Having been scolded by their father and emperor for no apparent reason, the princes were all in a foul mood as they left the palace, each wearing a slightly gloomy expression.
The Fifth Prince’s mood was even worse.
He was confined for three months and fined a year’s salary for doing nothing, and more importantly, he had fallen under suspicion of harming his brother in his father’s eyes. It was truly an unexpected calamity.
Among them, Yu Jin was the most composed.
Noticing his calm demeanor, the Fifth Prince became even more irritated and strode over: “Stop right there!”
Yu Jin glanced at the Fifth Prince and smiled slightly: “Brotherly affection and respect.”
The Fifth Prince immediately choked on his words, unwilling to swallow them but lacking the courage to lash out.
If he were to fight with Old Seven right after leaving the palace gates, Father Emperor would likely skin him alive.
“You just wait!” In the end, the Fifth Prince could only leave a threatening remark before storming off.
Yu Jin raised his hand to press lightly on the wound on his arm, which was wrapped in a white cloth – Jiang Si’s handkerchief.
Thinking of Jiang Si’s cold words, Yu Jin felt the wound begin to throb faintly.
“Seventh Brother.” A gentle voice called out.
Facing others, Yu Jin maintained an impenetrable coldness: “Does Fourth Brother have something to discuss?”
The Fourth Prince was taken aback but quickly recovered with a smile: “It’s not safe out here. Why don’t you stay at my place for now? When we heard about your assassination attempt today, my wife and I were very worried…”
Yu Jin smiled without speaking.
He just wanted to hear how the other would continue this fabrication.
The Fourth Prince coughed lightly and patted Yu Jin’s shoulder: “Let’s go.”
Yu Jin raised his hand to brush off the Fourth Prince’s hand: “I’ll have to decline. I prefer to live alone.”
For him, everyone except Jiang Si was an outsider, and he had no interest in living with outsiders.
Watching Yu Jin stride away, the Eighth Prince, who was on good terms with the Fourth Prince, came over and provoked: “Fourth Brother, you treat him like a real brother, but it seems he doesn’t feel the same way.”
The Fourth Prince’s gaze followed the retreating figure of Yu Jin, and he smiled: “Seventh Brother grew up outside the palace, so naturally he’s different from us. I hope our brothers can be more understanding.”
“Fourth Brother is truly a good person,” the Eighth Prince said with a twist of his mouth.
The Fourth Prince didn’t respond, but inwardly he sneered.
It didn’t matter whether he was a good person or not. Speaking kindly cost nothing, and the more Old Seven seemed distant, the more it highlighted his virtue. Wasn’t a harmonious relationship between brothers exactly what Father Emperor wanted to see?
Yu Jin returned to the civilian residence in Quezi Hutong, flopped onto the bed, and stared at the canopy without a word.
Long Dan peeked in quietly and worriedly said to Cold Shadow: “Is the master still affected by the poison? He seems a bit off.”
“Mm.” Cold Shadow grunted.
Long Dan rolled his eyes: “Can’t you say something more human?”
Talking to someone like Cold Shadow, who couldn’t string more than a few words together, was worse than talking to Erniu.
“Don’t know, but he is indeed not right,” Cold Shadow rarely spoke more words.
“Why don’t you go and talk to him?” Long Dan urged his companion.
Cold Shadow shook his head.
He might be a man of few words, but he wasn’t stupid. Going to console the master now would be like running into the line of fire.
Long Dan thought for a moment, then waved at Erniu lying in the corner: “Erniu, go see how the master is doing. Cheer him up, and there’ll be some braised beef for you later.”
Erniu cast a disdainful look at Long Dan before padding into the room.
The room was quiet. Erniu approached the bed, leaped up with his hind legs, and lay down next to Yu Jin.
Yu Jin turned to stare at Erniu for a while, then suddenly smiled, stroking the dog’s back as he sighed: “In the future… you won’t be able to jump on my bed so casually, you know?”
Erniu tilted his head to look at his master: “Woof!”
“Get down, you’re shedding all over the bed,” Yu Jin said coldly.
Erniu wasn’t intimidated by Yu Jin’s cold face. He opened his mouth to grab Yu Jin’s sleeve and tugged him towards the edge of the bed.
“Erniu—” Yu Jin drew out the name in warning.
He wasn’t in the mood to play with Erniu right now.
Erniu persistently pulled him downward.
Yu Jin got up with a cold face, allowing Erniu to drag him into the courtyard.
It was nearly noon, and the leaves of the silk tree in the courtyard gleamed white in the sunlight. Cicadas hidden in the dense foliage chirped irritatingly.
Erniu ran quickly to a corner and started digging. Soon, he unearthed something and brought it back to Yu Jin’s hand.
It was a small wicker ball. Though weathered from being buried, its craftsmanship was exquisite.
Yu Jin remembered that when they first arrived in the capital, Erniu had nearly snatched a ball from some children playing in the street. So he had instructed Long Dan to buy a wicker ball for Erniu to play with.
Erniu liked to bury his treasured possessions, and the wicker ball was one of them.
Yu Jin looked at the ball in his hand, feeling a warmth in his cold heart.
That heartless girl, if she made him sad again, might as well just live happily with Erniu.
Erniu gave his master a wary look.
He didn’t know what nonsense his master was thinking again. If he’d used this time to bring the mistress back sooner, Erniu would have less to worry about.
Erniu looked towards the courtyard gate, his simpler canine mind flashing with some frightening scenes.
After leaving the rented residence, Jiang Si didn’t return to the Dong Ping Earl’s manor but headed towards a forested area in the city.
Today was the summer solstice, a day she had been waiting for a long time. Her choice to leave the Yongchang Earl’s manor on this day was also related to this.
On the summer solstice, yin energy reaches its peak while yang energy begins to wane. This day represents a delicate balance point between yin and yang energies, making it an ideal time to nurture certain peculiar living things.
She wanted to cultivate a type of gu worm. The mother of this gu lived parasitically on a tree called “Taiping”. It would start at the tree’s roots when newly born, gradually moving upwards until it reached the treetop closest to the sun on the day of the summer solstice. If no one collected the gu worm’s mother body, which looked like a tree gall, after the summer solstice, it would burst open and everything would return to dust.
Jiang Si didn’t want to miss this day and wait until next year. She had many things to do in the future, and having one more type of gu worm at her disposal meant one more technique in her arsenal.
Sitting high up in the treetop, Jiang Si unhesitatingly took the gu worm’s mother’s body into her hand.
This type of gu worm had a beautiful name, called “Spring’s Return”. Like the Phantom Firefly, it could be kept within one’s body through special methods, nourished by one’s flesh and blood.
In her previous life, she had raised the Phantom Firefly but never this gu.
Thinking of this, Jiang Si smiled self-mockingly.
Back then, she thought she wouldn’t need this gu and was put off by its abilities. Now she realized how foolish that was.
In this world, there are no useless abilities, only useless people.
This gu parasite lived in the palm of its master’s hand, no bigger than a copper coin, but its numbers were countless. They could enter a corpse-like dust, controlling its movements according to the master’s will. To the uninformed, it would appear as if the dead had come back to life or were feigning death, hence the name “Spring’s Return”.
Having successfully obtained the Spring’s Return gu, Jiang Si felt relieved of one worry. She leaped down from the tree with light movements, her feet landing on the thick grass without making much sound.
She steadied herself and raised her hand to tidy her loosened hair, then suddenly paused.
Not far away, a young man with clear, handsome features stared at the girl who had descended from the sky, his expression dumbfounded.