When the Minister of Rites returned home from court, he heard from the steward that his son had brought another child home.
He had assumed it would be much the same as before.
He had never expected Li Xu to bring home such an important one the moment he went out-the Ninth Prince everyone was searching for.
"You! How did you dare bring him home?! Keep this up, and I'm afraid you'll bring His Majesty home next!"
The Minister of Rites's blood pressure rose a little. Afraid of causing trouble, he wanted to send Xie Huizhou back.
Li Xu could not bear to send Xie Huizhou away. He cried and refused to let him leave, having learned to throw a tantrum.
"No! I won't! I want to play with him! I want to be friends with the Ninth Prince!"
Li Xu was hauled off to kneel in the ancestral hall and received a joint beating from his parents. His cries echoed through the Li Residence for a long time.
Listening to those cries, Xie Huizhou did not know what to do. He hung his head, looking rather ill at ease.
Had he done something wrong? Had he hurt another person who wanted to be kind to him?
This was far from the first time Xie Huizhou had encountered something like this. Whenever someone wanted to approach him, they were ruthlessly stopped.
It was as though his reputation as a calamitous lone star were entirely true, and anyone who came near him would suffer misfortune.
"Please don't worry, Ninth Prince. This isn't the young master's first time doing this." The steward brought tea and water to Xie Huizhou, who looked so well-behaved it made one's heart ache. "The young master is tough and can take a beating. He won't suffer any