Pleading, Ninth Royal Uncle’s Frustration

Maybe it was impatience, maybe it was worry—Nolan Dongling and William Wang Jinling, walking quickly, collided head-on. Both stopped, took a step back, looked up at each other, snorted, and turned away in perfect sync.

As they turned, both wore dissatisfied expressions, but just then, the door suddenly opened. They forgot their rivalry and hurried forward.

Nolan hesitated and spoke a moment too late, letting William seize the initiative: "Serena, how is Feng Jin?"

Having lost the chance, Nolan opened his mouth but ultimately didn’t ask—he just looked at Serena.

Serena had worked nonstop for a full day and night, physically and mentally exhausted. Seeing the two, she managed a faint smile: "Not bad—he’s temporarily out of danger."

"That’s wonderful. I’m relieved that Feng Jin is safe. May I go in and see him?" Thinking of the soft little dumpling no longer in danger, William was genuinely happy for him.

Once again, William had spoken first, leaving Nolan inexplicably frustrated. But Nolan refused to repeat what William said—he was not the type to "pick up others’ teeth."

"You can, but be gentle and don’t get too close," Serena quietly reminded him.

William went in to see Feng Jin. Nolan wanted to as well, but didn’t want to follow William in—he could see Feng Jin anytime.

"Go rest for now. I’ve brought imperial physicians—they’ll take care of Feng Jin," Nolan said, taking Serena’s hand and naturally massaging her fingers with practiced skill, as if he’d done it a hundred times before.

Serena smiled and said, "I’m not tired." After a day and night of emergency care without closing her eyes, she was exhausted, but now that Feng Jin was safe, the weight in her heart had lifted—she was so happy she couldn’t sleep yet.

Nolan didn’t insist, just said, "Then go eat something. You haven’t eaten all day—even iron people can’t handle that."

The guards wanted to cry…

They hadn’t eaten all day either—and they weren’t made of iron. Nolan, your favoritism is too much; the double standard was obvious.

"Perfect, I haven’t eaten either. Serena, let’s eat together." William emerged from the room, ignoring Nolan and Serena holding hands, and smiled brilliantly.

Would he die if he didn’t stir up trouble?

Nolan glared at William, but William pretended not to notice and kept smiling, carefree. He said to Serena, "I haven’t eaten all day, Serena, hurry up… Let’s eat first, and after that we’ll take Feng Jin back."

"Ah, you haven’t eaten all day either? Then let’s go right now. Nolan, what about you? Have you eaten?" Serena asked naturally, not realizing Nolan was about to explode with anger.

William was obviously picking a fight today, grabbing every chance to speak first.

"No, I haven’t. Let’s go together," Nolan said, biting off each word as he looked at William.

William kept smiling, acting clueless, but Serena sensed something was off between the two and asked, "What’s going on with you guys?"

"Nothing," they answered in unison—one warm, one icy.

Total mystery!

Serena was totally confused, but with her sharp eyes, she couldn’t read anything from their faces. Besides, she was truly exhausted; she yawned and let it go.

Before eating, Serena splashed her face with cold water to wake up. Once she felt refreshed, she sat down to eat with Nolan and William.

All three were starving. Though their table manners stayed proper, their chopsticks moved fast—eight bowls of rice and ten dishes, all gone in a flash…

After eating, the three moved to a side room to digest.

"Did you find Jason Lan?" Serena asked as soon as she sat down, showing just how furious she was.

"He got away," Nolan replied, then glanced at William. William cursed inwardly—sure enough, Nolan continued, "I already signed the warrant to arrest him, but Lord Wang stopped it. Since the warrant wasn’t issued, if Jason leaves the Imperial City, it’ll be hard for me to catch him."

Only Nolan could apply medicine to the sore spot so openly. William was furious, but he couldn’t refute Nolan—because it was true.

"Serena." William spoke with a trace of bitterness. Serena didn’t get angry, but her face darkened: "Why did you do this?"

"Jixia Academy. I have to think about its reputation. Now, whenever outsiders mention Mr. Jingyang, they’ll think of Jixia Academy first. If people learn that someone like him came from Jixia, what will they think?" William looked at Serena, his gentle eyes silently pleading.

Jixia Academy meant everything to him—without its teaching, William wouldn’t be who he was today.

Years ago, Master Wenyuan took him in as a personal disciple despite his eye disease, teaching him everything and giving him a second life. He could never stand by and watch the reputation of Master Wenyuan’s beloved Jixia Academy be ruined.

"I understand." Serena’s face softened. "There’s no need to make this a city-wide scandal—we can handle it privately." In other words, she agreed not to make it public.

"Thank you, Serena. Don’t worry, I’ll get word to Jixia Academy right away so they can deal with it first." William knew Serena was yielding for his sake.

Nolan snorted in displeasure but didn’t actually object.

He never intended to really send out the sea-capture warrant; it was just for show, to make William owe him a favor through Jixia Academy.

Because of the Master Wenyuan incident, Nolan’s relationship with Jixia Academy was terrible. But he needed Jixia to train talent and send scholars and officials for his use, so he had to repair their relationship—and this was the perfect chance.

With the matter settled and everyone satisfied—and with Feng Jin stable—Serena carried Feng Jin back to Feng Manor, while Nolan and William returned to the palace overnight.

They’d been here all day, but there was still a pile of palace business waiting for them. It looked like Nolan and William wouldn’t get any sleep tonight either.

After a day and night of emergency care, Feng Jin’s life was saved, but his condition was still critical—he needed someone watching him around the clock, and Serena clearly couldn’t stay by his side any longer.

Luckily, Nolan had brought imperial doctors along. With them watching over Feng Jin, Serena felt reassured. She carefully instructed the doctors and the Season Maids, telling them to call her if anything happened. Just as she was about to rest, a servant came to report: the Capital Prefecture Court had brought the woman who’d reported Feng Jin’s whereabouts. Did Serena want to see her?

See her? Of course!

Ignoring her exhaustion, Serena turned and headed for the main hall.

She was determined to see who had betrayed Jason Lan…