At the dining table, the rule was to not speak while eating—when outsiders were present. To Ji Su and Ji Weiqiu, the outsider was Prime Minister Gu. To Prime Minister Gu and Ji Su, the outsider was Ji Weiqiu.

Ji Weiqiu was indeed hungry. He buried his head in his food, grateful that his brother and Prime Minister Gu remained silent. Normally, a real-life version of court drama would be quite appetizing to listen to, but when the two storytellers across from him were speaking in riddles, it became rather hard to swallow.

Ji Su and Prime Minister Gu were both watching Ji Weiqiu. Ji Su was thinking that Imperial Physician Hu was indeed skilled. A few days ago, he had said the child had no appetite; he would drool over rich fish and meat dishes every day, yet complain of discomfort after just a few extra bites. Today, it seemed he was fine.

Prime Minister Gu rarely saw Ji Weiqiu, which was why he hadn't recognized him at first when he bumped into him outside the hall. It wasn't that he didn't know his face, but that for a moment, he hadn't dared to think in that direction.

Their life paths were destined not to cross often. Ji Weiqiu usually didn't attend court sessions or participate in discussions in the study; when he entered the palace, he went straight to Ci'an Palace. Prime Minister Gu, on the other hand, only moved about the outer court, so naturally, their paths wouldn't meet.

Prime Minister Gu observed Ji Weiqiu with great interest, thinking that the Prince of Rui truly had a good appetite. Indeed, it was good to be young; he could no longer be envious. Seeing him eat so heartily, he himself unconsciously took a few more bites.

He slowly ate a bowl of lotus seed soup, pondering why the Prince of Rui was here. Everyone at court knew the Prince of Rui had gone to Jiangnan to pray for the Empress Dowager's fortune, yet here he was, appearing silently in Qingning Hall... Had he just returned, or had he never gone to Jiangnan at all?

Either way, the successive reports of assassinations and poisonings became extremely interesting. Then again, no matter which it was... this Prince of Rui, with his reputation for being absurd and profligate, enjoyed immense imperial favor.

Prime Minister Gu smiled faintly, the picture of a clear breeze and a bright moon.

By now, Ji Weiqiu had nearly finished eating. He glanced at Ji Su and saw his brother was still eating, so he gestured with his eyes for Xiao Zhuo to bring him a bowl of soup. He drank it one spoonful at a time. 'Damn, I just ate too much too quickly. I can't drink any more of this soup! I'm so full!'

Ji Weiqiu drank two more spoonfuls but really couldn't force any more down. He secretly glanced at his brother. Good heavens, his brother was still eating slowly and methodically. Ji Weiqiu could only force himself to drink two more spoonfuls, managing to make a small bowl of soup look as if he were savoring fine tea. He secretly glanced at Ji Su again. Just then, Ji Su happened to look up, and their eyes met.

Ji Weiqiu's head shot down with a whoosh. Feeling that was inappropriate, he raised his face and gave his brother a smile. Ji Su set down his chopsticks. Ji Weiqiu immediately followed suit, putting down that wretched spoon. He felt like he could hear the water sloshing in his stomach if he moved. He quickly took his leave.

"Thank you for the meal, Imperial Elder Brother. Your younger brother takes his leave," Ji Weiqiu said.

Usually in this situation, his brother would give a grunt of acknowledgment, and he could be on his way. Unexpectedly, Ji Su asked, "Where are you going?"

Ji Weiqiu answered instinctively, "I ate too much. I'm going to take an afternoon nap."

Ji Su replied with a faint sound of acknowledgment and waved his hand for Ji Weiqiu to leave. Ji Weiqiu quickly excused himself and strode out. After he left the room, Prime Minister Gu shook his head and smiled. "The Prince is truly enviable."

Ji Su wiped his hands with a handkerchief and said, "Since Prime Minister Gu is so envious, why not retire?"

Prime Minister Gu replied, "An old steed in the stable still longs to gallop a thousand miles. Your Majesty, please allow this subject to serve you for a few more years!"

