"Your Imperial Majesty, we need to follow that man." Xi Chen said urgently as his eyes followed the man's rapidly retreating body.

Ye An who was in a daze immediately went on high alert at the change of his tone. "Who is it?"

"It's the person who shot you during the Annual Hunt."

After that incident at the Annual Hunt, Xi Chen tried his best to track the perpetrator down but he never came close to a conclusion. But he finally bumped into the man here.

"Then let's go." Ye An said, recording the scent that she caught from the man in her mind.

Both of them waded through the crowd as they tailed the man to a secluded area that was away from the hubbub of the town. They nearly lost him a few times when he turned around the corners as they followed him into the slums of the southern plains. Unlike the buildings that she saw earlier which were well-kept despite their humble architecture, the buildings here were dilapidated and abandoned. Some of the buildings only had tarps as their roof and trash was scattered everywhere around the closely-packed buildings.

The man entered one of the larger residences in the area. From the outside, it seemed like the large property even had a few buildings in it. However, it was also in the same state of disrepair as the rest of the buildings surrounding it.

"What now? Do we follow him in?" Ye An asked in a whisper as they peered over the side of a building that was a short distance away from the residence.

"No, let's wait out here. It would only cause trouble for us if he has more people hidden in the building." Xi Chen said, his eyes never leaving the entrance.

After a few quiet minutes, there was a commotion at the entrance.

A silver-haired lady was chasing the man out with a broom. "Go! I don't want to see you! Go before I kill myself!"

"Why won't you come back to the capital with me?!" The man bellowed.

"Go! Don't bother me anymore!" The elderly lady slammed the door on the man's face.

The man sighed and turned away from the door and that was when Ye An finally saw the man's face. "Isn't that Minister Peng?"

"That explains it." Xi Chen mumbled.

Minister Peng had been taking a leave of absence for the past few weeks since the hunt. It was no wonder that Xi Chen wasn't able to catch him.

"Shouldn't we apprehend him now?" Ye An asked.

The workings in Xi Chen's brain quickly clicked into place. "No, we've identified him. So it's just a matter of time that he's apprehended. But we do need to know if there's more to this."

Both of them watched Minister Peng leave.

"Let's go, Your Imperial Majesty. We need to know who's the lady that he was meeting." Xi Chen prompted Ye An to follow him.

Xi Chen walked up to the doors and knocked. They heard the angry shuffling of footsteps.

"I told you to leave, didn't I?!" The lady yelled from behind the closed doors.

Without further ado, Xi Chen thought of a lie that would appeal to the elderly woman. "My apologies, we're lost. We just wanted to ask for directions."

The doors were immediately unlatched as the elderly lady apologized. "My apologies for being rude, gentlemen. I thought you were my foolish son who's back to pester me."

Ye An and Xi Chen exchanged a look at that information. So, this was Minister Peng's mother. Now, why did a mother of a government official chose to live here instead when she could be lavished in luxury if she was to live with her son?

As the elderly lady lifted her eyes up to look at Xi Chen properly, her eyes widened.

Noticing the elderly lady's intense gaze, Xi Chen asked, "Uh.. Do you know me?"

"O-of course not. Why don't you both come in for some tea. You look like you've traveled really far."

Ye An looked pondered at the peculiar interaction between the elderly lady and Xi Chen before answering. "Sure."

********

"So both of you are from the capital?" The elderly lady asked as they settled down in the bare sitting room.

"Yes." Ye An answered as she surveyed the room. There were some cracks on the walls and the few pieces of furniture that were in the room were rickety but the room was tidy and well-cared for.

"Have any of you been to the northern region?" The elderly lady asked out of the blue, mainly directing this question to Xi Chen. Xi Chen couldn't shake the feeling that this lady knew, or at least recognized him from somewhere. He tried combing through his memories to pinpoint if he had ever met this silver-haired lady, but he came up empty.

Even so, Xi Chen decided to answer honestly. "I'm actually from there. Lived there since I could remember and then joined the military after."

"I assume that you live there with your parents?" The elderly lady continued. Even Ye An could sense that she was giving Xi Chen a little too much attention.

"Oh, no. My grandparents. My uh- adoptive grandparents."

The elderly lady pursed her lips at this information. With a determined gaze, she asked Xi Chen, "I hope that you won't think that I'm rude for asking this. But are your adoptive grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Hua? Are you Xi Chen?"

Xi Chen cocked his head as he frowned. "How did you-"

Before Xi Chen could finish his question, the elderly lady burst into tears as she hugged him. "You're alive! You're alive! Thank goodness!"

