Chapter 366

Guang Zhu insisted on finishing her sentence, but finally couldn't hold up, squatted on the ground laughing until her whole body trembled.

She didn't dare make a sound.

After all, that prince who climbed the wall late at night with a dark face is right outside; I'd rather die than let him hear!

Gu Xixi widened her eyes in surprise.

He Jinglan leapt out of bed and asked Zi Yan, "You say the one who came is the Regent Prince?"

She pointed at the window, incredulous: "In the middle of the night, he climbed over the wall into my Jade Bamboo Courtyard?! Are you sure you didn't see wrong?"

Zi Yan nodded helplessly, a bit embarrassed, "I won't have mistaken."

"Don't you remember our household guards? If it weren't the prince himself, no one could get in here."

He Jinglan realized, "Oh right, also, if it were anyone else, by now they'd either be dead or alive unknown."

Gu Xixi looked at Guang Zhu still squatting there, her feelings complex.

Thus it seems, that certain person in everyone's mind is indeed frightening.

Look at this child, to avoid laughing out loud, she's ended up like this.

He Jinglan cheerfully walked back to the bedside and took Gu Xixi's dress from the rack.

"He suddenly came over at this time; he surely has business with you—go quickly."

Gu Xixi doubted, "How do you know he's only looking for me? Maybe he has other matters to discuss with us."

He Jinglan pressed her lips together in a smile, leaned in, lowered her voice, "Let me tell you, Mu Nan Zhao has always been rather aloof since his youth; he'd disdain doing things like climbing walls or trees."

"Tonight he actually came from the Prince's Residence, scaling several walls to get here, not minding the risk of being seen by servants and losing face. Such abnormal behavior is comparable to heavenly red rain."

"If it weren't for a special person and a special matter, I wouldn't believe it."

Gu Xixi fell silent for a moment, then got dressed and rose, "If he's gone to all this trouble, he'd better have something important."

Tonight the moonlight was hazy, the night breeze gentle, and the bamboo shadows swayed throughout the garden.

Mu Nan Zhao wore a loose robe of deep blue with silver-threaded scrolling vine patterns, hands clasped behind his back, standing beneath a few slender bamboos, tall and graceful, elegant and unworldly like a bamboo forest immortal.

Gu Xixi spotted him at a glance as she stepped out, walking toward him while muttering to herself.

To climb a wall at night while wearing such conspicuous fabric is truly reckless.

Hearing footsteps approach, Mu Nan Zhao didn't turn back, "Tomorrow morning, the Capital Prefecture will convene to hear Lv Jing's case."

Gu Xixi blinked, "That fast?"

Upon hearing it was indeed a serious matter, she hurried two steps forward and looked at him from the side.

"At noon, watching the Top Scholar parade, I heard people saying Fan Dongping is the illegitimate son of Grand Secretary Fan."

"The case is yours to judge; tomorrow the Capital Prefecture opens court—could it also be related to this?"

Mu Nan Zhao turned his eyes to Gu Xixi, "Being an illegitimate child is merely a facade."

"In fact, Fan Dongping is the youngest son born to Prince Yong's concubine."

Gu Xixi's eyes suddenly widened.

After transmigrating, to adapt to life in the Great Undertaking Dynasty, she also read quite a bit of the current dynasty's history.

Prince Yong was the younger brother of the late emperor, sharing the same father but different mother, born of Empress Huide.

Before the late emperor was crowned crown prince, Prince Yong was sentenced to execution of his entire clan on charges of treason and rebellion.

According to records, not a single male or female, old or young, of Prince Yong's line survived.

And Fan Dongping is...?

Mu Nan Zhao saw what Gu Xixi was thinking and said, "His birth mother was a woman from the music quarters."

"When Prince Yong was wiped out, she hadn't yet given birth; she must have been hidden by Grand Secretary Fan."

"Fan Dongping himself is unaware of his origins."

