The First Birthday Grab - This Person, I'm Not Giving Him Away

Shen Mengzhi lowered his hand and was about to rise when his body suddenly froze.

A cold blade, glinting with a chilly light, had been placed against his neck without him noticing.

Someone was behind him, asking in a cold voice, "Who are you?"

Shen Mengzhi didn't answer. His fingertips just moved slightly, reaching for the guard's breath. The next second, the sharp edge pressed closer to his skin, leaving a faint red mark.

As if he hadn't noticed, Shen Mengzhi muttered to himself, "So... he's just asleep."

A sharp pain came from his neck as the person's hand applied more force. "Answer my question."

"I was invited to the banquet by the Lord Censor," Shen Mengzhi said. "I felt a tightness in my chest during the feast, so I came out for a walk. I didn't expect to find this lord collapsed on the ground, so I came over to check on him."

His voice was steady and his tone was gentle, without the slightest hint of nervousness or guilt. Even so, the blade at his neck did not loosen.

"You are not from Fengling City," the other person said. "How can I believe someone with no identity?"

These words were not unexpected. Shen Mengzhi sighed softly and was about to speak when a flash of goose-yellow suddenly appeared. A figure darted nimbly between the two of them, saying with a smile, "Grand Marshal Xu, is there some kind of misunderstanding?"

The person holding the blade was indeed Xu Ying. He glanced impassively at the newcomer. His expression didn't change, but the force in his hand lessened considerably.

Tingxia heaved a sigh of relief and, with a pained expression, moved the blade away from Shen Mengzhi's neck. He was incredibly glad he had arrived in time. Otherwise, if blood had been drawn, the Prince Regent would have undoubtedly bundled him up and thrown him into the river without a word.

Shen Mengzhi didn't seem very surprised by his sudden appearance. He glanced at Tingxia, his gaze holding little emotion, then turned to Xu Ying. His voice and expression were calm, with a faint smile. "So it is the Grand Marshal."

Xu Ying nodded, finally sheathing his blade. He still frowned as he studied Shen Mengzhi. After a long moment, he said, "Tingxia, do you know him?"

Tingxia gave a dry cough and mumbled something.

Xu Ying: "What? I couldn't hear you."

Tingxia glanced at Shen Mengzhi again, who was also looking over with a placid expression. He grunted, looked up at the sky, and repeated, "He is... an old acquaintance of the Prince Regent."

Xu Ying finally showed a look of surprise.

He wasn't a slow person. With just a little thought, he knew that the "old acquaintance" Tingxia mentioned was anything but simple.

Xu Ying's brow furrowed tightly. "If that's the case, why would he appear outside the Grand Censor's study?"

Tingxia had also just arrived and didn't know what had happened earlier. Looking at the unconscious guard on the ground, he felt the situation was a bit tricky.

But just then, Shen Mengzhi chuckled. "I have already checked. This lord has merely fallen asleep. If you don't believe me, you can just wake him up and ask."

Xu Ying looked over with a grave expression. Tingxia quickly waved his hands and said, "Young Master Jiang, it's not that we don't believe you, it's just..."

"It's alright," Shen Mengzhi said. "I don't want any more misunderstandings either."

Leaving someone lying like this in front of the study was truly improper. Tingxia simply stepped forward, pinched the man's philtrum, and woke him up.

As soon as he let go, the guard sat up ramrod straight, covered in sweat, and shouted, "Who? Who..."

His gaze fell upon Xu Ying, and he immediately trembled, lowering his head. "Greetings, Grand... Grand Marshal Xu."

Xu Ying's face was expressionless. Tingxia scoffed and said, "So you really were asleep. And you call yourself Censor Li's guard. How did someone so incompetent get hired?"

The guard was covered in a cold sweat. He had no memory of how he had fallen asleep, but to be seen in this state by the Prince Regent's men... If the Lord Censor found out... there would be absolutely no good end for him.

"My lords, I beg you not to tell the Lord Censor about this!" the guard said in a panic. "This humble one doesn't know how I fell asleep... Perhaps, perhaps I was too tired... This humble one truly did not neglect my duties!"

As he looked up, he suddenly caught sight of a white-robed figure. He froze, and a sound subconsciously escaped his throat: "You..."

Shen Mengzhi stood behind Tingxia and Xu Ying, his face hidden in the shadows. The moment his gaze met the guard's, the corner of his lips curled up. He slowly raised a finger to his lips and soundlessly mouthed a word.

—Shh.

In that instant, it was as if his mind was shaken. The guard immediately fell silent, his gaze gradually becoming vacant.

Tingxia let out a breath of relief and said, "It seems it really was a misunderstanding!"

When Tingxia and the others turned back, Shen Mengzhi had already lowered his eyelashes, saying in a low voice, "In that case, I, Jiang, will return to my seat. The night is truly too cold..."

