Chapter 76
The "Slap the Pig's Head" game emerged when Xue Jin'an was feeling negative about the endless nitpicking. It fully understood Xue Jin'an's desire to kill the pigs in one blow. The sentences used to slap the pigs' heads were chosen from relatively obscure or specialized books, and even Buddhist scriptures, in Sanskrit.
Of course, Xue Jin'an treated all these books as data equally, without any distinction of importance. The popular and obscure books that he knew about were all told to him by Cui Pengfei.
Xue Jin'an could easily pop a pig's head with a single sentence. Just as he was about to pull back his slingshot to pop the third pig's head, a pig's head that was so white it was almost blinding stepped forward.
The white pig head first stated the source of the first two sentences. Although he did not specify the exact page number or line, he gave a general range, which was correct.
"To be honest, I'm ashamed to say that a month ago, when Elder Cui came to the Hanlin Academy to select books, I secretly collected a list and read through all the books listed. However, I don't have the same extensive knowledge as the Seventh Prince, and I can only barely remember some of the contents. I really can't accurately recall the page numbers." The white-headed man's voice sounded exceptionally young, probably only in his twenties.
Xue Jin'an recognized the young official with the character "Lian" in his name who worked at the Hanlin Academy almost immediately: "Qin Lian, a compiler at the Hanlin Academy?"
Qin Lian also appears in the original novel. At that time, he was already an imperial censor in the Censorate. He was a confidant of the Left Censor-in-Chief and was pushed forward to become an investigative censor. When he was inspecting central Henan, he was ambushed and killed by local officials and wealthy merchants disguised as bandits. Only a mute slave escaped. However, by the time he finally made it to the capital, half a year had passed and the new investigative censor was about to take office.
It's no wonder the court didn't care about Qin Lian's death. After all, in ancient times, both taking the imperial examination and being appointed as an official in a remote area were extremely risky. Every year, there were candidates who entered the examination hall upright but came out horizontally, and countless officials died on their way to their new posts.
The fact that the officials in Yuzhong Prefecture dared to directly murder the Censor-in-Chief suggests that they must have had powerful backers in the capital. With officials colluding and protecting each other, Qin Lian's death was easily settled.
Finally, the Eighth Prince, who is the protagonist of the book, naturally reported the case to the Emperor, exposing the numerous crimes of Yuzhong Prefecture and bringing the corrupt officials to justice.
In short, Qin Lian was just a minor character in the book, without any powerful family background. Otherwise, he wouldn't have died so easily. If he were a young master from a prominent family, even if he were unlucky enough to be robbed and killed by bandits, not only would the bandits be wiped out, but the local officials would also have to sacrifice their futures.
As for whether it's just the county magistrate ruining his future, or whether it drags down the prefect, the salt commissioner, and even all the officials in the Yuzhong Prefecture, that depends entirely on the abilities of this powerful family.
Xue Jin'an quickly realized that Qin Lian's appearance at this time was not because he was on the side of the aristocratic families like the previous officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Academy. Rather, the officials had been stumped by the seven-year-old prince several times and were too embarrassed to accept it. Seeing that someone seemed to be able to answer the questions, they quickly pushed him forward without caring who it was.
In other words, Qin Lian's claim of voluntarily stepping forward is somewhat questionable.
"Your Highness knows me?" Qin Lian was slightly taken aback when the Seventh Prince actually recognized his name. He then smiled with some delight.
After all, judging from the talent that the Seventh Prince has shown so far, he deserves the title of the number one genius of Daqi. Moreover, the Seventh Prince is also a student of Cui Pengfei, an elder of the Cui family, both of whom Qin Lian admires and respects.
Qin Lian's joy was so obvious that Xue Jin'an could see flowers floating around the white pig's head in front of him.
Looking at the white pig-headed figure who had single-handedly changed the entire style and filter of the scene, Xue Jin'an, unusually kind, asked, "Do you need me to go easy on you?"
The group of pigs, whose faces were almost swollen from being slapped, desperately wanted to nod wildly to end this merciless humiliation.
