The day of Mo Suiyun’s grand wedding was approaching swiftly, and envoys from various nations had mostly arrived to offer their congratulations. Besides Lei Tengfeng and Mo Xiaobao, no other rulers had come in person. Since his private discussion with Lei Tengfeng, Mo Xiaobao had become uncharacteristically quiet, showing no reaction even upon receiving news of the secret alliance agreement signed between Lei Tengfeng and Mo Suiyun.

However, even with Mo Xiaobao behaving himself and not causing trouble, Mo Suiyun’s wedding was destined to become a farce simply because he had thoughtlessly invited this harbinger of misfortune to attend.

The day before the wedding, terrifying news reached the palace. The future Empress of Southern Chu, Mo Suiyun’s bride-to-be, had allegedly eloped with someone on the eve of her wedding?!

Upon receiving this news, Mo Suiyun snapped the wolf-hair brush in his hand.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Mo Suiyun demanded coldly.

The dispatched guards were quite efficient, returning within two hours. “Your Majesty… we interrogated the maid from… the Qian household. According to her, Miss Qian recently met a young man who claimed to be the illegitimate son of a wealthy merchant from Guangling, surnamed Huo. The two fell in love at first sight… Miss Qian had been in very low spirits these past few days. When the maid went to bring water to her room this morning, she discovered Miss Qian was gone.”

“A young man surnamed Huo?” Mo Suiyun frowned. “What does he look like? Is he really from Guangling?”

The guard grimaced, “Your Majesty, it’s likely a false name. There are no wealthy merchants surnamed Huo in Guangling.” Though Guangling was now under the jurisdiction of the Prince Regent’s mansion, it was too close to Southern Chu for them not to be familiar with it. Moreover, Huo was an extremely rare surname – if such a merchant family existed, they would certainly have known about it. “According to Miss Qian’s maid, he was a handsome youth in white robes, appearing to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. His features were extremely beautiful and gentle, giving people the impression of being trustworthy at first sight.”

“A false name?” Mo Suiyun frowned. If the bride truly had a lover and eloped, that would be one thing. But if someone deliberately kidnapped the bride at this time… Regardless, that Qian woman deserved death!

“Find her for Me immediately! Bring her back alive if possible, or dead if necessary!” Mo Suiyun commanded harshly.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The guard trembled inwardly and hastily withdrew. Regardless of whether Miss Qian was alive or dead, or why she had fled the marriage, even if they found her, she likely wouldn’t survive.

“Your Majesty, Prince Regent requests an audience,” announced a eunuch outside.

Mo Suiyun’s face darkened. Right now, Mo Xiaobao was the last person he wanted to see. Irritably, he said, “Denied!”

“Oh my, Brother Suiyun. How can you be so cold and heartless when I’ve come personally to comfort you?” Mo Xiaobao’s lazy voice, tinged with mockery and impossible not to hate, came from outside. Before Mo Suiyun could respond, Mo Xiaobao had already walked in with a face full of smiles. Seeing his expression, Mo Suiyun was inexplicably reminded of Mo Xiaobao’s frequent saying, “Seeing you suffer makes me complete.” This bastard came to watch him make a fool of himself!

“What are you doing here?” Mo Suiyun asked irritably. Mo Xiaobao blinked innocently and said, “I heard that Brother Suiyun’s Empress… um, has gone missing, so this Prince came specially to comfort you. Look, I still have some people I can use in Nanjing city – would you like them to help search? What if it delays tomorrow’s wedding?”

“No need!” Mo Suiyun gritted his teeth. This fellow did come to watch him make a fool of himself! Did he think he was desperate to find that woman for tomorrow’s wedding?! Had he, Mo Suiyun, fallen so low that he needed to marry a woman who had eloped with another man?

“We’re acquaintances, after all, don’t stand on ceremony.” Mo Xiaobao said kindly.

“Thank you for your kindness.” Mo Suiyun gritted out.

Mo Xiaobao nodded magnanimously and smiled, “It’s nothing.”

Mo Suiyun barely suppressed the urge to throw someone out and flog them to death. He said gravely, “I have urgent matters to attend to. If Prince Regent has nothing else, please take your leave.” Mo Xiaobao raised his eyebrows and said, “Urgent matters? Um… does the Empress Consort’s whereabouts count as urgent?”

“She is NOT the Empress!” Mo Suiyun roared.

Mo Xiaobao was startled by the shout, blinked, and said somewhat hurt, “Oh, is that so? Then there are no urgent matters. This Prince will take his leave.” With that, he walked toward the imperial study’s door.

“Stop!” Mo Suiyun thundered. “Where is that slut?”

Mo Xiaobao stroked his chin, smiling, “Well… before entering the palace, I think I saw her leaving through the North Gate with a man. They should be heading toward the Yunlan River.” Beyond the Yunlan River was outside Mo Suiyun’s jurisdiction, and the vast northern territories made it easy to hide people.

