The eldest daughter's scheming, the crown prince's exclusive favor to the venomous concubi

Upon hearing this, Zang Feng suddenly smiled and teased, "What you said today is quite interesting, Young Master. Just now, Miss Shangguan said that you owe Hua Xiangrong, so you must find her. But now you say that you are afraid she will feel guilty, so you must go to find her. Don't you think that is a bit ambiguous?"

Bai Jianan looked at Zang Feng, and after a moment asked, "What do you want to say?"

Zang Feng shook his head, a mocking look in his eyes, and stood with his sword in his arms, looking at Bai Jianan and saying, "It's nothing, I just can't stand your self-righteous attitude right now."

Yan Xingzhi frowned, displeased, and said, "Zang Feng, what are you talking about? What do you mean by 'it's only natural'?"

"What did you say? That you people from the Qilin Pavilion are all arrogant and think you are superior to others, and that everything you do is for the benefit of others, but you have never thought about what debts you owe."

How much has Hua Xiangrong done for Qilin Pavilion? Take the Liangshan incident today, for example. You know perfectly well who started it, yet you still side with your own people and say that the people on the mountain are arrogant and conceited.

I'd like to ask the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Qilin Pavilion, where is your conscience? Where did your subordinates get all those crossbows? Can you even afford them anymore?

And Your Highness, I, Cangfeng, have followed you for over a decade, never saying anything excessive, nor ever getting involved in any of your affairs. But today, I suddenly realize that Your Highness is arrogant, yet not wisely so.

You always thought you gave the most, cared for her, and planned for her, but you never considered how much she gave for you. When you were poisoned by the Gu, I told you to tell Shangguan Jianyue about it so that both of you could work together to find a solution. But you kept it a secret, thinking you were doing it for her own good. And what happened in the end?

She knew the truth, and for your health, she had to give up marrying you. She even personally planned that terrifying death. Bai Jianan, put your hand on your conscience, what have you done for her?

"If it weren't for your life or death, if it weren't for your deliberate concealment, how could she have chosen to comply with Heli Hong's wishes? Do you know how deep the Hongmeng Bridge is? How sharp the rocks are? How swift the current is? Do you know how difficult it is to survive after falling in? Do you know what she went through?"

Having said this, Zang Feng finally released his pent-up frustration. He glanced coldly at Yan Xingzhi and Bai Jianan, then turned and left.

Yan Xing stepped forward and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Where I go is none of your business. I am not a dog of your Qilin Pavilion, nor do I need to obey your orders. I am the number one swordsman in the world, and I can go wherever I want. Bai Jianan, our agreement has long expired. Today we part ways, and there will be no future meeting."

Zang Feng left without any hesitation, infuriating Yan Xingzhi, who exclaimed, "He's gone and forgotten? This is simply too much!"

Bai Jianan remained silent, his hand covering his wound, his mind filled with Zang Feng's angry rebuke.

How could he not have thought about what she had done for him? It's just that in his eyes, her sacrifices were ultimately not as great as his own, and therefore, he never considered how much she was suffering inside.

He always thought that she gave up the marriage because of the mysterious intervention of the armored soldiers, forcing her to leave, but he never imagined that it was all because of him.

Seeing that Bai Jianan's expression was off, Yan Xingzhi quickly said, "Don't listen to him. He just wants an excuse to leave, so he'll naturally say some harsh words."

Bai Jianan shook his head and looked at Yan Xingzhi, saying, "He's right. Everything Hua Xiangrong has done for the Qilin Pavilion is enough to make the Qilin Pavilion respect Riliang Mountain. I don't know what exactly happened to Riliang Mountain these past few days, but Xingzhi, if it really is the Qilin Pavilion's fault, you must apologize."

Yan Xingzhi was speechless for a moment. After a while, he said with annoyance, "Because of the issue of the distribution of crossbows, the production of crossbows is controlled by those people from Riliang Mountain. The brothers in the pavilion did not receive as many finished products as the people from Riliang Mountain. Therefore, a misunderstanding arose, and the two sides argued and then confronted each other."

When we arrived, we tried to mediate, but Shangguan Ting and his men drove us out of the stronghold. They even tried to take back the crossbows we had. I led my men to a standoff outside the stronghold for two days. Seeing that the situation couldn't be resolved, I returned with the brothers from the Qilin Pavilion.

As he spoke, Yan Xingzhi rubbed his temples and said, "I know it was our fault, and I wanted to explain and apologize to General Shangguan, but the old general is too proud of himself and won't listen to me at all. There's nothing I can do."

Upon hearing this, Bai Jianan suddenly turned a cold look to Yan Xingzhi and said sternly, "Xingzhi, are you also going to follow Heli Hong's path?"

Yan Xingzhi was taken aback, then frowned and said unhappily, "What are you talking about? Don't you know whether I'm loyal to you or not?"

Bai Jianan shook his head: "You say the old general thinks too highly of himself, but why don't you say the people in the pavilion think too highly of themselves? They even dare to try to steal other people's bow and crossbow manufacturing? What would you do if someone else coveted your trump card?"

Yan Xingzhi immediately retorted, "But I didn't say I was right! I'm just trying to apologize, but they won't accept it!"

