“What are you trying to say?” the Third Prince asked indifferently.
“Nothing. I’m only reminding you that once you solve this chess problem, Mu Xueshi’s poison will be cured as well.”
The Third Prince stared straight into Hao Lin’s eyes, coldness rising in his gaze. Just as he had expected, Hao Lin had lured him away so that someone else could make a move against Mu Xueshi in secret.
Even after realizing this, the Third Prince remained perfectly calm. Looking toward the woods opposite Wangyun Peak, he said lightly, “I will not be Yunxi’s future ruler.”
Hao Lin’s heart jolted, though nothing showed on his face.
“Who becomes Yunxi’s next ruler is Yunxi’s own affair. What does that have to do with me, Hao Lin?”
“Heh…” The Third Prince laughed coldly. “Mu Xueshi is only an insignificant citizen of Yunxi. What does he have to do with you, then?”
Hao Lin teased, “I never expected the Third Prince to understand love. Or are you merely obsessed with that face you have kept all to yourself?”
The Third Prince had no wish to continue sparring with Hao Lin and turned to leave.
Behind him, Hao Lin said leisurely, “What interests me happens to be exactly what you are trying to hide.”
Sun Ye had spent the entire previous night sitting in Gu Master Mo Ru’s usual spot, yet Mo Ru never appeared. Sun Ye felt strangely unsettled. Every so often he imagined hearing the frivolous nonsense Mo Ru usually muttered all day. Now that there was no one to hear and no one to curse at, Sun Ye actually felt a little empty.
Realizing how strange his own thoughts had become made Sun Ye frown even harder. Logically, he should not have been worried about Mo Ru. Why had one simple act of taking a blow for him softened him so easily?
“Ah!”
A sudden cry rang out. Sun Ye realized he had walked into something soft. He barely felt the impact, but the other person went flying several feet away.
Looking carefully, Sun Ye saw that he had knocked over Eunuch Tai’an. For once, a trace of panic broke through Sun Ye’s usual composure, and he stared at Tai’an without knowing what to say.
“Guard Sun, what is wrong with you? You’ve walked back and forth here several times since morning. I greeted you just now and you ignored me, and you didn’t even notice I was standing here… ai…”
Sun Ye forced a faint smile. “It’s nothing. I was only a little tired just now…”
Tai’an gave him a skeptical look, examining him from head to toe. “Really just tired?”
Sun Ye had no idea what Tai’an was doing. If anything, Sun Ye felt he should be the one asking what was wrong with Tai’an.
Seeing Sun Ye remain silent, Tai’an laughed twice. “Just admit it. Ever since Gu Master Mo Ru stopped coming to the courtyard, you’ve been completely distracted…”
Sun Ye’s expression changed instantly. He drew the sword from his waist and brought the blade toward Tai’an’s neck.
“I have respected you for spending your life serving this courtyard, but what you said today is intolerably offensive.”
Tai’an’s face changed as well. Pointing shakily toward the Third Prince’s bedchamber, he said, “Guard Sun, you don’t understand. Young Master Xue taught me to ask all of that. I only repeated it exactly. He’s been trapped inside all day and got bored, so he came up with this little diversion. He’s been watching you through the window for quite a while…”
Sun Ye’s face turned bright red. Gritting his teeth, he looked toward the window and, sure enough, Mu Xueshi’s little head was resting there. Mu Xueshi even waved at him.
Seeing Sun Ye glare at him in fury, Mu Xueshi looked delighted with himself. He yawned hugely and grinned. “I’m teasing you!”
Then Mu Xueshi’s head disappeared back inside.
Sun Ye felt as though his lungs might explode. He was already troubled enough by the fact that he had begun caring about Gu Master Mo Ru without meaning to. Now Mu Xueshi had turned it into a joke. Remembering that prankster’s face made Sun Ye want to squeeze it flat.
A long while later, Sun Ye suddenly noticed how quiet the entire courtyard had become. Looking up, he realized the Third Prince had returned without anyone noticing. Tai’an followed in small steps beside him with a cautious expression. Sun Ye hurried forward to bow, his wandering thoughts slowly settling.
The Third Prince said nothing. His expression was unusually grave. At the entrance to the bedchamber he told Tai’an and Sun Ye, “Without my order, no one is allowed to enter.”
“Understood!”
Sun Ye found the order strange. The Third Prince’s bedchamber had always been forbidden to outsiders, so there was normally no need to reinforce the rule. Why emphasize it today?
Sun Ye had found everyone strange all day. Was he the one who had become abnormal? Wearing a puzzled expression, he took his sword and walked toward the empty ground nearby.
The moment the Third Prince entered, he saw Mu Xueshi lying pale and limp on the floor. The man who had been lively only a short while ago now looked almost dead, motionless on the ground.
The Third Prince lifted Mu Xueshi onto the bed, then took out the sacred water and Ruzhi flower pollen he had brought back. After mixing them, he spread the solution over Mu Xueshi’s face. Before long, the thin outer film loosened and peeled away, revealing the badly damaged face beneath.
Mu Xueshi was already unconscious. He had been perfectly fine while teasing Sun Ye, but soon afterward began feeling unwell, followed by the same sensation of body and spirit separating that had struck him the day before. After a period of torment, a piercing pain seemed to shoot straight through his heart, and he lost consciousness at once.
A proud curve appeared at the Third Prince’s lips. He took a small bottle from his sleeve, spread its contents over his fingertips, then slowly applied it to Mu Xueshi’s cheek.
