Chapter 131
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Sixth Brother often told Lu Qian, “You cannot joke with so-and-so.”
This usually meant that Lu Qian’s mischievous behavior had gone too far, lacking guidance and education. If he didn’t show remorse and reform, Father Emperor might administer punishment.
But when Sixth Brother said for the first time, “You cannot play such jokes with A’Yao,” it left Lu Qian puzzled.
Lu Qian’s mischief towards Xue Yao served a different purpose than his pranks on others. It was usually to shift Xue Yao’s attention from his big brothers back to himself.
Mischief with this purpose in mind was not aggressive, so most of the time, it made Xue Yao laugh. Only in very rare instances did it startle Xue Yao a bit, never reaching an excessive level.
Puzzled, Lu Qian furrowed his brow slightly. “What jokes?”
“Fifth Brother asked you about getting married, why did you use A’Yao as an example?” Inside, Lu Xiao [Sixth Prince] felt as if ants were crawling. Asking this question made his heart pound.
Hoping Seventh Brother wouldn’t understand, he wished for a perfunctory response like, “Got it, won’t joke anymore.” That would be just fine.
Just answer like that, please, Brother.
Lu Xiao’s breath trembled a bit, his eyes fixed on Seventh Brother’s gaze.
Suddenly, he discovered that Seventh Brother’s face, devoid of its childishness, was unexpectedly handsome, as if painted. Only the long, dense eyelashes from before could evoke memories of Seventh Brother’s adorable childhood.
Lu Qian indeed got confused by Sixth Brother’s question. Tilting his head, he thought for a moment before answering, “Wasn’t making jokes, just talking business. Your grandpa is getting married.”
“What does marrying have to do with A’Yao?” Lu Xiao, for the first time, engaged his brother with a hostile gaze.
“Your grandpa is going to marry him. Wait till Yaoyao grows up, then we’ll have a wedding.” Lu Qian seemed excited about the idea, demonstrating the lifting-the-veil motion while energetically explaining to Sixth Brother.
“Nonsense!” Old Sixth roared out with the strength he had concealed for half his life.
The lingering echo of the word “nonsense” reverberated three times in the corridor, causing a noticeable vibration underfoot.
This roar froze the smile on Lu Qian’s face.
Even though he didn’t understand why Sixth Brother suddenly got so angry, his beast-like intuition, ahead of comprehension, fully absorbed the hostile aggression in Sixth Brother’s furious roar.
Caught off guard by Sixth Brother’s hostility, Lu Qian’s initial confusion quickly transformed into anger!
He took a step back, tucking in his chin, pouting, glaring at Sixth Brother. He lifted his right hand to scratch his own ear.
When he made mistakes as a child and faced Consort Xi’s scolding, Lu Qian often displayed this behavior because he couldn’t handle conflicts that couldn’t be resolved with force.
While Consort Xi scolded him, it often came with ear-pulling. So, whenever he experienced this emotion, there was a subconscious sensation of itchiness in his right ear, prompting him to instinctively scratch it.
This behavior not only indicated that Lu Qian felt hurt but also showed that he wouldn’t retaliate. He regarded Sixth Brother as someone, like Mother Consort, against whom he couldn’t use force in retaliation.
Lu Xiao understood the meaning behind his brother’s every move, so upon seeing Lu Qian’s reaction, a sense of self-blame instantly pushed back the anger he hadn’t fully expressed.
“Big Brother is not scolding you. You just can’t speak recklessly like that.” Lu Xiao softened his tone, reaching out to pat his brother’s shoulder.
Lu Qian stepped back, avoiding it.
People who judged emotions based on intuition were not easily swayed by lies. Lu Qian was certain that Sixth Brother’s hostility toward him was genuinely present.
In the side hall, Xue Yao and the Fifth Prince were summoned by the earlier exclamation of “Nonsense,” rushing to the scene of the brothers’ conflict.
“What’s going on?” Old Fifth asked his younger brother with a puzzled expression, “Was that shout from you just now?”
The voice sounded similar, but his Sixth Brother wouldn’t usually shout so loudly, especially not at Old Seventh.
Xue Yao’s entire focus was on Lu Qian.
