He Yan and Prince Su stayed in the outskirts of the capital for less than half a month before returning to the city.

The scenery at this country estate was extremely beautiful, with many picturesque mountains and hills nearby, making it indeed much more pleasant to stay there compared to being in the city.

He Yan would often take Prince Su out for leisurely strolls and outings from time to time, and even caught a pair of rabbits to keep as pets.

The two originally wanted to stay a while longer, but Emperor Wen Xiao suddenly sent an urgent letter commanding Prince Su to return to the capital immediately, so they could only hastily pack their things and head back.

He Yan went straight back to the Prince Su Mansion. After Prince Su saw him off at the residence, he turned and headed to the imperial palace without even entering the gate.

As soon as He Yan entered the Prince Su Mansion and was asking the maids to find a nest for the pair of fluffy little rabbits he was carrying, a servant reported that the young master of the Anyuan Marquis Mansion had already arrived at the door to see him.

Looks like he was being watched. Mu Yuanwen probably ran over here as fast as he could after getting news of his return to the capital.

Knowing that Mu Yuanwen would have questions to ask in a moment, He Yan had the servants directly bring him to his room, then dismissed all the maids.

As soon as Mu Yuanwen entered the room, his sharp eyes spotted the two furry creatures less than a palm in size nestled in a small basket. Instantly forgetting what he originally wanted to say, he walked straight over to the basket and stared longingly at the two baby rabbits, unable to hide the excitement in his voice: "Can I pet them?"

Actually, with Mu Yuanwen's family status, naturally it wasn't that he couldn't afford to keep these little pets. It's just that his family was strict and his father had always forbidden him from "neglecting his ambitions for playthings" since he was young, never allowing him to keep cats, dogs and the like at the residence.

Perhaps it was the strange mentality that the more you can't have something, the more you want it. Since he was little, Mu Yuanwen had been filled with desire for small furry animals, especially for freshly weaned baby rabbits and other fluffy infant creatures. One glance and he basically couldn't tear himself away.

The two white, soft little milk rabbits had their eyes tightly shut as they huddled together, like two living cotton balls.

He Yan knew about his quirk and casually replied: "Suit yourself."

Mu Yuanwen couldn't wait to reach out a hand and poke one of the cotton balls on the butt. Its short tail, so small it was nearly negligible, quivered, and then it kicked its legs and scooted its bottom over a bit.

The cotton ball beside it seemed to notice its little companion was gone. It opened its eyes and craned its neck to look around. Very quickly, it also shifted its bottom over until it was tightly pressed against the other cotton ball's bottom.

Mu Yuanwen was completely captivated by the two furry little creatures before his eyes and gazed at them in a daze for a long time.

Afraid that he would never snap out of it, He Yan spoke up to remind him: "Don't stare yourself silly. What was so urgent that you came to intercept me today?"

Mu Yuanwen was in a daze for a moment before shifting his gaze back from the rabbits, a somewhat complex expression on his face. "You should already know, right? Something happened with the Second Prince."

He Yan had long guessed that he would bring up this matter and candidly admitted: "Yes, if not for this, I wouldn't have come back so early. Originally I wanted to stay a few more days."

To talk about what happened with the Second Prince, we have to start with the Xuzhou governor being thrown in prison.

Some time ago, the Xuzhou governor was arrested and jailed for colluding with human traffickers. However, clues uncovered earlier indicated that he wasn't the only high-ranking official involved with the traffickers, and there were people of even higher rank behind it.

The laws of the Wen Dynasty had very strict regulations regarding the buying and selling of people, with extremely heavy sentences for the illegal abduction and trafficking of humans. Moreover, Emperor Wen Xiao himself had always abhorred such matters.

Therefore, after the incident, Emperor Wen Xiao issued a decree to thoroughly investigate the case. But unexpectedly, as the investigation went on, it actually implicated the Second Prince.

A prince!

Throughout history, there had never been a prince caught involved in human trafficking!

You have to understand, human trafficking had always been one of the most despised professions throughout the dynasties. When traffickers were executed, the common people would all applaud, wishing they could dismember them!

Not to mention anything else, if this matter got out, what would become of the reputation of the entire Wen Dynasty imperial family...

So as soon as the officials from the Supreme Court investigating the case got to this point, they were so frightened that cold sweat poured down as they called a halt. That very night, they entered the palace to report the matter to Emperor Wen Xiao.

