Peerless ( Meng Xi Shi )

Five days had gone by the time Cui Buqu's body was almost fully healed.

During these five days, Khotan had sent a new ambassador. He brought forth another gift—another beautiful jade—and although this piece of jade wasn't as precious as the Jade of Heaven's Lake, it was all the country had. According to the rumours, this beautifully sculptured jade could calm one's mood with the scent it gives off.

Although Yuchi Jinwu's death had taken place outside of the City of Six Crafts, the King of Khotan still wanted to have a good relationship with the Sui Dynasty. Therefore, they had expressed their sincerity. Worried that the jade might never be found, the King sent another jade as a gift as proof of his keenness in the forming of an alliance.

Feng Xiao wrote an official edict to illustrate the situation of the entire case, including the aid lent by the Zuoyue Bureau, and then allow Pei Jingzhe and a few people from the Jiejian Bureau to serve as the ambassador's bodyguards and escort him into the capital. Along with them, Feng Xiao also instructed them to bring Su Xing as a prisoner into the Jiejian Bureau for questioning.

As for Qin Miaoyu, Feng Xiao might or might not have neglected to mention her in the edict.

This woman had a ghostly presence like an invisible passing cloth, shocking and yet left no traces as if she was surreal. Nothing of her presence was left after that. Feng Xiao had not said a thing and Cui Buqu didn't ask; the Khotan ambassador's case was solved, and the Zuoyue Bureau left its mark on its accomplishment, and to Cui Buqu, that was enough. He still had more important things that took priority. It was no doubt Feng Xiao and he kept secrets from each other, but as long as it wasn't necessary to be informed of it, they would refrain from speaking out. After all, too much knowledge may not be a good thing.

For by the end of the day, their both had unique identities

Once his headaches stopped, Cui Buqu fell back into the prior state of his. He refused medicines that were even more bitter than goldthreads and instead instructed Qiao Xiao to make preparations for their westward journey.

When they were electing a companion for Cui Buqu, Qiao Xian and Zhangsun Bodhi discovered that their opinions differentiated.

Zhangsun claimed that he would be a more reliable bodyguard for Cui Buqu as his martial prowess was better.

Qiao Xian claimed that she knew better how to compromise and act according to various situations, and since Zhangsun was one of the Vice Commanders, if he had gone off with Cui Buqu, then they would only be leaving the remaining Vice Commander in the Zuoyue Bureau who didn't know martial arts. This was the reason why Qiao Xian suggested that Zhangsun should return to the capital as quickly as possible to handle state affairs.

As he watched them both argue, Feng Xiao gave a drawled smile, "With me present, does it make a difference whether Zhangsun goes or not?"

It was then Qiao Xian realized that Feng Xiao, too, wanted to go.

Although Feng Xiao too had excellent martial prowess, she held no intentions to treat Feng Xiao like one of her own. On the contrary, she was worried that Feng Xiao might cause trouble along the way.

In the end, Cui Buqu was the one to make the decision. "Zhangsun will return to the capital; Qian Xian and I will be enough."

Qiao Xian, "But..."

Cui Buqu, "If even Lord Feng is unable to guarantee my safety, then the Jiejian Bureau may as well look for a new Commander."

"QuQu, if you put it like that, I will feel pressured~" Feng Xiao purred. He supported his chin and sat in a lazy manner, tumbling left and right. There was a strangely merry around him; he did not look like someone who felt pressured at all.

Since Cui Buqu had spoken, Zhangsun naturally had no objections.

Cui Buqu gave him a half-smile, "Commander Feng, you really need to bear the responsibility of my safety. The case of the Khotan's ambassador might have been solved, but the jade had been damaged. If the Emperor wants to get to the bottom of this, I fear your only choice is to follow me on this journey to take some of this conquest, only then your hard work will not be in vain."

Feng Xiao, "Then I will wait until all has resolved before killing you on the returning journey, and claim all the glory in the name of myself. Wouldn't that be much better?"

Qian Xiao grew furious as she listened to this and glared at him.

But Cui Buqu wasn't the slightest bit worried. If one had such intentions, they would not have said it out loud.

"There is another question: in this journey, the four of us would need disguises and new identities."

What identity? Of course, it's their travelling identities.

Otherwise, even if others would not notice, the appearance of a pair of men and women in the outskirts would have definitely looked strange.

Feng Xiao made a suave expression and suggested: "How does travelling with a merchant group sound?"

Cui Buqu replied: "A reliable merchant group is not easy to find, mostly they would only stop in Qiemo, then presume their journey to the West. We are heading towards a different direction. Though there is an option to masquerade as couples, and so if someone asks questions, we will simply say that we are visiting a distant relative in Kucha as we conducted business along the way."

Feng Xiao raised an eyebrow, "Couples? Who, and who?"

Cui Buqu replied: "Naturally, it would be Qiao Xian and me, you and Jin Lian, both of us are old family friends who did clothing business. In the City of Six Crafts, there is a family named Ye, and in those years their daughter married a merchant from Kucha, they also have a son, who by orders from their parents, is bringing his wife to Kucha to visit his aunt."

Feng Xiao did not expect him to have already made all these preparations. There really was a family that matched these identities. "What sort of husbands brings their wives so far outdoors?"

Cui Buqu smiled, "Because it was quite a coincidence that his wife was originally from Kucha; back in that year, she followed her father into the Central Plains and married Master Ye, and so he brought his wife along with him when he paid a visit to his aunt."

Feng Xiao snorted. "Then I refuse to play husband and wife. Do you think a peerless beauty like myself would marry an elderly woman?"

"That will not be a problem." Cui Buqu replied, "Qiao Xiao is skilled with the arts of disguises. An overly distracting face like yours would attract the disturbance of thieves and bandits. You need to look more mundane."