Before he finished speaking, he covered his mouth and gave a light cough.

That cough nearly scared the soul out of Tingxia. He hurriedly said, "Alright, alright, you go back first. Leave the rest to us."

Shen Mengzhi nodded and was about to turn when he heard Xu Ying say, "My apologies, Young Master Jiang."

His steps paused. After a long moment, he smiled and said gently, "My fate is quite resilient, Grand Marshal. You need not mind it."

No one paid attention when Shen Mengzhi left, but his return was noticed by a few people. His white robes were particularly conspicuous among the silk-and-brocade-clad court officials, and he was an unfamiliar face. Someone immediately asked, "Lord Censor, may I ask who this is...?"

Li Sheng glanced over and said flatly, "This is a student of Heshan Academy, a personal disciple of Teacher Fang, Jiang Zhen."

Before the crowd could react, Chu Rong had already snorted with a laugh, saying provocatively, "Third Brother, you know him?"

This sentence immediately clued everyone in, and many whispers arose in the hall.

Chu Jin's expression was indifferent as he said lightly, "A former classmate from the academy. We were mere nodding acquaintances."

Tingxia, who had just rushed back, frowned. He felt that this statement had the same ingenious subtlety as Shen Mengzhi's earlier "It's fine."

Chu Rong sneered, "If that's the case, are you saying he has nothing to do with you?"

Chu Jin looked at him for a long moment, then smiled as well.

"Who said that? Of course we have a connection." His eyes crinkled with a smile. "He and I... are enemies."

This statement was so sudden and earth-shattering that the jaws of every official present, including the completely clueless Tingxia, nearly dropped to the floor.

As one of the parties involved, Shen Mengzhi neither spoke nor moved. His gaze was calm, which, in the eyes of the others, looked like a complete admission.

"..."

The next sentence Chu Rong had prepared was now stuck in his throat, his face ashen. He had intended to use this opportunity to humiliate Shen Mengzhi, but after being countered by Chu Jin, tormenting the man further would seem like he was doing Chu Jin's bidding, taking advantage of the situation to get revenge for him. If word of this got out, it would surely become gossip.

Having been outmaneuvered time and again, Chu Rong's expression was extremely ugly, and he was clearly on the verge of exploding. Seeing this, Li Sheng had no choice but to smooth things over. "Alright!"

He forced a smile and said to the crowd, "Everyone, next is my son's first birthday grab ceremony. Whatever matters there are can wait until after the banquet."

"Go call the wet nurse to bring Qi'er here."

It was the first time everyone had seen the young master of the Censor's manor, and they were inevitably curious. Li Qi was only a hundred days old and couldn't even stand steadily, but he was born with a sturdy head and a charmingly naive look, completely unlike Li Sheng's deathly stillness, making him extremely lovable.

Tingxia asked in surprise, "How come Li Sheng's youngest son doesn't resemble him at all?"

Chu Jin gave him a half-smile. Tingxia caught a hint of teasing mischief in his eyes and immediately understood, clarifying, "That's not what I meant!"

Chu Jin asked, feigning ignorance, "What did you mean?"

"..." Tingxia found his expression utterly detestable and said angrily, "Just shut up!"

Over there, the wet nurse had already gently placed the child in an open space between the seats. At a signal from Li Sheng, someone laid out all the items for the first birthday grab on the floor, just waiting for the young master to pick one.

Li Sheng spoke, his voice unusually gentle, "Qi'er, go on."

Li Qi sat in place for a while, chewing on his fingers and looking at the floor full of golden abacuses, jade ruyi scepters, and other items, seemingly not understanding what it all meant. The people around him were all unfamiliar faces he had never seen before. He felt both curious and scared, especially when he saw the Prince of Liang's face, which almost scared him to tears.

Chu Rong: "..."

He stood up impatiently, coldly tossed out, "This is boring. This Prince will go for a walk," and left his seat without another word, leaving everyone stunned.

Li Sheng cleared his throat. "Continue."

With the Prince of Liang gone, Li Qi's furrowed brow finally relaxed. As he opened his eyes, he saw the Pearl of the Nine Provinces of Great Qin.

The Prince Regent's face was uniquely blessed by the heavens. Even an immortal descending from the sky would praise it as pleasing to the eye. When he was in a good mood, he was like a begonia floating on water—shimmering with light on a beautiful, sunny day, making it impossible for one to look away.

Li Qi was clearly captivated as well.

Chu Jin smiled faintly, a hint of nonchalance in his expression, as he watched the little imp slowly and laboriously crawl toward him. Tingxia's voice sounded by his ear, "Hey, he's coming toward you."

He propped up his cheek, his eyes crinkling with a smile, and said with great interest, "So he is."

