After being thoroughly violated, he ran away with the enemy emperor's child.

Mo Yan's words were pointed, but Chu Junci pretended not to understand and pushed the bowl towards him: "You won't be hungry after you finish eating."

"Aci is pretending to be stupid again."

As Mo Yan spoke, he pressed his fingertip to his lips: "Don't you know what I want to eat?"

"have no idea."

Taking advantage of Mo Yan's inattention, Chu Junci brushed him aside and came to the table: "Your Majesty, please enjoy your meal."

"OK."

Mo Yan smiled, but didn't press him. Instead, he said, "Your eyes aren't fully healed yet, so be careful not to fall."

Mentioning this matter, Mo Yan's smile faded slightly, and he instructed Wu Xu, "Invite Physician Liu here."

Previously, Physician Liu had said that Aci's eyes would recover quickly, but several days have passed and there has been no progress.

Physician Liu arrived quickly, carrying his medicine chest: "Greetings, Your Majesty, Your Highness."

"Imperial Physician Liu, I'll ask you one more time: when will Aci's eyesight recover?"

"Your Majesty, according to my previous calculations, Prince Chen should have regained his sight in the next few days, but..."

Physician Liu carefully chose his words, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, I am incompetent."

"You mean it's incurable?"

"It is my incompetence."

Physician Liu sighed deeply, even doubting his own medical skills, but he never considered the possibility that Chu Junci was pretending to be blind.

"A few days ago, I increased the dosage of the medicine, thinking that Your Highness would at least regain some of your vision. However, to my utter bewilderment, Your Highness still cannot see anything clearly."

"..."

Mo Yan paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over Chu Junci. "Isn't there any other way?"

Aci's eyes are beautiful, and Mo Yan doesn't want them to be tarnished.

The person in the middle of their conversation was standing in front of the table. Hearing their voices, he glanced at them and then looked away, noticing a scroll on the table.

The scroll was half-open, revealing two characters: A-Ling.

Ah Ling? Could this be a portrait of Chu Ling?

Chu Junci's heart suddenly raced. He reached out his hand, about to touch the painting, completely unaware that Mo Yan was staring at him with suspicion in his eyes.

"Aci, what are you looking at?"

Before he could answer, Mo Yan suddenly ripped the silk cloth off his eyes. Chu Junci didn't have time to close his eyes and his gaze met Mo Yan's.

Her eyes, now clear and bright, shone like the most beautiful glass in the world, but Mo Yan had no interest in admiring them. He gritted his teeth and said, "Get out of here."

The palace servants hurriedly left, and soon only Chu Junci and Mo Yan remained in the imperial study.

Neither of them spoke, and the hall became extremely eerie.

After an unknown amount of time, Chu Junci struggled, trying to pull his hand away from Mo Yan's grasp.

Mo Yan gripped him tightly: "Mo Ci, when did you regain your sight?"

"just."

"You lied to me."

His voice was deliberate and forceful, Mo Yan gritting his teeth: "Mo Ci, do you think I'm stupid?"

"no."

"Oh."

His anger surged, and he gripped Chu Junci's hand with a bit more force.

When Mo Yan opened his eyes again, the emotions in his eyes were even more intense: "Mo Ci."

"How should I punish you for deceiving the emperor?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the vermilion brush on the brush holder. Mo Yan reached out and took it, then swept the memorials and portraits on the table to the ground.

With a series of crackling sounds, the portrait rolled on the ground, revealing its true form. Chu Junci glanced at it, his expression one of astonishment.

He initially thought he was Chu Ling, but the person in the painting didn't resemble him at all...

He is not Chu Ling.

Who is he?

Before the question could be answered, he exclaimed in surprise, and by the time he realized what was happening, Mo Yan had already pressed him onto the table.

*

With each stroke of his vermilion brush, Mo Yan painted a plum blossom picture. He looked serious as his fingertips brushed across the pink stamens.

"Ink, Yan..."

Chu Junci trembled, the Xuan paper beneath him crumpled into a ball.

"Um?"

With a rising tone, Mo Yan seemed to be in a great mood, "Aci, tell me, when did you regain your sight?"

"...A few days ago."

He turned his head away, his rosy lips pressed tightly together.

"Good boy/girl."

With a vermilion brush, Mo Yan finished the last stroke, put the brush back on the brush holder, and then took out a bronze mirror, forcing Chu Junci to look at his masterpiece.

"Is Aci satisfied?"

Chu Junci did not answer for a long time. Mo Yan took out a vermilion brush and said, "Aci is not answering. It seems that he is not satisfied."

"In that case, I will paint another one, until you are satisfied."

"satisfy."

With a voice filled with gritted teeth, Chu Junci glared at Mo Yan, snatched the vermilion brush from his hand, and threw it hard on the ground.

Mo Yan wasn't angry. He straightened his robes and said, "It is my good fortune that Aci is satisfied."

"You are not allowed to wash it off for the next two days. I will be checking."