However, the white-haired man shook his head and said very sincerely, "Your Highness let me win because of your kindness, but it is not my true level. Besides, Your Highness did not hold it against me for not being able to tell you the page number and line number, which is already a great favor."
The other idiots: "..." Who cares about your actual skill level! They just want to get through this embarrassing moment as quickly as possible!
However, regardless of what they were thinking, they all kept their mouths shut and dared not utter a sound, watching Xue Jin'an and Qin Lian exchange questions and answers. Finally, when they reached the seventh question, Qin Lian was stumped, and lowered his head with a gloomy and ashamed expression, "I'm sorry, I can't answer it."
"You're quite resilient, not bad." Xue Jin'an praised the white pig-headed man generously, even giving him a standard smile.
To the unwitting idiots, it looked like this: After completely crushing his opponent, the Seventh Prince still had to mock and humiliate him. It was like killing someone's spirit!
Only the person involved, Bai Zhutou, felt encouraged and secretly vowed in his heart that he would definitely go back and study hard so that he could answer the Seventh Prince's ten questions next time.
With the white pig's head masterpiece preceding him, Xue Jin'an was not interested in the other pig heads that were destroyed in one blow and had no intention of continuing.
[Congratulations on a perfect completion!] Sensing his emotions, the game immediately displayed the completion screen.
After a moment of dizziness, Xue Jin'an's God's-eye view disappeared, and his consciousness returned to his body.
Feeling that half of his magical power had been consumed, Xue Jin'an looked thoughtfully at the main page.
Even if Xue Jin'an wanted to continue, the emperor would never allow him to, since his ministers were too useless, and as the supreme leader, he would lose face.
Just as the emperor was thinking about how to tactfully let the matter drop, the familiar sound of children making noise faintly drifted over.
"Let go! Xue Langhuan, let go of me! Let go!"
The emperor immediately recognized the voice as Xiao Jiu's, and Xue Langhuan was the name of the third prince.
What's wrong with Xiao Jiu this time?! The Emperor's expression was displeased, and his voice unconsciously became harsh, "What's going on?"
Li Hechun had just received the news from the eunuch, and hurriedly covered his mouth to explain the situation in a low voice. He only heard the emperor frown and scold him in a low voice: "Nonsense!"
While the others were still wondering, the Third Prince appeared with great speed, leaning on a cane in one hand and carrying the Ninth Prince on the other.
"Father, I've brought you the culprit. Please don't make things difficult for Seventh Brother!" The Third Prince said, loosening his grip. The Ninth Prince, who had been struggling like a turtle, screamed and fell to the ground.
The Third Prince ignored him completely and walked straight towards Xue Jin'an, asking, "Seventh Brother, are you alright?"
Before Xue Jin'an could answer, the emperor at the head of the table said irritably, "What? Is this place some kind of dragon's den or tiger's lair? Do you think I'd eat Bao Ning up? Is it worth ignoring your leg injury and running over here?"
"Of course you won't eat Seventh Brother, but who knows what others will think!" the Third Prince said bluntly. "Too many of your ministers dislike Seventh Brother. They've finally gotten this opportunity, so they're bound to be eager to convict him. I'm worried, that's why I've brought people here to clarify things."
"It's a good thing I came, otherwise my seventh brother would have been surrounded and had to fight alone without any help." The third prince showed no mercy to anyone, and his eyes as he looked at the court officials said, "I knew you bunch of scoundrels had ill intentions and wanted to harm my seventh brother."
The Third Prince's words and gaze were too direct and blatant, leaving the ministers with ulterior motives somewhat embarrassed.
The emperor's expression softened slightly, and he chuckled, "What siege? You didn't see Bao Ning's debate with the scholars just now. This is, in the grand sense, an encirclement. Bao Ning single-handedly encircled and defeated everyone."
The emperor was quite satisfied with Xue Jin'an's outstanding performance, and even slapped the table and laughed, "Truly worthy of being my son!"
"As expected of my seventh brother!" The third prince laughed and patted Xue Jin'an on the shoulder.
The ministers also laughed and echoed, praising Xue Jin'an to the skies.
The previously tense atmosphere instantly transformed into a joyful and harmonious one.
