Chapter 11

The two men looked at one another. Neither spoke first.

Overhead, a crow flew past, tilting its head curiously at the two humans below who seemed locked in some silent contest. It let out a sharp “caw.”

Cui Ye: “……”

Meng Xizhao: “……”

They both glanced up at the crow. When they turned back to each other, Meng Xizhao sighed.

He had expended far too many brain cells dealing with the male lead. He had no energy left to handle anyone else. So he went straight to the point.

“You were following me?”

“No.”

Cui Ye smiled faintly. “I merely had someone watch the entrance of the Administrative Office for a few days.”

Meng Xizhao: “……”

How refreshingly honest.

Strangely, that answer dispersed the lingering fear in Meng Xizhao’s heart. Strength returned to his legs. He pushed himself up and brushed the dirt from his clothes.

Cui Ye watched him quietly, wondering what he would do next—probe him, threaten him, or simply cry for help and summon the authorities to arrest him.

Meng Xizhao lifted his head and looked at him again.

“I am hungry.”

Caught entirely off guard, even Cui Ye’s handsome face showed a flicker of astonishment.

“…Then shall we go eat?”

Meng Xizhao nodded, not forgetting to add, “You are paying.”

Cui Ye: “……”

＊

He had assumed Cui Ye would take him to a respectable restaurant. At the very least, perhaps somewhere like Sang Fanyu’s place, where a private cook could casually produce seven or eight dishes at a time.

Instead, Cui Ye led him to the outer side of the inner city wall, then into a modest teahouse with a blue banner hanging outside. He ordered only three dishes—all vegetarian.

“Today is the fifteenth,” Cui Ye said. “I keep to a vegetarian diet. I can only trouble Second Young Master to endure it with me.”

Meng Xizhao stared at the table full of green vegetables and felt as though his heart had turned green as well. Still, after a moment, he decided to adapt to local customs and began eating.

Cui Ye did not lift his chopsticks. He simply watched Meng Xizhao eat. Not once did Meng Xizhao show the slightest disdain for the plain tea and simple fare. His expression remained unchanged throughout.

At one point, Cui Ye poured him a cup of tea.

Meng Xizhao drank it this time. Like the dishes, it was bland and flavorless.

After filling his stomach halfway, Meng Xizhao felt his strength returning. He paused, then said abruptly, “I should send someone back to inform my mother.”

“I have already sent someone,” Cui Ye replied.

Meng Xizhao raised an eyebrow at him. “You know, after I left last time, I suspected you were a spy who had infiltrated Great Qi.”

Cui Ye chuckled softly. “Perhaps I am.”

Meng Xizhao shook his head. “Impossible.”

Cui Ye tilted his head slightly, curious about this unexpected confidence.

Meng Xizhao answered quickly. “What kind of spy would brazenly station men at the gates of the Administrative Office? You act with such impunity. I suspect even my father does not merit your concern.”

“They say Participating Governor Meng has failed in discipline—his younger son is ranked among the most infamous wastrels of Yingtian Prefecture. From what I see now, perhaps there is more to the story.”

Meng Xizhao lowered his head and sipped his tea. “There is no hidden story. I really am a wastrel.”

Cui Ye lifted a brow, clearly unconvinced.

Meng Xizhao set down his cup. “If you do not believe me, ask the proprietor to bring the menu. If I can recognize even five characters on it, I lose.”

Cui Ye: “……”

It was the first time he had seen someone display illiteracy with such righteous confidence.

Only then did Meng Xizhao smile at him. “The wastrel part is true. The libertine part is also true. But now I have grown up. My parents are getting older. I cannot remain an unruly child forever. Your Highness, would you not agree?”

Cui Ye smiled faintly. “So you remember who I am?”

“No.”

Cui Ye: “……”

Meng Xizhao laughed lightly. “Although I cannot recall exactly, from your refined speech and your bearing that seems capable of swallowing mountains and rivers, I can tell you are no ordinary man. And judging from how you treat my father with utter indifference—such majesty, such aloof nobility—these are qualities only one born of the imperial bloodline could possess. There is no need to ask. You must be a prince.”

After this enthusiastic shower of flattery, Meng Xizhao lowered his posture slightly. “I simply do not know which prince you are.”

He only hoped it was not the Fifth Prince. If his younger sister were to fall for a face like this, Meng Xizhao was not confident he could pull her back.

Cui Ye looked at him, lips curved, saying nothing.

Meng Xizhao had not mentioned it, but Cui Ye had not forgotten. During their previous meeting, Meng Xizhao had mistaken him for… that sort of person.

Still, there was no need to make him lose face so quickly. He was, after all, rather entertaining.

“My name is Cui Ye,” he said at last.

The smile on Meng Xizhao’s face froze instantly.

…………

Why.

Why could one person be this unlucky?

If not for the last thread of rationality holding him back, Meng Xizhao might have leapt up and screamed to the heavens.

Cui Ye.

