ITF Chapter60

When he opened his eyes, Bai Heting had not yet fully awoken from his deep, sweet sleep. He stared blankly at the person before him for a moment, then propped himself up on the straw mat and asked, “Why are you here?”

His voice sounded somewhat haggard due to his hoarseness. Sitting in a chair, Bai Jiashu looked down at him from above. Rather than answering the question, he only asked coldly, “You’re awake?”

Bai Heting shifted his gaze behind him.

Shao Yixiao was leaning against the door panel, standing before the exit with his arms crossed.

He then lowered his head to scan his own body.

He was wearing Luo Congye’s clothes, which appeared to have been put on rather hastily.

While sorting out his tunic, Bai Heting organized the current situation in his mind and asked Bai Jiashu, “What do you think you are doing?”

“You’ve been wronged, having to endure all this,” Bai Jiashu said flatly, his gaze lowering to the coarse straw mat as his fingers idly toyed with the short sword Bai Heting had brought with him. “In a place so crude and filthy.”

The moment his words fell, a scoff came from Shao Yixiao from the side, immediately followed by a teasing remark.

“General Bai might not necessarily feel wronged.”

His tone was incredibly sarcastic, and Bai Jiashu turned his head to glare at him with a warning look.

“Of course, he feels wronged; he was forced.” After saying that, he turned back around, looked at Bai Heting, and asked, “Am I right?”

There were only three of them in the room. Bai Heting did not answer his question either, instead going straight to the point, “Where is he?”

The straw mat was laid directly on the floor. Even though both of them were sitting, the person on the chair was still much higher. Although Bai Heting was looking up, not a shred of humility could be seen in his expression. Bai Jiashu’s gaze grew increasingly grim and cold, “Where else could he be? He has committed a capital offense.” With a look of contempt, he enunciated every single word, “A capital offense for which being hacked into a thousand pieces wouldn’t even be enough.”

During this brief exchange, an anomalous sensation cropped up within Bai Heting—Bai Jiashu had changed. He was no longer as subservient and timid as before; his speech and mannerisms had taken on an unyielding assertiveness.

The amber and tobacco pheromones in the room were also fragrant enough to make him feel uncomfortable.

Bai Heting stood up. As he walked outward, he said, “Bypassing me to arrest my man and presuming to sentence him yourselves conforms to neither the law nor proper procedure.”

Bai Jiashu made no move to stop him, but Shao Yixiao blocked the door and refused to yield the way.

“To prevent General Bai from making some sort of joke, I’d better remind you first.” Shao Yixiao shrugged his shoulders, putting on an innocent front. “He isn’t the only one who has been detained. Starting today, both the infantry corps and the guard detail must undergo an investigation.” After finishing, he specifically added, “Everyone.”

“What exactly is the investigation for?” Bai Heting’s expression darkened.

Shao Yixiao replied, “Harboring the son of a criminal.”

At this very moment, Bai Heting was finally completely clear-headed.

He should have realized it the moment he found out that Luo Congye had been drugged.

Striking the prey was never the hunter’s true aim; securing the spoils of war was.

Before this, precisely because he possessed Bai Yi’s backing, Shao Yixiao had not dared to act rashly. But now, having been marked by the son of Pei Ming, it was completely impossible for him to ever regain Bai Yi’s trust.

The situation had undergone a total reversal in the blink of an eye.

He had actually stepped so carelessly into a low-level trap whose intentions had already been laid bare.

Seeing him fall into silence, Bai Jiashu continued, “Royal Father is doing this for your own good as well. Of course, he would worry that you might commit a grave mistake under the influence of the mark. Your judgment isn’t entirely clear right now. Once the mark is cleansed, everything will return to normal.”

Shao Yixiao and Bai Heting looked at Bai Jiashu at the same time.

Under the influence of the Xili Religion, cleaning away a mark was explicitly prohibited by law within the country. Furthermore, there was currently no mature technology for removing marks at all; this kind of surgery was frequently accompanied by sequelae such as gland damage, and if one was unfortunate, they could even lose their life on the operating table. Bai Heting had not expected these words to come out of Bai Jiashu’s mouth.

“Rest assured, I will find the finest physicians in the country for you; nothing will go wrong,” Bai Jiashu continued calmly with his back turned to the two people. “After the surgery is successful, I will absolutely make Royal Father agree to our marriage and leave no further opportunities for malicious people to exploit.”

Shao Yixiao snapped his body upright, asking in astonishment, “Your Highness?”

Bai Jiashu had not mentioned these thoughts to him either.

Bai Heting did not miss the subtle shift in Shao Yixiao’s emotions.

Remaining silent for a brief moment, he returned to Bai Jiashu’s side and calmly laid out the facts. “This happened because someone had already drugged that kid before I arrived.” He then asked with pointed implication, “Your Highness, who was the very first person to discover this matter?”

Bai Jiashu froze, then turned his head to look over.

The gaze the Crown Prince cast over was as cold as ice. Shao Yixiao hurriedly explained, “This is truly a false accusation! I have been pursuing that kid all along, Your Highness, you know this as well. I originally intended to wait until he made contact with the Urdans to arrest them all together. Who could have guessed that the one we ended up waiting for was General Bai?” Adopting the very pretext Bai Heting had once used at the victory banquet, he turned his face to look at him and said pretentiously, “General, you didn’t come out even after a whole night passed. If I hadn’t been worried about something happening to you, how would I have dared—”

“Luo Congye is in your hands.” Bai Heting cut him off with a tone of absolute certainty.

Shao Yixiao raised an eyebrow and shut his mouth.

Most prisoners who fell into Shao Yixiao’s hands ended up wishing they were dead. Bai Heting spoke again, “Hand the man over to me. Whether he lives or dies is not for you to decide.”

Bai Jiashu, who had remained silent all this while, spoke up once more, “Rest and recover peacefully in your mansion while waiting for the surgery. There is no need for you to worry about anything else.”

Bai Heting crouched down beside him.

“Your Highness.” He looked up at Bai Jiashu’s face, his expression appearing exceptionally sincere due to his intense focus. “Only if I perform the execution myself will the world believe that I was forced.”

Bai Jiashu said, “I do not care what the world thinks.”

The gaze he fixed on Bai Heting was icy cold. Bai Heting could not help but suspect that he probably did not even care whether he was forced or not.

“You have to care,” Bai Heting insisted. “If rumors spread that I would illicitly associate with a guard, someone will doubt the lineage of my children in the future as well. The heir to a country cannot withstand such gossip.”

Bai Jiashu’s expression shifted slightly. Not only because of Bai Heting’s tactful yet explicit compromise, but also because—they both knew exactly how Damasen was founded.

Bai Heting asked softly, “Your Highness, what are you worried about?”

“That is a question I should be asking you,” Bai Jiashu shot back. “Is there anything I need to be worried about?”

Bai Heting shook his head. “No.”

He paused, then added, “But I believe we ought to have a consensus. Anyone who harms me is, without exception, our enemy.”

Bai Jiashu could sense the anger that Shao Yixiao was doing his utmost to suppress through his pheromones, but he ignored it. He merely stared intently at Bai Heting for a long time before calling out toward the door, “Someone come in.”

Shao Yixiao silently stepped away from the door.

Bai Jiashu cast a look of revulsion at the clothes on Bai Heting’s body and instructed the attendants who pushed open the door and entered, “Attend to General Bai’s bath and change of clothes, then escort him back to his mansion safely.”

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