Shang Xiye was taken aback by her ambiguous response, but he still understood the power of gossip: "I understand. Next time I go to the outer residence..."

Ji Fengyao: "!"

This is fucking...

"I don't care where you go, but from now on, don't come to my bed or couch. Tomorrow, find a reliable doctor yourself. I'll teach him acupuncture techniques, and he'll perform acupuncture for you every day. From this moment on, I won't have a moment to spare!" Ji Fengyao jumped up and suddenly roared, "Black Owl, back to the manor!"

Hearing the sound, Hei Xiao leaped down from the opposite rooftop, tossing peanuts into his mouth as he pushed open the door and entered. Seeing Shang Xiye, dressed neatly with his face veiled in black gauze and a bamboo hat, he laughed and said, "Oh? Did we arrive too early? The girls haven't given Your Highness any personal instruction yet."

"What personal instruction?" Shang Xiye wanted to hit someone. Was he the kind of person who would let anyone get close to him so easily?

Black Owl rolled his eyes disdainfully, tossing the last peanut in his hand into his mouth: "How can you understand this kind of thing without hands-on instruction? Tsk, look how angry you've made the princess. Princess, let's go back to the manor and write a letter of divorce. I'll take you to roam the world."

Ji Fengyao: "..."

"Xiao...!" Shang Xiye was so angry that she almost called him by name. She smashed the teacups and teapot on the table at Hei Xiao's face. The force was so great that the tea splashed out of the teacups and teapot made a sound as it was being torn apart.

"Oh, so you've finally decided to fight me. I thought you'd spoil me forever," Black Owl chuckled, dodging the splashed tea and smashing the teacup and teapot back at him.

Hearing Hei Xiao's words, Ji Fengyao felt that they were so ambiguous. Watching their back-and-forth fighting, it seemed like they were a couple who loved and hated each other. She was practically becoming a third wheel because of this.

Damn it.

Men are all unreliable bastards!

Too lazy to deal with the two of them exuding such inexplicable homoerotic tension any longer, Ji Fengyao stomped her foot and left.

Shang Xiye wanted to chase after him, but Hei Xiao clung to him relentlessly, enraging him: "Do you really want to force me to kill you?"

"Would you kill me for her?" Black Owl asked with a smile, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

Shang Xiye suddenly stopped.

Black Owl struck with his palm, barely stopping just before it came within reach of Shang Xiye's temple.

"In the past, I only had one request for you: you must not harm the foundation of my Great Zhao Kingdom. You could do whatever you wanted." Shang Xiye stared at Hei Xiao, his voice low and deep. "Now, I'm adding one more: do not hurt her."

Black Owl withdrew his hand, quite bored, turned around, and said indifferently, "Wouldn't it be better to kill me?" With that, he strode away.

"Your Highness!" Wuying and Wuhen entered, their eyes filled with apprehension as they looked at Hei Xiao's retreating figure.

They weren't entirely sure about Black Owl's background or his relationship with the Prince. But if they didn't know, then this person could only be someone the Prince had met in that place.

Those who have stayed in that place either emerge as exceptional individuals like princes or as monstrous beings from hell.

Once inside the carriage, Shang Xiye lifted the curtain and asked, "Which way did the Princess go?"

"...Wu Zhong escorted the princess back," Wu Ying replied, thinking to herself that she had done a good deed but ended up making things worse. She should have known better than to ask Wu Zhong to escort the princess back.

Knowing that the young female bandit was safe, Shang Xiye didn't say much, just grunted and lowered the carriage curtain.

Recalling the words the little bandit had spoken before her furious rampage, Shang Xiye's deep voice came from the carriage again: "Wuying, come to Cuihonglou again tomorrow and do everything that ordinary people do here. After you return to the manor, report back to me in detail."