“Heh…” The Third Prince suddenly laughed. Then, with open mockery, he said, “So my Qinyi Courtyard has celestial soldiers and heavenly generals hiding in it. If we mere mortals have shown the immortal any neglect, I hope you will forgive us.”
Mu Xueshi chuckled awkwardly. The movement pulled at the patchy black paste on his face and made him look even more ridiculous. Earlier, the child had been too fascinated by Mu Xueshi’s eyes to pay attention to the rest of his face. Now, seeing him smile from a distance, he began wriggling gleefully in the Third Prince’s arms and giggling too.
“It’s fine. Your hospitality is passable. Good food, decent lodging. If you arranged a couple of beauties for me too, it’d be perfect. Hehe…”
From the moment Mu Xueshi saw the Third Prince, his scalp had prickled and unease had crawled through him. He only said those things now to lighten the mood. What he did not understand was why he seemed to fear the Third Prince instinctively. Back at school, there had been bullies too, yet Chen Youzai had always enjoyed charging straight into trouble, as if provoking them somehow made him look cool.
“Su Ying.”
At the Third Prince’s call, the child’s laughter stopped instantly. Su Ying looked up at him, saw his expression, and did not dare make another sound. His little mouth drooped lower and lower until tears rolled silently down his cheeks like pearls from a broken string. He looked utterly miserable.
Outside Qinyi Courtyard, the Second Prince had already arrived with his men and searched the surrounding area, but Su Ying was nowhere to be found. Su Ying was the Second Prince’s son. The Second Prince had become a father at fifteen, and although Su Ying was now six, he still doted on him as if he were a baby. As a result, Su Ying had grown up mischievous and spoiled, while the older generation treated him as a source of endless amusement. The Emperor was especially fond of this young imperial grandson. Apart from the Third Prince, Su Ying was probably the most favored youngster at his side.
“Your Highness, should we force our way inside? I believe Su Ying is in the Third Prince’s residence. If we keep waiting out here, who knows how long it will take?” Guan Rong, the guard beside the Second Prince, bowed as he spoke.
The Second Prince looked completely at ease. Even if he felt some urgency inside, his usual careless expression never changed. Among all the princes in the palace, his patience was probably unmatched. Anyone who tried to wear him down would be the first to surrender.
Although everyone in the palace, including the young Su Ying, feared the Third Prince, the Second Prince had always treated him much the same as the other princes. The only thing he would not do was enter the Third Prince’s courtyard without permission. That was one of the Third Prince’s taboos, and the Second Prince had no desire to invite trouble. Carefree and unrestrained by nature, he disliked getting involved in the palace’s struggles for power. As far as he was concerned, if he could spend his life playing happily with Su Ying, he wanted nothing more.
Guan Rong was still asking for instructions when the Second Prince lifted a hand and stopped him. Guan Rong understood and stepped quietly aside to await orders.
By now, the Second Prince was certain Su Ying was inside Qinyi Courtyard. His own Hanhui Palace stood nearby, and apart from visiting the Emperor, Su Ying rarely went anywhere except the Third Prince’s residence.
The Third Prince normally refused outsiders entry, but there was a small water channel on the southern side of the courtyard that Su Ying could easily crawl through. If he found something interesting, he might stay and play for an entire day. If nothing caught his attention, he would slip back out before the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
Su Ying had an excellent sense of direction and usually wandered off to play without servants accompanying him. The Second Prince indulged him almost without limit and rarely refused him anything. If Su Ying wanted to go off by himself, the Second Prince never sent anyone to follow. Only when he had been gone too long would the Second Prince bring people out to search for him.