Gu Huaiyu pointed a finger at him from a distance, the remnants of laughter still dancing in his eyes as his chest rose and fell visibly beneath his robes. “I am laughing at your pretentiousness.”
Pei Jingyi’s expression turned solemn. He suddenly braced his hands on the floor, leaning an inch closer to stare directly into Gu Huaiyu’s eyes. “I have no intention of belittling you. My remark about you being a ‘beauty’ that day was indeed a transgression, but seeing what you have done today—”
His Adam’s apple rolled, and his words were firm and resonant. “It has earned my genuine respect.”
Gu Huaiyu laughed again, his shoulders trembling. He pressed a bent knuckle to his nose, as if he had just heard the most absurd joke in the world.
Pei Jingyi’s brow furrowed, unable to grasp the meaning.
As the laughter subsided, Gu Huaiyu braced himself against the chaise and slowly sat up, oblivious to the fact that his fox fur had fallen to the floor. His tone became mocking. “General Pei, with that posture, one would think that if I gave you an army, you could flatten Eastern Liao single-handedly.”
Pei Jingyi’s pupils constricted, and his jawline tightened instantly. He had never had his military leadership questioned. He spoke in a low, heavy voice, “Give me the Northern Frontier Army. The three provinces and six commanderies—I will take them back for you.”
He paused for a moment, then added, “Within two years.”
“Two years?”
Gu Huaiyu’s lips curled into a sneering arc. He leaned forward, his pale fingers tilting Pei Jingyi’s chin upward. “Do you think I believe your empty boasts? If you truly had such ability, why would you be kneeling here for me to manipulate as I please?”
The pressure of his fingers increased, leaving faint red marks on Pei Jingyi’s jaw. “Our dynasty has been at war with Eastern Liao for over a century and has paid tribute for seventy years. Have you, Pei Jingyi, not been on the battlefield all this time?”
The veins on Pei Jingyi’s temples throbbed with suppressed rage, yet he remained motionless in his kneeling position. “Whether you believe it or not is your concern. Give me one year. I will bring you victory.”
Gu Huaiyu remained unmoved. His fingers slid from the tightened jawline down to the general’s Adam’s apple, pressing lightly against the violently thumping pulse.
The vessel throbbed frantically beneath his fingertip, burning with heat. It seemed the man truly was incensed.
“One year?” He laughed softly, closing his hand around the throat to feel the Adam’s apple roll in his palm. “I did not change the ancestral laws just to send you to your death.”
Pei Jingyi’s throat bobbed heavily against the palm. A fire began to surge within him—a fire of anger, but not only anger. He closed his eyes and said, “Gu Huaiyu, if you do not trust me, why do you keep me?”
Gu Huaiyu savored the fury on the man’s face. “When did I ever say I kept you for the sake of war? Didn’t I tell you long ago?”
“You are here to lead my horse and hold my stirrups, to put on my shoes and pull on my socks. As for war…”
He slowly withdrew his hand, his voice flat and indifferent. “Forget it. A useless wretch like you is only fit to kneel at a beauty’s knees and beg for favor.”
“Useless?”
Pei Jingyi snapped his eyes open, the fire in his gaze nearly tangible. Though his knees didn’t move, his powerful frame closed the distance inch by inch. He laughed in his rage. “There is no need for reverse psychology. I, Pei Du, do not fall for such tricks.”
Gu Huaiyu thought he seemed very susceptible to them. He leaned back against the pillows to put some distance between them. “Hmm? Is the General losing his temper from shame?”
“Or is it that you don’t even have the skill to beg for favor at a beauty’s knees?”
Pei Jingyi’s massive frame suddenly loomed over him, casting Gu Huaiyu into shadow. His anger had begun to subside, but another kind of heat was rising to take its place.
Gu Huaiyu remained unaware of the danger, his eyes still shimmering with mockery. “No wonder you are always so outspoken, General. It’s all a bluff… Are you perhaps incompetent in that regard?”
He was far more adept at manipulating hearts than the Pure Stream faction. To Pei Jingyi, dignity and bloodlust were like chains on a beast; the harder you pulled, the more vicious the retaliation.
Pei Jingyi braced his arms on either side of Gu Huaiyu’s face, his muscled chest nearly pressing against the other man’s thin frame. His breathing was terrifyingly heavy, his hot breath ghosting over Gu Huaiyu’s neck. “I came here today to thank the Lord Chancellor, not to have him judge my… capabilities.”
Gu Huaiyu watched with satisfaction as the blood surged in the general’s eyes. This was the way; the crazier the dog, the easier it was to use.
“There is no need to thank me.”
Gu Huaiyu’s finger tapped Pei Jingyi’s tense shoulder, signaling him to move away. “In three days, the Eastern Liao delegation will enter the capital. You will accompany them at the banquet.”
Instead of backing away, Pei Jingyi leaned closer until their noses almost touched. His voice was cold as ice. “Are you sure you want me to go? When those Eastern Liao men see me…”
“I doubt they will even be able to hold their wine cups steady.”
That was exactly the effect Gu Huaiyu wanted. He spoke leisurely, “This is the only use I have for you.”
Pei Jingyi’s jaw was clenched so tight it ached.
He had learned the Eastern Liao language to read enemy maps and to decipher the hidden signals in the barbarian horn calls during snowy nights.
He had not learned it for this—to play the part of a fawning host for a group of Eastern Liao nobles.
“Get out.” Gu Huaiyu waved him away dismissively, but as Pei Jingyi rose to leave, he suddenly called out, “Wait.”
He glanced at the fox fur on the floor, his chin tilting slightly. “Take this to be scented with incense.”
His tone was casual, as if he were giving orders to a bedchamber servant.
Pei Jingyi’s face was a mask of stone. His fingers curled into fists one by one, the veins on his wrists bulging.
A half-hour ago, when he had arrived through the snow, his heart had been brimming with a rare sense of respect. He had been moved by the removal of that ancestral plaque and the shocking declaration that military men could participate in government.
He had been moved by Gu Huaiyu’s solitary strength in shaking the foundations of a century of civil rule.
He truly thought that from this day forward, he could finally stand tall in the court and gallop across the battlefields to fulfill his ambitions.
And now?
Simply because he knew a bit of the Eastern Liao tongue, he was being sent to pour wine and trade smiles. He was even expected to take the Chancellor’s cloak to be scented.
Pei Jingyi suddenly let out a low laugh. He bent down, scooped up the fox fur, and threw a single sentence over his shoulder without looking back.
“Just you wait and see.”
Gu Huaiyu watched the stalwart back disappear from sight. After a long moment, he whispered to himself, “I am waiting, you stupid dog.”