"If I discover the painting is missing, Aci, I will paint another one, understand?"

"Know."

Having received a satisfactory answer, Mo Yan finally released him and picked up the portrait from the ground: "Aci seems to be very interested in this painting."

"This is a portrait of Emperor Chu Ling of Yong Kingdom. Aci, I once suspected that you were Chu Ling, but now it seems that my Aci is a thousand times more handsome than Chu Ling."

Mo Yan threw the scroll into the charcoal brazier and watched it being licked by the flames before turning to ashes.

That night, the two stayed at Qiyue Palace. Chu Junci had a dream; he dreamed of Chu Ling.

He was still a child whose face was obscured. Chu Junci followed him to the training ground, where a middle-aged man dressed as a general and a little boy who was shorter than Chu Ling stood.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"General, you may dispense with the formalities."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

General Xie smiled and took the child beside him, saying, "This is my son, Yunzhou. His Majesty has decreed that from this day forward, he will be Your Highness's study companion, accompanying Your Highness in studying and practicing martial arts."

Chu Ling was aloof and had no friends. The emperor felt sorry for him because he was mature beyond his years, so he simply ordered General Xie to send his only son into the palace.

"Um."

Chu Ling nodded: "Father has already informed me of this news. From now on, Yunzhou will live in the West Side Hall of the East Palace."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Compared to Chu Ling, Xie Yunzhou seemed a bit timid. He was even younger than Chu Li, and at this moment, he tilted his head slightly, feeling somewhat uneasy.

The scene shifts, and Chu Ling and Xie Yunzhou have both grown into teenagers.

In the training ground, Chu Ling was practicing swordsmanship, while Xie Yunzhou watched from the side, a faint smile playing on his lips.

At this point, Xie Yunzhou was already taller than Chu Ling and looked stronger.

"Your Highness."

Seeing Chu Ling sheath her sword, Xie Yunzhou stepped forward, clutching a handkerchief: "Your Highness's swordsmanship has improved again."

As he spoke, he casually wiped the sweat from Chu Ling's forehead, "Unlike me, as the son of a general, I have been unable to learn the final move of this sword technique for a long time."

"It's alright."

Chu Ling took the handkerchief from his hand: "I'll teach you."

Xie Yunzhou and Chu Li are the same age. After spending several years together, Chu Ling has long regarded him as her younger brother.

"Your Highness is so kind." Xie Yunzhou smiled, but his eyes turned greedy where Chu Ling couldn't see.

He longed to embrace the bright moon, yet he knew it could never belong to him.

Even Mingyue had no idea about his shameful thoughts...

Chu Ling in the dream didn't see his eyes, but Chu Junci did.

As an observer, he clearly saw the emotions in Xie Yunzhou's eyes, the same look he had seen in Mo Yan's eyes before.

Xie Yunzhou likes Chu Ling.

For some reason, Chu Junci subconsciously frowned, feeling somewhat nauseous.

Before he could figure out the source of his emotions, he woke up and his eyes met Mo Yan's.

"woke up?"

The voice was sinister. It was still dark, and through the dim moonlight, he saw Mo Yan staring at him like a ghost.

"Aci, I was dreaming."

"?"

"I dreamt that you left me, married someone else, and had a child."

The more he spoke, the uglier Mo Yan's expression became. "My dear Aci, say you won't leave me, say it now."

Chu Junci didn't want to talk to him, but she was afraid he would suddenly go crazy, so she could only say perfunctorily, "I won't leave you."

"No, you have to swear an oath."

Mo Yan gripped his wrist: "Swear that if you leave me, I will punish you by making you pregnant with my child."

???

"Are you crazy?"

"I am not crazy."

But the dream was too real. Just thinking about it drove Mo Yan crazy. He couldn't accept that Mo Ci had left him and married another woman and had children.

"Mo Ci, swear an oath."

He shook his shoulder. "Swear you'll never leave me, do you hear me?"

"..."

Chu Junci felt dizzy from being shaken. "Okay, okay, stop shaking me."

He didn't care; it was just a vow, it wouldn't come true anyway.

"I won't leave you, okay?"

"no."

Mo Yan said sternly, "You have to say that I, Mo Ci, swear I will never leave Mo Yan, or I will get pregnant with Mo Yan's child."

"…OK."

Anyway, his name isn't Mo Ci.

"I, Mo Ci, swear I will never leave Mo Yan, or else I will get pregnant with Mo Yan's child."

After uttering those words numbly, Chu Junci sighed, "Is that enough?"

"That's more like it."

Mo Yan was finally satisfied. "Aci, you must remember your vow today, or I will haunt you even as a ghost."

"…oh."

Chu Junci was exhausted. He felt countless times that Mo Yan was not like an emperor at all, but he also seemed to have known an emperor who was not like an emperor.

Who was it? He forgot.

His memories were fragmented and incomplete, making them impossible for him to grasp. Chu Junci didn't know who he was, nor how to recover his memories.

