judging by the hawk's current behavior, she could guess a bit. The best part was that with such erratic flying, even if they later caught the hawk, it would likely be impossible to find any trace of...423. Xiaobao Punished

423。 Xiaobao Punished

Mosuiyun returned to his room and immediately closed the door behind him. He pulled back the covers and hid under them, shivering uncontrollably. Though he wasn't particularly indifferent, everyone who was related to Li Wang would remember how cruelly he had treated Mosuyun in Nanjing's palace. His sinister glances sent chills down his spine when he was still young. This time... Mosuiyun trembled violently and hugged the blanket tighter. He could clearly sense that Mo Jingli didn't just want to scare him, but really wanted to kill her.

"No... no, I can't die... I can't die..." Mosuiyun whispered to himself, "What should I do... what should I do" Should he trick Moyuchen into being killed by Mo Jingli Mosuiyun shook his head fiercely. Although he didn't like Moyuchen and subconsciously saw him as a future enemy, now... He had no qualifications yet to compare himself with Moyuchen or Ding王府. So, his current enemy wasn't Moyuchen. And there was also the Prince of Ding... that terrifying white-robed, white-haired Prince of Ding. If he killed Moyuchen... Mosuiyun couldn't help but tremble again. No... He absolutely mustn't provoke the Prince of Ding! But... what should he do

"Who wants you to die" A cheerful voice entered his ears. Mosuiyun was stunned, and after a while, he suddenly pulled back the covers and saw Xiaobao sitting by the bed with a smile on his face, looking at him curiously, "What are you doing here!" When he saw Xiaobao, Mosuiyun's face turned pale immediately. He hurriedly stood up to check if there was anyone outside. Xiaobao tilted his head and said with a laugh, "Don't worry, no one is outside."

Mosuiyun breathed a slight sigh of relief, staring at Xiaobao silently. Xiaobao didn't mind; he sat leisurely on the side watching Mosuiyun standing by the bed in a daze. In fact, Xiaobao knew that compared to Mosuiyun, he was definitely considered fortunate. At least he had grown up happily under everyone's protection since childhood, rather than growing up timidly like Mosuiyun within the harem and now being manipulated like a puppet by officials and nobles of Dachu. Under these circumstances, if Mosuiyun could still carefully hide his thoughts, no wonder Father would look at him differently.

Mosuiyun was also sizing up Xiaobao, struggling internally. He knew that Mo Jingli might not have left yet now. If he called for help right now... Soon, Mosuiyun shook his head; it was impossible for Xiaobao to come here alone. Even if Xiaobao was mischievous, people from Ding王府 would secretly protect him. Even if Mo Jingli killed Moyuchen, the last one倒黴承受Prince of Ding's anger would still be them. Unless... Mo Jingli could kill the Prince of Ding! But, could Mo Jingli kill the Prince of Ding Of course not; if Mo Jingli had such ability, he wouldn't be sitting on the throne right now.

Therefore... He mustn't hurt Moyuchen! At least, he can't let Moyuchen die here!

"Go! You should leave quickly!" Mosuiyun snapped out of it and pushed Xiaobao towards the window.

Xiaobao was surprised looking at him, "What are you doing If I came to play with you, why are you pushing me away" Mosuiyun said angrily, "I don't feel well today; leave first!"

The more anxious he got, the calmer Xiaobao became. He lay on his side and smiled, "If you're not feeling good, just rest. I won't bother you." Mosuiyun was so desperate that he wanted to cry; if it weren't for him being unable, he would have liked to throw Xiaobao out directly. Xiaobao lightly fluttered his long eyelashes with a sweet smile and said slowly, "Why are you in such a hurry As if afraid others will find out I'm here. Don't worry, this is Li City; even the Prince of Yu won't do anything to me if he knows I sneaked here."

The Prince of Yu was nothing! Mosuiyun cursed internally, "In any case, you should leave quickly! I don't want to play with you today."

"If you want to play with me, let's go out and have fun," Xiaobao’s eyes brightened as he smiled.

