Chapter 131: There's Danger!

"Can you tell anything from it?"

The voice pulled Qingmu back to his senses.

He pressed down the shock in his heart, steadied himself as best he could, and carefully examined the two styles of writing.

"Indeed, indeed there are some similarities, but in the finer details, there are still slight differences."

Shang Xiaomin picked up the two pieces of writing and examined them carefully.

"What do you mean?"

Qingmu pointed in turn at several spots on the memorial.

"These few characters—when the tip lifts into a hook, the force is insufficient, the brush strength is weak and floating."

Shang Xiaomin fixed his gaze for a closer look, then laughed and nodded.

"It really is so!"

In good spirits, he patted Qingmu on the shoulder.

"Not bad, Qingmu. I never expected you to have some talent in the way of calligraphy as well."

Having said that, he spread out another sheet of paper and continued writing.

Watching him write with growing enthusiasm and excitement, the ambition in his eyes could not be concealed at all—nearly spilling over.

Seeing this, Qingmu's expression grew complicated.

Since when did the Imperial Prince's eyes hold nothing but ambition and power?

Where did that young man of his memory go—the Prince's Son of bold spirit, splendid clothes and spirited horse, free and easy?

On the person before him, he could not find a single trace of the Prince's Son of old.

Suddenly, Qingzhu knocked on the door.

"Imperial Prince, there's a reply from Qingye's side."

"Oh?"

Shang Xiaomin set down his brush, took the letter from his hand, and after reading it, he gave a cold laugh and tore the letter to shreds.

"Hmph!"

"Want to talk face to face?"

"Fine!"

"Send word to Chen Ying—face-to-face talk is fine, tell him to bring the Cheng Family's womenfolk along. The location will be set at the place he mentioned!"

After Qingzhu departed to carry out the order, he looked toward Qingmu beside him and gave instructions in a low voice.

"Take the household guards and go scout the Thatched Hut at the foot of Snow Mountain. If there's nothing amiss, lie in ambush nearby. Remember to notify the surrounding counties and commanderies, and have them ready to provide support at any moment."

Hearing this, Qingmu's face showed puzzlement.

"Imperial Prince, beyond Snow Mountain is our Muyuan territory. What's more, there are border troops garrisoned near Snow Mountain—do we still need such precautions?"

Shang Xiaomin gave a contemptuous laugh.

"The one garrisoned at the border is Situ Kuo. If I truly ran into danger, do you think he would lift a hand to help?"

He waved his hand.

"Enough, go carry it out."

"Yes."

After the Study fell quiet, Shang Xiaomin picked up his brush again and continued copying the Imperial Vermilion Endorsement on the memorial.

……

Late at night, in a room of the Guest Courtyard.

"Today the household guards suddenly dropped by more than half, and even Qingmu is gone. I think they must have gone ahead to lie in ambush near the Thatched Hut."

After hearing Qingzhu's words, Cheng Chengxuan's face was thoughtful.

"How many troops can the nearby counties and commanderies muster in total?"

Qingmu thought briefly.

"Because they're close to the border garrison, and over these years Muyuan and Da Yin have had no clashes, the troop numbers in the nearby counties and commanderies have shrunk considerably. A rough estimate is at most three thousand."

"And after several years of easy living, their combat effectiveness isn't much to speak of."

Cheng Chengxuan suddenly raised his eyes and glanced at the empty air, his gaze pausing for a few seconds, then he nodded to Qingzhu.

"Good, I understand. Thank you for your trouble."

Qingzhu bowed slightly, then went out the door.

After he left, Cheng Chengxuan tapped the Light Screen.

The moment it opened, a strange tone of voice was heard:

"I will definitely come back!"

Over there, Yu'an was sitting in An Luo's arms, watching a story about green grasslands.

Whenever something interesting came up, the little fellow nestled in her arms and laughed "hahaha" nonstop.

His gaze falling on the familiar little figure, the corner of Cheng Chengxuan's mouth curved into a warm smile.

"Yu'an."

"Mm?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Yu'an looked around, scratched the bun on top of his head, rubbed his little ears, and blinked his big bewildered eyes.

"Fairy Sister, is it because Yu'an misses Little Uncle too much? Yu'an seems to hear Little Uncle's voice."

