“Ai!”
Mu Xueshi let out a long sigh and flung the shoe he had been examining onto the large desk. It struck a lacquered pillar beside the desk and bounced back, showing just how angry he was.
The Third Prince caught the shoe firmly before it could fall.
Mu Xueshi never saw it hit the floor. Puzzled, he turned around and found the shoe perfectly intact in the Third Prince’s hand.
Embarrassed, Mu Xueshi asked, “You… when did you get back? Why didn’t you say anything?”
The Third Prince said nothing. He simply put the shoe back on the desk and looked at Mu Xueshi gravely.
Realizing he had done something wrong, Mu Xueshi scrambled for an excuse. His mind went blank, so he crouched down and used a clean cloth to wipe up the dust shaken from the shoe. He had meant to throw the dirt away, then wondered whether it might somehow be important evidence, so he carefully wrapped it up and put it in the cabinet instead.
“The emperor summoned you?” Mu Xueshi asked, trying to ingratiate himself.
The Third Prince nodded.
Mu Xueshi forced out a huge smile. “So is the emperor imposing? Are the consorts around him beautiful? Does he really have three thousand beauties in his harem? Do you have to choose every word carefully when you talk to him? What exactly did he summon you for?”
In the end, the Third Prince answered only Mu Xueshi’s last question.
“The ruler of Lubei has come to seek a marriage alliance.”
Mu Xueshi nodded as though he half understood, casually picked up a fragrant pear from the table, and began taking large bites.
“So which princess was chosen? Or will they choose after she arrives?”
The Third Prince added, “It is the princess who came to seek a match.”
Mu Xueshi nodded, said “Oh,” then asked, “So why did he call you?”
Before the Third Prince could explain, the pear in Mu Xueshi’s mouth stopped moving. Slow as he could be, he was still capable of figuring this much out. The sweet pear suddenly tasted sour, no matter how he chewed it.
Outside, Eunuch Tai’an reported that dinner was ready and Mu Xueshi and the Third Prince could eat.
Mu Xueshi had waited a long time for the Third Prince. If the prince did not come, he refused to eat because food had no flavor when he ate alone. A moment ago he had been ravenously hungry; now he had no appetite at all.
Mu Xueshi did not know where the sadness had come from. The moment the Third Prince finished speaking, his formerly energetic head drooped, and he could not hide what he was feeling.
“So… you agreed?” Mu Xueshi asked nervously.
The Third Prince did not answer. He merely called calmly toward the doorway, “Prepare dinner.”
Seeing that the prince ignored him, Mu Xueshi decided the matter was almost certainly settled and shouted toward the door, “I’m not eating! I’m not eating! Don’t bring my bowl!”
With a dark expression, Mu Xueshi went into the side room to vent. He did not dare smash the antiques or calligraphy, so he punched a hard stool instead. Every punch left him yelping in pain, and the more he hit it, the more irritated he became. Finally he sat alone on the stool in a daze.
“Why am I angry?”
After thinking it over, Mu Xueshi reached one conclusion: the Third Prince became angry whenever he saw Mu Xueshi talking to someone else, and Mu Xueshi likewise wanted to be the person the prince valued most.
But Mu Xueshi always considered the prince’s feelings, while the prince had never considered his. After brooding over that imbalance, however, Mu Xueshi realized the Third Prince had never really wronged him. The prince was cold toward everyone and did not have any particularly close friends. Eunuch Tai’an had even said yesterday that the Third Prince’s gaze softened only when he looked at Mu Xueshi.
Once he thought about it that way, Mu Xueshi was no longer so angry. Apart from the guilt he could never get past about deceiving the Third Prince over his identity, most other feelings took him only a few minutes to work through.
Before long, Mu Xueshi’s stomach started growling. He rubbed it and walked out with an embarrassed expression.
The Third Prince sat at the large desk, leisurely pouring wine, as though completely unaware of Mu Xueshi’s bad mood.
Mu Xueshi’s mood had only just improved, but now dark clouds gathered again. He sat down beside the Third Prince with a resentful huff and said, “Earlier, I said I wasn’t eating because of you!”
The Third Prince felt a stir in his heart but showed nothing on his face.
“I’m eating now, but that doesn’t mean I’m in a better mood. I’m just hungry, and I refuse to mistreat myself,” Mu Xueshi added solemnly.
A faint trace of wine had entered the Third Prince’s eyes. He turned toward Mu Xueshi and found him looking back with obvious disappointment. Then his gaze fell on Mu Xueshi’s small hand, already bruised purple and blue.
The Third Prince walked to the cabinet, took out wound ointment, then returned to his seat. He gently pulled Mu Xueshi’s hand onto his knee and carefully spread the medicine over the bruises.
That tiny gesture nearly brought tears to Mu Xueshi’s eyes. All his earlier unhappiness vanished. From the Third Prince’s actions, he felt somehow understood. The feeling was difficult to explain, but Mu Xueshi believed the two of them shared a quiet understanding.
Just as the ointment was nearly finished, Mu Xueshi suddenly cried, “Ah! My back hurts too. My master whipped me several times this morning…”