Feng Xiao touched his own face, just as Cui Buqu thought that he was unwilling to change how he looked, Feng Xiao unexpectedly said: "QuQu, even someone like you think that my face is incredibly distracting? Tell the truth, was it from the first time you laid your eyes on me, you are already in love with me?"

Cui Buqu, "Of course."

Feng Xiao almost thought that this Cui Buqu in front of him now was a fake one. He was stuck in silence for a moment before he suspiciously said: "Why didn't you retort?"

Cui Buqu acted as if it was natural so say so, "Commander Feng, with a face like yours, if one to say that your face did not astound them, it would make that person a hypocrite, only that—"

Feng Xiao, "Alright, no need to continue, I know after 'only that', nothing good lies beyond it."

Cui Buqu smiled, "—only that any decent person would not be able to see you the same way again after having spent a day with you."

Feng Xiao '....'

Those words from Cui Buqu made Feng Xiao doubt himself for the entire day. On the journey back, he even asked Pei Jingzhe, "Do you think that he is praising me or criticizing me?"

Pei Jingzhe twitched his lips, "From a certain aspect, it can be considered praising, I suppose."

Feng Xiao answered with an "En", and added, "I also know that that last sentence he added is just to hide the fact that his heart is moved."

After that, he added. "Haha! The Zuoyue Bureau's Commander; having such a rare intelligent of a man falling for me truly made my mood feel good. Seeing how he just praised me, I will just deign myself and consent to travel with him!"

Pei Jingzhe wanted to remind him: Are you forgetting his last sentence? What I mean is the first half, but the main point is the second half of what he said!

In other words, Cui Buqu meant that no normal person would have allowed themselves to fall for Feng Xiao.

But Feng Xiao had completely forgotten that second half of the sentence, including Pei Jingzhe's reaction and words. He hummed a small tune and headed towards the direction he wanted to go, feeling that he would have a pleasant dream tonight.

Cui Buqu did not know what pleasant dream Feng Xiao dreamt; what he knew was that on the second day, Feng Xiao's entire person seemed to be practically glowing. Jin Lian, who had met all varying sorts of people in the world, found Feng Xiao more stunning under the sunlight. There was freshness radiating off of him like cherry blossom flowers being shoved under her nose, enough for her to engrave this sight of him into her mind for the rest of her life.

Göktürks valued their five senses and pursued strength; if a man is broad and tall, they would not be as pretty and handsome as Feng Xiao. Feng Xiao's rare beauty was not the sort of tender beauty at all, for it was an illusion hiding the strength that could kill anyone beneath it.

Even someone of Jin Lian's age found her heart thumping.

Cui Buqu glared at Feng Xiao.

Why was it that the oleander seemed to have become even bolder overnight, and going around seducing everyone in sight?

Feng Xiao noticed his glare and smiled as a reply. In his heart, he said: Seeing that it's you, I'll allow you to look at me a few more seconds.

Cui Buqu could not understand what he was thinking, as a cloud of confusion hovered over his head.

Feng Xiao was born proud; he has a dashing look on the outside and an insurmountable amount of strength inside. He was also intelligent, a rarity found in the world. So it was natural that his standards were also high. For more than twenty years, the people who fell for him were uncountable, among these people was the princess from the Imperial Court, but none of them caught his eye. Those whom he viewed as a rival were even more scarce; if the number one fighter of Göktürk, Fo Er knew that Feng Xiao only thought of him as half a rival, he would have died from self-destructing in anguish.

But Cui Buqu was an exception; in the few times the both of them fought, Feng Xiao neither gained nor lost anything. Even now, he had to accompany him to the Kingdom of Göktürk—these sorts of troublesome work was never the sort of work Feng Xiao would let himself do, yet his pursuit for perfection on this matter carries on until now. Because he had participated from the beginning, and he did not wish to abandon it now, he would rather continue until the end. On the way, it was even convenient for him to observe whether the Zuoyue Bureau had assets in the West that he could make use of.

Time and time again he made an exception because of Cui Buqu; this was enough to prove that the other was special, and from how Feng Xiao perceived it, perhaps Cui Buqu could not be considered a friend, but he was certainly a worthy rival.

Especially when the other was fragile and often fell ill, it made him more attractive when he schemed and laid his plans.

Feng Xiao admitted that he was more and more interested in Cui Buqu. In fact, he was keen on seizing more chances for them to interact.

During their journey to the West, these chances are aplenty.

Under much begging from Cui Buqu, Qiao Xian gave in and changed Feng Xiao's exterior looks. Except for the fact that his eyes were naturally very beautiful; no matter how she changed his looks she couldn't cover his eyes. She could only strive for other alternatives such as changing his skin colour, making them darker and then making him wear some rough and tattered clothing.

But Feng Xiao's face darkened when Qiao Xian started adding some soil and dust to his hair.

"This will do." He rejected when Qiao Xian wanted to add more grasses and ash to his head. Having a dark skin colour was already his bottom line.

Qiao Xiao was displeased. "How could someone from a normal family groom their hair into one like yours? They're busy trying to feed themselves, so how would they find the time to pay attention to their looks?"

Cui Buqu also changed his own clothes, but his face looked so dignified and gentle that he did not look like a merchant at all. So Qiao Xian did something to his face, making his facial features look rough and jagged.

He knew that Feng Xiao's weird obsession over cleanliness was taking effect, so he raised the teacup to his lips and said: "I have a way, so that you don't need to dirty your hair, and there's no need to make your skin darker either."

Feng Xiao raised his eyebrows and waited for the rest of his word, he knew that Cui Buqu never is so kind as to offer a good idea.

As he expected, the other said, "A disguise as a beautiful woman."