Shen Yi maintained his outsider’s expression throughout.

As he’d thought from the beginning — Qingzhou’s first-ranked Demon Suppression General, a practitioner one step from the Mixed Origin Grandmaster realm, with an extraordinary record of service to the court. As long as she was unwilling, not even the capital could compel her to do anything.

But the Ji prince apparently had no intention of saying more to her.

He turned his gaze to Shen Yi quickly, a slight nervousness in it.

“General Shen — I’d asked Miss Jiang to extend the invitation to you earlier. You may have forgotten, so I came to—”

A flicker of puzzlement moved through Jiang Qiulan’s eyes.

Because at that point, the delicate young man suddenly shot a thoroughly hostile look in her direction.

“…”

Shen Yi looked at the Ji prince. Under that fine, delicate face — a barely-contained anticipation.

He thought for a moment.

Then something struck him, and something very peculiar moved into his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Jiang Chengyun, for all his years, had seen most things. He was listening, and growing more stunned with each word.

He suddenly realized he’d been worried about the wrong person this whole time.

Shen Yi looked at Jiang Qiulan in silence. She was, it had to be admitted, of quite extraordinary bearing — the long dress only added to it.

He very much wanted to suggest the prince see someone about his judgment. The aesthetic sensibility here was genuinely concerning.

“…”

Jiang Qiulan, if the truth were told, had encountered many instances of people competing over her. She had never herself been the one competing.

Even when the Junior Demon King had sent assassins after her, not a flicker had crossed that face. Now — a small curve appeared at the corner of her mouth that no one else could see.

If she was remembering correctly, the prince hadn’t looked at her once when he left the estate yesterday.

As the peculiar quality in Shen Yi’s expression deepened, she turned back.

“General Shen will be traveling back to Qingzhou with me. I hope the prince will forgive us.”

As soon as the words were out, the prince’s gaze returned to her.

The mildly hostile expression had taken on a cooler, more considered edge. His mouth curved in something thin.

“So — this is why Miss Jiang agreed to my request, then deliberately withheld the information, kept General Shen here, and arranged to drink with him tonight?”

The delicate young man clicked his tongue with performative feeling.

“Miss Jiang looks so pure and cool on the surface — yet the calculating mind underneath is quite something. What an education.”

He gave a cold laugh, turned to leave, and stopped once more.

He cast a wounded look at Shen Yi.

“General Shen — my mother is furious. I came out early specifically to warn you. Get somewhere safe. Don’t let a certain person drag you into their mess.”

With that, he finally left, moving quickly out of the courtyard.

After the Ji prince’s footsteps had faded—

Jiang Chengyun looked silently at the General.

And thought back to yesterday — asking Shen Yi for the blade as a memento, accurately reading that the young man wouldn’t attend a banquet, deliberately sending him away, and even, with remarkable rarity, changing into a long dress—

All of it assembling together.

A belief he’d held for a long time suddenly began to crack.

“Keep laughing.” Shen Yi raised an eyebrow, looking at Jiang Qiulan with dry calm. Enjoying the view, are we.

“…”

Jiang Qiulan had witnessed countless people competing over others. She had never before been the subject of the competition.

As a practitioner on the verge of the Mixed Origin Grandmaster realm — giving offense to a royal household’s prince was too minor a thing to concern herself with.

She simply found the experience genuinely strange. She exhaled.

“I didn’t have any of the intentions he’s describing.”

Still not admitting it!

Jiang Chengyun set his teeth. As Jiang Qiulan’s most steadfast follower over the years, he’d noticed the unusual behavior already.

A Demon Suppression General choosing to stay in the demon-hunters’ quarters. Someone famously unwilling to waste a moment of time, voluntarily spending an evening explaining a technique. And — the most significant — deliberately sending him away.

At least General Shen was still showing that composed, untouched manner.

Not the slightest disturbance from any of it.

“General Shen — should we go somewhere else for now?” He kept his voice flat, hands tight. “And General Jiang.”

Offending the prince was minor. Actually angering the Princess was another matter — potentially more dangerous than angering the Prince of Ji himself.

“Where would everyone like to go?”

A warm laugh from outside the courtyard. Accompanied by two white-clad attendants, the gracious Princess of Ji stepped in without hurry.

“Qiulan greets the Princess.” Jiang Qiulan came out of the room.

“No need for formality.” The Princess waved a light hand, her smile unchanged. “General Jiang has important matters to attend to, and still found time to send word to the estate. I understand perfectly how serious Qingzhou’s situation is. Please think nothing of it.”

“Thank you for the Princess’s understanding.” Jiang Qiulan received the needle embedded in the courteous words without reacting.

The Princess shook her head. “I won’t take up your time. I only came to ask General Jiang to carry a message back to Qingzhou’s General for me.”

She let the smile go, and her voice took on a quality that meant more than it said.

“Please tell him — when the demon king strikes at his divine spirit, he must remember, without fail, that it is entirely his disciple’s achievement.”

With that, she turned and left.

Without any pause at all.

Jiang Chengyun watched her retreating back, something twitching at the corner of his eye. Anger rising.

He breathed slowly, looked behind him.

Jiang Qiulan had settled back at the table. Neither she nor General Shen appeared to have given the remark a second thought.

Jiang Chengyun steadied himself, quickly, and arranged his own expression to match.

The following midday.

In the demon-hunter office, Jiang Chengyun worked through a pile of treasured implements, medicines, and a few technique manuscripts. When he’d confirmed nothing was missing, he put everything into the silver bell.

“What about General Shen’s things?” He frowned slightly.

“Come back and wait a while. You’ll see.” The woman gave him a sideways look.

He pressed his lips together and didn’t press further.

He walked back to the courtyard.

Shen Yi had everything ready for the trip back to Qingzhou, and found Jiang Chengyun spreading his hands.

“We’re waiting.”

“Don’t worry. The court doesn’t shortchange demon-hunters or the Division on rewards.” Even as she said it, Jiang Qiulan had a faint puzzlement of her own.

Mid-grade treasured implements were extraordinarily precious — all of Qingzhou had only twelve. Even if Shen Yi had specific requirements for the type, nearly three days was a long time to find a single suitable implement.

They didn’t have to wait long.

A figure in pale blue robes appeared at the courtyard entrance — moving slowly, as if a strong wind could take him. He wandered into the courtyard.

Jiang Chengyun’s entire body went rigid.

“Elder Wu?” A note of surprise from Jiang Qiulan.

It was one of the four old men from the War Temple refinements.

He didn’t acknowledge Jiang Chengyun. He gave Jiang Qiulan a small nod, sat on the stone bench in the center of the courtyard, and looked at the black-armored young man.

“Heading back to Qingzhou?”

Shen Yi couldn’t identify the man’s exact standing, but the reactions from the other two told him enough.

He nodded. “Yes.”

The old man’s next sentence made Jiang Chengyun’s expression change completely.

“Any chance you’d stay?”

(End of Chapter)