Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 1036 - 646: Alarm Bell

Chapter 1036: Chapter 646: Alarm Bell

The last time... is it?

Thinking of Li Junwu’s trembling shoulders as she left, Xu Yuan lifted his gaze to the heavens above and let out a soft sigh.

She must feel awful right now...

Just like that joke from Xu Yuan’s previous life:

If you don’t try hard, you’ll never truly understand what a failure you are.

He had decided to take action, yet he found himself far from being as omnipotent as he’d imagined.

Believing he could play the role of savior, to rescue a crumbling empire, only to have reality slap him across the face before he even began.

Dreams crushed, paired with the brutal realization that a friend—whom he once thought inferior in every way—had cast him far behind without him noticing...

"With the way she behaves, how could she possibly hold up Zhenxi Prefecture."

The sudden rasping voice interrupted Xu Yuan’s thoughts.

Turning around, he found the speaker was the old man in charge of the heavy armor units.

Despite his advanced age, Lu Bozou, a strong martial master of the Primordial Realm, had barely managed to heal the wound on his neck in the last moments. He fixed his gaze on the direction Li Junwu had departed, his cloudy eyes filled with disdain and ridicule:

"If she had even half the mettle of Wu Yuan Princess, we brothers who have followed the Marquis all our lives wouldn’t have had other thoughts."

"....."

Xu Yuan stared at the man and said nothing, treating his words as nothing more than the dying barks of a dog.

Seeming to catch onto what Xu Yuan was thinking, Lu Bozou disregarded him and directly sat cross-legged on the Xuanwu Platform, his gaze fixed on the now-empty drill ground. He spoke to himself:

"Boy, do you know? Back in the day, we old folks advised the Marquis more than once that even though the Commandery Princess was a woman, she should be cultivated as a successor. After all, she was the Marquis’s only child, and Zhenxi Prefecture needed her to stabilize the people’s hearts."

Feeling idle, Xu Yuan replied indifferently:

"If I recall correctly, Li Junwu was sent to Di’an as a Hostage Princess when she was only six."

"Hostage Princess? What nonsense! With your status, aren’t you embarrassed to say that?"

Lu Bozou showed no restraint in speaking to Xu Yuan, his gaze narrowed: "The Marquis’s accomplishments and prestige could easily provide a hundred reasons to retrieve the Commandery Princess from the Imperial Capital."

At this point,

Lu Bozou’s wrinkled face seemed to sag slightly, but his tone remained calmly detached:

"By then, Wu Yuan was already earning fame in the Northern Frontier. The example of the Princess gave us old retainers hope. If the Commandery Princess could be cultivated into a heroic woman like Wu Yuan Princess, the future of Zhenxi Prefecture would be secured. But our advice only brought us one disappointment after another."

"The Marquis was unwilling to drag his own daughter into this mire, which, if that were the only matter, would have been fine if the Commandery Princess gained fame in Di’an City. But her performance in Di’an—being a fellow Four Young Master of the Capital, you should be quite familiar."

As the words fell, silence hung in the air.

After a long pause, Lu Bozou slowly lifted his eyes to Xu Yuan and asked with a smile:

"Boy, tell me, under such hopeless circumstances, how could we old men dedicate ourselves faithfully to Zhenxi Prefecture?"

"..."

Xu Yuan looked down at the old man sitting cross-legged before him and said placidly:

"No matter how noble you frame your motives, you will not escape death."

Upon hearing this threat, Lu Bozou’s eyes brimmed with even greater disdain:

"Death? Boy, everything I have in life was forged one step at a time on the edge of death. From the day I set off on this military path, I was ready to face death at any moment."

"I told you all this,

"just to make it clear,

"Li Junwu is unworthy of Zhenxi Prefecture’s loyalty."

After finishing,

Lu Bozou slowly drew out the long blade at his waist. He looked at his own reflection in the blade’s gleaming surface and chuckled softly:

"At last, I no longer need to endure this suffering,

"You, the Prime Minister’s Mansion, and the Sects are all cut from the same cloth. With Li Junwu’s lack of capability, it’s impossible for her to preserve the foundation established by the Marquis.

"To die before witnessing the fall of Zhenxi Prefecture, I consider it a fortunate relief."

"....."

Xu Yuan did not show any intention to stop him, only stating:

"Reveal the other spies within Zhenxi Prefecture, and I will guarantee the safety of your family."

"..."

Hearing this, as he prepared to bring the blade to his neck, Lu Bozou suddenly broke into a peculiar laugh.

Frowning slightly, Xu Yuan questioned:

"What’s so funny?"

Lu Bozou chuckled hoarsely:

"I, Lu Bozou, have fought on the battlefield my entire life, without wife or child. Isn’t your threat laughable?"

"..."

Xu Yuan froze momentarily and reflexively asked:

"No wife, no child, then why betray Zhenxi Prefecture?"

"I already told you the reason."

With a steady gaze, devoid of any fear of death, Lu Bozou replied:

"Because Li Junwu is unworthy of my loyalty."

...

...

...

Lu Bozou took his own life.

After summoning Zhou Chen to collect the corpse, Xu Yuan left the Xuanting Barracks with Qilin Wolf.

When he saw Li Junwu again at the government office, she was bent over her desk, sorting through a mountain of official documents.

Organizing the logistics for a single company’s deployment was already a colossal task, not to mention the scale of personnel and resource mobilization for Prefecture City’s wartime preparations.

Standing to her left and right were two men—one dressed as a scholar, the other clad in armor. From time to time, they offered amendments and suggestions. They must have been aides within Zhenxi Prefecture.

Noticing Xu Yuan entering the hall, Li Junwu instinctively started to rise, but hesitation flickered in her eyes. Ultimately, she remained seated behind the desk and simply asked:

"What is it?"

"...."

Standing below the hall, Xu Yuan said nothing, instead fixing his gaze on the two aides beside her.

Seeing this, Li Junwu waved her hand lightly toward the two men.