Chapter 150: This… Is My Sixth Brother

Chapter 150: This... Is My Sixth Brother

There is a saying: "When a good person does bad things, it's more disgusting than when a bad person does them."

In Qin Jiao's heart, Ning Zhong had always played the role of a "good person," so now looking at Ning Zhong again made him physically sick.

And Qing Yi—with a face that was seventy percent like his own—said and did all that. Even though Qin Jiao knew he wasn't like Qing Yi, he still felt all mixed up and split in two.

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't stop dry-heaving.

Xie Nai comforted Qin Jiao while telling Luo Yue, "Get them out of here."

"Cousin Qin..."

Ning Zhong tried to say more, but Luo Yue had already walked over and unceremoniously shoved him out. "Get lost! Watch it, or I'll break your other leg too!"

Qing Yi was scared Luo Yue might actually hit him, so he clung to Ning Zhong's arm and whined pitifully, "Cousin, let's go. I want to go home."

"You..."

Ning Zhong glanced at Qing Yi, then at Qin Jiao's unyielding back, sighed, and limped off with Qing Yi.

After Ning Zhong left, it took Qin Jiao a while for the nausea to pass. Xie Nai stayed by his side the whole time, now stroking his hair, now patting his back.

"I need to go write a letter!"

Suddenly Qin Jiao shot up, moving so fast he nearly knocked over the table.

"What's so urgent that you need to write?" Xie Nai asked, grabbing Qin Jiao's shoulder.

"Write to Steward Wen and tell him to toss everything connected to Ning Zhong!"

Qin Jiao was someone who loved and hated clearly—from now on, he wouldn't see or touch Ning Zhong or anything he'd given him again.

"It's not that urgent," Xie Nai said calmly.

Qin Jiao looked at Xie Nai's calm face, and something suddenly clicked in his mind. "Did you already know about Qing Yi and Ning Zhong?" he asked.

Qin Jiao remembered that from the start, Xie Nai had never seemed surprised by how much Qing Yi looked like him. He'd just watched coldly as Ning Zhong and Qing Yi's whole "stand-in farce" played out.

"I did find out a bit before you did."

Earlier, when Luo Yue was looking into nanny Chai's business, he'd also come across some stuff about Ning Zhong. It wasn't a capital crime, but it was definitely dirty business, so Xie Nai had never brought it up with Qin Jiao.

He'd planned to deal with it when he got the chance, but one thing after another kept getting in the way, until it all blew up in front of Qin Jiao today.

"No wonder you never liked me hanging around Ning Zhong." Qin Jiao looked at Xie Nai's handsome profile, and a strange feeling suddenly rose in his chest. "Xie Nai, are you unhappy too?"

The young master he cherished being the object of someone else's dirty fantasies—that had to sting a little, right?

Xie Nai could read Qin Jiao's mind at a glance. He gently pulled him into his arms and reassured him, "Don't overthink it. It's not your fault."

"Are Qing Yi and I really that alike?" Qin Jiao murmured. "Can you tell us apart at a glance?"

Seeing Qin Jiao was starting to spiral, Xie Nai sighed, held him close, and patted his back. "He's him, and you're you."

Xie Nai pressed a gentle kiss to Qin Jiao's ear, his voice low, husky, and calm. "This king knows who I'm holding right now, and I know who I've always been kissing."

Xie Nai pulled back a little, his eyes bright as cold stars, locked unwaveringly on Qin Jiao. "It's Qin Jiao."

Like a butterfly fluttering its wings, Qin Jiao's long lashes fluttered rapidly on their own. Then Xie Nai smiled and said it again, "It's always been Qin Jiao."

Those six simple words spread like wildfire, instantly setting Qin Jiao's whole body ablaze. His surging, scorching emotions peaked in that moment—his heart pounded wildly, and the tips of his ears turned red without him even realizing.

"Ahem, ahem."

Just as Qin Jiao's feelings were at their peak, two deliberate coughs came from nearby. Qin Jiao turned and saw Cong Shuang waving at him, while Si Lu hung his head awkwardly.

Qin Jiao quickly pushed Xie Nai away and pretended to be busy fixing his clothes.

Cong Shuang came over with Si Lu and grinned at Qin Jiao. "Feeling shy?"

