When Mo Xiaobao was fifteen, after Prince Ding passed the throne to him, he took the Princess Consort and their six-year-old little princess, waved goodbye, and left Licheng without a trace, as if not even taking a cloud with them. What they left behind for Mo Xiaobao was the vast mansion of Prince Ding, the largest territory in the current world, and a little brother who went around crying with snot and tears, looking for his mother and sister.

The affairs of the prince’s mansion didn’t particularly worry Mo Xiaobao – he had gradually started taking over the mansion’s affairs a year ago, and these things were bound to happen sooner or later. But looking at the little brat clinging to his leg and crying earth-shatteringly, Mo Xiaobao could only sigh helplessly. He bent down to pick up his little brother and said resignedly, “Now you cry? Why didn’t you ask Father to take you along?” If they had to leave someone for him to raise, they could have at least left Xin’er. What was the point of leaving this snot-nosed kid? Mo Xiaobao silently complained.

“Father is bad!” Little Mo Yufeng pouted, sniffling, “I want to be a great general, not wander the jianghu unable to afford food.”

Mo Xiaobao’s eye twitched as he heard this, roughly understanding that his unscrupulous father had deceived someone again. However, wasn’t this brother a bit too dim? He hadn’t been this gullible at six years old. Well, better teach him slowly, lest he get sold one day and end up counting money for the buyer. Thus, the fifteen-year-old Mo Xiaobao, not yet married, began his career as a surrogate parent, being both brother and parent.

With Prince Ding abandoning his position in his prime years, leaving behind the young heir – no, the new Prince Ding – and disappearing without a trace, the neighboring countries couldn’t help but let their minds wander. Even if Young Master Mo was a natural genius, he was only fifteen – could he manage such a vast estate? After all, even Mo Xiuyao himself had still been rolling around on battlefields at fifteen. Should they take this opportunity to test both Mo Xiuyao’s reaction and Mo Xiaobao’s capabilities?

Meanwhile, many people in Licheng began scheming again. The former Prince Ding had refused to take consorts or ascend the throne, but what about the new young prince? What ambitious man doesn’t dream of ruling the world? “Wielding power while awake, resting in beauty’s lap while drunk” could be said to be the highest aspiration of ambitious men. Now that a fifteen-year-old kid had obtained this effortlessly, how could he not have any thoughts about it? Thus, people throughout Licheng became more active.

At this time, what the world didn’t yet know was that the new young prince of the Ding mansion, Mo Xiaobao – notorious for tricking people and completely lacking in integrity – was sprawled in the mansion’s backyard, playing with a sand table with his brother.

“Brother, are you going to take a wife?” Mo Yufeng lay by the sand table, pondering how to battle with his brother while blinking his eyes questioningly. Although Mo Xiaobao was only fifteen, his build was no smaller than an adult’s. However, his exquisitely handsome features, which combined the best of Mo Xiuyao and Ye Li’s looks, still showed the innocence appropriate for his age. But Young Master Mo Xiaobao didn’t mind that his appearance lacked royal dignity – dignity wasn’t built on looks, and playing the pig to eat the tiger was just too enjoyable.

Lounging on the ground, Mo Xiaobao glanced at his brother and said, “Did someone ask you?”

“Mm-hmm.” Mo Yufeng excitedly crawled onto his brother’s body, smiling sweetly, “Many people asked me.”

“What did you tell them?”

Mo Yufeng opened his innocent big eyes and said, “I said brother wants one life… one pair for life.”

“It’s one life, one world, one pair,” Mo Xiaobao corrected, then approvingly patted his brother’s little head, “Well said.” Mo Yufeng squinted happily and said, “Of course, I definitely wouldn’t tell others that brother has already been to brothels and has several courtesans.”

“…” Mo Xiaobao expressionlessly pushed his brother’s face into the carpet. What kind of troublesome child was this?

“Oh, torturing your brother again?” Feng Zhiyao’s smiling voice came from the doorway.

Mo Yufeng raised his head, grinning as he struggled free from Mo Xiaobao and tried to pounce on him again. Mo Xiaobao calmly restrained him with one hand, looking up at Feng Zhiyao to ask, “Does Uncle Feng need something?”

Feng Zhiyao waved the memorial in his hand and said, “Your eldest uncle asked me to bring this over.”

“What does it say?”

