The servant who had just vowed to Lu Wenxiu that there was meicai kourou in the food box suddenly froze in terror—

What… what was going on?!

Had they seen a ghost?!

There had clearly been some just now—

Why had it suddenly been replaced with coarse rice bran buns?!

Those who had been called over to watch the commotion weren’t only the servants of Prince Ning’s Manor, but also a few guests and temporarily residing scholars.

Although they all knew that there was a clear distinction between the status of a legitimate son and that of a concubine-born son. That the concubine-born son in Prince Ning’s Manor likely didn’t live too comfortably—

Still, this situation…

This was too pitiful.

Being wrongly accused for no reason?

And the one doing the accusing, Second Young Master Lu Wenxiu, seemed like a complete fool.

It was truly awkward.

Everyone present wished they could dig a hole for Lu Wenxiu to crawl into.

For a moment, the hall fell utterly silent.

The servants and the head of the kitchen standing before Lu Wenxiu all widened their eyes, exchanging bewildered glances.

Not a sound was heard.

Lu Yuan’s expression gradually turned dark.

He fixed his gaze on Lu Wenxiu as though looking at an imbecile and scolded, “Wenxiu, what nonsense are you making again?”

Lu Wenxiu stood there in confusion.

Only then did realization dawn upon him.

He set down the food box and took a glance. Instantly, his face flushed scarlet.

No… no, how could this be?

His servant had clearly said there was the aroma of meicai kourou inside. So why had it now turned into these dry, unappetizing rice bran buns?!!

In front of so many people, he had jumped up and down, loudly accusing Lu Huan of stealing his food. But in the end, there was no theft at all?!

And everyone had even seen how harshly the kitchen treated Lu Huan?!

Lu Wenxiu only felt as if he had instantly become a clown.

Humiliated and furious, his neck flushed red, his face alternated between green and white.

Unable to control himself, he viciously kicked both the kitchen steward and the servant who had reported that the meicai kourou was in Lu Huan’s food box.

“Are you idiots?! Why did you tell me without confirming it first?!”

The steward and servant were dumbfounded, stammering, “But we clearly—”

“Clearly your head!” Lu Wenxiu, his pride shattered and rage flaring, kicked each of them again.

The rest of the servants were all mortified, none daring to speak.

The atmosphere was enough to make one’s toes curl in secondhand embarrassment.

Lu Huan, upon seeing the rice bran buns inside the box, felt his pupils contract imperceptibly in shock.

His astonishment was extreme, uet not a trace of it showed on his face.

Just then, a series of clattering sounds came from the kitchen.

A servant hurried out carrying a plate of meicai kourou, awkwardly approaching the kitchen steward.

“Steward, f-found it. It was… in the cupboard where you keep the ingredients.”

The steward’s face went blank with disbelief.

“How could that be possible?”

He had clearly searched the entire kitchen earlier and found nothing. He had been certain it was stolen!

This was downright ghostly!

Could it be that his old eyes had failed him, and he hadn’t seen it just now?!

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Wenxiu, livid beyond reason, slapped him across the face.

“Get out of my sight!”

The onlooking guests and scholars exchanged glances, their gazes toward Lu Wenxiu filled with a mix of indescribable amusement and awkwardness—as though they wanted to laugh but didn’t dare.

Lu Wenxiu could, of course, feel it.

His face burned as if he’d been slapped—hot and stinging.

Lu Yuan’s face grew darker and darker, his expression iron-blue.

“Enough! Stop this nonsense! What kind of conduct is this!”

“Everyone disperse!” He flung his sleeve and strode away.

Lu Wenxiu’s face flushed with rage, his neck bulging.

He turned back to glare viciously at Lu Huan, then kicked the kitchen steward hard and snapped, ready to leave.

“Go!”

But just then, as if tripped by something, he suddenly let out a shriek—his feet flew out from under him, and in full view of everyone, he fell flat on his face.

“Ah—ah—ah!” His whole face plunged straight into the mud at the courtyard gate. When he lifted his head again, both nostrils were packed with dirt!

Finally, one of the servants couldn’t hold back anymore and covered their mouth, stifling a laugh.

Lu Wenxiu’s nose was swollen and bruised; furious and humiliated, he scrambled up and slapped both the kitchen steward and his own servant several times.

“Are you blind?! Who dared trip me?!”

His trusted servant’s face swelled from the blows, but he dared not utter a word of protest.

───♡───

Meanwhile, outside the screen, Su Xi gleefully withdrew her finger, rubbing it against her thumb before grabbing a bag of potato chips from the bedside and tearing it open.

That’s what they called evil meeting its match.

She had only meant to vent a little anger for her game character, yet unexpectedly, the system’s notification window popped up at once:

> “Congratulations on assisting the protagonist in handling interpersonal relations.

> Gold + 8, + 2, + 2, + 2.

> Relationship points + 3…”

> “Points have reached 7. You may now unlock a new area within Prince Ning’s Manor.”

My god—seven points just like that?!

Next, the map appeared before Su Xi’s eyes.

Messages kept popping up across the screen, blocking her view of the game character.

She hurriedly swiped them aside.

“Don’t unlock the new area yet, I need to think about which place to open first.”

System: “Understood.”

Once the messages cleared, the bustling servants on the screen had already dispersed.

The last two girls in coarse cloth garments even turned back to give her game character a sympathetic glance, their eyes plainly saying—

> Second Young Master is so stupid he can’t even frame someone properly; Third Young Master truly has it hard.

When the crowd was gone, the firewood courtyard felt empty, the cold wind whistling through.

The farce ended in the strangest possible way.

Lu Huan walked over, bent down, and picked up the food box that had fallen to the ground.

He examined it closely, his brows knitting into a deep 川-shaped crease.

“……”

Not to mention Lu Wenxiu and the others—even he was bewildered.

He had clearly seen with his own eyes the steaming meicai kourou inside, so how had it, in the blink of an eye, turned back into cold, dry rice-bran buns?

If the incident with the teapot could be blamed on his dazedness, and the firewood gate and bedding incidents attributed to his sleepwalking, then was this eerie event also just his imagination?

This had already gone beyond what any normal person could comprehend—enough to make one doubt their own sanity.

Suddenly recalling something, Lu Huan steadied himself and slowly walked beneath the eaves, gazing up at the section of roof that had been leaking.

He hadn’t examined it closely when he came in earlier, but now he saw that the last broken patch—had somehow been fully repaired.

“……”

Lu Huan’s expression grew even darker and more perplexed in that instant.

Meanwhile, Su Xi saw a white speech bubble appear above her game character’s head—just a single string of ellipses……

He tilted his head upward, as if contemplating the meaning of life.