Without even looking up, he knew that Li Sheng's expression must be extremely unsightly at this moment.

The entire hall was silent. Everyone watched with wide eyes as the young master of the Censor's manor crawled toward the Prince Regent. Just as his hand was about to grab the edge of the table—

Li Sheng suddenly said, "Qi'er!"

His voice was stern and heavy, extremely restrained, and held an underlying tone of reprimand. Li Qi flinched, fearfully retracting his hand, and looked helplessly at his suddenly serious father.

Li Sheng took a deep breath and looked at Chu Jin. "Prince Regent, my son is ignorant. Please don't mind him."

"It's fine." Chu Jin paused, then smiled again. "It's quite good."

"..."

Having been interrupted, Li Qi instantly lost his target. He didn't dare to look at Chu Jin again and gazed around blankly. The official seals and books on the floor blurred before his eyes, dazzling him. Combined with Li Sheng's stern rebuke just now, he felt even more terrified.

Just then, he suddenly saw a figure.

Unlike the adults around him who were secretly scrutinizing him and making him afraid, this person was surrounded by an aura that was inexplicably calming. He just sat there quietly, a soul of ice and snow, a still shadow like a sunken jade disc, as if he had nothing to do with anything around him.

Li Qi stared for a moment, then an instinct to seek comfort made him crawl toward that person irresistibly.

Seeing Li Sheng's precious son suddenly move, the crowd, not knowing where he was headed, began to speculate.

"Look at the direction, he's going for the official seal! This young master will surely have a prosperous official career, just like the Lord Censor!"

"Not at all. I think he's going for the brush and inkstone. In the future, he is bound to write splendid essays."

"No, no, it must be the golden abacus..."

But in the next second, everyone watched, dumbfounded, as Li Qi unhesitatingly crawled past all the items on the floor and then continued toward the lower seats without looking back.

Where was he going?

Tingxia stared blankly and muttered, "You, surnamed Chu, look quickly. Isn't Li Sheng's son heading toward your Senior Brother...?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw the Prince Regent, who had been leisurely enjoying the show, abruptly stand up.

Shen Mengzhi was, for once, a little surprised.

Li Qi had already crawled to his table and was looking around curiously. Li Sheng's voice was too far away for the little imp to hear. His eyes shining, he reached out, wanting to touch this gentle big brother's face.

The meaning couldn't be more obvious—

Li Sheng's precious son had chosen him.

Even for someone as calm and self-possessed as Shen Mengzhi, encountering such a thing for the first time left him feeling a rare sense of bewilderment. He subconsciously wanted to move away, but when his gaze met Li Qi's eyes, he suddenly froze.

Li Qi's pupils were very dark, abnormally so, like bottomless whirlpools. The moment their eyes met, Shen Mengzhi's mind went completely blank, and he froze in place.

And the child's small, fair hand was almost right in front of him.

—The next moment, a round silk fan embroidered with a Snow-Bearing Ginkgo was placed between the two of them without any warning.

Li Qi's fingers touched the light gauze surface of the fan. He paused, then raised his head dazedly, meeting Chu Jin's half-smiling gaze.

With one hand, he loosely held the fan he had acquired from who-knows-where, and with the other, he leaned on the edge of the table. In a posture that was both elegant and exceptionally dominant, he shielded the person behind him, completely blocking Li Qi's view of Shen Mengzhi.

His line of sight blocked, Shen Mengzhi abruptly came to his senses, his breathing becoming a little ragged. His face was hidden behind the round fan, and others could only make out a blurry silhouette. Only Chu Jin impassively glanced at his pale face and tightened his grip on the fan's handle.

Where no one could see, he grabbed Shen Mengzhi's cold hand. The latter subconsciously tried to pull away, but he was held in a firm, unyielding grip until all of Chu Jin's fingers were wedged between his.

Shen Mengzhi seemed to finally be soothed by him. His fingers stiffened for a moment, then he hesitantly clasped his hand back.

Chu Jin's originally gloomy mood immediately brightened considerably.

He lowered his eyes to look at Li Qi, a deep smile playing on his lips, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "This person... I'm not giving him away."

Li Qi looked at him in confusion.

Then they heard Li Sheng call out from a distance, "Prince Regent, what is the meaning of this?"

Chu Jin lifted his eyelids slightly and gave him a tepid look. "Lord Censor, I've just remembered that I still have some old grudges to settle with this Young Master Jiang."

"I'll be taking him with me. Please, enjoy yourselves. I will take my leave first."

"As for when I'll return him......"

He paused, then chuckled softly.

"That depends on my mood."

The author has something to say:

Chuchu: Nothing else, just showing you all my wife. Isn't he beautiful? Time's up, I'm taking him with me)