The Crown Prince.

The most disliked son in the emperor’s eyes.

His family’s position was already precarious. Enemies lurked in the shadows, eager to drag them all into ruin. And now, merely by performing a small good deed, he had somehow entangled himself with the Crown Prince. With him, how was he supposed to cling to the emperor’s thigh in the future?

The stiffness in Meng Xizhao’s face grew more and more obvious.

Cui Ye saw it clearly. He was still smiling, but the warmth in his eyes faded bit by bit.

So even a wastrel who spent his days chasing cats and teasing dogs regarded him as a calamity to be avoided.

Cui Ye lowered his gaze and stopped looking at him. Though he said nothing, the air around him shifted perceptibly.

Meng Xizhao suddenly felt guilty.

Snapping out of it, he was just about to speak when Cui Ye reached into his sleeve and withdrew a silver ingot.

He set it on the table and gave Meng Xizhao a faint smile. “Has Second Young Master eaten his fill? I have other matters to attend to and will not accompany you further. Someone will escort you back to the Administrative Office.”

With that, he rose at once and left without hesitation, not sparing Meng Xizhao another glance.

Meng Xizhao: “…………”

Wait—let me explain. I just failed to control my expression. I can control it now. Look again!

But some people, once missed, are gone.

…

Meng Xizhao rushed after him on instinct, only to see Cui Ye boarding a carriage. Eight armed guards stood beside it, each one clearly formidable. The curtain fell, hiding Cui Ye’s lowered, impassive gaze.

Meng Xizhao stood there blankly—then noticed that two guards had remained behind.

One stepped forward, face expressionless. “Young Master, shall we return to your residence?”

Meng Xizhao: “……”

Back home, Meng Xizhao was thoroughly dejected.

Even Jin Zhu bringing his favorite pastries could not coax a smile from him.

He did not want entanglement with the Crown Prince—but he certainly did not want to offend him either. A camel starved is still larger than a horse. Though the Crown Prince held no real power and was deeply disliked by the emperor, if he truly bore a grudge, he could still deal with Meng Xizhao as easily as turning his hand.

Those had been the rational thoughts. Now came Meng Xizhao’s emotional confession.

…He treated me to a meal and even sent me home. And I still disliked him. What kind of person am I?

Sullen and ashamed, Meng Xizhao refused to speak to anyone. He drove everyone out, threw himself onto the bed, and rolled left and right until he had wrapped the entire quilt around himself, bundling into a tight little “Meng Xizhao-brand meat roll.” Only then did he stop moving.

Brooding and brooding, he eventually fell asleep.

In his dream, he was sitting in his dormitory room, sweating profusely in front of his computer. On the browser page, he had searched: “How to apologize to a man.” But the school’s miserable internet had cut out again. The little loading circle kept spinning without ever refreshing the page.

Finally, the spinning stopped.

Meng Xizhao’s heart leapt. He hurriedly focused his eyes—

“Cousin!!! Waaaaah, Cousin, thank heaven you are all right!”

Meng Xizhao opened his eyes in a daze to see Li Huai sobbing as he charged over and threw his arms around him.

Jin Zhu tried desperately to pry him off, but could not loosen even a single finger.

“When I saw the ground covered in blood, I nearly fainted! Cousin, if anything had happened to you, how would I explain it to Uncle and Aunt? To my father and Grandfather? Waaaaah, you have no idea—I was already thinking that if something truly happened to you, I would not go on living either…”

“…Enough. Am I not fine? Let go. You are about to strangle me.”

Li Huai hastily released him. Tears were still streaming down his face, his eyes red as a rabbit’s. He looked pitiful indeed.

Seeing him like this, Meng Xizhao could not quite bring himself to be angry. He asked, “That gatekeeper—did he die?”

It was only a casual question. The gatekeeper was hardly innocent; he had been the one to drug Zhan Hui and tie him up.

Li Huai wiped his tears. “I do not know. That Zhan Buxiu has such audacity! To commit violence in broad daylight. When I found his house, do you know what he was doing? Calmly washing his bloodstained clothes!”

It was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over Meng Xizhao’s head.

“…Why did you go to his house?”

“To look for you, of course,” Li Huai replied matter-of-factly. “He said he had not laid a finger on you, but how could I believe him? Just by looking at him, you can tell he is a street ruffian who would dare do anything. Leaving him alive would only bring trouble.”

Meng Xizhao’s vision darkened. “What did you do?”

Li Huai grinned. “I seized him and sent him to the Imperial City Office. I have a friend whose uncle serves there. With my word put in, even if the fellow does not die, he will at least lose a layer of skin.”

Meng Xizhao stared at him.

Then, his eyes rolled back and he toppled backward.

Jin Zhu shrieked, “Young Master!”

Li Huai: “…Cousin? Cousin???”

Faintly, Meng Xizhao thought: It would be better to deal with Li Huai first. This one pig teammate is more destructive than an entire faction of corrupt officials…