As soon as Xiao Ziwu returned to the palace, someone immediately went to inform Xiao Ziyan.
Almost as soon as Xiao Ziwu arrived at Linhua Palace, Xiao Ziyan arrived with his men.
Seeing that he was walking slowly with a limp due to his leg injury, Xiao Ziyan felt quite pleased. He smiled with interest and said, "Third brother, you're back so quickly. I suppose you've taken care of things. Did you manage to buy my wolf-hair brush?"
The shopkeeper of Mobaozhai had already been sent to the government, so naturally they couldn't buy any wolf-hair brushes.
He lowered his eyes, his lips barely moving, and said, "No."
Xiao Ziyan was very satisfied with this answer and was just worried about not finding an opportunity to punish him again.
Then he laughed even more unrestrainedly: "How could you not have it? Third Brother came out of the palace precisely to compensate me for the wolf-hair brush, yet now you say you couldn't buy it. Let Second Brother guess, could it be that Third Brother doesn't have enough money and can't afford it?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than one of the people Xiao Ziyan had brought couldn’t help but sneer, his eyes filled with deep mockery: “Your Highness, as a prince, is not even as good as the servant boy beside me.”
It would be a laughing stock if word got out that a prince couldn't even afford a single wolf-hair brush. But if this were applied to Xiao Ziwu, it would make perfect sense. After all, the fact that he had been disliked by the emperor since birth was a story familiar even to three-year-olds in the capital.
Didn't they say that his former mother, who deserved to die, left him many belongings? Indeed, rumors shouldn't be taken at face value.
The crowd burst into gloating laughter, but Xiao Ziwu didn't even raise an eyebrow, clearly used to such scenes.
What Xiao Ziyan couldn't stand most was his disgustingly nonchalant demeanor. He suppressed his smile and said in a cold voice, "Since that's the case, I won't make things difficult for you, my brother. Go down into the Thousand Carp Pond again for another night. If you still haven't found the pen this time, then we'll call it quits. How about that?"
Xiao Ziwu's little eunuch Chang Lai frowned with heartache, thinking that the Second Prince was really going too far!
He clearly threw that wolf-hair brush into the pond himself, and then turned around and slandered the Third Prince.
When this matter reached His Majesty's ears, Chang Lai originally thought that the Second Prince would restrain himself as a result, but to his surprise, His Majesty simply said impatiently, "Then let him go down and retrieve it."
Xiao Ziwu thought he had become cold-hearted and indifferent, and would no longer have any inappropriate fantasies, but when he heard these words, he still felt a slight pain in his heart.
The water in the Thousand Carp Pond was icy cold, and the wind was strong at night. This morning, when the Third Prince went ashore, his legs and feet were frostbitten, and he was limping. Before he could even warm them up, the Second Prince ordered him to leave the palace and personally buy a bottle as compensation.
"Why didn't Your Highness manage to buy the wolf-hair brush?" The young eunuch was puzzled. Wasn't this the very reason His Highness left the palace this time?
Xiao Ziwu, like a gourd with its mouth sawed off, closed his eyes and remained silent.
I don't know why I meddled in other people's business.
The woman's gentle voice seemed to still echo in his ears... calling him "Young Master".
Xiao Ziwu remained silent and went down into the Thousand Carp Pond.
The night was pitch black, not a single star in sight, and thick, dark clouds blanketed the area, creating a suffocating atmosphere of oppression. The icy lake water quickly rose above his knees, and a burning, itchy sensation shot through his feet, which he seemed oblivious to, as he reached down to feel around at the bottom of the pool.
The young eunuch stood guard by the pool, holding a cloak, ready to wrap the prince up like a ball as soon as he came ashore.
The young eunuch was named Changlai, and he had a younger brother named Changwang. The two brothers had served the Third Prince for many years, and had witnessed him being bullied by the Second Prince all along. Changlai, filled with resentment, drifted off into thought, recalling the root of the prince's suffering over the years.
The Third Prince's mother was a former princess of the previous dynasty. On the day the rebel army breached Xuanwu Gate, her country was destroyed and her family perished. She raised her sword, intending to commit suicide in her palace. Perhaps it was the despair that appeared on her beautiful face, making her breathtakingly beautiful. She caught the eye of the emperor, who was then a prince, who took her sword and saved her. From then on, she became one of the three thousand beauties in his harem, and soon after, she became pregnant with the Third Prince. But on the day of her delivery, she was inexplicably traumatized and, in a frenzy, grabbed a hairpin and stabbed at the emperor. Fortunately, she was exhausted after childbirth, and the wound was not deep, but His Majesty was still furious and ordered her to be executed on the spot.
The Third Prince's mother was given death as soon as he was born, and he himself was almost implicated and killed while still an infant. Later, for some unknown reason, he survived, but was despised by his father, the Emperor, and became a marginal figure in this vast palace.
——
These past two days, Tianyun has gotten used to life at home, staying indoors and not going anywhere. The other party is a prince, and no matter how anxious she is, she can't force her way into the palace. Anyway, she'll be starting her studies at the Imperial Academy soon, and then she can enter the palace without any problem.
She leaned against the rosewood chaise lounge as if she had no bones, with a gold-threaded pillow filled with fragrant agastache beneath her slender waist, and was flipping through the strange and wonderful stories that her brother Shangguan had helped her collect.
Lingqi held a peeled grape to her lips, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, and asked, "What happened to that scholar afterward?"
Tianyun smiled, a sly glint in his eyes, and deliberately lowered his voice, speaking slowly in her ear: "His soul was sucked away by that monster, and he eventually became a living dead who could neither see nor speak."
Lingqi felt a cold wind whistling down her back. Her eyes widened, and she screamed in terror.
Tianyun chuckled at her adorable reaction, her beautiful face becoming even more charming.
"Girl, you're just trying to scare me!" Lingqi saw her smile and realized that she had been tricked again.
These days were too comfortable, and Tianyun was so engrossed in his pleasures that he forgot all about home...
She needs to go to class.
Before dawn that day, Madam Shangguan burst into her room in a flurry of activity.
With a casual flick of her wrist, the crimson silk quilt embroidered with orchid patterns was lifted to the side, revealing Tianyun, who was fast asleep inside. She was immediately awakened by the cold, clutching her chest and panting heavily, her delicate face covered in fragrant sweat.
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