The next day, Li Xun was up at the crack of dawn.
He didn’t even stop for breakfast, rushing outside in a great hurry.
Li Ji’s voice stopped him.
"Where are you going?"
Li Xun replied, "I’m going to find Mother!"
The memory of his mother vanishing before his very eyes had left a deep scar on his young heart.
He was terrified he would wake up to find his mother gone again. He had to see with his own eyes if she was still there.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Li Ji slowly walked up to him.
"Are you planning on using the main gate?"
A large question mark popped up over Li Xun’s little head. ’How else?’
Li Ji said, "I know a shortcut. You’ll be able to see your mother much faster."
Li Xun’s eyes lit up instantly, and he asked with great anticipation.
"Where’s the shortcut?"
Li Ji turned. "Follow me."
Li Xun trotted happily after his father.
The father and son arrived at the foot of a wall.
Li Ji pointed to the courtyard wall beside them.
"Your mother’s place is right over this wall."
Li Xun tilted his little head back, gazing at the high courtyard wall before him. His mind raced, ’How can I climb over this?’
Li Ji said nonchalantly, "I know Qinggong. I can fly you over."
Li Xun immediately turned to look at his father, his eyes full of suspicion.
’He couldn’t believe his father would be so kind.’
Sure enough.
The next moment, he heard his father say:
"But I have one condition."
"What condition?" Li Xun asked warily.
Li Ji said, "Your mother is only back temporarily. She might leave again in the future. You have to find a way to make her stay and not let her go."
"Okay," Li Xun agreed without hesitation.
’Even if his father hadn’t said anything, he would have done his best to make that happen.’
Li Ji continued, "You also have to put in a good word for me with your mother, to stop her from always misunderstanding me."
Li Xun’s little face scrunched up as he said unhappily,
"You must have done something bad for Mother to misunderstand you, right?"
"That’s not something you need to know," Li Ji said evasively.
Li Xun pouted and scoffed, clearly displeased with his father’s attitude.
Li Ji said, "I’ll find a way to resolve the misunderstanding between your mother and me.
"Your job right now is to help create opportunities for me to resolve this misunderstanding with your mother as quickly as possible.
"Once your mother and I have reconciled, our family of three can be reunited.
"That’s a good thing for you, too."
Although Li Xun was annoyed with his father, his father was right. He desperately wanted their family of three to be reunited.
He answered reluctantly.
"Then you’d better reconcile with Mother quickly. Don’t give me a reason to look down on you."
Li Ji was speechless. "..."
Li Ji reached out to tug his son’s little ear.
"Is that any way to talk to your father, you little brat?!"
Li Xun agilely dodged his father’s vicious grasp and yelled.
"If you dare hit me, I won’t help you!"
In order to maintain the precarious alliance between them, Li Ji could only temporarily abandon his plan to teach his bratty son a lesson.
He grabbed the back of his bratty son’s collar and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
Then, with a single leap...
...the father and son flew to the top of the wall.
Jiao Gui had just finished helping the Princely Heir wash up.
Carrying a basin of wash water, she stepped out of the house. As she looked up, she saw two figures suddenly fly over the courtyard wall.
She was so frightened her face turned pale. Thinking thieves had climbed over the wall to break in, she frantically hurled the contents of the basin at them!
SPLASH!
Li Ji and his son had just landed and hadn’t even found their footing before they were doused with wash water.
The two of them were instantly soaked to the bone, looking like a pair of drowned rats.
Jiao Gui screamed, "Someone, quick! Catch the thieves!"
Hearing the commotion outside, Hua Manman rushed out of the house.
She immediately spotted the father and son standing by the courtyard wall.
Li Ji set his son down, wiped the water from his face, and said calmly,
"Stop shouting. It is I."
Only then did Jiao Gui get a clear look at the man’s face. It was the Regent King, who lived next door!
Her face instantly turned ashen. With a thud, she fell to her knees, a single thought echoing in her mind—
’I’m so dead!’
Mr. Du and Ban Ren rushed over with a group of trusted aides, preparing to capture the brazen thief who had trespassed into the Prince Mansion. Instead, they only saw two people, one large and one small.
The large one was the Regent King.
The small one was the Regent King’s only son.
Both father and son were soaked to the skin, cutting a very sorry figure.
This outcome was not what anyone had expected.
Even the worldly and experienced Mr. Du was stunned, completely unsure how to properly react.
In the end, it was Li Ji, the man at the center of it all, who finally broke the silence.
"May we come in and talk?"
Hua Manman stepped aside. "Please, come in."
Li Ji led his son into the house.
As soon as they were gone, everyone in the courtyard breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Mr. Du had someone help Jiao Gui to her feet.
Jiao Gui’s legs were still weak, and her face was covered in a cold sweat.
The fright had completely drained her.
Mr. Du tried to reassure her. "The Regent King didn’t seem very angry. He probably won’t blame you."
But Jiao Gui didn’t dare to truly relax.
Who knew if the Regent King might decide to retaliate later?
’I still have to be careful.’
Seeing the father and son dripping wet, Hua Manman immediately took out two clean cloths for them to wipe their faces.
"Would you two like to go back and change your clothes first?"
But Li Ji said, "There’s no need to go to the trouble. I’ll have someone send over two sets of clothes."
The staff of the Regent Prince Mansion were highly efficient.
Before long, someone delivered two sets of clean clothes.
Hua Manman watched Li Xun take the clothes from the servant and couldn’t resist asking,
"Does the Heir of the Regent King know how to change his own clothes?"
Li Xun pursed his lips, looking a little displeased. "My name is Gou Dan. Mother can just call me Gou Dan."
’That whole "Heir of the Regent King" thing sounds so distant.’
’He didn’t like it!’
Hua Manman was amused by his serious expression.
Li Xun hugged the clothes tightly and asked cautiously,
"I’m not very good at changing my clothes... Can Mother help me?"
He lowered his head as soon as he said it, not daring to look at his mother, his little face flushing bright red with embarrassment.
Hua Manman was once again overwhelmed by his cuteness.
She smiled and replied, "Of course."
Li Xun’s head shot up, his eyes wide with pleasant surprise.
He had only said it as a long shot, deliberately claiming he couldn’t change clothes by himself in the hopes of getting a chance to be closer to his mother.
He had even braced himself for rejection.
He never expected his mother to agree so readily.
Happiness had come so suddenly that Li Xun felt like he was floating on air.
’This was the first time his mother was changing his clothes for him with her own hands!’
’He was so excited just thinking about it.’
Hua Manman took the clothes from the boy’s hands and led him to the next room to change.
Li Ji, who was left behind: "..."
’Wait, did you two forget someone else is here?’
’Don’t go!’
’Look back at me!’