Chapter 25: His Highness the Sixth Prince

Chapter 25: His Highness the Sixth Prince

Yuan Rang's expression was icy, his narrow eyes squinting slightly, before his pupils suddenly dilated as if he'd spotted something.

He dismounted, his expression fierce, and hurled his longsword, which pierced straight into the black bear's neck. His voice was cold and sharp: "Half our forces against a single bear—have you forgotten what matters most?! If a single Hu person escapes today, I'll hold you, Song Xu, personally responsible!"

Gesser and the others scrambled over the wall and fled at the sight of this.

Yuan Rang rushed to Chen Shuoan's side and knelt on one knee, his blood boiling. His lips trembling, he rasped, "Go after them."

He reached out, but didn't dare touch Chen Shuoan's blood-covered face, for fear of hurting him more.

Chen Shuoan looked rough—hair a mess, face puffy, and his pale, slender fingers scraped up in several places.

The wounds he could see were bad enough; Yuan Rang didn't have the nerve to imagine what gruesome state lay beneath his clothes.

A coppery, bitter taste surged up his throat. His eyes were bloodshot, the corners glistening, and at that moment, he finally looked like a real kid.

Chen Shuoan had never met anyone this savage in either of his two lives. He opened his swollen eyes and, seeing Yuan Rang's cold, handsome face, instantly felt like he'd found his rock.

He burst into loud sobs, but even in a crisis, he knew what mattered: "I didn't break anything. I need a doctor. I need a doctor..."

Then, through tearful eyes, he looked at the people sprawled around him and whined, "They need doctors too."

Yuan Rang scooped him up, one arm under his knees, catching the scent of Chen Shuoan's blood. His heart throbbed dully, his breath catching, and he said in a trembling voice: "I'll take care of it. Don't worry."

At that, Chen Shuoan relaxed in his arms. His whole body hurt now, especially his stomach, like it was about to split in half.

The two factions had already scattered. Song Xu rushed in from outside, blade in hand, looking anxious, he clasped his fists and reported to Yuan Rang: "Reporting to Your Highness—six men and three women, all captured!"

Yuan Rang's face was still unnaturally pale, but upon hearing this, he curled his lips into a creepy smile and said: "Lock them up in the Dali Temple prison. I'll interrogate them myself."

Zheng Yuanzhi struggled to his feet, waving off the guards who tried to help, signaling he was okay.

He turned and spotted Zhang Chenggong rolling around on the ground.

Zheng Yuanzhi: "..."

Life is meaningless, and cockroaches are cosplaying as humans.

Zhang Chenggong was sprawled on the ground, throwing a fit, snot and tears everywhere as he wailed: "I can't even imagine how happy I'd be if someone carried me like that."

"You seem to be imagining it just fine right now." Li Wei's mouth twitched as he walked over and hauled Zhang Chenggong to his feet, so grossed out he wanted to slap him silly.

"Enough messing around. I think Shuo'an's really not doing well. Let's go check on him." Qin Zhonglian wiped the sweat from his face, speaking urgently.

————

"Pulse is deep and weak, blood isn't flowing right, plus sore limbs—severe bruising underneath. No broken bones or tendon damage. We just need to get the blood moving and break up the bruising." The imperial physician rushed over, and after a thorough examination, felt like he'd been played.

He'd been rushed over like his life depended on it, run ragged like a mule, expecting some rare, deadly disease—only to find it was just bruising from a fight.

But seeing everyone hovering around this young master like he was on death's door, he couldn't help but sweat, scared he'd misdiagnose something.

But no matter how he looked at it, all he could come up with was six words.

"It'll be fine in a few days."

Then he picked out the gravel embedded in Chen Shuoan's hands.

After applying medicine, he scratched his head, having been dragged here in a daze and now led away just as confused.

Yuan Rang sat by the bed, his tall frame leaning over, one big hand holding Chen Shuoan's face—swollen like a pig's head—while the other gently wiped the dust and dried blood off his face. He spoke softly: "Who came up with this?"

The room went dead silent. No one dared answer.

Yuan Rang's touch was gentle, but the cloth couldn't do much against the dried blood. Seeing the scabs that wouldn't budge, a dull, inexplicable anger welled up in his chest.

Yuan Rang's whole demeanor was cold and hard, but his voice was soft as silk.

He asked again, with seemingly endless patience: "Who came up with this?"

Chen Shuoan's dark eyes swept over the four people nearby, his brain feeling like it'd been knocked silly.

Huh? What's happening? Is he about to get yelled at?

He watched the four of them open and close their mouths but not say a word, and, with a stroke of genius, said, "It was everyone's idea."

Silence so thick you could cut it.

Yuan Rang let out a soft laugh, pressed a little harder to wipe the scabs off, then gently applied some medicine.

Chen Shuoan, feeling thoroughly pampered, figured that was the end of it.

He sank drowsily into the soft blankets, like he was wrapped in clouds.

From somewhere far off, a voice seemed to ring out.

"Come out."

It was Yuan Rang speaking.

Chen Shuoan closed his eyes in a daze and fell into peaceful sleep.

Probably had nothing to do with him.

The plan was cooked up by those four, the private room was booked by Qin Zhonglian, Chen Shuoan led the charge, and all five of them got hurt.

The Sixth Prince, except for letting Chen Shuoan off the hook, treated the other four exactly the same.

They stood facing the theater entrance, waiting for their dads to come get them.

"That lucky bastard Chen Shuoan." Zhang Chenggong cried tears of envy.

"I wish someone doted on me like that. I'm so tired. I wanna die." Li Wei smiled at the sky, the capital's young master feeling for the first time that fate was this unfair.

Zheng Yuanzhi, seeing the two of them were really not okay, couldn't help but comfort them: "You can want to die, but you can't actually do it."

Qin Zhonglian: "..."

All three of them are dumbasses.

Honestly, the punishment was pretty light.

This whole thing already involved the Xiongnu. The Hu used trade as an excuse to waltz across the Rong Dynasty's northern border, and used it to sneak all the way into the interior.

And today's group—performing openly while secretly scouting the terrain—had apparently been at it for days, and their numbers were likely growing.

This isn't just some street brawl. With a prince and the deputy minister of the Grand Court jointly presiding over the case, it's probably already been classified as a major legal matter.

"Ten days of confinement and ten books to copy—if you don't finish, don't bother showing up to the study hall. Since you can't keep your own legs in check on a normal day, I'll have the esteemed gentlemen do it for you."

Qin Zhonglian recalled the Sixth Prince's exact words, his face utterly blank.

"The esteemed gentlemen" naturally referred to their own fathers.

A beating from the family was definitely unavoidable once he got home today.

And whether the punishment was light or heavy had nothing to do with Chen Shuoan at all.

Qin Zhonglian thought Zhang Chenggong and Li Wei were right.

He looked up at the sky, feeling that the gap between people couldn't be measured by ten books alone.

In this world, every gain comes with a loss, and every loss brings a gain.

For instance, Chen Shuoan gained the chance to skip copying books, but lost the joy of doing so.

Qin Zhonglian consoled himself.