The Prince of Ning’s manor belonged to a family of military generals—generation after generation, none had ever failed to excel in horseback riding and archery.

Even though the current Prince of Ning held a civil post in court, it did not mean he had completely cast aside the martial arts.

Even the Old Madam herself, in her younger days, had been capable of wielding blades and spears.

But this Lu Wenxiu was trash!

At this very moment, the Old Madam was so furious she nearly fainted from anger. Never had she imagined that Lu Wenxiu could be such a useless good-for-nothing! He couldn’t even lift a bucket of water, how could he ever step onto a battlefield?!

What’s more, the Prince of Ning had personally invited an instructor from the Imperial Guards to teach him and Lu Yuan, the two brothers, and yet somehow he had turned out such a weakling who couldn’t even truss a chicken?!

In recent years, the Old Madam had secluded herself in Mei’an Courtyard and rarely came out. Whenever she appeared during her birthday banquets, Lu Yuan and Lu Wenxiu would always perform sword dances to amuse her. She had genuinely thought that although Lu Wenxiu wasn’t as accomplished as Lu Yuan, at least he had made some progress—enough not to disgrace the Prince of Ning’s household.

But now, having chanced upon this scene by the stream, she finally realized—she had been deceived!

Those so-called martial performances at every birthday banquet were nothing but last-minute pretenses, all flowery moves without a shred of real skill.

Otherwise, how could he now be panting as if his breath were about to leave him, his face pale as a ghost, just from lifting a bucket of water?

The Old Madam’s expression turned unsightly to the extreme. She handed the gold incense burner in her arms to the maid behind her and strode quickly forward. The Princess Consort of Ning also looked displeased; after glancing once at Lu Huan and furrowing her brow, she followed hastily behind.

A cluster of maids swarmed after them.

The people by the stream hadn’t expected the Old Madam to appear here and were instantly startled.

All the servants fell to their knees. “Old Madam.”

Lu Wenxiu clutched his foot, writhing in pain, but upon seeing the Old Madam arrive, his pupils shrank. He hurriedly struggled to his feet. “Grand—Grandmother.”

Useless thing. The Old Madam swept her gaze up and down his form. Seeing both his legs trembling, her heart filled with disdain.

She turned her head away in disgust, her gaze landing on Lu Huan, who stood silently to the side, bowing in greeting.

It was instead Lu Huan who surprised her.

Only legitimate sons could inherit the family’s estate, and thus when the Imperial Guard instructor came to teach, only Lu Yuan and Lu Wenxiu—the legitimate brothers—were allowed to attend. Yet after all these years of study, they still couldn’t compare to a concubine-born son with nothing to his name.

The Old Madam’s expression and the shift in her demeanor did not escape the notice of the Princess Consort of Ning and Lu Wenxiu.

The Princess Consort’s face darkened, while Lu Wenxiu’s own expression turned a mix of grievance and panic. He darted a glance toward his mother, then couldn’t help but glare viciously at Lu Huan—if not for him, how could he have been humiliated again and again like this?

“Grandmother, we were only playing a game with Third Brother and Fourth Sister,” Lu Wenxiu said, his hand behind his back signaling for someone to release the two illegitimate children.

The Old Madam couldn’t care less whether Lu Wenxiu was bullying the concubine-born ones. She said impatiently, “Enough games. Go back and study. A whole crowd making a ruckus by the stream, what kind of propriety is that?!”

Lu Wenxiu hurriedly replied, “I’ll return to my study right away.”

He waved his hand, gesturing for the servants who had come with him to follow.

He had gathered this large group precisely to make things difficult for Lu Huan. But when the Old Madam arrived, everyone had fallen to their knees, too afraid to leave. Now, as they rose and started heading toward the corridor, the place grew rather crowded.

Lu Wenxiu shot a glance at Lu Huan, and a sudden thought came to him.

That scene just now must have been witnessed by the Old Madam. Lu Huan had made him look useless in her eyes—damn it! If he didn’t find a way to turn things around, would he really let that bastard win her favor?

A cruel glint flashed across his face as he leaned toward his trusted servant and whispered a few words.

All of this happened in an instant—no one by the stream noticed.

But outside the screen, Su Xi suddenly put down her toothbrush, staring speechlessly at the line of text that popped up on the screen:

> “Find a way to push Lu Huan—make him shove the Old Madam into the stream. I want to see if, after he makes such a grave mistake, the Old Madam will still hold him in such high regard!”

Not—

Xiu’er, you are being watched. Whispering won’t help you either.

Just as Su Xi was staring intently at the screen, chaos broke out by the stream in an instant!

Lu Huan was about to step past a few servants to reach the stream and lead away the concubine’s daughter, while the Old Madam and the Princess Consort of Ning stood nearby at the water’s edge.

Suddenly, a shifty-eyed servant stretched out his hand just as Lu Huan passed behind the Old Madam—

Lu Huan had always been vigilant; of course he would notice. Hearing the faint stir of air from behind, his eyes flickered and he swiftly sidestepped.

The servant froze. Seeing that he had failed to harm Lu Huan and was about to push the Old Madam instead, he hastily pulled his hand back.

But at that very moment—!

For some unknown reason, his wrist seemed to be seized by an invisible force in midair, yanking it hard in another direction.

The servant’s face instantly turned white. What the hell—?!!