Xue Jin'an filtered out these nonsense words with a blank expression, thinking to himself: I don't really understand you humans.
The emperor lightly dismissed the matter, not pursuing the question of who was right and who was wrong. He had originally intended for Li Hechun to stay with two more seats, but the Third Prince resolutely refused.
"It's so uncomfortable to eat in front of so many censors and officials. Father, you can handle things here. It's the New Year, so let us brothers relax a bit." The Third Prince waved his hand dismissively.
"You brat, you've got some nerve, daring to make fun of me." The emperor chuckled and scolded, but he wasn't really angry. He waved them away.
At this moment, the eldest prince also stood up and bowed, saying, "Father, I will also go and talk to my younger brothers."
The second prince sneered inwardly: "The eldest brother's smile is so fake. He clearly despises his so-called brothers, yet he still puts on a show. It's disgusting."
"Go, all of you." The emperor's single word "all" meant that even if the second prince didn't want to go, he had no choice but to go. The emperor even joked, "Take two jars of rice wine with you and drink to your heart's content. Let's drink until we're drunk."
"Yes." The eldest prince, the second prince, and even the eldest princess all bowed and left with Xue Jin'an and the others.
After the princes left, a song and dance performance was held in the main hall, and everyone mingled and toasted each other, creating a lively atmosphere.
Grand Tutor Li surprisingly toasted Cui Pengfei with a cup of wine—as mentioned before, Cui Pengfei had written an essay titled "On the Imperial Examination" when he was young, which led to his expulsion from the list of Confucian scholars. As time passed, the older generation passed away, and very few people knew about this matter. Grand Tutor Li happened to be one of them.
Grand Tutor Li was a proper Confucian scholar, and naturally looked down on Cui Pengfei, a traitor to Confucianism. The last time he so calmly offered a toast to Cui was probably back when Emperor Yuan was alive.
Grand Tutor Li snorted with envy and jealousy, "Your literary skills are so poor, but your eye for disciples is quite good. The Seventh Prince is exceptionally talented, truly a rare talent throughout history..."
Grand Tutor Li praised the Seventh Prince repeatedly, both openly and subtly, showing that he was genuinely quite satisfied with him.
Cui Zui listened with great pride and puffed out his chest, which made Cui Zhuo next to him unable to help but laugh.
"It seems you really like the Seventh Prince, cousin." Cui Zhuo was somewhat worried about the fact that his cousin had taken a child as his master, especially since Cui Zui had decided to abandon his literary pursuits for martial arts and even started doing business after meeting the Seventh Prince.
To be honest, Cui Zhuo had no opinion on whether his cousin should pursue a literary or martial path. He would support his cousin even if he wanted to do business or wander the martial arts world. However, he had some reservations about Cui Zui's decision to give up studying literature because he believed he had no talent in that field.
If it weren't for his grandfather's constant praise of the Seventh Prince, Cui Zhuo would likely have come to the palace to give the Seventh Prince a good talking-to on the grounds of "misleading the youth." Even so, he still held reservations about the Seventh Prince's talents.
Only now, having actually met His Highness, do I understand why my grandfather and cousin were so convinced of the assessment that he was "lacking in talent." In the presence of someone as exceptionally talented and monstrous as the Seventh Prince, everyone would feel ashamed of their own insignificance.
Cui Zhuo originally thought that someone like Tan Lingyue, the top scholar of Jinyang Prefecture, who reached the provincial examination at such a young age, was a genius. Now he realized that there are always people better than you, and the gap between geniuses is sometimes greater than the gap between a genius and a fool.
It was fortunate that Cui Zhuo maintained a good mindset and remained calm; otherwise, seeing such a capable person before the exam would have made him doubt himself.
Countless words of praise welled up on his lips, but in the end they all boiled down to a simple yet utterly sincere sentence: "Seventh Prince is truly amazing."
"Of course, he's my master!" Cui Zui proudly raised his chin.
Meanwhile, Grand Tutor Li, who was enthusiastically praising others, suddenly changed the subject and said, "However, I must remind you that the tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind. The Seventh Prince's performance is too good and may cause trouble."
