Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Sixteenth Prince kept chattering along the way.
“If there is no ghost there, just you wait and see how I’m going to deal with you guys. There are all kinds of rumors in the palace now. Our mother is so scared that she doesn’t even dare to fall asleep,” the young man walking in the front said with a gloomy face.
He had no idea when people in the palace started spreading the rumor that there was a ghost in Shouning Palace.
He didn’t expect that his younger sisters and brothers would come to play here.
And they even claimed to see the ghost.
If only one or two of them had said so, then he could take it as a lie.
However, all the kids were convinced that there was a ghost.
People in the palace had already been nervous about the rumor.
Now many women in the palace became even more frightened.
Most of the imperial concubines had just been taken recently.
Several old eunuchs and court ladies were all gone.
No one knew about the past of Shouning Palace.
“My aunt once saw a white-robed ghost flying out of the palace at night. It quickly disappeared. We’re just kids, but we’re not the only ones who have seen the ghost.”
“Shut up, and stop your nonsense!” the young man said impatiently.
Among the princes and princesses, the Sixteenth Prince was really naughty and mischievous.
Ghost?
The so-called white-robed ghost was in fact their eldest aunt Liu Rui, who had come back to visit their father.
Unfortunately, she became the ghost in the rumor.
He was certain that Aunt Liu Rui had come back for important things mysterious to others.
So they just let the rumor spread.
But they never thought that the kids could stir up such a trouble.
Tap!
Tap, tap, tap!
The sound of wooden clogs and leather boots were mixed together.
A large group of people poured into Shouning Palace.
Under the peach tree, Li Mu opened his eyes and turned back to look at the front yard.
He could see the main hall, but not the front yard. But he didn’t go to stop what was happening in the front yard.
“A group of naughty kids. Give me a break!”
Li Mu took a breath and then let it out in a long sigh.
A wind immediately rose from the backyard of Shouning Palace and went straight from the main hall to the front yard.
Inside the main hall, the wind whistled through the book pages.
Hoo!
The wind whirled in the front courtyard.
The young man who just stepped into the courtyard shrank.
What a bizarre wind!
“Go outside and check if there is any wind elsewhere.”
“Your Highness, there is no wind outside, and there is no wind next door,” the eunuch answered with a shiver.
“Let’s all go inside. I want to see what kind of ghost it is.”
He never did believe in ghosts.
There were only experts inside the palace who were as scary as ghosts, but there were absolutely no ghosts.
After saying that, the Fourth Prince took the lead to enter the main hall.
The others followed and entered the other rooms in Shouning Palace.
“Hmm? So many books!”
The Fourth Prince walked to the bookshelf.
He randomly picked up a book and opened it.
A cultivation manual!
It’s about sword techniques!
There were also books about palm fighting technique, fist techniques, military tactics, and stories.
There were also various kinds of books in the Library Tower.
But the books here were quite different.
“Look at the notes her. It’s father’s writing.”
The Fourth Prince stared at the notes.
He suddenly understood something.
“No need to check here again. There is no ghost here.”
The Fourth Prince flipped through several other books.
In addition to Liu An’s writing, there were also Liu Rui’s annotations.
The Fourth Prince let out of a breath of relief.
It wasn’t a ghost.
It wasn’t even an expert who had broken into the palace.
Those who could come here were either the father’s men or the eldest aunt’s men.
“You guys can go back now! Let me have a look!”
The Fourth Prince took out another book and opened it.
On the side, the Ninth Princess gently pushed the little boy.
“Fourth Brother, there is a ghost. I saw it with my own eyes!”
The Sixteenth Prince stared at the Fourth Prince, looking as honest as possible with his blinking eyes.
His expression seemed to say, “I’m not lying.”
Absolutely not lying.
“What the h*ll. Get out!”
“Fourth Brother!”
“Get lost!”
After turning over some books, the Fourth Prince led the others to leave with him.
The Sixteenth Prince was a bit reluctant.
But as others were leaving, he followed them at once.
When he stepped over the threshold, he unconsciously glanced back.
In the courtyard, an old man with white beard and gray hair was staring at them.
“Ghost!” the Sixteenth Prince shouted wildly.
“Where is it?”
