22
A Body of Rebellion
Everyone was startled and uncertain, taken aback by the person who had swooped down from the rooftop. Who would have thought someone would be watching the commotion below from up there?
Mu Feng smiled and took two steps forward. “So it’s the Seventh Prince. Were you on the rooftop… enjoying the scenery?”
Xiao Jin glared at Mu Feng. “I wasn’t enjoying the scenery! I was sleeping, until this group of chattering women woke me up!”
[Wow, it’s the Seventh Prince!]
[Hehehe, this is getting interesting now. The Seventh Prince’s body may weigh 130 jin, but 129 jin of it is rebellious streak. No wonder he directly confronted Mu Feng and didn’t even accept the out Mu Feng gave him.]
[“Enjoying the scenery” sounds much better than sleeping on the rooftop during the day, but he completely ignored that.]
[This is so amusing. This kid is fourteen, tall and lanky with a full rebellious streak. Listening to him talk is so entertaining.]
Mu Feng’s mouth twitched at the words of Lin Qingran and Xiao Jin. There was nothing he could do—he had already mentally prepared himself, knowing Xiao Jin wouldn’t take the out he offered, so he wasn’t surprised.
However, since Xiao Jin had been watching from the shadows, there was nothing to worry about. He had always disdained lying.
Xiao Jin had no idea what Lin Qingran was thinking. Instead, he found the woman in the light yellow gauze dress particularly irritating, especially since her loud voice had woken him up.
Only then did everyone suddenly realize and bow in greeting. After all, they rarely saw the Seventh Prince, so most of the women hadn’t recognized him at first.
Hearing the disorderly chorus of greetings, Xiao Jin’s expression grew even more unpleasant.
“Enough, enough. Stop the nonsense. It’s annoying,” Xiao Jin said with a frown.
Yao Qin smiled slightly. She actually found the Seventh Prince’s personality quite to her taste. Like her, he disliked all this chaotic noise and found those women irritating.
“So, Seventh Prince, did you see what happened earlier? Since you were sleeping, you probably didn’t see anything, right?” Zhang Mingming asked tentatively.
Xiao Jin glared fiercely at Zhang Mingming. “Are you saying I’m lying? It was your discussion about Lin Qingran that woke me up. I was just about to scold you when Yao Qin, that tigress, demanded you apologize. That’s only right since it was your fault to begin with. Yet you refuse to admit it with that stubborn mouth of yours, making the situation worse and worse. It’s so annoying.”
Hearing Xiao Jin’s words, those who had entered later suddenly understood.
So that’s what happened. It was Zhang Mingming’s fault, and she tried to pin it on the Little County Princess and Lin Qingran, thinking they were easy to bully, right?
“Hahaha, what do you think now? You thought no one saw, but you didn’t expect the Seventh Prince to see everything clearly. Now you can’t claim the Seventh Prince is colluding with us to frame you, can you?” Yao Qin said triumphantly, not even minding that Xiao Jin had called her a tigress.
Lin Qingran curled her lips. “Indeed, everyone here knows the Seventh Prince isn’t someone we can influence. We all have some understanding of his temperament.”
Hearing Lin Qingran’s words, everyone finally remembered that this was indeed the case.
Although the Seventh Prince Xiao Jin rarely went out, many had heard about him—his temper wasn’t exactly the best.
Perhaps it was because he stood out too much in the palace that Emperor Kangyuan actually liked his temperament and never suppressed him at all.
Thus, Xiao Jin never spared anyone’s feelings in the palace—only Emperor Kangyuan and Xiao Heng could influence him.
Of course, Xiao Heng never scolded him harshly either; a mere calm glance from him was enough to make Xiao Jin rein in his behavior.
Now that Xiao Heng wasn’t here, with only Mu Feng present, Xiao Jin felt no need to hold back at all.
Zhang Mingming’s face flushed and paled alternately; she had no idea what to say now. She never expected Xiao Jin had actually overheard everything.
If it were anyone else, she could have accused them of conspiring with Lin Qingran and the others to deliberately frame her with those words. But facing the notorious Seventh Prince, she truly lacked the courage to say such things.
“I—” Zhang Mingming didn’t know how to respond.
Mu Feng smiled gently. “It seems the matter is clear now. I wonder if Miss Zhang has anything to say? If not, perhaps you could apologize to the Little County Princess and Miss Lin. After all, I don’t think it’s a major issue—just some minor squabbles among young ladies.”
In fact, Mu Feng’s words weren’t just about letting Zhang Mingming’s matter pass; his main concern was that Yao Qin had nearly resorted to violence earlier. If word got out, it would only further damage her reputation.
“Yes, all we ask is an apology,” Yao Qin agreed, nodding without a second thought.
Meanwhile, Lin Qingran gazed thoughtfully at Yao Qin, glanced cautiously at Mu Feng, and slightly lowered her eyes.
[Something feels off. His words sound like he’s helping Zhang Mingming out of a tight spot, but they actually seem more beneficial to Qin Qin.]
[It’s really strange. Since when did Mu Feng become so kind-hearted? Is he simply helping because I stepped in to mediate, inadvertently assisting Qin Qin? Let me think—Qin Qin and Mu Feng shouldn’t have any connections, right?]
Hearing this, Mu Feng’s heart skipped a beat. Could there be something else involving him and Yao Qin?
He felt that there shouldn’t be any entanglement between him and Yao Qin.
With that thought, Mu Feng relaxed slightly and stopped overthinking it.
Zhang Mingming, now feeling cornered, was glad to take the out Mu Feng offered.
“Yes, today was indeed my fault. I apologize to the Little County Princess and Miss Lin,” Zhang Mingming said, putting on an attitude of correcting her mistakes promptly.
Lin Qingran wasn’t one to hold grudges over a few words, so she simply nodded in acceptance.
“To acknowledge a fault and correct it is a great virtue. I have no objections,” Lin Qingran said, glancing at Yao Qin. “As for Qin Qin earlier, she only spoke up to defend me and ended up startling Miss Zhang. I apologize on her behalf. Today is Old Madam Liang’s birthday banquet—let’s not create unnecessary conflicts and trouble her further. What do you think?”
“Miss Lin is truly magnanimous. I am deeply ashamed, and this matter should indeed end here,” Zhang Mingming quickly replied.
Since neither side had any further objections, no one else did either, and the crowd began to disperse.
The onlookers soon vanished, leaving only four people in the garden: Lin Qingran, Yao Qin, Mu Feng, and Xiao Jin.
Lin Qingran gave the two men a puzzled look, feeling a strange sense of unease.
[“Why hasn’t the Young Marquis and the Seventh Prince left yet? Are they going to stay with us?”]
[“Although having a few people around prevents gossip, we don’t seem particularly close with either of them, do we?”]
Mu Feng pressed his lips together. He actually wanted to leave too, but stayed upon seeing Xiao Jin remain.
Then, Mu Feng turned his gaze toward Xiao Jin.