Chapter 124

Rong Tang and the others had left the palace with Ke Hongxue, but their journey was delayed when Yuanyuan jumped onto their carriage, forcing a change of route. By the time they arrived at the Mu residence, Mu Jingxu had already washed up and was lying on the bed, applying medicine to his wounds.

Hearing the commotion, Lil’ Bro Mu was momentarily taken aback. He pulled a robe on, adjusted the collar, and sat up.

His pale skin peeked out from his collar, his face carrying an air of nobility and aloofness that made him seem untouchable. Yuanyuan’s eyes lit up at the sight, and he murmured softly, “Another handsome gege…”

Su Huaijing already found this little brat insufferable. Upon hearing this, his temper flared. He bent down, grabbed the child’s shoulders, and demanded, “At sixty, you call them ‘da jiejie.’ At twenty, you call them ‘gege.’ Now, someone pushing thirty is still ‘gege,’ yet I alone am ‘shushu’? Why?”

Yuanyuan darted behind Rong Tang, mumbling in a small voice, “Because you’re fierce.”

For a moment, Su Huaijing had the overwhelming urge to smack this little brat. But before he could act, Mu Jingxu frowned slightly and cut in, “What’s going on? Who is this child?”

Su Huaijing turned away and said impatiently, “A little thief.”

“I am not!” Yuanyuan popped his head out from behind Rong Tang and shouted indignantly.

Su Huaijing shot him a glare, his anger barely contained, his voice turning cold. “Lying again?”

When the main villain lost his temper, Yuanyuan dared to argue and cause a scene. But now, Su Huaijing was calm—his face impassive, his voice steady, carrying only authority, no visible anger. That was far more terrifying. Yuanyuan’s defiance immediately wilted. He lowered his head and mumbled a weak defence, his voice trembling as he teared up, “I… I paid for it…”

“And where did the money come from?” Su Huaijing pressed.

Yuanyuan clamped his mouth shut.

Su Huaijing shot him a cold glance before looking away. The room fell into an oppressive silence.

Mu Jingxu frowned and shifted slightly, letting out a low groan of pain.

Su Huaijing instantly became alert. He strode over, bent down, and reached for Mu Jingxu’s shoulder to check his wound. But before he could, Mu Jingxu raised his gaze, locking eyes with him. His silent stare made it clear—he wasn’t going to let him look.

They remained in a stalemate for a moment. In the end, Su Huaijing relented and spoke in a low voice, “The Crown Prince of Dasui.”

Yuanyuan froze, as if he had been thrown into an ice-cold abyss, staring at Su Huaijing in disbelief.

Rong Tang gently pulled him into an embrace, offering quiet reassurance.

Ke Hongxue, who had been watching the scene unfold in silence, suddenly chuckled, breaking the heavy atmosphere. He walked over to Yuanyuan, crouched down, and smiled. “It’s just a bit of money. What’s the big deal? Where did you get it? Whose was it? Tell shushu, and I’ll return it for you.”

[…Indulgence!] the system grumbled furiously.

Yuanyuan’s eyes were swollen from crying. It took him a long while to realise that his attempts at deception had failed from the very start. In a small voice, he finally admitted, “…The Fifth Prince…”

Ke Hongxue blinked. “Aaa?”

Yuanyuan hesitated before elaborating, “That… that lame prince. He was the only one carrying a coin pouch. No one else had one.”

After a pause, he couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, “So stingy…”

The system momentarily crashed. Rong Tang was briefly stunned before quietly stepping away, turning his head to suppress a laugh.

Su Huaijing, who had been standing beside Mu Jingxu’s bed with a heavy heart froze. He was troubled by the thought that his da ge’s son had already started acting like a little thug at such a young age. His expression flickered with disbelief as he turned to look at Yuanyuan in astonishment.

Yuanyuan, already on edge from Su Huaijing’s stern presence all night, gasped and clutched at Ke Hongxue’s robes, hiding behind him like a bullied child.

Ke Hongxue, realising what had just happened, burst into laughter and couldn’t stop for quite some time.