Having heard a sudden drop of 5 in the sense of security, he rushed out to take a look at Lu Qian’s actions and expression. Xue Yao knew the cub was being bullied.
Xue Yao’s face turned red to the roots of his ears, infuriated.
He reached out and firmly grasped Lu Qian’s restless right hand, not allowing him to scratch his ear.
Watching Consort Xi impatiently scold children when he was younger, Xue Yao also felt angry.
In this era, there was no concept of innate mental defects. A flaw like Lu Qian’s could be trained with patience. Why couldn’t people speak nicely?
“Just because our Lu Qian likes you and won’t fight back, you take advantage of him? Look at how scared he is, scratching his ear until it’s bleeding. You, a supposedly normal person, bullying someone with a mental condition, is a disgrace.”
When Xue Yao turned his head to glance at Old Sixth, his face was filled with these questions.
He didn’t ask why the usually good-tempered Old Sixth exploded in anger or whom the outburst was directed at. He blindly protected Old Seventh, regardless of the reason, assigning full responsibility to Old Sixth.
Old Sixth’s eyes dimmed.
He could clearly understand the meaning behind each of Xue Yao’s glances, each one stabbing at his vulnerability.
Old Sixth suddenly laughed.
Finally, he messed up, revealing his true colors, and now A’Yao disliked him too.
The admiration and approval from before were all because he pretended to be easygoing. Even Mother Consort didn’t like him. Stripped of the facade, was he worthy of being friends with someone like A’Yao?
Lu Xiao suddenly felt like an exceptionally selfish person, especially at this moment. Xue Yao’s resentful glares left him puzzled. Old Seventh has so many people who care about him, isn’t that enough? Is it necessary to lose Xue Yao too? I, Lu Xiao, only have you! Look at you, rejected and shunned by the Xue family, just like I was abandoned and rejected by my Father Emperor and Mother Consort. The heavens pity us, letting us meet each other. Yet, you want to compete with the whole world to warm up that block of ice. Are you not tired? My shoulder has always been empty for you.
In his anger, Xue Yao blocked out all the pleading and longing in Lu Xiao’s eyes, waiting for an explanation of why he bullied Lu Qian.
“What’s going on?” Old Fifth felt like he was dreaming. His Sixth Brother actually shouted at Seventh Brother?
Lu Xiao forced a bitter smile, said not a word, and bypassed the group to head towards the side hall, casually saying, “It’s time for a meal.”
All the scheming of his lifetime was put into play at this moment. He didn’t want Xue Yao to know that Old Seventh wanted to marry him.
What if A’Yao genuinely agreed?
While unable to become a formally wedded Princess Consort, being a male favorite caused no harm. This had been a flourishing trend among the nobility in recent years.
Lu Xiao would rather remain unmarried for life than see A’Yao suffer any injustice.
If, in the end, A’Yao became Old Seventh’s male favorite, he felt that his heart would be entwined with A’Yao’s, trampled into the soil by Seventh Brother.
All brotherly bonds were forgotten, overridden by the hormones of male courtship.
While dining, Lu Xiao glanced at Lu Qian and suddenly realized: this enchanting face was clearly the face of the seductress who stole Father Emperor away from Mother Consort over a decade ago!
This beauty, refined through the thousand trials and improvements of the Lu family lineage, was reborn on Seventh Brother’s face, possessing a more potent charm than Consort Xi. It seemed intent on luring away his A’Yao.
The atmosphere was truly peculiar. Old Fifth grinned at his two brothers. “What’s the matter? Are you two trying to drive Fifth Brother crazy?”
“Nothing.” Lu Xiao added more soft-shelled turtle soup for his fifth brother, lowering his gaze calmly. “We were just discussing my marriage. Old Seventh got mischievous, speaking disrespectfully. I got a bit hot-tempered.”
Lu Qian lifted his eyes to look at Sixth Brother, trying to recall which disrespectful words he had spoken just now. The more he thought, the more bewildered he became. Was it because the motion of lifting the veil was done improperly?
“Ah! I thought it was something serious!” Old Fifth thought that sometimes his sixth brother took things too seriously. Seventh Brother didn’t understand the rules very well, and if he made a mistake in front of family, correcting him would suffice. Was it necessary to get upset?
Not necessary at all.
