Ru Bo Xi’s words struck Liu Muzhi like thunder.
His first reaction was disbelief.
But the evidence Ru Bo Xi presented and the explanation he gave proved it was true.
It turned out Liu Muzhi’s biological mother was a palace maid in an imperial manor. She was once favored by the emperor during his stay there, but after he returned to the palace, he forgot about her existence.
Only after he returned did she discover she was pregnant. The emperor was delighted and originally intended to bring her back and confer her a noble title.
But then a fire broke out at the manor, and everyone believed she had died.
In reality, she was rescued by a fellow villager and escaped to Jiangnan.
She later gave birth to a boy and passed away—that boy was Liu Muzhi.
To protect him, the villager entrusted him to the Liu family to raise, and later risked everything to return to the capital to present proof of his identity.
Ru Bo Xi said: “Members of the royal family have a crescent-shaped birthmark at the waist. Your Highness may check.”
Liu Muzhi froze.
He did indeed have a red crescent-shaped mark at his waist.
He lifted open his clothes, revealing the birthmark at his waist.
Lu Boxi only took one look and said, “Your Highness’s birthmark is exactly the same as His Majesty’s.”
Having confirmed his identity, Liu Muzhi instead became even more lost.
He had always thought he was just the son of an ordinary merchant, but now someone was telling him that he was actually a prince.
Liu Muzhi only felt shock, absurdity, and a trace of unreality.
He looked at Lu Boxi: “So… you came to find me, to take me back to the capital?”
Lu Boxi paused. “Yes.”
Liu Muzhi fell silent.
Lu Boxi asked him, “Does Your Highness not want to go back?”
Liu Muzhi hesitated for a moment.
He suddenly thought of the identities of those dead soldiers who came to kill him.
Xie Yi had shown him those weapons, those clothes, and the poison hidden in their teeth—those were dead soldiers only noble families and the imperial clan could afford to raise.
He had not understood it at the time, but after Lu Boxi told him his identity, he immediately connected everything.
The ones who wanted to kill him were also people of the imperial clan.
They were… his own relatives.
Liu Muzhi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end he only shook his head: “Let me think about it again.”
Lu Boxi frowned, but given the difference in status, he could only say, “This happened suddenly. Your Highness may not be able to accept it for a time. When you have figured it out, this minister will come again to find you.”
—
Lu Boxi, just as quietly as when he came, left again. But as soon as he left Liu Muzhi’s courtyard, the people responsible for surveillance reported the matter to Xie Yi.
Xie Yi had already learned from messages sent by Cen Junce that the emperor had sent Lu Boxi to Jiangnan.
However, he did not believe that the emperor had sent Lu Boxi here only for Liu Muzhi.
It was not that he looked down on Liu Muzhi; rather, imperial kinship was thin, and the emperor could not possibly suddenly develop a deep fatherly affection for Liu Muzhi and send his most trusted Red Halberd Guard commander here.
Then, finding out why Lu Boxi came became extremely important.
Xie Yi had not been idle during this period. Aside from occasionally submitting memorials to stir up the court’s nerves, and meeting those Jiangnan officials who were forced to come to Qingxi City, his most important task was to completely take control of Qingxi City.
Others all thought his foundation was in Qingzhou, but they did not know he had already laid out his plans in Jiangnan long ago.
Some seemingly ordinary people had silently entered Qingxi City, and had already turned this place into an iron bucket from the shadows.
According to Xie Yi’s estimation, Lu Boxi should have already arrived in Jiangnan.
Yet he had not received even the slightest message.
He already knew Lu Boxi was highly skilled in martial arts and extremely cautious, but he still underestimated him.
Since that was the case, he deliberately gave everyone a holiday during Qingming, giving Lu Boxi a chance to approach Liu Muzhi, placing everything under his control.
Xie Yi trailed far behind Lu Boxi.
However, Lu Boxi was too cautious. He took many twists and turns before entering a house in Huajing Lane.
Xie Yi did not intend to kill Lu Boxi.
After all, the cost of killing him was too great; even if he acted personally, he did not have a hundred percent certainty of killing him.
And if he failed, it would instead alert the enemy and destroy his arrangements in Jiangnan.
It would be better to keep him. As long as he knew what he was here for, perhaps there would be a chance to use him later.
After thinking it through, Xie Yi changed route and returned.
And this road just happened to pass the river where he and Lin Zhiji had once offered sacrifices at night and released river lanterns.
The night was cold and clear.
The river surface shimmered with ripples, as if pulling down the sky canopy. Scattered river lanterns floated on it, swaying in the wind like stars flickering.
Xie Yi subconsciously stopped.
But immediately, his excellent eyesight allowed him to see that there was actually a boatman on the river, holding a large net, actually scooping up the river lanterns into the boat cabin.
