On the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month, the Gong Prince’s mansion became busy. Cleaning, decorating, and purchasing were all done with cartloads of goods being delivered to the mansion.
“Grandfather, won’t you do something?”
Mu Xiaoxiao hid in the Gong Prince’s study, holding a novel. Servants passing by the study deliberately slowed their pace and lowered their voices, but even so, it was much noisier than usual. Mu Xiaoxiao irritably scratched her scalp and grumbled for her grandfather to control her mother.
The Gong Prince put down his book and looked at his granddaughter, who exuded annoyance and anger from head to toe. He laughed heartily, “Don’t expect anything from this old man. This old man wants to live a few more peaceful years.”
“Grandfather!”
Mu Xiaoxiao glared at him, annoyed.
“It’s just a banquet. Your mother won’t resort to any underhanded means to get you married. Why are you so resistant? Even if you don’t want to marry, you should think of Bai Yu. If he doesn’t marry soon, gossip will surely spread in the capital.”
The old prince chuckled. As he spoke, his drooping eyelids, a result of old age, covered half his pupils, but one could still see the love and pampering in his eyes.
Mu Xiaoxiao was stunned and couldn’t find a retort. It did make sense when put that way, but if her mother really fancied some young man from another family and made her marry him, would she have to run away from home again like last time?
Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, her eyes darting around, the Gong Prince’s heart tightened. She wasn’t thinking of some bad idea again, was she? She had run away from home to Yuzhou before, and if she hadn’t met Divine Doctor Feng and the others, who knew if she would have returned whole? Getting married or not, what was more important than her life?
“Hey, hey, hey, don’t think of any crooked ideas. If you really don’t want to get married, then don’t. It’s just one more mouth to feed, and I can still support you.”
If not, he would find Bai Yu a gentle and kind wife who could support her younger sister-in-law for a lifetime.
“Really?” Mu Xiaoxiao was overjoyed and quickly confirmed.
The Gong Prince nodded, “It’s true.”
“I knew it. Of everyone in this mansion, Grandfather loves me the most.”
“If you say that, you’ll break your mother’s heart. Tell me yourself, besides marriage, what else has your mother forced you to do?”
Mu Xiaoxiao mumbled softly, “Interfering with my making friends.”
The Gong Prince was old, but not deaf. He was a general by origin and was still robust now, with sharp hearing and clear sight. Mu Xiaoxiao’s mumbles were not beyond his ears.
“…You mean, that Feng Luan?”
“And the Empress!”
“Em… press…”
Upon hearing these simple two words, the Gong Prince’s heart nearly stopped beating with a ‘crack’. Feng Luan was a close confidant of the Regent, and the Empress was the Regent’s legal wife. Their Gong Prince’s mansion had always maintained neutrality between the Prince and His Majesty. If she were allowed to associate freely, their entire Gong Prince’s mansion would be dragged into a quagmire. In this regard, his daughter-in-law was doing the right thing.
“Listen to your mother!”
The Gong Prince’s voice became unusually stern. Mu Xiaoxiao stuck out her tongue, not too frightened, and nodded seriously, “Granddaughter understands.”
Seeing that Mu Xiaoxiao understood the gravity of the situation, the sternness on the Gong Prince’s brows slowly eased. Thinking of the situation in the mansion, he couldn’t help but sigh.
Bai Yu was made a Sword-Bearing Imperial Guard by His Majesty, forcibly pulled into his own camp. However, the Regent understood that this was not their mansion’s choice. But if Xiaoxiao got too close to the Regent’s mansion, His Majesty would likely be unable to sleep or eat.
Could His Majesty believe that Xiaoxiao’s actions were purely out of friendship?