Xi Chen was dumbfounded by the sudden outburst as he helplessly looked at Ye An who was also surprised by the sudden turn of events.

"How do you know my name?" Xi Chen asked. "And did you know my grandparents?"

It took the elderly tremendous effort to stop herself from sobbing endlessly. "I'm so glad that you're alive. Your mother would be so happy if she knew."

"You knew my mother?"

"Yes, of course. She was really kind to me."

"But how?"

"Oh, silly me. I still haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm Lady Peng. I'm the mother of the late Lieutenant General Peng."

"Oh, my condolences." Once again, Xi Chen exchanged looks with Ye An as they put two and two together. Peng was a pretty common surname, so they never made the connection that Lieutenant General Peng and Minister Peng might have been brothers.

"Don't worry about it. I've cut off ties with him long ago." Lady Peng cut off curtly.

"Oh."

"It's alright. He did some.. Really bad things that I couldn't forgive him." She looked back at Xi Chen. "But I'm glad that you're still able to grow up healthily despite it all."

"What? I don't think I'm following what you're saying." Xi Chen said with his furrowed brows.

"Didn't Mr. and Mrs. Hua ever tell you that you're the son of the late General Xia?"

"General Xia? But my surname is Yun."

"They might've changed it to protect you. No one in the entire country has that surname other than your household. Did Mr. and Mrs. Hua ever tell you not to go to the capital?"

"Yes." Xi Chen answered without thinking about it too much.

This caught Ye An's attention. "They did? But why?"

"Why indeed. It was to protect you, Xi Chen." Lady Peng murmured with her eyes lowered. "Your entire family was.. Assassinated at the capital.."

Both Ye An and Xi Chen was caught by their feet with the sudden revelation, Xi Chen especially so. Like every other orphaned child, he had always wondered about his biological family. The times when he asked his adoptive grandparents about them would be in the thousands. But they never gave him a straight answer and he had a feeling that they didn't really want to speak about it so he stopped after a while. At the time, the only thing that mattered to him was the fact that he was living happily with his grandparents. That was enough for him.

Xi Chen swallowed despite his dry mouth before he asked. "What do you mean assassinated? Why?"

"Your father, the late General Xia, was best friends with the late Emperor Lee Hwi. Your father might be a military man but he was also well-versed in literature and arts. It was even said that the emperor admired the multi-talented late general. The Xia residence was built just outside the walls of the Imperial Palace. It was the first and probably the only private residence that was allowed to be built in such close proximity to the palace. But I believe the buildings were demolished now."

"I wasn't there when it happened. But I heard that he was trying to stop the rebellion when he was killed. And the rebels proceeded to the Xia residence to murder the entire Xia family. Mr. and Mrs. Hua were servants who worked with your mother. I helped them escape with you. I'm sorry I was too late. That was the only thing I could do."

Xi Chen's tea was left untouched. His hazel eyes were suddenly blazing with unuttered emotions.

"Your mother and I.. We were close. I've never had a daughter, so I treated her like one. Even though we lived far from each other at the time, we would meet up for tea whenever we're in the same region. I visited the Xia residence when you were born. When I saw you bundled up in your mother's arms, I was instantly smitten. And your mother, she had such pride in her eyes. Do you know that you have your mother's eyes? Exactly the same color and shape. When I look at your eyes now, it brings me back to all those years ago."

Lady Peng stopped to sip at her tea. She took a deep breath and continued. "I think I need to apologize to you on behalf of my son's actions. The late Lieutenant General Peng had always been short-sighted. I feel like his younger brother is following in his footsteps now. I could only blame myself for not raising both of my foolish sons right."

"What do you mean?" Xi Chen asked quietly.

The reluctance in Lady Peng's facial expression was clear to both Ye An and Xi Chen. The pause hanging between them was like a tightly pulled rope splintering until only a thin thread was left to hold it together. She bit her lip before answering. "I knew about this years after the rebellion. But the late Lieutenant General Peng was the one who led the men into the Xia residence."

Xi Chen put his cup down with a little bit more force than he intended to. "My apologies if you think that I'm being crass but I don't think I want to hear about it anymore."

"O-of course." Lady Peng stuttered, surprised by the change in Xi Chen's demeanor.

Xi Chen stood up abruptly. "Thanks for the tea. I think it's time that we get going."

He left without waiting for Ye An.

"Oh. Um. Thank you for the tea." Ye An thanked Lady Peng before rushing out.

When she caught up with Xi Chen, she could sense the gloominess surrounding him.

"Should we head back to the temple now?" Ye An asked gently.

Xi Chen nodded without uttering a single word.

