Amid everyone's clamoring explanations, Xie Ning finally understood everything completely.
Father… wasn't his father? How could that be!
Xie Ning's face fell, looking somewhat disappointed. In truth, Shen Wang was almost exactly what he had imagined a father to be.
That was why he had accepted him so quickly and readily, without a shred of doubt.
But now, suddenly learning that his father was someone else entirely, Xie Ning was plunged into bewilderment and confusion.
No… it wasn't so?
Butler Hu wore an expression that practically screamed "Young Master, you've finally seen Shen Wang's true colors!" and looked at him with eager anticipation, saying, "Young Master, come with us. Whatever you want, our estate has it all—it won't be any worse than here."
His master had repeatedly instructed him before leaving the capital to handle this matter well. Who could have expected that the young master he had so eagerly awaited had run off to the rival household instead.
After a moment, Xie Ning shook his head, took a step back, and hid behind Shen Wang.
This uncle before him spoke very strangely.
Like the kind of strange uncle his father had told him about—the type who offers children candy but would actually sell them off.
Frightened by his own imagination, he shook his head like a rattle-drum. "I don't want to go."
In a place Xie Ning couldn't see, Shen Wang's lips were nearly impossible to restrain, but in front of Butler Hu, he put on airs, his words dripping with the intent to see the guest out. "You saw it too. Ningbao doesn't want to go with you."
He even emphasized the words "doesn't want to."
Butler Liu immediately seized the opportunity. "Exactly! Give up now, will you? The young master is doing very well at our estate."
Butler Hu knew that there was no way he would be taking Xie Ning away today. "Wait until my master returns to the capital!"
With that, he left with his people.
Wen Qingyuan let out a sigh, thinking that since things had already come to this, he might as well tell Xie Ning everything. He continued, "Ningbao, Suisui is sick, so Uncle might not be able to continue staying in the capital with you."
Suisui was Wen Qingyuan's daughter, a year or two older than Xie Ning, and the two often played together.
"Sister Suisui is sick?!" Xie Ning's expression turned shocked and worried upon hearing this. "Uncle Qingyuan, don't worry! I can manage on my own!"
He patted his chest, speaking with a promise.
Last time, Xie Ning had seemed to make the same promise, and then successfully relied entirely on himself to mistake the wrong person.
Still, Wen Qingyuan nodded in affirmation, coaxing him like a child. "Mm, Ningbao is very clever and very capable. I'm sure you'll be fine."
Xie Ning beamed with delight, then suddenly remembered something. "Wait for me just a moment."
With that, he turned and ran toward his room, and before long, came running back out.
He rummaged through his little schoolbag, and finally handed Wen Qingyuan a pouch. "Father left this for me. If you run into bad people on the road, you can use it."
Then he continued rummaging. "This is my favorite lotus cake. I hope Sister Suisui can get better soon."
In truth, the journey from the capital to Jizhou was long and distant—bringing pastries along would surely mean they'd spoil halfway.
But Wen Qingyuan's eyes grew moist, and he nodded repeatedly, accepting everything.
"If things don't go well for you in the capital, you can always return to Jizhou in the future. Jizhou will forever be your home." Wen Qingyuan stepped forward and embraced Xie Ning.
Xie Ning did not understand at that moment—of course Jizhou was his home; his father was still there.
Seeing the scene before him, Shen Wang thought he had misheard. Only after they finished speaking did he voice his question, "Father? Wasn't Xie Ning raised by his mother in Jizhou?"
Before Wen Qingyuan could answer, Xie Ning immediately jumped in, "Father, you're silly! Ningbao doesn't have a mother."
He hadn't yet changed his form of address.
Shen Wang's mind buzzed. So that was it. No wonder he had searched for so many days without finding a single trace—it defied all logic.
It turned out he had been wrong from the very start. He had always assumed it was Xie Ning's mother who had raised him, never once considering the possibility that both parents were men.
The prevalence of same-sex relationships was common in this dynasty, and people had long grown accustomed to it. But it was rare for two men to raise a child together.
So from the beginning, he had simply assumed that Xie Ning's mother had been the one raising him in Jizhou. With that lead, following it down should have yielded results quickly.
Shen Wang's heart was complicated at this moment.
