The tyrant and the crown prince

The rear gardens of the Eastern Palace.

"Master!"

"You should have seen it! When Li Zhong's pretty little wife saw that her storeroom had suddenly become an empty shell, her face turned green!"

Up in the persimmon tree, Qinggeng, in beast form, stood beside Xiao Yu and chattered away.

"And Li Zhong actually dared to come to the palace and ask the tyrant to seek justice for him! Isn't he afraid the tyrant will uncover all his shady dealings?"

Xiao Yu slipped on the storage ring, stroked Qinggeng's fluffy head, and curved his lips into a smile.

Qinggeng picked a bright red persimmon beside him, took a bite, and continued, "Li Zhong is bound to be disappointed. How could a mortal possibly track me down?"

He looked up at Xiao Yu and asked, "Master, what are we going to do next-"

"Young lord!"

The crown prince looked up, caught sight of a familiar figure, and hurried over.

Hearing his voice, Qinggeng immediately fell silent and slipped behind the tree.

Xiao Yu looked at the newcomer and cleared his throat. "What brings you here, Your Highness?"

"I..."

The crown prince paused, suddenly spotting the wheelchair beside the tree out of the corner of his eye.

He looked up at Xiao Yu in the tree and blurted out, "...How did you climb up there?"

Xiao Yu's gaze flickered. "I..."

"Young lord, jump down! I-I'll catch you!"

The crown prince did not consider any other explanation.

Some palace servants who liked playing pranks must have taken advantage of the young lord's impaired legs and put him in the tree for their own amusement.

After all, he was so frail, and his legs were afflicted. How could he possibly have climbed such a tall tree?

Faced with such earnest sincerity, Xiao Yu felt a little overwhelmed and scratched his head sheepishly.

If I tell the little crown prince I climbed up here myself, will he believe me?

Also, I'm not belittling him, but with that little frame of his, if I really jumped down, I'd squash him straight into a pulp.

The crown prince's face alternated between pale and red at those words.

Looking up at him, he could not help defending himself. "I-I can catch you!"

He would not get squashed into a pulp...

Whoa, he's pretty determined!

Seeing how serious he looked, Xiao Yu suddenly felt mischievous. "I'm really going to jump, then?"

He made as though to jump, and the crown prince immediately tensed, terribly nervous.

But the next moment, Xiao Yu drew back again.

The crown prince was speechless.

Xiao Yu chuckled softly.

He was just about to jump down when someone suddenly supported his backside, carried him out of the tree, and settled him back into his wheelchair.

Dumbfounded, he stared blankly at the man.

Then the crown prince stepped forward and gave the man a perfunctory bow. "Teacher."

Still dazed, Xiao Yu echoed, "Teacher?"

The man paused at that.

A moment later, he gently patted Xiao Yu's little head. "Call me Uncle."

Xiao Yu came back to his senses.

Uncle... Could he be Mother's elder brother?

He took a few more curious looks at the man.

Tilting his head back, he asked, "Do you know my mother?"

Su Yan paused briefly. Looking at the child before him, who so resembled his younger sister, his expression softened.

The little girl who had once chased after him, sweetly calling him Brother, now had a child this grown.

His lips curved slightly as he replied, "Take a guess."

Xiao Yu was speechless.

Take a guess whether I'll guess!

You want me to call you Uncle, but you won't even tell me the truth!

Do you think I'd call just anyone Uncle?

Hmph! Until you explain yourself, I'm not calling you Uncle. Let's see if you still tell me to guess!

Xiao Yu raised his chin at him haughtily.

The crown prince fell silent. Uh, he had heard nothing.

The next moment, Su Yan turned to him and said, "Your Highness, have you finished the work I assigned you a few days ago?"

The crown prince stiffened slightly.

Then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he had come prepared.

He took the completed work from his sleeve and offered it to Su Yan with both hands. "I've finished it. Please review it, Teacher."

Su Yan accepted it, then took another assignment from his sleeve and handed it to the crown prince.

