No one paid attention to Chen Sixi.
Su Hai cupped his hands and said, "I am under orders to escort Third Royal Highness back to the Capital City."
Xie Xun looked at him with scorn, "Under orders? Whose orders are you following? The Crown Prince's?"
Su Hai pursed his lips, "The Emperor has decreed that Third Royal Highness, now seventeen years old, must return to the Capital City to be invested as a prince."
Chen Sixi felt as if he had been struck by lightning. It took him a long time to recover from the shock, staring at Xie Xun in disbelief.
"Xie... you're actually a prince? But how is that possible?"
As far as Chen Sixi knew, Xie Xun had grown up in Shi Mo Village since he was a young child.
If he truly was a prince, how could he have been left to wander for so many years without anyone inquiring after him?
"Ah!" Yang Ershun exclaimed in surprise, "Xie Xun... ah no, Prince Xie? The Third Prince? So you had such an illustrious identity? Have I been too loud in speaking to you before?"
Before he could finish, Yang Ershun was dragged aside by Chen Sixi, who covered his mouth.
Xie Xun kept his head down, holding a writing brush and methodically completing the assignments given by the teacher.
After kneeling for a long time without receiving a response from Xie Xun, Su Hai spoke up again, "Third Royal Highness, the carriage to return to the Capital City is ready. As you can see..."
"What's the rush?" Xie Xun's tone was indifferent. "It's not like the time when I was sent away from the Capital City. Whether I return a day earlier or later, what difference does it make?"
Su Hai's body trembled slightly.
He was the one who had personally escorted Third Royal Highness and his wet nurse out of the Capital City all those years ago.
Back then, Third Royal Highness had fallen gravely ill and remained unconscious throughout.
Fourteen years later, the mischievous, trouble-making little boy who used to find ways to lure Su Hai out of hiding to playfully torment him was gone, his demeanor completely changed.
When Dean Gu received the news, he hurried over and found Su Hai kneeling in the courtyard with a group of guards and palace maids.
Meanwhile, Xie Xun sat on a stone bench, writing as calmly as a monk in meditation, seemingly oblivious to the people around him.
Dean Gu glanced at Su Hai.
He knew someone would come from the Capital City, but he didn't expect them to arrive so quickly.
Judging by the timing, they must have traveled day and night.
In other words, the Crown Prince in the Capital City was even more anxious than Dean Gu had imagined after Third Royal Highness had broken the seal.
Dean Gu chuckled, "It's been many years. You seem to have gained weight. The food in the Capital City must be good? You've been promoted and made a fortune, haven't you?"
Su Hai looked up, "Dean Gu jests. I am merely the commander of the imperial guards."
"So you admit you're just the commander of the imperial guards?" Dean Gu snorted. "Why is it that when it comes to escorting Third Royal Highness back to the Capital City, they couldn't even arrange someone of importance?"
Su Hai replied, "It was I who escorted His Highness out of the Capital City back then, so it should be I who brings him back."
Dean Gu chuckled coldly, "Have you not heard that times have changed? Fourteen years ago, you sent him away out of necessity, with no other choice. Now, Third Royal Highness has every right to choose whether or not to return to the Capital City."
Su Hai frowned, "Dean Gu, mind your words. This is the Emperor's will."
Dean Gu had thrown caution to the wind ever since the day he resigned and returned to his hometown. Whether it was the Emperor or not, in his heart, Third Royal Highness was the one he should support and be loyal to.
Thus, even when Su Hai invoked the Emperor's authority, there was no change in Dean Gu's expression. Instead, his tone became even more mocking, "Has the Emperor forgotten the reason why Third Royal Highness was driven out of the Capital City all those years ago?"
Su Hai clenched his fists tightly, unable to respond.
He had been the commander of the imperial guards assigned by Emperor Hongtai to secretly protect Empress Xie.
Su Hai had always believed that the Emperor loved the Empress and Third Royal Highness.
But later, when the Empress was found dead and everyone accused Third Royal Highness of causing her death, the Emperor, who should have been Third Royal Highness's only remaining support, personally sentenced him to "death."
Su Hai witnessed with his own eyes how Third Royal Highness knelt in the rain outside Jianzhang Palace. At first, he still had red eyes and argued defiantly with those who mocked him, insisting that he did not kill his mother and that his father would certainly believe him.
However, what he received in the end was Emperor Hongtai's decree, ordering Su Hai to send him away from the Capital City.
From that moment, Third Royal Highness fell completely silent, his resistance and defiance extinguished.