"Sister Congshuang, don't tease me." Qin Jiao said, glancing at Si Lu. If he remembered right, when Ning Zhong led Qing Yi away earlier, Si Lu had been about to follow too—but Cong Shuang had grabbed him and pulled him back.

Now Qin Jiao noticed Si Lu still had a silk bandage around his arm. Apparently, when Si Lu was leaving, Cong Shuang had spotted his wound and kept him back to help bandage it.

Cong Shuang talked a mile a minute, explaining in a few sentences how Si Lu had saved her. Qin Jiao felt deeply grateful after hearing it.

"Thank you, Young Master Si Lu, for saving my sister." Qin Jiao clasped his fists to Si Lu, who quickly returned the gesture. "Young Master Qin, no need to be so formal."

Noticing Si Lu's stiff formality, Qin Jiao smiled. "No need to be so formal, Young Master. Just call me Qin Jiao."

Seeing how easygoing Qin Jiao was, Si Lu relaxed, and his gaze unconsciously drifted to Xie Nai beside him. Qin Jiao noticed and, after a moment's thought, introduced him: "This... is my sixth brother."

"Sixth brother?"

Xie Nai raised an eyebrow, his eyes full of barely hidden amusement.

"Yes, isn't he my sixth brother?"

Qin Jiao blinked. Since Xie Nai was traveling incognito this time—and Qing Yi and the others didn't know who he really was—it was better to keep things simple and just turn "Prince of Lingnan" into his "sixth brother" for now.

"Mhm." Xie Nai looked at the young man's sparkling eyes and nodded with a smile. "I'm your sixth brother."

Cong Shuang propped her chin in her hands off to the side, her mouth curving into a crescent moon.

"Oh, right, young master, can you do Si Lu a favor?"

After "finishing her candy," Cong Shuang suddenly remembered something. She'd almost forgotten—this was the real reason she'd kept Si Lu here!

"Sure, what favor?"

Qin Jiao agreed without hesitation, which made Si Lu a bit embarrassed. Seeing him hem and haw, Cong Shuang spoke up for him directly: "Young master, let's help Si Lu..."

-

Thanks to the whole Qing Yi and Cao Gui mess, Qin Jiao and the others' trip to Xiaoxiang Prefecture got delayed a few more days.

During those days, the governor of Lingbei came to see Xie Nai every day—first reporting on the "Cao Gui corpse-ransom case," then submitting paperwork on regulating corpse-recovery fees in Lingbei.

Xie Nai went through them all one by one, then sent a memorial to the capital. By the day they officially left Lingbei, the court's imperial envoy had also arrived.

And it just so happened that on that very day, Cao Gui finally cracked and confessed.

It turned out he was connected not just to Lu Ming's death—he'd killed Lv Wei too.

Cao Gui admitted that on that day, he'd run into a drunk Lu Ming at a remote spot along the Fengwu River. The two got into a shouting match that turned into a physical fight. During the struggle, Lu Ming scratched Cao Gui and spilled wine all over him. In a fit of rage, Cao Gui caught Lu Ming off guard and shoved him into the river.

It just so happened that Lv Wei, who'd come to trade the Linggu Stone with Lu Ming, saw the whole thing. Lv Wei then used that to blackmail Cao Gui. In the end, Cao Gui decided to go all the way—under the pretense of delivering money to Lv Wei, he lured him out and pushed him into the river too.

As for the specific details of the crimes, Qin Jiao hadn't paid much attention when the governor reported them. But in the end, this whole case could be summed up in eight words: "Men die for wealth; greed blinds the heart."

"Something's off!"

On the boat heading to Xiaoxiang County, He Zhao playfully chased Luo Yue around while hollering at Qin Jiao:

"Have you forgotten? That day at Fengwu Tower, how full of themselves Lu Ming and Lv Wei were when they insulted Qing Yi?"

The glittering river reflected a blood-red half-sun, and far off, wild geese flew in a "V" formation across the twilight glow. He Zhao's voice drifted further away:

"What father could put up with that..."

"Who knows."

Qin Jiao gazed into the distance, images of Cao Gui's graying hair and murky eyes flashing through his mind.

In the end, the cries of the geese mingled with the river's murmur, swallowing up a heart too hard to read...

"None of it matters anymore."

Qin Jiao's voice trailed off faintly.

----------------------------------------