Chapter 460: Chapter 444: Indifference
Xiaoqi dragged his heavy steps forward. Fang Chuning wore a grim expression, coldly laughing as he gazed at him, "You knew I was here, yet you hid for all these days, quite thoroughly too. What are you afraid of?"
"Brother, how did you know I was here?" Xiaoqi looked somewhat displeased, pressing his lips together in unease. Timidly, yet with a hint of coquettish tone, he said, "I didn’t know you were here, Brother. If I had known, I would have certainly come to see you."
"Lies, every word," Fang Chuning said with a faint smile. "Mianmian, what are you afraid of? It’s not like I’m going to eat you."
Xiaoqi chuckled and moved closer to Fang Chuning, sitting down beside him. With curiosity in his eyes, he asked, "After all these years, how could Brother still recognize me?"
Fang Chuning reached out his hand to tousle Xiaoqi’s hair, but instead of answering, he asked in return, "How have these years been for you?"
"Terrible!" Xiaoqi pouted, his voice tinged with grievance. "I’ve lived worse than a beggar, and now Brother is so harsh to me, with not even a shred of pity."
"Playing the victim now, are you?" Fang Chuning replied softly, "What are you still doing at the City Lord Mansion?"
"Nothing!"
"Tell the truth."
"I am telling the truth. Fengyu and I shared a bond like siblings. I just wanted to stay by her side."
"Liar!" Fang Chuning exposed his deceit, his usual laughing fox-like eyes now harboring the sharpness of a blade. "If you truly saw her as a sister, would you dare to tell her who you really are, or what you carry with you? You can’t hide your ambition, no matter how much you pretend to be an innocent rabbit. Mianmian, Father already knows where you are. So, what will it be? Will you come back with me, or wait for him to send people to capture you?"
"He... How does he know?"
"We’ve been looking for you all this time." Fang Chuning, still not fully recovered from his injuries, felt a chill and tightened the fur cloak around his body. Xiaoqi removed his own cloak to drape it over Fang Chuning, then stood to block the wind at the doorway, shielding him from the snowstorm. Fang Chuning glanced up at him but said nothing. Xiaoqi grew a little awkward. "The weather’s cold, and you’re still injured. Why don’t you go back and rest?"
"So you can escape?" Fang Chuning asked coldly.
Xiaoqi froze, his intentions laid bare, unable to argue back. Knowing Fang Chuning would seek him out, Xiaoqi had already thought of fleeing. But since he had brought Fang Lingjun along, Xiaoqi had held onto a sliver of hope—perhaps Fang Chuning had come because of Fang Lingjun to find Fengyu, or for the iron mining trade between Han Ziqi and Fengyu, but not for him.
After Fang Chuning arrived in West State, he hadn’t actively sought Xiaoqi. He had instead gone looking for Han Ziqi and even ended up fighting Xie Xun, which left him seriously injured. Xiaoqi had thus been quietly pretending to be ill within the courtyard, hoping Fang Chuning would leave on his own.
But even that faint hope was extinguished!
"Father sought you out years ago, wanting to bring you home, taking pity on all the suffering you endured outside. And you? One day, you dined warmly with Father, swearing you didn’t want to roam anymore, that you wanted to return home and live a peaceful life, forever leaving behind the days of wandering. You were still young then; Father could never have imagined how ruthless you’d become. That very night, you drugged everyone and fled. What now? You plan to pull the same stunt again, drug me so you can escape?" Fang Chuning spoke calmly, but his words cut sharp. "Do you have any idea how grave your mistakes were?"
Xiaoqi’s eyes reddened, and he lowered his head, not daring to meet Fang Chuning’s gaze.
Fang Chuning raised his voice, "You drugged the commander of Jiangnan at an inn—that was in Sannan. Father braved life and death in Sannan to search for you, and you drugged him too at the inn. If not for his robust constitution that allowed him to endure and awaken early, he—and an entire team of soldiers—would have died in Sannan. Not long after he left, within thirty minutes, Sannan’s Eagle Squad found the inn. It was thanks to six loyal guards who fought to their deaths to protect him that he managed to escape Sannan. If you didn’t want to follow him, there were countless ways to run. Why did you choose the cruelest way? You disregarded his life and never considered—if he had died—what would happen to Jiangnan?"
Xiaoqi’s tears fell onto the snow, but Fang Chuning remained unmoved, his expression growing harsher.
"Mianmian, Father trusted you. He believed it was simply your desperation to leave that forced you to drug him. But now, I want to ask—how did Sannan’s Eagle Squad arrive so quickly at the inn that night? Did you tip them off? Were you hoping to have Father killed in Sannan? If the Jiangnan commander died there, the south would face imminent war, with Beiman always eying us like predators. Marquis Zhenbei would be stretched thin between north and south, and Yanyang would be thrown into chaos—is that what you wanted?"
Xiaoqi knelt in the snow, tears streaming. When he looked up, his face was soaked with grief. "It was unintentional, Brother. Will you believe me?"
"Can I trust you?" Fang Chuning’s gaze was devoid of warmth. "After all these years, hearts can change. Are you still Mianmian?"
"I’m sorry!"
Fang Chuning furrowed his brow. "I didn’t come all the way to West State to hear your apologies. Give me the item, and you can go wherever you’d like. I won’t stop you."