After dinner, Mu Xueshi was resting his chin in his hand, sitting off to the side and racking his brains over the current case, when he heard a burst of commotion outside. His attention was immediately drawn by the noise, and he dashed out in a flash.
“Little Master, look at this flower ball. Isn’t it fun? It’s for kicking.”
“It’s fun, it’s fun.”
“…”
Mu Xueshi stood in the courtyard. Seeing the scene before him, he instantly broke into a cold sweat.
“Uncle Mu.”
The moment Su Ying saw Mu Xueshi, he immediately kicked the flower ball aside and threw himself at him.
“H-He… Why is he here again? Didn’t we just send him back? This should be a person, not a ghost, right?” Mu Xueshi lifted Su Ying up and looked at him with an expression that was almost tearful.
Qingya walked up to Mu Xueshi and said with a smile, “What is Young Master Xue saying? This is our lovable little master. Just now, people from the Second Prince’s side brought him over. They also asked this servant to pass a message to Young Master Xue. They said the little master is only close to Young Master Xue, so the Second Prince intends to leave him here at Qinyi Courtyard for a few days. He is going out to enjoy the mountains and rivers and likely won’t return for some time.”
Mu Xueshi felt like hanging himself. A few days? Did he think this was some little pet, to be raised wherever he pleased? Besides, this child was even more mischievous than a pet. Forget raising him for a few days—even one day would cost someone their life.
“Tonight Su Ying wants to sleep with Uncle. Uncle smells nice.”
Mu Xueshi sucked in a cold breath and said to Su Ying, “Su Ying, that won’t do. Uncle bites people in his sleep. If you sleep with Uncle, you’ll be bitten very badly.”
“Hehe… Is Uncle a little dog? Why do you bite people? Then Su Ying wants to sleep with Uncle even more. Su Ying wants to see how Uncle bites people.”
“￥%…#”
In order to prevent the Third Prince from flying into a rage and dealing harshly with a child, Mu Xueshi used every trick he had, said countless good words to the Third Prince, and coaxed and pestered him endlessly before finally making the Third Prince agree to let Su Ying sleep with the two of them.
In any case, it was only for one night. As long as he bit Su Ying a few times, the child would probably be afraid. Tomorrow, they could arrange for him to stay in the room next door and assign a few palace experts to watch over him. That should solve the problem.
That night, the Third Prince sat beside the desk reviewing documents, while Mu Xueshi and Su Ying climbed onto the bed first.
Mu Xueshi had already made up his mind. If he didn’t teach Su Ying a lesson, this wouldn’t work. If this child slept in their bed for several days, forget the Third Prince—even Mu Xueshi himself would absolutely refuse.
“Uncle, are you already asleep?” Su Ying lay beside Mu Xueshi, his watery eyes open as he looked at him.
Mu Xueshi’s eyelids twitched violently, but his breathing remained even. No matter how Su Ying called him, he ignored him completely, making it clear that he had already fallen asleep.
Seeing that Mu Xueshi was asleep, Su Ying pouted and burrowed into the quilt. He squeezed his little head into the crook of Mu Xueshi’s arm, then stretched one arm across Mu Xueshi’s chest, intending to hug him. Unfortunately, his arm was not long enough, so his hand could only rest in the middle of Mu Xueshi’s chest.
Su Ying could not fall asleep immediately, so he slowly played with Mu Xueshi’s clothes. His little hand brushed over Mu Xueshi’s body intentionally or unintentionally, making Mu Xueshi unbearably ticklish. Unfortunately, he could not laugh. If he laughed, he would give himself away, so he could only grit his teeth and endure it.
Su Ying’s hand finally stopped moving, and Mu Xueshi let out a long breath. He had finally endured it. He half-opened his eyes and looked at the person in his arms, planning to pretend to be asleep and suddenly bite Su Ying. That way, once Su Ying felt the pain, he probably wouldn’t dare climb onto this bed again tomorrow.