His hand—his hand—why wasn’t it obeying him?!

He struggled desperately to draw it back, but that strange power was far stronger than he was, dragging his arm mercilessly until his palm shoved squarely against Lu Wenxiu’s shoulder.

Lu Wenxiu, who had just turned his head to watch the show, was suddenly pushed from the right. Unsteady on his feet, with a weak stance, he instinctively grabbed the nearest thing—his grandmother’s collar—

And then, clutching the Old Madam, he toppled straight into the icy stream.

“……”

Splash! The thin sheet of ice shattered, and frigid snow-melt water burst upward, splattering everyone along the bank.

Everyone: “……”

!!!

The scene froze for a second—and then, with the Princess Consort of Ning’s piercing scream, chaos erupted.

The Princess Consort and several maids shouted in panic for help. “Save them! Why are you all standing there?!!!”

The servants, shocked out of their wits, all hesitated. There were no guards skilled in martial arts nearby, and in such bitter cold, jumping into the water meant catching a severe chill. They were neither the heir nor the Old Madam—without fires to warm them or court physicians to treat them, rescuing her could very well mean their own deaths.

In the bone-piercing cold of the stream, Lu Wenxiu floundered in terror, his face turning bloodless in an instant as he struggled frantically, nearly drowning himself.

It was the Old Madam, with some training of her own, who managed to stay calm. She clutched at a rock, trying to stand, but before she could gain her footing, that fool Lu Wenxiu’s wild thrashing almost dragged her back down.

The Old Madam’s lips had turned purple with cold. “……”

Outside the screen, Su Xi stared at her game character. For some reason, in this perfect opportunity, her little avatar merely stood there coldly for several seconds, holding the three-year-old concubine’s daughter in his arms, watching from the side as if detached from it all.

Above his head, a white speech bubble appeared with one word: Heh.

Su Xi: …………

Zai Zai, you’re watching someone die without helping!

Just as Su Xi was hesitating over whether to push the mission forward—maybe by forcing her Zai Zai into the water to save them—he finally moved.

He set down the concubine’s daughter and leapt into the stream.

Moments later, both the Old Madam and Lu Wenxiu were pulled to safety.

Lu Huan was soaked through, his black hair clinging to his thin garments, his lips pale from the cold as he stepped onto the bank.

The Old Madam and Lu Wenxiu were immediately surrounded by servants and the Princess Consort of Ning, who hurried to drape cloaks over them, bring out hand-warmers, and wipe away the icy water.

But around him—there was no one.

He showed no expression; his face was unreadable. Lowering his gaze, he wrung the water from his robe.

On the other side, the Old Madam had just begun to recover from the bone-chilling cold. Her whole body trembled as she turned to the still-shivering Lu Wenxiu and slapped him hard across the face, fury blazing.

“Idiot! Useless waste! You will confine yourself for one month to reflect, and you are not to come out!”

Lu Wenxiu, already half-numb from the cold, was nearly knocked to the ground by that slap. Trembling, he knelt on the frozen earth, crying and pleading, “Grandmother, I didn’t—I didn’t— I—”

Suddenly, he glared viciously at his trusted servant, his voice cracking with panic and rage. “It was him! He pushed me! What the hell did you push me for?!”

That servant, already terrified out of his wits by the earlier ghostly incident, could barely think straight. His face had gone deathly pale as he knelt wordlessly on the ground.

The Princess Consort of Ning’s expression turned grim. She quickly ordered the servant to be brought forward. “Speak properly. What exactly happened just now?”

But the Old Madam had no patience for Lu Wenxiu’s excuses. In her mind, she had already written him off as a useless heir.

Her gaze shifted toward the corner where Lu Huan stood.

Just moments ago, when she had fallen into the water, it was this illegitimate grandson who had been the first to leap in and pull her to safety.

The Old Madam took a steadying breath, then beckoned to him. “Come here.”

Lu Huan had wrung most of the water from his robe hem, though his clothes were still soaked through. His lips, too, were pale from the cold—but compared to Lu Wenxiu, who was wailing and trembling on the ground, his composure was a world apart.

In silence, he walked toward the Old Madam.

Even then, no one offered him so much as a towel to dry himself.

Watching the Old Madam’s change in attitude, Su Xi realized that she had likely completed the “Gain the Old Madam’s Favor” task.

…Yet, looking at the chaotic scene by the stream, she couldn’t bring herself to feel pleased.

Setting down her toothbrush, she watched her little avatar, soaked and leaving a trail of wet footprints as he walked toward the veranda. Somehow, she felt a pang of sympathy—for a mere game character.

Her fingers twitched. She couldn’t help but rub her thumb gently across the screen, over the drenched little figure whose every strand of hair and inch of skin seemed to radiate cold.

It was clearly just a game, and yet she couldn’t help but feel for him—

Even feeling the impulse to hurry and complete more tasks, to help her little Zai Zai ascend the throne soon—so that no one would ever overlook him again.

───♡───

What Su Xi didn’t know was that, at the very moment Lu Huan lifted his foot to step onto the veranda, his steps faltered slightly.

He had felt it—just for a fleeting instant—the soaked chill of his body seemed to warm, as though someone had draped a soft cloak over his shoulders.

It was a gentleness the world had never once given him—

But it vanished as quickly as it came.

Lu Huan merely frowned slightly, then continued walking toward the Old Madam.