His body suddenly suspended in mid-air, Qi Yan subconsciously trembled. His fingers gripped Xiao Shao's cuffs, then hastily let go. With his feet off the ground, his body became exceptionally tense, stiffening straight like a stick in Xiao Shao's arms.

Xiao Shao lowered his eyes to look at him, "Relax, it's not like I'm going to throw you away."

"..."

Qi Yan shrank back into the cloak and stopped talking.

Xiao Shao was tall, and his cloak was exceptionally long. Qi Yan's body was completely covered by the soft cloak, and even his ankles were tightly wrapped. The fine rabbit fur pressed against his skin, enveloping him in a warm heat. Surrounded by it, Qi Yan felt a shallow sense of safety that he hadn't felt in a long time.

After the Qi family's estate was confiscated and they fell into ruin, with the entire family imprisoned, dead, or scattered, it was the first time he felt safe.

Qi Yan obviously hadn't been carried much and didn't know how to coordinate his weight. Xiao Shao held him like he was carrying a rock. He said, "Reach out and put your arms around me. It's hard to bear your weight like this. Don't fall out; there's a lake all around us. It would be one thing if you fell in, but don't drag me into jumping into the freezing lake in the dead of winter to fish you out."

Qi Yan was an adult man after all. Even though Xiao Shao had been drawing bows and shooting wild geese since childhood, carrying him still required some effort.

"..."

It was a blaming tone, but it sounded rather awkward.

Qi Yan turned his head. "Your Highness, acting like this is too ostentatious and violates etiquette. Put me down; I can walk by myself."

Being carried by someone in the inner courtyard of the imperial palace, and by his nominal master at that—Qi Yan had never done such a rebellious and unorthodox thing. He was already so ashamed he didn't know what to do, let alone reach out his hands to actively hug Xiao Shao's neck.

Xiao Shao gave him a look of unclear meaning.

Before Qi Yan could fathom the meaning of that look, Xiao Shao suddenly let go and made an upward tossing motion.

Qi Yan: "!"

A sense of weightlessness hit him. Before he could react, he grabbed Xiao Shao's collar and pressed himself tightly against him.

"Heh."

Xiao Shao raised an eyebrow at him, seemingly in an excellent mood, and picked a fault, "You walk back? With those knees of yours, even if this prince waits for you until dark, could you walk back? When the time comes and you cause me to wander around the imperial palace in the dark, whose fault will it be? Will you bear the blame for me?"

The palace gates were locked at the hour of Chen. It was a serious crime for an external official to stay in the palace without an edict. Although Xiao Shao was a prince, he was also an adult man and it was inconvenient for him to stay overnight in the palace.

"..."

With such a big hat of blame slapped onto him, Qi Yan, still reeling from the shock, only gripped Xiao Shao's collar and remained silent again.

Xiao Shao didn't mind. Maintaining this posture, he steadily carried the person out of the imperial palace.

Fu Dehai had already been waiting for a long time.

He stood respectfully in front of the carriage, looking out from time to time, waiting for his master to come out of the palace gates. Seeing Xiao Shao from afar, he was about to greet him but suddenly stopped in his tracks.

His Highness was carrying a person in his arms.

The person was tightly covered by the cloak, revealing only a bit of raven-feather-like hair. Curled up in Xiao Shao's arms, the face could not be seen.

Fu Dehai's brow twitched, thinking that this ancestor had provoked some woman in the palace he shouldn't have. But looking at the size of the boots, it was clearly a man.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief: as long as it wasn't the Emperor's woman... Wait, a man?!?!

It was a pair of dark blue cloth boots, a common style for palace servants. The soles were stained with soft mud, indicating they had been walking about in a hurry, so it was evident this wasn't some kept boy toy raised in the palace. But since when did the palace have a man like this?

When Xiao Shao came closer, Fu Dehai stealthily peeked into the cloak and almost dropped his eyeballs.

Qi... Qi Yan?

Why was he carried back?

Wasn't His Highness extremely disgusted with this new attendant, even arranging his room in the side hall farthest from the main hall?

Xiao Shao, however, ignored Fu Dehai's astonishment. He just carried the person onto the carriage, turned his head, and said, "Fu Dehai, go find an imperial physician who can treat external injuries. It must be someone familiar to us, with tight lips."

Fu Dehai bowed and complied.

Xiao Shao's carriage was three feet five inches wide and over three feet deep, pulled by a full six horses. The space inside was massive. Xiao Shao placed the person on the seat, pulled down the surrounding curtains to form a confined space inside the carriage, and then reached out, gripping Qi Yan's ankle.