Grand Tutor Li was a cunning old fox in officialdom; how could he not see that the words of the Director of Studies of the Imperial Academy were actually meant to elevate the Seventh Prince? Logically, he shouldn't have said such a thing, since he didn't intend to support any of the princes. However, he truly felt it was a pity for the Seventh Prince's talent and didn't want him to perish in the power struggles of the imperial court, so he offered this reminder.
A dark glint flashed in Cui Pengfei's eyes, and he immediately saw through Li Taishi's thoughts.
Cui Pengfei didn't explain to Grand Tutor Li how capable Xue Jin'an was. Instead, he sighed helplessly and said in a flustered tone, "There's nothing I can do. The situation is beyond our control. You saw what happened just now. I've been away from officialdom for many years and am powerless against these suppressions and infighting. I never expected them to be so aggressive. His Highness is, after all, my student. He has suffered far too many injustices in the past. How can I bear to let him be slandered again?"
“You’ve been in the capital longer than I have. You should know what kind of life the Seventh Prince lived before, without me having to tell you.” Cui Pengfei didn’t deliberately talk about the grievances the Seventh Prince had suffered over the years. Instead, he told him about how he became the Seventh Prince’s teacher and focused on his first impression of the Seventh Prince.
When Cui Pengfei received the letter from the Empress Dowager, he had already imagined what kind of person the Seventh Prince was. He even thought that the Empress Dowager's old habit of supporting princes had resurfaced, and that the Seventh Prince must have grown up under the Empress Dowager's wing and wouldn't have a bad life.
But it wasn't until they arrived in the capital that they gradually learned the truth: it turned out that the Empress Dowager had only acted on a whim.
I first met the Seventh Prince in the Imperial Study. I felt that he was too thin and his personality was too silent. He was like a sharp sword. His voice was calm, but his words were unexpectedly piercing. Moreover, he was very bold and even put the emperor in a difficult position.
Grand Tutor Li was also present at the time, and he couldn't help but recall it as well. He said, "At that time, I thought His Highness was harboring resentment and was deliberately speaking like that."
It seems that the Seventh Prince talks to everyone the same way, capable of infuriating people to death.
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Grand Tutor Li already had a favorable impression of the Seventh Prince. After talking with Cui Pengfei, his heart swayed directly towards the Seventh Prince, and he also felt a sense of disgust towards those who deliberately made things difficult for the Seventh Prince.
"To refuse a gift from Heaven is to suffer the consequences. The Seventh Prince is a Wenqu Star bestowed upon our Great Qi by Heaven, a blessing to the Great Qi. How can we allow others to insult and trample on him? Although I am no longer useful, I can still say a few words in the court. Such a thing will never happen again."
Grand Tutor Li's claim that he could speak a few words in court was indeed somewhat modest. Although the title of Grand Tutor was merely honorary, his position among the Three Dukes represented his status, and his attitude carried considerable weight.
Another point is that Grand Tutor Li served in the Imperial Study for many years. In the early years, when His Majesty had no heir, the Imperial Study was the primary school for the imperial family and relatives. Even Prince An should have called him his teacher.
Those who fabricated charges against the Seventh Prince had to restrain themselves somewhat out of respect for Grand Tutor Li.
"With Grand Tutor's words, I am relieved. On behalf of my disciple, I thank you for your care." Upon hearing the satisfactory reply, Cui Pengfei immediately offered a cup of wine.
Unexpectedly, Grand Tutor Li reached out and stopped his wine cup, shook his head and said, "What do you mean by taking care of him? As long as the Seventh Prince can study well, I will be satisfied."
Grand Tutor Li still didn't want the Seventh Prince to be dragged into the struggle for the throne. He felt that a natural-born scholar like the Seventh Prince should focus on his studies and not get tainted by worldly affairs.
Cui Pengfei smiled without saying a word and drank the wine in his cup.
*
Xue Jin'an had no idea that Cui Pengfei had suddenly found him a powerful backer. They returned to where the princes were staying, while the eldest princess had already parted ways with them and headed towards the place where the princesses were.
