Han Moze sighed but said nothing, and simply moved his chess piece before saying, "You lost again, Shuang'er!"
"Eh? How did I lose again? I don't care, we're playing another round!"
Liu Rushuang swept the chess pieces into a jade vase and started the next round with Han Moze.
He simply beamed at her in return—he was certainly pleased to play with her anytime.
***
There were both manmade and natural gardens in the imperial palace, and Longyuan was scampering towards one of the natural lakes.
It was surrounded sparsely by trees standing three feet away, and the surfaces of the lake reflected it and the blue sky.
Ducks were playing in flocks upon it, stirring lines of waves with their bodies as they swam.
The reflections would blur whenever a wind gusted over the lake, but that did not impede the fish swimming below.
Longyuan walked up to the lake and dropped to a crouch, watching as the fish swam with sparkling eyes.
However, the water was too deep and he was very small.
Just as he scowled, Cang Mu came and crouched beside him, saying, "Your Highness, just tell me if you need any help."
Longyuan turned to look at him. He had grouped Cang Mu amongst people he disliked—he certainly did not forget how he had done his best to expose his lies.
He had wanted to get all those handmaidens and guardsmen dismissed but failed, only to be spanked by his father, who insisted that he was lying.
Longyuan felt as if his dignity was robbed at the memory.
He might be wrong for lying, but those people who dared to expose him clearly had it in for him.
"Cang Mu, yes?"
Longyuan looked over his shoulder at Cang Mu, hiding a sinister smile.
"Yes. Cang Mu, at your service."
Cang Mu was just around eighteen. It was hard for him to reach this rank after he came to the palace to be a guardsman three years ago, and he would not want to provoke the crown prince if he did not have to.
He definitely would not have stood out this morning either, if the crown prince was not behaving so outrageously.
Even now, he could not help being a little apprehensive—would the crown prince hold a grudge against him?
"I want to catch a fish with my bare hands, so help me think of an idea."
Longyuan did not hold back from ordering him around.
Cang Mu's bushy brows knitted together in thought, but…
"Hurry up! You're so stupid! Can't you think of anything?"
In a few seconds, Longyuan started to scold him without giving him any time.
Cang Mu frowned harder at that and calmed himself to think.
How could the crown prince catch any fish? The fish would definitely swim away if he waded into it with the boy…
"Hurry up! Hurry up…"
Longyuan yelled even more anxiously. "Why are you so stupid? You can't think of anything even after so long? So stupid! Idiot!"
Cang Mu gritted his teeth. The crown prince was so noisy—can't he tell that he was thinking?
Was it that hard to give him some silence?
"Hurry up! I can't wait, you're so stupid, Cang Mu! You can't even come up with anything after so long!"
Upset, Longyuan bellowed at Cang Mu and pointed at his forehead. "What an idiot! So stupid!"
The handmaidens and guardsmen around them were all stifling their laughter.
The crown prince was so cute!
Still, poor Cang Mu… he must feel terrible from being scolded by the crown prince out in the open.
Indeed, he was falling apart inside!
Still, he suddenly noticed that it was too difficult for him to catch a fish with his tiny hands.