Chapter 87 (1/2)

Chapter 87 Remembrance: Leads

Feng Luodi felt her blood turn cold. He's too sharp…why do I have a feeling that he'd done an investigation on me as well? To find out what's the difference between me and the Feng Luodi of the past.

“You…” Feng Luodi looked at Situ hesitatingly, but did not know how to voice her thoughts.

The young boy stared hard at Situ, ignoring Feng Luodi's presence completely. A man dressed in the clothes of an attendant entered the courtyard, his eyes focused on the young boy.

“How did you even get her? Don't try to escape just because the entire residence is in a mess right now – you lucked out when the Crown Prince brought you back to his residence. Even now that he's no longer with us, General An will still take care of you. Come on now, come with me and get your clothes changed! I've told you so many times to change out of your rags already!” The attendant tattered on, his eyes followed the young boy's gaze and almost bit his tongue when he saw Situ on the other side of the courtyard.

“Oh…General Situ! My apologies, I didn't know that it was you in the courtyard. I'll leave with him immediately; my apologies for the intrusion.” He grabbed the young boy by his collar and started dragging him out of the courtyard.

The boy struggled with surprising strength against the attendant's hold, his eyes fixated upon Situ. “Are you Situ Muye?” His voice was hoa.r.s.e and rough.

Situ nodded.

“I heard…that you're the King of the plains?” The boy asked again.

Situ turned to the attendant. “Who is this?”

The attendant stopped and replied. “He's an orphan taken in by the Crown Prince, abandoned because of the war. If I'm correct, he's of mix descent, with both the blood of the Xuan people and the Xianbei people running in his veins. The Crown Prince took him in seeing how he was always bullied by the others.”

Even when the others were talking about him, the boy did not bat an eyelid, his gaze burning a hole in Situ.

“You may leave.” Situ instructed them, not answering the boy's question.

“Yes, General.” The attendant quickly backed off with the young boy in tow, the latter's eyes still fixated upon Situ.

“You should get some rest. I doubt General An will send anyone here at this time.” Situ did not look at Feng Luodi, who was still reeling from the impact of his words previously. They brushed shoulders as he turned and returned to his room. He sighed quietly. Her reactions…tell me that my words had hit home.

Feng Luodi returned to her room in a daze and laid down on her bed, her head a jumble of incoherent thoughts. When light broke through the windows, she sat up, smacking her head in sudden realisation.

“What am I doing? Why do I have such a big reaction whenever such things happen?” She sighed. “I have much to learn from elder brother, starting with how he faces every situation calm and composed.” She smacked her cheeks twice to wake herself up, and got out of bed.

The winter was almost over and the first days of spring were on the horizon. The mornings in the North carried a chill that made Feng Luodi rub her hands together, trying to ward off the cold as she stepped into the courtyard. I guess that I'm fated to not see the legendary snows of the North, what with the fast approaching Spring.

The door beside her opened without a warning. A member of the Covert Guard stepped out and disappeared in front of her eyes. Following immediately was Situ who.

“‘Morning.” Feng Luodi acted as if nothing happened, trying to put the events of the previous night behind her. “Don't tell me you stayed up all night.”

“Well…not the entire night.” Situ spoke up, feeling helpless against her antics. He was unwilling to press his advantage, but did not want to pressure her any further. What a cunning woman she is…

“Let's head to the antechamber. Things are a little chaotic now, and I think it best if we secure some food in our stomachs before anything happens.”

“What? Has the killer been found already? But General An didn't send anyone, did he?”

“He did. I answered on your behalf.”

“Oh…what? Sorry about that; I guess I slept like a log.” Feng Luodi apologised half-heartedly. “So I guess the murderer is still at large, huh?”

“Perhaps.” Situ remarked off-handedly. “The attendant had died last night.”

“The attendant?” Confusion flashed across her face for a second. “Are you talking about the attendant who'd accused you of being the mastermind? Will they pin his death on you?”

“I don't know.” Situ shrugged carelessly. “The body was just recovered.”

“Can we take a look at it? We can't take everything sitting down.” Feng Luodi suggested.

“Aren't you afraid of bodies?” Situ looked at her in disbelief.

“A little.” Feng Luodi admitted her fear. “But we still have to look for any clues we can find; we can only untangle ourselves from the situation if we strike out proactively.”

Situ looked up for a moment, and a member of the Covert Guard appeared in front of him. He pointed in a certain direction. “General, the attendant's body was discovered in a small courtyard at the end of this alley.” He disappeared again as soon as the message was delivered.

Feng Luodi looked at him enviously. “It must make everything really easy when you have so many Covert Guards working for you.”