By the fifth watch, dawn had begun to break.
The guards at the Commandant's residence gradually relaxed their vigilance.
Taking advantage of the changing of the guard, Xiao Yu quietly scaled the wall and hurried back to the palace.
Three days later
The Eastern Palace
That night, the moon shone like a silver platter.
Xiao Yu sat cross-legged on the rooftop, regulating his breathing and purging the lingering poison from his face.
He had never imagined that little bastard Qi Yunheng would actually conceal poison on his teeth!
Fortunately, he had Sourgrass stored in his space, or his face would have rotted to mush.
And to think he had summoned an imperial physician for him that day because his high fever would not subside...
What a way to repay kindness!
Xiao Yu sank his breath into his dantian.
Three days had passed since they returned from the Commandant's residence.
The children they had brought back from the Commandant's Residence were all orphans, with neither parents nor homes to return to.
The foolish emperor had told him to handle them as he saw fit.
Meanwhile, the Commandant's residence was still imposing restrictions everywhere, searching for the thief who had emptied its storerooms.
For now, he could not send them out of the palace.
In the end, they had joined the Shadow Guard Camp of their own accord.
"Watch out, master! There's demonic energy-"
Qinggeng flapped its wings, on guard.
Xiao Yu opened his eyes.
Sure enough, a pitch-black mass suddenly hurtled toward him!
But before it could reach him, Qinggeng sent it flying with a swipe of its wing!
Thud!
The thing hit the ground, coalesced into a human form, and spat out a mouthful of black blood.
Pfft!
He glared at Xiao Yu with such fury that his eyes seemed about to split, as though he wanted to tear him apart!
Spreading his claws, he lunged straight at him-
"It was you! You stole all my silver!"
"And you got my beloved Li killed!"
"My beloved Li! He was so good... he gave me so, so much silver!"
"But you killed him!"
"I'll kill you to avenge my beloved Li!"
Xiao Yu looked utterly baffled.
Who was this guy? What beloved Li or whoever was he talking about?
Qinggeng whispered in his ear, "Master, he's the little wife Li Zhong was hiding!"
Xiao Yu froze in bewilderment.
A little... wife?
A man?
His body had been too weak last time, so he had not accompanied Qinggeng to the Li residence or met him in person.
So Li Zhong's 'little wife' was actually a... rooster demon?
"I'll kill you to avenge my beloved Li!"
He had originally been a rooster cast from iron, brought to life by his owner's loving care.
From the moment he gained life, he had cared for little else; only gleaming silver could please him.
For its sake, he had even disguised himself as a woman to become acquainted with his beloved Li...
And now, because of the person before him, he had lost everything!
"A gentleman loves wealth, but acquires it honestly."
Xiao Yu dodged his attack and replied calmly, "When you encouraged him to amass wealth without restraint, you should have known he would eventually bring about his own destruction!"
"Do you know how many soldiers defending their homes and country would starve or freeze to death because he abused his authority for personal gain?"
"He deserved to die ten thousand times over!"
The iron rooster demon furrowed his brows.
He did not understand such mortal concerns.
All he knew was gleaming silver. How could he resist it?
All the silver in the world ought to belong to him!
He defended himself. "My beloved Li insisted on giving it to me! I never told him to embezzle military funds!"
"Besides, the mortal realm will perish sooner or later. What's wrong with taking its silver?"
"What do you mean?"
Xiao Yu frowned. "What do you mean, the mortal realm will perish sooner or later?"
In his previous life, the mortal realm had become a living hell because too many souls had died unjustly, leaving behind overwhelming resentment.
That was also one of the reasons he had sacrificed himself to turn back time.
Qinggeng said, "Oh no, master! The Crown Prince is coming this way!"
Xiao Yu gave a slight start.
He hurriedly took out the Demon-Cleansing Bottle, aimed it at the iron rooster demon, and drew him inside for the time being, leaving a thorough interrogation for another day.
Steadying his breathing, he settled cross-legged into a dignified pose, looking for all the world as though he were admiring the moon.
[I wonder what the Crown Prince wants with me instead of sleeping in the middle of the night.]
[Could it be that my handsome, dashing figure leaves him so captivated every day that he has to come admire me before bed?]