The eldest prince was very popular among the princes. As soon as he appeared, he was greeted by a chorus of "Big Brother". The eldest prince always wore his gentle smile, greeted each of his younger brothers, and personally opened the rice wine jar to serve them wine. He also carefully reminded them not to drink too much.
The fourth prince, who had been increasingly silent lately, showed a rather friendly attitude towards the first prince, and even revealed a long-lost smile.
The second prince was much colder; he simply nodded in greeting and sat down, seemingly having no desire to speak.
The Third Prince kept one of the two jars of rice wine for himself, and his reason was quite high-sounding: "The others are young and have a low alcohol tolerance. One cup is enough to make them drunk. So one jar is enough for them."
The eldest prince was helpless, while the second prince was indifferent.
The eldest prince knew that the third prince was domineering by nature and that things that were in his hands could not be taken back. Considering that the others were indeed young, he did not stop them, but only said, "You are injured and should not drink too much."
"I know what I'm doing, don't worry." The Third Prince brushed it off, and couldn't wait to open the wine jar, pour the wine, and drink it from a bowl.
"Your Highness, this servant will pour you some wine." A eunuch waiting nearby immediately stepped forward and held up the wine jar.
In addition to the eunuchs and maids they brought with them, there were also eunuchs and maids specially prepared to serve them. However, most of them trusted their subordinates more and would not let anyone touch their food.
The Third Prince had no qualms. He was used to being waited on, so he naturally wouldn't refuse when someone poured him wine. He took a sip of wine, sighed contentedly, and casually asked, "Where's Xiao Jian?"
Xiao Jian was one of the Third Prince's personal eunuchs. The Third Prince liked to practice martial arts, so he named the eunuchs who served him after the eighteen kinds of weapons.
"Eunuch Xiao Jian has gone to the outhouse," the eunuch replied.
"A lazy donkey on a millstone produces a lot of excrement and urine." The Third Prince and Qian Dezhong had a good relationship. The uncle and nephew often corresponded. The men in the military camp spoke rather crudely, often going down vulgar paths. Qian Dezhong tried his best to restrain himself, but it was to no avail. The Third Prince learned most of it.
The Third Prince was already on Xue Jin'an's list of victims. When he heard this conversation, he immediately looked up and sized up the eunuch who was pouring the wine.
We've confirmed that this person didn't just appear out of nowhere; they were already here.
When the Third Prince met Xue Jin'an's gaze, he thought Xue Jin'an was craving a sip of rice wine. "Seventh Brother, if you want some, there's more over there. I only have this one jar here, not even enough for me... If you really want some, I can give you a cup—no, half a cup, I can give you half a cup."
"I don't drink." Although Xue Jin'an refused, he still went forward to check the rice wine and found that his antivirus software was not activated.
Soon, the eunuch Xiao Jian returned. He picked up the cane that the Third Prince had casually tossed aside and was about to put it behind him when the Third Prince slapped him on the head, saying, "Don't touch my leg."
Xiao Jian hesitated, then whispered, "It was Her Majesty who told me..."
The Third Prince kicked him to the ground and said impatiently, "Is my mother your master, or am I your master? I don't even use this leg when I walk with a cane, so what impact could it have?"
"They don't do the work they're supposed to do, but they keep doing things they shouldn't be doing," the Third Prince said, sounding very annoyed.
Xiao Jian immediately fell silent and didn't dare to speak, only silently taking over the task of pouring the wine.
Xue Jin'an looked away.
The Second Prince could no longer sit still. He left after saying, "I'll go check next door." Sure enough, greetings came from next door, followed by a young boy's question, "Your Highness is here. Isn't the First Prince here too?"
"The Crown Prince is so devoted to his elder brother, always thinking of him. Even the first thing he did when he saw me was to greet him. It really breaks my heart." The Second Prince's words sounded somewhat sarcastic.
The prince immediately chuckled twice and even punished himself by drinking two cups of wine.
Xue Jin'an's mind raced, and he guessed that the prince who asked the eldest prince was probably the heir of Prince An, since the eldest prince and the heir of Prince An had always had a good relationship.
