“Hmph! That wasn’t Cousin Crown Prince’s fault. He wasn’t the one who fell off the wall. If anyone must be punished, it should be that little non-croaker!”
What the heck is a “little non-croaker”？ Xie Lian thought. Before he could correct Qi Rong, however, the queen simply laughed.
Then, she happened to notice the two outside the manor and asked, “Who’s the child next to Feng Xin? It’s the first time I’ve seen another person by your side.”
Xie Lian replied cheerfully, “That’s Mu Qing. He’s the one who played the demon on stage yesterday.”
Hearing this, anger flashed across Qi Rong’s face.
The queen said, “Really? Have him come in so I can see his face. Feng Xin can come in too.”
Thus, Feng Xin and Mu Qing entered the chamber and knelt before the queen. She took her time looking over Mu Qing and said to Xie Lian, “I thought he fought rather well yesterday, a fairly respectable child. Looking at his face, you’d think he’d be a gentle minister—no one would suspect he could be so tenacious wielding a saber.”
Xie Lian grinned. “Right? I think he’s quite good too.”
Qi Rong, on the other hand, commented coolly, “Oh? The demon yesterday was him?”
Xie Lian heard his tone and felt dread. Sure enough, the next second, Qi Rong suddenly exploded. He snatched the small, jaded cup from the little tea table and swung it right at Mu Qing’s face.
“Here! Your reward!”
Fortunately, Xie Lian was faster. He smacked Qi Rong’s hand, forcing him to drop the cup so the splash didn’t make it to Mu Qing’s face. Xie Lian pulled him back by the collar.
“Qi Rong, what are you doing?!”
Even as he was seized, Qi Rong still ranted and raved. “Cousin, I’m helping you discipline an impudent servant! Before you showed up yesterday, he sure was enjoying himself, hogging the limelight! Who do you think you are? The star of the Heavenly Procession? Gonna overthrow the heavens too?!”
The queen was stunned. “Rong-er, what…what are you doing?”
Mu Qing’s face was spared the splash, but his clothes weren’t. Because the queen hadn’t given him leave to do otherwise, he stayed kneeling on the floor, his face ghastly pale and gloomy. Xie Lian passed Qi Rong to Feng Xin.
“Don’t let him hit anyone.”
Feng Xin only used one hand to restrain Qi Rong, but Qi Rong kicked and punched, spitting as he shouted.
“And who do you think you are to have the damned nerve to touch me so casually?!”
Xie Lian could feel his head throbbing. “Qi Rong, you’re getting more and more out of control!” He then turned to the queen. “Mother, I forgot to mention something. Please confiscate his golden carriage.”
Shocked, Qi Rong yelled, “NO! NO! WHY? THAT’S YIMU’S BIRTHDAY GIFT TO ME!”
“Even if it is, it must be confiscated,” Xie Lian said. “We almost caused a disturbance in the streets! You’d best not touch it again until you learn how to drive properly.”
The queen made a noise of surprise and asked, “Disturbance? What disturbance?”
Xie Lian recounted the crazy saga of Qi Rong’s driving. Qi Rong was furious, his eyes rimmed in red.
“COUSIN CROWN PRINCE IS WRONG! I DIDN’T RUN OVER A SINGLE PERSON!”
Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “That’s because we stopped you!”
Qi Rong struggled out of Feng Xin’s hands and ran out of Qifeng Palace in a mad fit, not turning back even when the queen called out to him.
She said helplessly, “I’ll talk to him tomorrow about confiscating his carriage.” She sighed. “That child has wanted a carriage for the longest time, so when his birthday came around and he still desperately wanted it, I gave it to him. Who knew it’d turn out like this? Had I known, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“Why must he have a carriage?” Xie Lian wondered.
“He said it’s so he can go to Mount Taicang any time to bring you back to the palace,” the queen replied.
Xie Lian fell silent, learning that at the end of the day, it was a gesture of goodwill. After a moment, he spoke. “It’d be better to instead find him a good teacher and restrain that temper. He can’t keep going on like this.”
The queen sighed. “And what teacher can restrain him? He only ever listens to you. And we could hardly have him go to the mountain to cultivate with you. The State Preceptor would die before taking him on as a disciple.”