CHAPTER 123: CHAPTER 123: THAT SEEMS TO BE THE MALE LEAD

The morning mist had just dispersed, and the osmanthus on the branches was soaked with dew, sweet and moist, like the sudden call of a girl—

"Brother!"

Tang Ziqian stopped in his tracks, turning to see a young girl in an outfit of lotus-colored jacket and skirt, her steps "thump, thump, thump," chasing after him rather anxiously along the vermilion corridor.

As she reached him, she examined him and asked, "Brother, are you going out?"

Tang Ziqian also looked down at himself and shook his head: "I’m not going out." Though he was dressed as if he was going out, he had no intention to do so.

"Then are you expecting a guest?" the young girl asked again.

Tang Ziqian thought for a moment and still shook his head: "No guests."

"Then you—"

"Are you looking for me for something?" Tang Ziqian interrupted her courtesy talk.

The young girl hesitated for a moment and nodded earnestly: "I have something very important to discuss with you; it will require a bit of your time!"

With a smile, Tang Ziqian clasped her delicate shoulder and led her back: "What important matter is so solemn..."

...

"On the fifth day of enrollment, I met Prince Jin at the academy, and he inquired about Ah Xiao’s age and name," said Tang Xiaobai.

It’s already the fourteenth of August today.

Nine days have passed since the fifth when she met Prince Jin Li Shu.

In fact, on the day she met Li Shu at the academy, Tang Xiaobai had wanted to mention this to Tang Ziqian.

Li Shu’s probing into Ah Xiao’s background made her quite sensitive.

The Qin Family holds the crime of treason; if any children of the Qin Family hiding in the Duke Yan Mansion were exposed, she couldn’t bear the consequences.

But if Tang Ziqian were made aware, she wasn’t certain if he would be detrimental to the young ancestor, such as simply and crudely making them disappear, leaving no handle for Li Shu.

So she thought hard and realized that she needed to have a good talk with Tang Ziqian.

However, being a diligent yet tough young scholar, she had neither the time nor the opportunity to talk to Tang Ziqian, and it wasn’t until the Mid-Autumn Festival break that she found the chance to corner him.

"Last Dragon Boat Festival, when the Crown Prince was startled and gravely ill from the assassination attempt, Prince Jin tried to incite a confrontation between the Duke Yan Mansion and the Crown Prince Mansion;"

"...The runaway horse beyond the city was also his handiwork... and he deliberately established rapport at the palace banquet..."

"Early in the year, with the beggar’s murder case, the Zheng Family seemed to have a subtle hand in it..."

"..."

Tang Xiaobai recounted the grievances she could report, and finally said sternly: "Though there’s no open enmity between Prince Jin and our Duke Yan Mansion currently, there’s certainly no goodwill; his inquiry into Ah Xiao’s background seems deeply suspicious to me!"

Tang Ziqian looked at her thoughtfully for a while, then smiled and asked, "What do you think his intentions are?"

This matter, on the fifth day, the Crown Prince had already informed him about; he hadn’t expected that after so many days, his sister would suddenly want to discuss it with him.

"I think he’s looking for someone," Tang Xiaobai stated.

Tang Ziqian’s smile faded slightly: "Who is he looking for?"

"Perhaps you should investigate, brother."

Tang Ziqian’s smile disappeared entirely; he glanced at her a few times, then laughed again and nodded: "Alright, I will check into it."

The Crown Prince also instructed him to investigate this matter thoroughly.

Prince Jin wouldn’t groundlessly suspect a Qin Family orphan in the Duke Yan Mansion, but he was the most knowledgeable about whether such an orphan existed.

To be cautious, the Crown Prince had still asked him to focus on scrutinizing the servants bought into the mansion.

"If you find the person Prince Jin is looking for, what will you do?"

Tang Ziqian gave her a deep look, smiled, and said, "Just say what you want without beating around the bush."

Tang Xiaobai blushed slightly and said, "I think the main point isn’t who Prince Jin is looking for, but that he harbors ill intentions toward us; whatever the enemy supports, we should oppose, and whatever the enemy opposes, we should support!"

Seeing Tang Ziqian smile but remain silent, she hurried to add: "Even if it doesn’t count as enmity right now, it will develop into one in the future—" She paused, lowering her voice, "Brother said if many war exploits aren’t consumed, they could overshadow the authority of the current ruler; Prince Jin, being the emperor’s eldest son, might already see himself as that ’ruler’!"

Tang Ziqian suppressed his smile, nodding slowly, and gestured for her to continue.

"Prince Jin wouldn’t look for someone in our Duke Yan Mansion without reason; perhaps he got some clues, but we haven’t found any clues ourselves. Prince Jin’s influence reaches too far!"

"Since Prince Jin is suspicious of us, we don’t need to cautiously appease him; even though he’s the emperor’s eldest son, the Crown Prince is someone else!"

This statement made the implications very clear.

Tang Ziqian laughed again: "That last sentence..."

"What about the last sentence?" Tang Xiaobai felt a bit nervous.

Tang Ziqian laughed for quite a while before continuing: "The last sentence—that was something our father also said—"

Tang Xiaobai froze in surprise.

Her father said that too? Doesn’t that mean...

"However—" Tang Ziqian changed his tone, assessing her with a couple of glances and then smiling, "Saying so much, is it that you’re worried I might find out something about Ah Xiao?" The young girl’s words seemed to obscure Prince Jin’s odd focus on Ah Xiao, putting the emphasis on the opposition between Prince Jin and the Duke Yan Mansion.

Tang Xiaobai composed her expression: "Ah Xiao is just a pitiful kid, what could be found out about him? I am merely perceiving the subtle signs and taking precautions!"

"A pitiful kid?" Tang Ziqian held back a laugh with a fist to lips, a little sorry that the Crown Prince wasn’t outside the door today.

At this point, Tang Xiaobai, having said all she needed to, remarked: "Brother, you go ahead with your work; I’ll go back to study!"

"Wait!" Tang Ziqian called her, stood up and tidied his brand new brocade robe, "I’ve invited several experts, one to teach Ah Xiao martial arts, and second to escort you daily to school. Since they’re here, let’s go have a look!"

...

Though Tang Xiaobai didn’t think she needed "several" experts to escort her to school, having experts at home was quite pleasant, especially since they could also teach the young ancestor martial arts.

Thus, she happily waited for her brother to call the young ancestor to go together.

The experts had all arrived, waiting in the courtyard behind the main hall.

Tang Xiaobai merely glanced, and it was as if she had been struck by lightning.

There were three experts her brother had invited, and the first one she saw was the tallest and most handsome one.

With broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs, a sword-sharp brow above starry eyes beneath a gallant nose, his handsomeness unparalleled. He smiled at her, as brilliant as the blazing sun of June.

This physique, this appearance, just from what she had seen, only Tang Ziqian could compare.

But what shocked Tang Xiaobai wasn’t this man’s good looks, but—

Wasn’t this the same heavily wounded, black-masked man who had held her hostage and later, the so-called Zhenzhou Envoy Su Shunqing’s guard who saved her and the eldest young miss?

How could he have managed to slip into her home again with a mere change of guise?

Did he think that just because the big beard was shaved off and the black mask was removed, she wouldn’t recognize him?

She wasn’t blind!

"This gentleman is named Yuan Xing, from now on responsible for instructing the guards in our mansion in martial arts."

Boom—

Another bolt of lightning struck Tang Xiaobai on the head.

Yuan Xing...

That seemed to faintly be the alias the male protagonist used when secretly infiltrating the Capital City...