As the banquet entered the second half, the table had been cleared and the dance floor inside the hall was gradually becoming lively.
Maureen was surrounded by several unmarried noble girls at this time. He said something and the girls around him burst into laughter.
Mo Lin also smiled casually, but was a little distracted. Looking at these beautiful young girls in front of him, he always felt that something was missing.
A white fishtail dress flashed before my eyes, with bare shoulders, a thin but straight back, and even the bone lines were so perfect that it tempted me to trace them carefully with my fingertips, over and over again, until I saw the white and tender skin was translucent and trembled slightly with every touch.
What would the mermaid do then? Would she plead with tears in her eyes, or would she invite him with a half-rejecting attitude?
Zhang Lu approached Mo Lin from behind: "Second Young Master."
When Mo Lin came back to his senses from his imagination, he saw Zhang Lu waving at him stealthily not far away.
Mo Lin remembered his elder brother's warning when he came back from the cruise ship last time: continuing to associate with idiots will only bring trouble. Mo Lin is a nostalgic person, but he believes that his elder brother will not harm him. So he decided to distance himself from Zhang Lu silently, leaving him with the last bit of dignity. If the other party is not completely stupid, he should leave on his own.
But obviously, Zhang Lu was even dumber than he thought. Not only was he stupid, he also thought he was very smart and even dared to take the initiative to provoke Qi Hanyi.
It turned out that what the eldest brother said was right. Such a person would not be able to bring him any benefits in the future, but would only cause him trouble.
Maureen then turned her eyes away, as if what she saw was not a person but just an insignificant object.
Zhang Lu gritted his teeth. He knew that Mo Lin had been distancing himself from him since the cruise ship came back. But it didn't matter. After the Qi and Mo families broke up, he would no longer distance himself from him to please Qi Hanyi.
Zhang Lu shamelessly squeezed through the group of girls to the seat next to Mo Lin. He stretched out his clenched hands towards Mo Lin, and a gap appeared between his fingers.
"Second Master, look."
Mo Lin's eyes swept over the white corner of Zhang Lu's stitches, and his eyes fixed on it. It was a piece of torn cloth. He had seen it today, on the skirt that Su Su was wearing.
He never mind paying more attention to good-looking people, and his attention to Su Su was so detailed that he even noticed the pattern on her skirt.
Mo Lin smiled apologetically at the girls around him, saying that he had something to do and couldn't dance with them. Then he acted like a good brother and took Zhang Lu to a deserted place.
The fake smile on his face disappeared, and Mo Lin glared at Zhang Lu coldly: "Where are you from?"
"The mermaid I just met at Qi Hanyi's house gave it to me. He said he was waiting for you in the empty room at the end of the fourth floor and said he had something to say to you alone." Zhang Lu said according to Qi Yang's instructions.
Mo Lin looked at Zhang Lu warily, not willing to be easily fooled: "She is Qi Hanyi's fiancée, why would she ask me for help? And she doesn't even know you, how could she let you pass on such a private thing?"
"Second Master, you asked this question as if you suspected I was going to harm you. He just suddenly stuffed this into my hand, said that, and then ran away in a hurry. You find it strange, but I also find it strange..."
Zhang Lu stuffed the torn piece of skirt fabric into Mo Lin's hand and said, "This matter is of no benefit to me. If you think it's inappropriate, don't go. Anyway, I have brought the message."
Maureen held the cloth in his hand, and the surprised smile on Su Su's face when he walked in came to his mind again, and it felt like a thousand ants were crawling through his heart.
Maureen drank alone for half an hour, sitting restlessly at the empty bar.
He was not without doubts, but...
Molin gently twisted the fabric with her index finger and thumb. After a while, she took steps and hurried towards the stairs.
On the fourth floor, Yan Bai took the clean clothes that his men had asked for and entered the room, and ordered his men to continue guarding outside the door.
Yan Bai took a set of clothes that he had brought with him. In order to prevent his clothes from getting dirty accidentally, he always brought one or two sets of shirts and pants with him when he went out.
