Chapter 15

The Fifth Prince had deliberately lay on the roof beam to scare people, but he was the one who was startled by Xue Jin'an's sudden opening of his eyes, and then he heard these words that sounded like a death threat.

He knew very well what had happened yesterday and that Xue Jin'an's reason for drawing his knife was the word "compensation," so his words were no different from "I'm going to kill you."

"Are you threatening me?" He craned his neck with some surprise to examine Xue Jin'an, who was lying peacefully on the bed with his eyes open. He asked with interest, "You also want to dig out my heart?"

His head protruded, long hair cascading down his back, making it look as if his head was hanging from a beam. The light streaming through the window paper was dim, obscuring his face in darkness, except for his bright eyes.

Xue Jin'an felt that the scene was strangely familiar. He opened the camera, blinked to take a picture, and then used the intelligent image recognition to find a bunch of cached images of horror movies that otaku had watched.

Well, it's not exactly the same, but the atmosphere matches very well. Xue Jin'an saved the picture.

“It’s not a threat.” Xue Jin’an answered his question in a matter-of-fact manner. “I don’t want your heart, I want your hand, which is very strong.”

Xue Jin'an is a very content person. He already has the battery he wants, so he won't covet anyone else's. Besides, the Fifth Prince's physical accessories are even better than the battery.

He still remembered the brief exchange yesterday, the strength with which his wrist was gripped, and how he couldn't break free.

"Ha!" The Fifth Prince chuckled enigmatically. "You're quite interesting."

Perhaps in a good mood, he unusually had the desire to speak. "If you want it, come and take it. But I'm not that good-for-nothing Xue Xuanyue. If you beat me, I'll personally chop it off for you. If you can't beat me, I'll—take you to the Imperial Study and introduce you to my brothers, so you can choose whichever you like. How about it?"

The Fifth Prince's voice was filled with laughter, making no attempt to hide his wickedness. He even stopped calling him Fourth Brother, clearly eager to cause trouble.

The Fifth Prince knew that he didn't have a good reputation among his brothers. They said he was gloomy and cold, that he sowed discord, and that he had ill intentions. The Fifth Prince thought they were right. He treated all his brothers equally, including his half-brother, and didn't want them to have an easy time.

Now he has finally found a sharp knife that can pierce everyone. He wants it and he is convinced that he can get it. After all, this is his seventh brother, who has fallen from the altar and suffered all kinds of humiliation, and who, like him, harbors malice towards his brothers.

The Fifth Prince curled his lips into a smile, already contemplating who to start with. His second elder brother or his third elder brother?

Although he couldn't see anything good about his second elder brother Xue Peilan, his teachers always praised his essays and policy proposals, and his father also praised him for his unparalleled intelligence. Even though he wouldn't be attending court until next year, his father had already given him the courtesy name "Wuxia" (meaning "flawless").

—Men are capped at twenty and given a courtesy name, while princes attend court and listen to government affairs at fifteen. At the same time, they also leave the palace to establish their own residences. Some princes even arrange for their princesses to be chosen, which is equivalent to establishing their own household. Therefore, most princes are capped and given a courtesy name in advance.

However, the prince's residence is quite large and takes three to five years to build. The eldest prince, who has already come of age, still lives in the Qizheng Courtyard, which is located east of the prince's residence.

The Emperor's praise was very straightforward: "A gentleman is like an orchid, a flawless jade." But the Fifth Prince couldn't see how his Second Brother was worthy of such a title. If he had to say what was good about him, it would probably be that he was good at forming cliques.

Not long after the eldest prince left the Imperial Study, the second prince's faction couldn't wait to emerge.

As for the three imperial brothers who also rose to prominence... Consort Xian was born into a military family, and all the men in her family were scoundrels. General Qian Dezhong, the General of the Western Garrison, was even more notorious for being physically strong but mentally simple-minded, in short, a brute.

Once, the eldest prince and the third prince had a conflict, and the eldest prince accidentally hit the third prince. The next day, Qian Dezhong, that brute, went directly to the Imperial Study and forced the eldest prince to go to the martial arts arena. The eldest prince and his companion were beaten black and blue and couldn't get out of bed. This shows just how brute he was.

