Chapter Twenty-Two: Is a Reason Necessary?

That voice was all too familiar to Li Yunjie!

With a single kick, he burst open the main gate.

In the front courtyard, several maids sheltered Wu Jin beneath their oiled paper umbrellas. Wu Jin, meanwhile, lounged comfortably, sipping fine wine as he watched the servants tear Li Yunjie's residence apart.

"Wu Jin!"

"So, if I don't come looking for you, you bring yourself straight to my door?" Li Yunjie cursed in fury and leapt forward, delivering a flying kick.

Wu Jin, caught off guard, landed face-first in the mud.

"Li Yunjie!" Wu Jin scrambled to his feet, wiping the print of a shoe from his face. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I might ask you the same!" Li Yunjie raised a clenched fist, chasing after Wu Jin. "This is my house! What business do you have here?"

Panicked, Wu Jin rummaged through his robes and soon produced a document stamped with the Eastern Palace seal.

"By order of the Crown Prince!" Wu Jin declared arrogantly. "I'm here to renovate the residence of the Prince of Northern Mausoleum!"

Li Yunjie paused for the briefest moment, then snatched the document and tore it to shreds.

He didn’t care whose order it was—he’d deal with Wu Jin first!

Yet another kick sent Wu Jin sprawling.

"You're insane!" Wu Jin stumbled and fell, crying out to those around him, "Someone, stop him!"

The retainers rushed forward, shielding Wu Jin behind them.

At that moment, the thunder of hooves sounded outside the gates.

Li Yunjie paused, his hand mid-air, and turned toward the entrance.

"His Highness the Crown Prince arrives—"

With a sharp, penetrating cry, several Xuanwu Guards appeared, astride black-armored horses. The horses' hooves splashed water across the flagstones. Behind them, the golden-topped palanquin was adorned with nine fierce-looking dragons, and twenty-eight golden bells hanging from the canopy chimed in unison.

All inside the house turned to look, then hurried to assemble before the door, prostrating themselves on the ground.

Only Li Yunjie stood tall and unbowed.

"Greetings to Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

Bai Xue, dressed in white, lifted the tasselled curtain before the palanquin with a graceful nod. One of the Xuanwu Guards knelt down, forming a step for Zhao Heng to descend.

Li Yunjie observed this display with a scornful smile, thinking to himself, The Crown Prince certainly knows how to wield authority!

"Rise, all of you."

Bai Xue opened an umbrella and followed Zhao Heng as he approached Li Yunjie.

Zhao Heng glanced sidelong at the disheveled Wu Jin and let out a derisive chuckle.

"Prince Li, why have you beaten Young Master Wu like this?"

Li Yunjie's gaze was sharp as a blade. He stepped forward and replied, "This man trespassed upon a private residence. According to the laws of Great Qian, that warrants eighty strokes."

"I was lenient with just two kicks."

"Trespassing?" Zhao Heng feigned surprise, glancing at the servants. "Did none of you inform Prince Li?"

"Forgive us, Your Highness," Bai Xue replied immediately. "It was my oversight."

"Enough, enough," Zhao Heng waved his hand. "It's not a serious matter."

He turned to Li Yunjie, smiling with narrowed eyes that did not reach his heart. "Didn’t you, Prince Li, recently marry into the Prime Minister’s household? Since this residence was left empty, I thought to have it renovated for you. Who would have expected such a misunderstanding today? Think nothing of it."

With that, Zhao Heng reached out and brushed the water from Li Yunjie’s shoulder, his manner light but his intentions anything but friendly.

Zhao Heng and Li Yunjie had always been rivals; why would Zhao Heng suddenly show such kindness? There was undoubtedly a hidden agenda.

Li Yunjie snorted coldly, his piercing gaze fixed upon Zhao Heng. "With Your Highness so considerate, I can hardly thank you enough, let alone hold a grudge."

"We are family," Zhao Heng grinned. "No need to stand on ceremony, brother."

Li Yunjie looked at Zhao Heng's insincere smile with contempt and felt a wave of disgust. Turning to Wu Jin, he said with biting sarcasm, "If Your Highness hadn’t explained, I’d have thought some blind mongrel had barged into my house! Shi Yi, go to the western market tomorrow and buy a few fierce guard dogs. One can never be too careful with ill-intentioned intruders!"

Wu Jin’s eyes widened in disbelief; he opened his mouth, but no words came out. You called me by name just now, and now I’m a thief?

Zhao Heng caught the barb in Li Yunjie's words. His eyes flickered, anger and malice flashing across his face.

"Brother Li, could you not have picked a better day for your return? Of all days, you chose Qingming—the day for tomb sweeping."

As always, Zhao Heng’s words were sharp, each sentence laced with mockery.

Li Yunjie was unfazed and replied with a light laugh, "And why not Qingming? It’s the perfect day to tell my father that his daughter-in-law is gentle, virtuous, and graceful. If he knew, he would surely rejoice in the afterlife!"

He deliberately raised his voice—not out of any particular affection for Su Qingmeng, but simply to watch Zhao Heng’s face twitch with anger.

Seeing Zhao Heng’s muscles spasm, Li Yunjie’s mood improved.

"Your Highness, don’t forget to renovate the residence," he said coolly before turning to walk toward the ancestral hall.

"Shi Yi, come with me to pay respects to the Lord."

Watching Li Yunjie's retreating figure, Zhao Heng ground his teeth in frustration, but there was nothing he could do. He could only suppress his anger and glare helplessly.

"Your Highness," Wu Jin stepped forward, nursing his injured arm. "I've searched the entire residence thrice and found nothing."

Zhao Heng cursed him as useless, then turned aside and said coldly, "If it’s not in Beiling City, nor in the capital, where would that old fox Li Jia hide it…"

...

"When did Young Master Wu become a follower of the Crown Prince?" Shi Yi asked as they made their way to the ancestral hall.

"The night they tried to kill me," Li Yunjie replied, his brow furrowing.

He'd thought it odd, that recent midnight assassination attempt. Wu Jin, though arrogant, was not the type to hire assassins over a slight to his pride. Now it was clear—Wu Jin had offered this as proof of loyalty to the Crown Prince!

Li Yunjie cursed the man inwardly. Poor Wu Changjiang had been upright all his life, only to have such a disappointing son—how fate toys with people.

"Young Master, we're here." Shi Yi pushed open the long-sealed doors to the Li family ancestral hall.

With a groan, the doorframe uttered a low, mournful sound, as if lamenting years of neglect.

It had been too long.

Li Yunjie stepped inside. Spring rain leaked through the old roof tiles, dripping onto the floor. Dust covered the ancestral tablets; the incense burner was in pieces.

This corner, forgotten by Li Yunjie for ten years, finally saw daylight once more.

"Young Master," Shi Yi said, picking up three half-burned sticks of incense from the floor. "Someone’s been here."

Li Yunjie knelt to investigate. From the traces of ash, the incense had been burned that very day.

What surprised him even more was that thirty old sticks and three new ones remained on the table, as if someone had deliberately prepared them for him.

Counting the days—three sticks a year—the old incense marked ten years exactly.

"Old man, Mother," Li Yunjie said with a wry smile. "Who would have thought that, besides your unfilial son, someone else still remembers you?"

He bowed three times, offering incense with sincere reverence.

"Young Master," Shi Yi asked with a simple smile, "What made you suddenly think of honoring the Lord today?"

Li Yunjie picked up his parents’ tablets, gently brushing away the dust.

"Missing your loved ones," he replied. "Does one need a reason?"