"You're awake." It was a man with a deep, thick voice.
Qi Mingyue didn't answer, instead, he just sat up and scanned his surroundings. There was nothing special about the furnishings in the room, but every detail was very thoughtful. Whether it was the tables, chairs or other furniture, all were placed in the most appropriate position. The bed's mattress was soft, luxurious and had detailed embroidered patterns on it, its make wasn't inferior to the items used in the palace.
It seems that he doesn't want to answer, the man thought and didn't care. He turned sideways to look over at the figure on the bed. Qi Mingyue jumped off the bed and adjusted his bloody shirt, only then did the man notice the blood on his clothes and a surprised look appeared in his eyes.
"I didn't expect that Your Second Highness has such good skills despite being so young, you were even able to hurt Wu Yao." His tone did not fluctuate, it wasn't clear whether he was admiring Qi Mingyue or was dissatisfied with him.
"His name is Wu Yao? Can you let me see him?" Qi Mingyue walked up to the chair opposite to the man, sat down, and picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Why do you want to see him?" The man in front of Qi Mingyue was wearing a red robe, its dark colour seemed to be tainted with blood and revealed a cold aura which was completely incompatible with the dazzling colour.
Qi Mingyue tasted the tea and tilted his head. He began, "Mingyue is just curious. I just want to know who brought me here from the palace. Can't you fulfil this small request?" Like a typical child of his age, he pretended to be aggrieved and pursed his lips.
"Your Second Highness does not need to play tricks. Here, I am the master," the man in red looked immovable, with a sense of satire in his words and seemed to be ridiculing his actions.
Qi Mingyue lowered his head, "Then why did you constrain me here? Do you not know that Father Emperor loves me very much? If he knows that you tied me, he will certainly not let you go."
Perceiving the tremor in his voice, the man in red smirked, "Now, who doesn't know that the Second Prince is handsome and talented and that the Emperor loves you like a treasure? Although Jing Huang doesn't live in the palace, this is still known."
Hearing what he said, something flashed in Qi Mingyue's mind. The man's eyebrows looked a bit familiar, and suddenly, he realized whom it resembled. His raised his head and glared, "You are related to Consort Hua! How dare you take me out of the palace?! Don't you know this is a capital offence?!"
The man named Jing Huang laughed, "Your Royal Highness is worthy of your reputation, you really didn't disappoint me. No wonder Qi Xutian loves you so much and Fenghua suffered." Although he was laughing, it wasn't genuine. When he spoke of Consort Hua, his voice turned cold and emotionless, "My sister miscalculated and overestimated her status in Qi Xutian's heart. It's really ridiculous!" There was a sense of schadenfreude when he finished.
Qi Mingyue remembered that the original name of Consort Hua was Jing Fenghua. It was said that she was originally the young Palace Misteress of Fenghua Palace in Jianghu. Fenghua Palace was passed on through women, not men. It had always been controlled by women. When the previous Palace Mistress passed away, it was she who inherited the position. Later, after conceiving Father's child, she went to the palace to become Consort Hua. Listening to his words, he seemed to be against her, "Then why didn't you even help her? Didn't you kidnap me for the sake of revenge because Father Emperor abolished her martial arts?"
Jing Huang smiled again, "Jing Huang would like to thank him for this. If he hadn't done so, how could I get Fenghua Palace? Now her martial arts are completely worthless, just like ordinary people. Fenghua Palace can't be hers since she's useless." Jing Huang's smile made Qi Mingyue tremble and lower his head.
"Since it's not for her, you... what did you kidnap me for?"
He was very calm at first, then he tentatively asked about it again and waited for the man to talk about it. Even though he wanted to conceal it, he couldn't help but show his timidity. What could he do as a five-year-old child? Although his quick wit hurt Wu Yao but, after all, he was just a child. Even if he was smart and very favoured, what could he do now that he was out of the palace and had fallen into the hands of others?
