The brown-haired man frowned and glanced back at the place where that 'man' had just disappeared off to. Even though they were at a distance, he could still see that the one who stole a robe from them was an imperial guard.
What the fourth prince was worried about was the outfit that the guard was wearing. It couldn't be that the imperial father did something behind their back, could it? That old fart man…. It couldn't be that he schemed once again to make himself and the third prince more active in the court?
When he thought about it, he frowned as a trace of worry flashed across his eyes.
Just then, he heard his brother's indifferent voice, saying, "Don't worry about him. I'll handle it."
Now that his big brother said it, the fourth brother sighed, but he still determined in his heart that he would surely make himself stronger and protect his big brother.
In his eyes, only his third brother was worth even a single trace of attention. Other brothers only had blood relations with him, and he wouldn't glance at them unless necessary.
It could be seen that this young brother of his was fully loyal to the third brother.
By this time, the soldiers had also arrived as they hesitated and finally said, "Your Highness…. We are getting late."
"Let's go." The third brother, who had always been playful and uncaring of ordinary things in his daily life, spoke in a mocking tone, "Otherwise, who knows where that old fart would throw up blood in anger."
"Your Highness…" The imperial soldiers really wanted to cry. This third prince was really too bold, speaking about the Emperor in such a manner. If it were any other person, they would be ordered to kill right on the spot. But the entire imperial ground was confused…
Why was the Emperor letting this Third prince go just like that without speaking anything against him?! It wasn't that the Emperor had fatherly love toward his sons. No.
Everyone knew that the Emperor was indifferent and never favored one son more than the other. Even though the first two princes were fighting internally for the position of the crown prince neck-to-neck, the Emperor still remained indifferent to them to the point he didn't do a single thing even when there was an assassination attempt.
The soldiers could only sigh. No doubt, the Emperor was good, but he didn't have a single familial love in his heart.
So they still didn't understand why this third prince received such a grand and biased treatment.
Despite having such thoughts in their hearts, none of them spoke a single word. The last time this third prince had done something to offend the Emperor, the man only looked angry, but after a while, he suppressed his anger and let the third prince go by casually giving him a simple punishment of keeping the man locked up for only twenty-four hours.
What kind of biased treatment was that?! And still, the third prince wasn't ready to speak a single good word about his own father! Not only that, their third prince never lived up to the standard, always idling around the city and looking highly irresponsible. It was even a miracle that the third prince managed to top in every field he studied, be it martial arts or political studies.
He even played music very well, even better than his own teachers!
But, what was the use of such studies? Their third prince always ended up wasting his life doing nothing, absolutely nothing! He would even refuse to give a face to the Emperor, not showing himself to the court even once.
God knows what's going on in this damned third prince's head all day long.
The imperial guards were tired of chasing this prince and forcing the man to bring him back. Ah, even if the third prince refused, the imperial guards wouldn't be able to do a single thing because the man was more powerful than even the generals! What to speak of the puny guards?
The guards sighed in relief upon seeing the princes finally agreeing and climbing up the horse, making their way slowly into the palace.
As the horse steadily walked forward, Li Mei looked through the crowd, hiding behind a pillar. Only when the entire procession went away did she sigh and relax her shoulders.
She was almost caught! Phew… Thank goodness she wasn't noticed. Now she could get busy creating her second identity and get (steal) some money to enter the official examination!
On the other side, as she was trying to change into that splendidly wondrous clothes, the Third prince had already arrived at the palace. He hopped down the horse as his younger brother followed after him.
The guards bowed at them, but none of them had a good impression of this third prince and his brother. All of them were troubled from head to toe because of this prince, but they couldn't do a damn thing about it!
Slowly, the third prince walked forward without a care of the world, casually stepping forward at a slow, casual pace. His eyes had a touch of mischief that didn't disappear even when he stepped into the throne room, looking up at his father.
He bowed slightly, but even that bow wasn't good enough. It almost looked like he was mocking the way he was bowing to his father. "Imperial father."
The middle-aged-looking old man sitting on the throne felt the corner of his lips twitching. He nodded cleared his throat and said, "So son, what have you thought about it? I have already decided on the marriage candidates for you."