Su Su endured the pain all over his body and changed his clothes. He was about the same height as Yan Bai, so the clothes fit him well. But he was so beautiful that it was deceptive. Even though his hair was loose and he was wearing men's clothes, it was still difficult to tell his gender by his appearance.
"Go lie down on the bed." Yan Bai saw that Su Su was in great pain and couldn't help but hissing every time he moved.
Su Su lay on the bed obediently, but soon curled up because of the pain.
"Apart from the pain, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere else?" Yan Bai remembered what Su Su had just said, that he felt a little uneasy about being fed medicine.
Su Su shook his head: "No feeling?"
It seems that it is the racial talent of sharks that they can develop a certain resistance to drugs.
Yan Bai guessed. This also explained why he had put drugs in the farewell wine for the bride on the shuttle, but the bride was completely fine and even fought back.
As soon as Mo Lin went upstairs, Yan Bai's men noticed something was happening and immediately flashed into the room and reported to Yan Bai: "Young Master, the second young master Mo is coming up."
"Second Young Master Mo?" Yan Bai thought about it for a moment and had already guessed the general idea of the matter. After all, the means of intrigue among the nobles were usually the same, and they could not come up with any new ideas over and over again.
It was nothing more than someone trying to create the illusion that Su Su and Mo Er were having an affair. As for the target, it was nothing more than the Qi family, the Mo family, or a few of the parties involved. Yan Bai was sure that the medicine that Su Su had just stuffed into his mouth was something related to aphrodisiac.
"Young Master, it's time for us to leave." The subordinate reminded in a low voice.
"What's the hurry?" Yan Bai knew in his heart that if he stayed any longer, he would get into trouble. But when he looked at Su Su, who was lying on the bed injured and a little listless, he couldn't suppress his irritation.
"Let's go, young master. If you don't leave now, you'll get into trouble." The men saw the other party coming straight to the end of the corridor. They didn't know kung fu, and this was the fourth floor. If they jumped out of the window, they would definitely break their legs.
Yan Bai frowned, kicked his subordinate away, and said impatiently: "Stop talking too much, do you need to tell me what to do?"
Su Su was injured, and now it hurts whenever he moves. He was also given medicine. There was a pervert outside who had evil intentions towards him, and there were a few calculating bastards hiding behind him. If I leave him here, and Mo Lin comes in later, will Su Su have a good ending?
Yan Bai didn't want to leave. Su Su was his cousin after all. Although he didn't have much affection for his relatives, he liked him. Moreover, Su Su was his mission target. He finally got in touch with him. He looked silly and obedient. He could use him to do many things in the future. It was a pity for him to die here.
Well, for the sake of the mission, I should protect him this time.
Thinking of this, Yan Bai sat down on the bed as expected: "Master, I want to see how troublesome it can be."
Mo Lin walked to the door. The door was not locked, but ajar. Mo Lin pushed the door open and saw Su Su lying on the bed. He had changed into men's clothes and was curled up on the bed with his long silver-blue hair spread out like water, giving him a perverse and weak beauty.
But Su Su was not the only one in the room, there was also Yan Bai and his men. Mo Lin quickly recognized that the clothes Su Su was wearing seemed to be the same as Yan Bai's.
Is it a trap? Or a coincidence? Or did someone get there first?
Maureen stood at the door hesitantly.
Suddenly, the elevator door not far away opened, and a large group of people rushed over here in a bustling manner.
They were all young men who were familiar with Mo Lin. They seemed to have drunk a lot of wine and were having a great time. When they saw Mo Lin, one of them immediately shouted, "Hey, Second Young Master Mo, why didn't I see you down there? You're not planning to have some fun with some pretty girl up there behind our backs, are you?"
Morin was known for his romantic reputation, and many people were making a fuss. The empire was relatively open about sex, and if something out of the ordinary happened between unmarried noble men and women, they would generally only be teased, and would not be considered a scandal. So the people making jokes not only ignored it, but pushed and shoved, all crowded here, clamoring to watch the excitement.
It was not until they saw the situation in the house that they realized that things seemed to be different from what they thought.
