“What did you just say?” the Third Prince asked quietly.
Only then did Mu Xueshi remember what he had shouted earlier, and embarrassment swept over him. The Third Prince’s tone sounded perfectly calm, yet Mu Xueshi easily heard the danger underneath.
Mu Xueshi steadied himself, then suddenly widened his eyes and shouted at the empty lawn behind the Third Prince, “What’s that?”
The moment he said it, Mu Xueshi turned and ran. Because of his physical discomfort, his running posture was strange, and he almost staggered as he fled deeper into the flowers.
The Third Prince had not fallen for this trick the first time Mu Xueshi used it. Trying the same thing again was almost unbelievably foolish. With an amused snort, the prince walked into the flowers after him.
Mu Xueshi was about to stop and catch his breath when his feet suddenly left the ground. He immediately understood what had happened. The Third Prince lifted him higher and higher while Mu Xueshi flailed in the air, trying to frighten him into putting him down. The prince ignored him completely and even looked as though he might throw him.
“Waaah! Put me down, you aristocrat who oppresses the common people! I’ll destroy you in the name of the people!”
The moment Mu Xueshi finished shouting, his body flew through the air. He shut his eyes in terror, waiting to smash into the ground and crack his head open, but after a long moment he still had not landed. When he opened his eyes, he discovered that he was hanging from a tree branch.
This time Mu Xueshi was genuinely frightened. His mouth finally softened, and he begged the Third Prince to get him down.
Once he was back on the ground, Mu Xueshi looked at the distance between where the Third Prince had thrown him and the tree, still shaken, and silently marveled that he had survived.
“How could you bear to treat me like that? If I hadn’t been lucky, I could have died or been crippled. Do I really matter that little to you?” Mu Xueshi complained while dusting himself off, feeling thoroughly wronged.
“Why wouldn’t I bear it?” the Third Prince asked indifferently.
Mu Xueshi stuck out his neck and shouted, “If I were the one throwing you, I couldn’t bear to do it!”
Seeing the grievance on Mu Xueshi’s face genuinely shook the Third Prince a little. His tone softened as he asked, “Do you know what kind of tree this is?”
Mu Xueshi shook his head. His anger had not entirely disappeared, but since the Third Prince had taken the initiative to speak to him, he decided not to keep arguing.
The Third Prince walked closer to the tree and pointed toward the center of its trunk. “It is called a Twin Tree. It is actually two trees that have grown together until they appear to be one.”
Mu Xueshi did not understand. He stepped forward and touched the trunk. “Even if it’s a twin tree, shouldn’t there be two trunks or at least two main branches? This one has practically grown into a single tree. There isn’t even a place where it splits.”
The Third Prince said quietly, “This tree will only divide into separate branches after the blood of two brothers is mixed together and dripped into the soil beneath it.”
“That’s amazing!” Mu Xueshi’s interest immediately returned. Completely forgetting his earlier anger, he circled the tree for quite a while, touching and examining it.
A trace of a smile entered the Third Prince’s eyes as he watched Mu Xueshi’s childlike excitement.
Mu Xueshi frowned while looking around, apparently thinking about something. After a moment, he suddenly thrust a finger at the Third Prince. “I remember now! You were changing the subject, weren’t you? Hmph… good thing I’m vigilant, or you would’ve distracted me again.”
The Third Prince’s heart paused before he immediately understood. He had not expected Mu Xueshi to still be thinking about the joke from earlier. As the prince looked at him, Mu Xueshi suddenly lunged forward again.
For some reason, the Third Prince became interested in playing along. Mu Xueshi chased him while he ran just ahead, always letting Mu Xueshi come within a hair of catching him. Finally Mu Xueshi lost patience and flopped into the grass, panting at the sky.
“I’m done playing with you. Hmph… you bully honest people.”
The Third Prince lay down beside him, propped himself up on one arm, and deliberately asked, “How have I bullied you?”
Mu Xueshi shot him a resentful look. “You know perfectly well.”
The Third Prince said nothing and simply stared at Mu Xueshi until everything around them became quiet, leaving only the tune Mu Xueshi hummed under his breath and the smile lingering on the prince’s face.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if life could stay like this forever…” Mu Xueshi sighed. He wanted to bring his mother here too, but knew he could never say that aloud. It was impossible anyway.
The Third Prince chuckled softly but said nothing.
Mu Xueshi’s nose suddenly stung. He fought hard to keep from crying and said, “You know… aside from my family, you’re the closest person to me I’ve ever had.”
“You remember your past?” the Third Prince asked.
Mu Xueshi shook his head helplessly. “No… I don’t remember. I just feel it…”
Without warning, the Third Prince raised one hand and caught a speeding arrow. He moved so quickly that by the time he lowered it, Mu Xueshi had only just realized what had happened.
“What’s wrong?” Mu Xueshi sat up abruptly.
Without a word, the Third Prince scooped Mu Xueshi into his arms, mounted the horse, and raced in the direction from which the arrow had come. From the force of the impact against his hand, he could roughly judge how far away the hidden archer had been.
The wind roared past Mu Xueshi’s ears. Still confused, he could only ride with the Third Prince as they galloped onward. They did not stop until they reached a large natural lake with no road beyond it, where the prince finally pulled on the reins.
“Who attacked us from hiding?” Mu Xueshi asked anxiously.
The Third Prince did not answer. He leapt lightly from the horse and headed straight toward the lakeshore.
“Put me down too!” Mu Xueshi shouted from the saddle.
The Third Prince suddenly kicked something hard. He crouched, pushed aside the thick grass, and was met by a foul stench. Holding his breath, he examined the intact face of the corpse and immediately stiffened. He rarely dealt with dead bodies, but from what he knew, this person had been dead for less than two days.
How could the corpse belong to Ning Yue, who had supposedly died two weeks ago?
The Third Prince pressed and examined Ning Yue’s stiff face more carefully. The dead man really was Ning Yue; there was no trace of disguise.
Annoyed that the Third Prince had left him out at such an important moment, Mu Xueshi started wobbling as he tried to climb down from the tall horse by himself.
“Do not get down!” the Third Prince ordered.
Hearing the urgency in his voice, Mu Xueshi immediately stopped moving. He pulled back the leg he had lowered and craned his neck from a distance, trying to see what was happening.