In ancient times, men at sixteen already had wives and concubines. Looking at Zhang Daqi’s appearance, he must be at least thirty. With his ugly looks and unmarried, he naturally attracted all sorts of gossip in the village. Moreover, his own father was mentally unclear—which girl would be willing to marry into this family?

Ji Yunshu felt some sympathy and glanced at Jingrong sitting beside her.

This fellow was almost twenty-five, without a single wife or concubine—he wasn’t much better off than Zhang Daqi.

After Village Chief Zhang finished speaking about Old Man Zhang’s matters, he immediately fell silent and didn’t disturb them further.

At this time outside, the heavy rain continued unabated.

The sky had also turned completely dark.

Jing Zhaoyin thought for a moment, then bowed and came forward, his brow furrowed as he spoke in Jingrong’s ear. “Your Highness, it looks like we can’t leave today. This heavy rain probably won’t stop anytime soon, and it’s already dark outside.”

“So what do you mean?”

“We’ll probably have to stay the night.”

They couldn’t leave anyway!

Jingrong was silent for a moment, turning the teacup in his hand, then said, “Let’s see how things go.”

Leave if they could.

“Yes.”

Jing Zhaoyin agreed and returned to his original position.

Right at this moment—

A seventeen or eighteen-year-old man suddenly rushed in through the main entrance. The person was soaked through, thin and tall like bamboo, his clothes ragged and tattered. His hair was disheveled and messy, covering most of his dirty face. One could vaguely see a pair of beady black eyes and dry, cracked, bloodied lips. This person hunched his neck, his dirt-covered fingers constantly scratching at his exposed neck and shoulders, which were covered in bloody scratches, some festering, looking extremely disgusting. The oozing dark blood flowed down slowly with the rain water on his body.

From top to bottom, it flowed onto the somewhat uneven ground.

His shoes were worn full of holes—his feet practically touching the ground directly.

Even stranger was that as soon as this person entered, he grinned with those dry, cracked lips and laughed “hehe.”

Drool dripped from his mouth.

This person…

The villagers in the ancestral hall cast disdainful looks at him. Some even averted their eyes, covering their mouths, nearly vomiting.

But—

Jingrong, Ji Yunshu, Jing Yi, and Wen Shisan looked at the person with examining gazes.

Very curious!

Village Chief Zhang quickly came over, stretching out his hand to block, shouting loudly, “Silly Four, what are you doing here? Leave quickly…”

Trying to drive him away!

The man called Silly Four continued laughing “hehe.”

Refusing to move.

“Leave quickly! What are you grinning about?”

“Hehe…”

“If you don’t leave, I’ll hit you.”

Despite Village Chief Zhang’s threats, Silly Four still refused to go out.

The village chief, worn down and losing patience, gritted his teeth. But considering the two princes were present, he didn’t dare lose his temper. He could only find two burly villagers to chase him out.

“Wait.” Jingrong spoke up.

The action of chasing him away stopped.

Village Chief Zhang was puzzled, bending at the waist. “Your Highness?”

“It’s raining so heavily outside. If you drive him out, isn’t that the same as sending him to his death?”

“But with Silly Four like this, I’m worried he’ll offend Your Highness.”

“Is he a great villain?”

“No.”

“A great scoundrel?”

“No.”

Question and answer!

Jingrong’s expression turned serious. “Since he’s neither, how could he offend this prince? This ancestral hall is so spacious—can it not accommodate one person?”

Uh!

The village chief grew nervous.

He quickly said, “It’s not that, Your Highness. You see how Silly Four is.” His face full of disgust. “This person has no father or mother, usually acts crazy, his whole body scratched up by himself. What if…”

“There is no ‘what if’!”

Directly rejected.

Jingrong’s eyes deepened as he looked at the silly, dazed Silly Four who continued scratching his neck. “A person’s illness is not something they can control themselves. Since he’s from the same village as you, if he can’t get sympathy, so be it. But in this rainy weather when everyone is suffering, you want to drive him out. As the leader of a village, you should solve problems for the villagers, not throw problems out and ignore them.”

His tone was mild.

Yet clearly carried a warning flavor.

Village Chief Zhang was speechless, stunned for quite a while before his lips twitched. “Yes, yes, yes. Your Highness is right.” After speaking, he stepped aside and spoke amicably with Silly Four. “Silly Four, now His Highness is letting you stay, but you absolutely must not cause trouble. Just behave yourself inside.”

“Hehe.”

Silly Four tilted his head, completely ignoring his words. His bloody fingers gradually parted the hair covering his face. Suddenly he walked forward two steps, facing the silent Jing Yi, and began laughing foolishly at him.

That smile was very eerie.

Jing Yi wasn’t intimidated and directly met his gaze.

As if seeing through the fool’s thoughts.

“What do you want?”

“Stone… stone.”

“Stone?”

Silly Four stretched out his hand, pointing at the round jade pendant at his waist.

Grinning, he continued laughing, drool continuing to flow down.

Jing Yi looked down at his belt, understood the fool’s meaning, and curved his lips wickedly. He pulled the jade pendant from his waist and dangled it on his hooked finger.

Planning to tease him!

“You want this?”

“Stone.”

“This isn’t a stone.”

“Stone.”

“Alright then, come over here and I’ll give it to you.” Jing Yi extended his hand forward.

Silly Four’s beady black eyes glowed. His hands circled in front of his chest for a while, then he moved forward, reaching out to take it—

Those five fingers were covered in filth and blood.

Just as he touched the jade pendant, Jing Yi pulled his hand back, gripping the jade pendant in his palm.

“Stone, stone…”

“Fool, what this prince holds in his hand is not a stone.”

“Ahhhh!”

Silly Four grew anxious.

But Jing Yi was quite pleased, his face showing perversion.

“Stone… stone…”

He kept clamoring.

Village Chief Zhang quickly grabbed his clothes. “If you keep this up, I’ll throw you out.”

“Ah… stone…”

He kept staring at the jade pendant in Jing Yi’s hand.

Seeing this.

Ji Yunshu quickly said, “Come here.”

She beckoned with her hand.

Silly Four looked over.

Ji Yunshu pulled a bead that was fastened at her waist.

She placed it in her palm.

“I’ll give you this stone, alright?” she asked.

Silly Four nodded frantically, ran over, and quickly snatched the bead from her hand.

Treasuring it beyond measure!

“Stone, mine, mine…”

Yes, it’s yours. No one’s competing with you for it.

Only then was he satisfied as he went to sit on the ground in the innermost area.

Ji Yunshu felt some sympathy for him. For someone to be ill like this was already the most tragic, and now he had to be scorned by others. If his parents were still alive, they would probably be even more heartbroken.

But Jing Yi sneered disdainfully, tossing out a remark.

“What a kind-hearted person!”

Boring.

A short while later, they saw Zhang Daqi come out from inside dejectedly, his hands wringing tightly together.

He must be… worried about his father’s health.

Actually, this person truly was a filial son!

But—

When Silly Four saw him…