Mo Xiao Bao, formally named Mo Yu Chen, was the heir to the Prince’s Mansion. If you asked who had the strongest background in the world, everyone would give the same answer—Mo Yu Chen. His father was Mo Xiu Yao, the Prince who dominated the world, and his mother was Princess Consort Ye Li, equally renowned for commanding the world’s most elite force, the Qilin. The foremost scholar of the realm, Master Qing Yun, was his maternal grandfather, while Masters Hong Yu and Hong Yan were his great uncles. The five young masters of the Xu family were his uncles. Most importantly, his uniquely favored position in the Xu family was never shaken, even after the addition of a pair of younger siblings. However, if you asked who was the most unfortunate person in the world, the young heir would tell you—it was also Mo Yu Chen. Young heir Mo believed his misfortune stemmed entirely from having a father who excelled at making his son’s life difficult. So much so that he dreamed of becoming a son who could make his father’s life difficult in return.
Mo Xiao Bao’s unfortunate fate began from the moment of his birth—or perhaps even before. His father blamed him for making his beloved mother thin and tired from eating too much while in the womb. During birth, his father thought he caused his mother too much suffering by being troublesome. Even after birth, his father believed his mother paid too much attention to him and became intensely jealous, giving him a nickname so embarrassing he’d never be able to hold his head high. As a result, when Mo Xiao Bao grew up and looked back, he felt his childhood was like a large cabinet filled with tableware.
His mother once consoled him, saying “Xiao Bao” was a cute name. Mo Xiao Bao agreed—before he turned ten, the name was indeed cute. He even learned to capitalize on his cuteness. But as he grew older, he realized his mother’s consolation was a kind lie. When his nickname spread throughout the Mo family army and gradually leaked to the outside world, he finally understood his father’s malicious intent.
Though Mo Xiao Bao’s life before age ten was full of wit-matching battles with his father, it was generally relaxed and happy. But his good days came to an end after his younger siblings’ first birthday celebration. The day after their celebration, he received three months of confinement. After three months, just when he had finally crawled out of his courtyard thinking he might have developed agoraphobia, he was thrown into his father’s grand study and given a schedule that could only be described as diabolical. Thus began his life of suffering—rising earlier than roosters, sleeping later than dogs, working harder than oxen, and eating worse than living conditions.
However, Mo Xiao Bao was an ambitious person. He understood that one must eat the bitterest of bitters to become the highest of men and that heaven assigns great responsibilities to those it tests. So after more than a year of bitter training, the barely twelve-year-old Mo Xiao Bao and fifteen-year-old Qin Lie were thrown into the Qilin force for tempering.
The Qilin was the Mo family army’s most elite trump card, and normally wouldn’t accept someone of Mo Xiao Bao’s age. Even Qin Lie had been turned away initially for being too young. But Mo Xiao Bao successfully opened Qilin’s doors after independently crossing their training trial’s swamp forest and using various methods to defeat seven formal Qilin members. As Qin Feng, then Qilin’s Commander, put it: “Third-rate methods, second-rate strength, first-rate results.” Mo Xiao Bao became the youngest member in Qilin’s history.
To outsiders, the Qilin appeared mysterious, noble, and cold, but for those who became members, it was as warm and close as family. After all, no one wanted to maintain a cold facade all day. Thus, Mo Xiao Bao encountered his first problem after joining Qilin—his codename.
Every formal Qilin team member needed a codename they liked and their comrades approved of.
Mo Xiao Bao and Qin Lie were assigned to the same eight-person team. The codenames were varied and diverse. Some called themselves Snow Wolf or Fierce Tiger, others Falcon or Crow, and some even Hammer or Iron Hammer. Mo Xiao Bao immediately decided to choose a high-end, prestigious codename. After all, he was destined to become a figure known throughout the world—his codename couldn’t be mediocre.
While Mo Xiao Bao was racking his brains and wracking his mind for a codename, Qin Lie, who had been waiting impatiently beside him, frowned and said, “Do you need another codename? Isn’t your nickname already known throughout the world? Whatever codename you come up with won’t overshadow your original one.”
Mo Xiao Bao blinked, “Do I? Should I just be called Young Master? That’s not good, it feels like I’m showing off my father, doesn’t it?”
Qin Lie rolled his eyes and flatly uttered two words: “Xiao Bao.”
Mo Xiao Bao’s smile instantly froze, and he wanted nothing more than to bite Qin Lie, “Qin Lie, you traitor!” Qin Lie snorted lightly, “You think they don’t know? Since when did the Prince’s Mansion’s young heir develop such self-deception? Or has someone forgotten how they loudly proclaimed their name before the Mo family army?”
The young heir’s feat of shouting “My name is Mo Xiao Bao” before thousands of troops had become legendary in the army. Since the young heir so loved this nickname, supposedly bestowed by the Prince himself, the Mo family army’s soldiers naturally embraced this adorable name. Though occasionally someone’s conscience would suggest the name might not benefit the young heir’s grand and mighty image, after seeing the young heir’s delicate smile and soft, adorable expressions, they had to admit that Prince Mo was truly wise and brilliant. As a result, even many years later, Mo Xiao Bao deeply regretted his childhood behavior of exploiting his cuteness to deceive and cause trouble.