My third brother has shown excellent physical qualities since childhood. He prefers martial arts to literature, and he always speaks directly without any beating around the bush. You can't even detect his sarcastic tone, which is really quite infuriating.

The Fifth Prince decided to test the waters with the Second Prince, mainly because he felt that the Seventh Prince couldn't beat the Third Prince, not because he didn't want to talk to the Third Prince.

The Fifth Prince had a good plan, but he didn't expect to be rejected without hesitation.

"I don't understand what you're saying," Xue Jin'an replied dismissively using the voice assistant's words. He got up, dressed, and thought to himself: Xiao Lu should be back from the imperial kitchen by now.

Xue Jin'an refused the Fifth Prince's suggestion to fight. He had already calculated the outcome of their fight yesterday and knew that the Fifth Prince was a muscular, free-range chicken, and his broken body couldn't beat him for the time being.

Otherwise, he would have discussed compensation with the Fifth Prince yesterday.

As for the conditions the Fifth Prince mentioned later, he simply sent a message saying "Do Not Disturb," completely ignoring them.

The Fifth Prince glared, but Xue Jin'an continued dressing without paying him any attention. He couldn't help but say sarcastically, "Seventh Brother, are you scared? I don't blame you, I don't blame you. After all, you're just a poor little thing who can't get enough to eat or wear. What right do you have to fight with them? Princes are not all the same."

Xue Jin'an, who had directly muted the Fifth Prince's chat messages, was smoothing out the wrinkles on his clothes inch by inch and buttoning them up one by one. He lingered on each button for the same amount of time, and this overly meticulous and rhythmic movement was strangely pleasing to the eye.

In modern terms, it possesses a kind of beauty that would make someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder feel comfortable.

The Fifth Prince does not have obsessive-compulsive disorder, but he does have some compulsive behaviors, such as rubbing the medicine powder and blood off his fingers yesterday until the skin almost broke.

The Fifth Prince's gaze lingered on the man's clothes for a long while, following his finger. He even paused for a moment, and when he realized what he had done, anger flashed across his eyes.

"Seventh brother, you've been forgotten here." He gave a gloomy laugh, and sighed in a very provocative tone, "How pitiful."

Xue Jin'an continued to concentrate on tying her belt, hanging the sachet, adjusting it to the best angle, and deftly tidying up the slightly messy tassels with her fingers.

This is truly a blessing for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Fifth Prince: "..."

The Fifth Prince forced himself to look up at Xue Jin'an's face and continued to coax him gently, "Seventh Brother, I will help you, just like I personally delivered Fourth Brother to you yesterday. I can help you."

After Xue Jin'an finished dressing, he habitually opened his phone and discovered a barrage of messages from the Fifth Prince.

The Fifth Prince suddenly realized something, and said with a grim expression, "Hey, Xue Jin'an!"

Xue Jin'an, who was still using the intelligent voice assistant's language library, replied naturally, "I'm here."

Fifth Prince: "Look me in the eye when you speak."

Looking into the other person's eyes when speaking is considered a matter of politeness. Xue Jin'an, who was about to listen to a voice message, looked up thoughtfully. He thought that since the sender of the message was here, it would be better to speak in person.

So Xue Jin'an said, "I didn't hear what you said. Say it again."

The Fifth Prince felt a pang in his heart and widened his eyes in disbelief. "Are you... ignoring me?"

"..." Xue Jin'an was silent for two seconds, then decided to use the new skill he had learned yesterday, and lied through his teeth, "No, I didn't."

He waited patiently for the Fifth Prince to continue, but after staring at each other for a long time without hearing anything further, the Fifth Prince exclaimed, "—Ha!"

As it turns out, people can laugh when they're speechless to the extreme. He completely dispelled the Fifth Prince's emotions, calmed down, and returned to his usual uninterested self.

"Never mind." He leaped down from the roof beam with swift movements, but stumbled slightly upon landing.

Xue Jin'an immediately noticed the problem: the Fifth Prince was still wearing yesterday's clothes, which were stained with blood and medicine powder, probably from when the Fourth Prince rubbed them on him yesterday. In addition, there were two gray marks on the hem of his clothes near his knees, as if they had been made while kneeling.

