# Chapter 22: Madness
The rebel army in Huinan gazed at the over a hundred severed heads hanging from the city tower, all of them shocked and terrified. Internal turmoil began to brew, and the surrender faction gradually gained the upper hand: among those who faced Wēizhèn Army, Yuanliao's enemies, who among them had a good ending?
After a brutal internal struggle, the surrender faction finally presented the rebel leader's head, leading their army into Huinan City, kneeling before the Supreme Commander.
The tens of thousands of rebel soldiers, upon witnessing the man whose very name made the world tremble, were all moved yet suspicious.
That incomparably beautiful face, in the cool wind of early autumn, radiated an air of arrogance and intimidation. His lips curved slightly into a soul-stirring smile, and slowly, he spoke: "In Xia Mancheng's army, there have never been any prisoners or surrendered troops."
I hate this world that binds me, it has secretly tormented me my whole life, taken everything from me. I want it, all of it, destroyed by my own hands.
The man seated in the second position of Wēizhèn Army rose, his expression as calm as still water. "The moment you took your first step, you should have known there would be no retreat."
The deputy general, who had been silently watching, flashed a conflicted look in his eyes that quickly vanished. He raised his axe and pointed it at the black mass of rebel soldiers.
Above Huinan City, a thick smell of blood shot into the sky, piercing the clouds.
On Yaou Palace, the symbol of Yuanliao's royal power, a deathly silence reigned.
Everyone silently waited for the sovereign's response.
Everyone vaguely felt a strange yet terrifying sensation—that this man, growing more insane and ruthless with each passing year, was like a nightmare hovering over the nation's sky, gradually devouring its soul, slowly pushing the country toward doom.
Yet the sovereign took a breath, closed his eyes, and gently, ever so gently, uttered two words—
"Court is adjourned."
A lone swift horse returned to Yuanliao City, as always rushing directly to where his heart belonged.
The man on Yaou Palace stood on the balcony of the side hall, silently watching that familiar figure in the distance.
The man outside Yaou Palace, separated by rows of yellow-tiled roofs, gazed lovingly toward his sovereign. After a long while, he realized that what the man standing high in the palace was sending him was not anticipation, but endless indifference.
Autumn wind began to appear, subtle and elusive, above Yuanliao City. The green leaves on the branches and the clusters of flowers, though still brilliantly radiant, faintly sensed that their end was approaching. Day by day, they waited for withering.
The man outside the palace lowered his head and rode away.
In the Zhongbi residence's memorial hall, candle flames flickered in the deep darkness.
"Man... brother is back..."
"Man, is that paradise a good place? Brother wants to go there to be with you too, but I... I am not worthy of such a place..."
"Man... I miss you so much..." He reached up and gently wiped the fine dust from the memorial tablet, his voice trembling.
"Man... everyone in this world owes you..."
"...What am I saying... The only one who owes you, is me..."
Before he knew it, another person, still in his blood-red military uniform, knelt behind him, wrapped him in an embrace, and leaned his lips close to his ear, whispering words of comfort.
The queen, her belly round with child, came to the residence in person, embarrassing the princess-consort who was consumed with guilt. She helped her up, offered her water—the water was too hot, so it was sent back; too cold, so the cup was dropped on the floor.
Weiyang smiled faintly and said, "Sister Xiuyi, don't trouble the maidservants. I'm not thirsty."
Xiuyi took her hand and carefully helped her sit down. Just as she was about to speak, Peng Kai came charging in shouting "Auntie!" and threw himself into Weiyang's arms.
"Hey! You little rascal! Be careful!" Xiuyi grabbed his ear and scolded. "If you hurt your auntie, your mother will take your life!"
Weiyang hugged Peng Kai and laughed. "Sister Xiuyi, it's fine."
Peng Kai squirmed and nestled under Weiyang's arm, asking, "Auntie, are you having a little sister or a little brother?"
"We don't know yet. Do you like little brothers or little sisters?"
"I like little sisters."
"Hogwash!" Xiuyi immediately cursed. "You have a little sister, why don't you treat her well? Huh? You like little sisters but you bully your own sister all the time? Huh?"
Peng Kai pouted. "That girl is as fat as a pig! Auntie's daughter will definitely be pretty. Auntie, you must have a daughter!"