Before anyone could figure out what was going on, a voice came from the stairs asking, "What are you all doing here?"
The noisy young people suddenly became quiet.
Not far behind them was the host of this banquet, the patriarch of the Mo family.
Qi Xingli, Qi Hanyi, and Mo Shan also stood with him. They had just been discussing the evening cooperation in the conference room upstairs, and were about to come down to rest for a while when they saw the crowd gathered here.
Qi Yang couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth.
The plot that he had spent the whole night setting up was finally about to begin. When Mo Lin didn't come up on time, he realized that something might have gone wrong. But it didn't matter to him, whether it was Mo Lin or Yan Bai, as long as he could get rid of the mermaid next to Qi Hanyi, his plan would be a success.
Just now, Team Leader Ying has fed the mermaid an aphrodisiac. Judging from the time, it will soon have an effect.
When Su Su loses his mind due to the torture of drugs, they will definitely not be able to explain what happened today.
Maureen was the first to react, thinking that he was being plotted against.
From the moment he received the pieces of clothing from Zhang Lu, he had become suspicious, but he was happy to take advantage of the situation.
At this time, he was ready to give a proper explanation for the current situation.
He showed the piece of clothing in his hand and said calmly, "I just wanted to go upstairs to rest for a while. I found this piece of clothing at the door. I was worried that some guests were in danger, so I came to check."
"It was only when I opened the door that I discovered that Young Master Yan and Admiral Qi's mermaid were both in the room. Before I could even ask what was going on, everyone else arrived."
As the host, it is perfectly reasonable for him to be concerned about the safety of his guests.
Suddenly, a voice rang out from the crowd: "Hey, isn't that the mermaid from General Qi's family? I couldn't recognize her after she changed her clothes."
As soon as these words came out, the whole corridor became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
和貴族男女之間的交往不同。人魚作為家族延續後代的需要,是絕對不可以與丈夫以外的男人有任何越界的接觸的。任何背上不忠之名的人魚,下場都必然非常凄慘。而人類和已經指定配偶的人魚發生關系,也是非常嚴重的罪名。
現在,莫林說他在門口撿到人魚的裙子碎片,而房間裏,蘇溯又換了顏白的衣服。莫林說他剛來,那就是說,剛剛這段時間,都是顏白和蘇溯在單獨相處。
一時間所有人的眼神都變得微妙起來。
蘇溯剛剛打架身上還有幾處地方痛,并不是很想離開柔軟的床鋪。他隐約能感覺到門外的氣氛異常,但他弄不明白,這些人為什麽看他的眼神那麽奇怪,他不就是和顏白在房間裏待了一會兒?
他坦然地看着門口烏泱泱的人群,最後落在戚寒衣的方向。
或許是因為蘇溯的眼神太過清明坦然,讓門口的人紛紛懷疑起自己的猜測。難道是他們想得太龌龊了?雖然門內是孤男寡女,雖然那漂亮的人魚連衣服都換了,但其實裏面什麽也沒發生?
戚寒衣擡腿朝這邊走過來。不知是他身上的氣場太過兇悍,還是眼神太冷冽,他所經過之處,擁擠的人群自動避讓開,為他讓出一條路。
戚寒衣大步走到顏白面前,朝他點了點頭,表情是波瀾不驚的淡漠,仿佛眼下的情況完全在他掌握之中:“我家人魚多虧你照顧了。”
顏白目光微微閃動,反應很快地接上話:“戚上将客氣。”
戚寒衣又轉身對衆人解釋說:“我家人魚方才在院子裏摔了跤,不小心把衣服弄壞了。恰巧顏少路過,我見顏少身形與他相似,就拜托顏少借件衣服給他穿。之後我同家主議事,便索性托顏少幫忙照顧一會兒。”
戚寒衣将事情三言兩語解釋清楚,場中氣氛漸漸放松下來。
果然是他們想多了。人家戚上将自己把人魚托付給顏少照顧的,換衣服也是因為裙子摔破了而已。
戚行厲沒說信不信,他早看出今天的事情有問題,他只需要一個合理的解釋。現在戚寒衣既然能解釋清楚,他便認可了這個說辭,只不輕不重地點了句:“到底是你的人魚,哪有托付給別人照顧的道理,不像樣子。”
“家主教訓的是。”戚寒衣坦然應下。
“行了,都散了吧。”莫山趁機圓場:“別堵在走廊裏,這邊可沒有什麽餘興節目給大家看。”
衆人三三兩兩散去。
只有戚洋傻在原地,被同行的人喊了幾次才回過神。
他費了很大力氣,才沒有讓自己露出任何失望或者憤怒的神色。這麽多雙眼睛盯着,他只要稍稍不注意,就會被人懷疑。
戚洋想不通,明明事情和戚寒衣想的完全不同,大眼裏不容沙子的大堂兄為什麽願意為一只人魚說謊,他不是最厭惡人魚的嗎?