An Luo was utterly melted by that little look.

This is just too cute!

She reached out and gently squeezed the little fellow's wobbly baby fat, then handed the phone to him to look at.

"You didn't hear wrong."

"It really is Yu'an's little uncle speaking."

After seeing the person on the screen clearly, Yu'an instantly widened his big eyes, and his little mouth fell open wide too.

"Little Uncle?!"

On the other side, looking at the little chubby face suddenly pressed against the Light Screen, filling the whole display, Cheng Chengxuan's lips curved up slightly, warmth in his eyes. He nodded and said softly.

"Mm, Little Uncle is here."

Yu'an held the phone in both hands, snuggled in Fairy Sister's arms, and grinned so happily that a row of little pearly white teeth showed.

"Yu'an misses Little Uncle a lot. Does Little Uncle miss Yu'an? Does he miss Great-Grandmother? Does he miss…"

Cheng Chengxuan smiled and listened as he counted them off one by one, then nodded seriously.

"I missed them all. I miss them very much."

Having gotten his little uncle's answer, Yu'an grinned even more happily. He simply lay down on the sofa, holding the phone up with both hands, his two little feet kicked up and swaying back and forth.

In a little milky voice, he told him in a babyish tone about all the fun things that had happened these past days.

Even the tiniest trivial matters — like Second Aunt and Little Aunt having a quarrel, or Yu'an having learned a few poems, or when he went out with Big Yellow and the others and ran into a silly rabbit that crashed into a tree on its own…

Cheng Chengxuan listened to it all very attentively, chiming in every now and then and offering a word or two of praise.

"Those tigers actually obey Yu'an like that? Yu'an is really amazing — you can actually tame a whole group of tigers."

Hearing his little uncle's praise, Small Dumpling scrambled up in one go, puffed out his chest and lifted his head, chin tilted up slightly — the very picture of pride.

Yu'an, amazing!

"Yu'an is saying that Qiu Ruo made a Gunther gun?"

The little fellow nodded his small head.

"Yes! Second Aunt is amazing!"

Cheng Chengxuan also nodded in considerable agreement.

"Indeed impressive."

He was a child after all — once his usual bedtime arrived, Yu'an started getting drowsy. His eyes went hazy, and his little head bobbed like a chick pecking rice, dipping up and down.

In no time at all, the little fellow had fallen asleep leaning against An Luo's shoulder.

An Luo said softly.

"I'll carry Yu'an back to his room first, and come back to talk to you in a bit."

On the other side, Cheng Chengxuan walked over to the table. He had just picked up his teacup, about to pour water, when he heard the window creak and groan.

"Quick, quick, quick — got anything to eat? I'm starving to death!"

Chu Yuan had just leapt inside when he rushed to the table, grabbed the teapot, and started gulping straight from the spout.

Cheng Chengxuan glanced at his own empty teacup, about to say something — but then took another look at the utterly exhausted, even somewhat disheveled, person before him.

Instantly, he no longer felt so hung up about this person's lack of boundaries.

After all, Chu Yuan rushing about like this, exhausted — wasn't it all to help their Cheng Family?

He took two plates of pastries out of the food box on the table.

"Eat a bit first to take the edge off your hunger."

Then he turned and went out. In a short while, he came back in with a fresh pot of water and set it on the small stove.

Chu Yuan stuffed pastries into his mouth wolfishly while complaining to him.

"I'm telling you, that Situ Kuo is really too ungracious. He himself rode a tiger to travel — so dashing and carefree, full of swagger."

"Not inviting me to share the thrill would have been one thing, but he actually made me chase after him on Horse!"

"The moment my Taxue caught the scent of tiger, he bolted far, far away — he didn't even dare get close, let alone catch up!"

He gulped down a big cup of ice-cold water, so angry he stood with hands on hips, only just barely refraining from cursing out loud.

"Good lord, Taxue got spooked and went winding this way and that — I nearly got lost and couldn't make it back!"

The moment An Luo returned to Ke Ting, she heard Chu Yuan's complaint, brimming with fury.

She had been about to hang up the video when a huge red exclamation mark suddenly popped up on the screen.

Buzz!

Attention please — your friend is about to encounter danger!!!