Chapter 54.1 – Increasingly Fussy

On the grassy plains, when the golden eagles hunted their prey, they had an overwhelming beastly aura around this. Whenever Tuoba Yu’s golden eagle found its target prey over tens of thousands of others, it would make a fierce dive from the skies toward the ground.

The golden eagle originally had some heft to it already and its claws were also extremely sharp. The cause of those wolves’ deaths could only be one of two: either it was pierced to death by the eagle’s claws, or it was bit on the jugular vein, slowly dying as it bled out.

Mu Huai had practiced martial arts ever since he was a child. He had a quicker reaction than most people towards people or animals suddenly ambushing him. Out of instinct, he sensed that something wasn’t right.

Animals usually had the quickest reaction against their mortal enemies. Mu Huai only saw the horse he was riding had raised its hooves and let out a low snorting sound. He could see a shadow falling on the ground in front of the horse, and it was getting bigger and bigger.

Mu Huai’s gaze immediately changed. Without time to think about why, he pulled the reins of the horse and and jumped off.

When the golden eagle would dive towards its prey, it was difficult for it to suddenly change directions otherwise its firepower would greatly decrease. Furthermore, Bianjing was very different from the grassy plains of Kingdom Gu. Bianjing’s buildings were densely packed together, and there was also an updraft. More or less, this had hindered the force of the golden eagle’s dive.

“Dong–“

Mu Huai stood next to the crowd of shell-shocked guards. His gaze darkened as he looked at the golden eagle dive towards the back of the mount, making the horse let out a tragic cry.

After a moment, it miserably fell onto the ground.

The group of guards’ expressions all changed at once. Just as they were calling out to protect the entourage, they were stopped in time by Mu Huai.

Rong Xi who was sitting in the carriage had saw through the gauze curtain that something from the sky had almost landed on Mu Huai.

When the golden eagle saw that it had attacked the wrong target, it prepared for another attack on the red-robed Mu Huai.

Just as it slowly ascended back into the skies and was readying for its next dive, Mu Huai had already gripped the longsword of the guard next to him.

The golden eagle began to dive from halfway up. Its attack power was obviously not as strong as if it dove from high up.

When it neared Mu Huai and the group of guards, Mu Huai’s eyes flashed as he fiercely pulled the longsword out and cruelly cut the beast in half.

Before the golden eagle could let out its tragic cry, it had already died miserably under Mu Huai’s sword. The two halves of its body dropped onto the ground not far from where Mu Huai was standing.

Rong Xi almost let out a frightened cry. When she saw that Mu Huai was actually unharmed, she let out a sigh of relief. However, her furiously beating heart was not so easily calmed.

The escort up front saw that a situation had occurred on the Crown Prince’s end and had stopped the procession.

Rong Xi tried her best to stay calm, afraid that she’d lose her cool in front of everyone. Her voice was trembling a little as she asked Mu Huai in concern, “…Your Highness, are you alright?”

Mu Huai cast a cold glance at the dead bird on the ground, then at the slowly dying horse that fell dwn.

Hearing the woman call out to him, Mu Huai immediately realized that as a pregnant woman who was also timid, she should not be seeing such a gruesome scene.

Mu Huai walked to the side of the carriage and saw that she had already set down the fan. Her exquisitely made up face looked startled due to the fright from just now. Moving yet beautiful.

Mu Huai calmly told Rong Xi, “I am fine. Just a rabid animal, you don’t need to be scared.”

“But…”

“Don’t be scared, nothing happened.” Mu Huai repeated.

Rong Xi wanted to say that this matter didn’t seem as simple as it looked. However, considering how Mu Huai was afraid of causing panic amongst the commoners, she swallowed her words.

Mu Huai ordered the guards to move the dead horse and the golden eagle’s separated corpses away from the main road. In addition, he spoke a few extra words to the guards who were transporting the golden eagle’s corpse. The guards listened to him and nodded their heads.

After a moment, the the guards led over a dark-colored purebred horse. Mu Huai calmly swung himself up on its back. With a crack of his whip, the welcoming procession once again set off in the direction of Yongxi Palace.

Once he sat on the horse’s back, Mu Huai’s eyes sank.

How could he not guess that someone wanted to use this trained golden eagle to assassinate him.

But it was his wedding day with Rong Xi.

There were countless commoners standing along the streets and by Jinming Pond. He could not let these commoners fall into panic, and even more, he could not let this event ruin his and Rong Xi’s wedding.

Mu Huai already had a guess as to who that person was, however, he needed to confirm it.

If it really was that rascal, then whether he was Rong Xi’s younger brother or not, he would not let this go.

******

On midsummer nights, there were numerous restaurants set up in the area near Bianjing’s Jinming Pond.

The colorful lanterns hung on the restaurant eaves. The summer breeze would occasionally blow by and swing them back and forth, making the colors look as if they were dancing in the night skies.

