Chapter 42: The Uninvited Follower

Ji Xiao asked, “Do I look like someone who lacks money?”

Wei Yan remained silent, then simply thought, ‘He does not.’

With hopeful eyes, he turned to Yan Wangchen. “Esteemed elder brother, please take me with you!”

Yan Wangchen shook his head.

If they were truly going for a leisurely trip, it would be different.

However, they were heading to war.

Repeatedly rejected, Wei Yan’s spirits plummeted entirely.

He had never imagined his mother would be pregnant, and that she had almost miscarried because of him.

This time, his father would surely get serious.

Just thinking about facing his father’s discipline, and the disappointment his parents must feel to want another child, made him feel so wronged he wanted to weep.

His past recklessness stemmed from knowing his mother’s poor health, and that his father had no intention of letting her bear more children.

He had always believed he would be the sole son of the family, free to indulge as he pleased without fear.

But now, everything had changed.

“W-woo…”

Ji Xiao glanced at the person stifling a sob, then lowered his gaze and continued eating.

[Do you ever feel like you were blind, mistaking him for Ziyan?]

Black Cat stubbornly retorted, “It’s a reincarnation, so naturally, the personality would be different.”

Ji Xiao: [Is he truly Wei Xiuyuan’s reincarnation?]

Black Cat: “…”

Ji Xiao: [Hmph.]

Black Cat, seething with anger, retreated deep into Ji Xiao’s consciousness.

The group leader’s original words infuriated it even more, so it deliberately found a notoriously terrifying movie and played it, ‘accidentally’ broadcasting the sound.

The group leader had said at the time: ‘Are you foolish? Can a soul transmigrate to another world?’

Foolish?

Foolish?!

It was not foolish! It had merely forgotten for a moment!

Ji Xiao heard the sudden eerie background music by his ear and looked towards Yan Wangchen.

Yan Wangchen noticed his gaze and looked back, puzzled.

Ji Xiao calmly picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and brought it to Yan Wangchen’s lips.

Yan Wangchen: “…” He lowered his head and took the bite.

Wei Yan, looking up and witnessing this scene, stared at them with tear-filled eyes.

‘I’m already this miserable! You won’t take me in, and you’re being so intimate right in front of me? Are you afraid people won’t know about your relationship?’

Ji Xiao glanced at him. “What are you looking at? Look down and cry.”

“I’m not crying,” Wei Yan insisted.

****

After their meal, as they exited the private room, Ashan and Axing had not only finished eating but had also prepared all the necessary supplies, including dried provisions and water.

Ashan inquired, “Does Young Master wish to sightsee in Fengcheng, or shall we depart directly?”

“Let’s go,” Ji Xiao replied. “There’s nothing particularly interesting here.”

“Understood,” Ashan affirmed.

Seeing Ji Xiao walk out, pulling Yan Wangchen along without a backward glance, Wei Yan knew his mind was set on not bringing him. He took a deep breath and dashed outside.

****

Not long after Ashan drove the carriage out of Fengcheng and onto the main road, they noticed another carriage hurrying towards them. It slowed down only after spotting them.

“Keep an eye on the carriage behind us,” Ashan warned cautiously.

“Understood,” Axing replied.

While it was inevitable to encounter other carriages on the sole main road,

The carriage behind them maintained a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow, matching their movements precisely. This clearly indicated they were being deliberately followed.

Both Ashan and Axing grew vigilant.

****

Inside the trailing carriage.

Wei Yan had changed into clean clothes, his face wiped clean, though his hair remained somewhat disheveled.

From outside, the coachman’s voice came through, “Young Master, their carriage is speeding up and slowing down, seemingly testing us. It appears they’ve realized we’re following them.”

Wei Yan leaned against the carriage wall, letting out a soft hum. “So what if they found out?”

They wouldn’t let him follow, so he would insist on it!

He absolutely refused to go home and face his father’s discipline, nor did he want to see the disappointment in his mother’s eyes.

He wasn’t afraid of his mother scolding him; he was afraid she wouldn’t even bother, caring only for the unborn sibling in her womb.

He intended to fly far away!

****

Ahead of them.

