Su Ruhan’s gaze did not fall upon the Third Prince at all.
Instead it seemed to pierce straight through him, fixing on the figure hiding behind.
“Come out.”
The voice was calm, yet beneath it roared a hidden storm.
Mu Xueshi tugged lightly at the prince’s sleeve, hoping for help. When the Third Prince remained unmoved, he had no choice but to limp forward.
“Fascist…” he muttered under his breath while shrinking his neck.
Then he obediently took his place beside Su Ruhan.
As punishment, Su Ruhan ordered Mu Xueshi to extend both arms horizontally while holding two heavy buckets of water. A thick iron plate was balanced atop his head.
Within moments, Mu Xueshi felt as though molten lead had filled every inch of his body.
Wearing a miserable expression, he attempted to appeal to the Third Prince.
“If you keep pressing me down like this, I won’t grow taller! I’ll end up developmentally stunted!”
A faint smile appeared at the prince’s lips, but he made no move to intervene.
Mu Xueshi’s earlier determination quickly crumbled.
At first, seeing the Third Prince watching him had given him the strength to endure.
But once his body reached its limit, that fragile resolve collapsed. The buckets of water slipped from his hands and crashed onto the ground, while the iron plate toppled into the dirt.
Even without the weights, his entire body throbbed with pain.
Before he could recover, a fiery lash struck across his back.
Su Ruhan’s whip.
The sting nearly forced tears from Mu Xueshi’s eyes.
In the past, whenever he was bullied here, he would think of Mrs. Chen, remembering the warmth and care she once gave him.
But as time passed, the person who came to mind when he suffered was no longer Mrs. Chen.
Instead, it was the man standing before him now—watching with cold, indifferent eyes.
He must think me utterly useless…
Mu Xueshi bit down hard on his lip, refusing to make a sound.
For the next hour, he practiced the most basic techniques again and again. The repetition was painfully dull, yet whenever he noticed the Third Prince standing nearby, he gritted his teeth and endured.
At last the training ended.
A strange sense of accomplishment filled Mu Xueshi’s heart.
Even if the Third Prince offered no praise, it was enough to know that the prince might no longer look down on him.
Covered in sweat, Mu Xueshi headed off to bathe and change clothes.
After searching the front hall for some time and still failing to find Qingyun, he asked Eunuch Tai’an,
“Where is Qingyun?”
Eunuch Tai’an hesitated awkwardly.
Caught between the prince’s instructions and Mu Xueshi’s questioning, he found himself in a difficult position.
In the past, he would have obeyed the prince without hesitation.
But ever since Mu Xueshi moved into the residence, the Third Prince’s conduct had subtly changed. The once lifeless courtyard now carried a faint warmth of human presence.
Even the servants behaved with less rigid caution.
Thus, when matters involved Mu Xueshi, Eunuch Tai’an occasionally found himself sympathizing with the young man.
Because somehow, whenever Mu Xueshi was involved, the prince’s iron rules always seemed to soften.
Seeing Eunuch Tai’an’s silence, Mu Xueshi assumed he understood.
After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he secretly withdrew a small bracelet from his sleeve—a string of shiny fruit seeds threaded together—and slipped it into Eunuch Tai’an’s hand, giving him a conspiratorial look of bribery.
The “bracelet” was merely something Mu Xueshi had crafted himself.
He had stolen the fruit from a tree in the courtyard. After eating it, he discovered the seeds inside were smooth and crystal-like, so he strung them together with silk thread and tied them into a bracelet.
Originally he had intended to give it to the Third Prince.
But compared to the prince’s exquisite possessions, such a simple gift seemed laughable. So he had kept it hidden in his sleeve.
If not for needing Eunuch Tai’an’s help, Mu Xueshi would never have parted with the trinket—especially considering the fruit had been so sour it nearly made his stomach ache.
To his surprise, however—
Eunuch Tai’an waved his hands repeatedly, refusing the gift outright.
Futile Devices Scans 
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