"Young Lord Xiaobao, may I beg of you to return" Mosuiyun couldn't help but groan; whose life was he risking for Xiaobao raised his eyebrows, patted Mosuiyun on the shoulder and whispered with a smile, "Alright, stop teasing. Brother, if there's any difficulty, tell me. Is there anything in Li City that I can't handle" Xiaobao looked like they were buddies who would do anything for their brother.

Mosuiyun glanced at Moxiaobao with a hint of disdain. How could this short kid, who only knew how to play around and was even shorter than himself, handle anything He would be grateful if Mo Jingli didn't find out about his whereabouts and end up killing him. Mosuiyun said irritably, "In any case, you’d better hurry up!"

Seeing that he wouldn’t speak, Moxiaobao gave up and shrugged. "Then I’ll head back now. If anything happens, send someone to the Ding王府 to look for me."

"I understand. Now go quickly!" Seeing him finally agree to leave, Mosuiyun readily agreed and pushed him towards the window. Moxiaobao impatiently waved away his hand. "It’s enough that I’ve been through this once already. Do you want me to get caught by someone next time when I try to jump out of a window" He walked to one corner of the room, leaped onto the wall for support, and sat steadily on the beam. Then he waved at Mosuiyun before slipping out from an unknown spot on the roof.

After seeing Moxiaobao display such excellent lightness kung fu skills, Mosuiyun was taken aback. Although he had seen many people with better lightness kung fu skills than Moxiaobao’s, they were all much older than him. Such young age and such skill; it was no wonder that Moxiaobao dared to sneak into the Great Chu Embassy in broad daylight. After finally sending Moxiaobao away, Mosuiyun secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Emperor." Outside the door came Mo Jingyu’s voice. Mosuiyun stiffened but soon recovered himself and opened the door. "Uncle Yuwang."

Mo Jingyu stood at the door, looking oddly at Mosuiyun. "Why did you lock the door"

Mosuiyun bit his lip and said softly, "Uncle Yuwang… I… I…"

Mo Jingyu understood him immediately. "Are you afraid" Mosuiyun nodded vigorously. Mo Jingyu sighed helplessly. "At this juncture, we have no choice but to do what needs to be done. Emperor, you are not a child anymore, and many things should be clear to you."

Mosuiyun’s face darkened as he said softly, "I understand, Uncle Yuwang… Has Uncle Liewang left"

"He has." Mo Jingyu said gravely. His expression was not pleasant when thinking of Mo Jingli. He muttered quietly, “That madman! Who knows what he’s up to now! Emperor, you don’t need to be afraid. In two days… as long as you follow Uncle Liewang's plan, everything will be fine.”

Mosuiyun nodded obediently. "I understand, Uncle."

Seeing him looking listless and dispirited, Mo Jingyu knew he must have been badly frightened earlier on. Among the remaining emperors of Mo Jiqi’s generation, Mosuiyun was already doing quite well in his response. If it had happened to Mo Suchun who had passed away, he would most likely be crying uncontrollably.

"Uncle Yuwang won’t disturb you anymore. Get some rest," Mo Jingyu said gently.

"Yes, Uncle." Mosuiyun replied softly.

Mo Jingyu patted Mosuiyun’s shoulder and turned to leave. After watching Mo Jingyu depart, Mosuiyun heaved a sigh of relief, shut the door, and glanced back at the roof which had returned to normal. Then he threw himself into his thick quilt once more.

On the rooftop of Mo Suicun's room, two small figures were motionless, lying down. They had chosen a spot directly under the eaves and there were tree branches blocking their view as well, so they would not be discovered unless someone came up to them on the roof. Mo Xiaobao was lying without any decorum, smiling and saying, "So that's how it is."

Qin Lie beside him rolled his eyes at him in annoyance and whispered, "Don't you want to leave yet Didn't you hear what Mo Jingli said just now" Mo Xiaobao regretfully replied, "It's such a pity that we found out too late. The person has already run away."

"Does this mean Young Master is still planning on going ahead and personally catching him" Qin Lie mocked sarcastically.