還有,明明影組長信誓旦旦地告訴他,那藥已經喂進人魚的嘴裏,他也計劃得很好,只要人魚毒性發作,當衆做出露骨丢人的舉動,他必然會被戚家送走。
可偏偏那人魚卻能端端正正的坐在床上,看着一點事情都沒有。
明明費了這麽大力氣,計劃卻完全失敗了。戚洋用力攥着拳,指節因過分用力而蒼白,指甲狠狠地扣進掌心,把掌心扣得血肉模糊。
憑什麽,戚寒衣又贏了他,憑什麽!不過就是仗着一點天生的基因優勢,他不服,他也是S級的基因,明明他的努力,他的頭腦,他的出身,樣樣不必對方差。
但他今晚只能到此為止了,之後還得和大皇子解釋為什麽計劃會出現失敗。他只要不失去大皇子的支持,就還有機會,他絕不會這樣輕易認輸。
客房裏只剩下,蘇溯,戚寒衣,和顏白。
顏白挑起嘴角,觑着戚寒衣:“戚上将剛剛反應挺快啊,你一點都不懷疑?”
戚寒衣神色清冷淡然,确實完全不像是對剛剛的事情有任何介意:“任何腦子清醒的人,都能想明白,剛剛那種情況明顯是有人陷害。”
“唔,也是。”顏白笑了笑,狀似無意地試探:“不過沒看出來,戚上将還挺護着這人魚的。”
戚寒衣:“我只是護着戚家的聲譽,不想讓外人看了笑話而已。”
顏白點點頭,仿佛只是一句随意的調侃,招呼自己手下,離開了房間。
房門關上,戚寒衣給手下發了信息,讓他調查一下顏白。
關掉通訊,戚寒衣站在床邊,沉默地看着蜷縮在床腳的蘇溯。
蘇溯張了張嘴,想和戚寒衣告狀,說自己被人打了,身上好痛。
可他又想起來,戚寒衣說了讨厭自己。那應該也不會幫自己報仇。
于是委屈地裹緊了身上的小毯子,什麽都沒說。
戚寒衣弄不清蘇溯在想什麽,畢竟鯊魚和人類的思維并不相同。
他也理不清自己對蘇溯的想法,從看見對方變成人類的模樣開始,戚寒衣就隐約感覺到事情正在一點點超出自己的掌控。
今晚是他的疏忽,他本不應該犯這樣愚蠢的錯誤,把一只什麽都不懂的人魚獨自丢在宴會上不聞不問。
他只顧着處理自己的情緒,卻忽略了蘇溯對人類世界的規則一無所知,單純又好騙,很容易成為別人拿來對付自己,對付戚家的靶子。
“對不起。”戚寒衣并不吝啬于反省自己的錯誤,他主動向蘇溯道了歉:“今晚是我的過錯。事情我會負責調查清楚。”
“哦。”蘇溯低頭扣着身邊床單上的刺繡,他其實并不需要戚寒衣的道歉,打他的人又不是戚寒衣。
他只是覺得有些難過。他最喜歡的人類不喜歡他,就因為他是只人魚。
忽然,蘇溯感覺到骨頭縫裏鑽出一股難耐的麻癢,伴随着灼人的熱意,一起席卷全身。
這感覺來得快而猛烈,蘇溯難耐地彎下腰,修長的雙腿擰在一起,整個人蜷縮成一只蝦子。他半張開嘴,快速地喘着氣,嘴角有晶瑩的唾液滴下來,在被單上洇濕成一小片水跡,耳尖也泛出異常的粉色。
“你怎麽了?”戚寒衣臉色微變,俯下身,想查看蘇溯的情況。
不像是中毒,難道是有什麽暗傷?
