Chapter 60: Ah Li Encounters a Strange Person

Compared to the tense atmosphere at the Imperial Clan Court, the He Courtyard in Prince Xiao's Manor, where Yan Ziyu resided, was filled with constant commotion, punctuated from time to time by miserable cries.

Ever since A Li obediently left the main hall upon Yan Ziyu's instructions, and then heard that she had been arrested by Long Xiaoyan and thrown into the Imperial Clan Court prison, he had flown into a complete rage!

At this moment, in the He Courtyard, Qiuhua and a large group of people surrounded the furious A Li. Even little Rui'er had rushed over to hug his leg, his lips pouting and his little face scrunched up like a steamed bun.

"All of you, move aside! I am going to bring Xiao Yu back, and none of you are allowed to stop me!" A Li glared fiercely at Qiuhua, whose eye rims were red from crying, his eyes filled with intense dissatisfaction.

If she hadn't kept hiding it from him and then made everyone hold him back, he would have gone to fetch Xiao Yu long ago. If Xiao Yu suffered any bullying, he would never forgive himself.

It was all his fault for failing to protect Xiao Yu! He felt deeply guilty, especially knowing that Xiao Yu had been dragged off to prison; it made his heart ache and hurt all the more.

"A Li, you mustn't yell at Sister Qiuhua. Look, she's crying." Rui'er patted A Li's thigh, frowning and pursing his lips as he spoke to A Li in a very serious tone.

The moment A Li saw Rui'er's adorable little face, the anger on his own face instantly turned into grievance. "But bad people caught Xiao Yu away! What if they bully her? The bad people won't give Xiao Yu food, leaving her to starve, and they won't give her any quilts, so she'll catch a cold..."

The more A Li thought about it, the more worried he became, stamping his feet in anxiety.

Hearing this, Rui'er grew anxious as well. He nervously grabbed A Li's sleeve, tilting his head up to look at him. "Those bad people are truly hateful! A Li, we must go and bring Mother back. We cannot let bad people bully her!"

"Alright, I'll take you to find Xiao Yu and catch the bad people." A Li scooped Rui'er up into his arms, completely ignoring the attempts of Qiuhua and the others to block his path, and charged stubbornly toward the exit. Fearing that using force might accidentally injure Rui'er in A Li's arms, Qiuhua and the others could only watch helplessly as A Li carried Rui'er away.

"Oh dear! Sister Qiuhua, what should we do now? A Li is so willful; what if he causes trouble taking the young master out like this?" Lüliu stamped her feet in distress. However, A Li's pace was hardly something they could keep up with. He vanished from sight the moment he stepped out the door, leaving them with nowhere to follow even if they wanted to.

Qiuhua's heart was burning with anxiety as well. This A Li was thoroughly unreliable, and the young master was still too young and ignorant. If something were to go wrong, how could she ever answer to the Princess Consort?

Suddenly, she remembered the instructions the Princess Consort had left before departing—that if anything happened, she should go find Young Master Wu!

Qiuhua hesitated for a moment before turning to Lüliu, Ziyi, and the others, who were frantic with worry. "You all wait here. I'm going out for a moment." Without waiting for their reaction, she turned and hurried away, disappearing into the night.

***

Meanwhile, A Li carried Rui'er out of Prince Xiao's Manor in a rush. Facing the pitch-black night, he had no idea where to look for anyone. The two of them stared at each other with wide eyes, completely baffled!

"Um... Rui'er, do you know where your mother is?" A Li reached out to scratch the back of his head, staring blankly at Rui'er.

Rui'er blinked his round, saucer-like eyes and cupped his chin in both hands. "I don't know. Does A Li know?"

Where were they supposed to go to find Mother, then? What if Mother was bullied by bad people, left to starve without food, and caught a cold without a blanket?

The more he thought about it, the more worried Rui'er became. His little mouth flattened, his nose turned red, and tears welled up in his eyes, looking on the verge of tears.

Seeing Rui'er's red nose, A Li panicked as well. "Little rice dumpling, don't cry! I'll take you to find Xiao Yu, I'll take you right now, please don't cry..." In his desperation, A Li even changed how he addressed the boy, nearly dropping to his knees to beg him.

Rui'er sniffled, looking at him with a reddened nose, and asked, "Really? A Li is not allowed to lie to me!"

Seeing that Rui'er had stopped crying, A Li breathed a sigh of relief. Deeply worried about Xiao Yu's safety, and after weighing his options, he decided to go find Long Xiaoyan and force him to send Xiao Yu back.

Just as he picked up Rui'er and turned to head back toward Prince Xiao's Manor, a short figure wearing a medicine box on his back approached them. The man was dressed very bizarrely, with his face painted in various colorful pigments that obscured his true features, exuding an aura of eccentricity from head to toe.

