1.5:Under the cherry blossom rain

The day was getting a little bit warmer and the light rays of sun brought a warm sensation to his skin as he enjoyed the peaceful scenery with his usual freshly brewn tea.

Xiao Mo had seen that the weather today was very good and the sun was bright and warm so he had suggested to bask in the sunlight in the garden to which Bai Yu agreed after a thought.

Due to the cold poison, Long Ji Wei could only stay inside closed windows to not aggravate his illness previously so he rarely went out to bask in the sun. Because of this, his health would naturally be worse than before. Now that the poison was solved, Bai Yu could do anything he wanted with no hindrances but of course, he won't do anything that might be too suspicious.

The garden was full of colourful flowers and neatly trimmed green plants. Some birds were tweeting sweetly on the trees and butterflies and bees were dancing around, making a beautiful scenery with the addition of a peerless beauty like Bai Yu. His graceful and elegant presence amidst the blooming flowers made him look like an immortal deity lost in the mortal realm.

Xiao Mo and Little Star were both sighing from the side as they looked at this picturesque sight.

'Wang Ye(Master) is just too beautiful!'

Looking up, Bai Yu finally noticed that Little Star was also here. Little Star had gone to do his spy jobs and had just returned to report to him about his discoveries.

Without any unusual emotions in his calm eyes, he conversed with Little Star through telepathy.

"Did you find out anything new?"

With this question, Little Star recovered from his worshipping daze and like a trained soldier being asked something by his superior, straightened his small chubby body in the air and with a serious face, saluted. It made his chubby cheeks wobble like a jelly and gave him a very funny look of a child imitating an adult.

"Yes, master! I found quite a few interesting informations this time."

Looking at the cute little guy's funny antics, Bai Yu's indifferent and cold face softened a bit and felt amused.

This little guy really was quite cute. At least with him here, he wouldn't feel much lonely while doing missions.

"Oh? What did you find?" Bai Yu went along with his act and asked seriously. But the slight smile in his eyes could be seen if one looked closely.

Hearing this, Little Star was even more encouraged and replied, "Today I was doing my usual job and heard about a happy news from a group of people in an inn. They said that the frontier army in the northern border that was led by General Zhong Yong sent a messenger this morning in the court to inform about their glorious victory against the infamous and unruly xiongnu tribe in the grasslands and made a great achievement of subduing them into becoming one of the subordinate nations of the Eastern Long kingdom.

It looks like the common citizens really respected and admired this General Zhong Yong as almost everyone in the whole capital are cheering and showering him with praises. Even the Emperor and the officials were very elated at this news. The Emperor even sent out many precious gifts and silvers to the Protector General manor* which lined up to quite some streets when the palace servants delivered the bestowals. It almost looked like some kind of festival with many curious people crowding at both sides of the streets."

{A/N: Protector general is the highest rank given to a military official. It is the highest authority in the military and can be given to one person at a time. In here, the protector general refers to General Zhong Yong's grandfather instead of himself.}

General Zhong Yong*? Bai Yu raised his brow at the mention of this name. He had a recollection of this person in his memories as he was quite a legendary figure in the capital city. There was probably no one in the capital who hadn't heard of his name.

{Zhong Yong:

zhōng yǒng meaning loyal and brave}

General Zhong Yong, given name Qin Feng*, was a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy hailed from the long standing Qin family of military lineage that produced many brave and loyal generals who fought in the battlefield and brought glory to the country with countless victories. His grandfather was highly regarded for his immovable loyalty and bravery in the war and was given the title of protector general personally by the previous Emperor.

{Qin Feng: Cool breeze}

His father was also a great figure who attracted countless admiring glances from the people wherever he went. Unfortunately, he was short lived but died a glorious death in the battlefield. Qin Feng was only 10 years old when he lost both his parents as his mother followed right after his father because of depression and he was raised by his grandfather solely.

Since small, he was a hard working and diligent man who showed great talent in both the sword and pen, had a strategical mind and was just like his grandfather; brave, loyal and wise. Now, his grandfather had already retired from the battlefield and the whole protector general manor was helmed by this young and promising general.

At the age of 14, he joined the army and started from the bottom to his current position as the most favoured genius and the hero of the country in just 4 short years. After these few years, his position was even more stable and no one could do anything to him. Even the Emperor showed great fondness towards his talent.

He had been sent to deal with the rebellious nomadic tribe from the small nation in the grasslands only half a year ago and had already subdued the infamous stubborn and barbaric tribe in such a short time. It was really a commendable thing.

Loved and worshipped by the citizens, admired and envied by the officials and favoured by the Emperor, he indeed was a true legendary figure. Who knew how many young ladies in the boudoir dreamt of him as their ideal husband.

It's just that, deep inside, who knew how many people hated him to the bone and wanted this thorn in their eyes plucked out from their sight. With his almost legendary reputation and status, there must be more of those who saw him as a sore thumb than truly admired him for his great capabilities.

The politics were always filled with hidden quagmire and the human nature stayed the same; greed, jealousy, envy, hatred. And Qin Feng was no exception when it came to being targeted by these emotions.

Bai Yu was quite interested in this young general who was seen as the youngest hero in the history after he recalled all the rumours and news about him. Maybe he could make use of him in his chess game too.