After the farce, Chu Junci fell into a deep sleep again. When he awoke, Mo Yan had already gone to court.

It was just dawn, and he was no longer sleepy, so he simply sat by the window and read a book.

Just as he turned a few pages, a young eunuch suddenly appeared: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty requests your presence."

Chu Junci paused in his book-turning motion, looked up, and saw that the eunuch who had delivered the message was somewhat unfamiliar to him; he had never seen him before.

"Judging by the time, His Majesty has not yet finished court."

"Yes."

The young eunuch smiled and said, "His Majesty has instructed that the Prince be invited to the Imperial Study ahead of schedule."

"You're serving in the Imperial Study?"

"In reply to Your Majesty, I was just transferred to serve in the Imperial Study today."

Seeing that Chu Junci remained unmoved, the little eunuch urged, "Your Highness, it's getting late, shall we set off? His Majesty will soon be leaving court."

"Um."

Chu Junci stood up: "Go outside and wait for me."

"Yes."

The eunuch left, and Chu Junci put on his outer robe and put a dagger inside.

That little eunuch was definitely not sent by Mo Yan, but perhaps he could be used by him.

He pulled his robe tighter and opened the door: "Let's go."

"Alright, please, Mr. Chen."

"Lead the way ahead."

Upon discovering that Chu Junci didn't know the way to the Imperial Study, the little eunuch's smile deepened: "Yes, Your Highness, please follow this servant and don't get lost."

"Um."

The two walked one after the other, and Chu Junci's suspicions were confirmed.

This road is not the way to the Imperial Study at all. He didn't say anything, pretending not to have noticed.

After taking a few more steps, a voice suddenly appeared: "This isn't the way to the Imperial Study. Who are you?"

It turned out to be a hidden guard.

He questioned the young eunuch, "Are you really serving in the Imperial Study?"

"Of course...no."

He smiled eerily. "Kill him."

Upon hearing this, several darts immediately flew out from the artificial hill. The guard dodged them to the side and, after regaining his footing, discovered that Chu Junci had a knife held to his throat.

"Don't move."

The eunuch held Chu Junci hostage, saying, "Take one more step and I'll kill him."

"If anything happens to Chen Jun, His Majesty will not let you off the hook."

"If I were afraid, I wouldn't have come."

The little eunuch grinned wickedly: "Either let me take him away, or let him die by my blade right now. You choose."

"..."

The guard looked conflicted; no matter which option he chose, His Majesty would not spare him.

But if His Majesty were to see Chu Junci's corpse directly, I fear...

While he was lost in thought, the little eunuch had already led Chu Junci back a few steps: "Your Highness, please forgive us."

He suddenly chopped at the back of Chu Junci's neck, and Chu Junci groaned and fainted.

Unbeknownst to anyone, his tightly closed eyes trembled slightly.

"Lord Chen!" the guard said anxiously, his hands clenching tightly.

Seeing that the assassin was about to take Chu Junci away, he fired a signal flare, which burst into golden flowers in the air with a "bang".

Mo Yan, who was attending court, paused and immediately sat up straight.

The ministers below were still speaking at length when he raised his hand to interrupt them: "This matter will be discussed later. Court is adjourned."

Without waiting for the ministers' reaction, he strode out of the palace. "What's going on?"

Wu Xu shook his head, not daring to say more: "It's still unclear. This servant has already sent people to the location where the signal was transmitted."

Signal flares are rarely used in the palace. He only took one a few days ago for the guards secretly protecting Chu Junci. The fact that the signal flare has been fired can only mean one thing—

Chu Junci encountered danger.

Mo Yan had obviously thought of this as well. He gritted his teeth and said, "Seal off the palace gates and city gates. Protect Aci no matter what."

"Yes."

They arrived quickly, but were still no match for the assassins.

When he arrived at the signal transmission point, there was no one there; Mo Yan only saw a pool of blood on the ground.

Countless guards turned the palace upside down, the city gates were tightly closed, and the army patrolled day and night, searching house to house. They searched for a whole day, but still couldn't find Chu Junci. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

The vanished Chu Junci was taken to a small courtyard, a quiet and empty place where only he and two assassins were present.

They tied him to a pillar, and perhaps seeing that he was still unconscious, they whispered to each other, "What does the master want this man for?"

"Don't ask so many questions, just follow orders."

"Tsk, I was just curious, wasn't I?"

The man had a scar between his eyebrows, and his face showed signs of excessive indulgence: "Speaking of which, this man is actually quite handsome. No wonder the emperor likes him."

Upon hearing this, another person warned him, "I advise you not to have any unnecessary thoughts. If you ruin the adults' plans, you'll be in big trouble."

"I know, I know, how could I dare?"

Despite saying that, his gaze remained fixed on Chu Junci's face, and he even licked his lips.

He was indiscriminate in his choice of gender, and this was the first time he had ever seen such a beauty. It was just a pity that she was the one his master wanted.