Chapter 75: This Prince Is Not That Kind of Person

Chapter 75: I Am Not That Kind of Person

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan didn't even raise an eyebrow. He reached out unhurriedly and took the envelope Fu'an had presented.

"Who sent the letter?" Xiao Yan asked.

Fu'an quickly replied, "Your Highness, the messenger was an unfamiliar face. He didn't give his name, only said he was delivering a message. The man was quite generous, offering fifty taels of silver as a down payment, with a promise of a generous reward when the job was done. Fortunately, the servant who took the money was greedy but timid, and he knew the rules of the Prince Yu's Mansion well enough. The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, so he came to report to me."

Fu'an watched Xiao Yan's expression carefully, then cautiously hinted: "Perhaps the letter bears a signature..."

Xiao Yan shot him a cold glance.

"That's enough. You may go."

He tucked the envelope into his sleeve and turned and entered the bedchamber.

Inside, Liu Qingci had just set down his medicine bowl and was popping a candied fruit into his mouth.

When he saw Xiao Yan enter, his movements didn't pause. He popped the fruit into his mouth, letting the sweet and sour flavor dissolve on his tongue, washing away the bitterness of the medicine.

He looked up at Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan stood before Liu Qingci, his gaze lingering on the slightly puffed cheek for a moment before he took the letter from his sleeve.

Holding it between two fingers, he waved it in front of Liu Qingci.

"For you."

Liu Qingci's eyes fell on the plain envelope.

A hint of confusion flickered in his clear eyes. "My letter? From whom?"

"I don't know." Xiao Yan lifted his robe and sat down across from Liu Qingci, placing the envelope on the low table between them. "Someone spent fifty taels bribing a servant to get it to you."

Liu Qingci slowly swallowed the candied fruit and was silent for a few moments before speaking softly, "Some expense..."

Xiao Yan nodded in agreement.

Fifty taels was enough to make any ordinary person risk their life.

But the people in the Prince Yu's Mansion were different.

Prince Yu had a notorious reputation. Everyone knew that crossing him could cost more than just your own life.

Liu Qingci reached for another candied fruit from the porcelain dish and was about to bring it to his lips.

Xiao Yan saw it and snatched it with a quick motion from his fingers.

Their cool skin touched briefly, and Liu Qingci's fingers were suddenly empty.

His lips parted slightly, a look of bewilderment and shock on his face as he stared at the man across from him.

Xiao Yan casually tossed the stolen fruit into his own mouth.

He chewed it nonchalantly, his eyes fixed on Liu Qingci's face.

"Don't eat too many of those. They mess with the medicine's effect. I'll eat this. You read the letter."

Liu Qingci pursed his lips in resignation, then took a small sip from the teacup on the table.

He picked up the envelope and carefully opened it.

He pulled out the folded letter and spread it open.

Just as he was about to read it, he felt a gaze from across the table—seemingly casual.

Liu Qingci found it amusing. He looked up and asked, "Your Highness, curious about what's inside?"

Xiao Yan sat up straight and asked bluntly, "Mm, who's it from?"

Liu Qingci pressed, "Since Your Highness is curious, why not read it first before giving it to me?"

Xiao Yan cleared his throat. "Ahem... I'm not that kind of person."

At that, Liu Qingci's eyelashes drooped, hiding the smile in his eyes.

Xiao Yan gave up the pretense and leaned over to read the letter with Liu Qingci.

He skipped the content and went straight to the signature at the end.

"Chen Huaian? Is he a friend of yours?"

Xiao Yan thought the name sounded familiar—probably some minor character from the original story, but he couldn't remember exactly.

"Mm..."

Liu Qingci was carefully reading the fairly long letter.

Xiao Yan finished reading alongside him and fell silent for a moment.

Liu Qingci set the letter down, pondered for a moment, and then spoke in a low voice.

"Earlier, I wrote to Huaian, asking him to help me look into some matters..."

The letter stated that the information Chen Huaian had found was largely the same as what Xiao Jing had told him.

In addition, he had learned that the accountant Zhou Fu, who had returned to his hometown from the Liu family, had died suddenly the day before.

It was suspicious, and Chen Huaian suspected it might be a case of silencing a witness. He wrote to inform Liu Qingci and expressed his intention to go to Zhou Fu's hometown to investigate.

"This Zhou Fu has been missing all this time. He was likely aware that someone might try to kill him to silence him, which is why he was on the run."

Liu Qingci bowed his head, analyzing calmly.

"Zhou Fu was an extremely cautious man. He managed to sense danger and escape before. Now that something has happened, he might have left behind a contingency plan, or hidden some crucial evidence before he died."

Xiao Yan asked, "So you think Chen Huaian is going to find that contingency plan left by Zhou Fu?"

Liu Qingci nodded.

He looked at Xiao Yan with burning eyes. "Huaian is my friend, but in the end, he is an outsider. Yet he, an outsider, has gone to such lengths for my family..."

Xiao Yan met Liu Qingci's gaze, seeing the growing agitation in his emotions, and suddenly had a premonition.

Sure enough, the next moment Liu Qingci straightened up, kneeling on the soft couch with his hands folded on his knees.

"Your Highness, as a son of the Liu family, how can I sit idly by? Qingci humbly begs Your Highness to allow me to accompany Huaian on this journey."

Xiao Yan looked at Liu Qingci's almost pleading, humble posture, and felt deeply uneasy.

Who told him to kneel and beg?

At least he had the sense to kneel on the couch, not on the ground.

Liu Qingci was anxious and kept a close eye on Xiao Yan's expression.

He saw Xiao Yan frown slightly and assumed Xiao Yan was unwilling.

He said urgently, "Your Highness, didn't you say I should trust what I believe and do what I want? Now I have something I want to do. Won't you support me, Your Highness?"

Xiao Yan couldn't stand seeing Liu Qingci like that.

He sat down beside Liu Qingci, put his arm around his shoulder, and helped him sit up straight.

"I never said I don't support you..."

He sighed softly, looking troubled. "It's a long journey and it's dangerous. Besides, your health isn't good..."

"I'm fully recovered now." Liu Qingci leaned closer, as if to prove to Xiao Yan how healthy he really was. Anxiety was practically spilling out of his eyes.

"Your Highness, I'm not a porcelain doll. I've weathered plenty of storms. No matter how dangerous this trip is, I still want to go..."

Xiao Yan's mind was in turmoil, so he just said, "Let me think about it."

"Ding! A temporary task has been released."

"Task: Allow Liu Qingci to leave Prince Yu's mansion. Grant him temporary freedom."

Xiao Yan: "???"

Little K appeared: "Host, quickly agree to Liu Qingci's request. This task must be completed~"

Xiao Yan was puzzled: "This can't be right, can it?"

This was actually a task? He thought agreeing to let Liu Qingci go would be OOC!

Liu Qingci begged him like this; he really couldn't say no.

But letting Liu Qingci go might really be dangerous, and he feared the plot would stop it.

Little K said: "No mistake~ It's a temporary task that was just released!"

Xiao Yan thought for a moment and asked, "The original novel doesn't seem to have this plot?"

Little K: "Indeed, it doesn't."