So cute! The little devil in his heart was set ablaze. Mo Bei glanced around, flashed a sly grin, and pinched his cheeks with both hands. "Your Highness, you seem quite clever, threatening me?"
"Ow, ow, wuwu! Mo Mo is a bad person!" Yelü Qianxiao bared his teeth, tears swirling in his blue eyes.
Seeming to take great joy in the bullying, Mo Bei’s eyes curved into crescent moons. Pinching all the while, he said, "Your Highness’s skin is so tender, so elastic—perfect for making baozi!"
"Xiao Xiao isn’t tender! Xiao Xiao doesn’t taste good!" Covering his face with one hand, Yelü Qianxiao scrambled backward. This eunuch was definitely doing it on purpose! Beneath his long hair, the corner of his mouth twitched once, then again. Last night, he should have just squeezed him to death!
Seeing his stance of defending his innocence to the death, Mo Bei felt exactly like a street thug on TV harassing a virtuous woman. He burst out with a pfft. "Your Highness, don’t hide anymore. I’ll go to the Imperial Kitchen to borrow a few baozi. Wait here obediently. If it hurts, call for Eunuch Rong."
"Mmhmm! Xiao Xiao is very obedient!" As if to prove his words, Yelü Qianxiao lay stiffly across the headboard of the bed playing dead, not moving an inch.
Mo Bei nodded in satisfaction, turned, and left the room. He figured that after borrowing the midnight snack, he would drop by Eunuch Deng’s place. Maybe he could fish out some information about the Emperor of Dunhuang.
Once the person left, the room fell silent. The silly smile on that handsome face froze over, completely devoid of the earlier simple-mindedness.
"Come out." Yelü Qianxiao flicked his sleeve, and abruptly, a dark shadow appeared on the floor.
It was Qinglong. Ever since receiving news of his master’s injury, he had been hiding in the darkness, waiting for a moment when no one was around to reveal himself.
"Your Highness, your arm?" He truly couldn’t understand why his lord would risk his life to save a little eunuch. Just because his thievery was exceptional?
"It’s nothing." Waves of stinging pain came, but Yelü Qianxiao paid them no mind. He asked coldly, "How fares the investigation this prince ordered?"
Qinglong shook his head and replied with the utmost respect, "Eunuch Rong is completely normal. His family was originally fairly well-off, but later, due to the disaster, he came to Huang City. It’s said that he felt being a eunuch was very prestigious since childhood, so he asked someone to get him into the palace." Truthfully, he didn’t think there was anything impressive about being a eunuch either. Truly, to each their own, to each their own!
"Continue investigating." Yelü Qianxiao frowned. No matter how he racked his brains, he couldn’t see what was normal about Hua Rong; there were countless abnormal things instead.
Qinglong acknowledged and continued his report. "Eunuch Mo’s martial arts style is extremely rare. I cannot determine which sect or school he belongs to. He does not seem to be from our Dunhuang. There isn’t even a Mo listed in the eunuch registry for palace entries."
"So he was a fake eunuch." His peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly. Yelü Qianxiao toyed with a paper crane, the corners of his lips curving upward. "Return immediately. Find a way to add the name Mo Bei to the registry and fabricate a background for him. Don’t let the Crown Prince catch anything fishy."
"Yes! This subordinate obeys!"
"Wait." As if recalling something, the playful glint in Yelü Qianxiao’s blue eyes darkened. "Tomorrow, go outside the palace and find Baihu."
Qinglong frowned. "Master, haven’t you already decided to have Eunuch Mo steal the secret edict? Baihu can’t open that golden lock." All those trips every night recently—not to mention returning empty-handed, but he had nearly been captured by the Brocade Guards.
"When did this prince say I was making him a thief?" Yelü Qianxiao closed his blue eyes with a devilish charm, his tone exceedingly gentle. "Tell him to bring his gear and assassinate Prince Ao tonight. Don’t kill the man, but slash his body a few more times, and leave behind one or two items from the Crown Prince’s residence. That will suffice."
"This subordinate obeys!" Qinglong swallowed nervously, cupped his hands, and withdrew. His master’s scheme was truly brilliant—while enacting revenge, he didn’t forget to frame the Crown Prince. Truly killing two birds with one stone.