“You’ve been here for more than three hours,” Xue Jin’an said definitively. “You’ve run away from home.”

Xue Jin'an immediately checked the trending topics, but the Fourth Prince's name was still not there. Instead, there was a new trending topic: #Left Censor-in-Chief Impeaches Ningguo Mansion for Neglecting Daughters' Discipline, Consort Rong for Being Arrogant and Domineering, and Abusing Eunuchs and Palace Maids#.

"I left openly and honestly." He simply took advantage of the palace servants' inattention, used his lightness skill to jump over the wall, and even feinted to the people following behind him, leading them to his original secret place to look for him, while he quietly came here.

The more his mother forbade him to have contact with someone, the more determined he became to do so in order to show her.

"Master!" Xiao Luzi's voice came from outside. Xue Jin'an went out and saw that his face was pale and he had even forgotten to put down the food box. He rushed over hurriedly, "Master, are you alright?"

Xiao Luzi has been actively socializing these days and has built up some connections, especially with a low-ranking eunuch in the Imperial Kitchen. The other party is a low-ranking eunuch in the Imperial Kitchen, whose life is neither particularly good nor bad. He happened to witness Xue Jin'an's powerful display that forced Eunuch Wang to kneel and beg for mercy. He was immediately drawn to the scene and took the initiative to approach Xiao Luzi.

The other party was worried that the Seventh Prince would look down on him, so he wanted to prove his worth. He would often tell Xiao Luzi some news circulating in the palace, which were usually things that everyone knew. However, since no one played with Xiao Luzi, he did not refuse.

You can immediately tell what's going on from that.

Although Consort Zhen intended to make a big fuss about Consort Rong's unjust death of the palace maid in order to cover up the Fourth Prince's affair, she even took the initiative to remove the "murderer" Xue Jin'an directly from the incident.

No secrets stay hidden in the palace, but under Consort Zhen's deliberate guidance, the only rumor circulating in the palace was that the Fourth Prince had been attacked; no one revealed who the assassin was.

But Xiao Luzi wasn't stupid; with a little thought, he knew this matter must be related to his master.

He suppressed his emotions, not daring to let anyone see, and quickly returned to Qifeng Courtyard. Only then could he no longer hold back and asked the question.

Seeing Xue Jin'an shake his head, confirming that he was indeed unharmed, Xiao Luzi's expression improved somewhat. She whispered, "Yesterday, the Yihe Palace invited the imperial physician. This morning, when I went to the kitchen to fetch water, I fetched much more than usual. On my way back just now, I took a detour to Green Bamboo Courtyard and glanced at it. It was completely empty."

In other words, the Fourth Prince did not return from Yihe Palace last night, and even summoned the imperial physician. The Green Bamboo Courtyard was also emptied overnight.

"What a coward," the Fifth Prince commented.

When he saw him walk out of the master's room, Xiao Luzi was stunned. The next moment, he realized what he had just said and his face turned pale.

She was trembling all over, but she still stood in front of Xue Jin'an without hesitation.

The Fifth Prince glanced at him and quickly looked away, then looked at Xue Jin'an and said with a strange smile, "Fourth Brother is ill, shouldn't you, as his younger brother, go to visit him?"

"I'm not going." Xue Jin'an had no interest.

The Fifth Prince became very talkative whenever he had a chance to cause trouble. He coaxed, "Seventh Prince, no! Fourth Brother must really want to see you. You can sing for him and wish him a speedy recovery. He'll be so happy he'll jump out of bed and get better right away."

Xue Jin'an tilted her head and looked at him with some confusion, "I can't sing."

The Fifth Prince asked with even greater doubt, "You were singing in your dream, though very softly, but I heard you. You sang for almost half an hour, and it was the Book of Songs."

This is the playlist Xue Jin'an played for himself last night.

Xue Jin'an suddenly understood, and was then surprised and distressed.

Surprisingly, his phone's function was working on his soul, meaning he was essentially wearing headphones the whole time and never expected to be overheard.

So after the initial surprise, she became distressed.

#Help! My phone is completely shattered. How can I fix the sound leakage problem? Urgent! Waiting online!#