chapter 17:a private reckoning

Night had fallen over Lizhou, casting long shadows against the candlelit interior of the Crown Prince's temporary residence. The air was thick with tension—not just from the unrest in the city, but from the unspoken words lingering between them.

Li Feng stood by the open window, his gaze fixed on the distant city streets, where hunger and anger still simmered beneath the surface. His usual cold detachment was strained, his grip tightening around the edge of the wooden lattice.

Behind him, Xu Nuan set aside her outer robe, the faint scent of herbs still clinging to her sleeves from the earlier commotion.

"You took a risk today," Li Feng finally said, his voice low but edged with something unreadable.

Xu Nuan met his gaze through the flickering candlelight. "And?"

He turned fully then, his piercing eyes locking onto hers. "You knelt before them."

"Did that wound your pride, Your Highness?" she asked smoothly, unfazed by the sharpness in his tone.

He took a step closer, his shadow stretching across the floor. "It made them see you as one of them."

"Good."

His jaw clenched. Her lack of fear… it unsettled him.

"You are the Crown Princess," he reminded her. "You do not kneel before commoners."

Xu Nuan tilted her head, studying him as though he was the one being reckless, not her.

"They were ready to riot. Would you have preferred we cut them down instead?"

Silence. His expression didn't change, but she had struck something deeper.

Xu Nuan took a step closer, closing the space between them. "You believe force can tame a starving city. But Lizhou is not the battlefield, Li Feng. They need a ruler, not another tyrant."

His fingers twitched. She spoke as if she knew what it meant to rule.

"You act as if you know these people," he muttered.

Xu Nuan's lips curled, a knowing glint in her gaze. "And you act as if you understand them."

His eyes darkened. This woman… was far more dangerous than he had ever anticipated.

A knock interrupted the moment.

Lu Lan's voice came from beyond the door. "Your Highness, the governor has requested you both for a council meeting."

Xu Nuan let out a soft breath, as if dismissing the weight of the moment between them.

"Then let us not keep our dear hosts waiting," she murmured, brushing past him.

Li Feng didn't move for a long moment, staring at the place where she had just stood.

For the first time in years, he felt something dangerously close to uncertainty.

The grand hall of the Governor's residence was filled with the murmur of low voices and the rustle of silk robes as officials and generals gathered. At the head of the chamber sat Governor Jing Yun, his thin face a mask of polite courtesy, but his eyes gleamed with calculation.

Xu Nuan and Li Feng entered together. Their presence alone shifted the atmosphere.

"Your Highnesses," Jing Yun greeted them with a slow smile, rising from his seat. "Lizhou welcomes your esteemed presence."

Li Feng's expression remained unreadable. "We have much to discuss, Governor."

They took their seats. To Jing Yun's right sat General Bai, a hardened military leader with an air of suppressed frustration. To his left, Minister Su, his smirk barely concealed as he sipped his tea in apparent amusement.

The meeting began with reports—grain shortages, security issues, rising unrest—but the most troubling issue was the missing supplies meant for the starving people.

"Food and medicine were sent, yet the people claim they never received them," Xu Nuan remarked, her voice smooth but laced with quiet suspicion.

Jing Yun sighed, shaking his head. "Bandits have grown bold. Supply routes have been difficult to secure."

Li Feng's gaze was like a blade. "The people claim they see carts full of food—but none reach them."

A flicker of irritation passed through the governor's features, but it was quickly hidden.

"Your Highness," Minister Su interjected, his tone light, "Lizhou has always had its troubles. The people love to exaggerate their hardships."

Xu Nuan met his gaze with an unreadable smile. "Exaggerate? Perhaps. Or perhaps the truth is simply inconvenient."

The tension in the room thickened.

Jing Yun exhaled, placing a hand over his chest in a gesture of loyalty. "Rest assured, Your Highnesses, I am doing everything in my power to restore order. If you would allow me to handle this my way—"

Li Feng cut him off. "We are not here to wait and watch, Governor. We will oversee matters ourselves."

A flicker of something dangerous flashed in Jing Yun's eyes.

But he smiled.

"Of course, Your Highness. As you wish."

The meeting continued, but Xu Nuan could feel it—the quiet, simmering resistance.

Governor Jing Yun was not pleased. And men like him never let such displeasure go unanswered.

Later that night, the corridors of the Crown Prince's residence were eerily quiet.

Xu Nuan had retired to her chambers, but something kept her from sleep. A nagging sense of unease.

The faintest flicker of movement caught her eye.

A shadow, shifting along the window.

Xu Nuan's breath slowed. Not the wind. Not imagination.

She reached for the dagger beneath her pillow.

And then—

CRASH.

The window shattered, and a dark figure lunged forward.

Xu Nuan twisted away just in time, the assassin's blade slicing through air where her throat had been moments before.

Another one.

She pivoted, kicking over a candle stand, sending hot wax splattering onto the attacker's arm. A sharp hiss—but no scream. These were trained killers.

Xu Nuan moved fast, her dagger glinting in the low candlelight.

But before she could strike—

The doors burst open.

Li Feng strode in, sword already drawn, his expression like frozen steel.

The assassin whirled toward him—but he didn't stand a chance.

With one precise, merciless strike, Li Feng's blade pierced the man's heart.

The assassin staggered, choked—then fell.

Silence.

Xu Nuan exhaled, pressing a hand to her pounding chest. The scent of blood thickened the air.

Li Feng turned to her, his jaw clenched, his eyes darker than the night outside.

"You were almost killed," he said, his voice low, but dangerously controlled.

Xu Nuan met his gaze steadily. "It seems Governor Jing Yun did not take kindly to our presence."

Li Feng wiped the blood from his blade, his expression unreadable.

"Then let's make sure he regrets it."

The battle for Lizhou had just begun.