As expected, Emperor Wen Xiao immediately ordered the matter to be sealed and sent an urgent letter to Prince Su who was staying in the outskirts of the capital, telling him to rush back to discuss the situation.

However, although Emperor Wen Xiao had ordered mouths to be shut, paper could not wrap fire after all. Before dawn, the high officials in the capital had already heard some rumors and the atmosphere in the capital's officialdom became tense for a time.

Mu Yuanwen was just a young master of the Anyuan Marquis Mansion without any real power. He shouldn't have known about these secret matters so early. It's just that his legitimate elder brother, who had already begun to hold power in the marquis mansion, had always doted on him greatly. After being pestered by him for a bit, he discreetly mentioned a little about the matter to him.

As soon as he heard something had happened with the Second Prince, the scene of the Second Prince getting drunk and taking liberties with Xu Lingge at the Mid-Autumn poetry gathering not long ago immediately surfaced in Mu Yuanwen's mind.

According to his good friend's previous hints, on the day of the Mid-Autumn poetry gathering, the Second Prince was "supposed to" have made a move on him. Only under the intervention of some forces - most likely his good friend - did he muddle through and escape the disaster.

Although that Mid-Autumn poetry gathering passed peacefully, the more he pondered over the matter after returning to the marquis mansion that day, the heavier the chill in his heart grew.

Suppose that day it wasn't Xu Lingge but him who had fallen into the Second Prince's hands, what would have happened after?

Mu Yuanwen followed this hypothetical and thought it through.

First of all, if he had fallen into the Second Prince's hands, although he wouldn't be suicidal, he definitely would have been dejected for a time, unable to accept the fact that he had been taken advantage of by a pig. And with how much his parents and elder brother doted on him, they certainly wouldn't have let the matter rest and would have made a fuss before Emperor Wen Xiao.

After that, in order to appease their family, Emperor Wen Xiao would have had to punish the Second Prince. And with the Second Prince doing something so outrageous, Emperor Wen Xiao's opinion of this already unfavored son would have plummeted to rock bottom. The Second Prince's prospects would probably not have lasted long after that.

Looking at the final outcome, the ones who would have suffered in the end were him and the Second Prince. If they really had to compare who had it worse, the Second Prince, despised by the emperor, would undoubtedly have been more pitiful than him.

In fact, while the Second Prince was indeed lustful, he was not a man without brains. He had a keen sense of propriety and never used his status to bully men or abduct women. All the beauties around him followed him willingly.

So apart from his reputation for being fickle and lustful, there was really nothing else to criticize about the Second Prince. This was also why Emperor Wen Xiao, despite disapproving of his son's frivolous ways, had never truly been angry with him.

A man with such a sense of propriety would naturally not be foolish enough to push himself into a position where he would be despised by Emperor Wen Xiao.

Although Mu Yuanwen had not been strictly trained as the heir like his legitimate brother, he was still a child raised in a great family. Having been exposed to such an environment, his mind was not dull. After some thought, he realized that someone was probably trying to use him to deal with the Second Prince.

In the end, he was nothing more than a pawn in someone else's hand.

Although there were many people in the capital who disliked the Second Prince, they would not go to such great lengths to scheme against him. Moreover, even the legitimate son of his esteemed Anyuan Marquis Mansion was being used as a pawn, so the mastermind behind this must have considerable power.

According to Mu Yuanwen's speculation, this matter was most likely a struggle between the princes, but he did not know which prince was so idle as to target the Second Prince, who clearly had the least competitive power...

After tossing and turning all night and coming up with some clues, Mu Yuanwen planned to go to the Prince Su Mansion the next day to have a good talk with his friend and verify his thoughts.

However, as luck would have it, he had stayed up late the previous night and got up late, not crawling out of bed until after noon. Even though he sent someone to deliver a note to the Prince Su Mansion as soon as he got up, the reply he received was that the Su Prince and Consort were already out of the capital, staying at a countryside villa!

Mu Yuanwen had no choice but to wait anxiously in the capital for them to return.

The couple was clearly going on a private getaway, so no matter how anxious he was, he had no reason to chase after them and disturb them.

Mu Yuanwen had been holding things in his heart these past few days and was in great torment. Afraid of bringing trouble to his friend, he did not dare to tell his family about these matters. He could only ponder them over and over in his mind.

Fearing that he would be caught again and used as an unlucky pawn, he did not dare to go out and had been cooped up at home for half a month, almost growing moss!

