While the Third Prince was arranging his hair, Mu Xueshi sat there bored, feeling the ache beneath him throb again and again. He began to wonder whether he had developed hemorrhoids, and the very thought embarrassed him beyond words.
To keep himself from dwelling on the discomfort below, he picked a random topic and started talking to the Third Prince. What came out of his mouth was, “Do you like the old me better, or the me I am now?”
The Third Prince said nothing, as though he had not heard.
Oddly enough, Mu Xueshi felt better. If the Third Prince said nothing, he could interpret the silence however he pleased.
“Then what if I were really ugly? Would you still be willing to live with me?”
The Third Prince said lightly, “The imperial capital of Yunxi has no fondness for ugly people.”
Mu Xueshi immediately began whining, his face full of misery.
The Third Prince lightly pinched Mu Xueshi’s cheek with one hand and asked, “Why are you unhappy?”
It was the first time the Third Prince had taken the initiative to ask about Mu Xueshi’s feelings, yet Mu Xueshi could not explain them. He could only stare at himself in the bronze mirror and ask unwillingly, “But I used to be ugly too, and I never saw you dislike me then!”
The Third Prince did not tell him about the mask he had been wearing. He thought keeping it from Mu Xueshi for now was not a bad thing; if Mu Xueshi remembered later, he would understand the prince’s reasons.
“Ai…” Mu Xueshi sighed and comforted himself inwardly. Once he returned to the modern world, no matter how ugly he looked, the Third Prince would never see it anyway. And no matter how other people mocked him, he would not care.
Once his hair was done, Mu Xueshi admired himself in the mirror for a while longer and prepared to leave in high spirits, only for the Third Prince to catch him and press him back onto the stool.
The moment Mu Xueshi’s backside touched the seat, pain shot through him again. He gritted his teeth and endured it, afraid that if the Third Prince asked what was wrong, he would have no idea what to say.
The Third Prince picked up a thin facial covering and pressed it onto Mu Xueshi’s face. Mu Xueshi did not resist and sat obediently. The Third Prince put something like this on him every morning. It resembled a facial mask, yet not quite, because Mu Xueshi barely felt anything once it was in place.
Looking into the bronze mirror, Mu Xueshi could now clearly see the face the Third Prince had arranged for him and immediately decided the prince’s sense of beauty was questionable. He caught the hand still smoothing his cheek and said carefully, “It doesn’t look as good as before.”
Of course the Third Prince knew it was nowhere near as striking as Mu Xueshi’s real face, so the reminder meant nothing to him. But to keep Mu Xueshi from mentioning the matter to anyone else, he warned him, “If that face is exposed, it will bring disaster.”
Mu Xueshi suddenly remembered his current identity. True enough, before clearing his name, revealing that face would not be a good idea. But even if he hid it, everyone still knew he was Mu Xueshi, so what was the point of covering it?
Mu Xueshi had wanted to ask, but the seriousness on the Third Prince’s face told him this was no joke. He also believed the prince must have his reasons, so he stopped questioning it.
When Mu Xueshi stepped outside, Su Ruhan was already practicing with his sword in the open courtyard. His fierce swordsmanship and agile movements made the routine look almost like a performance.
Watching Su Ruhan move, the Third Prince silently considered just how strong his martial arts had become. He had personally witnessed Su Ruhan destroy his own cultivation, yet the man had recovered at astonishing speed. The Third Prince had expected it to some extent, but had never been certain. Seeing Su Ruhan now settled the matter in his mind.
Mu Xueshi had no leisure to admire the sword dance. The more agile Su Ruhan looked and the wider his movements, the more miserable Mu Xueshi’s expression became. If today’s training involved any stretching, he felt he might die from the pain. He would not even know what excuse to use afterward, so he decided he might as well ask off from the start.
“Aiya, my stomach hurts. I need the latrine…” Mu Xueshi bent over and tried to sneak away.
He had taken only a few steps when Su Ruhan landed directly in front of him with a stern expression. Mu Xueshi looked at Su Ruhan, then at the indifferent Third Prince not far away, and could only slink back.
Su Ruhan seemed almost determined to make things difficult for him. He had prepared a sword especially for Mu Xueshi and taught him several simple techniques, but every movement was broad. Each time Mu Xueshi spread his legs, he grimaced in pain.
Su Ruhan immediately noticed something was wrong. His gaze toward Mu Xueshi became slightly complicated, and his instruction afterward grew even stricter. Whenever Mu Xueshi slacked off or made the smallest mistake, Su Ruhan’s sword hilt struck him, always on the backside, until Mu Xueshi howled and his face changed color.
At last, the Third Prince stepped forward and said to Su Ruhan, “Xueshi is coming with me to the Grand Tutor’s manor.”
Su Ruhan clasped his hands, took his leave, and vanished without a word. The Third Prince caught the mocking look he cast back before leaving and understood perfectly: Su Ruhan was ridiculing him for having said he would never interfere with Mu Xueshi’s training, only to step in now.
The Third Prince had been determined to stand by his decision, but seeing Mu Xueshi’s pained expression made his chest tighten. In the end, he intervened almost without thinking.
Looking at Mu Xueshi’s pale face, the Third Prince wordlessly took a silk handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Then he led over his horse. He had been about to order a servant to bring a cushion, only to discover that Eunuch Tai’an had already placed one on the saddle.
The Third Prince showed no reaction. He knew everyone in the courtyard must have heard Mu Xueshi the previous night. The fact that he had not silenced every last one of them already counted as remarkable mercy.
Mu Xueshi, however, flushed bright red when he noticed the cushion on the horse and nearly wanted to crawl into a hole. He naturally assumed the others had noticed something was wrong with his lower body because he had made it too obvious. If the Third Prince figured it out too, how could Mu Xueshi ever face him again?
Mu Xueshi spent the entire ride anxious and silent, not even daring to complain. He secretly resolved that once they returned, he would sneak off to find the physician attached to the courtyard and get the problem treated before the Third Prince noticed anything.