“Young Master, there’s a carriage following us,” Ashan reported.

“Go kill them,” Ji Xiao instructed casually.

“Yes!” Ashan responded.

“You must not!” Yan Wangchen interjected.

“…Yes,” Ashan conceded.

Yan Wangchen looked at Ji Xiao, who was languidly lying on his lap, with a slight headache. “Your Majesty, you…”

Ji Xiao turned over, facing Yan Wangchen’s abdomen. “Alright, alright, I won’t kill them.”

That particular position…

Yan Wangchen tensed his body, his voice deepening slightly. “Your Majesty, please turn around.”

Not only did Ji Xiao not turn, but he also pressed a little closer.

Yan Wangchen’s breath hitched. Ji Xiao’s head, pressing against his wide robe, failed to conceal his body’s sudden reaction.

“General is quite formidable,” Ji Xiao commented playfully. “You nearly hit my face.”

Yan Wangchen, his face stern, pushed his head away.

Ji Xiao yielded to the force, then, seizing a moment when Yan Wangchen was distracted, he lifted his robe and slipped inside. With a thud, he knelt, placing both hands on Yan Wangchen’s thighs.

“Your Majesty!” Yan Wangchen exclaimed, a hint of losing composure in his voice.

Outside, Ashan and Axing exchanged glances, maintaining their composure.

Yan Wangchen’s body was taut, and his mind was equally strained.

A monarch kneeling before him, in such a posture… His eyes turned red, whether from anger or embarrassment, he couldn’t tell.

“Enough, Zhao Lingxiao!”

He even dropped the honorific ‘Your Majesty.’

Ji Xiao, with downcast eyes, mumbled, “Allow me to serve the General just this once.”

Yan Wangchen closed his eyes, his hands tightly gripping Ji Xiao’s head. Veins bulged on his forehead, betraying his struggle, and his breathing grew heavy.

Two quarters of an hour later.

Ji Xiao pressed Yan Wangchen onto the spread-out blanket, then wiped the corner of his lips. “It’s my turn now.”

The usually stern and composed General’s eyes were somewhat unfocused, yet he maintained enough rationality to suppress any sound.

****

At noon, the carriages halted for a meal.

Ashan and Axing set up simple tables and chairs by the roadside, laid out the food for them, and then stood aside, chewing on their own dried rations.

The trailing carriage also stopped not far from them.

The coachman whispered, “Young Master, they’ve stopped to rest and eat.”

Wei Yan considered this, then, carrying the packed roasted duck and pancakes from the inn, he stepped down from his carriage and approached Ji Xiao and Yan Wangchen with a bright smile.

“Oh, what a coincidence, gentlemen! I’m also going on a scenic tour. Since it’s such a coincidence, why don’t we travel together?”

He familiarly placed the paper-wrapped roasted duck and pancakes on the table and opened them. Although they were already cold, they still looked quite appetizing.

“Would you two like some?”

Ji Xiao glanced at the food but showed no intention of taking any. He stated flatly, “Don’t follow us.”

“What are you saying, Young Master? I’m not specifically following you,” Wei Yan insisted with a straight face. “You’re going on a trip, and so am I. There’s only one main road. How can you say I’m deliberately following you?”

“Ashan,” Ji Xiao called out. Before he could give an order, Yan Wangchen took his hand. “Axiao.”

With Wei Yan present, calling him ‘Your Majesty’ or his full name was inappropriate, so he simply used a shortened form.

Ji Xiao shot him a look, then silently lowered his head to eat.

Wei Yan let out a sigh of relief, casting a grateful glance at Yan Wangchen.

****

Wei Yan followed them, and the more he thought about it, the more something felt amiss.

He lifted the carriage curtain and shouted ahead, “Where are you going? You haven’t stopped for a month—it doesn’t look like sightseeing—”

No one responded.

Wei Yan felt a little wronged.

He had followed them all this way, treating them to meals and drinks whenever they reached a town for supplies, and even bought them plenty of dried rations for the road.

But they!

They completely ignored him!

It was too much!

****

Yan Wangchen said with a helpless expression, “If you continue like this, you’ll probably make him cry.”

