Chapter 2

Page 1/3

The Fourth Prince was still waiting for Xue Jin’an to continue, but after the latter said, “You made a good choice,” he squatted there silently, motionless as if he were not a person but a finely crafted statue so lifelike it was uncanny. His breath was so faint and weak it was almost inaudible; for a moment, the Fourth Prince truly thought he had died.

This was not like him at all. That little wolf cub, Xue Jin’an, should have been glaring at him with fierce, venomous eyes, waiting for the chance to pounce and bite a chunk of flesh from him. Last time was just like that—he still bore a deep bite mark on his shoulder which hadn’t fully healed. Otherwise, why would he have gone through so much trouble to sit atop the wall instead of storming into the courtyard to mock and humiliate him face to face?

It was all because this little wolf cub was too vicious.

In short, Xue Jin’an shouldn’t be so indifferent.

The Fourth Prince furrowed his brows, irritated, and finally couldn’t hold back, raising his voice to shout, “Hey! Stop playing dead. Get up and speak!”

Xue Jin’an lazily lifted his eyelids, thinking this human was far too noisy, and simply ignored him, switching to super power-saving mode.

Only 1% battery left—he had no interest in wasting it on such a human.

Once the super power-saving mode was activated, all his senses were completely shut down. The world instantly turned silent; no matter what noise or movement occurred, he could neither hear nor see it. Only the delivery of takeout could awaken him, with only the security software running in the background.

The Fourth Prince was furious at being ignored, nearly leaping off the wall to attack him, but the little eunuchs standing below grabbed him tightly.

“Oh, Your Highness, please sit still! What if you fall? It’s not worth risking your life for such a trivial matter!” whispered his attendant eunuch, Shunxin, earnestly.

Another eunuch, Shunyi, quickly chimed in, “Yes, don’t you know his temper? This is just a provocation to anger you. If you jump down and get hurt, wouldn’t that please him? Besides, if you get bitten again… the Consort will punish you.”

Hearing the mention of Consort Zhen, the Fourth Prince felt guilty.

Last time he was bitten and bleeding, he was carried to the imperial hospital in tears. The matter became widely known throughout the harem, even reaching the ears of the Emperor.

Fortunately, the Emperor was lenient, only punishing him lightly by making him copy scriptures for two days. But his mother’s side was stricter—they confined him to a side hall of the Yi He Palace, forbidding him from going anywhere except the study. It was suffocating.

Had it not been for the etiquette law that boys and girls aged seven should avoid each other, the Fourth Prince felt his mother might have locked him up for even longer.

After being released, he behaved obediently for a couple of days. This time, he heard that Xue Jin’an, who had bitten him, hadn’t been punished at all, and in frustration, he couldn’t help but come over to mock him.

“I’m just saying a few words; I didn’t do anything wrong.” Backed by Consort Zhen’s stern authority, the Fourth Prince reluctantly suppressed his anger, settled himself on the wall, lifted his chin, and resumed his arrogant taunts toward Xue Jin’an.

But Xue Jin’an, in super power-saving mode, was like a block of wood, hearing nothing and naturally giving no reaction. To the Fourth Prince, this was blatant disregard.

“Hey, Xue Jin’an, are you dead?” The Fourth Prince grabbed a branch sticking out from the wall and threw it at him.

[Beep! Foreign object detected falling ahead. Security software taking control. Intelligent anti-fall mode activated. Trajectory and landing point predicted. Injury risk zero. No alert necessary. Anti-fall mode deactivated.]

His eyelids fluttered slightly as he glanced at the falling branch, then closed his eyes again, becoming wooden once more, letting the branch fall lifelessly at his feet.

The Fourth Prince felt silently mocked.

“Xue Jin’an!” his anger flared instantly. He rolled up his sleeves, turned around, and searched for a weapon. Catching sight of a stone in the courtyard behind him, he pointed and ordered, “Go get that for me! Today I won’t let him know how formidable I am—he’ll bear my name!”

Page 2/3

The little eunuchs on this side of the wall had no idea what was happening on the other side and couldn’t understand why their master suddenly lost his temper. Hearing this, their hearts tightened. Shunxin nervously warned in a sharp voice, “Your Highness, you can’t do that!”

The Fourth Prince was too angry to listen and kicked out. “You mutt, if you don’t go, I’ll have you die with him!”

Shunxin, afraid his master would fall from the wall, dared not dodge the kick. Fortunately, the Fourth Prince was still half a boy and lacked strength due to his sitting posture, so the force was not great. Shunxin only retreated two steps, bowed his head, and knelt. The other perceptive eunuchs followed suit.

This made the Fourth Prince even angrier, feeling the whole world was against him.

Just as he was about to jump down to grab the stone himself, Shunyi had a quick idea. He swiftly pulled out a steamed bun from his sleeve and offered it, “My lord, use this to throw. It won’t kill.”

Shunyi was about ten years old, in the middle of a growth spurt, often hungry and thus habitually carrying snacks in his sleeve. The steamed bun was old, dry, and hard, surprisingly similar to a stone at first touch.

Having a weapon, the Fourth Prince immediately calmed down, turned around, and raised his hand to throw it at Xue Jin’an’s head.

