“Lu Jue, what do you think?”
The Third Prince answered expressionlessly.
“If the Emperor of Lubei’s sister chooses this son, then I will decide at that time.”
The emperor seemed satisfied with this response.
A gentle smile appeared on his face.
The two princes worried him the most. Both possessed extraordinary beauty, yet neither had a wife.
The Second Prince’s former consort had died due to illness.
As for the Third Prince, although he now kept a male companion, such a relationship could never become an official consort.
Soon the Second Prince took Su Ying and departed.
The child bounced happily in his arms, alternately demanding to be carried and then insisting on getting down.
Halfway down the corridor, the Second Prince suddenly stopped and pretended to look stern.
“Su Ying, tell Father—why are you so happy today?”
The child tilted his little head thoughtfully.
“Because I saw Imperial Grandfather today. He said he’ll give me a Hundred-Sound Bell!”
The Second Prince nodded thoughtfully.
“But today your grandfather also said I might take a new consort. That means you’ll have a new mother. Are you still happy?”
Su Ying immediately nodded.
“Happy! I want a mother!”
The Second Prince flicked his forehead.
“But if you have a mother, Father won’t sleep with you anymore. I’ll have to sleep with your mother instead.”
The child reacted instantly.
With a loud wail, he burst into tears and began hitting the Second Prince’s face in protest.
The Second Prince only laughed.
Kissing the child’s tearful lips gently, he asked softly,
“Then do you still want a mother?”
Su Ying rubbed his red eyes and sobbed,
“No… I don’t…”
Hearing this, the Second Prince hugged him tightly, finally feeling reassured.
Just as the Third Prince was leaving the hall, the emperor suddenly remembered something.
“Lu Jue, I hear you’ve taken the Grand Tutor’s son as a male companion.”
The Third Prince replied calmly,
“No. Mu Xueshi is not a male companion.”
The emperor looked slightly surprised.
Then his expression hardened.
“Mu Xueshi is a criminal suspect. During the Eight Homage Festival I cannot sentence him—but that does not mean the matter will simply disappear.”
“There are doubts surrounding the case,” the Third Prince said steadily. “I ask Father to grant me more time. I will find the true culprit.”
The emperor’s brows tightened.
Grand Tutor Mu had not been particularly close to him—but the emperor had once admired the man deeply.
His mysterious death had therefore been taken very seriously.
Originally Mu Xueshi’s confession had seemed to close the case.
But new developments had appeared in only a few days, making the emperor slightly uncertain about the Third Prince’s judgment.
Sensing the emperor’s gaze, the Third Prince clasped his hands respectfully.
“Please trust me, Father. I will not show favoritism.”
The emperor seemed satisfied with his perceptiveness.
He nodded, signaling dismissal.
After leaving the palace hall, the Third Prince hurried back to his manor.
Although his expression remained calm, he could not help feeling uneasy.
He was not worried someone might harm Mu Xueshi—many skilled guards protected him.
What worried him was something else.
Mu Xueshi had an unusual talent for causing trouble himself.
Yet when the Third Prince returned—
he found Mu Xueshi sitting quietly at the desk, staring intently at the clothes laid out before him, as if he could discover clues simply by looking.
The small bottle he had taken earlier had already been examined dozens of times.
He even lifted it to his nose again and again, so absorbed that he did not notice the Third Prince standing behind him.
Holding the clothes that once belonged to the original Mu Xueshi, he could not help remembering something the Third Prince had said before.
“This is the real you.”
Every time Mu Xueshi thought of those words, his heart ached.
He had never experienced such suffocating emotions before.
He envied the original owner of this body deeply.
Aside from bearing the blame for this crime, the man had possessed everything—
beauty,
a noble family,
friends.
But most importantly—
he had the Third Prince.
Two souls could exist within Mu Xueshi’s body.
But the Third Prince’s heart could not be split in two.
If the truth were ever revealed—
the one who must disappear from this world would only be him.
And when that day came…
everything he had experienced here would vanish like nothing more than a dream.
Futile Devices Scans 
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