“好難受……”蘇溯用帶着哭腔的語氣說,聽起來可憐極了。
真受傷了?戚寒衣皺起眉。蘇溯身上穿着衣服,要查看傷勢就得先幫對方脫衣服,雖然之前也見過蘇溯全身赤果的模樣,但他既然已經打算和蘇溯劃清界限,就不想在和對方産生任何暧昧不清的交流。
“哪裏疼?”戚寒衣問。
“哪都疼。”蘇溯哼哼唧唧道:“頭也暈,身上又熱又癢,戚寒衣,我是不是要死了啊。”
戚寒衣摸了摸蘇溯的額頭,體溫有些偏高。是發燒了?但症狀又不像,反而像是……
“不會。”戚寒衣抛開腦袋裏不合時宜的顧忌,将蘇溯的衣服解開,只見蘇溯手肘,肩膀,後腰膝蓋窩等地方都有不正常的淤青。看樣子像是擊打産生的傷勢,對方顯然留了手,不然就不只是淤青,應該是骨折了。
“和人打架了?”
“有人騙我,說來找你,結果就來了這,黑漆漆的,三個人沖出來,打我一個。欺負人,嗚嗚。”蘇溯斷斷續續地說着,越說越委屈。他感覺身上的熱意不停地上升,快要把他變成烤鯊魚了。
“三個什麽樣的人?”戚寒衣繼續問。
“黑影,看不到臉,我記得他們的味道,我從他們身上,咬下一塊肉。再碰見,我咬死他們……”蘇溯發狠地說着。
他的眼睛已經沒有了焦距,眼神逐漸迷離,他全身都熱得像是着了火,只有被戚寒衣按住的地方稍微舒服一點。循着本能,他整個人“游動”着從床上粘到戚寒衣懷裏。
可惡,為什麽和人類貼貼這麽舒服!明明人類都讨厭他了,可他卻還是拒絕不了這可惡的本能。
蘇溯把臉也貼到戚寒衣脖頸處,還不滿足地一下下蹭着。
戚寒衣的眼神驀地沉了,他感覺襯衣最上面的一顆扣子似乎将脖子勒得太緊,屋裏的氧氣也有些不足。
他順手解了兩顆扣子,狀況卻沒有絲毫緩解。
戚寒衣不是不明白這意味着什麽。但他不能允許自己對一只人魚産生欲望。
今晚應該是回不去了,他不可能放任蘇溯這樣別其他人看見。戚寒衣跟莫山發了個信息,說在這裏借住一晚。
蘇溯還是粘着他不放。
為了分散一下自己的注意力,戚寒衣擰着眉查看房間,顯然顏白已經提前做了打掃,屋裏看不到血跡和打鬥的痕跡。
“只打架了嗎?”戚寒衣張口,卻發現聲音啞得可怕。
“他們往我嘴裏塞了個東西。”蘇溯把頭埋進戚寒衣頸窩間:“又酸又苦,不好吃。”
果然,眼看蘇溯這狀态,戚寒衣已經明白那東西是什麽。
This drug takes effect very quickly and violently, but fortunately, no special actions are required, as long as the effect is allowed to subside for a long enough time. However, the timing of the effect is not right. Since others want to use this drug to plot against Su Su, they must have timed it so that something bad will happen to him. But now they are planning to take a bath because Su Su's effect is delayed.
Qi Hanyi recalled what Su Su said last time, about what happened on the way to the bride. It seemed that due to the structure of its body, this shark's reaction to any poison or drug was half a beat slower than that of a normal person.
Thanks to this, Su Su escaped danger tonight. Otherwise, if the drug had taken effect on the spot, things would have become much more difficult.