If this were a child of his own family’s, he would have praised him for his keen judgment… learning to rob the rich and aid the poor at such a young age. But this was the only child of his senior’s lineage. One wrong word and he’d be accused of leading the boy astray. So, Ke Hongxue wisely chose silence, though his eyes shone with open admiration as he regarded little Yuanyuan.

And so, in the room:

The crouching shushu was a good person. The standing gege was a good person. The beautiful gege reclining on the bed was a good person. Only the shushu standing at the bedside was terrifying.

Super terrifying.

Extremely, absurdly terrifying.

What kind of civilised adult bullied a child?

Yuanyuan huffed indignantly, looking at Su Huaijing with a gaze full of grievance, injustice, and resentment.

Mu Jingxu had listened to the entire exchange and finally made sense of the situation. For a moment, he even forgot the pain in his back. He frowned and gave Su Huaijing a meaningful look.

Su Huaijing exhaled in frustration. “If you have something to say, xiong zhang, just say it.”

Mu Jingxu was silent for a moment before speaking mildly, “I never scolded you when you stole your si jie’s cakes as a child.”

“…”

The implication was clear: Su Huaijing was being too harsh on a child.

For a moment, the main villain felt utterly wronged. But this was his own ge. And that was his own nephew. He couldn’t scold him. He couldn’t hit him. He could only keep his mouth shut and suffer in silence.

Rong Tang, having suppressed his amusement, stepped forward, grasped Su Huaijing’s wrist, and said gently, “It’s not that Huaijing is too harsh. If a child isn’t properly taught from a young age, it’ll be much harder to correct them when they’re older.”

Mu Jingxu nodded. “That’s true.”

But when his gaze landed on the little dumpling-like child standing in his room, who was crying so hard that snot bubbles were forming. His expression softened, and he changed his tone. “…But you also can’t be too harsh.”

Su Huaijing: “…”

Su Xiao Qi wanted to go back to Yong’an Lane right this instant!

After soothing the little one, Rong Tang turned his attention to the bigger one. He gently squeezed Su Huaijing’s wrist, signalled for Ke Hongxue to take Yuanyuan out, then turned to Mu Jingxu and said in a calm voice, “Yuanyuan jumped into our carriage. Some of what he says is true, some is likely not. But keeping a closer eye on him won’t do any harm. Huaijing and I would like to keep him with us for a couple more days.”

Mu Jingxu frowned slightly, then nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

Rong Tang continued, “But he doesn’t get along well with Huaijing, and we can’t impose on you for too long. You’re injured, and Ke Hongxue already has his hands full looking after you. If Yuanyuan stays here too, it might be too much trouble.”

Mu Jingxu hesitated. In truth, he would recover much better at home. Now that he could get out of bed, apart from the slight pain when changing his dressing, everything else was bearable. But once he left the residence and resumed his duties at the Imperial Court of Justice, the strain would inevitably cause his injury to worsen.

Rong Tang saw the hesitation in his expression and felt a sense of relief. Seizing the opportunity, he urged, “It’s the Longevity Festival, and all officials have three days off. But once that’s over, xiong zhang, you’ll still have to attend court. I was wondering… could you request leave and rest for ten days, maybe even half a month?”

He continued, “If you’re worried about offending His Majesty, there’s no need. Everyone saw you at tonight’s Longevity Banquet. When your wound reopened and bled onto your white robe, even if no one spoke of it openly, the palace eunuchs must have noticed. They’ll report it to His Majesty soon enough.”

“The Emperor is deeply superstitious, and nothing unsettles him more than omens. Seeing blood on his birthday… he will surely take it as an ill omen. Besides—” Rong Tang paused, glancing at Su Huaijing. When the latter gave him a look of silent approval, he continued, “Besides, His Majesty may have suffered a fright tonight.”

He left it at that, but Mu Jingxu immediately caught on. “Earl Wukang?”

Su Huaijing gave a slight nod.