“Where is the ghost?”
Those who had already left the palace hurriedly turned around.
But they didn’t see anything.
“Don’t be so naughty!”
The Fourth Prince patted him on the head and turned around to leave.
“I… I just saw it!”
The next day, a small figure appeared outside Shouning Palace.
Grabbing the door frame of the palace, he poked his little head out to look inside.
He did so for many days in a row.
Finally, one day at noon, the Sixteenth Prince walked into Shouning Palace wearing a strange robe and holding a spirit evocation pennant.
As he walked, he seemed to be reciting something.
In the backyard, Li Mu listened with amusement.
A six-year-old child knew such tricks?
“He reminded me of what Liu An used to be when he was a kid. But Liu An was a little dull back then. This one seems to be smarter.”
In the past, Concubine Jing wasted a great number of handkerchiefs to blow little Liu An’s nose.
But he still had a snotty nose.
Li Mu ignored the little kid. He laid back on the recliner and watched the green leaves on the peach tree.
There were also some small blossoms on the two jujube trees.
The Sixteenth Prince walked around the front yard, but he didn’t dare to enter the main hall and the backyard. Later, he ran away again.
A day later, the Sixteenth Prince showed up at Shouning Palace again.
He walked around for a while.
He muttered to himself, “It’s impossible! How is it possible that there is no ghost?”
He did this for a few more days.
The blossoms of the jujube trees bloomed and then fell off.
The Sixteenth Prince was getting increasingly bolder.
Finally, he couldn’t resist his curiosity and walked into the hall.
Small green peaches were growing on the peach trees.
Without sufficient nutrition, many small peaches began to fall off.
In the main hall, the Sixteenth Prince was focusing on a pile of books.
From morning to night, he came here every day with two pancakes and a pot of water and then left with an empty pot.
The peaches were growing bigger and bigger. The Sixteenth Prince was getting more and more fearless.
At noontime one day, he held a spirit evocation pennant and walked into the backyard. It was the one place he hadn’t dared to enter.
He immediately saw the recliner in the courtyard.
At first, he was confused.
But then he knew what he should do.
He picked up a rotten peach from the ground and threw it over.
Pop!
Li Mu grabbed the peach with one hand and threw it out.
“A real person?”
The Sixteenth Prince picked up another peach and threw it over.
This time, the peach stopped in midair when it got close to Li Mu.
The Sixteenth Prince watched the magical scene with amazement.
“Ghost!”
Tda!
The sound of wooden clogs rang into the distance.
The time passed by, day by day.
Two months later, the peaches were ripe.
On the recliner, Li Mu opened his mouth, and a green peach fell into it.
He took a bite.
The juice splashed in his mouth.
The yard was filled with the fragrance of peaches.
Tap!
He could hear the sound of wooden clogs coming from the front yard.
Li Mu didn’t even need to guess who it was.
“Why is this little kid so curious? He is quite brave!”
Poof!
He spit out the peach core and took another peach.
Yum!
He chewed it slowly.
Tap!
Tap!
The sound of light footsteps slowly approached the backyard.
Li Mu glanced at that direction with a slight squint.
Poof!
He couldn’t help but spit half a peach out of his mouth.
It was a six-year-old kid holding a bell in his left hand and a peach-wood sword in the other. The kid’s entire body was covered in amulets.
For a six-year-old kid, he looked really funny.
“The kid has disappeared for so many days. It turns out that he was not scared. He went to learn all these stupid tricks!”
Li Mu found the kid not only ridiculous but also interesting.
“Ghost…”
The little boy opened his mouth wide, and his eyes were filled with fear.
He threw the peach-wood sword in his hand to Li Mu.
At the same time, he shook the bell in his hand.
He didn’t even forget to shake the bell, even though he was so afraid.
“Ghost!”
He shouted, shook up the bell, and retreated backward quickly.
Tda!
An incomplete peach fell from the sky and landed on the ground near his feet.
It was exactly the one that just spurted out of Li Mu’s mouth.
The Sixteenth Prince froze and stopped.
He looked at the peach on the ground and then looked at Li Mu on the recliner.
Hiss!
His nose moved a little bit.
He seemed to have smelled the scent of peaches.