"To conceal the truth, Grand Secretary Fan raised this child in Nan Yi Xian, assigning attendants to look after him carefully."

"But the Fan family is overly greedy; they gave him the Fan surname, hoping he would acknowledge his ties to the Fan clan from childhood."

"If one day an opportunity arises, announcing his legitimate lineage to the world might allow him to be pushed onto the dragon throne, thereafter becoming a puppet of the Fan family."

"It's just a pity."

"His Majesty has concealed his talents for years; his character, will, and abilities are truly those of the sovereign of all under heaven."

"The Fan family has spent money and effort for years, but all they've produced is a mad good-for-nothing."

Gu Xixi roughly guessed Mu Nan Zhao's intention.

"You intend to use Lv Jing's case to have the Capital Prefecture publicly try Fan Dongping, thereby dragging Grand Secretary Fan and the Fan family into it, bringing numerous charges down upon them like thunder."

One can imagine the evidence is already ready; the speed is such that they haven't given the Fan family any chance to catch their breath.

Mu Nan Zhao gazed at Gu Xixi with a smiling look of admiration.

"So this time the progress has been rapid, and the credit for capturing Fan Dongping alive goes to Dong Jia."

When he called her "Dong Jia," his voice was magnetic and faintly carried three parts affection.

Gu Xixi's face flushed at hearing it, "Aren't you still mad at me, giving me a cold shoulder?"

Mu Nan Zhao said, "One for one—if you keep putting yourself in danger, I will..."

Gu Xixi lifted her head and locked eyes with him. "What are you gonna do? Hit me? Scold me?"

She stood close now, her eyes bright and sparkling, smiling with a hint of anger as she goaded him.

The spring breeze brushed against him; the faint scent from her just-bathed body seemed to sprout delicate vines, winding from his nostrils straight into his heart…

Mu Nan Zhao's aura instantly dissipated; he turned his gaze aside, looking to the side as if helpless, yet also as if sulking.

"It's just something bought for a single cash—how dare I hit or scold the master?"

Gu Xixi had still been smiling, waiting for Mu Nan Zhao's reaction.

Upon hearing his words, thump! It was as if a rabbit, panicked and directionless, had slammed straight into her heart.

Gu Xixi was stunned for a moment, her provocative stance unconsciously softened.

"Is this one cash coin impossible to get past?"

She muttered softly, "I already said it wasn't intentional."

Mu Nan Zhao looked at her with a half-smile, "Tomorrow Jingzhao Prefecture will be a tough battle."

Gu Xixi understood, "Don't worry, I won't go, so I won't cause you trouble."

Mu Nan Zhao said, "I mean you can go watch."

"The disguise mask I made for you two before comes in handy now."

Gu Xixi lifted her eyes in surprise, "Really?"

Mu Nan Zhao saw her happy, and the corner of his mouth also unconsciously rose, "You've made so many arrangements; you probably also want to see with your own eyes what expression those villains will have when they realize they've been played."

Gu Xixi's eyes flickered, not overly surprised, "You already knew that."

"I wasn't deliberately hiding it from you."

Mu Nan Zhao calmly said, "I know."

Gu Xixi paused, then said, "Actually I haven't done much; Lu Jing has never stopped trying."

"I and Jing Lan just went with the flow, giving her a push."

Mu Nan Zhao said, "Perhaps you helped someone worth helping."

"You also helped me again."

Gu Xixi felt a bit embarrassed by the praise, wanting to end tonight's conversation, "It's trouble for you, a high and mighty Regent Prince, to climb over the wall at midnight to a neighbor's house just to tell me this."

"Jing Lan is still waiting for me to go back to sleep; if there's nothing else, you should head back soon, and I…"

"I'm not going back." Mu Nan Zhao's tone seemed as if it were only natural, "Tonight I'll stay right here."

Gu Xixi startled, "Ah?!"

As an adult from modern times, she immediately thought of some complicated adult-only possibilities.

She blurted out, "No way! Absolutely not!"