一夜情

“I’ve heard about it. How did Zizhao catch the eye disease?

“I was sick back then as well. All I remember was that his eyes slowly started going blind. He consulted many doctors, but none of them could cure it.”

The Third Prince eliminated the possibility of Xie Heng pretending to be blind.

Xie Heng was no ordinary person. The Xie Clan had been living in Lengshui Village for generations. There was nothing strange or suspicious about their heritage, and there was no need for Xie Heng to hide like that and delay his development.

“Hurry up and do your homework. I can teach you if you need help with any of them.”

“Okay.”

Xie Jun sat down obediently and started focusing on his writing practice.

The Third Prince sat on a chair beside Xie Jun and looked at him.

Xie Jun reminded him of his own childhood.

He sighed, thinking, “Time flies!”

The Third Prince sat all the way until noon. Xie Jun didn’t ask him a single question during that time.

He looked at Xie Jun’s work. It was quite excellent.

“Third Brother, are you hungry? I’ll go cook. Can you stay here and eat with me?”

“Junjun, do you know how to cook?”

“Not really. My brother cooks lunch in the morning and stores it for later. I just need to heat it up before eating. Third Brother, this was made in the morning, but we haven’t eaten it before. You won’t mind, right?”

“Of course not. Let’s go, I’ll help you.”

The Third Prince said that he was going to help, but he had actually never done any chores since the day he was born. All he could do was stand beside him and watch.

He watched Xie Jun start a fire, pour water into the pot, and put it on the stove. He then place the cooked food on top and put on the lid. He felt a little heartache for some reason.

“Third Brother, we’ll keep the fire going for a while after the water starts boiling. The food will be heated up in a while. My brother doesn’t use a lot of seasoning in his cooking. I don’t know if you like that.”

“I’m not picky.”

“Alright then.”

Xie Jun squatted down in front of the stove. His mouth never stopped movingthe entire time.

Most of the time, the Third Prince listened to him talk. He only responded

occasionally.

There was an inexplicable sense of warmth and coziness in the small kitchen. The Third Prince liked the feeling.

Even if his gut feeling was wrong and Xie Jun isn’t actually his ninth brother, he would still be willing to treat Xie Jun as his brother and protect him for as long as he could.

After heating up the food, Xie Jun didn’t need the Third Prince’s help. He carried the food out to the courtyard on his own.

The two of them sat in the courtyard and ate a simple meal together.

The Third Prince had never had a meal like this before.

As a prince, he lived his entire life under strict rules and etiquette. It was rare for him to relax like this.

“It’s delicious, right?” Xie Jun’s cheeks were stuffed full of food, so his words sounded muffled and unclear.

“Yup, it’s delicious.” Compared to Xie Jun, who was basically gobbling down the food, the Third Prince ate in a much more elegant manner. He said, “Eat slowly. I don’t want you to choke.”

“I can’t slow down. I feel really hungry,” Xie Jun answered. Ever since the poison in his body was neutralized, his appetite had been increasing constantly. Now he needed at least three bowls of food every meal. On top of that, he was a foodie. He couldn’t stop eating whenever he saw something good.

The Third Prince put down his chopsticks and bowl. He then went into the kitchen to get a new pair of utensils. He helped Xie Jun pick out the fish bones before putting the meat into the bowl in front of Xie Jun.

Come to think of it, the Third Prince had never taken care of anyone like that before. Xie Jun was the first person who received such treatment.

“Third Brother, you should eat too. I’ll be careful with the fish,” Xie Jun said.

“Otherwise, I’m going to finish all of this alone.”

“That’s fine. I’m not hungry.”

The Third Prince felt happy just watching Xie Jun eat like this. But he didn’t forget the reason why he was there.

After eating, while they were tidying up the table, the Third Prince

“accidentally” spilled a leftover bowl of soup onto Xie Jun’s shirt.

“Oh my, I’m really sorry Junjun. I lost my grip on the plate and dirtied your clothes. Quickly, go change your clothes so you don’t catch a cold.” The Third Prince held Xie Jun’s hand and led him back to his room. He helped Xie Jun find a set of clean clothes from the closet.

Xie Jun didn’t overthink the “accident.” He took off his clothes in front of the Third Prince.

As Xie Jun was taking off his shirt, the Third Prince felt his heart hanging in the air.

Soon, he saw the birthmark and scar on Xie Jun’s left scapula.

After searching all over, somehow, his ninth brother had come to him instead.

That was his ninth brother.

The Third Prince’s entire body was trembling slightly.

The scar was a result of his ignorance when he was young. He tried to peel off the birthmark on his brother’s back because he thought it looked ugly.

He could never forget the painful cries of his little brother back then.

Now, the pain that he had caused his ninth brother became the crucial evidence that helped him to identify Xie Jun.

He thought, “Ninth brother, I finally found you!’

Xie Jun was done changing into a set of new clothes. He realized that the Third Prince had been staring at him the entire time, and his expression was complicated, to say the least. Xie Jun felt a little nervous. He asked, “Third Brother, are you alright?”

The Third Prince suppressed his emotions as his expression returned to normal. He said, “Nothing, I just feel like despite my age, I’m slower than Junjun at doing chores, which makes me feel a little embarrassed.”

“Third Brother, I could tell immediately that you didn’t grow up in a village as we did, so it’s not strange that you don’t know how to do chores. Third Brother, you came from Imperial City. Is Imperial City busier and more lively than here?” Xie Jun wasn’t suspicious of the Third Prince’s excuse at all.

The Third Prince felt a stinging pain in his heart. Ninth brother should have grown up in Imperial City. Now it was a place he had never been to before and looked up to.