Qi Yan trembled again but lowered his eyes and said nothing. Xiao Shao pulled his leg up and propped it on the bench, rolling up his sleeves. "Now that there's no one around, I can finally take a look, right?"

He pointed to the injury on his knee.

He had lost so much blood that the bleeding needed to be stopped as soon as possible. Otherwise, Xiao Shao feared that a sickly person like Qi Yan would pass out.

...If he really passed out, who would he exploit in the future, and who would help him review memorials to the throne?

Besides, how could the half-implemented reforms continue without Qi Yan?

Xiao Shao said, "I won't touch your ankle. You roll up your pants, and I'll look at the injury. Is that acceptable?"

Qi Yan was wearing bound trousers, with the pant legs tucked into his socks. If Xiao Shao wanted to see, he would have to pull them all the way up, leaving his calves, knees, and ankles completely exposed.

For scholars, their attire was their face. Even when summoned by the Emperor, court officials could not be dressed improperly, let alone Qi Yan in front of a prince. These parts should have been bound under clothing all year round, yet he was being asked to personally part and lift his clothes in front of a member of the imperial family?

Even so, Qi Yan wasn't someone who didn't know good from bad. The wound on his knee was trickling blood, staining his pants. He gritted his teeth, undid the ties of his boots and socks, and rolled his pant legs up.

With a ripping sound, Xiao Shao tore off a piece of fabric from his inner garment, covered the wound, and tied it firmly. To stop the bleeding, he applied considerable force. Qi Yan hissed in pain but didn't dare to move.

On the surface, Xiao Shao was as calm as an ancient well, merely bandaging the wound, but in his heart, he thought, 'Interesting, truly interesting.'

Since Qi Yan arrived at the manor, he had either been gravely ill and dying or exceedingly submissive, as calm as a dead man. It was as if there was nothing left in the world worth holding onto, and he was ready to die at any moment. Even when he came to the study to read, whether he was threatened with punishment, framed, or made to kneel publicly, he didn't have much of a reaction. When Xiao Shao teased him, it was like teasing a lifeless puppet, utterly boring.

Yet just from touching his ankle, hugging him, and looking at his legs—without doing anything out of line or excessive—Qi Yan was reduced to this state?

Xiao Shao lowered his eyes to look. Qi Yan was sitting upright with a calm expression, seemingly no different from usual. However, his gaze was lowered, entirely avoiding eye contact with Xiao Shao. Looking closely, the skin behind his ears was also red, as if he were embarrassed to the extreme.

How interesting.

Xiao Shao thought to himself, 'So Qi Yan is afraid of this?'

Unafraid of punishment, unconcerned about death, yet insisting on maintaining the dignity of a gentleman and fearing breaking the bonds of etiquette?

Bullying him like this would be much more interesting.

Everyone in the world said that Tanhua Scholar Qi knew and observed propriety, being the most upright and peaceful gentleman. This meant that as long as Xiao Shao did things to him that were not so "gentlemanly" or not so "proper," even without going too far, Qi Yan would get flustered on his own.

However, interesting as it was, there would be plenty of time to tease him in the future. Xiao Shao wasn't so classless as to bully a patient. After treating Qi Yan's wound, he mercifully let his pant legs down. Qi Yan then leaned over and struggled to tie them securely.

Xiao Shao said coolly from the side, "Why the rush? When the imperial physician arrives, you'll just have to untie them again."

"..."

Qi Yan's hand, which was tying the sock band, trembled.

His sleeve fluttered for a moment, and a palm-sized slip of paper fell out.

It landed right by Xiao Shao's shoe.

Qi Yan stared at the paper and deliberately looked away, pretending not to care at all. But his relaxed body tensed up once again, and his faintly flushed face turned deathly pale.

Xiao Shao picked up the paper and saw two large characters written with vigorous and powerful strokes: "Pingzhang."

Having been Grand Tutor Song's student for so many years, he recognized Grand Tutor Song's handwriting with just one glance.

Secretly communicating with inner court officials was a serious crime. If this piece of paper was handed to the Emperor, Grand Tutor Song might be fine, but with the Emperor still fuming over the missing silver case, Qi Yan would inevitably face a beating with sticks.

At least twenty, maybe thirty or forty. In short, without losing half his life, there would be no peaceful end to this matter.

Xiao Shao asked, "The courtesy name Grand Tutor Song gave you?"

"..."

In an instant, the color drained completely from Qi Yan's face.

He moved his knees, seeming to want to shift down from the couch and kneel on the ground.

With such a large, bleeding wound, Xiao Shao didn't want to know how much it would hurt to continue kneeling.

