Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 1037 - 646 Alarm Bell_2

Chapter 1037: Chapter 646 Alarm Bell_2

After clearing the scene, Xu Yuan spoke softly:

"Lu Bozou is dead. He committed suicide."

Li Junwu stared at the documents before him and responded lightly:

"Hmm, I see."

"Before his death, he revealed a few names of people who might be spies."

"What?"

Li Junwu raised his eyes upon hearing this and instinctively asked, "Can his words be trusted?"

As the words left his mouth, Li Junwu faintly tightened his grip on the wolf-hair brush in his hand and then said:

"Forget it, just give me the list first."

Xu Yuan noticed his reaction and did not move forward immediately, remaining where he stood.

Li Junwu slightly furrowed his eyebrows:

"What’s wrong?"

Xu Yuan chuckled and made a joke:

"Becoming too obsessed is unhealthy. Even if you don’t want to rely on your old pal anymore, at the very least, you should ask for the full story, right? After all, regardless of how you see him, Lu Bozou was one of Zhenxi Prefecture’s high-ranking officials."

Li Junwu was silent for a moment and raised his hand to rub his temples:

"Make it brief. I’m quite busy right now."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan became direct:

"Before he died, Lu Bozou told me the reason he betrayed Zhenxi Prefecture."

As he spoke, he walked forward and pulled out a scroll from the Sumeru Ring, placing it on the desk.

Li Junwu reached out to grab it but found that Xu Yuan’s finger was pressing down on the scroll. He looked up in confusion, only to meet Xu Yuan’s serious gaze.

Looking at her, he enunciated clearly:

"He said, you are unworthy of his loyalty."

Snap...

The wolf-hair brush snapped.

The simple words echoed in his ears, and a suffocating heaviness loomed over his chest.

Li Junwu instinctively avoided the sharp gaze directed at him, his fingertips lightly digging into his palm.

The City Defense Formation was incomparably powerful; if she wanted, she could investigate every inch of the city at any given time.

She’d heard many of the opinions that people below had about her:

"Being a hedonist in Di’an was bad enough, and last year she came to the Western Frontier to continue messing around."

"She ate, drank, and played recklessly at Zhenxi Prefecture for over a month, only for the Marquis to suddenly send her into the army—what kind of nonsense is that?"

"I think it’s probably an attempt to groom her, but isn’t it a little late for this prodigal daughter to turn over a new leaf?"

"A hedonist should just stick to being a hedonist. Suddenly commanding the military will just harm people."

"That woman is simply lucky to have been born into the Marquis’ household."

These comments pierced her heart like tiny needles, though Li Junwu could usually endure them.

These complaints stemmed from her past actions, something she could slowly amend through effort. But what Xu Yuan said struck directly at her core, cutting her completely in half like a sharp blade.

Her shrunken black pupils trembled incessantly, and her breathing grew increasingly strained.

It was her fault that Zhenxi Prefecture was divided.

It was her that led those who had been loyal to her father to develop second thoughts.

In the gradually dimming view of Li Junwu, Xu Yuan slowly released his finger from the scroll.

Immediately raising her head, she saw Xu Yuan already turning away, walking towards the hall’s exit.

As he walked, Xu Yuan calmly said:

"Don’t worry too much. It’s also possible that Lu Bozou made all this up on his deathbed to disgust people."

Li Junwu gazed at his back, an inexplicable blend of emotions rising within her. Her voice remained steady:

"Lu Bozou followed my father all his life. He had no wife or children; there’s no reason for him to remain loyal to those Sects in his final moments."

Xu Yuan stopped mid-step and turned half his face:

"Then it’s likely that both his words and the list are genuine."

Li Junwu clenched her teeth lightly and replied:

"Hmm."

Xu Yuan turned fully, suddenly breaking into a grin:

"Well, if that’s the case, I guess that makes the two of us kindred spirits."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The literal meaning. You don’t think the higher-ups in the Prime Minister’s Mansion blindly support me, do you?"

Xu Yuan’s tone was carefree as he spoke quietly: "Even with my father overseeing things, as someone who was once a hedonist, I still have to build my prestige bit by bit."