“He chose to follow us,” Ji Xiao chuckled. “He’s traveled with us for a month; I wonder if he’s foolish or just slow-witted.”

Yan Wangchen: “…”

The coachman behind them hesitated. “Young Master, after one more post station, we’ll reach the border city.”

Wei Yan scratched his head. “Are they perhaps going to visit relatives at the border? Do they have family serving in the army?”

“Should we still follow?” the coachman asked.

“Follow!” Wei Yan declared.

He had followed for a month; to give up now would feel like abandoning something halfway. That wasn’t his style.

As the sun set, the carriage pulled into a post station.

A contingent of soldiers was already stationed there.

The coachman stopped, a slight tremble in his voice. “Young Master, that’s the post station ahead.”

Wei Yan lifted the carriage curtain and immediately spotted Ji Xiao and Yan Wangchen standing outside the post station, along with the rigidly standing, formidable soldiers.

Wei Yan’s eyes widened. “You… are you generals?”

Ji Xiao raised a hand. “Bring him in; let the coachman go.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Yan’s legs went weak. “No, no, please…”

Ji Xiao chuckled softly and walked inside.

Yan Wangchen followed behind him, his expression unreadable.

The two who had replaced them had already changed back into their guard uniforms.

By the time Ji Xiao emerged in his imperial everyday attire and Yan Wangchen in his light general’s armor, Wei Yan was sitting in a chair, trembling uncontrollably.

“Your Majesty, General Yan,” the soldiers saluted.

Wei Yan was terrified. “Your… Your… Your Majesty?”

The first thing that came to his mind was the voices he had heard in the carriage that night he was gravely injured and rescued.

He gasped in a cold breath.

‘His Majesty and the General?’

‘Oh heavens!’

‘Fortunately, they didn’t know I overheard, otherwise I would definitely have been silenced!’

‘But the current situation isn’t much better.’

Tears welled in his eyes. “Your… Your Majesty, I, no, this commoner hasn’t done anything wrong, have I? Can you please spare me?”

At most, he had only followed them all this way, even offering them good food and drink!

Ji Xiao’s face was cold. “Prying into imperial movements—what conspiracy do you harbor?”

“No, no, I didn’t know you were His Majesty!” Wei Yan protested, utterly wronged. “You heard it at the inn; I just didn’t dare go home and had nowhere else to go, so I followed you. Woo…”

Yan Wangchen said softly, “Your Majesty, please don’t scare him.”

Ji Xiao let out a scoff. “I’ll give you two choices: stay and join the army, or return the way you came.”

Wei Yan desperately wanted to turn and leave.

But the coachman he had hired had been sent away, and he didn’t have much money left.

If he fled now, his offense to his parents would be even greater.

Returning home would likely mean more than just losing a layer of skin.

He gritted his teeth. “I… I’ll join the army!”

At that moment, he had no idea that joining the army would entail losing more than just a layer of skin.

Ji Xiao looked at Yan Wangchen.

Yan Wangchen turned to a deputy general. “Deputy General Li, you see to the arrangements.”

“Yes, sir,” Deputy General Li responded.

****

They rested at the post station for a night, then directly entered the border city and the military camp the next day.

Yan Wangchen said, “The vanguard army has encountered multiple assassination attempts along the way. I fear there are also spies and assassins from Chang Kingdom within this border city.”

Ji Xiao chuckled. “Can they really run into the military camp and assassinate me right in front of you?”

“They will not,” Yan Wangchen stated decisively.

“Then there’s no need to worry too much. Have you decided how to begin the war?”

“I have.”

Under the pretext of the Qin Kingdom’s emperor inspecting the border army and repeatedly being targeted by Chang Kingdom assassins, Qin Kingdom launched its offensive against Chang Kingdom.

Yan family’s military strategies had been passed down through generations. As the legitimate son, Yan Wangchen possessed exceptional tactical prowess. With Ji Xiao’s seemingly casual yet excellent advice, they secured their first victory, greatly boosting morale.

Wei Yan, now a lowly soldier, heard his fellow campmates speak of the touching friendship between His Majesty and General Yan, often staying up late to talk. He desperately wanted to shout, ‘It’s not friendship! It’s not friendship!’

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