Weiyang covered her mouth laughing while Xiuyi jabbed his forehead. "You little jinx! Why would you talk about having a daughter? Your mother and I have been praying to the gods every day, hoping your auntie has a son! If it's a daughter, I'll rip your mouth off!"
Peng Kai covered his mouth and said, "It's Auntie having the baby, not me. Why would you rip my mouth?"
Still laughing, Weiyang asked, "Sister Xiuyi, what's wrong with having a daughter?"
Xiuyi was taken aback. "There's nothing wrong with it..." Before she could finish, Peng Kai beamed and said, "Having a little brother is fine too. Auntie, you should have a little brother as cute as Xiangguang."
At once, Xiuyi's expression changed, and Weiyang fell silent. That clever little rascal Peng Kai immediately knew he'd said something wrong. Without waiting for his mother to scold him, he laughed and said, "I'm going to play with Pengyue," and darted out.
Xiuyi forced a laugh. "Every child from the Xia family is so good-looking!"
Weiyang was quite at ease. "Sister Xiuyi, I already know about Zhang Zhou and Princess Jinyin."
Xiuyi looked at her in surprise. Weiyang continued, "I heard that young lord Xiangguang was poisoned by Princess Jinyin's personal maid. Why would she do such a thing?"
Xiuyi's expression grew even more troubled. "Don't listen to the servants' idle gossip. Xiangguang died of acute typhoid—what does that have to do with Hou Pu? Hou Pu came with Jinyin from Dudong, they're like sisters. How could she possibly do something like that?"
Weiyang pressed further. "Then why did she commit suicide?"
Xiuyi glanced away uncomfortably. "How would we know what the maidservants are thinking? It's probably something about romantic troubles or the like."
Weiyang was deeply puzzled. But then she thought—if Xiuyi and Jinyin were like sisters, how could she open her heart to her? There must be something being hidden. With this in mind, she didn't press further, casually shifting the topic.
**Backstory**
In a remote corner of the Dudong military camp, a young boy held chopsticks, dipping them in soy sauce and drawing on the tent.
The Xiongzhou crown prince, who had been lingering near the Dudong camp all day, was like a hungry cat spotting fish—he swallowed hard and slowly approached, yet still managed a dignified air as he asked, "Mancheng, what are you doing?"
Mancheng glanced back lazily. "Writing. Can't you tell?"
Daochun sat cross-legged beside him. "What about Sihu and that monkey?"
"Beats me." Mancheng answered dejectedly. "Yesterday I hid them in my tent, but Peng Hong found out, so they were both hauled away. That damned Peng Hong said I could only play after taking my medicine every day."
"What's wrong with you?"
"Just a cold... ah... aaaa-choo!" Mancheng wiped his nose on his sleeve.
Daochun's jaw dropped: He'd heard that this Xia Mancheng was formerly the King of Anqing. How could he possibly be so unbelievably uncouth?
"What are you staring at?" Mancheng shot him a look, some clear snot still on his face, his voice thick with congestion. "I'm so handsome, were you spacing out looking at me?"
"Heh!" Daochun burst out laughing, reaching up to wipe away the leftover snot from Mancheng's face. He then froze: In over twenty years of having servants wait on him hand and foot, when had he ever taken care of someone else? And yet he didn't find it the least bit disgusting.
Mancheng's gaze softened slightly. "I never asked what your name is."
Daochun was deeply frustrated. Over these past two days, he had thoroughly investigated Mancheng's background, but Mancheng didn't even know his name. Frustrated as he was, Daochun still put on an ingratiating smile and answered, "Just call me Daochun."
"So your surname is Dao?" Mancheng nodded. "That's a weird surname."
Daochun nearly choked: Anyone with a shred of knowledge would know Xiongzhou belonged to the Yang dynasty! But then he thought, whatever—it saves him the trouble of using my surname; it'll feel more intimate.
"Daochun." Mancheng called out.
Daochun's heart soared. "What?"
Mancheng pointed to the two characters he'd written on the tent with soy sauce. "Is this how you write it?"
On the tent cloth were the two characters: "刀寸" (knife and inch).
"Hahahahaha..." Daochun laughed until tears streamed down his face. This kid was simply too delightful!