*******

It was late when they finally arrived back at the temple. The gates were already closed to the public so they entered through a secret side door. As usual, Xi Chen escorted Ye An back before heading back to his own chambers.

Ye An tossed in her bed for an hour before getting up and tying an outer robe over her night robes. She left her chambers and tried to locate Xi Chen's chambers. Ye An reached the base of a mountain that formed a natural barrier behind the temple and saw a small pond. The pond was surrounded by chambers that were smaller than hers. Only one still had a dim light lit up in it. She could see a faint shadow of a man sitting against the doors through the translucent paper screen that covered the wooden doorframe and recognized Xi Chen's wide shoulders.

Xi Chen had been sitting there since he entered the room. Hugging his legs to his body and looking out of the open window in the room blankly. The light in his room was the one he lit before he went out earlier and its flame was slowly dying. The only other light in the room was the bright moonlight shining through the swaying willow that draped over the window. He didn't know how long he stayed there until there was a gentle knock on the door. Xi Chen could feel the vibration on the door frame from the knock at the small of his back.

"Xi Chen, are you alright?" Ye An spoke softly through the door.

Xi Chen didn't answer. He finally understood how Ye An must've felt when Governess Hsu told her the truth about her father. And she would've felt so much worse than what he was feeling right now.

"Xi Chen?" Ye An prompted gently.

"Please leave, Your Imperial Majesty."

"Not until I'm sure that you're alright." Ye An declared.

Xi Chen didn't answer that. Ye An then sat down on the other side of the door, her back was also against the door frame. Xi Chen could almost feel Ye An's steady breathing through the door as he continued to stare at the full moon.

"I'm sure that you don't want to talk about it so I won't even ask if you want to." Ye An's statement seemed to fall on deaf ears. But she knew that Xi Chen was listening.

Some time passed before she continued.

"Come to think of it. If things were normal, if that rebellion didn't happen and things weren't so convoluted, we might have met each other under more normal circumstances. You as the son of a general, me as the daughter of the emperor. We might even have been childhood playmates." Ye An smiled wryly on the other side.

"How bizarre." Xi Chen commented, the tone in his voice colorless.

"And maybe.. This is a huge maybe, so don't let it get to your head. Maybe I'll be the sort of maiden who has a childhood crush on the general's son." Ye An tried to make a joke to cheer Xi Chen up.

Xi Chen finally cracked a smile at the normalcy in the image that those words painted in his mind. "That would have been a nice normal life to have."

"Indeed, isn't it?" Ye An smiled bitterly. Life would have been much simpler. Of course, Ye An wasn't naïve enough to think that it would all be flowers and butterflies, but at least it would be a life as close to normal as it could be.

Packing her thoughts away, Ye An said. "Do you remember what you said to me last time? About how I'm still Lee Ye An no matter what?"

Xi Chen gave out a scoff at how laughable his effort at consoling her must have been.

Ye An continued. "To me, you are still Xi Chen, no matter what. You're not just a capable lieutenant in your own right, but you're a friend that I'll gladly trust my life with. And I admire your honesty, integrity, and most importantly, your goodness."

Ye An paused before she continued. "I know it's unfair for me to make such a request but I hope that knowing this truth about what happened to your family won't change those qualities that I see in you."

If Xi Chen was to be honest, he had dark thoughts when he learned about the truth earlier. He was livid. He went from spending his entire life not knowing a single thing about his biological family to wanting bloody revenge. He was furious that the late Lieutenant General Peng wasn't here anymore. He was furious that he lost the chance to hurt him. The thought of hurting other people related to the late Lieutenant General even crossed his mind during his red haze. Xi Chen bit the small of his bottom lip until it bled. How could he even think of hurting Lady Peng who was nothing but apologetic and sweet? She even helped save him all those years ago. Xi Chen wound his whole body into a tighter ball, burrowing his head into his knees.

Ye An felt Xi Chen's back leave the door. "Xi Chen? Are you still listening?"

When she didn't get an answer, Ye An turned to slid the door open gingerly and found Xi Chen curled up into himself. Ye An sighed as she walked into the room and closed the door.

"Xi Chen?" Ye An rubbed at Xi Chen's arm gently.

Xi Chen lifted his head weakly and Ye An was surprised to see tears in his eyes. His voice was barely a whisper as he admitted, "I thought of hurting Lady Peng just now."

Without thinking, she naturally held his face in her hands as she wiped away his tears with the pad of her thumbs. "Shh.. It's alright. I understand."

She noticed Xi Chen's broken lip and wiped off the blood there as well. Next, she did something she couldn't even begin to understand.

She kissed him.

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