Xie Yi frowned, and with a few movements, he landed on the boat.
The boatman was startled greatly upon seeing him.
Xie Yi looked down and saw that the cabin was full of wet river lanterns—some were simple ones made of wax paper, others were luxurious and exquisite, inlaid with gold and silver threads.
The boatman was a nearby commoner. After discovering those luxurious lanterns, he greedily rowed out at night to fish them up, but he did not expect to be discovered, and immediately knelt down begging for mercy: “Please spare me, sir! I was only momentarily blinded by greed…”
Xie Yi ignored him, instead crouching down and searching through them.
Very quickly, he found the one Lin Zhiji had released among the pile of lanterns.
And he also saw the bulging letter placed inside the lantern.
Fortunately, this lantern had been retrieved later; the paper inside was only splashed with a few drops of water and was not completely soaked.
Xie Yi carefully took out the letter.
However, at the moment he opened it, he hesitated.
In the end, he only tucked that letter into his chest and left.
—
The next morning, when Lin Zhiji woke up, Xie Yi had indeed already gone out.
Thinking about yesterday’s date, he still felt as if it were a dream.
After writing that letter last night, it felt as if a heavy stone in his heart had finally been lifted.
Lin Zhiji stretched, washed up, and walked out of the courtyard, just in time to see Liu Muzhi coming out as well.
He was immediately startled by Liu Muzhi’s expression.
“What happened to you?” Lin Zhiji looked at the two large dark circles under his eyes and couldn’t help asking, “Did you not sleep last night? Why are you so exhausted?”
When Liu Muzhi saw him, there was a moment of unease.
But Lin Zhiji did not notice it and said concernedly, “If you didn’t sleep well, you might as well go back and rest first. There’s nothing much today. If you’re worried, I can tell Luo Zhitang for you.”
Liu Muzhi had previously felt embarrassed about eating for nothing, so he went to Luo Zhitang and found a miscellaneous job.
“I…”
Before Liu Muzhi could finish speaking, he saw Xie Yi walking in.
Today he wore the official uniform of a prefect, very different from usual, carrying an aura of authority without anger.
Lin Zhiji’s eyes lit up: “Good-looking!”
However, when Liu Muzhi saw him, he recalled what Lu Boxi had said before leaving last night.
He said: “During this time, Your Highness has been by Xie Yi’s side and should have seen those officials who were usually high and mighty bowing and scraping before him. This is only the Jiangnan prefect. Does Your Highness know that becoming a prince means being one person below ten thousand people above? The power you can come into contact with is not something that can be compared.”
At that time, Liu Muzhi’s mind was in chaos and he could not think at all.
But now that he had cleared his mind, he inevitably thought of it again.
Anyone would be moved by such words.
Liu Muzhi was no exception.
So during the following period, Xie Yi noticed that Liu Muzhi seemed much more proactive than before.
He previously had no interest in these political matters, but recently he would occasionally even chat a few sentences with Songlü and the others.
Even Lin Zhiji felt something was off, and poked Xie Yi: “Don’t you feel like Liu Muzhi has been weird lately?”
Xie Yi lazily flipped through documents and said, “Who knows. Anyone who suddenly becomes a prince would develop a bit of ambition.”
Cough cough cough…
Lin Zhiji almost choked on his own saliva.
Xie Yi patted his back and said helplessly, “Didn’t you already know? Why are you still so surprised?”
Lin Zhiji coughed until his face was red: “N-no… when did this happen?”
How did he not know?
Xie Yi paused, then turned to face Lin Zhiji.
He raised his hand and gripped his neck, his thumb pressing under his jaw to lift his face up: “Does this matter matter that much?”
It was an extremely controlling gesture.
Lin Zhiji was forced to meet his eyes.
Those gray-clouded eyes seemed to be filled with gloom, making it impossible to read any emotion.
It often made people mistakenly think they were looking into the eyes of a beast.
Even Xie Yi’s long-time subordinates did not dare to stare into those eyes for long.
But Lin Zhiji only smiled with curved eyes: “Xie Yi, you look really good.”
Xie Yi: …
He said coldly, “This move doesn’t work every time…”
The next second, Lin Zhiji leaned over and kissed his left eye.
A warm touch landed upon the forbidden place.
Xie Yi could not help but take a light breath.
The youth wrapped his arms around his waist, his voice soft: “Don’t be jealous randomly anymore. You have to trust me…”
Xie Yi did not continue questioning. He gripped Lin Zhiji’s waist and kissed him heavily.
He suddenly felt that things like Lu Boxi and Liu Muzhi simply did not matter at all.
The one he should actually be “guarding against” was Lin Zhiji.