Mancheng flushed with embarrassment. "That's not how you write it?"
Daochun couldn't speak from laughing.
Given Mancheng's temper, he would have kicked someone and walked off long ago. But looking at this Xiongzhou crown prince before him, he found himself somewhat dazed: This was the first time he'd seen someone so handsome, and even the way this person laughed was so captivating?
"Stop laughing." Mancheng frowned slightly, then dipped the chopsticks in soy sauce and popped them into his mouth to suck on, all while gazing at Daochun's smiling face.
Seeing that he had just used those chopsticks to write on the tent and now was putting them in his mouth, Daochun laughed even harder, nearly out of breath.
Mancheng was at a loss, chewing on the chopsticks in bewilderment.
Daochun fought to stop laughing, pulled the chopsticks from his mouth, dipped them in soy sauce, and wrote out his name. "Now do you get it?"
Mancheng pointed at the character "醇" (the second character in Daochun's name). "I've never seen this character before. Your name is really hard to write."
"You... you can't read characters?"
Mancheng glared. "What do you mean I can't?" He pointed at the character "道" (the first character). "I know this one."
Daochun wrote out "满城" (Mancheng). "Do you recognize these?"
"Aren't those my name? Do you think I'm a pig?"
Daochun then wrote "彭鸿" (Peng Hong). "Do you recognize these?"
Mancheng's face was blank. He didn't say a word.
Daochun collapsed laughing on the grass. "You... you can barely recognize any characters! How old are you? When I was your age, I was already helping my father the king handle state affairs..."
Mancheng forced out a couple of laughs, but didn't know why he was being so patient today, letting someone mock him like this without getting angry.
Peng Hong arrived with a bowl of medicine around the back of the tent. Spotting Daochun, he was briefly startled but since it wasn't appropriate to bow, he just smiled a greeting. Then he turned to Mancheng with a harsh tone. "Kid, drink your medicine like a good boy!"
Mancheng took the bowl with a long face. "Is there any candy?"
"No."
"Any sour plums?"
"No."
"Waa..."
"Shut up! Are you going to cry? Are you even a man?"
"You... damned... Peng... Hong..." Mancheng grit his teeth and said these three words, then squeezed his eyes shut and gulped down the medicine. Then he stuck out his tongue and made a terrible face. "Aiiiyo..."
Daochun was nearly dying of laughter listening to the exchange between those two.
Peng Hong noticed his name written on the tent. As he wondered about it, he caught sight of the crooked "刀寸" beside it and understood everything. He barely held back his laughter, pointing to his name and asking, "Mancheng, you don't recognize these two characters, do you?"
"I don't."
"Good. You're not playing with the monkey today."
"Aah... why?" Mancheng grabbed Peng Hong's leg. "You promised—play with the monkey and the tiger after I take the medicine!"
Peng Hong cackled. "I changed my mind. What can you do about it?"
"Aah..." Mancheng threw a tantrum, rolling on the ground. "Damned Peng Hong! I'm telling Sister Xiuyi you're bullying me... You bum! You jerk! I'm gonna kill you..."
Peng Hong was having a grand time teasing him, laughing uncontrollably. Then he turned and walked away.
Mancheng abandoned Yang Daochun, chased after Peng Hong, clinging to his arm one moment, climbing onto his back the next. First came the curses: "Damned Peng Hong, you son of a turtle, grandson of a... I'm gonna slice you up..." Then came the sweet talk: "Brother-in-law... dear brother-in-law, please, I'm begging you..." When soft tactics didn't work, he switched to hard ones; when hard ones failed, he went back to soft. Over and over, without a moment's peace.
Finally, Zhang Zhou, who couldn't stand it any longer, called out from a distance, half-laughing and half-crying: "Peng Hong, stop teasing him!"
It took great effort, but Peng Hong stopped laughing and revealed where the monkey and the tiger were hidden.
Mancheng jumped off Peng Hong's back, ran a few steps, then turned and yelled at him: "Damned Peng Hong, I'm gonna poison your food today!" Then he took off running. In his haste, he tripped over a grass vine and nearly face-planted.
Until this moment, Daochun had forgotten what it felt like to laugh with his whole heart. Now he could only think that this boy was extraordinarily endearing, and he wished he could just scoop him up and smother him with kisses.