Ji Weiqiu couldn't hear what they said next, nor did he want to. He walked two laps around the garden to aid his digestion, then truly went back to the side hall for an afternoon nap. This time, after about half an hour, Eunuch Xiao Zhuo woke him up. Ji Weiqiu sat up, hugging the quilt for a moment to gather his senses, before draping his clothes on and getting out of bed.

Eunuch Xiao Zhuo brought another change of clothes. 'This is the only bad thing about staying with my brother,' Ji Weiqiu thought, 'changing clothes at least three times a day.' He thought the clothes looked a bit familiar and casually picked up a piece to examine it. "I remember my Imperial Elder Brother having a similar one?"

Eunuch Xiao Zhuo said with lowered eyes, "Your Highness, so as not to alert others to your short stay in the palace, Master said that your build is similar to the Emperor's when he was young, so he opened the storeroom and brought out His Majesty's old clothes."

"I see." Since Eunuch Qingxi had sent them, it meant his brother had given his tacit approval. Besides, these were casual clothes, so there were no issues with protocol. Ji Weiqiu went ahead and changed.

The afternoon was again spent reading memorials. Time flew by as if eaten by a dog; in the span of lowering and raising his head, the bright sunlight had turned to a dusky yellow. Ji Weiqiu yawned. Eunuch Xiao Zhuo came forward and said softly, "Your Highness, shall this servant give you a massage?"

"No need." Ji Weiqiu pounded his slightly sore neck a couple of times. He had more or less figured out how to deal with Qian Zhiwei and wanted to compare answers with his brother, so he asked, "Has Prime Minister Gu left?"

"Replying to Your Highness, Lord Prime Minister Gu has not yet left." Eunuch Xiao Zhuo paused, then added, "He said there are important military affairs."

Important military affairs?

Forgive Ji Weiqiu's brain, but the only thing he could think of was whether the False King was causing trouble. After all, in the original novel, this matter determined the entire life of the 'Prince of Rui'. He wanted to inquire about it, but his reason told him not to.

'Wake up! You idiot! Your brother's heart finally softened and he dragged you back, don't go foolishly offering yourself up again! Think about that inexplicable poison! Think about the traitor in the Qingxuan Guard! Just honestly stay in the palace by your brother's side for a few safe days, lie flat, and wait for your brother to handle things. Then you can leave the palace and be free and happy again!'

'As for all that court drama and political struggle, just listen for fun. Who do you think you are, daring to get involved? Be careful or you won't even know how you died one day!'

Ji Weiqiu felt this was very reasonable. Let his brother and Prime Minister Gu continue being busy. After thinking it over, he simply called people into the hall again to set up and play. Today, they wouldn't play 'Tyrant Catches Favorite Consort'; they would play ring toss.

There was no shortage of bamboo rings in the palace. He found a palace servant to scrounge some up, then spread all the rare treasures from the hall on the floor. He tossed the rings and picked them up himself, finding it quite interesting.

Eunuch Xiao Zhuo watched for a while. Seeing that Ji Weiqiu managed to ring an object with almost every bamboo ring, he couldn't help but feel his hands itch to try. He was young, after all, not as adept at hiding his feelings as Eunuch Qingxi. Ji Weiqiu noticed and casually shoved the bamboo rings into his hand, smiling. "Come and try!"

"Yes!" Eunuch Xiao Zhuo replied, his voice exceptionally cheerful. Since His Highness had spoken, the blame naturally wouldn't fall on them. He held a handful of bamboo rings enthusiastically, but once he started, he realized the rings were not easy to toss. The bamboo rings were too light, feeling floaty in his hand, making it impossible to apply any force. It was difficult to even make them fly in the right direction, let alone hit the target every time.

"You need to apply force horizontally with these rings." Ji Weiqiu had just sat down for a break, giving instructions while sipping his tea. "Don't aim high, keep it level. That's the only way it'll fly far... More talk is useless, you'll get it after a few more practice tries."

