“You’re talking nonsense! I didn’t steal any book! If I stole it, I’m your grandson!” Mu Xueshi shouted, mouth wide open, and looked ready to charge at Wu Cai again.
Steward Wang, who was standing nearby, could not help interjecting. “Young Master, you mustn’t say that!”
Wu Cai glared at Mu Xueshi. Blood was already running from his nose, but he ignored it and continued in his usual domineering tone. “Then why did you sneak into the study and hide the book in your sleeve?”
“Who says I hid it? I was putting it away. I saw a good book, so I put it in my sleeve to take back with me. This is my home. If I want to take something, I’ll take it. Do I need to ask you first?”
After saying that, Mu Xueshi even turned toward the Third Prince, hoping the prince would back him up.
Wu Cai’s face went green at such absurd reasoning, his teeth grinding audibly. He had already been unusually restrained today. He had never spoken this politely to anyone before, and if the Third Prince were not present, he would have started cursing long ago.
Who would have thought that after disappearing for a while, Mu Xueshi would come back so arrogant? In the past he had endured Wu Cai’s bullying without saying a word. Now he was like a charging bull, ready to challenge anyone.
“Why are you glaring at me?” Mu Xueshi continued relentlessly, pointing at Wu Cai’s nose. “I’m telling you, don’t think I’m easy to bully. I don’t care what I used to be like. I stand up for myself now. Don’t think you can keep walking all over me.”
The words nearly brought tears of rage to Wu Cai’s eyes. Mist gathered in his alluring gaze, making him look deeply wronged. He looked around the room. No one spoke for him, no one stepped forward to defend him, and there was not even a single person standing at his side. Biting his lip in silence, Wu Cai turned toward the study door.
“Stop.”
The sudden command froze Wu Cai mid-step. The Third Prince had spoken.
Wu Cai’s heart tightened. He turned, knelt, and bowed respectfully. “Please instruct me, Your Highness.”
A cold smile curved the Third Prince’s lips. At some point, a small golden hook had appeared in his hand. It was not large, but its pointed end gleamed sharply.
The moment Wu Cai saw the hook, his face changed. He hurriedly crawled toward the Third Prince and begged for mercy at his feet. The servants around them remained silent, while Yuwen Tao stared fixedly at the hook with a complicated expression.
Mu Xueshi was the only person in the room who had no idea what was happening. Unable to understand why everyone’s faces had gone pale, he moved closer to the Third Prince, picked up the hook, and examined it. “What is this?”
The Third Prince explained calmly, “This hook is specifically used to punish anyone who dares strike you.”
At those words, Wu Cai burst into tears. Trembling violently, he repeatedly knocked his forehead against the ground and begged the Third Prince for mercy.
Mu Xueshi’s expression gradually changed. Holding the hook, he looked at the Third Prince. “You aren’t planning to use this to cut him open, are you? That’s… that’s too cruel…”
The Third Prince only smiled and said nothing.
Yuwen Tao, eager to vent his anger, deliberately explained in a loud voice that the hook was not meant merely to wound the skin; it was used to pull a victim’s intestines out through the mouth.
Mu Xueshi froze. Seeing that no one else reacted, he wondered whether he had heard correctly and asked Yuwen Tao again. The answer was the same. Aside from Mu Xueshi and Wu Cai, everyone in the room looked almost indifferent, showing at most a little fear and not the slightest sympathy.
“That’s… really not necessary, is it?” Mu Xueshi said to the Third Prince, his lips trembling. “We were only fooling around. I broke those things myself. Don’t actually do it. I… I’m scared.”
The Third Prince remained unmoved by his plea and continued looking coldly at Wu Cai kneeling at his feet.
Seeing that the prince was truly angry, Mu Xueshi quickly took his hand and pulled him away from the crowd. “Just scare him a little,” he bargained cautiously. “I know you’re standing up for me, but I’m really scared. If you actually do that, I’ll have nightmares for days.”
Mu Xueshi did not dare admit that he also felt some sympathy for Wu Cai. Instinct told him the Third Prince did not like him caring too much about other people.
The Third Prince remained ice-cold. Wu Cai’s earlier words had been far too insolent. In the prince’s eyes, sparing his life already exhausted his mercy. For the matter to end peacefully, the man standing here would have to be someone other than the Third Prince.
“No.” With that single word, the Third Prince turned and walked toward Wu Cai.
Mu Xueshi panicked and forgot all concern for appearances. He hurried in front of the Third Prince, spread his arms, and hugged him tightly. Looking up helplessly, he pleaded, “Forget it, forget it! If you hurt him, we’ll lose another clue for the case. Xi…”
The man who had been so arrogant only moments ago had now lost half his courage. Just thinking about the gruesome punishment made goosebumps rise all over Mu Xueshi’s body.