Mia Xiaobao rolled his eyes back at him, saying, "Have you heard of Mo Jingli's martial arts prowess I don't believe he brought a guard when sneaking into the post station. Why not just have our people attack him directly With so many of us, we shouldn’t be afraid that we won't catch him."

Qin Lie shrugged and said, "The plan is great but unfortunately, the person has already left. How long do you want to stay here" Mo Xiaobao looked up at the sky and somewhat awkwardly replied, "At least until nightfall." If they were caught, even though it might not be life-threatening in broad daylight, it would certainly alert the other party.

Qin Lie was indifferent and raised his eyebrows, saying, “It seems that Mo Suicun doesn’t want to follow Mo Jingyu’s lead.”

Mia Xiaobao stroked his chin and said, "As long as he hasn’t gone completely mad, he wouldn't be willing." Mo Jingyu had been caught by Mo Jingli, but Mo Suicun hadn’t. There was no reason for him to die with Mo Jingyu, whether the plan succeeded or not.

Mia Xiaobao lay on the roof, propping his chin up thoughtfully. With Qin Lie looking at him and seeing the odd smile on his face, he asked helplessly, "What are you thinking of doing next"

Qin Lie felt that being assigned to accompany this young master from Ding王府 was a huge test imposed by heaven. Young Master Mo's temperament changed frequently; he would create trouble for no reason and enjoyed provoking the Prince of Ding王府. Even after suffering repeated defeats, he remained enthusiastic about it. This was bad enough, but his unpredictable actions were always testing Qin Lie’s heart.

Mia Xiaobao poked Qin Lie with a smile and said, "What do you think about turning over the little emperor down there"

Qin Lie looked to the sky and calmly replied, “Since he sees you as an enemy, can you really win him over”

"That's different," Mia Xiaobao said. "My mother once told me that there are no eternal friends or enemies in this world—only interests. Mo Suicun doesn't want to conflict with Ding王府 right now because it would bring him nothing but harm. Why can’t he cooperate with us After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. If forced to choose a side, I believe he’d rather work with Ding王府."

"Unfortunately, he just pushed you out," Qin Lie reminded him calmly.

Mia Xiaobao scratched his head and furrowed his eyebrows in thought for a while before saying, "He doesn’t trust me." After overacting earlier, Mo Suicun probably saw him as nothing more than an ignorant kid who only knew how to eat, drink, and play.

"What do you plan on doing then" Qin Lie asked.

Mia Xiaobao replied, "You stay here while I go back down." Knowing that he couldn't convince Mia Xiaobao otherwise, Qin Lie silently lay down where he was as Mo Xiaobao carefully removed the tiles again and jumped through the small hole.

When night fell, Mo Xiaobao returned to Ding王府 with a pleased look. As soon as he entered, Uncle Mo at the door threw him an apologetic glance, making Mia Xiaobao feel that something was seriously wrong. He hurriedly approached Uncle Manager and smiled obediently: "Grandpa Mo…

The eunuch hurriedly said, "Old servant dares not. Young Master can just call old servant the steward."

Moxiaobao didn't care about this and asked with a smile, "Grandpa Mo, where are my father and mother" The steward replied, "The prince and princess are both waiting for you in your study room." Moxiaobao's shoulders immediately drooped. He said sadly, "I’m done for. I forgot to tell my mother and father that I would be late when leaving this morning."

The steward patted Xiaobao’s shoulder with affectionate eyes and said, “The prince and princess are waiting for you in the study room, Young Master should hurry there.”

“Can I not go” Moxiaobao looked at Mo steward pitifully.

The steward gave him a helpless look. Moxiaobao could only walk slowly towards the study with his head drooping.

"Oh Is our little prince back" In the study room, Mo Xiyaoyao was leaning on a soft couch, lazily flipping through a book. When he saw Xiaobao enter, he gave him an ambiguous smile. Moxiaobao looked carefully at Ye Li sitting on the other side and felt even more gloomy. He could see that Ye Li sat upright on the stool and calmly looking at him. Other than a flash of relief in her eyes when he entered, she didn't show any other emotion. Moxiaobao’s mouth was bitter. His mother being angry was even worse than his father being angry.

