How could Xiao Xun possibly forget this matter?
High-spirited and unstoppable, the capital within easy grasp—yet in the blink of an eye, he became a prisoner.
“Heir.” Ning Kun’s voice was hoarse. “The prince did it for you. You were being held hostage at the time. The prince couldn’t let you come to harm.”
Xiao Xun didn’t respond to his words, looking at the thick greenery outside the window. This study was arranged according to his study in Prince Zhongshan’s mansion. Even the scenery outside the window was the same.
“From the moment I was born, I inherited Father Prince’s ambition—to return to the capital and seize the throne.”
“Father Prince’s legs were crippled, and he was monitored by the court. I traveled outside in Father Prince’s stead, recruiting and raising troops.”
“I was Father Prince’s legs, feet, hands, and eyes. Whatever Father Prince told me to do, I did.”
“Everything I did was Father Prince’s wish.”
“How could it be that at the moment of imminent success, Father Prince gave up for my sake?”
“Wouldn’t that make everything I did before a complete joke?”
Hearing this, Ning Kun said again: “To the prince, the heir is—”
“Even if I was captured, it didn’t mean this matter had no solution.” Xiao Xun interrupted him. “This past year, I’ve been constantly thinking—if I were Father Prince, what would I do in that situation?”
He turned to look at Ning Kun.
“In that situation, there were countless ways to save me, or simply let me die.”
“Whether saving me or letting me die, neither could stop Father Prince from entering the capital.”
“How could Father Prince do nothing and just end it?”
“I’ve racked my brains—why exactly?”
“What exactly stopped Father Prince?”
Ning Kun raised his head: “Heir, as you said yourself, this was only a delay, not a severance. Everything can still continue. The prince believes that you, like him, can wait.”
Xiao Xun said: “I can wait.” He smiled. “Before, I did whatever Father Prince told me to do. Of course, I still do now. It’s just that now I’m trapped in the capital, cut off from the outside world. I want to be able to wait with clarity.”
With clarity—what kind of clarity did he want? Ning Kun fell silent.
“I know you’re afraid of saying the wrong thing and hurting the feelings between me and Father Prince. Actually, you’re overthinking it.” Xiao Xun said softly. “The matter has already happened. What you tell me has nothing to do with it. Whether you speak or don’t speak doesn’t really matter either.”
He picked up the gift list on the table and waved it.
“I’m the one being obsessive, insisting on hearing it clearly. Gentleman Ning, don’t be troubled anymore. You don’t need to say it.”
Ning Kun looked at Xiao Xun. The heir was still as gentle as jade as before, his face still carrying a smile, but ultimately something was different. Being confined in the post station—though it wasn’t a dark dungeon cell, what difference was there really?
Like a bird with clipped wings, his eyes were desolate.
He had pressed the question repeatedly, which showed his heart already had suspicions. If he himself didn’t speak, it would only make him overthink more—
“Also, thank you for coming in person, Gentleman Ning.” Xiao Xun said again. “You’re entrusted with important matters by Father Prince and are busy. I heard Father Prince also plans to have you teach Second Brother. From now on, just have the servants come for these matters. You don’t need to make special trips.”
How could Ning Kun bear these two sentences? He stepped forward urgently: “Heir, Ning Kun is your teacher and will only be yours alone.”
Xiao Xun smiled: “Where in the world is there anything forever? Gentleman Ning, don’t take it so seriously. Since I’m not by Father Prince’s side, you teach Second Brother well so he won’t make the same mistakes I did in the future.”
Ning Kun sighed inwardly. With the conversation at this point, if he still didn’t speak, his relationship with the heir would truly be severed.
“This matter wasn’t the heir’s mistake.” He said quietly. “After I returned, I found out that at the time, Chu Zhao also had hidden troops to threaten the prince, saying that besides killing the heir, she would also kill the prince and everyone in the prince’s mansion. So the prince felt he couldn’t take the risk.”
At this point, he hurriedly explained.
“The root cause of this matter is that we overlooked Chu Zhao’s hidden forces. We only thought about how powerful these aristocratic families like the Xie family could become. Who could have imagined that a Defender General’s daughter, besides the Longwei Army, would also raise private soldiers—”
Whatever he said after that, Xiao Xun no longer cared. He only heard that sentence about Chu Zhao’s hidden troops threatening to kill the prince, and felt relieved.
