Chapter 67: Status Part 2

He was openly throwing caution to the wind. Since the Emperor suspected him in that night’s assassination, he wouldn’t deny it—whatever happened, happened.

“You misunderstand, Your Highness. I’m not here for revenge. If you truly orchestrated the assassination, someone else will deal with you. I’m here for something else.”

“Where is Prince Jin?”

Li Ji’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly before turning to blank confusion: “Second Brother? How should I know where he is?”

He pushed himself up a bit straighter, a perfect mask of surprise on his face, his tone anxious.

“I’ve been locked in this tiny space for a full seven days! No news from outside penetrates these iron walls—be it wind, rain, life, or death! Not even birds passing over my eaves survive; they’re shot down. Does Physician Wei think I’ve seen him?”

Before he finished, Wei Tingxia cut him off coldly. His voice was not loud, but each word cut like a knife, piercing the feigned shock: “Seven days of confinement can’t block Your Highness’s reach. You oversaw the capital’s defenses; the assassins slipped through like no man’s land—

“Even if you didn’t orchestrate the assassination, there was at least your tacit approval or negligence. Now His Majesty is blessed and safe, but the marquis lies gravely wounded…

Wei Tingxia leaned forward slightly, his gaze locking onto every flicker in Li Ji’s eyes. “And right at this critical juncture, Prince Jin vanishes into thin air. What do you think happens next, Your Highness?”

Li Ji grinned, dismissing the veiled threat in his words. “How should I know? You ought to ask those imperial guards properly. They were ordered to watch Prince Jin’s residence, yet my brother vanished without a trace. They deserve punishment.”

Li Ji’s flippant demeanor, impervious to reason and utterly unconcerned, finally ignited the suppressed fury in Wei Tingxia’s heart. The last trace of patience vanished from his eyes.

“Deserve punishment?”

Wei Tingxia suddenly leaned forward, slamming his hand heavily on the edge of the chessboard.

Clatter!

The entire board shattered into pieces. Black and white jade pieces scattered like hailstones, bouncing and rolling across the floor and table with sharp cracks that pierced the deathly silence of the study.

Several pieces even bounced to the hem of Li Ji’s robe.

Prince Chen, who had never been treated with such disrespect, stiffened slightly. The smile on his face froze for an instant before turning into deeper mockery, though a flicker of vigilance flashed deep in his eyes.

Wei Tingxia did not withdraw his hand. He looked down at Li Ji, who appeared somewhat disheveled from the shock, his voice squeezing through clenched teeth with a venomous chill. “Do you think that by staying put after his disappearance, you can keep yourself unscathed? Do you really believe that if it succeeds, Li Yan will share the world with you?”

The princess consort had asked the same question.

Li Ji’s mouth twitched. “Physician Wei, that’s blatant overstepping. Don’t think that just because Yan Xinfeng is protecting you, you can spout nonsense.”

“Oh, right,” he added as if just remembering. “That assassin’s blade was ruthless. Yan Xinfeng probably won’t be able to wield a sword for a year. He might not be able to protect you.”

A mocking sneer curled on Li Ji’s lips, as if he had avenged the humiliation from that afternoon.

Carried away in his glee, he failed to notice the withered plants in the shadowy corner behind him suddenly surging to life. Vines instantly crept over the walls and floor of the corner.

Several bizarre, sharp vines emerged from the centers of plump leaves, carrying the flexibility of plants and a metallic sheen. They silently extended toward Li Ji.

Facing the smile on Li Ji’s face, the raging fury in Wei Tingxia’s heart suddenly cooled like molten iron plunged into ice water, dissipating into nothing.

He said calmly, “You think I won’t kill you, so you’re fearless. You want to see what happens if we drag it out a few more days. After all, Li Yun and Li Yan are both your brothers. Whoever ascends the throne won’t truly kill you.”

Before Li Ji could react in shock to him daring to address the current emperor by name, the vines swiftly looped around his back. As if manipulated by an invisible hand, they yanked him harshly to the ground and tightened, squeezing his face to a livid purple.

Li Ji hadn’t sensed anyone approaching from behind. Caught off guard, he flailed his limbs in panic, clawing at the vines around his neck, trying to create some space for himself.

But the vines’ strength was astonishing. Li Ji was a fierce general who could draw a bow on horseback and pierce three men with one arrow, yet now he had no power to resist. Teacups and books were swept to the floor in his struggles, soaking the ground with tea and ink.

Wei Tingxia watched his futile, ugly struggles with cold eyes. After a moment, he slowly crouched down and asked softly, “Do you still think I won’t dare?”

Li Ji’s eyes bulged, his throat gurgling. He couldn’t utter a word.

Wei Tingxia tugged at the corner of his mouth and continued, “Your Highness, the emperor is benevolent and fears the infamy of harming his brothers. Marquis Yan’s life is too precious; he might not bear the sin of killing. I wouldn’t want him to shoulder that either.”

“But I’m different.”

His voice was as soft as a sigh, yet each word cut like a blade. “Anyone who displeases me, I kill on a whim. A head rolling on the ground takes less than the time for half an incense stick to burn. Quick as can be.”

As his words fell, the vines loosened slightly. Li Ji gasped desperately, then broke into violent coughing.

Once his breathing steadied a bit, he rasped, “I-I haven’t committed any crime yet. If you kill me… you’ll be harming imperial kin! There will be a thousand ways to tear you limb from limb in the future! Do you think you’ll get off easy?!”

What a naive thing for a prince seasoned in battlefield campaigns to say.