Sure enough, a short while later, the Prince An's men came to invite the eldest prince to the next room.
After the eldest prince left, the other princes finally noticed Xue Jin'an. The sixth prince, who had a stutter, was the first to speak, asking Xue Jin'an anxiously, "Seventh brother, are you... are you alright? You weren't... were you scolded, were you?"
"With me taking action, how could your seventh brother be scolded?" The Third Prince patted his chest smugly. He drank rice wine like water, and his face was already flushed with drunkenness. He looked somewhat excited and said to Xue Jin'an, "These guys are all unreliable. They haven't even noticed you since you arrived. They've been too busy talking to the eldest brother... If you have any trouble in the future, you'll still have to come to your third brother. Your third brother will help you sort it out."
"Third Brother, that's not true. Everyone cares about Xiao Qi, but there's an order of seniority. We can't ignore what the eldest brother says; that wouldn't be proper." The Eighth Prince smiled and smoothed things over for the Third Prince. He then asked Xue Jin'an a couple of questions, and the Fifth Prince added a couple of casual remarks.
Only the Fourth Prince sat there stiffly with a cold face, not even glancing at Xue Jin'an, completely ignoring his presence.
In conclusion, of the princes who returned together, only the Ninth Prince has been completely ignored so far.
He felt angry and aggrieved. The Third Prince had suddenly let go, and he had fallen to the ground without warning. He felt pain all over his body, but his father hadn't shown any concern at all!
It was all Xue Jin'an's fault! The Ninth Prince's eyes burned with rage, burning away his remaining calm and rationality. He wanted to try the same trick again, but suddenly a cold voice came from behind him, "I advise you to behave yourself and do nothing."
"Don't provoke him," the Fifth Prince said.
The Ninth Prince looked at him with disbelief, then his expression turned to one of rage: "We're brothers, why are you helping him and not me?"
"Brother?" The Fifth Prince found the term ridiculous, so he actually laughed, his lips curving into a slight smile, his eyes and brows filled with mockery. "Do I need to remind you how you treated your own brother before?"
He deliberately emphasized the words "elder brother".
The Fifth Prince and the Ninth Prince did not actually have a bad relationship from the beginning. It was all because Xiao Shu did not treat them equally. So the Ninth Prince followed suit and began to boss his brother around, not taking him seriously, and even saying things like "Get out of Minghua Palace".
The Fifth Prince found their display of motherly affection an eyesore, and the younger one was becoming increasingly annoying. Naturally, he didn't want to stay in Minghua Palace and be disgusted by it, so he spent most of the year in the Prince's Residence unless absolutely necessary.
Hearing the Fifth Prince's cold words, the Ninth Prince felt no guilt whatsoever. Instead, he turned the tables and blamed the Fifth Prince for everything.
The Fifth Prince rolled his eyes without any politeness, too lazy to pay any attention to him, and simply ignored him.
The Ninth Prince was furious and reached out to grab the Fifth Prince's face, but the latter grabbed his wrist and silenced him by pressing his pressure point.
In an instant, the Ninth Prince's voice disappeared, and he looked at his older brother in front of him with trembling and panicked eyes.
The Fifth Prince's face was devoid of his usual sarcasm; instead, it was expressionless, and even his tone was calm. He said, "Xue Zhuojian, your mother is dead. No one in this world will unconditionally indulge you anymore. If you still can't learn to play the innocent and keep barking your claws, I don't mind chopping them off for you."
"Also, you can do whatever you want, but don't drag me into it." A wisp of internal energy flowed from the Fifth Prince's fingertips into the Ninth Prince's meridians. The Ninth Prince opened his mouth wide and screamed silently, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.
This wisp of internal energy won't kill, but it can make people feel as if a needle is drifting and passing through their blood vessels, causing excruciating pain.
The Fifth Prince's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile as he said, "Take care of yourself."
The Fifth Prince shook off the Ninth Prince as if he were getting rid of something dirty.
The Ninth Prince stumbled out, intending to complain to the Emperor, but unexpectedly, he ran into the people sent by Consort Zhuang as soon as he reached the door.
