"Thank you for your concern, Third Brother," Feng Linche, sitting at the head of the table, said coldly and stiffly.
Feng Jingye stumbled.
"Father!" He stared at his father in disbelief with wide eyes.
Did Feng Linche mean...
Thinking of this, Feng Jingye felt dizzy and on the verge of collapse.
Feng Linche at the head didn't answer. He only slightly nodded his chin and looked at Feng Jingxuan with extreme disfavor. Empress Chu beside him even had bloodshot eyes and her chest heaved violently.
Taking advantage of this moment, Zhuo Lingxiao had already handed the ink - stained brush to Feng Jingxuan. "Your Highness the Third Prince, go quickly. Princess Seven is waiting for the Crown Prince to comfort her."
As he said this, he glanced at Feng Jingye with coldness and mockery in his eyes.
Feng Jingxuan looked embarrassed. "Oh, Your Highness the Heir, this..."
"Princess Seven is crying and making a great fuss. If the Crown Prince doesn't go, I'm afraid Princess Yunxi in the main hall must be at her wit's end. How can you bear it?" Zhuo Lingxiao deliberately said.
Empress Chu's face darkened even more.
Feng Jingxuan seemed to be forced into a corner. Hearing that Zhuo Lingxiao had even mentioned Princess Yunxi, he quickly lifted the brush in his hand towards Feng Jingye. "Well, then I won't be polite, Brother!"
With things having come to this point, what else could Feng Jingye do?
He raised his head and stared fixedly at Feng Jingxuan, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
The scene fell into complete silence. Everyone was so scared that they didn't even dare to breathe loudly.
But they really couldn't hold back their curiosity and all squinted their eyes, secretly looking in Feng Jingye's direction.
Especially those who had always been on Feng Jingxuan's side couldn't hide their schadenfreude.
Who had ever seen the usually high - and - mighty Crown Prince with a big cross drawn on his face?
It was even more astonishing than the divine arm crossbow that Zhuo Lingxiao had presented!
Feng Jingxuan held the brush. As soon as it touched Feng Jingye's face, his hand trembled slightly, and the ink immediately spread on Feng Jingye's face.
"Feng Jingxuan!" Empress Chu was extremely angry.
Feng Jingxuan quickly apologized repeatedly. "Brother, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it. Please... please don't stare at me like that. I'm just nervous, Brother..."
Feng Jingxuan seemed so frightened that he was babbling incoherently and looked panicked, but the mocking smile in his eyes couldn't escape Feng Jingye's notice, who was just inches away from him.
Feng Jingye was extremely angry but had no way to deal with him. Since his face was already dirty anyway, Feng Jingye simply closed his eyes.
"It's okay. Hurry up, Third Brother. Princess Seven and Princess Yunxi are still waiting for us."
After his outburst of anger, he actually calmed down.
Feng Jingye's words made Feng Linyuan, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, slightly raise his eyebrows.
There was a rare glint of appreciation in his eyes.
Feng Jingxuan was taken aback for a moment, with a hint of displeasure in his eyes. But he had to speed up his hand movements. "Swish, swish", he drew a big cross.
At the sight of Feng Jingye's face, there immediately came a muffled laugh from the audience.
Some officials didn't dare to laugh out loud and could only lower their heads with their shoulders shrugging, looking like they were having an epileptic seizure.
Zhuo Lingxiao, however, didn't have any scruples. Looking at Feng Jingye's face, he burst out laughing. "Hahaha... Your Highness the Third Prince's cross is really well - drawn. The stroke is strong and the writing is full of spirit... An ordinary person can never draw it!"
Feng Jingxuan held back his laughter and nodded seriously. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly saw his personal attendant quietly approaching from the other side.
Feng Jingxuan frowned and glanced at him imperceptibly.
He saw the attendant lower his eyes, look at his own hand, point his thumb towards the east, and draw a small circle with his index finger.
Seeing his actions, Feng Jingxuan's face suddenly changed, but it was only for a moment. Then he turned back to smiling, but there was no trace of a smile in his eyes.
At this time, Feng Linche's face had returned to calm. He slightly raised his eyebrows and said indifferently, "Look at you brothers. You're still fooling around like when you were kids. Alright, alright. It's not proper for the Second Prince to look like this. Go and clean up quickly."
"Thank you, Father."
Feng Jingye covered his face with his sleeve and was led away in a hurry by Empress Chu.
Watching Feng Jingye's embarrassed figure leaving, Zhuo Lingxiao was of course very happy. He ordered someone to put away the divine arm crossbow.
Seeing that everything was over, Feng Jingxuan then bowed to Feng Linche at the head. "Father, Princess Yunxi must be waiting impatiently. May I go and check on her first?"
Feng Linche nodded and didn't make things difficult for him. He waved his hand at him. "Go quickly."
"Yes, I take my leave, Father." He bowed politely to everyone and then turned around and walked out of the archery range steadily.
It wasn't until he was sure that no one in the backyard could see him that Feng Jingxuan quickened his pace.
He led his attendant. One in front and the other behind, they quickly walked towards the depths of the mansion.
Along the way, occasionally a few servants passed by and bowed respectfully. Feng Jingxuan only slightly nodded his head and walked straight ahead without looking sideways.
It wasn't until they reached a courtyard with few people that he lowered his voice and asked the attendant behind him.
"Where was he found?"
The attendant's voice was also very low, with a hint of indignation in his tone.
"Near the fireworks storeroom. It just so happened that Shen Liang went back to check the fireworks and saw someone acting furtively and suspiciously. It seemed that he had just come back from the direction of the study. Shen Liang captured him on the spot and now he has been detained in the secret room of the fireworks storeroom nearby."
Feng Jingxuan pondered for a moment and went through all the suspicious people he could think of. "Have you found out anything from the interrogation?"
"Shen Liang has always been by Your Highness's side and is always good at interrogating people. But that guy is very stubborn and refuses to say anything. However..." The attendant lengthened his voice and looked around.
"However what?" Feng Jingxuan glanced at him.
"However, Shen Liang found a mark on him. If I'm not mistaken, he should be sent by the Crown Prince..."
"Feng Jingye?" Feng Jingxuan frowned tightly.
The attendant nodded. "We didn't dare to deal with it without permission, so we came to report to Your Highness."
"Humph, Feng Jingye, good old Feng Jingye! I was wondering why he was so willing to accept the competition today and didn't make a big fuss even after losing. He was like a completely different person.
It turns out that his real intention was not what was on the surface. He took the opportunity to send someone to search my mansion? Hahaha, he's really grown wiser!"
Feng Jingxuan cursed in a low voice and quickened his pace even more, hurrying towards the fireworks storeroom.
On the other side, Feng Jingye was sitting in a corner of the guest room. Empress Chu was personally wiping the water stains on his face with a dry cloth.
A man quietly stepped forward and whispered something in his ear.
Feng Jingye's face suddenly changed and he blurted out, "What? One person is missing?"
Empress Chu's hand stopped.
"Search carefully. Maybe he just got lost. You must find that person for me. I want to see him alive or his corpse if he's dead."