[My fault. It's my fault for being so astonishingly talented and outstanding! Haha!]
The Crown Prince's foot slipped, and he nearly fell flat on his face.
Qi'an really was... outrageously boastful and utterly full of himself!
He looked up and said, "Fourth Brother... Father asked me to tell you to report to the Imperial Study tomorrow."
Xiao Yu immediately stiffened.
Gazing up at the sky, he said, "The wind's rather strong tonight. It's making my head ache so badly that I can't hear a thing."
Rather than expose him, the Crown Prince played along. "Shall I summon an imperial physician?"
Xiao Yu hurriedly refused. "...That won't be necessary. How could we disturb someone in the middle of the night?"
Then he spotted the person beside him. "Brother, who's this? I don't recognize him."
"He's the Eastern Palace's captain of the guards. He went back to his hometown on business a few days ago," the Crown Prince replied.
"Shen Zhuocheng greets Your Lordship," the captain said, stepping forward.
[Shen Zhuocheng? Isn't he that Consort Liu's childhood sweetheart?]
[Speaking of Consort Liu and her childhood sweetheart, that brings us to the Crown Prince's birth mother, Consort Wan, and her childhood sweetheart. All four were neighbors who grew up together. They should have shared a deep bond.]
[But because Consort Wan was virtuous and gentle, the late emperor chose her as the Crown Princess, and the four of them went their separate ways...]
[Consort Liu had always compared herself with Consort Wan. Seeing Consort Wan become Crown Princess, she naturally refused to accept it and arranged a chance encounter with the Crown Prince.]
[Unfortunately for her, the Crown Prince back then-the foolish emperor now-had fallen for Consort Wan at first sight and paid Consort Liu no attention.]
[Consort Liu refused to give up. After one scheme after another, she finally became the Crown Prince's secondary consort, but still never won the foolish emperor's favor.]
[Resentment took root in her heart. In secret, she repeatedly told the foolish emperor that Consort Wan loved someone else, driving a wedge between them. She even incited him to take Consort Wan's child away, leaving Consort Wan sick with longing for her son and consumed by melancholy...]
The Crown Prince could not help clenching his fists as he listened.
Consort Liu had actually harmed his mother!
[Consort Liu never expected that, even while suspecting Consort Wan, the foolish emperor would place her child under the late empress's name and make him Crown Prince!]
[Those palace servants secretly making trouble for the Crown Prince were acting on Consort Liu's orders.]
[She even planted her childhood sweetheart in the Eastern Palace to watch the Crown Prince and stop anyone from approaching him or showing him kindness.]
[Poor little Crown Prince, you'd better watch out for that captain behind you. In your previous life, he and Consort Liu conspired to kill you...]
[Well, since I'm living in the Eastern Palace, I won't let them succeed!]
The Crown Prince lowered his head.
So Qi'an had refused to move into his own palace today to protect him from Consort Liu and her accomplices?
Warmth filled the Crown Prince's heart.
Qi'an was actually so good to him.
Apart from his mother, no one had ever worried about him or looked out for him like this.
The Crown Prince silently made up his mind.
He said to Xiao Yu, "Fourth Brother, I'll be sure to treat you well from now on!"
Xiao Yu looked utterly bewildered.
Early the next morning
The Crown Prince walked with a spring in his step, an irrepressible joy surrounding him.
This was the first time he had invited someone to go to the Imperial Study with him.
It felt both novel and rather exciting.
He felt no aversion whatsoever to Xiao Yu suddenly becoming his fourth younger brother. On the contrary, he was rather happy.
Though he had many brothers, none of them ever treated him as one.
He had always been lonely.
He came to the bedside.
He called softly to Xiao Yu, "Fourth Brother, it's time to get up and go to the Imperial Study."
"Not going!"
Having said that, Xiao Yu rolled over and ignored him.
The Crown Prince said, "You can't do that. If Father finds out-"
"It isn't even light out..."
Xiao Yu sat up, glanced out the window, and lay back down. "Let me sleep a little longer."
"You can't. Master He is teaching today, and he's terribly strict. If we're late, we'll be made to stand as punishment!"
Before you continue