“Why must you always show up at times like these?”
Xie Lian only made a sound of confusion, but Feng Xin grew upset. “What do you mean? Is it wrong to come and save you?”
Mu Qing cast him a glance and took the basket.
Just then, Feng Xin stiffened his neck and said rigidly, “Listen up! What happened before was my fault! I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything, I just made some offhand comments. There’s no need for you to overthink it or suspect anything. I don’t care for anyone other than His Highness, and I’m not interested in gossip. That’s all I have to say, so stop being so difficult!”
“PFFFT!” At first, Xie Lian thought his tone was too aggressive, but toward the end, it became strangely funny. Mu Qing glared at Feng Xin, and Xie Lian waved his hand. “All right, all right. Everything Feng Xin said is true. Let’s just forget what happened. Nothing’s happened.”
A moment later, Mu Qing said begrudgingly, “I’ll look for that red coral pearl again later. Maybe it was dropped on the street.”
Xie Lian thought it might be a bad idea to appear that he didn’t care, so he replied, “All right. If you have the time, then thank you. But if it was dropped in the streets, somebody will have picked it up by now.”
It seemed Mu Qing had nothing more to say, so he collected the bunches of cherries that had fallen on the ground and put them back in his basket. He hadn’t picked that many in the first place. As he moved to leave the woods, Xie Lian saw many more enticing fresh cherries and casually picked a bunch, dropping them into his basket. Mu Qing was slightly taken aback.
Xie Lian said, “Next time you want to pick fruit for your mother, just say you’re picking them by my command and no one will say anything. The State Preceptor told me to return to the palace for a few days, so I plan on leaving tomorrow. Why don’t you make a trip down the mountain too? But let’s head back for today.”
It took a while, but at last Mu Qing muttered in a quiet voice, “Thank you, Your Highness.”
The next day, Xie Lian descended the mountain with Feng Xin and Mu Qing in tow.
The moment they reached the foot of the mountain, they saw a shining, golden carriage right outside the huge mountain gates. A young man, dressed in a collared brocade top with a whip in hand, was lying in the front seat of the carriage; his legs were crossed, and he looked smug and important. The second he saw Xie Lian exiting the gates, he leapt to his feet and ran toward him in a mad dash, shouting in obvious joy.
“Cousin Crown Prince!”
This youth was of course Qi Rong. Only he would have the free time to wait aimlessly for Xie Lian at the foot of Mount Taicang.
He skipped over and happily exclaimed, “My patience has finally paid off!”
Xie Lian grinned and ruffled his hair, laughing. “Did Qi Rong grow taller again? How did you know I was returning to the palace today?”
Qi Rong giggled. “I didn’t. I just waited and knew you’d have to come out sooner or later. I refused to believe I couldn’t catch you.”
“Free, aren’t you?” Xie Lian said helplessly. “Are you studying properly? What about sword practice? If Mother asks me to check your studies again, I won’t make excuses for you.”
Qi Rong blinked, his eyes shifty, and suddenly he jumped up and down. “Never mind all that! Look at my new carriage! Cousin Crown Prince, come inside, ride my carriage back to the palace!”
He grabbed Xie Lian’s hand and pulled him to the carriage, but Xie Lian could sense danger.
“You’re driving?”
Feng Xin and Mu Qing approached too. Technically, servants should sit at the front, but Qi Rong’s face fell immediately, and he cracked the whip in his hand.
“I asked Cousin Crown Prince to get on, but I didn’t invite you two. You think I’d let lowlifes touch my golden carriage? Get the hell outta here!”
Xie Lian quietly snapped, “Qi Rong!”
Feng Xin had met Qi Rong many times before and already knew his foul mouth and vulgar, condescending attitude. But Mu Qing had never entered the palace before and so had naturally never gotten the chance to meet Prince Xiao Jing. Qi Rong was feeling extremely aggrieved, but seeing Xie Lian about to walk away, he painfully and begrudgingly condescended to let the two shitty lowlifes board his precious golden carriage.
However, as soon as they entered the carriage, all three of them immediately regretted their decision. Qi Rong drove like a madman, whip in his hand lashing nonstop, screaming who-knows-what. The white horse shrieked in shock, and they thrashed down the streets with wheels spinning frantically. Qi Rong refused to stop no matter how much Xie Lian screamed for him to do so. They almost crashed into a number of pedestrians and stalls, and it was thanks only to Feng Xin and Mu Qing—who sat at the front and grabbed the reins to guide the horse—that this berserk journey did not cost at least twenty lives.