Only when the sun had risen over the horizon did Mu Xueshi finally begin to feel sleepy. He had barely slept before a sound beside the bed woke him again. So the Third Prince normally rose this early. Mu Xueshi could not understand it at all. If he had the prince’s wealth and position, he would spend every day eating, drinking, and amusing himself, perhaps strolling around with a birdcage while flirting with beautiful women.
Deliberately forgetting the embarrassment of the previous night and automatically ignoring his solemn vow of revenge, Mu Xueshi suddenly came alive again and sprang upright behind the Third Prince like a carp leaping from the water.
“I’m getting up early to practice martial arts today!” Mu Xueshi rubbed his dark-rimmed eyes and flashed the Third Prince a brilliant smile.
The Third Prince merely glanced at him and said nothing. Qing Ya and Qing Zhu were helping the prince dress. Watching them made Mu Xueshi itch to have the same treatment, so he shouted toward the doorway, “Qing Yun! Qing Yun! I want Qing Yun! Come dress me too!”
As he shouted, Mu Xueshi shot the Third Prince a deliberately provocative look, as though trying to anger him.
Unfortunately, the Third Prince showed no anger at all and remained perfectly calm. At the sound of Qing Yun’s name, Qing Ya and Qing Zhu’s hands trembled slightly and their faces turned pale, but they continued arranging the prince’s clothes without missing a step.
The Third Prince’s brow twitched, and the two maids withdrew without making a sound.
Mu Xueshi immediately grew awkward. A moment ago he had been full of swagger, but now all that remained was embarrassment. He had called for Qing Yun for ages without getting any response. Even an excuse that she was afraid of the Third Prince would have been better than leaving him standing there like a fool.
Mu Xueshi slunk back to the bed and haphazardly put on his own clothes. The Third Prince disliked other people touching Mu Xueshi and often dressed him personally. If the servants had witnessed such a thing, they would probably have fainted from shock, but Mu Xueshi had always accepted it cheerfully.
Having grown used to that routine, Mu Xueshi had long stopped thinking about how his clothes were actually supposed to be worn. Forced to do it himself this time, he ended up crooked and disheveled. He inspected himself repeatedly in the bronze mirror and kept reassuring himself.
“A handsome man is a handsome man. No matter how he dresses, you can’t hide his charm.”
The Third Prince more or less understood what Mu Xueshi meant. The movements Mu Xueshi thought looked cool seemed unbearably adorable in his eyes. He almost wanted to walk over and tap that little head to see what strange ideas were inside it. But unless overcome by emotion, the Third Prince rarely revealed his true feelings, so he merely smiled faintly from the side.
With the Third Prince in a good mood, the consequences of what Mu Xueshi had said earlier also became less severe. Qing Yun had been reassigned to odd jobs in the embroidery room simply because Mu Xueshi had once said, “Qing Yun is the one I like best,” and she had rarely had any chance to see him since.
The Third Prince knew that if Mu Xueshi discovered the truth, he would certainly make a scene and then become upset, so he did not want the servant mentioned. In his eyes, Mu Xueshi was suited only to lively, mischievous behavior and happy expressions. If anything dark or sorrowful appeared on that face, the Third Prince would spare no effort to erase it.
That was why Qing Yun had kept her life.
Mu Xueshi knew none of this and had no idea what the Third Prince was thinking. He only wanted to do everything he could for the prince. He rose early to train for him, investigated the case for him, and even kept living his carefree life for him. He only hoped that when the day came for him to leave, the Third Prince would remember something good about him.
Mu Xueshi had imagined learning martial arts would happen all at once, the way it did in television dramas: swallow some miraculous pill or sit cross-legged cultivating for a while and suddenly possess immense inner strength. Instead, it was painfully difficult. He had to start with the basics, repeat the same movement hundreds of times, and sometimes hold one stance until part of his body went numb.
Su Ruhan was not as cold and ruthless as the Third Prince, but he was still strict and uncompromising. Several times, Mu Xueshi tried to plead for leniency while the Third Prince was away. He had no desire to become a great martial artist; he only wanted enough skill to defend himself. But Su Ruhan refused to compromise, and whenever Mu Xueshi tried any little trick, the hard ruler in Su Ruhan’s hand came down on his palm.
Smack!
Another hard strike landed right within the Third Prince’s sight. Displeasure had already entered the prince’s eyes, yet Su Ruhan showed no sign of backing down.
When the Third Prince asked Su Ruhan to train Mu Xueshi, he had known exactly what Su Ruhan was like. It was simply the only choice available. If Mu Xueshi had trained directly under the Third Prince, he would have suffered several times worse.
“I need to investigate the case! It’s time to investigate!”
Mu Xueshi spotted the Third Prince from far away. As soon as the prince drew close, he shouted toward Su Ruhan, then darted behind the Third Prince. His reddened hands clutched the prince’s belt as he peeked nervously at Su Ruhan from behind him.