"Mother, Xiaobao is back," said Moxiaobao as he approached Ye Li.

Ye Li looked at him with a mild expression and asked softly, "Why did you come home so late"

Moxiaobao replied in a low voice, "Your son went to the Grand Chu Embassy to play with the little emperor."

In fact, how could Ye Li or Mo Xiyaoyao not know about this Even if Moxiaobao secretly escaped, there were still many people following him. Moreover, Moxiaobao usually had a good sense of self-restraint and would not deliberately leave his bodyguards behind. If that wasn't the case, Moxiaobao's late return tonight would have caused chaos in the Ding Prince Manor.

Ye Li said with a smile as she looked at him, "It seems like the Grand Chu Embassy was very interesting It made you forget about time and come home so late Tomorrow mother will go to ask Yu Wang what exactly is attracting our little prince."

Ye Li never liked to overly restrict her children. Therefore, Moxiaobao usually roamed around Jicheng City freely. However, there was one rule: other than the Li Mountain Academy, he had to be back by sunset every day. Even if he went to live at Xu Family’s temporary residence, he still needed to send someone ahead of time to notify them first. But today Moxiaobao didn’t come back until this time and hadn’t told anyone where he was going all along. If it wasn't for the secret bodyguards following him, his family would have gone crazy by now.

"Mother… It's Xiaobao’s fault for not considering everything. I know I'm wrong," Moxiaobao said as he admitted to his mistake with a miserable expression. He really didn’t tell anyone what he was doing when he snuck in to find Mo Su Yun urgently, and maybe he felt safe knowing that there were secret bodyguards following him.

“What's the problem” Ye Li asked.

Moxiaobao obediently lowered his head, saying, "Xiaoba shouldn't have sneaked out without telling Mother or Father King. Xiaoba shouldn't have come back so late and forgotten to send someone back to report, causing Mother worry. Xiaoba also shouldn’t have gone secretly to find the young emperor of Da Chu..."

Seeing her son's pitiful expression with his head lowered, Ye Li's heart softened. She patted his small head and said, "The major events in Li City weren't kept from you either. You know about Queen Nanzhao and Prince Nanzhao being kidnapped by Mo Jingli as well. Now that Mo Jinyu and Mo Jingli are entangled with each other, you still went to see him. What if Mo Jingli fights a desperate battle and injures you What will we do then"

"Mother, I was wrong," Moxiaobao felt even guiltier upon sensing his mother's worry. He had thought that Mo Su Yun was very foolish and stupid, wanting to find him for some information. In broad daylight, he assumed that even if Mo Jinyu and Mo Jingli were colluding, they wouldn't dare do anything to him. But he forgot that a cornered dog will fight back fiercely. If Mo Jingli lost his mind and wanted to fight the Ding王府to the death, he would be the best bargaining chip since he had run into the Da Chu embassy.

Ye Li lightly tapped his small head with her hand and said coolly, "Since you know that you were wrong… You are confined for three months. Write thirty characters a day to show your big uncle."

"Mother…" Moxiaobao really wanted to cry now. He hated being under house arrest more than any other punishment. He couldn't leave his courtyard, and no one would come to play with him. Only the teacher came around each day to give lessons. And there were also thirty characters he had to write every day. Unlike copying books, practicing calligraphy required much stricter standards. His big uncle, who was excellent at calligraphy, was particularly strict about this requirement. When Moxiaobao first started writing, sometimes none of the ten pieces could satisfy Xu Qingchen's satisfaction. That meant that out of the thirty characters his mother asked for, he might end up having to write forty-five or even a hundred.