"Yan Ziyu is fine. You cannot go looking for Long Xiaoyan; he is ruthless. If you anger him, he will definitely resort to harsh methods to eliminate you." The man's voice was somewhat hoarse, his eyes fixed intently on A Li.

For a split second, A Li felt a sense of familiarity in those eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared, and he failed to catch anything tangible in the end.

"Who are you? How do you know what we are going to do?" A Li clutched Rui'er and took two steps back, eyeing the eccentric stranger with complete vigilance.

"Who I am is not important. What matters is that you must not provoke Long Xiaoyan. This man is not as simple as he appears to you. As for Yan Ziyu, you need not worry; Long Xiaoyan dares not harm her. Just go back and wait in peace." The eccentric man stared at A Li, giving him a serious warning. Seeing that A Li still seemed unconvinced, he hesitated briefly before adding, "If you don't believe me, come with me."

A Li hesitated deeply, unsure whether he should follow this man or not.

Rui'er reached out to rub A Li's face and said earnestly, "A Li, we mustn't follow strangers. Mother will scold us."

A Li nodded, frowning as he looked at the strange man. "That's right. Xiao Yu doesn't let us follow strangers. She will be angry if she finds out."

"...Since that's the case, take care of yourselves. Remember my words: do not provoke Long Xiaoyan." The eccentric man clearly hadn't expected A Li to obey Yan Ziyu to this extent, treating her words almost like divine decrees. A flash of surprise crossed his eyes as he offered one final warning.

"Why?" A Li and Rui'er both widened their eyes and asked in unison, waiting for him to provide an answer.

The eccentric man shook his head without answering. Instead, he unstrapped the medicine box from his back, retrieved a finger-sized jade pendant attached to a cord, which emitted a faint medicinal fragrance.

"Keep this item with you. If you ever feel unwell, soak the jade pendant in water for a moment, then take it out and drink the water. Remember, do not let anyone discover that you have this item, or it will bring a fatal disaster upon you." Holding the jade pendant, the eccentric man walked up to A Li and, amidst A Li's guarded gaze, hung the pendant around Rui'er's neck.

"What is this? It smells so good!" Rui'er picked up the pendant hanging from his neck to play with it, looking at the man in utter confusion.

"Little rice dumpling, you can't take things from other people. Xiao Yu will be angry." A Li furrowed his brow, looking at Rui'er with a stern and deeply troubled expression.

Hearing that Mother would be angry, Rui'er hastily removed the pendant from his neck, held it in his chubby little hands, and handed it back to the eccentric man. He even thanked the man very politely, "Thank you for the gift, Rui'er, but Mother said that one should not accept rewards without merit, and you shouldn't take other people's things casually. That is wrong."

The eccentric man found Rui'er's obedience and good manners deeply endearing. The smile at the corners of his lips deepened. Instead of taking back the jade pendant, he reached out and pinched Rui'er's chubby cheek, speaking in a slightly amused tone, "This is a welcome gift from me. It's just a little trinket and not worth much. If you feel it's wrong to accept my gift for nothing, we can simply exchange item for item. I see that the little pouch at your waist is quite exquisite; how about trading that with me?"

With that, he reached out directly to retrieve the small pouch from A Li's waist, gave A Li one deep look, tapped his toes, and melted into the night like an owl, vanishing into the darkness.

...

"A Li, what should we do about this?" Rui'er furrowed his brow and pouted as he looked at A Li.

"Well..." A Li gazed at the direction where the strange man had disappeared, recalling the look in his eyes right before he left, and felt a lingering sense of strangeness. "Let's keep it for now and hand it over to Xiao Yu when she returns. Rui'er, do you think we can trust what that person just said?"

Rui'er tilted his head in thought for a long while before shaking his head. "That person was a bit strange, but he didn't look like a bad person. Bad people smell stinky, and he didn't smell stinky." This was Rui'er's unique talent: he could smell the most distinct scent belonging to every individual.

A Li thought about it and nodded. "Alright then! Let's trust him this once. If Xiao Yu still hasn't returned by tomorrow, we will go find that wretched Long Xiaoyan and demand he release her. What do you think?"

Rui'er pondered for a moment and agreed. "Okay!"

Thus, A Li took Rui'er back to their room to rest. With A Li's superb lightness skills, their return disturbed no one. Coupled with the exhaustion of the day's events, the moment Rui'er touched the bed, he fell fast asleep. A Li, however, was wide awake. He stared into the darkness, lost in thought.

After about an hour, still unable to sleep, he carefully got out of bed, left the room, and vanished into the night.