Eunuch Xiao Zhuo agreed repeatedly, but he still tossed all the rings in his hand without ringing a single thing. He looked at Ji Weiqiu with a troubled expression, only to see him with his legs crossed and his chin slightly raised. "What are you looking at me for? Hurry up and pick them up... Someone like you can't go to the night market, or you'll lose so much you won't know which way is up."

Eunuch Xiao Zhuo had entered the palace as a child and had never really been to a night market. He could only smile and agree. Unexpectedly, while he said nothing, Ji Weiqiu's interest was piqued.

There are three ten-day periods in a month. On the first day of each period, the curfew was lifted. On these days, a night market would be set up in Yanjing City, and everyone, old and young, man and woman, loved to go out for a stroll. Today happened to be the eleventh, a night market day.

It had been two years since Ji Weiqiu left the palace and established his own manor. For the first six months after leaving, he had been very happy to go to the night market. But later he became indifferent, since there were only so many things to do, and he grew tired of them. But now, after living in the palace, he found himself scratching his ears and cheeks, desperate to go.

It was just as the saying goes—what you have, you scorn; what you can't have is always in turmoil.

Could he go? Sneaking out would be courting death. His identity was sensitive right now; the 'Prince of Rui' was still in Jiangnan. If he ran out and got caught, his brother couldn't even send people to search for him openly. But if he were to ask his brother for permission... would his brother agree?

Ji Weiqiu took the bamboo rings from Eunuch Xiao Zhuo and casually tossed them into the center of the room. The rings fell like rain, and surprisingly, eight or nine out of ten of them landed on an object. Before Eunuch Xiao Zhuo could even express his surprise, he saw Ji Weiqiu get up and walk to the door. As it happened, he was just in time to see Prime Minister Gu's departing back.

An idea struck him, and he went to the main hall to request an audience.

Ji Su still had that calm and leisurely appearance from earlier in the day, as if he hadn't been discussing important military affairs with Prime Minister Gu all afternoon, but had been playing cards with him instead.

When Ji Su saw him approach, he knew he had something on his mind. He didn't speak, waiting for him to begin. After saluting, Ji Weiqiu asked, "Imperial Elder Brother, can I leave the palace?"

Ji Su's expression flickered. He had just been thinking that this child seemed absurd but was surprisingly well-informed. He then heard Ji Weiqiu continue, "Today is a night market day. I'm a bit bored and want to go out for a stroll, so I came to ask for Imperial Elder Brother's permission."

"For such a small matter, the Prince of Rui still needs to ask Us?" Ji Su said flatly.

Ji Weiqiu didn't know why his brother was suddenly displeased—but he was clearly displeased! However, he felt that his request was a bit much, so he said honestly, "I wouldn't dare not ask Imperial Elder Brother."

He didn't dare to let his gaze wander. With his head lowered, his angle of sight happened to fall on his brother's hand resting on the desk. It was placed there casually, its posture leisurely and relaxed, like a branch of magnolia outside his window in early spring. Just that one branch, and only that one branch, blooming in the chill, admiring its own solitary fragrance, looking down on the world of dust, yet overwhelmingly beautiful.

He couldn't help but recall the feeling of holding Ji Su's hand earlier that day. It was indeed like bamboo and jade, truly nice to touch...

'I wonder how my brother takes care of his hands? He's thirty years old, and not only does he practice martial arts, he's also skilled with a sword. How on earth does he not have a single callus? It's so strange. Does he use hand cream every day?'

Thinking about it, Ji Weiqiu didn't find it impossible. After all, his brother was an extreme neat freak. He probably wiped down his weapon before touching it, washed his hands several times after touching it, and then washed his hands several more times if anything else came up. At that frequency, hand cream was definitely a must, otherwise wouldn't his hands be rubbed raw?

'Makes perfect sense!'

Ji Weiqiu's thoughts drifted for a moment before he suddenly came to his senses—'Why am I thinking about my brother's hands?!'

For some reason, Ji Su's tone felt profound to Ji Weiqiu. "You want to go out that badly?"

Ji Weiqiu nodded. "Very much so."

'But it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't go...' Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard his brother say, "Then, what if you go with Us?"