Rong Tang added, “Afterwards, we can have Huaijing work behind the scenes to shape the narrative. His Majesty must come to see you as a benefactor. Someone who, before the banquet ended, had already warned him, only for his caution to go unheeded, resulting in the later attack. Even if the Emperor doesn’t entirely believe it, he will at least be wary of you and would much prefer you to stay home and recover properly.”

Su Huaijing remained silent, his expression unreadable.

The plan was risky, but if it succeeded, the benefits would be long-lasting. Mu Jingxu knew this. He was tempted, yet hesitant. He turned to Su Huaijing, seeking reassurance.

At last, Su Huaijing spoke. But what he said was, “The child said his uncle wants to deliver him to an inter-royal marriage with Eldest Princess Duanyi.”

Mu Jingxu froze, his eyes widening in disbelief as he looked at Su Huaijing, as if asking, How is that even possible?

Su Huaijing explained, “Perhaps it’s not a marriage. There may be another arrangement. He didn’t catch everything, but what he did say was that he ran away tonight of his own accord. He jumped onto our carriage and begged us to take him away.”

Yuanyuan’s life in Dasui had not been good. Even his status as crown prince might not be as simple as it seemed.

No monarch would allow the heir—his only child from the Empress—to die while on a diplomatic mission abroad.

And no one would send a mere ten-year-old boy to wed the widowed Eldest Princess.

There were too many mysteries surrounding this child. Su Huaijing couldn’t just turn a blind eye.

Neither could Mu Jingxu.

Upon hearing this, Mu Jingxu furrowed his brows. “Are you confident?”

He was asking about Rong Tang’s plan and whether he was tying his own health to the Emperor’s fortune.

Su Huaijing nodded. “Sixty percent.”

“That’s enough,” Mu Jingxu said. “Just make sure there’s no evidence left behind. I’ll request leave after the festival.”

Sixty percent meant considerable risk, but Mu Jingxu trusted Su Huaijing. And even though he trusted him, he still cautioned him to erase all traces, just in case things went wrong. So that if the worst happened, the blame would fall solely on him.

Su Huaijing didn’t approve, but he still gave a small nod.

He insisted on checking Mu Jingxu’s injury, so Rong Tang left the room, giving them privacy.

Outside, Ke Hongxue sat on the steps beneath the eaves, an empty bowl in his hands. The child, exhausted from crying all night, had curled up on his lap and fallen asleep.

As Rong Tang emerged, Ke Hongxue lifted a finger to his lips and gestured shh, wary of waking Yuanyuan.

Rong Tang raised a brow, puzzled.

This child had had the presence of mind to change into Dayu clothing before running away, and he had hidden his identity well. He should have been extremely cautious and guarded. So how was he able to fall asleep, just like that, on Ke Hongxue’s lap?

Did Tutor Ke have some kind of magic when it came to coaxing children?

Should the main villain take notes?

As Rong Tang was thinking this, Su Huaijing stepped out of the room. His fingers, having just been washed, were slightly pale from the water. He must have reapplied Mu Jingxu’s medicine.

Seeing the two figures on the steps, his gaze flickered slightly. Then, without a word, he turned his head away and let out a cold huff.

Rong Tang was nearly overwhelmed by how adorable he was. He walked over, took Su Huaijing’s hand, and smiled so widely that his eyes curved. “Shall we go home?”

Su Huaijing nodded. “Alright.”

Rong Tang rubbed his stomach. “I’m a little hungry. How about we stop by for a bowl of wontons?”

Su Huaijing nodded again. “Alright.”

The two of them strolled down the garden path. Just as they were about to step through the moon gate, Rong Tang caught sight of Su Huaijing subtly glancing back. At the same moment, behind them, there was a soft creak as someone, dressed in a moon-white robe, stepped out.

Inside and out, all eyes fell on the child sleeping on the steps. Their gazes were softer than the moonlight itself, filled with emotion and nostalgia.

Rong Tang’s heart melted. He shook his head slightly, even more convinced that the so-called main villain was all bark and no bite.

But just as he turned back around, Su Huaijing looked at him very seriously and said, “Tangtang, let’s never have children. They’re too much trouble.”

Rong Tang: “…?”

Do you even hear yourself?