As for his status as a neutral party in the court, well, he will think of a way to change that and make him willingly become his sword and shield. He was naturally confident as there was nothing he wasn't confident about. Even if he somehow ended up with a different result at the end, it didn't matter as long as he achieved his end goal.

He was this type of calculative person and he didn't care what others thought about him. He only knew that he had to make use of every little and insignificant chess pieces to end this game of chess fast so that he could focus himself in a more important work.

Little Star saw that his master was silently thinking about something and hesitated whether he should continue or not. There was, of course, more discovery in his work this time. How could he only come back with this seemingly not important news of victory?

Bai Yu also came out of his thoughts and noticed his hesitation. He slightly gestured at him to continue through his eyes.

Getting the hint, Little Star continued his report, "The messenger also reported that the army was half-way in its journey back to the capital and will likely get here in about two days. The Emperor immediately had people prepare for a banquet for their victory after their arrival in the capital."

Bai Yu only calmly sipped his tea and quietly listened to him adding," Master, I also saw a servant who wasn't from our fu coming in from the back door and secretly meeting up with miss Su right this morning."

Bai Yu paused.

"What did they talk about?"

"Well, master, I heard them mentioning about some 'job' or 'condition' something. I couldn't understand them clearly as they were speaking in a very roundabout way like normal so I could only pick up when miss Su asked if the 'master' had anything else for her to do."

"What did the servant reply?"

"He only said, 'wait for the orders and don't inquire more about it' then left right after."

"Did you find out who the servant served?"

"Yes! I followed him when he was about to leave and found out that he was someone from the third prince's fu. When he went to see the third prince, he repeated what miss Su said and the third prince only gave a cold smile then let him retreat. His smile was a bit weird and scared me quite a lot. Brr~"

Saying that, his chubby little body shook in reflex. While he was still reminiscing the strange feeling, he missed the flash of light that passed through Bai Yu's eyes and disappeared right after, regaining its cool indifference in no time.

A smile that wasn't a smile graced upon his lips.

As expected. None of his brothers could be underestimated. They were the most adept in taking advantage of an opportunity provided to their doorsteps to gain double profits along the way.

But such a ploy wasn't enough to take him down.

Xiao Mo suddenly felt that the air became slightly colder. He raised his head to look at the still bright and warm sun high in the sky and wondered if it was just his hallucination. He turned to his master and found that the teacup was already empty and reached out to pour more tea for him but was stopped halfway.

"I have basked enough in the sun. Head back to the study." saying that, Bai Yu stood up from the stone chair and headed towards the study without waiting for his reply.

Xiao Mo quickly recovered himself and chased after him to keep his pace and had a servant clean up the teacup on the stone table.

....

...

At a distance quite far from the capital city, a small group of armored men on their horseback were galloping through the path surrounded by cliffs and a gorge.

The group was led by an exceptionally handsome young man with sharp features and bloodthirsty aura nurtured through many years of shedding blood of his enemies in the battlefield. Wearing a red and black armor, his long black hair was clasped high into a ponytail with a black jade dragon crown. His slightly tanned skin and the strong muscles hidden under his lean figure made his ramrod-straight back give out an oppressive and majestic feeling.

The gallops of the horses' hooves echoed in the air. The orderly sound seemed unusually pleasing to the ears.

Just when the group of soldiers arrived near a slightly narrow road, a sudden sharp whistling sound was heard which sounded especially loud in the quiet place that echoed only of hooves' gallops.

The sharp edge of an arrow glinted ferociously as it shot towards the handsome man at the front. The soldiers behind him were alarmed and with their long experience in the battlefield, they immediately reacted and tried to protect the man but the handsome man beat them to it. Just when the arrow was about to near his head, he ducked his body and dodged it without any difficulty.

Simultaneously, a dozen more arrows were shot towards him but this time, the group of soldiers were already prepared so they quickly pulled out their swords and deflected them in no time.

"General!" Mo Qi cautiously eyed the surroundings as he neared the man who was now surrounded by the others in a protective circle.

The handsome man who was called general was none other than the legendary General Zhong Yong who Bai Yu and Little Star were talking about. Qin Feng only looked at the direction the arrows came from with a calm face. He then said, "Prepare for battle."

"Yes, General!" the soldiers shouted at his order and took defensive stances. Right after, a group of black clothed assassins came down from the cliff and charged at them with murderous intent.

The soldiers exchanged blows with them and didn't let them pass through them to their general. The other side were numbered more than forty while their own number was around thirty. Although they were slightly outnumbered, they weren't bothered in the least and were equally matched in terms of strength to the point that they even showed signs of overwhelming the assassins by themselves.

In no time, the enemies were quickly dealt with. Qin Feng didn't even have to lift his finger as everything was dealt by his subordinates cleanly, leaving one person alive to bring him back for further interrogation.

After everything was rearranged properly, Mo Qi walked back to the general and said, "General, the group that went to scout have returned and reported that there is no further danger. Should we proceed to rush back to the capital or take a short break?"

Qin Feng only said a word, "Proceed." then mounted his horse. Mo Qi respectfully obeyed his order and had everyone prepare to set off again. After everyone had mounted their horses, with an additional person tied to the back of a horse, they quickly continued their journey back to Jing*.

{Jing is the name of the capital city.}