The area around the restaurant where Li Pu and Guang Ling were staying had already been cleared. Commoners were forbidden from coming near, and even minor nobles were kept away.
Xue Qinghe arrived with five children carrying thorny branches on their backs and a generous assortment of gifts, every one of them priceless treasures in the eyes of the world.
Xue Beng wasn't the only one there to apologize. His little friends who had played with him were there too, bare-chested and carrying thorny branches just like him.
"Imperial Brother, you have to help me! You have to get His Eminence to forgive me!"
As they drew near, Xue Beng nervously begged Xue Qinghe, his Onii-chan, to help him. He was truly afraid Xue Qinghe would use this incident to have him killed.
He'd end up dead as dead as his two older brothers.
Xue Qinghe offered a faint smile. "I'll do my best, but in the end, it's up to you."
"Imperial Brother~ Sob, sob. I think I'll have to rely on you!"
Xue Beng wept and tried to cling to Xue Qinghe's leg, but his hands were tied, so all he could do was lean against it.
Xue Qinghe sidestepped him in disgust. "Don't keep His Eminence waiting. When you apologize, make sure you mean it."
Without any comforting warmth to cling to, Xue Beng and his four friends could only nod through their tears.
At the restaurant entrance, Xue Qinghe immediately recognized the Titled Douluo upstairs. He'd received word about him before coming.
What made him laugh and cry was that he had no idea who the other child beside Grandpa Guang Ling was. He hadn't expected the old child at heart to take such an interest.
Xue Qinghe didn't go upstairs right away. Instead, he first