Feng Zhiyao raised his eyebrows, giving him a “you-know-very-well” look. Mo Xiaobao opened it to read – sure enough, it was either requesting the prince to ascend the throne or to hold his wedding ceremony, complete with excessive flattery that made Mo Xiaobao wonder if he was some divine being, unprecedented in history.

Casually tossing the memorial to Mo Yufeng to play with, Mo Xiaobao said, “Ask them who wants to ascend the throne. Let them submit their memorial, and this prince will give them the position.” Feng Zhiyao’s mouth twitched, “They’re asking you to ascend the throne, you know?” The father was black-hearted enough, but the son was no pushover either – one word and he was already pinning treason charges on people.

“Since it’s my business, what right do they have to concern themselves with whether or when I ascend the throne? If they’re so idle, they should think about how to help this prince kill Mo Suiyun instead.” Mo Xiaobao rolled his eyes.

“What’s wrong with the young emperor in the south? Haven’t heard anything.” In recent years, the young emperor in the south had been working hard, and the small southern court had been behaving well. Especially in the past two years since the young emperor had truly taken power, he showed signs of diligent governance, appearing every bit like a ruler of restoration.

Mo Xiaobao snorted disdainfully, “What else? Ambitious to reclaim his territory, of course.” These years, the Ding Prince’s mansion had been focusing on recovery, with no plans for external military campaigns. Had these people forgotten the sharpness of the Mo family army’s cavalry in just a few short years? Mo Xiaobao understood clearly – it was because he was too young to command respect. If Father and Mother were here, those neighboring countries would have to restrain their thoughts no matter what. Precisely because he knew this, Mo Xiaobao was even more annoyed. Young Master Mo Xiaobao was a child with great ambitions – sooner or later, he would make them cry for their parents and submit completely!

“Brother be good, Lin’er will help you beat them!” Mo Yufeng struggled in his arms to comfort him.

Mo Xiaobao looked sadly at his brother, who was like a little bean sprout, “It’ll take at least eight or nine years before you can beat them.” Mo Yufeng refused to accept this, puffing up his big eyes, “I’ll grow up quickly!”

“You’re picky with food, mischievous, and running around everywhere. It’ll take at least ten or more years before you grow up – eight or nine years is me being optimistic. When I was your age-fighting like this, I was already this tall.” Mo Xiaobao casually gestured at a height that made little Mo Yufeng crane his neck to look up. Looking at the height his brother indicated, then at himself…

“I… I won’t be picky with food anymore…” Mo Yufeng said quietly.

“That’s a good boy. Being picky with food will stunt your growth. You should know, that even if you’re a young master of the Ding mansion, a short person has no future. If you go to battle, someone will have to lift you onto your horse… and when you take a wife in the future, you won’t even reach her shoulder – what will you do then?”

“I’m going to eat right now!” Young Master Mo Yufeng ran off in tears.

“Young Prince, isn’t it a bit unfair to trick the Second Young Master like this?” Feng Zhiyao coughed, thinking it wasn’t just unfair – it was downright wicked. Mo Xiaobao sneered, “This prince wasn’t fooled by Father’s childish words after age three, and he’s already six!”

So you do know it’s childish. But when it came to cunning, Mo Yufeng really couldn’t compare to Mo Xiaobao. From the time he could talk, Mo Xiaobao had been constantly tricked, mocked, and oppressed by Mo Xiuyao, not to mention the rotating lectures from several masters of the Xu family – it would have been hard not to turn dark. In comparison, although little Mo Yufeng had some craftiness, his life was much more comfortable, so it wasn’t surprising that he was more innocent and easily fooled.

Mo Xiaobao maintained that he wasn’t holding a grudge about how his father had once tricked him by saying eating too much meat would make him fat and unable to find a wife. He was just… concerned about his brother!

After the little Mo Yufeng had been driven away by his unscrupulous brother’s psychological attacks, Feng Zhiyao walked into the hall and asked, “So, what are your plans regarding the marriage?” Mo Xiaobao was almost sixteen and had officially taken the position of Prince Ding. At this age, he should indeed be getting married – in this world, the custom was to establish a family before establishing a career. Except for unusual circumstances like theirs back then, most people married around this age. If those old scholars used this to advise him, it would be hard to argue against. However… Feng Zhiyao glanced at Mo Xiaobao – this kid seemed even less likely to behave properly than his father, and probably wouldn’t be easy to manipulate.

Mo Xiaobao wasn’t at all averse to the topic of marriage, smiling sweetly as he said, “Hasn’t Lin’er already spread the word for me? One life, one world, one pair. Let them send people over – whoever this prince takes a fancy to will be the Princess Consort.”

