Five days later.
This was the first time they’d stopped at an inn to rest since starting their journey back. Butterfly Rogue took the chance to dash out and buy a horse. For five days, they’d been hustling along, sleeping under the sky and using the ground as their bed. Ivy didn’t mind at all, and the guys cared even less. What shocked them was Ethan Chu—he handled rough camping like a pro, totally unfazed, not at all like some pampered prince raised in a palace.
Honestly, nobody knew that even though Ethan was a prince, he’d always been an outsider in the palace. Sure, the Empress officially adopted him, but he held a massive grudge against her, so she never treated him as well as she did Cyrus Drake.
In this place, the maids, servants, and eunuchs were all snobs—if the Empress ignored Ethan, they did too. Some of the more favored servants even bullied him outright.
Back when they were little, Cyrus had helped Ethan a few times—after all, they were real brothers. But as the years went by, Cyrus became more distant under the Empress’s influence. Eventually, Cyrus’s friends were all the children of high officials, and Ethan ended up totally excluded.
When the Crown Prince started ignoring his own little brother, Ethan got bullied nonstop. He kept getting hurt, and that’s how he met Physician Cheng from the Imperial Medical Hall. Turns out, Cheng wasn’t just a genius doctor—he was also a martial arts master. He couldn’t stand seeing Ethan pushed around, so he secretly taught him kung fu whenever he could.
Learning martial arts totally changed Ethan. He went from a gloomy shut-in to someone who actually smiled. That was his happiest time—until disaster struck. Right after Ethan mastered all of Cheng’s techniques, Cheng accidentally killed General Liu while treating him. Cheng was sentenced to death, and Ethan begged his father for three days and nights to save him. In the end, the emperor agreed. Cheng was so grateful, he retired to the countryside and gave Ethan a mysterious martial arts manual as a parting gift.
After that, Cheng saw through all the palace drama and retired to the mountains with his wife, living a peaceful life far away.
But nobody ever found out Ethan knew martial arts—he never told a soul. Even when the eunuchs bullied him after he got stronger, he just took it, keeping his promise to his mother to live well and stay out of trouble.
“What can I get you, honored guests?” The waiter slung a white towel over his shoulder and grinned as he asked.
“Just bring out your best signature dishes,” Adrian Night said coolly.
“Right away, sir! Please wait a moment!” The waiter bowed and hurried off.
“It’s full!” Lucian Vane yelled the moment Ivy Shen and Adrian sat down. “Full, full, can’t you hear? If you want to eat, go somewhere else!”
“A table has four sides, and there are only three of you. How is it full?” Ethan Chu frowned at Lucian, knowing perfectly well these two were doing this on purpose.
“One seat for each of us, and we’ll put our bundles on the last stool.” Lucian immediately piled their stuff onto the empty seat, acting like he owned the place.
“You’re doing this on purpose, you she-male snake!” Butterfly Rogue shouted.
“Yeah, so what?” Lucian shot back, totally unbothered. What are you gonna do about it?
“You, you, you, you…” Butterfly was so flustered he could only stammer. Every time he ran into Lucian, he nearly coughed up blood from sheer rage. Was this guy born just to mess with him? Calm down, calm down, he had to keep his cool!
“Waiter!” Ethan suddenly called out toward the back.
“Yes, sir! What can I do for you?” The waiter rushed back, nodding and ready to help.
Seeing this, Ethan Chu said, “Move that table over here,” pointing to where their bundles were piled.
“Oh, sure thing!” The waiter was always happy to help if it meant more business. Soon, a weird scene appeared: two tables squished together, almost touching at the spot with the bundles. Ethan and Butterfly Rogue sat directly across from the pile—which meant they were now face-to-face with Ivy Shen, separated only by a stack of baggage.
Butterfly Rogue was absolutely thrilled—he could eat and admire Ivy’s gorgeous face at the same time, and those two annoying guys on her left and right could be totally ignored.
“Wife…” Over the last five days, Ethan and Butterfly had somehow become best bros. Now, sitting together on one stool, they both gazed dreamily at Ivy, their eyes sparkling with innocence and longing.
