The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat

The night was still, and the oil lamp burned quietly.

Mr. Du looked at Jiao Gui kneeling before him, his brow knitted and his expression grave.

"Give me liberty, or give me death... Did the Princely Heir really say that?"

Jiao Gui nodded. "Yes, those were the Princely Heir’s exact words."

A sense of panic grew within her, and she couldn’t help but press him.

"The Princely Heir isn’t actually going to drag the entire Yu Royal Mansion down with her just to fight for freedom, is she?"

She was a home-born servant of the Yu Royal Mansion. Her parents and siblings were all servants there. If the Yu Royal Mansion collapsed, they would all go down with it.

Mr. Du frowned in deep thought.

He hadn’t watched the Princely Heir grow up, but after several years in the Yu Royal Mansion, he had gained some understanding of her character.

As he recalled, the Princely Heir would occasionally argue with the family, and even dared to talk back to Prince Yu himself.

But deep down, she still cared deeply for her family in the Yu Royal Mansion.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have endured masquerading as a man for so many years just to protect the Yu Royal Mansion.

However...

This Princely Heir now seemed to have changed a great deal.

Her various escape attempts during the journey here made it clear that she truly wanted to leave the Yu Royal Mansion.

’Is this because she’s been repressed for so long that her personality has completely changed, or is there something more suspicious going on?’

Mr. Du couldn’t find a definite answer for now.

He said gravely.

"I have already written to Prince Yu about the situation in the capital. All we can do now is wait for his reply.

You need to keep a closer eye on the Princely Heir. From now on, if she goes out, you must follow her."

Jiao Gui hesitated. "Won’t that make the Princely Heir suspicious?"

She had always been the Princely Heir’s personal maid and was deeply trusted; the Princely Heir never hid anything from her.

In truth, however, Jiao Gui’s true loyalty was to Prince Yu.

In fact, everyone in the Yu Royal Mansion was loyal to Prince Yu alone.

Jiao Gui, Mr. Du, and even Ban Ren—all of them were spies sent by Prince Yu to watch the Princely Heir.

Mr. Du said helplessly, "I’m afraid she already suspects you."

Jiao Gui was stunned. "Huh?"

Mr. Du said slowly.

"The Princely Heir said those things to you on purpose.

She probably wanted to use you to relay those words to me and Prince Yu.

She wants to tell all of us that she is not a pawn to be manipulated.

If we really push her to the brink, she will take us all down with her."

Jiao Gui’s face paled as she listened. She stammered,

"Then what should I do?"

Mr. Du said, "Didn’t I just tell you? You just need to keep a close eye on the Princely Heir. I will handle the rest."

"Yes."

「The next morning.」

Hua Manman had just finished her breakfast when she heard a familiar voice from outside.

"Mother! Mother!"

She stood up, walked to the door, and immediately spotted Li Xun.

The little boy had just jumped down from a wooden ladder.

The moment his feet hit the ground, he bolted toward Hua Manman.

Hua Manman scolded him. "Why are you climbing the wall again? Didn’t you promise me you wouldn’t?"

Li Xun ran right up to his mother. At her words, he immediately looked indignant and said, puffing his cheeks,

"I was going to come through the main gate.

But the people at the Yu Royal Mansion wouldn’t let me in. They said Mother has been very busy these past two days and has no time to see outsiders.

But I’m not an outsider, I’m Mother’s precious son!

I got so mad that I climbed the wall to find you."

’It only took Hua Manman a moment’s thought to realize this must have been Mr. Du’s doing.’

’Mr. Du wanted her to stay put in the mansion for the next couple of days, cut off from the outside world. Any visitors would be turned away.’

Hua Manman patted Li Xun’s little head.

"Even so, you shouldn’t climb the wall. If you really want to see me, you can just call out from the other side of the wall, and I’ll come out to you."

Li Xun had been worried that she didn’t want to see him. Hearing her say this, he was instantly relieved, and a joyful smile spread across his little face.

"Uh-huh, I get it!"

Hua Manman led him into the house, asking, "Where’s your father?"

Li Xun replied, bobbing his head.

"My father went to the Ministry of Justice, I think to investigate the case of the Heir of Prince Qing.

And someone from the palace sent a message recently, saying the Saint is gravely ill and urging Father to visit.

Tsk tsk, looks like Father is really busy!"

Hua Manman couldn’t help but smile.

She reached out and flicked the child’s forehead.

"You seem to know quite a lot."

Li Xun loved showing off in front of his mother.

He said smugly.

"They all think I’m just a kid who doesn’t understand anything, so they don’t watch what they say around me.

But I actually understand a lot!

If you want to know anything, Mother, you can just ask me."

Hua Manman found his demeanor amusing and couldn’t resist teasing him.

She feigned a thoughtful expression, then after a moment, she asked,

"In that case, do you know how the investigation into the Heir of Prince Qing’s case is going? Have they caught the poisoner yet?"

Li Xun’s little face scrunched up.

’He didn’t know about that!’

But he didn’t want to lose face in front of her, so he scratched his head, wracking his brain for a decent answer.

Seeing this, Hua Manman found it all the more amusing.

She gave an order to Jiao Gui, who was standing in attendance beside her.

"Go bring over the fresh ice jelly from the kitchen, along with some fresh fruit and pastries."

"Yes."

Jiao Gui walked to the doorway, passed the Princely Heir’s order to the servants outside, and then returned to her position behind her.

’Hua Manman noticed this but pretended she hadn’t seen a thing.’

She said to the little boy with a beaming smile.

"Don’t worry about it. When your father returns, we’ll probably find out who the real culprit is."

Having failed to give his mother a satisfactory answer, Li Xun felt dejected. His small shoulders slumped, and his voice was listless.

"Oh."

Hua Manman changed the subject.

"Why do you always run over here? Don’t you have classes to attend?"

"Mr. Du is injured, isn’t he?" Li Xun grumbled. "He doesn’t have time to teach me lately."

’Hua Manman knew that Mr. Du was completely unable to control this little hellion.’

She asked, "Hasn’t your father ever thought of sending you to school? As I recall, the Prince’s Sons here in Shangjing all attend the Imperial College, don’t they?"

At the mention of school, Li Xun’s eyes darted away, and his voice lost its confidence.

"I attended the Imperial College... for two days."

Hua Manman had a bad feeling and pressed him, "And then?"

’Li Xun didn’t want to answer.’

’But it was his mother asking, and he couldn’t refuse to answer.’

He could only say in a small voice,

"I got into a fight with a classmate at school, and I injured him.

The teacher at the Imperial College got really mad and insisted I apologize to my classmate.

I wasn’t in the wrong, so I refused to apologize. I started skipping school every day, and after a while, I just stopped going altogether."