Jing Huang reached out and patted his small head, and felt that the black hair under his hand was very soft. He lowered his voice and slid his hand down to Qi Mingyue's neck and felt the child stiffen. He smiled proudly, "No need to be afraid, as long as your Father Emperor gives me what I want, you will be able to go back. Who told you to be so favoured? I can only use you to exchange for the thing I want."
The treasured baby of the palace was under his hand at this time. As long as he tightened his grip even a little, he would disappear from this world entirely. This feeling made him very satisfied. Thinking about what he was going to get, he released his hold on the child's neck and looked at the silent child who had bowed his head, "You have a good rest here for the next few days. As long as you are obedient, no one will hurt you."
After listening to his words, Qi Mingyue slowly relaxed, but Jing Huang, who had left, did not see that the child sitting alone at the table had only a faint thoughtful look on his face and a sneer on the corner of his mouth.
This was true of all people in the world - even if he knew that Qi Mingyue was smarter than his peers, he still only considered him a child. The previous impression, in the end, still had some effect. Jing Huang would never have expected that the five-year-old child wasn't miserable and terrified at the moment, but had a cold killing intent brewing within along with a little excitement.
Not to mention all the drugs on his body, he was surprised that these things had not been found. Thinking of that Wu Yao who was injured by him, could he have thought that a prince of the palace would not put anything dangerous on his body? Just as he was wondering, the sound of footsteps came from outside the door.
"The Palace Master ordered Wu Yao to come." After saying this, he stood in front of the door, neither coming in nor leaving. His face was impassive, without any emotion whatsoever.
Qi Mingyue saw that he was wearing plain-white compact clothes, a faint splotch of blood was visible on his waist and was especially conspicuous. "Come in." As soon as he spoke, Wu Yao stepped into the room without making a sound. After he came in, he stood still like a puppet.
"Come closer." Qi Mingyue saw him like this and found it quite interesting. When Wu Yao reached his side, he found that the man was indeed like a puppet without a soul, more lifeless than a killer. Such a 'person' seemed to be not a part of the world. Even if he went and started killing people, he wouldn't emit even a hint of murderous intent, not because he could converge it well, but because he simply didn't possess it.
This person was "dead".
Qi Mingyue had never seen a person like this. Was he really born without a soul or was actually trained to be like this? Or was it because of practising some unusual martial arts?
"Sit down."
Wu Yao sat down but made no further movements and remained still.
"Your Highness wanted to see Wu Yao, so I let him come. As long as Your Highness does not do any unnecessary actions, Jing Huang will treat you kindly. Is His Highness satisfied?" A figure clad in red appeared in front of him.
"Is he really alive?" Qi Mingyue asked, pointing at Wu Yao.
Jing Huang nodded, "He naturally is. If your Highness is not afraid, you can touch him with your hand to see if he is warm."
Qi Mingyue shook his head. Of course, he knew that this was a living person. However, he still made a relieved expression after hearing Jing Huang's answer. Between this exchange of question and answer, Wu Yao neither expressed any emotion nor did he take any action, his expression didn't fluctuate even when Jing Huang appeared. It seemed that regardless of whether they were talking about him or not, it had nothing to do with him.
"Wu Yao, when you took me out of the palace, did you see something in my hand?" Qi Mingyue inquired.
"Yes." Wu Yao replied.
Jing Huang cared about what it was, "What? Why didn't you give it to me?"
"Yes?" Wu Yao said a word and the two of them nodded at the same time. Then, he stood up and his figure disappeared, it was as if he suddenly vanished into thin air. Not even Father's shadow guards had such skills, Qi Mingyue thought appreciatively. Suddenly, he became aware that Wu Yao had only one wound on his body. This meant he hadn't dealt with the shadow guards, but why did the shadow guards not protect him during the feast? Or did Wu Yao move too fast and the shadow guards couldn't stop him?
A white shadow flashed again, Wu Yao stood in front of the two and took out a long dagger with a simple design. Python skin was wrapped around the handle and the blade was covered by a dark sheath engraved with various intricate U-shaped patterns. It was the one Qi Mingyue had used to cut Ming Xun at the banquet hall.
