TRBDM -Chapter 103 Unusual Habits?

“Why not use a candle?” asked Zhao Jingheng.

“Oh, there’s moonlight. I can see just fine,” Xie Yu replied casually.

When he worked as a servant, there were no candles to spare. During the day, he was busy with chores, and at night he would squeeze in a little time to secretly read.

His monthly allowance barely covered his meals, and buying a candle would have been extravagant. So he read by moonlight.

On cloudy or rainy nights with no moon, he simply couldn’t read.

Now, after rising in status and becoming the adopted son of the lady of the Marquis residence, he lacked neither silver nor clothes, yet subconsciously, he still preferred to save wherever he could, unwilling to waste a single coin.

“The moonlight is dim. If you read too long, you’ll ruin your eyes.”

“Ah?” Xie Yu had never thought about that.

A child picked from a pile of corpses and treated by his adoptive parents as a tool to earn money—just staying alive was hard enough. Using his body to gain what he needed to survive was perfectly normal.

If his eyes broke, so be it. As long as he didn’t go blind, no one could stop him from reading.

Today he had been so absorbed in his book. Normally, the candles in the Orchid Study wouldn’t be extinguished until midnight.

Closing his book, Xie Yu stood up and lowered his head. “Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness. It’s late, and Third Brother is probably looking for me. I’ll take my leave first.”

“Wait.”

Xie Yu had just taken a step when he quickly withdrew his foot.

“Your Highness, is there something else?”

Xie Yu’s heart raced, and he kept worrying whether he had accidentally offended the Tenth Prince.

“It’s dark outside. Take this candle.” Zhao Jingheng handed Xie Yu the candle he was holding.

“What about you?” Xie Yu asked.

“No matter. I like the dark,” he replied.

The candle flickered, casting Zhao Jingheng’s face in dim light—aloof and indifferent, as if no one could approach him.

Xie Yu thanked him nervously and hurried away.

Not long after, he ran into Xie Lan, who had come looking for him. “Fourth Brother, it’s time to return to room and rest.”

“Yes, I’m coming, Third Brother.”

“Where did you get that candle in your hand?” Xie Lan asked.

Xie Yu pulled him aside quietly. “Third Brother, let’s go outside first.”

After walking far from the library, Xie Yu turned to make sure no one had followed, then whispered the truth: the candle had been given to him by the Tenth Prince.

“The Tenth Prince said reading by moonlight could easily damage my eyes, so he gave me this candle. Third Brother, he may look cold and distant, but he’s actually a kind-hearted person.”

Xie Yu held the candle out to Xie Lan as proof that the Tenth Prince was cold in appearance but warm at heart.

Xie Lan furrowed his brow. He didn’t see the Tenth Prince as a good person.

Otherwise, why would the candle be given to Xie Yu and not to Xie Lan?

Since the first time he met the Tenth Prince, Xie Lan had sharply noticed the unusual attention Zhao Jingheng paid to Xie Yu.

Xie Lan put an arm around Xie Yu’s shoulders. “From now on, don’t leave my sight. Even if you go to the library to read, you have to stay with me. Understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” Xie Yu nodded obediently.

Xie Lan ruffled his hair. “Let’s go.”

Back in their room, Xie Lan discovered a letter from Wei Zhaorong.

After reading it, he frowned.

Their mother wanted him to get close to the Tenth Prince. If the Tenth Prince rejected Xie Lan, then Xie Yu was supposed to go instead.

Xie Lan looked at Xie Yu, who was tidying the bed. What was going on?

Why would their mother allow the Tenth Prince to get close to Xie Yu?

After finishing the bed, Xie Yu turned to see Xie Lan staring at him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Lan didn’t want him to worry, so he shook his head. “Nothing.”

The next day in class, Xie Lan began secretly observing the Tenth Prince.

At first, he noticed nothing unusual. But during break, he suddenly saw the Tenth Prince drawing—and the figure in his painting was Xie Yu.

The Tenth Prince sat far from all the students. Unless someone deliberately looked, they wouldn’t have seen what he was drawing.

Since Xie Lan was intentionally observing him, he naturally noticed the sketch on the desk.

Having spent years with Xie Yu, he recognized the portrait immediately—it was him.

Xie Lan felt uneasy.

How could a prince of such high status take an interest in a seemingly ordinary adopted son of a marquis’s household?

Could it be that the Tenth Prince had some unusual, even abnormal, preference?

He had heard that the wealthy and powerful often indulged in strange pastimes.

No!

Absolutely not!

Xie Lan’s heart raced.

Xie Yu had finally become the marquis’s adopted son and a student of Master Dong. In just two more years, he could sit for the imperial examination, marry, have children, and look forward to a bright future.

If…

Xie Lan shook his head. No one could ruin Xie Yu’s prospects. He would never allow it.

Originally, during break time, Xie Lan and Xie Yu had been quietly reading in the lecture hall. But after noticing the Tenth Prince’s unusual behavior, Xie Lan could no longer stay.

He grabbed Xie Yu’s arm. “Fourth Brother, come with me.”

“Oh.”

Xie Yu followed him without suspicion.

Xie Lan deliberately observed the Tenth Prince’s reaction. Sure enough, he lifted his head and glanced at Xie Yu.

Though he quickly looked away, based on Xie Lan’s observations over the past days, the Tenth Prince was solitary and never spoke to anyone.

Even the flamboyant Ninth Prince couldn’t earn a single glance from him.

So this look was extraordinary.

Xie Lan’s mood grew restless as he wandered aimlessly with Xie Yu. Soon, class was about to start, and Xie Yu paused. “Third Brother, where are we going? Class is about to begin; let’s go back to the lecture hall.”

Xie Lan knew perfectly well.

But right now, Xie Yu’s safety mattered more than studying.

The ten-day study tour at the Imperial Academy had felt too short before, but now Xie Lan wished he could leave immediately.

Even his trust in Wei Zhaorong wavered.

Had his mother instructed Xie Yu to get close to the Tenth Prince, intending to use him as bait to curry favor with the prince?

The more he thought about it, the angrier Xie Lan became.

Angry at his own impotence, angry at his mother for choosing such a crooked path.

He was completely immersed in the world he’d constructed in his mind, feeling that everyone was using Xie Yu, and he was powerless to protect him.

“Third Brother, Third Brother?”

Seeing no reaction from Xie Lan, Xie Yu waved his hand in front of him.

“Huh? It’s fine. Let’s go back to the lecture hall.”

Xie Lan’s inexplicable behavior left Xie Yu utterly bewildered.

Back in the lecture hall, Xie Lan’s eyes immediately sought the Tenth Prince.

He was no longer drawing. Xie Yu’s portrait was gone from the table—whether discarded or hidden, Xie Lan did not know.

He forced himself to calm down, set the matter aside for the moment, and focus on studying.

But before he could read a single character, a commotion broke out.

It turned out that Tang Wenhan, the youngest son of the Minister of Personnel and companion reader to the Ninth Prince, had quarreled with Nangong Hai.

“Nangong Hai, you’re a pauper riding on the Second Young Master’s fame to study at the Imperial Academy. Do you really think you’re talented?”

Nangong Hai’s face flushed red and pale in turn from humiliation.

He valued his pride, but at the Imperial Academy, it was worthless—anyone could trample it.

“Yesterday, when the Dean made Young Master Zhao copy the Academy Rules as punishment, you did it on his behalf, didn’t you?”

Nangong Hai’s eyes widened in panic. He had thought he had acted discreetly—how could he have been exposed publicly?

Suddenly, two faces appeared in his mind.

Yesterday, when he left the Ropes Hall, he had run into two students on the study tour.

It had been they who reported him!