"That means your previous attitude wasn't clear enough. The old general isn't someone who can't distinguish right from wrong. If he didn't see through your thoughts, he naturally wouldn't have turned you away. Think about it, the terrain of Riliang Mountain is remote, yet he allowed the people of Qilin Pavilion to come and go as they pleased, and even drew a map for you. Why is that?"

Because of trust, yet what they relied on for self-protection was being spied upon by the person they trusted most. If I were in their shoes, I would also feel displeased. Xingzhi, you really made a mistake.”

Yan Xingzhi was speechless again. He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything for a long time. Finally, he sighed and said, "I admit that I didn't consider the partners of Riliang Mountain at the beginning of the confrontation between the two sides."

But there's a reason for that, isn't there? You say they trust us, so why don't they tell us how to make the crossbows? Wouldn't it be faster if both sides made them together? Our plans could be completed much earlier!

"Yan Xingzhi, where's your brain?"

Bai Jianan was finally enraged by these words. He looked at Yan Xingzhi with a fierce glint in his eyes and said coldly, "Has greed blinded you?"

Yan Xingzhi was not to be outdone and shouted in unison, "Wasn't I also doing this for the Qilin Pavilion? Because you trusted Heli Hong, you took away most of the main force of the pavilion, and some of the rest were destroyed. Now the Qilin Pavilion is just an empty shell. How can it be restored to its former glory?"

Hua Xiangrong's weapon-forging skills are impressive, but even the best can't fight against many opponents. Since you trust us and are willing to help us, why can't you trust us completely?

I know my thinking is wrong, but I didn't mean to do it. Since it's inappropriate, we should just refrain from being greedy. So why kick us out? This clearly treats us like outsiders. How can our Qilin Pavilion gain respect from the public?

Bai Jianan fell silent, looked at Yan Xingzhi in silence for a long while, and said, "I know it's my fault that the Qilin Pavilion is like this. I also know that you've worked so hard for the Qilin Pavilion, but that's not enough for you to take away other people's achievements and distort the facts like this."

Yan Xingzhi, we've known each other for over a decade. You know best what I'm thinking, and I understand best what you're thinking too. You want the blueprints for crossbows because you want to use them on the battlefield to help me seize the throne.

But Riliang Mountain belongs to Hua Xiangrong, and Hua Xiangrong is the daughter-in-law of the Shangguan family. They are all benefactors of my Qilin Pavilion. By doing this, you are placing me, Bai Jianan, in a position of ingratitude, worse than pigs and dogs.

Yan Xingzhi was speechless, lowering his eyes in silence. He naturally knew all this, and he knew even more that they had made a mistake in the events of the past few days.

But so what? The deed was done, and there was nothing he could do but apologize. But Shangguan Ting was unyielding and determined not to let them go up Riliang Mountain again. After they were forced to come down the mountain, he even blocked the mountain road.

This was going too far, completely ruining the reputation of the Qilin Pavilion. How could he not be furious? Naturally, he spoke harshly, but he never expected that Zang Feng would become distant from them because of this, and Bai Jianan would be seriously injured by Shangguan Jianyue, even causing their relationship to shatter.

This is not what he wants.

Yan Xingzhi didn't know why Shangguan Jianyue and Bai Jianan had turned against each other with swords, so he assumed that she already knew about what happened at Liangshan, which was why she hated Bai Jianan.

He kept his head down, somewhat afraid to look at Bai Jianan, until Bai Jianan, due to his extreme weakness, began to cough violently.

Seeing this, Yan Xingzhi asked in a low voice, "Let me go and fetch you a doctor!"

Bai Jianan turned his head away from him and said coldly, "No need, I'm not going to die yet."

Yan Xingzhi was immediately helpless and said, "I know I made a mistake. Can you stop acting like a child? I've already scolded you, so just stop hurting yourself. You can only make amends after you've recovered, right?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Jianan suddenly smiled and said sarcastically, "Make amends? How can we make amends? Do you think the Shangguan family is the same as the people we've dealt with? Everyone in the capital knows about the Shangguan family's precepts, and everyone knows about the temperaments of the Shangguan family members. Do you think I have the ability to make them forgive me?"

Yan Xingzhi was now in a dilemma, knowing that he had made a big mistake, and he hesitated when he spoke.

"What should we do then? Should I take the troublemaking brothers down the mountain and kneel down? That should soften the old general's heart."

Bai Jianan immediately looked down on him, rubbing the area around his wound to relieve the pain, and said, "Come on, this has blown up. Everyone knows that our Qilin Pavilion is involved with the bandit den in Riliang Mountain. Then everyone will know. Do you think Heli Hong and Murong Chuan are just clowns? Won't they investigate? Instead, they've harmed innocent people in Riliang Mountain."

Let's leave this matter as it is for now! Deal with the immediate issues. Once things in the palace are settled, Heli Hong will surely return home. If she can't find me then, she'll naturally look for me, and my whereabouts will no longer be able to be hidden. You should find someone to impersonate me and go back to handle things.”

Yan Xingzhi immediately shook his head in denial: "No way, our disguise skills can't fool that vixen Heli Hong, and Hua Xiangrong's masks are all ruined."