Looking at his benevolent smile, Feng Zhiyao felt his scalp tingle as he asked, “And what about those you don’t fancy?” One life, one world, one pair – whether people believed it or not, it would certainly set many minds wandering. After all, hadn’t the previous generation’s Prince Ding lived by exactly that motto? Although the Princess Consort’s natal family, the Ye family, hadn’t gained much benefit, her maternal clan, the Xu family’s five young masters now all held significant power. The Xu family had gone from having just one third-rank imperial censor in court to now having positions as prime minister and military commanders influencing the entire world in less than a dozen years – all because they had a good granddaughter.

Just to gamble on becoming the first family under heaven, probably everyone in Licheng would be eager to send their daughters and granddaughters to Prince Ding’s mansion.

“Don’t fancy?” Mo Xiaobao stroked his chin, pondering for a moment before saying, “Don’t worry, they won’t go to waste. When some general earns military merit, when some minister needs a reward, or maybe when we need to form some alliance – doesn’t our Prince Ding’s mansion lack young ladies? Well, now we’ll have them.”

Third Young Master Feng’s face immediately darkened. Who would be stupid enough to send their daughters to be wasted by you like this? Although girls weren’t as valuable as boys, they weren’t free for the taking! The young Prince Mo casually suggests using carefully raised young ladies as rewards.

Seeing Third Young Master Feng’s silence, Mo Xiaobao clapped his hands and smiled, “You think it’s a good idea too, right? Then let’s do it that way.”

“…” I just came to deliver a memorial, how did this become me thinking it’s a good idea?

Third Young Master Feng could foresee that if these words got out, angry people would tear the roof off his house.

Third Young Master Feng’s prediction wasn’t quite accurate – even when the young Prince Mo’s words were spread unchanged, people still rushed to send their daughters to Prince Ding’s mansion. After realizing their attempts to push their daughters onto Mo Xiuyao were futile, everyone turned their attention to grooming even younger girls. Especially now that the fearsome Prince Ding had abdicated and the fifteen-year-old heir had succeeded him – at the age when one knows to appreciate beauty and desire youth, who knew if their daughter might be the one to capture the young prince’s heart?

One daughter to gamble on their family’s glory for decades – even if there was only one in hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands chance, it was worth it!

In the Xu family study, Xu Qingyan lounged in his chair, telling his eldest brother about the rumors outside. He couldn’t stop laughing as he spoke, “Brother, among the most prominent young ladies these days, which family’s daughter do you favor?”

Master Qingchen put down his book and gave his brother a cool glance, “I see you’re idle and asking for trouble.”

“How can you say that, Brother? Our family’s threshold is practically worn down from all the visitors these days. Even Sister-in-law’s medical clinic is packed full of patients – haven’t you noticed she hasn’t even opened the clinic these past few days?”

Xu Qingchen looked up – he didn’t care how those people wanted to make trouble, but if they disturbed his family’s normal life, that wouldn’t do.

“Isn’t it though? I get surrounded by people asking questions every time I go out. If these people are so eager to know, why don’t they just go ask Mo Xiaobao directly?” Xu Qingyan said, somewhat annoyed. Even though he enjoyed excitement, being surrounded like this every day wasn’t pleasant.

Xu Qingchen pondered for a moment before saying, “You can tell them to take their daughters home early – there’s no hope.”

“If I say that, guess whether I’ll get beaten to death in the street?” Xu Qingyan asked hesitantly, then looked curiously at Xu Qingchen, “Brother, do you mean Mo Xiaobao has no intention of getting married at all?”

Master Qingchen said calmly, “Even if he originally planned to marry, having these people bring it up first and make such a fuss would make him change his mind. If those people think Mo Xiaobao is easier to fool than Mo Xiuyao, they’re in for serious trouble.” Mo Xiaobao was toying with these people – Mo Xiuyao was clean and decisive and would use underhanded methods but had no interest in deliberately playing with people, but Mo Xiaobao had developed such a malicious interest. Occasionally, Master Qingchen would reflect on whether there was something wrong with the Xu family’s education. The conclusion was that it was all Mo Xiuyao’s fault – like father, like son.

Xu Qingyan clicked his tongue, but thinking of that pair of dark eyes that seemed to constantly radiate kindness and innocence, yet always did such outrageous things, the Fifth Young Master Xu couldn’t help but shudder, silently praying for those unfortunate souls.