He waved his hand to stop him and spoke indifferently, "The emperor sits in court inquiring about the Way, ruling effortlessly to Pingzhang, and then the seas are peaceful and rivers clear, bringing brightness to the world."

Xiao Shao handed the slip of paper back to him. "You do indeed have the ability to assist a emperor, and perhaps you truly can bring peace and clarity to the world. It's a good courtesy name."

After that, he said no more, turned around, and exited the carriage.

"..."

Qi Yan took the paper, looked at it quietly for a long time, and then tucked it closely inside his robes.

He pressed his fingers against the slip of paper. The heat from his fingertips seemed to burn a large hole in his chest, making him feel increasingly hollow and empty. Yet, Qi Yan curled the corners of his lips in what looked like a mocking smile.

Assist a emperor?

The way he was now, was he even worthy?

The carriage drove leisurely into the manor. By the time the person was placed in the bedroom, the imperial physician had also arrived carrying his medicine box.

Qi Yan's identity was special, and it wasn't good for him to be seen. The missing silver case had caused a massive uproar in the city; the Emperor was furious, the factory guards were out in full force, and the people were in a state of panic. Nowadays in this capital city, having the surname Qi was a sin. Many people wanted Qi Yan to be skinned and stuffed with straw to pay for his crimes. Rashly summoning an imperial physician, even if summoned by a prince, wouldn't sound good if word got out.

Thus, Xiao Shao lowered a curtain in front of him.

Fu Dehai hesitated to speak, but looking at his master, he ultimately said nothing.

—Whose proper attendant sees a doctor while blocked by a white gauze?

While Qi Yan curled up behind the curtain, the imperial physician first examined his leg. After stopping the bleeding and applying anti-inflammatory medicine, he then felt his pulse. Qi Yan had stayed in prison for some time and had also suffered torture. His body was severely depleted, and his pulse was weak and powerless. In a word, he needed to be well-nourished and rested, otherwise, his days were numbered.

Xiao Shao nodded.

In his previous life, Qi Yan died in Fuyou Temple because his days were numbered, and there was no way to save him.

Xiao Shao slightly closed his eyes, still able to recall what Qi Yan looked like when he closed his eyes back then.

Emaciated and bony, his oil exhausted and his lamp extinguished. The once handsome and elegant little Tanhua Scholar ultimately became a nameless set of dry bones in a desolate mountain temple.

He turned his head to look. Although the person on the bed couldn't be considered just skin and bones, he had endured immense torment. He didn't know if this body could still be nursed back to health.

Xiao Shao said, "Do not spare any expense on precious medicinal ingredients, use them all... Also, in the future, you will come and examine him once every half a month."

The imperial physician bowed his head and complied.

With the Second Prince saying this, the imperial physician naturally didn't dare to neglect his duties and conducted a detailed examination. Xiao Shao didn't understand medicine and couldn't be bothered to stand there smelling the medicinal scent. After strolling around and coming back, he saw that the imperial physician had already left, and Qi Yan was handing a red envelope to a maid, whispering some instructions.

Taking the order, the maid bowed slightly and left.

Xiao Shao stopped her at the door. He didn't ask what was written in the letter, only asking, "What did Qi Yan tell you to do?"

The maid was startled. "Qi, Qi..."

Qi Yan was Xiao Shao's close attendant and subordinate, and a castrated man at that. But with him being so young and handsome, the maid simply couldn't bring herself to call him by the title of a eunuch.

Xiao Shao frowned. "Why are you stuttering? Just call him Young Master."

"Young Master Qi asked me to deliver these banknotes to Lady Qi in Jiuli Alley, telling them to find a way to bribe the mama so they don't have to take guests for these two days."

Unable to bear the humiliation on the day their home was confiscated, Madam Qi ended her life with a strip of white silk. The Lady Qi mentioned here referred to Qi Yan's biological older sister.

It was a thin banknote, presumably the salary of a close attendant that Qi Yan had requested in advance. No wonder he was so eager and insisted on being Xiao Shao's close attendant; it turned out he was short on money.

...But Jiuli Alley?

Xiao Shao paused, remembering something.

The entire Qi family estate had been confiscated, but they hadn't been entirely executed. Most of the male members of the Qi family were dead, but the female family members were still alive. Most were exiled to Jiaofangsi to become official prostitutes, and the location was right here in Jiuli Alley.

But why not take guests for these two days? Why specifically these two days?

At this time, a small screen fluttered and flew out.

System 55 was a little afraid of Xiao Shao. Apart from issuing tasks, it didn't say a single extra word, only stating: "Important plot node. Host, please proceed to Jiuli Alley in two days to obtain an important plot item—Lady Qi's Last Letter."