As though long accustomed to this, the crown prince accepted the assignment and said respectfully, "Farewell, Teacher."

Su Yan nodded, then truly turned and left.

Xiao Yu froze.

Wait, he's just leaving like that?

He won't even catch up with his nephew?

Or ask me how Mother is doing?

"..."

Watching his retreating figure grow smaller without so much as a backward glance, Xiao Yu felt thoroughly disgruntled.

Bad uncle!

Glancing at the crown prince beside him, he asked with feigned casualness, "Are you... close to that man?"

The crown prince lowered his gaze. "He's my teacher and benefactor."

Everyone in the palace, including Emperor Father, treated him as worthless. No one cared about him.

Only his teacher cared, teaching him to read and write, compose essays on statecraft, and understand both past and present.

Although each meeting lasted barely a few minutes and they exchanged only a handful of words, it was enough to give him a trace of warmth in this icy palace.

Turning to see that Xiao Yu looked unhappy, he took out the pastries Consort Wan had brought him. "Here, have these. They're sweet."

"I've heard the palace servants say that eating something sweet when you're unhappy can lift your spirits. Try them."

Xiao Yu looked at the osmanthus cakes in his lap, his gaze flickering slightly.

He was not particularly fond of sweet things.

But these osmanthus cakes looked so appealing that he could not resist trying one.

He picked up a piece and took a bite.

It was cloyingly sweet.

Yet much of his frustration did indeed fade.

He said to the crown prince, "Thank you for the gift, Your Highness."

Look at him. What a considerate child... Nothing like the tyrant, who's always threatening to chop off my head and exterminate my entire clan!

It seems the little crown prince takes after Consort Wan more. Gentle, thoughtful, and even-tempered.

I hope he stays that way instead of turning out like the tyrant, with his foul temper, poor judgment, and constant paranoia!

The crown prince's foot slipped.

He did not particularly want to hear such... treasonous remarks.

Then again, if my bad uncle noticed the little crown prince, the tyrant must still care about him.

Without the tyrant's permission, how could the chief grand secretary wander freely through the Eastern Palace?

The crown prince froze for a moment.

Emperor Father cared about him?

Impossible.

He had never come to visit him.

Not even when he was ill.

The little crown prince surely doesn't know that the tyrant used to sneak over to see him in the dead of night.

After all, Consort Wan was the only person in this palace the tyrant had ever truly loved.

That's why he had the little crown prince registered as the former empress's son, allowing him to become the rightful crown prince.

It was precisely this selfish motive of his that drove the former empress to despair and made her resolve to kill him. She took a desperate gamble, conspiring with her maternal clan to poison the tyrant and the little crown prince and install a new emperor...

After that, the tyrant no longer dared pay the little crown prince too much attention, fearing that the other consorts would see him as a threat and secretly plot to kill him...

The crown prince was stunned.

So... Emperor Father had ignored him to protect him?

Of course, as the other princes were born, the tyrant gradually began to neglect the little crown prince.

The palace servants have always followed whichever way the wind blows. Seeing that the little crown prince had fallen out of favor, they naturally stopped caring about him... Poor little crown prince!

The crown prince was speechless.

"Your Highness!"

Wei Yi suddenly hurried over. "Word has come from the imperial study. His Majesty has summoned Young Lord Xiao!"

I have a bad feeling about this. Nothing good can come of the tyrant summoning me now!

I don't want to see him, but I can't defy an imperial decree...

He really is a damned emperor. A real bastard!

He can't stand letting me have even a moment's peace...

My life as a hostage is so miserable!

Watching him leave amid a stream of inward curses, the crown prince's eyes filled with helplessness.

Being valued by Emperor Father was such an honor. Why was Young Lord Xiao so reluctant?

Indignant on his master's behalf, Wei Yi said, "Your Highness, how can His Majesty show such favoritism? You're his own child-"

"Wei Yi! Never say that again."

The crown prince warned him, "Emperor Father has his reasons for what he does. Do not question him!"