Seeing Jing Huang's disappointed look, it seemed that what he wanted was not a sword or the like. Qi Mingyue took over the dagger and said to him, "This is from Father Emperor, I love it very much. It's usually hung on the wall."
Jing Huang glanced at it and was no longer interested. It was just a dagger; even if it was sharper than usual, it was of no use to him. "Give it to me for safekeeping first. I will return it when Your Highness returns to the palace."
He had long expected that he would not be able to keep this dagger with him. Qi Mingyue intentionally hesitated and looked at Wu Yao, "I want to put it on Wu Yao, is that okay?"
Jing Huang thought that this child liked this thing too much and just didn't want to give it to him. He wanted to give it to Wu Yao, who was not even like a living person so he could rest assured. Jing Huang nodded indifferently. "Yes, as long as it is not in Your Highness' hands. That way, I won't need to worry about Your Highness inadvertently hurting yourself. "
He didn't want him to make an unwise move with the sharp weapon. Qi Mingyue put it in front of Wu Yao, "You can use it, it is yours before I leave this place."
Wu Yao took it and placed it somewhere he couldn't see.
"Can you let Wu Yao stay with me? Staying alone in the room is boring."
Jing Huang was very surprised by Qi Mingyue's request, but he agreed, "As long as your Highness doesn't leave this room, you can tell him what you need."
"Thank you, Palace Master. I hope that my request won't be an inconvenience for you. I think that, in addition to Wu Yao, there must certainly be a lot of people under you who can do things for you. Such a big estate can't be managed without the help of several people. Besides, the people of Fenghua Palace even managed to avoid the eyes and ears of Father Emperor, it's admirable."
"If Your Highness wants to inquire about how much manpower Jing Huang brought, I can tell you that half the people of Fenghua Palace are here. Furthermore, there is a branch of Fenghua Palace here. We're not far from Ye Yao City where the Royal Palace is located, however, the location of this place is a secret and it's very difficult to find. Your Highness doesn't need to worry about it. The people of your Father Emperor can't find it for a while. Don't worry, we'll stay here for a few days until I get what I want, then you'll be able to go back."
Qi Mingyue sighed, "Then, Palace Master, please find some interesting books for me so that I can kill time." As early as he saw that Jing Huang was very arrogant, he had tried to test him a little, and he ended up confessing to himself after a little temptation. This childish appearance he acquired was really good for showing weakness.
Seeing his helpless compromise, Jing Huang rested his mind and ordered Wu Yao to go to the study room to find some books, and then threw them for Mingyue to read. Then, he found someone to guard the door before leaving.
•×•×•×•
For the past few days, Wu Yao had been sitting on the chair in the room. Qi Mingyue read books, while Wu Yao sat motionlessly. As long as Qi Mingyue spoke, he listened, sometimes nodded and sometimes there was no response.
Qi Mingyue always felt that it was strange. Was Wu Yao really like a dead man and did not even need to sleep? Because for the past few days, he never saw him sleep with his eyes closed.
"Wu Yao, don't you have to sleep?" One day, he finally asked the question that had been plaguing him.
"Sleep." His answer was concise as always.
"Then why haven't I seen you close your eyes? Can you sleep with your eyes open?" He had long since known that martial artists could fall asleep while sitting, but didn't know if they could sleep with their eyes open as well.
"No need."
"Why?" No need to close your eyes?
"Blindness."
Hearing his answer, Qi Mingyue looked at him in surprise. Wu Yao was still sitting still, giving people the feeling that he was neither cold nor warm, just like a lifeless machine. Like his demeanour, his eyes were cold and empty. He usually seemed so receptive and coordinated that others didn't even notice that he couldn't even see things!
No wonder! He had been wondering why he hadn't realised that someone was watching him that day at the banquet until he was approached. He wasn't wrong that day, instead, it was Wu Yao who had no sense of presence! Even if his perception was stronger than others, how would he be able to perceive a ghost-like existence?
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