Chapter 283 - Junwu (1)

“Oh.” Li Junwu gave a soft acknowledgment, then narrowed her eyes and settled back to enjoy the massage.

“Oh?” As Xu Yuan kneaded the shapely calf of his beloved bro-with-boobs, his expression grew strange.

“Hmm?” Li Junwu glanced at him.

Xu Yuan chuckled softly as he continued massaging her leg. “Shouldn’t you be a little more surprised? Besides, the northern border is a complete mess. Aren’t you worried I might go there and never come back?”

Li Junwu breathed out a long sigh. Her slender jade-white leg lifted slightly and slipped free from Xu Yuan’s hands as she sat upright. “It isn’t that I’m not surprised. My father sent me a letter a while ago.”

“Marquis Zhenxi?” Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow, then realization dawned on his face. “No wonder. So you already knew.”

As a powerful marquis with an army under his command, Marquis Zhenxi had been dispatched to oversee the Great Desert. That meant he was directly involved in the Chancellor's Manor and the imperial clan’s plans concerning the barbarians.

There was no chance they would conceal such inside information from a key minister like him.

Li Junwu’s eyes shifted to the side. Her handsome, delicately made-up face showed a complicated expression. In the end, she sighed. “He told me a great many things. The northern frontier was one of them. The old man said His Majesty and Lord Xu have made up their minds to wipe out the barbarians completely.”

Seeing her expression, Xu Yuan felt a little strange. This was the first time he had ever seen Li Junwu look like this. Marquis Zhenxi had probably told her far more than merely that.

Xu Yuan was curious, but he did not ask. Still, at the mention of the matter, his voice grew a little more serious. “That’s true, but...”

“Changtian.” Li Junwu suddenly interrupted him. She stared into his eyes and asked, “Aren’t you curious what else my old man told me?”

Xu Yuan grinned, raised an elbow, and rested it on Li Junwu’s shoulder. He glanced sideways at her. “If you want to tell me, I’ll listen. If you don’t, then forget it.”

Li Junwu leaned away, causing his elbow to slip off. She gave a cold snort. “Stop fooling around.”

Xu Yuan studied her serious expression, sighed, picked up his wine cup, and drained it in one gulp. Leaning back against the cushioned couch, he said softly, “Actually, I can more or less guess. The Marquis told you to keep your distance from me, didn’t he?”

Li Junwu’s fine brows drew together. Her tone remained cool and indifferent. “You’re surprisingly clever.”

“Can’t be helped. I’m a genius.” Xu Yuan flashed her a broad grin.

Li Junwu’s chest rose and fell slightly. She snorted. “My father said that your family and the imper...”

“Wait.” Xu Yuan raised a hand and cut her off, looking rather helpless. “You really will tell me absolutely anything, won’t you?”

Marquis Zhenxi was one of the few important ministers at court who had not chosen a side. He belonged to neither the imperial loyalists nor the Chancellor’s faction.

Both sides feared that putting too much pressure on him would drive him straight into the other camp. For his part, Marquis Zhenxi had always maintained strict neutrality. His position was perfectly clear.

You people fight among yourselves. I’ll guard the border against the Darchai. If the sects rebel, I’ll deal with that too. But keep me out of your squabbles at court.

Li Junwu was clearly displeased at being interrupted. “You don’t want me to try persuading my old man?”

Xu Yuan burst out laughing. He raised the back of his hand to her forehead. “Did you take the wrong medicine today?”

Li Junwu irritably slapped his hand aside, a trace of anger entering her eyes. “Xu Changtian, I’m trying to discuss something serious with you!”

Xu Yuan promptly offered the traditional French military salute, raising both hands in surrender. “All right, all right. Then let me ask you something. Is this your idea, or Marquis Zhenxi’s?”

Li Junwu instinctively averted her gaze, her voice dropping slightly. “Mhm... mine.”

Xu Yuan reached out and patted her on the head. “That’s enough. I appreciate the thought, but the Marquis is already making the best possible choice. It’s also exactly what both the imperial clan and my father want to see.”

Li Junwu bit her lip and knocked his hand away again. She stared at him with the frustrated disappointment one reserved for someone hopelessly incapable of recognizing a good thing. “Fine. Don’t use my help, then. Honestly...”

