thinking for a while, he still shook his head. "No... Any contact between the two of us wouldn't be good for either of us. It's better to part ways here... I only hope that from the ruins, something new can be built."
***
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