Consort Zhuang is now the nominal mother of the Ninth Prince and the Fourth Princess. Compared to the well-behaved Fourth Princess, the Ninth Prince is very rebellious and difficult to discipline, and he has always hated her. Consort Zhuang understands that he is young and his mother has passed away, so it is normal for him to behave this way. She plans to patiently wait for him to accept it before slowly educating him.
Unexpectedly, her momentary soft-heartedness only fueled the Ninth Prince's rebelliousness. After learning that the matter was related to the Ninth Prince, Consort Zhuang wanted to talk to him. She took the opportunity to return from the banquet and immediately sent someone to invite the Ninth Prince.
She was a very tall palace maid who clearly had a background in martial arts. She was someone that Consort Zhuang had brought from the Marquis of Linyuan's residence. The moment she saw the Ninth Prince, she reached out and grabbed him, just like she was grabbing a little chick.
The Ninth Prince, whose pressure points had been acupunctured, was unable to speak and was in so much pain that he had no strength. He was immediately taken back for education.
The Fifth Prince watched the Ninth Prince's retreating figure, a pleased smirk playing on his lips. His composure crumbled instantly, and he turned to meet Xue Jin'an's thoughtful gaze.
"Ahem." The Fifth Prince felt inexplicably guilty for some reason.
The Fifth Prince was blinded by his own involvement, but Xue Jin'an, who had witnessed the entire confrontation, saw it clearly. His data analysis showed that the Fifth Prince's expression and tone when he threatened the Ninth Prince, and even that standard smile at the end, had an 86% similarity to his own facial data.
In other words, the Fifth Prince was imitating him just now.
Xue Jin'an tilted his head. Although he didn't know why the Fifth Prince deliberately imitated him when he was scaring people, he didn't care.
He also learned many skills from the Fifth Prince, which was a way of returning the favor.
Just as he was thinking this, the Fifth Prince suddenly came over and tapped on his desk, signaling him to follow him out.
When the two came out, the people sent by Consort Zhuang to capture the Ninth Prince had not gone far. The Ninth Prince could not make a sound and could not express his emotions. His eyes were red with anger, and he struggled desperately in the hands of the palace maid.
No matter how tall the other party was, she was still a woman, and she was also careful not to hurt the Ninth Prince. Surprisingly, she was caught off guard and the Ninth Prince managed to break free. However, before the Ninth Prince could run far, he was caught again by the palace maid who had reacted.
This time, the palace maid picked up the Ninth Prince and locked him in her arms, preventing him from moving around. The Ninth Prince was so angry that he bit the palace maid's shoulder.
Almost instinctively, the palace maid ripped the Ninth Prince's head off his shoulder. The sudden force of the tearing messed up his collar, revealing a section of his neck tattoo.
The tattoo only revealed half a leaf, but Xue Jin'an immediately recognized it as a lotus flower, and this lotus flower was exactly the same as the lotus mark on the hilt of his lotus sword.
The Lotus Sword was given to him by the Fifth Prince, whose martial arts teacher was hired through the connections of Prince An, who was related to the Marquis of Linyuan by marriage.
This isn't really a big problem. After all, it's common knowledge that Prince An's mansion keeps many martial arts heroes, so it's not a big deal that they use lotus flowers as a marker.
The problem is that when Xue Jin'an searched for lotus flowers in his memory bank, there were too many related results, to an abnormal degree.
For example, Consort Min had a pond full of lotus flowers; Consort Shu had a painting of withered lotus flowers in her study... and there was also that pot of twin lotus flowers sent by the eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration.
The twin lotus had long since withered. Xue Jin'an had studied what the other party wanted to express with the twin lotus. He didn't quite believe that the other party really just wanted to give him flowers. However, he had scanned every petal of the twin lotus but found no useful information.
Looking back now, perhaps the twin lotus blossoms themselves are a message.
Twin lotus blossoms, two blossoms growing side by side... Could it be related to Consort Tongmin?
As Xue Jin'an was thinking this, a commotion suddenly broke out behind him, and he heard someone shout, "The Third Prince has gone mad!"
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