Lai Shanzi was sleeping soundly.
The loud noise from outside the door made him open his eyes with a start.
The curses that were on the tip of his tongue hadn't even been uttered yet.
Mu Junyao then smashed the orange-red gemstone in his hand directly onto his bed.
Lai Shanzi instantly woke up from his sleepiness and sat up in bed: "Your Highness..."
The three words he almost blurted out were swallowed back down when he saw the shop assistants standing at the door.
"You...why are you here at this hour?" Lai Shanzi rubbed his eyes. "Shouldn't you be here at this hour..."
He didn't finish his sentence.
His gaze fell once again on the group of men standing at the door watching the commotion: "Damn it, there's no work to be done in the shop, get out of here!"
The onlookers scattered in panic.
Lai Shanzi hurriedly scrambled off the bed and scrambled to close the door.
He held the buttons of his robe with one hand and carried his shoes with the other, staggering as he walked to Mu Junyao and pulled out a stool for him.
He poured Mu Junyao a glass of water with a solicitous expression: "What happened? Why are you so angry so early in the morning?"
"Early?" Mu Junyao scoffed coldly, "It's already past 1-3 PM. Do you expect me to sleep until 7-9 PM before it's considered late?"
Lai Shanzi was taken aback for a moment, then, while massaging Mu Junyao's back, said with a forced smile, "How could I dare? As long as the Crown Prince comes, any time is still early."
"Hmph." Mu Junyao snorted coldly: "Where were you last night? You didn't come home all night?"
"I didn't stay out all night. Who is this blind fool who dares to gossip behind my back? I'll break one of his legs later." Lai Shanzi said sullenly, "I was just playing cards with the owners of a few nearby shops last night and I was late. I promise it won't happen again next time."
Upon hearing this sentence...
Mu Junyao's already gloomy face darkened even more instantly.
Seeing this, Lai Shanzi hurriedly sat down next to him: "Alright, you stay in the palace all day long, and I was lonely here all by myself, so I went to play a few rounds of cards. If you don't like it, I won't go again."
The eldest prince rolled his eyes at him, said nothing, and let him push his arm.
"Why are you so angry? They didn't do anything wrong." After saying that, Lai Shanzi poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of Mu Junyao.
Mu Junyao sat there without saying a word.
A sliver of the setting sun shone through the window, scattering across his cheeks, offering no warmth but instead adding a chill.
He ignored whatever Lai Shanzi said.
Lai Shanzi tried everything he could to coax him for a while, but he still sat there without saying a word.
Lai Shanzi's expression froze, as if he knew that Mu Junyao was really angry.
He stood up, walked around to the other side of Mu Junyao, and took his arm with one hand: "Oh, I won't go next time. It's not easy for you to leave the palace. Are you going to waste all your time on such a small thing?"
After Lai Shanzi finished speaking, he lowered his head and rubbed against him.
Mu Junyao seemed to like this approach.
His gloomy expression softened slightly in an instant.
If it were any other time, Lai Shanzi would have already appeased him with those two moves.
Just today.
At the Empress's place, he saw things that should not belong in the palace.
This completely made Mu Junyao's eyes red.
"What exactly is that thing?" Mu Junyao pointed to the orange-red gemstone he had just thrown onto the bed.
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