Tuoba Yu randomly found a restaurant and ordered a private room. Randomly picking a few dishes, he sat in the room alone as he contemplated. The window was open, and Tuoba Yu gazed at the Bianjing night scenery with a depressed look.

Looking at the how the residents of Kingdom Qi’s capital city were full of liveliness on the day of the Crown Prince’s wedding, smiles were plastered on everyone’s faces. Only he alone had a dark countenance.

His private room was on the fifth floor of the restaurant, enabling him to see the colorful fireworks that had been set off of Jinming Pond. The crowd of people in the restaurant ooh-ed and ahh-ed, and occasionally they would sing a few tunes. There was a storyteller in the main hall of the restaurant, currently recounting some strange tale. Occasionally, shouts of wonder could be heard from the customers.

This restaurant’s name was Neixi Restaurant. It was Bianjing’s tallest restaurant. After Mu Huai became the crown prince, he forbade Neixi Restaurant’s supervisors to open the penthouse floor up to customers.

It was because the penthouse floor of this restaurant would allow one to see the entire landscape of Yongxi Palace.

Tuoba Yu felt that under Mu Huai’s governance, the citizens of Bianjing led successful lives, much better than the ones that the citizens of Kingdom Gu were leading.

Just as he was lost in his thoughts, he was interrupted by a charming voice–

“I’ve looked for you for so long, it turns out you’ve been hiding here drinking.”

Tuoba Yu glanced at Tuoba Yue then silently looked away outside the window.

How annoying, how did she find him again. She was like a hound that he couldn’t shake off. He really wanted to just off her whenever he gets the chance.

Tuoba Yue saw that Tuoba Yu’s attitude towards her was the same as before, cold with a hint of annoyance. Although she felt a little disappointed, in the end, she was not as thin-skinned as those young ladies in the Central Plains.

She boldly sat down in the seat across from Tuoba Yu. Raising a pair of chopsticks, she began to sample the dishes on the table. Tuoba Yu held his cup and squinted at her. Continuing to stay silent, he turned to look at the nigh scenery again.

Tuoba Yue couldn’t endure this type of frosty atmosphere anymore. She squeezed her hands together, then cautiously observed Tuoba Yu’s expression and said, “This princess has helped you find what you lost.”

Tuoba Yu finally shifted his gaze onto her, placidly replying, “I didn’t lose anything.”

Yet Tuoba Yue’s mouth curved up.

She remembered how a few hours ago, after that golden eagle had flown away from Jingming Pond, Tuoba Yu’s expression was a little panicked.

At that time, Tuoba Yue did not understand and asked, “You’re not going to send someone to look for it?”

Tuoba Yu icily answered, “Let it do whatever it wants.”

He walked away immediately after answering, leaving her behind.

Tuoba Yue ordered the guards behind her to search for the traces of that golden eagle, instructing them to bring that golden eagle. It was because she knew that the golden eagle had been personally raised by Tuoba Yu. He brought it along everywhere he went and would never let other people near it.

Tuoba Yue was confident that this golden eagle was very important to Tuoba Yu.

Not long after, the guard had his head lowered as he walked into the restaurant’s private room. He was carrying a blood-stained bag on his back.

Tuoba Yu swiftly reacted, his gaze couldn’t help but change. Sure enough, Tuoba Yue smilingly ordered the guard to dump the golden eagle’s corpse out of the bag. Tuoba Yu frowned and suddenly stood up.

Tuoba Yu questioned, “Why’d you bring it back?”

Tuoba Yue’s smile froze a little. She was at a loss. Looking at Tuoba Yu’s furious face, she finally answered in a puzzled voice, “It was lost, so I wanted to help you find it…this golden eagle was hand-raised by you, is it not important to you?”

Tuoba Yu didn’t reply to her. Instead, he walked out of the room and observed his surroundings.

In the end, he could only snort in anger.

If there really was someone that followed Tuoba Yue, then it must be a true hidden expert, one that even he could not detect.

Ever since he had the idea of using the golden eagle to kill Mu Huai, he had already prepared himself for the possibility that the golden eagle would be sacrificed.

With Mu Huai’s death, the pillar supporting Kingdom Gu would be gone. The current emperor of Great Qi was ill and bed-ridden, not to mention with a gentle personality. Even if Mu Huai was dead, he would dare to seek revenge from Kingdom Gu.

Tuoba Yu was clear that due to Mu Huai’s young age, he did not have any descendants. Furthermore, out of the Mu clan’s young men, none were as outstanding as Mu Huai.

If Great Qi did not have Mu Huai, then the entire nation would slowly walk towards its downfall.

If that golden eagle had successfully killed Mu Huai and was not captured by the guards, after it flew back to him, then he would’ve also personally killed it.

If the assassination was unsuccessful, then this beast would die in Mu Huai’s hands, and he would certainly not send people after it to search for its body.

Tuoba Yue acted on her own and brought back the golden eagle’s body. Now, the fact that the two had arrived in Qi early was exposed, and him wanting to assassinate Mu Huai had also been exposed.

What an idiot.