"I'll take you to take a bath." A hot bath dilates the pores, speeds up blood circulation, and will allow the medicinal properties to dissipate faster.
Qi Hanyi methodically undressed Su Su and took him to the bathroom to wash. There was not a single unnecessary movement during the whole process until Su Su was dressed and put into bed.
But if you look closely, Qi Hanyi's eyes, which usually seemed frozen, were now filled with terrible delusions, the more they were suppressed, the more they burned.
There was a knock on the door: "Master Qi, we are sent by the eldest master to deliver something. Can we come in now?"
Qi Hanyi breathed a sigh of relief, tore off Su Su's upper body that was clinging to him, and stuffed it back into the quilt.
After leaving Qi Hanyi abruptly, the overwhelming heat in Su Su surged up again.
"Woo--" Su Su, who had finally calmed down, grabbed Qi Hanyi's arm and started making a fuss again.
Qi Hanyi tried to pull his hand out, but Su Su couldn't hold it back. Ao Wu was so desperate that he bit Qi Hanyi's arm. His teeth were sharp, and blood immediately came out when he bit it.
"Hiss—let go." Qi Hanyi's eyebrows were twisted into a "川" shape. It was obvious that if he exerted a little more force, he could dislocate Su Su's jaw, but Qi Hanyi pinched that soft face and couldn't bring himself to do it.
Su Su bit it for a while, then seemed to remember who it was, loosened his bite, and licked the blood that came out guiltily.
"You——" Qi Hanyi gritted his teeth, feeling that this was more deadly than biting him again. He even wondered if the ingredients in the medicine would be transferred with saliva and blood. Otherwise, how could he explain this almost uncontrollable impulse?
Qi Hanyi sat motionless at the foot of the bed for ten minutes, and the person outside was tactful and did not urge him. Su Su finally wore off the effects of the drug, let go of Qi Hanyi's hand, and fell asleep in a daze.
Qi Hanyi pulled his hand out, wrapped Su Su inside and out with a quilt, and then opened the door.
The servants of the Mo family thoughtfully brought a full set of clothes and daily necessities. They did not look around, nor did they ask about the private lives of their guests. They just closed the door to Qi Hanyi with a tacit and ambiguous smile on their faces.
Qi Hanyi ignored the wound on his arm and took a cold shower for an hour in the bathroom. With his self-healing ability, the wound should have healed by tomorrow morning.
It was late at night, and Su Su was not sleeping well. His eyebrows were always furrowed, and it seemed that the place where he was injured was still aching.
Su Su woke up at dawn. He was used to sleeping soundly and had no experience of waking up from bed. He stared at the ceiling for a while before he remembered that this was the room where the fight took place last night.
Su Su felt a little dizzy, as if he had a hangover, and his memory was covered with a layer of mist and became blurry.
My memory ends when Yan Bai left, and I don’t remember clearly what happened afterwards.
Qi Hanyi...
Su Su tilted his head, and the light shone into the room through the curtains, casting a hazy soft light in the room.
Qi Hanyi leaned against the head of the bed with his arms folded, his clothes neatly dressed as usual, one leg bent and propped up, the other leg stretched out and placed on the ground.
He closed his eyes, and the sharpness of his blade was gone, as was the coldness that kept people at a distance. His handsome eyebrows and eyes were coated with a soft light, which was inexplicably captivating in such a quiet morning.
Ying——
Su Su resigned himself to his fate and buried his head in the quilt. This abominable human was damn sweet. Even though he knew that the other party hated mermaids, he still had the heartbeat speed up because of staring at the other party's face.
Qi Hanyi was just pretending to sleep with his eyes closed. When he heard a little movement, he opened his eyes.
"Awake? Are you still feeling uncomfortable somewhere?" His voice was hoarseer than usual, and it made Su Su's ears numb.
Su Su rubbed his ears and sat up: "Hungry."
In order to ensure that Su Su had a full meal, Qi Hanyi asked for breakfast for more than ten people to be sent to the room. During breakfast, Qi Hanyi asked Su Su about what happened yesterday.