Mo Suiyun’s face turned black with anger, but he quickly caught on, eyeing Mo Xiaobao suspiciously, “How do you know her?”

“Ah… about that…” Mo Xiaobao hesitated, looking at Mo Suiyun somewhat embarrassedly, “Well, as it happens, this Prince happens to know the Empress Consort’s… true love.”

“Mo Yuzhen! Go to hell!” Mo Suiyun finally lost all patience, drawing the decorative sword from the wall and slashing at Mo Xiaobao. Mo Xiaobao blinked excitedly, casually sidestepping this amateurish strike. But Mo Suiyun wouldn’t give up, gripping the sword and chasing after Mo Xiaobao with wild slashes. Mo Xiaobao didn’t counterattack, just smilingly evaded Mo Suiyun’s attacks by shifting his footwork. The two went from the imperial study to the imperial garden. Guards who came running at the commotion wanted to protect their emperor, but seeing it was their emperor doing the attack, while the person being attacked was strolling about casually. The contrast made the spectators more tired than the target, and the guards felt too embarrassed to intervene.

“Brother Suiyun, let’s talk this through reasonably,” Mo Xiaobao said with a smile.

“To hell with talking to you!” In his rage, Mo Suiyun even forgot the royal “We,” directly cursing. He had to kill Mo Yuzhen, this scourge, for the good of the world.

“Brother Suiyun, taking out your anger on me is meaningless. It’s not like I seduced away what’s her name…”

The onlookers were shocked, all wearing expressions of “so that’s what happened.” When they realized what they’d heard, they wished they could instantly deafen themselves.

“You dare say you didn’t orchestrate this?” Mo Suiyun sneered.

Mo Xiaobao thought about it with difficulty, saying, “I didn’t orchestrate anything…” He had only offered some suggestions early on, made some threats in the middle, and did some framing at the end, that’s all.

“I don’t believe you. Just die!” Mo Suiyun sneered. Mo Xiaobao helplessly leaped into the air, landing to sit on the opposite roof, sighing, “These days, it’s impossible to be a good person.”

Mo Suiyun gave him an ice-cold smile, then turned to sweep his gaze over the watching guards, commanding harshly, “Are you all dead?! Shoot him down for Me!”

The guards naturally dared not disobey, quickly nocking arrows to their bows. Soon arrows were raining like a downpour toward the person sunbathing on the roof. Watching the arrows shooting toward him, Mo Xiaobao made a single leap through the air, drawing a black rainbow arc, instantly escaping far away. From the distance came Mo Xiaobao’s wailing cry, “Mo Suiyun, you narrow-minded petty person! No wonder nobody wants youuuu…” The echo reverberated in the air for quite a while. According to the guards with decent internal energy, they couldn’t be sure if the common people of Nanjing city had heard the Prince Regent’s heaven-shaking cry, but everyone in the imperial palace had.

Mo Suiyun glared at the roof tiles where Mo Xiaobao had disappeared, his expression alternating between green and purple, making the group of guards tremble in fear. After a long while, they heard Mo Suiyun say through gritted teeth, “Mo Yuzhen, I will kill you!”

After infuriating Mo Suiyun half to death, Mo Xiaobao instantly felt a hundred times more refreshed throughout his body. Indeed… life had no joy if one didn’t do something interesting every day. Mo Xiaobao strolled through the imperial palace. Although this was Southern Chu’s imperial palace and not the Prince Regent’s mansion’s backyard, most of the palace guards these days had come to know this young Prince Regent who could anger people to death without consequences, and no one dared to stop him. Moreover, with Mo Xiaobao’s martial skills honed from crawling through the Qilin Guard since his young age, and being tormented by Mo Xiuyao for over ten years, there wasn’t anyone who could stop him.

“Prince Regent.” Mo Xiaobao was sprawled by a flower bed in the imperial garden, staring absently at a peony blooming brilliantly. It was quite remarkable that peonies could bloom so beautifully in Jiangnan at this time of year. After all, Liucheng, being in the northwest, had far fewer flowers compared to Jiangnan. Mo Xiaobao felt that this magnificent Wei Purple peony before him perfectly matched his taste and style. He contemplated whether to become a flower thief and take it from the imperial garden back to his Prince Regent’s mansion’s garden in Liucheng.

Glancing back at Princess Lin’an walking from the other end of the garden, Mo Xiaobao disinterestedly turned back to silently drool over the peony before him.

“What is the Prince Regent looking at?” Princess Lin’an felt her temple throbbing – was she, a great beauty like a flower herself, less appealing to this Mo Yuzhen than an actual flower?

Mo Yuzhen replied coolly, “Looking at the flower, of course. Tsk tsk… Jiangnan’s climate is superior. Look how well this flower is grown – truly worthy of being the king of flowers. Such magnificent elegance, truly enchanting.”

If she hadn’t maintained some rationality, Princess Lin’an would have grabbed the person sprawled by the flower bed in his admiring pose and shaken him while shouting: Are you really okay?! To be infatuated with a flower while ignoring her is a great beauty. What kind of freak looks at inanimate objects as if they were beauties while treating beauties like inanimate objects?!

