The commander felt that Pei Rumo made sense and he immediately replied, “This subordinate understands. I will be careful with my report after I return. They won’t be able notice anything wrong.”

He turned to leave after speaking.

After seeing that the commander had left, Pei Rumo let out a sigh of relief. He turned and glared at Pei Qingfeng, “Look at what you’ve done! I had to lie to my soldier to cover up for you. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

In fact, Pei Qingfeng was shocked at the sudden appearance of Pei Rumo’s soldier. He never thought that Pei Rumo would cover up for him and he felt a little curious. “Why did you help me? I even thought you would use the chance to get rid of me. Wasn’t I an obstacle in your way?”

Pei Rumo glanced at Bai Luochu from the corner of his eye and he said, “Why are you asking so many questions? I don’t wish for Luo Chu to worry for you.”

After hearing what Pei Rumo said, Pei Qingfeng started to laugh, “I knew it! This is a great move by Your First Highness…” He seemed to have thought of something and he continued, “Then again, I need to thank you. If not for your timely interference, I might not be able to remain here in one piece.” After he spoke, he bowed to Pei Rumo respectfully.

As his first brother, Pei Rumo shamelessly accepted the bow. Even though he didn’t wish for Bai Luochu to be sad, he put in too much effort to cover for Pei Qingfeng. “You should be more careful in the Desolate Region. If anyone wants to make things difficult for you, you’ll be in trouble.”

“I thank Your First Highness for your concern. I will keep your advice in mind.”

“Are you two done? Why don’t you answer my question instead? What is this about the death sentence for sneaking onto a battlefield?!” Bai Luochu snapped when she saw that the two of them were done acting.

Pei Qingfeng felt a headache coming. He couldn’t possibly come clean with her, right? He started to stutter, “Um… Luoluo, I heard the innkeeper say something about hunting some wild animals for lunch. Would you like to try some?”

“Less nonsense! Since you’re willing to say it, I shall ask Pei Rumo instead. Your First Highness, tell me everything.” Bai Luochu was obviously anxious and she hastily turned to Pei Rumo for an explanation.

Glancing at Pei Qingfeng, Pei Rumo saw that his second brother was shaking his head like his life depended on it. With Bai Luochu’s death stare on his face, he knew that he couldn’t lie to her. After fighting a difficult battle in his head, he decided to speak to Pei Qingfeng first. “Now that she knows, you shouldn’t try to hide it any longer. She might start to blame you if you keep trying to hide the truth.” As soon as he spoke, he turned to look at Bai Luochu. “There is a rule in the Cloud Water Nation that without the emperor’s permission, anyone that sneaks into a battle field will be punished with a death sentence.” His voice became softer the more he spoke and it became barely louder than a mosquito’s buzzing when he spoke about the death sentence.

“WHAT?! The two of you are really capable aren’t you?! If not for me learning this information by chance, are you going to hide it from me forever? Are you planning to hide this from me until Pei Qingfeng is sentenced to death? Since you know about the punishment, shouldn’t you stop him?! Even if he comes to the Desolate Region, you should’ve sent him back!” Bai Luochu felt that the two of them were really messing around. 

Are they treating this as a game?! 

“I didn’t stop him as I felt that it would be better if there was another person to take care of you.” As he tried to explain himself, Pei Rumo looked at Pei Qingfeng, as though he was waiting for his brother to speak up for him.

Since Pei Rumo helped him to lie to his soldiers, Pei Qingfeng felt that he would be letting his conscience down if he threw Pei Rumo under the bus. As such, he started to explain to Bai Luochu, “I told him to keep my presence a secret… If you really want to blame someone, blame me. It’s not Pei Rumo’s fault.”

Seeing them still trying to cover up for each other, Bai Luchu felt a ball of anger welling up in her heart. “What great coordination between the two of you! Why didn’t I realize the GREAT relationship between the two of you in the past?!

Both princes lowered their head like a naughty child in front of their parents.

“Enough.” Seeing as the two of them were no longer speaking, Bai Luochu didn’t wish to embarrass them. “Let’s settle the matter with the Desolate Region before thinking of anything else. As for the matter with Pei Qingfeng sneaking onto the battlefield, we’ll hide it the best we can. If we can’t, we should start thinking of an explanation to placate His Majesty.”

Turning to face each other, Pei Rumo and Pei Qingfeng felt that they could only do as she said and they nodded their heads.

…

On the other hand, Lu Wenshu’s expression was extremely ugly.

“What did you say?! The soldier left after listening to Pei Rumo’s order?! He even promised to hide the truth from the rest of the soldiers?!” Lu Wenshu slammed the table and stood up. It was obvious he was shocked that the play wasn’t going according to his plan.

This doesn’t make sense. Pei Rumo and Pei Qingfeng shouldn't see eye to eye. Pei Rumo’s ambitions are huge and he is definitely eyeing the throne. He should be happy to get rid of an obstacle in his path. He had a perfect excuse to get rid of Pei Qingfeng and he didn’t take it?!

“Not just that, the First Prince was defending the Second Prince the best he could. He never raised his voice at his subordinates before. However, he jumped in rage and snapped at the commander who went to find him. This is extremely confusing…” Lu Wenshu’s junior brother started to add fuel to the fire.

Lu Wenshu raised his hand and felt the spirit qi in his body running wild. After calming himself down, he said in a low voice, “It doesn’t matter. Even if this fails to ruffle their feathers, there is definitely a way to make them leave Bai Luochu’s side.”

Seeing Lu Wenshu’s maniacal and sinister expression, his junior brother felt a little afraid. He trembled with fear and said, “Senior Brother… what… what are you planning to do?”