There were three people who attacked Su Su. They were good at hiding, could avoid the Mo family's guards, came and went freely, had good fighting skills, and specialized in attacking joints.
This special fighting style reminded Qi Hanyi of a person, Yingshi. He was once Qi Hanyi's classmate in the military academy. The Ying family is a fighting family, and they have been loyal to the royal family for generations. He was also Qi Hanyi's senior in the military academy. Qi Hanyi specifically asked him for advice on fighting skills, and the two had a good relationship at that time. Unfortunately, due to different ideas, Yingshi joined the eldest prince and became a hidden chess piece in Fang's hand, while he went to the expeditionary force, and the two gradually lost contact.
The eldest prince is behind this? It seems that this matter is directed at me.
The current emperor of the empire has two sons and one daughter, the eldest prince Tang Zhuoxing and the second prince Tang Fenghuai, but the one who holds the right of succession is the princess Tang Xiruo.
Humans today have long achieved in vitro fertilization, women no longer need to be pregnant and give birth, and society has long since eliminated gender inequality, with princesses and princes enjoying equal inheritance rights.
The selection of royal inheritance rights is based on the assessment of the Royal Academy. Whoever achieves better results in the assessment will have more priority in inheritance rights.
Tang Fenghuai had a disability due to an accident when he was a child, so he had long since withdrawn from the competition for the inheritance. Tang Zhuoxiong originally had a better chance of becoming the heir because of his better genes than Tang Xiruo, but because he was too confident and slacked off in training, he wasted his advantage and lost to Tang Xiruo in the Royal Academy graduation examination, thus losing the inheritance rights.
But the eldest prince Tang Zhuoxiong did not give up, but was aroused by it. Unfortunately, his fighting spirit was not reflected in how hard he worked to be better and surpass Tang Xiruo, but in playing tricks and cultivating party members.
In the early days, Qi Hanyi had received many invitations from the eldest prince, but he himself was not interested in these power struggles. Besides, Qi Xingli had reminded him many times that the Qi family was only loyal to His Majesty and would never fight in the struggle for the heir, so he rejected the other party every time.
Now it seems that the other party failed to win him over and is preparing to replace him with someone who is willing to serve in the Qi family as the heir.
Qi Hanyi knew about his brothers and sisters in the family. Some of them were ambitious but brainless, and the eldest prince probably looked down on them. Some of them were clear-headed, and he probably wouldn't cooperate with them.
There are also a few people who are willing but did not attend the banquet yesterday, so they are temporarily excluded. With this calculation, the eldest prince's cooperation partner can be basically determined.
My fourth uncle’s cousin, Qi Yang.
Qi Hanyi had long known that his cousin had always harbored hostile intentions towards him, but he had never imagined that he would be so bold as to go against family teachings and collude with the eldest prince to attack him.
Qi Hanyi tapped the table twice with his fingertips, and his expression became colder.
If some people no longer want to be considered as Qi family members, he doesn't mind letting them experience how he deals with his enemies.
But before that.
There was another person whose behavior was extremely suspicious, and Qi Hanyi was even more concerned than Qi Yang and Team Leader Ying.
White color.
Qi Hanyi had no previous contact with this person. From the intelligence obtained, he was the heir of Yan's shipping business and the adopted son of Yan San. He had a gorgeous and flamboyant appearance and an arrogant and domineering personality.
But from the brief contact yesterday, Qi Hanyi felt that Yan Bai was not a willful, arrogant, impulsive and brainless young master.
The most unreasonable part is the relationship between him and Su Su.
I don't know if it's a coincidence, but he and Su Su look a bit alike, and his attitude towards Su Su is closer than others. From the information I found, he took the initiative to serve soup to Su Su, and they talked downstairs for a long time. Afterwards, he appeared upstairs in time to rescue Su Su, which was obviously intentional.
Qi Hanyi brought Su Su out this time with the intention of fishing, to see if there would be any clues related to the assassin during the last wedding reception.