“If the Prince Regent likes it, Lin’an can ask Imperial Brother to gift it to you,” Princess Lin’an said through gritted teeth, wishing she could destroy all traces of that Wei Purple peony swaying gently in the wind.

“Really?” Mo Xiaobao hesitated, saying, “Mo Suiyun is so petty, he definitely won’t agree.”

Princess Lin’an immediately recalled that earth-shattering shout from earlier, and her beautiful lips twitched. Given Imperial Brother’s current mood… he only wanted to destroy all traces of a certain someone. Gift him such a precious Wei Purple peony? He probably wouldn’t want to give the Prince Regent even a single weed from the imperial garden.

Mo Xiaobao carelessly bit his finger, saying, “But it’s fine… I can take it back first. After Mo Suiyun calms down, then tell him…”

Princess Lin’an’s lips twitched as she lightly coughed and said coolly, “Your Highness, Lin’an has something to consult with you about. Could you spare a moment of your time!” The word “moment” seemed to be squeezed out between her teeth.

Mo Xiaobao blinked, finally nodding and standing up, casting one last lingering look at the flower before saying, “Very well, what does the Princess want to say?”

They walked to a nearby pavilion and sat down, but even then Princess Lin’an could feel that a certain someone’s gaze lingered more on the garden than on her. Every action and expression of Prince Mo told Princess Lin’an one fact – he had no interest in her! What was more infuriating was that this wasn’t something he was deliberately showing; it came naturally. At least with Princess Lin’an’s discerning eye, she couldn’t detect any pretense.

Princess Lin’an silently gritted her teeth. Although the Prince Regent was unmatched in looks, power, and ability, if she had a choice, she would never want to marry such a man. If the previous Prince Regent was the epitome of a good husband, then this one before her was practically the definition of a scoundrel. Any woman who married him must have suffered terrible misfortune in her past eight lives.

But Princess Lin’an also knew that if she didn’t marry him, she would have to marry one of those pampered sons from the noble families that her Imperial Brother needed to ally with. Since the Great Chu’s southward migration, those official’s sons had become increasingly dissolute. If in earlier years one could occasionally find a few outstanding men, these years any truly capable men had all gone to Liucheng. And Princess Lin’an didn’t want to just marry an ordinary pampered son and spend her life unremarkably in a grand mansion.

“What did Princess Lin’an want to say?” After waiting a while without Princess Lin’an speaking, Mo Xiaobao raised his eyebrows and asked.

Princess Lin’an bit her lip and asked solemnly, “Lin’an wants to know, what’s wrong with me that makes Your Highness unwilling to marry Lin’an?”

“Wrong?” Mo Xiaobao raised his eyebrows, looked Princess Lin’an over a few times, then smiled and said, “Well… I suppose Princess Lin’an is too old?”

Princess Lin’an gritted her teeth, “I’m only fifteen!”

Mo Xiaobao nodded, “Yes, but I said I won’t marry until I’m twenty-five. By then you’ll be twenty-five too – isn’t that old?”

‘As if you’ll only be fifteen or sixteen when I’m twenty-five?’ Princess Lin’an almost wanted to shout. But she also understood there was nothing to say about this – men and women were just unfairly treated in this aspect. Men reached their prime at thirty, while women at thirty were considered past their prime. Princess Lin’an couldn’t help but envy the Prince Regent’s wife. The Prince Regent’s wife had met the right person at the right age.

Settling her scattered thoughts, Princess Lin’an said, “Your Highness must know my Imperial Brother’s intention to arrange a marriage alliance with the Prince Regent’s mansion. Lin’an can promise that if Your Highness agrees… Lin’an will never interfere with any of Your Highness’s affairs in the future. No matter… what kind of women Your Highness wants to marry in the future, Lin’an… will have no objections.”

Mo Xiaobao propped his chin up, seriously examining Princess Lin’an, then shook his head somewhat disappointedly, “If that’s the case, why should I marry Princess Lin’an? How is it different from keeping a useless person? Moreover, what if I find a girl I like in the future? Wouldn’t that be unfair to her?”

So you’re certain you won’t like me?! Princess Lin’an inwardly raged. Although she had no feelings for this terrible Prince Regent who seemed like an ungrown child, having a woman so matter-of-factly ignored was still very damaging to one’s self-esteem. Mo Xiaobao smiled at Princess Lin’an and said, “I know why the Princess wants to marry me, but actually, the Princess has better choices.”

Princess Lin’an was startled, “Better choices?” What better choices could she have?

“How about becoming the Empress of Great Chu?”

“Mo Yuzhen, get out here!” Just as Princess Lin’an was about to speak, Mo Suiyun’s voice came from the imperial garden entrance. They saw Mo Suiyun, dressed in his dragon robes and wielding a sword, charging over with murderous intent.