Wordlessly, Xie Jianshen dragged Xie Jianyu to the cloud carriage. He did not even bother sparing Zhang Fengxi a look. Zhang Fengxi too had nothing to say to them.
Xie Jianyu was the only one who could not tear his gaze away from Zhang Fengxi’s kneeling figure, not even after he disappeared from sight.
"Big Brother, Zhang Fengxi, he..."
"Imperial Father did not punish him. He is the one who insists on kneeling until his beloved is released from prison. It has nothing to do with you or with me."
"But Big Brother..."
"Little Yu, I don’t want to hear any more words about this. You need to rest. Free your mind from these unnecessary thoughts!"
Xie Jianshen wanted to go back to his palace after dropping his brother off, but Xie Jianyu refused to let him go.
"Brother, why don’t you accompany me for a little bit?" he coaxed.
"..."
Xie Jianshen sighed.
"I know what you want. You cannot. You already asked for leniency from Imperial Father for Liu Wenyuan’s sake once. You don’t want to do it a second time."
"I know. That’s why I need you to ask for leniency in my stead."
"..."
"..."
"Little Yu, I won’t do it."
"Why not?"
"Because that man hurt you!" Xie Jianshen snapped.
"Look at all those injuries! Honestly, an association with Zhang Fengxi and his betrothed has brought you nothing but woes so far!"
Xie Jianyu tugged at Xie Jianshen’s sleeve and lied through his teeth.
"Big Brother, actually, Zhang Fengxi saved me at Great Sage Valley."
"... How so?"
Xie Jianshen did not believe Xie Jianyu’s words, but he still chose to listen.
"I saw a chance to defeat the centipede to gain extra class credit, so I chased after it while the entrances were crumbling."
Actually, it was Zhang Fengxi who was unable to contain his greed for the giant centipede’s spiritual core.
"Zhang Fengxi returned to save me. Thanks to him, I only injured my leg during the fall."
Actually, Xie Jianyu was the one who returned to save Zhang Fengxi. Also, he landed perfectly on the ground. He got hurt because Zhang Fengxi used the fire talisman erroneously and thus allowed the giant centipede to locate Xie Jianyu.
"When I was going through my heat period, he was able to resist me and kept me safe all night."
Xie Jianyu was barely able to prevent himself from sighing out loud.
Maybe his brother was right. Zhang Fengxi brought him bad luck. He even had to lie on Zhang Fengxi’s behalf.
The more lies he told, the more sins he accumulated.
"..."
Xie Jianshen remained unconvinced, but Zhang Fengxi did help Xie Jianyu out of the Great Sage Valley without dishonoring him. That was worth a thank you, wasn’t it?
"Fine," Xie Jianshen snapped. "I will go and beg Imperial Father to pardon him and his betrothed. Little Yu, do me a favor and stay away from the both of them."
Xie Jianyu beamed at his elder brother. If there was anyone else who could change the Heavenly Emperor’s mind other than him, then it was Xie Jianshen. In fact, Xie Jianshen’s relationship with his father was very good.
And that was how the Shuiran Palace Mistress returned to Golden Dragon Palace barely a shichen after leaving it.
He did not bother to cast a glance at Zhang Fengxi, who was still kneeling at the gate. Instead, he marched into the Emperor’s private residence and demanded to meet him.
The sons of the Emperor, omegas or alphas, had special status within the Golden Dragon Palace. Naturally, no one dared to oppose Xie Jianshen.
The Emperor was sitting before a huge desk in his study. Countless work documents were sprawled open across the surface.
At the Emperor’s right side, Head Eunuch Wang gathered the ones with the Emperor’s seal, rolled them, and put them neatly in a document tray.
Both of them looked up when Xie Jianshen entered.
The Emperor usually looked favorably upon his sons, but this time he was quite irritable.
"You can go," he said to Head Eunuch Wang, who bowed deeply before he left the study.
The Emperor shot his son a sharp look.
"Jianshen, if one more person kneels outside and begs for Liu Wenyuan’s release, I will throw him and Zhang Fengxi into prison so they can all accompany each other."
Xie Jianshen broke into a smile. He approached the desk and cupped his hands at his father.
"Then, I am glad that I am not kneeling outside."
The Heavenly Emperor stared at his eldest son. Xie Jianshen might be an omega, but he has an alpha’s charisma.
This was what he liked about his son the most. Too bad that he did not differentiate into an alpha.
The Emperor scoffed.
"You are not kneeling, but you do come here to beg, am I not right?"
"I am also not here to beg."
The Emperor leaned against his throne and stared at his eldest son.
"... Spit it out, what do you want from your old father?"
"I am hoping that Imperial Father can release Liu Wenyuan," Xie Jianshen said smoothly.
"I thought you didn’t come to beg."
"Oh, I am not begging. I am trying to persuade Imperial Father."
Begging, persuading. What’s the difference?
"Let’s see how you presume to persuade me. Go on, I want to hear your best excuse."
"Zhang Fengxi knows about Xie Jianyu’s gender."
The revelation made the Emperor rise to his feet in an instant. The color on his face changed rapidly until it settled with purplish red. By the time he spoke again, his killing intent was hardly concealable.
"Did he do anything to Jianyu?"
"Thankfully, he did not."
"Are you sure?"
"Imperial Father, I checked thoroughly for any marks on Little Yu’s body. He is still as pure as the first snow in winter."
Hearing this, the Emperor visibly relaxed.
"Are you asking me to pardon Zhang Fengxi because he did not commit an atrocious offense against the Crown Prince? Maybe I should eliminate him for good."