Wei Tingxia beckoned toward the vines, and they tightened again. Li Ji, having just caught his breath, was left utterly strengthless, like a pig or sheep on the chopping block, at the mercy of others.

He stared at Wei Tingxia’s stunning yet icy face in abject horror, unable to comprehend how a mere folk physician following Yan Xinfeng could possess such audacity and ruthless heart.

Wei Tingxia’s brows curved in a smile that did not reach his eyes. He casually picked up a few chess pieces that had fallen on Li Ji’s robe and tossed them into a nearby vase like pebbles, ignoring the prince’s near-death asphyxiation and despair beside him.

Only when Li Ji’s eyes rolled back, on the verge of passing out, did he speak leisurely.

“Your Highness, in this world, there is nothing I want to do that I can’t accomplish.” His voice was gentle, yet each word pierced like an icicle. “If I truly wanted to kill you, by the time your head hits the dust, those so-called crimes might still be dragging their feet on the road. So Your Highness need not worry about that on my behalf.”

The vines suddenly released.

Fresh air flooded his lungs. Li Ji coughed violently, tears and snot streaming down his face. Looking at Wei Tingxia now, beneath that beauty lay bone-deep terror and threat.

“Let’s go through it again.”

Wei Tingxia said flatly.

“Where exactly is Prince Jin?”

……

……

He Chenshu’s shrill cries were muffled behind the heavy doors. Wei Tingxia heard the dull thud of the gates closing slowly behind him. Eunuch Gao had already quietly approached him.

“Physician Wei, did you get it out of him?” Eunuch Gao kept his eyes lowered, his voice extremely low.

Wei Tingxia did not reply.

His gaze passed over the crowded imperial guards and landed on a familiar carriage at the end of the road.

Yan Xinfeng had arrived.

Wei Tingxia did not pause, walking straight to the front of the carriage.

The curtain stirred slightly. A long, powerful hand extended from within, precisely taking hold of his.

The fingers were distinctly jointed, the palm and fingertips covered in thick calluses and scars from years on the battlefield, silently recounting their owner’s past. The hand steadily supported him, effortlessly lifting him into the carriage.

Eunuch Gao was at a distance but clearly saw the hand’s features. It was Marquis Yan’s hand.

A flicker of bewilderment crossed his mind, but before he could dwell on it, a young eunuch sidled up beside him and whispered urgently, “Your Excellency, should we intervene? Tell His Majesty? Listen, the princess consort is crying so pitifully! Physician Wei… he must have used some disrespectful methods on the prince!”

Eunuch Gao whipped around, his gaze cold as poison needles. He delivered a resounding slap to the young eunuch’s face!

“Slap his mouth!”

His voice was not loud, yet it stabbed like icicles into the ears. “You bastard! Spouting nonsense! Where was it disrespectful?!”

The young eunuch was stunned, clutching his face and stammering, “B-but the princess consort…”

“Princess consort?” Eunuch Gao’s mouth twisted into an icy arc, his voice suddenly rising sharply and piercingly. “Where is the princess consort crying? Huh?! I stand right here and hear it clear as day—it’s dead silent inside! You’re young, and your ears are already rotten like this?! Working in the palace with rotten ears and a troublemaking mouth—you tired of living?!”

His gaze swept like knives over the others, who were silent as cicadas in winter, finally fixing on the young eunuch’s ashen face. “Dare to gossip about the masters again, jumping to conclusions from the wind—watch your hide! Get lost!”

His reprimand echoed through the empty street, carrying an undeniable air of authority and menace.

Inside the carriage, the curtain fell, blocking out all external noise and prying eyes.

Wei Tingxia settled in and gripped the hand that had helped him up, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the deepest old scar on the palm, as if confirming something.

He did not look at Yan Xinfeng, merely asking softly, “Does your shoulder hurt?”

Outside, Eunuch Gao took a deep breath, suppressing the ferocity in his eyes and resuming his deferential demeanor. He bowed slightly toward the carriage and called out, “Physician Wei, Marquis Yan, safe travels to you both. This old servant… will return to the palace to report.”

Once Eunuch Gao left, silence fell inside and out. Wei Tingxia let out a long breath. Confirming Yan Xinfeng’s shoulder did not hurt, he tilted and collapsed onto his thigh.

“Exhausted.” He said.

Yan Xinfeng looked down at him, fingers pressing lightly on his temples, massaging neither too hard nor too soft. “You’ve worked hard.”

At those words, Wei Tingxia immediately feigned a gasp, patting the handsome marquis’s arm dramatically. “For you, I’m willing.”

“You were willing to threaten Prince Chen for me. We’ve shared hardships,” Yan Xinfeng said slowly, his fingers brushing Wei Tingxia’s brow with great tenderness. “I’m touched. I should offer myself in return.”

Wei Tingxia opened his eyes and scrutinized Yan Xinfeng’s expression closely.

“Are you serious?”

Yan Xinfeng nodded.

“Why are you so eager to marry?” Wei Tingxia did not understand. “Isn’t this fine as it is? I won’t go looking for anyone else anyway.”

At that, Yan Xinfeng lowered his head, his tone unusually earnest. “I want an official status.”

It was nearly an obsession now, as if only by bowing to heaven and earth could their fates be completely entwined, with no more worry of parting.

Wei Tingxia saw the obsession in his eyes. After silently meeting his gaze for a moment, he involuntarily looked away.

“Don’t rush.” He said. “I know where Prince Jin is. We’ll talk after this is over.”