Xu Yuan merely smiled without explaining.

The Great Flame Empire had no kings who did not belong to the imperial clan. A marquis was as high as an outsider could climb. Although Marquis Zhenxi lacked the power and prestige of Marquis Wucheng, the God of War, he still stood head and shoulders above the other marquises.

The western garrison army had practically become his private army. After all, Li Junwu casually called it my family’s army.

After quelling a rebellion, the Marquis had been granted a prestigious surname, elevated in rank, and appointed Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. He had received more farmland and property deeds than anyone could count. Most importantly, his household controlled several source crystal veins, giving it an independent source of revenue.

In other words, the best choice for the Marquis’s household was to remain satisfied with what it already possessed. Whether he sided with the imperial clan or Xu Yuan’s father, there was nothing in it for him.

Even if Xu Yuan’s father rebelled one day, succeeded, and had the imperial yellow robe draped over his shoulders, what rewards could he possibly give the Marquis for his contributions? Would the Marquis dare accept them?

Of course not. Anything higher would mean granting him the same complete rebel’s endgame package that Xu Yinhe currently possessed.

Xu Yuan’s father could afford to wear that particular set because the Chancellor's Manor had already grown powerful enough to contend with the imperial clan.

The Marquis’s household was still several orders of magnitude short. If he backed the winning side, he gained nothing. If he backed the losing side, his entire family would be buried with it. The risk and reward were completely out of proportion.

Neutrality was the best possible choice for the Marquis’s household.

The two quietly poured and drank wine by themselves for a while before Li Junwu suddenly spoke. “I’m going to the western frontier.”

“Huh?” The announcement came so abruptly that Xu Yuan stared at her as though she had grown a second head. “You? Li Junwu? You’re going to the western frontier?”

Seeing the look in his eyes, Li Junwu nearly grabbed the wine bottle and smashed it over his skull. She restrained herself, however, and spoke through clenched teeth, emphasizing every word. “Yes. I, Li Junwu, am going to the western frontier.”

“You’re not joking?”

“I’m not allowed to go?” Li Junwu clenched her fist.

“For a vacation?” Xu Yuan sucked in a sharp breath.

“Vacation, my ass!” Li Junwu’s fiery temper finally got the better of her. She spun around and whipped a leg straight at Xu Yuan.

BANG! He caught her by the ankle, but the force behind the kick left his palm tingling. He sucked in a sharp breath. “Damn, you’re actually serious?”

The kick had come completely out of nowhere. Had Feng Jiuxuan not spent the last ten days putting him through hellish training after he decided to head north, Xu Yuan might not have reacted in time. He still had not comprehended this so-called intent, but he had at least developed a faint instinct for sudden attacks like this.

With her ankle trapped, Li Junwu tried to wrench her leg free. But a bloody gleam had already surfaced in Xu Yuan’s eyes, and she could not pull away. “Xu Changtian, let go!”

“So you can hit me again? Not a chance.”

Li Junwu stopped talking. Source qi surged through her body. She planted one hand against the cushioned couch beneath her, pushed herself into the air, and flipped over. Her other long leg came chopping down from above.

WHOOSH! The air screamed beneath it.

BANG! Xu Yuan caught that one too, but the tremendous force behind it nearly overwhelmed him.

Li Junwu cultivated military formations, but she was still a fourth rank cultivator.

As the two struggled against each other, there was a loud crack, and the couch beneath them collapsed.

The crash thundered through the hall.

The lively singing and dancing stopped at once.

Xu Yuan did not hesitate. Holding one ankle in each hand, he twisted sideways and pulled. Li Junwu lost her balance and fell directly onto the wrecked couch.

After a brief silence, several patrons recognized the troublemaker as that same walking disaster from years ago. Without a second thought, they rose, paid their bills, and left. His fearsome reputation had only grown since two years earlier. Ordinary officials and nobles could not afford to get caught up in the antics of this spoiled young tyrant.

In less than a few moments, nearly all the guests in the newly opened Heavenly Cloud Palace had quietly slipped away. Once the hall had fallen silent, the brothel madam stood nearby, furious but too frightened to complain. She could only watch from a distance, not daring to approach.