The three men knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily. "Please, Princess, show mercy and let us prepare a simple coffin for him. Please, Princess!"
The three kept kowtowing. Before long, blood oozed from their foreheads. But they seemed oblivious to the pain and continued.
Seeing their state, Leng Nier took a deep breath and said impatiently, "Stop! Stop kowtowing. Do whatever you like. Just take the body away quickly!"
The men quickly said, "Thank you, Princess. Thank you for your mercy." Then they carried Eleven out together. They took out their meager savings and bought Eleven a set of clothes and a coffin.
By the time they dug the grave with tears streaming down their faces, it was almost dark. They placed the coffin in the grave and refilled the earth.
"Silly Eleven, you were the most stubborn. You were so stupid. If you had said a soft word to the Prince like he asked, we wouldn't be burying our brother with our own hands now."
Another man patted his shoulder, unable to hold back his tears. "Good brother, I hope you won't suffer anymore in the afterlife."
The few of them leaned against the tombstone and had their last drink with him.
One of them looked up at the night sky and said in a heavy tone, "We've only been in the mansion for a short time. Eleven was the youngest among us. He regarded us as his older brothers."
"Yeah, he always said he was a homeless orphan and it was the greatest honor of his life to meet us three in the Prince's Mansion."
"He also said we were his eldest, second, and third brothers."
The three clinked their bowls, as well as the bowl placed in front of the tomb. Then they drained the wine in their bowls.
The eldest brother said, "Let's escape. Leave the capital and stop serving them. Otherwise, one day, it might be us lying here."
The other two wiped their tears. "Do you mean we just leave like this?"
The eldest brother slapped him on the head. "What do you mean 'just leave like this'? Do you still want to avenge Eleven?"
The second brother suddenly looked serious. "Yes, we must avenge Eleven. We can't let him die in vain."
The eldest brother buried his head in his hands and said dejectedly, "Do you think I don't want to? But how can we fight against the Prince with just the few of us?"
The second brother sat up straight and looked at the eldest brother. "Brother, how about we go and join the Regent?"
The third brother shook his head. "I heard the Regent is very strict in his military governance. To join his forces, we'll surely have to go through many tests. I'm not sure if we three can pass his tests."
"You won't know until you try!" The second brother got up from the ground, clapped his hands, and said to the tomb in front of him, "Eleven, don't worry. Second brother will surely avenge you. If, I mean if, even God is unwilling to help us, then second brother will come to accompany you soon."
The other two seemed infected by his emotions. They stood up and said imposingly, "Good! A real man should never compromise just because the opponent is strong."
The eldest brother held his two younger brothers' hands. "If we want to join the Regent's forces, maybe we can collect some evidence against the Prince of Qi. This way, we might have a better chance."
The second brother nodded. "You're right. Let's go back to the Prince of Qi's Mansion first. When we have evidence that can bring him down, we'll go and join the Regent."
The three nodded in agreement and walked towards the Prince of Qi's Mansion.
When Mu Yanming returned to the mansion, it was already pitch - black. Mo Qinghuan had been very tired these days and had gone to bed early.
He tiptoed into the room. Seeing the sleeping face of the person on the bed, he smiled contentedly. He walked to the desk, sat down, ground the ink, and then picked up the brush to draw on the paper.
He looked up at Mo Qinghuan. She propped her head up with one hand. In her sleep, she seemed to be dreaming of something good, with a smile on her lips.
After finishing the painting, he got up, stretched his shoulders, and then tiptoed onto the bed.
As soon as he got on the bed, he woke Mo Qinghuan up. She reached out and hugged him, rubbing against his chest continuously.
Mu Yanming gently stroked her head. Before long, he fell asleep.
Ah Qi covered his chest, with blood at the corner of his mouth. He jumped over the wall and couldn't help vomiting a large mouthful of blood. He fainted in front of the wall.
Dan'er was passing by. Hearing a thud, she was so scared that she dropped the midnight snack in her hand.
She took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and walked forward to check. Seeing a person unconscious in the grass, she almost screamed. Bai Ke, who came running at the sound, held her shoulders and comforted her softly, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."
Dan'er nodded and took a step back. Bai Ke squatted down to check on the unconscious person. As soon as he turned the person over, he was stunned. "It's Ah Qi. Dan'er, come and help me carry him up."
Hearing it was their own person, Dan'er was no longer afraid. She walked forward to help Bai Ke carry the person back to the room.
Bai Ke found some wound medicine and tore open Ah Qi's shirt. There were several wounds on Ah Qi's body, but fortunately, none of them were fatal.
He turned to Dan'er. "Dan'er, please go and fetch a basin of hot water. I'll clean his wounds."
Dan'er nodded and turned to walk out.
Before long, she came back with a basin of hot water. Bai Ke carefully cleaned Ah Qi's wounds and then applied the wound medicine.
Before he could finish applying the medicine, Ah Qi woke up.
He grabbed Bai Ke's wrist. Bai Ke was in the middle of applying the medicine. Suddenly being grabbed like this, he reflexively tried to break Ah Qi's grip.
Ah Qi grimaced. "Brother, do you think I'm not hurt badly enough?"
Bai Ke shook off his hand. "It's your fault for suddenly waking up like a zombie and scaring me. Do you think I'd try to break your grip otherwise?"
Ah Qi rolled his eyes disdainfully. "By the way, why don't you ask who injured me?"
Bai Ke chuckled. "Because I know you'll tell me even if I don't ask. So why should I bother?"
Ah Qi pointed at him and only then noticed Dan'er was also behind. He immediately put on a smiling face. "Someone stopped us from looking for the Ten - Day One - Color. Maybe someone is getting impatient. I have to go and tell the Prince this news."
Saying that, he was about to get up, but Bai Ke pressed him down.
"Come on. You're in this state. Where do you think you're going? Besides, the Prince has been going to bed early lately. If there's anything, we'll talk about it in the morning. Don't disturb them."
Ah Qi raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I understand."
"By the way, who did you say injured you?"
Ah Qi leaned back on the bed. "Didn't you just say you knew I'd tell you even if you didn't ask? Why are you getting impatient now?"
"So are you going to tell me or not?" Bai Ke threw the medicine bottle onto the bedside table.
Ah Qi quickly held his hand. "I'll tell you. Of course I will. The person who injured me knows my martial arts moves very well, which is why I lost so badly! It's definitely not because I'm bad!"