On one hand, he hoped to help Xie Ning find his family soon; on the other, he hoped it would take a little longer, so he could spend more time with Xie Ning.
"That's right. My good friend Xie Qingci is a man, and Xie Ning is his child," Wen Qingyuan explained further.
Shen Wang nodded in understanding. "I see. I'll have people look into it right away."
"Then I entrust Ningbao to your care, sir." Wen Qingyuan gave a deep bow.
Shen Wang nodded solemnly in acceptance.
Xie Ning's gaze darted back and forth between the two, then he suddenly slapped his own head. "Oh no!"
At his words, everyone turned to look at him.
"I haven't finished my homework yet!" Xie Ning whined. "What do I do?!"
"…"
When Shen Wang carried him back to the room on his back, Xie Ning lay against his shoulders, feeling a little troubled.
Father wasn't his father, so what should he call him from now on? This little problem vexed his small mind, and he thought for a long time without coming up with an answer.
As if possessing the ability to read minds, Shen Wang said, "If you'd like, you can think of me as your godfather."
Xie Ning counted on his fingers, muttering as he went, "One, two, three…"
"Then I'll have three fathers from now on!" Xie Ning cheered, nearly jumping up on Shen Wang's back. "How cool—I have two more than everyone else!"
Then, without the slightest bit of embarrassment, full of novelty, he shouted, "Godfather!"
A smile tugged at the corners of Shen Wang's lips as he softly acknowledged the call.
But before long, Xie Ning couldn't smile anymore, because when he counted, he realized he still had half of his characters left to write. His whole face scrunched up.
Xie Ning made a bitter face. "Oh no. I shouldn't have slacked off earlier."
"If you don't want to write, then don't. Tomorrow I'll go speak with the teacher," Shen Wang said. His mood was excellent at the moment, and he was nearly willing to grant him anything.
Hearing this, Xie Ning was clearly tempted for a moment, but still shook his head in refusal. "No, I need to finish it myself."
Shen Wang didn't push him to accept and simply let him be.
And so Xie Ning wrote away with great effort beside him, while he reviewed official documents nearby.
The night grew deeper and deeper. Shen Wang glanced at the sky and felt rather displeased. What kind of nonsense was it for a teacher to assign this much homework to a small child?
"Let's stop here. You can finish it tomorrow," Shen Wang urged.
Xie Ning insisted, "Just a little more. Almost done."
Seeing this, Shen Wang didn't say anything more and went to wash up first. When he came out, he saw Xie Ning lying on the table, quiet and still.
He tiptoed closer and saw that Xie Ning had already fallen asleep, breathing evenly.
"…"
So, moving as gently as possible, he carried Xie Ning to the bed and tucked him in.
Seeing the faint traces of exhaustion beneath his eyes, Shen Wang furrowed his brows slightly.
He stared for a while, then returned to the desk and looked at his schoolwork. It was simply practice writing large characters, but Xie Ning couldn't quite control the brush strokes yet, so every character was written very slowly.
There were still a few blank sheets on the desk.
Shen Wang remained silent for a long time without moving.
The next day.
Xie Ning woke up naturally. The moment he opened his eyes, he thought, oh no—he hadn't finished his homework last night, wuwuwu.
He was definitely going to get scolded by the teacher today.
He wondered if the teacher might forgive him this once, considering he'd already completed most of it.
Xie Ning went to class feeling very anxious. When he handed his homework to the teacher, he looked around nervously.
Then he suddenly spotted Xiao Bai at the door, with something in his mouth.
While Xie Ning and Xiao Bai were exchanging looks, the teacher above said in a deep voice, "Mm, the homework is all complete. Not bad."
"Huh?!" Xie Ning immediately lifted his head upon hearing this, unable to hide the surprise in his eyes.
"But there are still a few places that aren't written well enough—here, and here," the teacher pointed at a few characters. "These characters look like they weren't written carefully, like you were just copying the shape without the spirit."
"When writing, you need to pay attention to structure…"
The teacher's words drifted off into the distance, faint and indistinct, but Xie Ning couldn't help recalling in his mind—he hadn't even gotten around to writing that character yesterday.
Mm… maybe he remembered wrong.
Xie Ning shook his head and didn't keep dwelling on it. What he was most curious about right now was what Xiao Bai had in his mouth.
