“Lu Jue, what do you think?”
The Third Prince answered without expression, “If the ruler of Lubei’s sister chooses me, I will decide then.”
The emperor seemed satisfied and smiled mildly. These two princes worried him most because both were exceptionally handsome yet neither had a wife. The Second Prince had once had a consort, but she had died of illness. The Third Prince had recently taken a male favorite, but such a person could never serve as his principal consort.
The Second Prince left first with Su Ying. The child bounced happily in his arms, one moment demanding to be carried and the next twisting around to be put down.
Halfway along the corridor, the Second Prince stopped and deliberately put on a stern face. “Su Ying, tell Ama why you’re so happy today.”
Su Ying tilted his little head and thought. “Because I saw Imperial Grandfather today. Imperial Grandfather said he’ll give me a Hundred-Sound Bell.”
The Second Prince nodded as though suddenly enlightened, then said, “But today your Imperial Grandfather also said he wants to choose me a consort. You’ll have a new mother. Will you still be happy?”
Su Ying nodded and giggled while pinching the Second Prince’s ear. “Happy, happy! I want a mother.”
The Second Prince was speechless with irritation and tapped Su Ying’s forehead. “But if you have a mother, Ama won’t sleep with you anymore, because Ama will have to sleep with your mother.”
Su Ying’s reaction instantly became much faster. With a loud wail, he burst into tears and began hitting the Second Prince’s face in protest.
The Second Prince laughed instead, gave the crying child a light kiss on the mouth, and asked gently, “Then does Su Ying still want a mother?”
Su Ying rubbed his reddened eyes and sobbed, “No… I don’t…”
Hearing this, the Second Prince immediately gathered the heartbroken child into his arms, finally feeling much more at ease.
As the Third Prince was taking his leave, the emperor suddenly remembered something and called him back. “Lu Jue, Father heard that you took the Grand Tutor’s son as a male favorite.”
The Third Prince answered calmly, “No. Mu Xueshi is not a male favorite.”
The emperor looked slightly surprised, then immediately lost the last trace of gentleness in his expression. “Mu Xueshi is a criminal suspect of the court. During the Eight Homage Festival, I cannot sentence him, but that does not mean the matter can simply be forgotten afterward.”
“There are doubts in the case. I ask Father to grant me some time. I will find the true culprit.”
The emperor’s brows immediately drew together. Although he and Grand Tutor Mu had not been especially close, the emperor had once admired him. Now the man had died under such unclear circumstances, so naturally the emperor took the matter seriously; otherwise he would not have ordered the Third Prince to investigate.
He had thought Mu Xueshi’s confession had already closed the case. New developments emerging in only a few days now made the emperor somewhat uncertain about the Third Prince’s judgment.
Seeing the emperor’s expression, the Third Prince clasped his hands. “Please trust me, Father. I will not show favoritism.”
The emperor was pleased with how quickly the Third Prince understood his thoughts, so he lifted his chin, signaling that he could leave.
After taking his leave, the Third Prince hurried back to his courtyard. His face remained calm, but unease stirred inside him. He was not afraid that anyone would harm Mu Xueshi, because many skilled guards surrounded him and ordinary people could not get close. What the Third Prince could not be sure of was whether Mu Xueshi would create trouble for himself, since he was always doing unexpected things.
Yet when the Third Prince returned, he found Mu Xueshi sitting obediently at the desk, staring hard at the clothes laid out before him as though clues might appear if he looked long enough.
He had also turned the little bottle he brought back over and over dozens of times and repeatedly raised it to his nose, so absorbed that he did not notice the Third Prince standing behind him.
Holding the clothes that had belonged to the former Mu Xueshi, Mu Xueshi could not help remembering what the Third Prince had once said.
“This is the real you.”
Every time he remembered those words, Mu Xueshi felt a sour ache in his heart, a suffocating feeling unlike anything he had experienced before. He envied the original owner of this body so much. Aside from carrying the blame for this crime, that person had everything: beauty, a good family, and friends.
Most importantly, he had the Third Prince.
Mu Xueshi’s body could contain two souls, but the Third Prince’s heart could not be split in half. If the truth came out one day, the one who would have to leave could only be him. Once he vanished from this world, everything here would have been nothing more than a dream.