In Ge Nianlan’s memory, Ge Jinsheng had rarely paid attention to him aside from holidays and birthdays. In the past, he would throw tantrums, hoping to see more of his father, but after a few weeks of walking around, hiding in corners, and listening to the servants and maids speak, Ge Nianlan felt some sympathy for the man who raised him.

On the one hand, seeing his son reminded him of his late wife and in spending time with him, enemies might believe this son would be a good way to threaten him; on the other, Ge Jinsheng loved this son of his dearly and held him carefully in the palm of his hand, allowing him to be spoiled beyond compare. Even with how much Ge Jinsheng tried to hide his affection, he had the moniker of a doting father, due to how much he observed his “neglected” son’s activities. The maids, servants, and disciples knew this fact very well and tried their hardest not to offend the tantrum throwing little lord. If they upset him, they would very likely lose their lives.

It was fascinating to Ge Nianlan.

Just a month before, he would have never known this side of things. He would have continued to believe that Ge Jinsheng despised him for leading to the death of his wife. Now, he realized that the man who commanded fear and terror into many people’s hearts was actually a family man.

Ge Nianlan almost sighed in pity out loud. No wonder Ge Jinsheng still took care of him after he found out he wasn’t his son. Even if it was a lie, the “Ge Nianlan” in question hadn’t purposely deceived Ge Jinsheng and after spending so many years together, the familial bond Ge Jinsheng felt was probably quite strong.

The boy remained squatting in the corner, his cheeks resting in his hands as he listened to the maids whisper and gossip. A few minutes later, the maids moved away to clean another part of the hall. Ge Nianlan was about to leave when a shadow fell over him.

Ge Nianlan looked at the group in front of him and the girl leading the group looked back at him.

A sweet smile graced his face. “Zheng-jiejie!”

The disciples who were following behind Zheng Yuying glanced at each other in surprise and started whispering. Jiejie? When did Zheng Yuying get a little brother? And who was this adorable little dumpling?

Zheng Yuying felt a cold chill run down her back. “Why are you—”

“Jiejie, are your tests over?” Ge Nianlan asked. “Will you read to me again?”

“Um, Young—”

“Jiejie, did you forget me?” Ge Nianlan held Zheng Yuying’s hand and looked at her pitifully. “I’m A-Lan.”

“Ah…” Zheng Yuying’s brows twitched.

Ge Nianlan’s expression turned sweeter. It was so sweet that Zheng Yuying could sense the poisonous intent behind it.

“Did you really forget me?” Ge Nianlan asked with a pout.

“Ah…A-Lan…No…No, I didn’t,” Zheng Yuying awkwardly murmured. She glanced behind her at the group of curious disciples.

“Yuying, who is this?” one of the disciples asked.

“Um…It’s…A-Lan,” Zheng Yuying said. She glanced at the child uncertainly. “He is…”

“I’m Fu Qing-jiejie’s cousin,” Ge Nianlan whispered. He looked rather sheepish. “His Excellency allowed me to visit while my parents went away for a trip.”

A few of the disciples’ eyes sparked in recognition.

“Fu Qing? The Young Lord’s maid?” one of the disciples said. “I like her! She’s very sweet.”

“And pretty.”

“Hey, don’t think of anything weird. She already has a sweetheart!”

“I know, I know. I’m just stating the facts!”

Zheng Yuying smiled stiffly and glanced down at Ge Nianlan. Her gaze was pleading with him desperately. The question “why are you here?” was being transmitted loudly through her eyes, but Ge Nianlan deflected it with a smile.

Black Mane Palace sat on a mountain range and spanned wider and further than most sects in Yinxue Region. As its territory was rather large, it wasn’t surprising that people didn’t know what the Young Lord looked like. In fact, the outer sect disciples might not even know what the Palace Master looked like. Right now, Ge Nianlan had wandered into the area where the inner sect disciples ate and studied. One could call it the main area of the sect. These disciples, who were on the younger side, rarely came into contact with the other Saints, much less have caught a glimpse of the Young Lord, who had been a recluse up until he had cleared his head recently.

“And where is Fu Qing?” Zheng Yuying finally asked through gritted teeth.

“She’s busy taking care of the Young Lord,” Ge Nianlan said. He looked at her innocently. “Fu-jiejie said that Black Mane Palace is very safe and the people here are nice, so she said I could go around and explore.”

“So, you decided to explore this corner?” Zheng Yuying asked.

“Mn! The paintings over there look pretty!” Ge Nianlan shamelessly replied.

The two stood off with each other for a brief second before one of the disciples spoke up.

“Xiao Lan, if you have nothing else to do, do you want to come and sit in on a lesson? We were heading to class.”

“Class?”

“No!”

The two spoke simultaneously.

Zheng Yuying’s peers looked at her oddly. Why was she objecting to an obedient child joining them so adamantly?

Ge Nianlan glanced at Zheng Yuying with a smile. “Why not?”

