Eunuch Qingxi entered with a line of palace servants. Seeing Ji Weiqiu napping on the rattan couch, he dared not disturb him. With a slight raise of his hand, he gestured for everyone to lower their voices. They brought in a screen to shield Ji Weiqiu's figure, then lowered the curtains and began to silently redecorate the side hall.

Although the side hall was maintained daily, it had, after all, gone unused for ten years. It lacked a human touch, and even the ornaments carved with auspicious and wealthy patterns seemed cold.

Ji Weiqiu woke up soon after. His eyes flew open, and he stared blankly at the unfamiliar furnishings. He remembered where he was just before his body could jump up.

Figures moved back and forth behind the screen. A thin, agile silhouette held a shapely object with a splash of deep red on top—it must have been a vase. A slightly plump silhouette held a long, slender trinket, which ought to be a glass pagoda. Two tall silhouettes worked together to carry a long table... well, no need to guess that one, it was a table, and quite large. He preferred a more spacious desk.

Eunuch Qingxi heard a noise from inside and quietly lifted a corner of the curtain to peek. He saw Ji Weiqiu resting his cheek on his hand, a faint, almost non-existent smile playing on his lips as he casually sized up the screen. For some reason, a sudden chill ran through the eunuch's heart.

...He really was too similar.

Eunuch Qingxi boldly parted the curtains, feigning that he had just noticed Ji Weiqiu was awake, and slapped his own face a couple of times. "Oh! Your Highness is awake?! This old slave deserves death! Forgive me for disturbing Your Highness..."

The faint, almost non-existent smile vanished instantly. Ji Weiqiu sat up and said hurriedly, "What are you doing, Eunuch? Stop, stop!"

Eunuch Qingxi had only been hitting himself lightly. At this, he stopped and smiled. "As long as I didn't startle Your Highness..."

As he spoke, he raised his hand, and a young eunuch presented a bowl of steaming hot medicine. The moment Ji Weiqiu saw it, his face fell. "Didn't Imperial Physician Hu give me pills?"

Eunuch Qingxi cleaned his hands and personally brought the bowl over. "His Little Highness is weary from the journey, which is not ideal. This is a prescription from Imperial Physician Hu. Please endure it! You only need to get through today; tomorrow you can have the pills again. Look, His Little Highness, this old slave has even prepared candy for you. Pine nut candy from Jiangnan, a tribute item. It's wonderfully fragrant and sweet."

Resigned, Ji Weiqiu could only pinch his nose and down the medicine in one gulp. The service in the palace had always been impeccable, especially in Qingning Hall. The medicine was at the perfect temperature, so downing it in one go wouldn't burn his mouth. The sour, bitter, and fishy liquid went down his throat. Ji Weiqiu covered his mouth with one hand, quickly grabbed two pieces of candy with the other, swiftly moved his hand to pop the candy in, and then covered his mouth again—he was afraid that if he opened his mouth, the medicine would come right back up.

Once the sweet taste in his mouth had faintly suppressed the strange flavor, Eunuch Qingxi handed him a cup of clear tea in a timely manner. Ji Weiqiu rinsed his mouth with the tea while sucking on the candy, finally washing away the last traces of the medicine's taste.

Even so, Ji Weiqiu still wore a bitter expression as he said to Eunuch Qingxi, "Eunuch, I had Xingbo arrange my return to the palace this time. There shouldn't be any traces left, but I'll have to trouble you to clean up any loose ends."

"Why would His Little Highness be so polite with this old slave?" Eunuch Qingxi agreed with a smile, then added, "His Little Highness can rest assured, the palace servants in Qingning Hall are all tight-lipped."

Ji Weiqiu silently completed the thought in his mind: 'Because the ones who weren't are already dead.'

"Won't Imperial Elder Brother punish you for sending me to the side hall?" Ji Weiqiu asked again. He was actually more worried about this issue. After all, it was no problem for him to sleep in a cold palace for a bit. His brother had said to send him to a cold palace, but he hadn't specified that he should be treated like a disgraced consort without food or drink.

As long as his brother didn't explicitly give the order to cut his rations, who would dare?

