"I am confident that I can protect him," Shen Mo said firmly.
"Don't make it sound so nice. Who knows what the inheritance site will be like? What if..." Master Xuanjing scoffed at Shen Mo's words. Given Shen Yebai's repeated pressure and determination to get the box, he didn't believe that Shen Mo valued Qin Moyu more than the inheritance.
“There’s no such thing as ‘what if’.” Shen Mo’s eyes were deep. “Unless I die, no one can harm him in the slightest.”
Qin Moyu suddenly looked up, and this time he finally realized who the familiar figure on Shen Mo was.
A long, long time ago, someone said something similar to me.
—If I can no longer protect you, it must be because I am dead.
And that person's name is Shen Yebai.
Chapter Sixty-Eight: Where there's a will, there's a way...
Master Xuanjing hissed, rejecting such cheesy sweet talk. The group chatted like this and before they knew it, they had arrived at Qin Moyu's place.
Shen Sheng arranged an excellent spot, knowing that Qin Moyu didn't like too many people around. He even changed the patrol route of the guards so that no one would usually pass by. But for some reason, there was someone squatting at Qin Moyu's door today.
It looks kind of familiar.
Qin Moyu stared at the back of the figure squatting by the door, head drooping as if dozing off, and felt inexplicably familiar with it.
Shen Mo recognized the figure as Shen Yu at a glance and said through gritted teeth, "Excuse me, I was rude."
He knew that Shen Yu was usually carefree, but he never expected that the other party would do something as suffocating as squatting at someone's door, which was a complete disgrace to the Southern Kingdom's royal family.
—Especially since this doorway is Qin Moyu's doorway, and considering that Qin Moyu would rather play chess with Shen Yu than see him, it's impossible not to overthink it.
Half-asleep, Shen Yu felt a chill run down his spine. He had secretly run away last night to look for Qin Moyu, but no one answered his calls at the door. He guessed that Qin Moyu must have gone out. He wanted to leave but was afraid of missing Qin Moyu, so he could only wait pitifully at the door.
He was originally standing and waiting, but after standing for a long time he got tired and sleepy. Since no one was passing by, he simply squatted down. If it weren't for the education he received since childhood that prevented him from lying down on the spot, he would have already fallen asleep at Qin Moyu's door.
Shen Mo walked up behind Shen Yu in a few steps, and before Shen Yu could react, he picked him up and sneered, "You seem to be sleeping very comfortably."
It was that damned familiar voice again. The soreness from being forced to use the array all day felt like it was just yesterday. Shen Yu stiffly turned around, looked at Shen Mo's gloomy expression, and laughed in a way that was more like crying: "Ha, ha, Ancestor, what a coincidence."
Shen Yu's voice was trembling, and only two words filled her mind: It's over, it's over, it's over.
If the elders in the clan, who value etiquette, knew that Shen Yu was being so frivolous, they would surely punish him according to the clan rules, and having his books copied and his house locked up would be secondary.
Shen Mo was about to teach Shen Yu a lesson and tell him to stop doing such a shameful thing when he was stopped by someone.
Qin Moyu walked up to him without him noticing. Seeing Shen Yu looking pitiful like a wilted eggplant, she felt very sorry for this friend who had been constantly punished by copying books and being confined since returning to the Southern Kingdom's royal family. She tugged at Shen Moyu's sleeve and whispered, "It seems like he came to see me. Maybe... let it go, it's too tragic."
Shen Yu has just been released from confinement. If he doesn't even get a day to enjoy himself before going back into confinement, that would be truly tragic.
After Qin Moyu's persuasion, Shen Mo's anger subsided. He put Shen Yu down, looking at her with a disappointed expression, and said, "Consider yourself lucky. Since Moyu pleaded for you, I won't hold it against you this time. But if I see this again... heh..."
That cold laugh startled Shen Yu, who immediately patted his chest and promised, "I swear, there will absolutely be no next time!"
His eyes were so determined, as if he was about to die a heroic death at any moment. His silly and foolish appearance made Shen Mo feel a pang of heartache.
He clearly remembered that Shen Yu and Shen Sheng were brothers born of the same mother, so how could they be so different?!
Not wanting to see the suffocating junior any longer, Shen Mo turned to Qin Moyu and said, "I'll go call the imperial physician."
"Okay, thank you!"
Qin Moyu nodded repeatedly, completely ignoring Xuanjing Zhenren's nonsense about "I'm perfectly fine and don't need anyone to look after me."
"No need." Shen Mo smiled and couldn't help but ruffle Qin Moyu's hair. "Wait for me to come back."
He disappeared before Qin Moyu could react.
Qin Moyu touched his head, feeling somewhat confused and conflicted.
Why do they always like to ruffle my hair...?
Before Qin Moyu could figure it out, Xuanjing Zhenren, who was almost driven mad with anger, childishly ruffled Qin Moyu's hair twice, like a child asserting his dominance, and said indignantly, "Shameless!"
Qin Moyu's lips twitched slightly: "Master, you're so childish."
"Hmph." Master Xuanjing curled his lips and glared at Qin Moyu with a look of utter disappointment. "And you! You're completely at someone's mercy. You won't even know when you're being sold out, and you'll still be counting money for them like an idiot."
Shen Yu remained silent, thinking of Qin Moyu's words that made Shen Mo change his mind. It wasn't Qin Moyu who was completely under his control; it was clearly his ancestor who was completely under his control. He swore that he had never seen his ancestor with such a gentle expression since he was born!
If he were to tell other members of the royal family that the ancestor had fallen in love with someone and was particularly obedient to that person, they would definitely think he had gone mad.
"Alright, alright, Master, don't worry about my affairs. I won't suffer any losses, don't worry. You should just stay here and wait for the imperial physician to arrive." Qin Moyu helplessly pushed Xuanjing Zhenren inside.
Perhaps it was because Master Xuanjing no longer had to pretend in front of Qin Moyu and told him everything, and because he had just gone through the ordeal of life and death, that he became particularly unrestrained. Not only did his personality become as awkward as before, but he also became even more childish.
After finally managing to appease Master Xuanjing, Qin Moyu finally had time to find Shen Yu and ask him what business the other party had with her.
"Hmm... I feel like I'm late." Because she had been spending a lot of time with Qin Moyu lately, Shen Yu could clearly sense that Qin Moyu's attitude towards Shen Moyu had changed dramatically in just one day.
Previously, Qin Moyu was clearly very resistant to Shen Mo, and even unwilling to say a word to him. Sometimes, even when she was smiling, you could tell that Qin Moyu was not happy. Therefore, Shen Mo did not dare to make any intimate gestures, for fear of offending Qin Moyu.
But Qin Moyu wasn't as resistant to Shen Mo today; she was much more peaceful and cheerful, which is why Shen Mo dared to pat Qin Moyu's head.
"Was my behavior that obvious?" Qin Moyu touched his face after hearing Shen Yu's explanation.
He had always thought that although he wasn't exactly at peace with Shen Mo, he was at least free of resentment, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.