Mo Xiao Bao looked desperately at his teammates, who smiled in clear agreement with Qin Lie’s words. While the Qilin might be more closed off than other military units, they were certainly not isolated from the news. More importantly, a large portion of current Qilin members had joined only in the past two years, including many who had personally witnessed the young heir’s feat.
“Xiao Bao is perfect, it suits Xiao Bao’s image. Let’s call him Xiao Bao!” The team leader was the first to make the decision. The chance to tease the young heir might come only once in a lifetime—they had to take it. This might well be the reason he spent the latter half of his life being constantly enslaved and disciplined by a certain someone.
Thus, in a seven-to-one vote, Mo Xiao Bao was forced once again to accept the name Xiao Bao. Due to his temporary service in the Qilin, he gained nicknames like “Qilin’s Xiao Bao” and “Qilin’s Baby”…
The blow to his name nearly crushed Mo Xiao Bao’s spirit, destroying the grand ambitions he’d had upon entering the Qilin. It wasn’t that Mo Xiao Bao didn’t want to achieve great things, but whenever he imagined his future success being met with countless people shouting “Xiao Bao this!” and “Xiao Bao that!”, he felt an urge to hide in remote mountains and live out his remaining days. After much painful reflection, Mo Xiao Bao finally determined his life’s direction anew. He would go dark! Being righteous and renowned, striking awe throughout the land—these didn’t suit him. He would lurk in shadows, scheme against people, calculate moves. The jianghu would have no record of his name, but would have his legend! He would use his methods to wash away this inglorious nickname! These successive heavy blows finally caused the outwardly soft and cute but inwardly dark Mo Xiao Bao to completely embrace the dark side.
“Xiao Bao!”
“…”
“Mo Xiao Bao…”
“…”
“Qilin Baby?”
“Whoosh—” An arrow flew through the air, landing firmly between the legs of a certain lazily seated team leader, just one centimeter from a sensitive area. A certain dark-faced young heir walked over unhurriedly, and calmly pulled out the arrow, “Sorry, Commander. My hand slipped and the shot went astray. I’ll practice twenty more times!”
The commander secretly drew his legs together, fighting back tears: Damn it, if a missed shot was only off by one centimeter, where were you aiming?!
“Brother Xiao Bao!”
“…”
“Brother Bao, Xin’er agreed to marry me when she grows up!” A certain innocent softie burst joyfully into the study, momentarily forgetting himself and using his childhood form of address.
“…” The youth behind the desk gave him a cold glance, remaining silent.
“Haha, Xin’er finally agreed to marry me, I must tell my parents, I need to prepare the betrothal gifts!” Leng Xiao Dai danced about in joy.
“Give up. Even if you sold your entire family, you couldn’t afford to marry my sister,” the youth mercilessly crushed his hopes.
“That’s not true! Princess Consort will agree! Hmph!” The crushed Leng Xiao Dai’s joy didn’t diminish. “Mo Xiao Bao, being jealous of your future brother-in-law isn’t right!”
Watching the ecstatic Leng Xiao Dai runoff, the youth’s expression turned sinister. “Someone, go tell Xu Zhi Rui that cousin, I don’t discriminate against close relatives marrying, and I believe the Xu family’s excellence can make up for this small defect. Also… go tell the little princess that taking an idiot out in public is embarrassing.”
The next day, the thirteen-year-old young master Leng suffered heartbreak when four-year-old Princess Xin’er declared she’d rather marry Cousin Zhi Rui.
“Xiao Bao, could you help me with something?” The third young master Feng pulled aside the Prince’s Mansion’s heir with a smile, acting as if they were close and it would be awkward to refuse.
A dark gleam flashed through Mo Xiao Bao’s calm eyes. “What is it?”
Third Young Master Feng carefully took out an exquisite box and handed it to him. “Help me deliver this to… you know who?”
“Why don’t you deliver it yourself?” Mo Xiao Bao opened it to find an elegant phoenix hairpin inside.
Third Young Master Feng sighed helplessly, “She won’t see me. Your father said I’m not doing my proper duties and banned me from leaving the city this month. Xiao Bao, please help. Aren’t you visiting Master Qing Yun outside the city today? How about… how about I give you these?” He painfully produced a pair of brilliant pearls and presented them to Mo Xiao Bao.
After a long while, Mo Xiao Bao finally nodded solemnly in agreement.
Watching Third Young Master Feng happily turn and leave, Mo Xiao Bao turned and tossed the items to the guard behind him. “Deliver these to Madam Yang.” After a thought, Mo Xiao Bao said, “Never mind, I’ll deliver them personally. Feng San is careless, not even including a letter with his gift. No wonder she doesn’t fancy him.”
A month later, when Third Young Master Feng left the city to seek an audience with a certain someone, he couldn’t even get past the city gates, let alone see anyone. And Third Young Master Feng would never know why.