So, Lu Xiao concealed his feelings, taking advantage of Seventh Brother’s lack of understanding, making the first move by inviting A’Yao to go shopping, dine out, and attend temple fairs.
He didn’t feel his actions compromised his gentlemanly demeanor.
What did Seventh Brother understand about matters of the heart? His talk of marrying Xue Yao was nothing more than a need for someone to feed him milk.
Lu Xiao believed there was a fundamental difference between him and Seventh Brother. He made the first move to save A’Yao, lest he be bewitched by beauty.
With recent frequent invitations from the warm baby, Xue Yao thought it might be a subtle apology for his earlier outburst.
After calming down, Xue Yao thought, “The warm baby suddenly got so angry. There must be something on his mind recently. I can’t stay upset with this unlucky kid. I have to find a way to help him vent his feelings,” so he didn’t decline the invitation.
He got along well with Old Sixth, sharing similar insights on people and matters.
When chatting happily, Xue Yao immitated the Fifth Prince’s exterior, secretly anticipating how his future wife would look.
Lu Xiao couldn’t contain his joy.
The two strolled through the temple fair, lanterns covered with colorful gauze casting a fairy-tale-like, vibrant glow on the night market in the capital.
Xue Yao’s gaze was drawn to a stall, and he immediately ran over, excitedly picking up a toy drum. Shaking it in his hand, he turned to Old Sixth and said, “When His Highness was a child, he would stare at the drum when I shook it, sometimes forgetting to eat. He probably liked watching things twirl. Even as he grew up, he’d ask me to twirl things for him to watch. Hahahaha!”
Lu Xiao’s beaming smile suddenly froze.
He knew that “His Highness” referred to Seventh Brother. His heart felt stung as if bitten by a bee.
“Seventh Brother never grows up.” Lu Xiao walked over, took the toy drum from Xue Yao’s hands, shook it himself, then placed it back on the stall without buying it for Xue Yao.
Anything in the night market that had ever made Xue Yao laugh, Lu Xiao would buy for him, except for this particular drum.
“Are you still treating His Highness like a child?” Xue Yao immediately retorted, then began discussing with Lu Xiao how Lu Qian had displayed courage and composure when they were fleeing and how he cleverly diverted pursuers.
Lu Xiao chuckled, expressing with his expression that his ears had almost developed calluses from hearing about this incident.
Xue Yao also realized that he had bragged about this countless times, so he quickly shifted to a fresh topic. He recounted how Lu Qian was rescued from Gu Qingyuan, especially the intense game of Go where Lu Qian faced off against three opponents.
Xue Yao vividly described the events. The way he spoke about Lu Qian made him sound like a prodigy.
“He’s truly grown up.” Xue Yao looked at the night sky, a proud expression on his face. “A few days ago, His Highness visited my grandfather’s residence. Afterward, my grandfather said he seemed ethereal but was actually unfathomable. Even those maids were intrigued, finding all sorts of ways to inquire about His Highness. I feel like this kid will win the hearts of many young girls wherever he goes. How can we get him to tone it down a bit?”
Lu Xiao smirked. “No way. That’s a characteristic of the men in our Lu family.”
The image of Lu Qian’s face flashed in Xue Yao’s mind. He nodded absentmindedly to signal agreement, only later realizing that the warm baby was actually praising himself through Old Seventh!
“You really aren’t modest, are you?” Xue Yao glanced sideways at Lu Xiao.
“Isn’t that so?” Lu Xiao stopped in his tracks, turned around, raised an eyebrow, and earnestly looked at Xue Yao. “A’Yao, do you think this Prince is likable?”
“Why ask like this?” Xue Yao laughed. “Can’t you patiently wait for me to compliment you? Asking like this feels unlikable. If I say you’re likable, it sounds like flattery, and I’m a person who stands tall and doesn’t bend!”
Lu Xiao was amused, and then his smile turned a bit bitter. “I can’t wait forever, A’Yao. You only talk about Lu Qian all the time. Do I have to wait until the end of time for you to notice I’m right here?”
Xue Yao was taken aback and immediately made a disgusted face. “This sounds weird. Why are you suddenly channeling Qiong Yao?”
Lu Xiao looked puzzled. “Who’s Qiong Yao?”
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