At that moment, a familiar little eunuch rushed into the Qifeng Courtyard from outside, carrying a food box, sweating profusely and shouting, “Hello, your delivery has arrived!”

This seemed like a signal. Xue Jin’an instantly woke up and instinctively replied, “Just leave it at the door, thanks.”

This was the usual phrase for ordering takeout from the宅龙傲天, and Xue Jin’an, as his magical tool, had unconsciously adopted his habit.

“Okay, remember to pick it up.” The eunuch set down the food box and left.

The entire process was smooth and without delay. Only when Xue Jin’an opened the box and began eating did the Fourth Prince suddenly realize.

Eight Treasure Duck, Braised Pork, Jade White Soup… these were his meals!!

“Shunde, you traitorous dog!” The Fourth Prince was so angry he stood up from the wall and viciously threw the hard steamed bun at the “delivery boy” eunuch’s back.

Shunde looked confused, then immediately clutched his head in despair after understanding the situation.

The best fighter among them, Shunxin, quickly climbed the wall and hugged the furious master. Clever Shunyi went out to pull the clueless Shunde away.

Shunxin, Shunyi, and Shunde were all specially trained eunuchs from Consort Zhen’s family, having grown up together with deep bonds. Shunde was the youngest, regarded as their little brother, so naturally, they didn’t want to see him beaten to death.

As Shunyi dragged him away, he whispered a scolding, “What were you thinking?”

“I… he—” Shunde was still stunned, unable to form a complete sentence. He didn’t know how he had been possessed to deliver the master’s food to the Seventh Prince. After a long time, all he could wail was, “Second brother, is the master going to kill me? I don’t want to die…”

“It’s okay. The prince just has a bad temper and won’t really hurt you for this. But you will be punished… Now go back to the imperial kitchen and get a new meal to make up for it,” Shunyi ordered coldly, “Don’t mess up this time.”

“I’ll protect the master’s meals even if it kills me,” Shunde promised firmly, then dashed off to the imperial kitchen at top speed.

Shunyi rubbed his temples, pondering how to exonerate Shunde. He decided to blame it on possession or a curse from the Seventh Prince—after all, the whole thing was suspicious.

With that thought, he quietly returned to the Fourth Prince’s side.

Fortunately, the Fourth Prince was struggling in Shunxin’s arms, his face flushed with anger as he pointed at the bottom where Xue Jin’an was devouring food with abandon, too furious to care about Shunde’s troubles.

Page 3/3

The Fourth Prince’s every hair seemed charged with rage as he shouted, “That’s my food! Xue Jin’an, shut up! You’re not allowed to eat it!”

Xue Jin’an focused on his meal, activating Do Not Disturb mode, ignoring all the noisy chatter.

Indeed, just as a phone needs charging when hungry, a person needs to eat. Each bite he took raised his energy level a bit, quickly shifting from red to green.

After finishing a bowl of rice, his energy rose to 20%. Clearing the dishes added another 5%. Eating was the fastest way to recharge.

Without hesitation, Xue Jin’an placed another order via the Kangaroo app, but this time he calculated the full charge needed and added several large bowls of rice.

Thus, once again, the “delivery boy” Shunde hurriedly ran into the imperial kitchen to pack the food and, amidst the cooks’ baffled stares, hoisted a bucket of rice and ran off.

Fifteen minutes later, Shunde solemnly delivered the food box and a bucket of rice to the Seventh Prince.

The Fourth Prince stopped struggling and, pointing at the filthy transaction below, looked at Shunxin, “...What does this mean?”

Shunxin silently glanced at Shunyi, who replied firmly, “Shunde is possessed.”

Whether Shunde was truly possessed, the Fourth Prince didn’t know. But looking at Xue Jin’an’s ravenous rice consumption, he thought this person might be possessed too.

Now, he was no longer angry. Staring at the bucket that was more than half empty, he couldn’t help but ask the now-paused Xue Jin’an, “Are you finally full?”

Xue Jin’an answered, “No.”

The Fourth Prince was dumbfounded and blurted, “You’re eating so much and still not full—are you a pig?!”

Xue Jin’an glanced at his energy, stubbornly stuck at 50%, and frowned unhappily.

Clearly, this body’s battery was faulty. It couldn’t be fully charged—or more precisely, it couldn’t be fully charged at all. Just as a person’s stomach shrinks when hungry for a long time and can’t immediately digest a large meal without discomfort, he could only recharge slowly.

Xue Jin’an touched his stomach, a single word flashing through his mind: stuffed.

He was a bit overfull, yet his energy was still only at 50%. He was displeased and wanted to replace the battery.

Looking at the Fourth Prince muttering curses nearby, Xue Jin’an pondered and asked, “You must usually have a big appetite, right?”

The Fourth Prince hesitated, but driven by a subtle unwillingness to lose, nodded vigorously without thinking, “Of course! I can finish this much food in one go!”

Xue Jin’an’s eyes lit up brilliantly, his blazing gaze fixed on the Fourth Prince’s chest.

That was where the battery—the heart—was located.

He wanted to change it. Xue Jin’an’s hand twitched restlessly.