Ye Li looked at him coolly with a smile but remained silent. Moxiaobao immediately realized there was no hope from his mother and could only look longingly at Mo Xiuyao in the distance, calling out, "Father King…"

Mo Xiuyao sat up and raised an eyebrow at Moxiaobao, who looked at him with a begging expression. He smiled calmly and said, "A-ge Li, this is not suitable punishment for Xiaoba." Ye Li's eyebrows rose slightly as she looked at Mo Xiuyao in surprise. Normally, if he saw her punishing Moxiaobao, Mo Xiuyao would only think it was too lenient, and it was already good that he didn't add fuel to the fire. This was the first time he had ever pleaded for mercy on behalf of Moxiaobao.

"What's wrong with this" Ye Li asked.

Mo Xiuyao said softly, "In two days, there will be a birthday banquet for Lini and Xine. If Xiaoba is confined at that time, won't it… make us look bad to others"

Ye Li frowned; such large-scale banquets truly wouldn't be appropriate if Moxiaobao didn't participate as the young master of Ding王府. However, this wasn't a major issue and could be resolved later.

Mo Xiuyao sat down beside Ye Li and said with a smile, "I know you're worried about Xiaoba's safety, which is why you want to confine him. But Xiaoba isn't a child anymore. This was probably an accident this time. Isn't that right, Xiaoba"

Seeing his father intercede for him, Moxiaobao was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, Mother. I didn't come back late on purpose; I heard something important at the embassy."

"Tell me about it," Ye Li nodded.

Moxiaobao quickly recounted what he had heard at the embassy and his conversation with Mo Su Yun before saying, "So I was afraid that if the guards of Da Chu found out, wouldn't that be like stirring up a hornet's nest So… so I waited until it was dark to leave the embassy with Qin Lie. Mother, I really know I was wrong.

Ye Lü's expression changed slightly, "Mojingli is at the inn. Why didn't anyone come to report If something happens..." Mo Xiuyao held Ye Lü’s slightly cool hand and looked at Mo Xiaobao, saying, "So you’ve settled things with Mo Suicun"

Mo Xiaobao said helplessly, “Suicun doesn’t trust me. I must have someone represent Father to go there.”

Mo Xiuyao thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Later on, I’ll send Han Mingyue over." Then he patted Mo Xiaobao’s head and said, "You’ve done well; Father is very pleased. But… you are still rather reckless. Ah Li, delay his punishment by half a month."

"Father!" Upon hearing this, Mo Xiaobao wailed loudly. Didn’t Father ask for mercy on his behalf Why did he want to punish him

Mo Xiuyao looked at his son with a warm smile and asked softly, "Disappointed Well then, how about we follow your mother’s suggestion and put you under house arrest starting tomorrow" Mo Xiaobao immediately hung his head dejectedly and shook it. “No, thank you Father.”

Mo Xiuyao nodded with satisfaction. "That's my good son. Be a good boy; go back and have your dinner, then rest up."

Cowardly! Mo Xiaobao glared at his father in Ye Lü’s sightline.

Mo Xiuyao smiled and thought to himself: You did something wrong and got caught by your mother. What do I have to do with it

You said you’d handle the matter of Mo Suicun!

I didn’t say you could come home so late at night.

Mo Xiaobao grinded his teeth silently, defeated once again by his father. He bid farewell politely with a bow: "Mother, Father, your son will take his leave." Ye Lü nodded and sighed softly as she ruffled her son’s hair, saying, “Go back early to rest.”

Looking at Mo Xiaobao walking away, Ye Lü sighed gently. He was too smart and had learned a lot; she didn’t want to hold him back like this. But he was still so young, and his character inevitably showed some childish impulsiveness and selfishness, making her worry about him.

Mo Xiuyao held her close and comforted her softly, "Don't be worried. Xiaobao will grow up sooner or later; when I was his age, I wasn’t as good as he is now." This could be considered the highest compliment Mo Xiuyao gave to his son as a father, but unfortunately, Mo Xiaobao would never know about it.

Ye Lü leaned against him and nodded gently.ye said with a smile: "Now that there is so much turmoil in the Central Plains, it's admirable for Her Majesty to remain detached."The Southern Frontier was remote and had always been a wild place. De...