“Your Highness, I’ve heard the Third Prince has taken Grand Tutor Mu’s unsightly son into his manor… as a male companion,” Guan Rong whispered beside the Second Prince.
The Second Prince was too occupied playing with Su Ying to pay him any mind.
The child ran ahead clutching a round bamboo windmill, laughter bright in the air. The Second Prince followed behind, feigning breathlessness, all to coax joy from the boy he cherished.
“Come on! You can’t catch me!” Su Ying panted, his small chest rising and falling, already tired.
The Second Prince could not bear to let him run further. He collapsed theatrically into a wicker chair beside the flower pool.
“No more, no more—Daddy’s legs are broken! I can’t catch Lord Su Ying!”
“Wrong!” Su Ying declared, hands on hips. “Call me Immortal Su Ying! I descended from the heavens to capture you, wicked demon!”
“Yes, yes, Immortal Su Ying.”
He opened his arms, and the boy threw himself into his embrace.
Ever since Su Ying had been rescued from the Third Prince’s courtyard, the Second Prince forbade him from returning there. Yet the child often spoke of “a motionless immortal” in that courtyard—an immortal with two demon-colored pearls upon his face.
He wept and begged the Second Prince to find that immortal and those jeweled pearls.
The Second Prince did not understand. Why was Su Ying so fixated on that treasure? No toy could distract him. Even in sleep, he murmured about those demon pearls.
It stirred curiosity within him. What beauty could captivate a child accustomed to countless treasures?
Lost in thought, he felt someone clear their throat. He looked down to find Su Ying fast asleep in his arms, long lashes resting upon fair cheeks curved in faint contentment.
Tenderness flooded his heart. He pressed a gentle kiss to the boy’s smooth brow.
“Your Highness, did you hear what I said earlier?” Guan Rong persisted.
“What was it?” the Second Prince asked absently, patting Su Ying’s back.
Guan Rong leaned close again. “The Third Prince has taken Grand Tutor Mu’s ugly son as a male consort.”
The Second Prince merely sneered.
“Even monks have days when they taste meat. The Third Prince’s taste is… unique.”
Seeing his lord unmoved, Guan Rong added slyly, “Rumors outside say that Your Highness is the same.”
The Second Prince shot him a sidelong glance—danger flickering in his eyes.
“What kind of man am I?”
Guan Rong faltered, yet pressed on.
“They say there are two ascetic princes in the palace. One is the Third Prince… and the other is Your Highness.”
He hesitated before continuing.
“Have you considered taking another consort—or perhaps a few male attendants—to silence such talk? Since the Third Prince’s affair, you alone bear the gossip. Ever since the Young Prince was born, Your Highness has devoted your whole heart to him. Do you not consider your future—”
“Enough. Leave.”
The Second Prince’s eyes lowered, displeasure darkening his features.
Guan Rong withdrew with a sigh.
The Second Prince gazed down at the sleeping child. In his heart, ten thousand consorts or beauties could not compare to a single brow or eye of Su Ying.
He pressed his cheek gently against the boy’s, savoring the quiet warmth—
Then suddenly felt heat radiating from the child’s skin.
Alarmed, he removed the boy’s small fur robe and inner garments, revealing smooth pale skin. The red mark upon Su Ying’s body had grown slightly larger.
He touched it lightly.
It burned.
The heat spread outward—the same warmth he had just felt against his cheek.
He recalled how easily Su Ying had grown fatigued of late, how quickly he fell asleep in his arms. At first, the imperial physicians had claimed it was nothing—merely youthful weakness.
Yet these symptoms had begun only after leaving the Third Prince’s residence.
A chill pierced his heart.
Lowering his gaze to the serene face in his arms, the Second Prince’s eyes filled with unprecedented fear.
Futile Devices Scans 
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