But with the teacher looming above him at the moment, Xie Ning didn't dare make the slightest move, his mind racing at full speed.
After a long while, Xie Ning raised his hand. "Teacher, I want to pee."
The teacher put down his book and looked at him speechlessly, then instructed, "A scholar should say 'relieve himself.' Don't speak so—"
Before the teacher could finish, Xie Ning immediately corrected himself, "Teacher, I want to relieve myself."
Teacher: "…Go ahead."
Having received permission, Xie Ning dashed out in a flash. Naturally, he didn't actually go—the moment he reached the corner, he couldn't help but take the thing out of Xiao Bai's mouth.
It was a note.
He unfolded it and read: "Tonight at shen shi, meet at the secret base."
There was no signature, but Xie Ning knew who it was from at a glance and couldn't help the corners of his mouth curling up.
"Xiao Bai, Xiao Bai, you've done a great service this time. I'll give you an extra chicken leg tonight." Xie Ning said, half-crouching. "Help me pass a note back in a bit."
Xiao Bai: "Woof!"
"Shh, don't bark—what if the teacher hears you." Xie Ning quickly shushed him several times.
He didn't dare linger outside any longer and hurried back to his desk, but by now he couldn't focus on the teacher's lecture at all.
His only thought was getting to the secret base as soon as possible.
His little movements all fell within the master's sight, angering him so much that his beard bristled and his eyes bulged. But when he had come this morning, Butler Liu had specifically instructed him not to assign too much coursework to Xie Ning, saying something about keeping things relaxed.
Wasn't this utter nonsense?
He let out several cold snorts from his throat, but Xie Ning, though appearing to sit properly upright, had long since let his thoughts drift off to who knows where, and naturally didn't notice.
Master: "…"
Xie Ning continued his sneaky activities, beginning his plan. This time he had learned to be smarter, having discovered that there were still far too many characters he didn't recognize.
So what! He just hadn't gotten to that part of the lessons yet!
But this couldn't stump Xie Ning. He very seriously scribbled away on the paper, drawing two adorable chibi figures—one was himself, and the other was naturally Wei Zhao.
The two little figures first huddled together in a corner whispering secrets, then a lightbulb symbol appeared above their heads, and finally their bodies suddenly grew enormous as they defeated the villains.
Hehehe.
Xie Ning was so absorbed in his drawing that he didn't even notice the master standing beside him watching for quite some time.
Just as he finished drawing and crumpled the paper into a ball, intending to toss it out while he had the chance and have Xiao Bai help deliver it—
The warning ruler suddenly struck the desk heavily right in front of him.
Xie Ning: "!!"
The sudden sound startled Xie Ning half to death, and by now it was too late to hide away his little masterpiece of slacking off.
He stood up, head lowered, wearing an expression of obediently admitting his mistake.
But the master wasn't buying it at all. These past few days, he had discovered that Xie Ning simply couldn't focus on his studies—he'd be quiet for barely a moment before starting his little antics, yet he admitted his mistakes with lightning speed and an extremely sincere attitude.
It was absolutely infuriating.
Today, he was determined to teach him a lesson. The master silently resolved this in his heart, paced half a circle in front of Xie Ning, then stopped and mercilessly extended his warning ruler.
"Hold out your hand."
Hearing the master's cold voice, Xie Ning's tears nearly fell on the spot, but he forcibly held them back and negotiated weakly, "Can you go a little lighter, Master?"
"No room for bargaining." The master responded coldly.
Before Xie Ning could even react, he felt his palm struck hard three times. Almost in the blink of an eye, three red marks appeared on his hand.
Because he had been the one to do wrong first, tears swirled in his eyes, and he tried his best not to let them fall.
Seeing this, the master let out a cold snort from his throat, feeling somewhat satisfied.
If he was always crying and whimpering, what kind of image would that be? He ought to be disciplined from a young age.
The master continued lecturing on the previous content. After Xie Ning sat down, he secretly rubbed his palm under the desk.
It hurt.
But he couldn't cry, sob sob.
The culprit that had gotten him punished—that paper note—was blown to the floor by a gust of wind.
Xiao Bai, crouching by the door, was extremely alert. Without making a sound, it stretched out its front paw and dragged the paper over, then picked it up in its mouth and dashed away.