He sighed in mild frustration, half-jokingly adding:

"Besides, my problems are even worse than yours. After all, my household is a lot wealthier than yours."

"....."

Looking at his playful demeanor, Li Junwu couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle. Yet, the fleeting emotion was soon replaced by profound melancholy:

"You and I are different. I... can’t handle these things the way you do."

"No one is born proficient in these matters. Since you’ve never been taught such skills, it’s only natural you find them difficult to manage. Oh, my father is an exception; I think he started plotting power grabs when he was six or seven."

"What about you?"

"I wasn’t born proficient either; the situation was rather unique."

Xu Yuan paused briefly in thought and said quietly: "You know, various strange figures have frequently visited my house—Chiefs of Staff, Ministers of Justice, nobles—we deal with all kinds of people. Compared to you as a Hostage Prince, I’ve been exposed to much more.

"Moreover, my father rarely keeps things off-limits to us; the Prime Minister’s Mansion’s records were always open for me to review as a child."

At this point,

Xu Yuan showed a somewhat awkward expression:

"Well... there were exceptions. After I sold about a dozen copies of those records, I was banned from accessing them. Though, this incident was partly your fault."

Hearing this, Li Junwu scoffed and retorted:

"You three loved acting high and mighty; what does that have to do with me?"

Xu Yuan shrugged, pointed behind himself, and smiled:

"In short, skills and abilities can be trained. Take what I mentioned earlier: for instances of power seizures and coup attempts, there are a hundred or so case studies in my family’s internal archive. Reading through them, one can always find solutions."

"That’s why,"

"Growth comes gradually. Jun Wu, you shouldn’t blame yourself too much."

"..."

Li Junwu was quiet for a moment:

"... You said all that just to comfort me?"

"Something like that."

"Unnecessary, a waste of time."

"Tsk, you little..."

"But it’s quite helpful."

Li Junwu’s almond-shaped eyes curved into two slivers of a crescent moon, her smile as clear and serene as the moonlight, leaving one spellbound.

Xu Yuan froze for a moment before teasing:

"Could you not smile like that?"

Seeing his reaction, Li Junwu snorted softly, tilting her fair chin upward:

"I was born beautiful; your reaction is perfectly normal."

Xu Yuan rolled his eyes and said:

"With that hair, with that armor, smiling like that just makes you look like a pretty boy from a brothel. I’m not into that."

"..."

Li Junwu’s eye twitched as she gritted her teeth:

"Once my hair grows out and I dress up properly, you’ll see how stunning I can be."

Without waiting for Xu Yuan’s reaction, Li Junwu waved dismissively at him:

"For now, little Emperor, step aside! I need to deal with official matters."

"....."

After a brief stare-off, Xu Yuan lowered his gaze and chuckled faintly, mimicking a respectful gesture with clasped hands:

"Understood."

With that, he took small steps backward and left the grand hall where she was.

Watching him leave, Li Junwu unconsciously bit her lip and pressed her hand against her heaving chest, feeling the increasingly rapid heartbeat beneath. Then, she scoffed dismissively...

...

...

...

Before his death, Lu Bozou revealed the names of those suspected spies, and Li Junwu placed them under house arrest for various reasons. The resources of the Noble Clans and Merchant Hero Groups were successfully requisitioned as well.

Meanwhile, Xu Yuan seized this opportunity to visit the Zitan Road Shop No. 7.

This shop operated on a membership system, its décor refined and elegant.

Upon entering, Sizi Jing, who had been waiting for some time, approached and presented a small box from his arms.

Aside from this, behind the counter, Xu Yuan saw a semi-transparent wine jar containing a preserved head.

Mu Qing.

As the Blackscale Chief of Jingji, Sizi Jing had meticulously arranged everything before Xu Yuan’s arrival.

Without alerting anyone, Sizi Jing had assassinated Mu Qing.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan left with satisfaction.

The City Defense Formation and the military had been consolidated, and the spies within the city were eliminated step by step. Everything was proceeding as planned.

And just as Xu Yuan stepped out of the tavern,

"Dong—"

"Dong—"

"Dong—"

Nine strikes of the alarm bell suddenly resounded above Zhenxi Prefecture City.