“Ahem, eat up.” Ivy wasn’t used to being stared at like that, so she ducked her head and grunted. Instantly, the sound of chopsticks clacking filled the air.
Good thing they’d taken a quiet back road—this inn was tiny and almost empty. Otherwise, five handsome young men (with Ivy still cross-dressed) would’ve caused a total uproar in town.
“Waiter!” Ivy called out after eating a bit.
“Yes, sir?” The waiter’s smile for Ivy was way brighter than for anyone else. Ever since they’d walked in, the group’s vibe had been tense, like a fight was about to break out. But this young master always smiled and stayed cool, so the waiter liked him best.
“Pack us some extra dry rations for the road.”
“Right away!”
“Waiter, whatever they order, we want the same,” Butterfly Rogue piped up. Ivy was kind, but those two poisonous snakes? Not so much. Better safe than sorry—stock up now instead of starving later.
“Old Five, nice thinking!” Ethan Chu turned and gave Butterfly a little smile.
“Old Six, don’t mention it! We’re family, right?” Butterfly grinned widely.
The way those two kept calling each other ‘Old Five’ and ‘Old Six’ made it sound like they really were a family. Lucian Vane and Adrian Night were annoyed to the max! A storm was about to break out!
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“Here’s your dry rations, sir.” The waiter handed out the bundles to Ivy and Butterfly, then hurried off again. Adrian tossed a silver coin on the table and led Ivy out, and Ethan casually threw down another coin before following.
“Old Six is way too wasteful! They already paid—this money should be saved. We’ve got a big family now, we’ll need it!” Butterfly snatched up Ethan’s coin and stuffed it in his pocket. Adrian’s payment was plenty for the meal, with some left over.
And so, their long journey started up again. Ivy’s brow never relaxed—she knew all about the low-key turf war going on, but she chose to ignore it. These four guys were already exhausting; there were still two more waiting in Ruiland City. She wasn’t sure she’d accept them, but what really worried her was if all six met up at once…
She couldn’t even imagine the fallout. Explosion? Yeah, it’d definitely be an explosion.
But what Ivy didn’t expect was that even with just four, things were already blowing up!
“Hey, you two—come here, we need to talk,” Adrian Night said after finding a comfy spot for Ivy to rest and getting the campfire going. He and Lucian Vane exchanged a look and called out to Ethan and Butterfly.
“Not going,” Butterfly Rogue replied without even looking up.
Ethan Chu just lay on the grass with his eyes closed, resting.
“As the eldest, I order you two to come over!” Adrian blurted out, annoyed they were ignoring him. The words slipped out before he could stop them—and as soon as he heard himself, he froze. Did he really just claim the ‘eldest husband’ spot? That was basically admitting they were all in the same group!
At that, Butterfly’s head shot up and Ethan’s eyes snapped open. Both stared at Adrian in shock.
Lucian Vane shot Adrian a look full of contempt—like, what the heck did you just say?
“Ahem, I mean… You two, come here.” Adrian quickly tried to walk it back.
Hearing that, Ethan and Butterfly finally got up and followed them off to the side.
“No one’s around,” Lucian glanced around to make sure it was quiet, then whispered to Adrian.
But none of them realized that as soon as they left, Ivy Shen had followed. Her martial arts were so insane now that even tailing them, she left zero trace. None of the guys sensed a thing.
“So, what did you call us over for?” Ethan Chu shot Adrian Night a cold look—he just couldn’t stand this guy.
Adrian snorted, “The Chu Emperor’s so smart—how could you not know what we want to talk about?”
“Exactly!” Lucian Vane chimed in.
“I don’t waste time guessing what boring people want,” Ethan retorted with a cold snort.
“Exactly!” Butterfly Rogue echoed.
“Hey, flower thief, why are you copying me?” Lucian yelled.
“You she-male snake, who’d ever copy you?” Butterfly shot back.
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PS: Hey everyone, Yiyi’s working hard—wrote 6,000 words this morning! I’m in Hunan right now, and my Weibo name is Happy Yixin. If you’re on Weibo, add me! Muah muah muah~~~