There were advantages to following the rules. His rations didn't just come from his brother. To truly cut them, his brother would have to issue an Imperial Edict with a clear reason, and it would have to be approved by his old uncle, the Imperial Clan Prince, and his old mother, the Empress Dowager. Otherwise, the most he could do was cut a few of his special provisions—for instance, if a particularly rare ingredient or medicinal herb was sent as tribute from somewhere, a share would normally be set aside for him. If his brother gave the word, that share would be gone.

If that part was cut, so be it. A person could live with a balanced diet of meat and vegetables, as long as the staple foods were sufficient. It's not like he would die if he didn't eat some Tianshan roe deer meat!

Although he had returned to the palace in secret, to put it bluntly, if he had the ability to return without alerting anyone, he naturally had a way to ensure he received his rations.

Of course, that couldn't be all of it.

His monthly allowance was a terrifyingly large number, composed of three parts. The first was from the clan, a share given to him as a direct descendant of the imperial family. The second was his court salary; he held the rank of a Prince and received a corresponding stipend. The third was from the imperial private treasury, a portion entirely determined by his brother and Mother Empress.

Putting aside everything else, just the thousands of catties of chicken, duck, fish, and meat from the clan couldn't be managed by one or two carriages, not to mention the thousands of shi of stipend rice, tea, salt, cloth, and cotton wadding, as well as special items like gold, silver, jewelry, fine medicines, and rare beasts. It was impossible to bring such a huge amount into the palace unnoticed, but sneaking in a little bit to ensure that he, Xingbo, and his other attendants had enough to eat and drink was no problem at all.

Eunuch Qingxi's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Ah, the other cold palaces in the palace are all in disrepair. This is the only place that's presentable. His Little Highness can stay here and rest easy."

Ji Weiqiu immediately understood what was going on. His brother hadn't specified which cold palace to send him to, so Eunuch Qingxi had taken matters into his own hands and chosen the nearest one for him to stay in. He would naturally have a way to get his brother to nod in approval later. Eunuch Qingxi had served his brother for thirty years. He could tell what a cat that couldn't even speak wanted just by the twitch of its whiskers, let alone a person who could talk.

Besides, this place was separated from the main hall where his brother resided by only a single wall. With so many people moving things around, how could his brother not have noticed? Since he hadn't said anything, it was tacit approval!

"Then I'll be in your care," Ji Weiqiu also smiled.

"How could I dare? Your Highness's words truly humble this old slave." Eunuch Qingxi bowed and said, "The outside is almost tidied up. Would Your Highness care to take a look? If there's anything you're not satisfied with, I'll have someone change it immediately."

"Alright..." Ji Weiqiu rose from the couch. Xingbo came over with a fresh set of clothes to help him change, and after draping a thin cloak over his shoulders, he followed Eunuch Qingxi to tour the room.

......

Having completed his task, Eunuch Qingxi returned to the main hall to report. "Your Majesty, His Little Highness is all settled in. Everything is in order. He has taken his medicine and is now reading. Perhaps with the protection of the Emperor's dragon qi, His Little Highness's complexion is already much rosier."

Ji Su acted as if he hadn't heard, not even glancing at Eunuch Qingxi. His attitude was clear: Don't say any more, I don't want to hear it.

Eunuch Qingxi sensibly held his tongue and, pretending nothing was amiss, went forward to attend to the brush and ink. Ji Su held a brush in his hand; the Agate Imperial Brush glowed warmly in his palm, beautiful from every angle. An unknown amount of time passed. Ji Su hovered his brush over a memorial, lost in thought, when suddenly a 'thump' came from the side hall. A drop of red ink abruptly fell onto the memorial. He slowly exhaled, used that drop of ink to write the character for 'Read' on the memorial, and waved his hand without looking up. Eunuch Qingxi bowed slightly and immediately headed next door. He returned a short while later and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, a palace servant accidentally bumped into a wall. It was nothing serious."

Ji Su read two lines of a memorial. "...Hm?"

Eunuch Qingxi gave a somewhat awkward smile. "His Little Highness was playing around with a few palace servants..."

Ji Su set down his brush. Eunuch Qingxi beamed, waiting for an order, but saw that Ji Su had already walked past him. He immediately turned to follow, thinking, 'His Little Highness is in for it this time.' He wanted to have the servants announce them, but the main hall and side hall were simply too close. Who would dare to dart past the Emperor? He could only let His Little Highness fend for himself.