Too many things happened yesterday, and he didn't know whether this fishing trip was successful or not. Now it seems that among the people who have had contact with Su Su, Yan Bai is the most suspicious. In addition, his family is involved in maritime trade, so it would be convenient for him to take action at the time of the bride's reception.
But what Qi Hanyi couldn't understand was that if Yan Bai approached Su Su because of the Zerg matter, there was no need for him to stay after rescuing Su Su, and even gave Su Su the clothes he brought. Not only did he expose his actions, but he almost got involved in Qi Yang's plan.
This is too risky and not in the other party's interest.
"How did you and Yan Bai know each other?" Qi Hanyi asked Su Su.
"Ah, that's right. When I was eating, he saw that I didn't have enough food, so he shared his with me, and then we got to know each other. Later, he helped me chase away the shadow and lent me clothes to wear." Su Su raised his head from the bowl, with a little bread crumbs on the corner of his mouth: "He is such a good man."
"A good person?" Qi Hanyi would not believe such a naive statement: "What did you talk about together?"
"Something about their shipping. He also said that he and I are..." Su Su remembered that he had a cousin and wanted to show off, but he stopped midway. Shouldn't this be told to others? But after all, this is related to Yan Bai's life experience. What if someone follows this clue and finds out that Yan Bai is a mermaid?
"What is it?" Qi Hanyi noticed Su Su's expression. He was obviously deliberately hiding something.
"Nothing." Su Su pushed the bowl away guiltily and turned to walk out.
"What are you going to do?" Qi Hanyi raised his head and asked.
"I'm going back now. I want to say goodbye to Yan Bai and thank him for what he did yesterday." Su Su said. Although he didn't remember clearly, he knew that Yan Bai helped him a lot yesterday. In addition, the other party also recognized him as a relative, so Su Su wanted to add a contact method with the other party before leaving, so that he could go to Yan Bai to play after leaving the Qi family.
But he couldn't tell Qi Hanyi about this, because mermaids can't have a spouse other than a human. He couldn't reveal that Yan Bai was also a mermaid.
"Go." Qi Hanyi looked at Su Su's back as he ran away quickly, with the corners of his mouth curled into a straight line.
There was still half a bowl of porridge left in Su Su's bowl. Qi Hanyi knew how much Su Su ate. What he had eaten was far from enough to make him unable to eat. Normally, he would eat everything cleanly.
Now he has leftovers.
Or maybe it couldn't be said about leftovers, he just thought of something more urgent than eating.
Su Su didn't know that Qi Hanyi could come up with so many things from half a bowl of leftovers.
But it was because of Qi Hanyi's previous question that he remembered to quickly find Yan Bai for his contact information.
"Yan Bai, Yan Bai!" Su Su asked the servants along the way and found the room where Yan Bai lived.
Yan Bai came from the sea and was far away, so he had been staying in the Mo family's guest room in recent days.
Yan Bai was working on the balcony couch with a cup of tea. When he saw Su Su running in, he turned off the terminal and turned around with a smile: "Why did you rush over here in such a hurry? You missed me so much after not seeing me for just one night?"
"I have something I want to tell you alone." Su Su ignored Yan Bai's teasing. He was indeed anxious. He was afraid that Yan Bai would leave and he would not be able to contact her in the future.
"You guys go out first." Yan Bai ordered his men.
"But, young master..." The subordinate looked at Su Su as if he was looking at a troublemaker who seduced his young master. Wasn't it enough that he caused trouble for the young master yesterday? He wanted to be alone with the young master again today. Aren't you afraid of gossip?
"Get out." Yan Bai's face fell.
The subordinate glared at Su Su reluctantly and left the room.
"I want to add your contact information." After his men left, Su Su excitedly took out his personal terminal and said.
"But I'm using a human personal terminal." Yan Bai showed an embarrassed expression.
"Ah..." Su Su was stunned, his face fell. Yes, he only thought that the other party's true identity was a mermaid, but he forgot that since the other party was living as a human, he naturally had to use a human personal terminal: "Then I can't add it."
Yan Bai's eyes showed a hint of joking, like watching a fish take a bite: "It's not that there is no way at all."
"What can we do?" Su Su asked excitedly.