The swollen spots and scars vanished almost immediately, revealing skin as pale as snow. Half the face was restored while the other half remained disfigured. The Third Prince covered the damaged side with one hand and stared at the flawless half, struck by its extraordinary beauty.
Just as expected…
Outside, everything remained calm, and Mu Xueshi showed no reaction as he lay obediently on the bed. Shangchuan Hong no longer felt any need to maintain the Third Prince’s mannerisms. Returning to his own habitual movements, he expertly treated the other side of Mu Xueshi’s face.
When the final scar disappeared beneath Shangchuan Hong’s fingers, he stopped breathing for an instant. The sleeping man before him resembled a priceless piece of jade too precious to touch, as though the slightest contact might shatter him. Thick, long lashes rested against his face, above a straight nose and small cherry-red lips.
Calling him an immortal descended to the mortal world would hardly have been excessive. Shangchuan Hong finally understood why the Third Prince treasured this younger brother so fiercely.
Hun Ruo’s beauty was already considered unmatched beneath heaven. After seeing her face so often, Shangchuan Hong rarely paid much attention to anyone else. Yet looking at Mu Xueshi now gave him an unmistakable sense of being outshone, jolting his mind so hard that he could not immediately recover.
A glare of light made Mu Xueshi rub his eyes and slowly open them. When those brilliant eyes gradually focused on him, Shangchuan Hong felt that Mu Xueshi’s beauty had become almost unreal, impossible to describe, impossible to paint, and impossible for anyone else to imitate.
“Why did you only come back now? I’ve been waiting all afternoon.” Mu Xueshi stretched lazily. The instant he saw the “Third Prince,” the sleepiness vanished from his face and his usual lively spirit returned.
The smile on Mu Xueshi’s face nearly disrupted Shangchuan Hong’s composure. Remembering why he had come, Shangchuan Hong steadied himself and said seriously, “Palace affairs are busy. You do not need to concern yourself with them.”
Mu Xueshi gave an obedient “oh,” then naturally hooked an arm around the “Third Prince’s” shoulders and leaned close to his ear. “I have something funny to tell you. Want to hear it?”
Shangchuan Hong knew he should not waste more time, yet Mu Xueshi’s excited expression and affectionate closeness made it unexpectedly difficult to refuse.
When the Third Prince did not object, Mu Xueshi giggled twice and began recounting exactly how he had teased Sun Ye, adding plenty of exaggeration along the way.
The completely pointless story left Shangchuan Hong staring blankly for quite a while.
Then Mu Xueshi noticed a bright glint inside Shangchuan Hong’s sleeve. The light looked painfully familiar. Mu Xueshi’s mind went blank, and his lips trembled as he said, “Xi, I want to see the silver coin in your sleeve.”
“My sleeve faces inward. How do you know there is a silver coin inside?” Shangchuan Hong’s expression shifted slightly.
Fear entered Mu Xueshi’s beautiful face. Staring at the “Third Prince,” he said, “Because it’s mine. Of course I recognize it. Has it really been with you all this time? Why didn’t you tell me? Or did you already know what was really going on…”
Even Shangchuan Hong, who prided himself on anticipating almost everything, could not guess why the silver coin filled Mu Xueshi with such fear and despair. One thing, however, was obvious: the coin was another unexpected prize.
Mu Xueshi continued pestering Shangchuan Hong for the silver coin. Deciding there was no point dragging out the confrontation, Shangchuan Hong simply sealed his acupoints and made him lose consciousness again.
Shangchuan Hong tore off a strip of gauze and covered Mu Xueshi below the eyes, then carried him out of the courtyard. Sun Ye naturally moved to follow behind the Third Prince, only to hear an order after a few steps: “Do not follow me.”
Sun Ye had barely bowed in obedience when Shangchuan Hong vanished from sight. He took the Third Prince’s fine horse, placed Mu Xueshi in the saddle with him, and raced out of the palace.
The journey was going too smoothly, and that made Shangchuan Hong uneasy. He felt certain things could not be this simple. Somewhere ahead, danger had to be waiting.
The instant Shangchuan Hong’s vigilance sharpened, an arrow shot toward them. It was aimed not at the “Third Prince,” but directly at Mu Xueshi.
Without thinking, Shangchuan Hong blocked the arrow for Mu Xueshi. The arrowhead was sharp and the force behind it tremendous. When Shangchuan Hong opened his palm, a bloody cut already crossed it.
Seeing Shangchuan Hong catch the arrow for Mu Xueshi made Su Ruhan laugh coldly. Of course this would happen. With something that beautiful in his arms, who could bear to let so much as one hair be harmed?
Su Ruhan rode his horse directly in front of Shangchuan Hong and Mu Xueshi, blocking the road. His sharp eyes fixed on Shangchuan Hong.
“Put him down.”
Shangchuan Hong deliberately hardened his face and said with a half-smile, “Su Ruhan, you are my guard. How dare you block my path?”
“Shangchuan Hong, I had forgotten. You know Yunxi’s imperial palace even better than I do.” A murderous chill spread across Su Ruhan’s face.
Pretending not to understand, Shangchuan Hong pointed directly at Mu Xueshi’s covered face. “What if I take him to the city tower, remove the veil, and let the countless citizens of Yunxi feast their eyes on a face that appears only once in a thousand years?”
Coldness poured from Su Ruhan’s eyes so intensely that even the horse beneath him trembled.
“Heh…” Shangchuan Hong snapped the reins, spurred the horse forward, and shouted back at Su Ruhan, “Let’s see whether your arrows are faster, or my hands.”