In the end, Mu Xueshi discovered that Su Ying seemed to have fallen asleep. His long eyelashes rested quietly against his eyelids, like a pair of tiny crescent-shaped fans. His fair, translucent cheeks were even more like freshly squeezed milk, as though one could pinch water from them with a single squeeze.
This jade doll did indeed look very tempting, but forget biting him—even lightly scratching him would make Mu Xueshi feel terribly cruel.
“Ai…” Mu Xueshi sighed and helplessly closed his eyes.
Because Mu Xueshi was used to sleeping on the inside, after Su Ying climbed in, he naturally slept on Mu Xueshi’s outer side. When the Third Prince later got into bed, he of course slept on the outermost side. As a result, Su Ying separated Mu Xueshi from the Third Prince, becoming the Milky Way between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
…
“Uncle Mu, Uncle Mu, look who I am.”
“Why are you here again?” Mu Xueshi looked in horror at the small figure not far away.
Su Ying’s laughter was not as clear and crisp as usual. Instead, it carried a drawn-out, eerie tone.
“I came to see Uncle Mu. I like Uncle Mu the most…”
Mu Xueshi watched as Su Ying seemed to float toward him, and he was so frightened that he turned and fled into the distance. But his feet felt as though dozens of pounds of sandbags had been tied to them; no matter what, he couldn’t lift them. Seeing that Su Ying was about to catch up, Mu Xueshi was still slowly running away.
Suddenly, that innocent and adorable face appeared on Mu Xueshi’s left side. The fair, tender skin slowly began to age, layer after layer of wrinkles appearing on it. When he looked more closely, it was actually one of the corpses he had seen that afternoon.
And on Mu Xueshi’s right side, another face appeared as well. What was more… it was missing one eyeball, the socket bloody and gory.
“You… Why are you following me?”
“Because I’m Su Ying, Uncle Mu. Su Ying likes Uncle Mu the most.”
Mu Xueshi did not want to turn his head and look, but his eyes seemed to have grown onto his ears. Without deviation, they caught sight of that face—and it really was Su Ying’s. Yet not long after, that face turned into the dead Ning Yue’s. It alternated back and forth like a film reel, mixed with bursts of horrifying laughter.
“Uncle Mu, I’m Su Ying. You bit my eyeball off.”
“Uncle Mu, I like you the most. I’m going to follow you forever.”
“Ah!!!”
“…”
Drenched in cold sweat, Mu Xueshi abruptly woke up. After waking, his left hand instinctively reached out to feel for the Third Prince, only to touch another plump little body. He lowered his head and saw that it was still the same face from his dream.
“Ah!! Ah!!”
Hearing Mu Xueshi scream, the Third Prince also woke at once. The first thing he saw was a dark shadow, followed by a person crashing onto him.
“Wuwuwu…”
At first, Mu Xueshi lay sprawled over the Third Prince. Only after feeling the Third Prince’s body heat did he slowly calm down and nestle into his arms.
“It’s all right. It was only a nightmare. Don’t be afraid.” The Third Prince coaxed Mu Xueshi indulgently and wiped the sweat from his cheeks.
Mu Xueshi nodded, then turned his head to glance at Su Ying. The next instant, he quickly buried his head in the Third Prince’s arms.
“Over there… Is there really a Su Ying over there?”
Feeling Mu Xueshi’s heart pounding wildly, the Third Prince found it both funny and exasperating. “You were the one who kept Su Ying here. How are you the one being frightened by him now?”
After hearing the Third Prince’s words, Mu Xueshi calmed down and thought about it for quite a while before finally coming back to himself. He muttered, “It’s all his fault. Why is he pretending to be a ghost in the middle of the night and scaring people?”
The Third Prince looked at Su Ying, who was sleeping very sweetly and had not moved at all, and could only smile helplessly. He kissed Mu Xueshi’s forehead again and coaxed him to go back to sleep.
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