Mu Yuanwen lowered his voice, "Ancestor, give me your word, I absolutely won't say it to anyone else. Did the Second Prince really dare to do this?"

This morning, upon hearing that something had happened to the Second Prince, and linking it to his previous speculations, the first thought that came to his mind was: the Second Prince was probably framed this time!

Maybe it was even done by the mastermind who wanted to use him to harm the Second Prince last time!

He Yan reached out and fiddled with the tender ears of the rabbit in the basket, throwing the question back at him, "Do you think he has the guts?"

The rabbit, who had been sleeping with its eyes closed, opened its eyes, twitched its ears, twitched them again, and finding that it could not shake off the hand that kept harassing its ears, closed its eyes again and began to play dead.

Mu Yuanwen looked at the rabbit playing dead and sighed, "No..."

He Yan: "Then that's that."

"I knew you would know more than me for sure," Mu Yuanwen reached out to pet the other rabbit, only to be immediately kicked. He pouted and said sourly, "Of course, your husband has gone into the palace to see the Emperor, so it's only natural that you have more information than me."

He Yan gave him a cold glance and warned, "If you don't start speaking like a human again, I'm sure my husband won't mind sending you to share in the Second Prince's misfortune."

Mu Yuanwen quickly pleaded for mercy, "Okay, okay, I was wrong, alright? But... seriously, the Second Prince won't really be done in this time, will he?"

Although the Second Prince's character was indeed hard to describe in a single word, and he had wanted to grab and beat him up when he was being harassed, seeing the Second Prince being framed with such a serious crime this time, while feeling relieved that he had escaped, he couldn't help but feel a sense of tragic solidarity, like a rabbit mourning a dead fox.

If it weren't for his friend pulling him out, he might very well have fallen into the same unfortunate situation as the Second Prince now.

"Don't worry about it," He Yan saw that the little rabbit had already become stiff all over from being petted and was about to faint, so he finally withdrew his hand from the basket and picked up a towel to wipe it, "The case is still under investigation, it's too early to draw conclusions now."

Sensing that the thing that had been harassing it was gone, the rabbit twitched the tips of its ears and its stiff body relaxed a bit.

That dangerous fellow who was full of peril had finally let it go...

Ever since his friend had told him to be wary of the Second Prince, Mu Yuanwen had paid close attention to every word his friend said. Upon hearing this, he immediately understood.

The Second Prince would probably be able to escape with his life this time.

"I get it, I just don't know who is so bored that they would go to such lengths to deal with the Second Prince, it's really not worth it," Mu Yuanwen pondered for a moment and joked, "If it were me, I would target the Fourth Prince..."

Among the current princes, the Fourth Prince had the greatest advantage.

Mu Yuanwen simply could not understand why that certain empress's hidden hand ignored the most threatening Fourth Prince and instead, as if possessed, insisted on tormenting a good-for-nothing Second Prince to death.

Even if the Second Prince was killed, what good would it do?

He Yan's hand wiping motion paused imperceptibly for a moment, and he interrupted him, "It's best to keep such things to yourself, don't speak carelessly, or you may end up bringing disaster upon yourself."

This meant for him not to ask too much.

Mu Yuanwen obediently closed his mouth and nodded.

In fact, his friend said this out of good intentions. Knowing too much about the entanglements within the imperial family was not a good thing.

However...

Mu Yuanwen was a little worried, "You, you should also be careful yourself."

Judging from his friend's behavior, he was probably aware from the beginning that someone wanted to harm the Second Prince, otherwise he would not have told him to be wary of the Second Prince and sent someone to protect him.

If the mastermind found out that it was his friend who helped him, he would probably hold a grudge and might retaliate at some point.

Upon hearing this, the corner of He Yan's mouth couldn't help but curl up, "Don't worry about me, what harm can a male spouse who doesn't attend court have? Go play with your rabbits."

Mu Yuanwen set his sights on the rabbit that had obediently let He Yan pet its ears for a long time, and reached out his hand with full confidence.

This one should be more well-behaved than that one.

However, the reality was that as soon as he put his hand out, the rabbit nimbly avoided him and hopped to another corner with its butt wiggling, its refusal couldn't be more obvious.

Mu Yuanwen looked at this rabbit that had been so well-behaved in his friend's hands just now but was now completely ignoring him, and muttered somewhat resentfully, "This little rabbit is quite discerning."