That’s what he was saying—how could Father Prince give up a victory within easy grasp merely because he was threatened?
So it turned out Father Prince was the one threatened.
Xiao Xun smiled.
“I see. Chu Zhao really hid her capabilities deeply.” He said, sighing. “If I had known early on that the Chu family also had privately hidden forces, I wouldn’t have let the Chu Lan family approach me so easily. No—from the beginning, I wouldn’t have gone to the Chu residence to see Chu Lan, but would have eliminated Xiao Yu when he entered the city.”
The topic had shifted? Ning Kun quickly nodded: “Yes, yes, exactly. We still underestimated Chu Ling—”
“We underestimated Chu Zhao,” Xiao Xun said.
Ning Kun couldn’t help thinking of earlier times, saying: “The heir has always held Chu Zhao in high regard.” He nodded again. “Chu Zhao is indeed formidable. Even without Chu Ling, she still secured her position as Empress.”
Xiao Xun looked outside the window. Confined in the post station, he wasn’t truly isolated from the world. Father Prince also had many people hidden in the capital who could be used.
He knew how lively it was when that girl returned to the capital. He knew that Grand Tutor Deng Yi obeyed the Empress’s every word. He knew that Xie Yanfang was extremely protective of the Empress—so protective that the Xie family women stayed far from the capital to prevent the Emperor from having female relatives other than the Empress in his heart.
All of this was earned by that girl herself.
It had been a long time since he’d seen her. Xiao Xun recalled—he could only remember their first meeting by the river. He couldn’t see clearly in the water, and after rescuing her, he was too lazy to look at her again.
“If I had known she was this formidable,” Xiao Xun said with a smile, “I would have kept her at Prince Zhongshan’s mansion back then.”
At that time, not only was this girl weak and small, Deng Yi was just a county magistrate. Ning Kun sighed and said: “More than just keeping her—directly killing them, who could have done anything about it?”
What a pity. Ning Kun was about to say more when Xiao Xun ended the topic.
“So this matter was my mistake.” His expression was regretful. “I can’t blame anyone else for being confined here.”
Ning Kun quickly said: “Heir, don’t say that. The prince also feels very guilty in his heart, but the prince said as long as a person is alive, there’s still opportunity.”
Xiao Xun smiled: “Tell Father Prince to rest assured. I understand everything.”
Ning Kun examined his expression. The heir’s face indeed showed regret, but no longer had the earlier gloom. So even knowing that the prince was also threatened at the time, in the heir’s heart, the enemy who should be resented was still Chu Zhao.
It was exactly so. The prince had no choice. Everything was because of Chu Zhao.
Good that the heir had thought it through.
“I will tell the prince.” He nodded, then full of concern and sadness said, “No matter how much the heir can find joy in suffering, no matter how much gold, silver, jewels, furniture, and furnishings are sent, it cannot ease the prince’s concern for the heir. The heir lives in this cage in the capital, and the prince’s heart in Zhongshan Commandery is also trapped in a cage. Please endure, heir, and get through these bitter days.”
Xiao Xun nodded with a smile: “I know. I understand everything. As the saying goes, when a child is sick, it’s the mother’s heart that aches. You go rest first. I’ll write Father Prince a letter with some jokes to make him happy. You can take it back for him to see.”
Ning Kun acknowledged: “Then I’ll go wash up first.”
“Go ahead. Take care of yourself,” Xiao Xun said. “Don’t count on Tie Ying.”
Ning Kun smiled: “How would I dare trouble her?” With that, he took his leave and departed.
The room returned to quiet. Xiao Xun stood before the desk. He didn’t pick up the brush to write, but instead reached out to take a scroll from the painting vase on the desk and unrolled it.
This was a landscape painting. Xiao Xun examined the painting, reaching out to peel from the edge. This landscape painting actually had two layers—
One layer peeled away, revealing the layer beneath. This was a bright yellow imperial edict.
Xiao Xun quietly looked at the edict, over and over again. His face showed no smile. In the depths of his eyes, clouds and mist spread—cold and chilling.
“This life of mine was given by you, but you can’t use it however you want.” He said slowly, reaching up to touch his own face. “I also have a face, skin, and bones.”