Because the teacher will hardly be able to teach with Ge Nianlan there! Sure, the regular disciples might not recognize Ge Nianlan, but elders residing over the classes will have definitely seen him around before, right!? There was no way Zheng Yuying would let him go! If she did, would she still be able to learn with the teachers trembling in fear?

“I wanna see,” Ge Nianlan said with an innocent tug of Zheng Yuying’s robes. “I promise I’ll be good!”

This little puppy act worked on Zheng Yuying’s peers, but Zheng Yuying could only stare at Ge Nianlan’s shameless act with bulging eyes. Without being able to read minds, Ge Nianlan could hear Zheng Yuying’s thoughts loud and clear: This little swindler!

The disciple behind Zheng Yuying looked at Ge Nianlan and smiled. “Little brother, if Yuying doesn’t want to take you, we can just take you!”

Ge Nianlan gasped. “Thank you, gege!”

Zheng Yuying wanted to shout at the youth behind her. Are you insane?! You’re inviting a wolf into your house!

However, under Ge Nianlan’s smile, Zheng Yuying could only keep her thoughts to herself as she trudged after the group. If she spoke up about the little lord’s appearance right now, wouldn’t she be the one who got in trouble?

Later, class went about as well as Zheng Yuying had predicted.

The teacher, upon seeing Ge Nianlan sitting with a group of disciples, nearly dropped the material he was holding. The entire class, he couldn’t help but glance at Ge Nianlan cautiously, as if he were waiting for the boy’s head to split open and reveal a multi-eyed monster living inside him. The disciples attending class clearly noticed something was wrong, but no one said anything.

And when class ended, Zheng Yuying said a sloppy excuse and coaxed Ge Nianlan out of the room.

“Are you angry?” Ge Nianlan asked.

Zheng Yuying was about to lose her mind. She turned to look at the boy. “Young Lord, just what are you thinking? Why are you running around without any attendants or guards? I thought you were recovering from an ailment!”

“Did Luo-gege tell you?” Ge Nianlan asked.

“It doesn’t matter who told me. What matters is that you shouldn’t even be here,” Zheng Yuying quietly hissed.

“I was recovering from something last month. I’m perfectly fine now,” Ge Nianlan said. “Besides, I was just exploring. It’s not like I left Black Mane Palace or anything.”

“It’s still dangerous,” Zheng Yuying said. “You should be careful at all times! Especially when you…”

Zheng Yuying stopped her next words from coming out of her mouth. Ge Nianlan watched her silently, as if waiting for her to continue. When she said nothing, the boy smiled.

“Especially when I’m not even a cultivator, right?”

From what Ge Nianlan had learned recently, it seemed that most people—especially those who were raised in a family of cultivators—would start cultivating at age three. Only disciples who were from normal families that ended up joining sects later might start cultivating at ten. In reality, Ge Nianlan wouldn’t be behind. However, in the sphere of nobility and cultivation clans, Ge Nianlan was far behind many of their children.

“I don’t mean it like that,” Zheng Yuying said. She glanced at Ge Nianlan and tried to see if she had upset the child. She sighed and squatted down. “It’s just dangerous. Black Mane Palace is well-protected, but there have been instances before of assassins sneaking in. So, you should—”

“Yuying?”

Zheng Yuying stiffened. She slowly turned around and watched the teenager walk up to them.

Luo Qianwu was dressed in the disciple’s uniform of black robes, with the signature golden embroidery of a black lion. After he returned from his trial, it was clear that he had gotten a breakthrough in cultivation. His appearance seemed to glow now and there was a new power in his every step.

When he looked at Zheng Yuying, his eyes showed his deep affections for the girl and his smile was far softer than anything Ge Nianlan had seen.

“I’m glad I caught you. I wanted to ask if you wanted to eat lunch with me,” Luo Qianwu said.

“I…” Zheng Yuying averted her gaze. She quickly collected herself and glared at him. “You call yourself a guard?!”

Luo Qianwu’s smile fell. “Huh?”

Zheng Yuying stepped aside to reveal Ge Nianlan. “He was just wandering around by himself!”

“Young…Young Lord?” Luo Qianwu stared at the boy in shock. Without waiting for another beat, he scooped the child up into his arms. “How could this be? I thought you were taking a nap in your room.”

Ge Nianlan drew circles against Luo Qianwu’s shoulder. “I got bored and wanted to explore.”

Luo Qianwu glanced at Zheng Yuying and sighed. “Still, Young Lord, you shouldn’t run off without telling anyone. They’ll be worried. And what if something really happened? Then, we won’t know if you were hurt or if you had just gone out to play again.”

Ge Nianlan hugged Luo Qianwu’s shoulders. “Alright. I’m sorry.”

“Mn. Don’t do that again,” Luo Qianwu said. He turned to Zheng Yuying. “Sorry, Yuying. I should bring the Young Lord back.”

“Whatever. It wasn’t like I was planning to eat lunch with you anyway,” Zheng Yuying said. She gave Ge Nianlan a warning look before she jogged off.