The palace servants on both sides saw Ji Su approaching and, seeing him raise his hand slightly, knew not to announce him. Xingbo was right outside the door and was about to open his mouth when a Shadow Guard suddenly dropped from the rafters and covered his mouth and nose. A palace servant, head bowed, slowly opened the doors to the side hall. Ji Su's expression was placid as he looked inside, his gaze growing colder and heavier.

And at this moment...

Silk ribbons were tied between the pillars of the side hall, sectioning off a small area. Ji Weiqiu, blindfolded, was fumbling around in this area with his hands outstretched, laughing as he said, "Don't run... This Prince is coming to catch you, hahaha... Whoever this Prince catches has to accept a penalty..."

Several palace servants had taken off their shoes, but had bells tied to their feet. To avoid Ji Weiqiu in this small space, they could only run. However, once they ran, the bells would jingle, and Ji Weiqiu would follow the sound to catch them.

At this moment, two palace servants were hiding by a pillar, not daring to breathe, while another was being chased by Ji Weiqiu. They were all flushed from the game, looking very happy.

Suddenly, the pursued servant spotted Ji Su. His steps came to an abrupt halt. Seeing Ji Su's icy glare, he dropped to his knees, trembling all over. Ji Weiqiu heard the thump and couldn't help but say, "Hey? It's just a game, be gentle, don't disturb Imperial Elder Brother. You at the door, keep a watch..."

The two palace servants at the door trembled, not daring to lift their heads.

The palace servant kneeling on the ground trembled in fear, and the golden bell on his foot moved slightly. Ji Weiqiu heard it but then nothing followed, so he assumed the servant was fine and had just hidden. He fumbled his way towards the direction of the jingle. Ji Su slowly walked toward Ji Weiqiu. Ji Weiqiu's brow twitched as if listening to discern the position. Suddenly, he strode forward, and just as he was half a foot from the silk ribbon, he abruptly shot out a hand and just managed to grab Ji Su's sleeve. He laughed triumphantly, "Caught you!"

Then he added, "Hey? Cheating? We agreed not to go out of bounds... Never mind, ten cups of tea! Drink!"

Ji Weiqiu's game was a simple one. Whoever got caught had to drink ten cups of tea! He was currently weak and frail, so how many people could he catch? The cups in the palace were tiny; ten cups couldn't even fill a single noodle bowl.

He found it strange that the palace servant was silent. As he pulled off the satin blindfold, he said, "No backing out..."

Ji Weiqiu stared at Ji Su, who was right in front of him, and was completely dumbfounded. "...Imperial Elder Brother?"

"What are you doing here?"

Shouldn't Ji Su be reviewing memorials at this hour?! A time when nothing short of the sky caving in should distract him?! Why was he here?!

His hand was still clutching Ji Su's sleeve.

Ji Su smiled faintly. "Can't I come?"

Today, Ji Weiqiu finally understood what it meant to 'laugh from extreme anger'!

Author's Note:

Ji Weiqiu: Whoa, I'm screwed!

......

Here, Ji Weiqiu was playing with the servants only because he knew Ji Su would absolutely not come over + there were people at the door to announce visitors + Eunuch Qingxi was his inside man + Xingbo was guarding the door + the room was soundproof + other legitimate reasons. It's not because he doesn't value the lives of the palace servants.

Ji Su also has legitimate reasons for punishing or killing palace servants. For example, knowing that Ji Weiqiu had just recovered from a major illness but still blindly following an order that led to Ji Weiqiu nearly drowning—in his eyes, this is a severe dereliction of duty, which is why he would order them caned to death. When Weiqiu says a servant was thoughtless for not announcing someone, Ji Su's response is a way of telling Ji Weiqiu, 'If you think he failed in his duty, then I'll have him caned to death,' not that he himself wants to kill the servant.

This is a very clear distinction: dereliction of duty is punished, severe dereliction of duty means death. Under normal circumstances, following orders that aren't outrageous falls within the proper scope of a servant's duties. If he dislikes it, he would typically punish the one in charge. In his eyes, palace servants aren't really people. It's like seeing your own child playing with ants in the garden. If you don't mind, you think it's no big deal and won't interfere at all. If you do mind, you'll definitely scold your child, not the ants for showing up in front of your child.