Chapter 81: Why Did The Crown Prince’s Entrusted Care Recipient Become Her?
Lin Xin opened her mouth but said nothing. Fine, going at night it was—worst case, she’d return tomorrow night. Moreover, she always felt there was something off about this infant, but Mo Ziyuan was absolutely certain he was the Imperial Grandson. Exactly where was the problem?
For most of the time that followed, Lin Xin pondered this issue.
If the Imperial Grandson was real, why would those people go to the trouble of sending him all the way here? If they wanted to strike at the Crown Prince, wouldn’t it be better to just kill him outright?
She could clearly see that they actually didn’t care about this little infant’s life or death.
If he was fake, then everything made sense—for instance, letting Mo Ziyuan think he was dutifully raising the Imperial Grandson, only to expose the truth when the supposed Imperial Grandson grew up and returned to the imperial city?
But wasn’t that too much trouble? Moreover, the Imperial Grandson was still an infant; it would take at least ten years for him to grow up. The time cost was way too high.
Or perhaps they wanted to use the Imperial Grandson to find Mo Ziyuan’s hiding place, then wipe them all out in one fell swoop?
That seemed to be the most reasonable guess so far.
After thinking for half the day, Lin Xin still had a mess in her head. She couldn’t help sighing, “Sigh! Traversing just swapped her to a different time and space but didn’t give her a smart brain!”
As night fell, the atmosphere in the farmhouse grew heavy. Lin Xin gave Mo Ziyuan a final check of his wound and found it recovering quite well. To ensure it was foolproof, she secretly used a lot of wood element ability to repair his body. Though the wound looked unchanged on the surface, it was actually mostly healed inside.
“Alright, go!” Lin Xin smoothed his outer robe for him. After a thought, she gave him a Devil Vine seed. “You know how to use it, right? You better come back alive, or I can’t guarantee this little brat will survive.”
Mo Ziyuan stared at Lin Xin for a long moment, then smiled. His handsome face seemed to glow with brilliance. He lowered his head and said in a tender voice, “I will definitely come back alive. Wait for me.”
“Mm, go quickly!” Lin Xin uncomfortably shifted her neck, letting her dangling hair cover her hot earlobe.
He took a deep look at the girl who stirred his heart, then Mo Ziyuan turned and vaulted over the wall, his figure gradually vanishing into the night.
The abandoned farmhouse at night was deathly silent. Apart from the occasional passing wind, there was not the slightest sound. Untrimmed tree branches stretched out in all directions, their shadows cast on the ground by the moonlight like clawing demons, inexplicably reminding Lin Xin of the broken, decrepit world of the apocalypse.
“Wah wah wah~” The sudden cry of the infant added a eerie ghostly chill to this sleepless night, even making the apocalypse-hardened Lin Xin feel a bit creeped out.
She hurriedly mixed a bottle of milk powder, tested the temperature, and stuffed the nipple into the infant’s mouth. The crying stopped abruptly, turning into eager gulping sounds. Far from easing, the atmosphere grew even more sinister.
Lin Xin thought for a moment, then carried the basket with the infant to the center of an open space, away from the broken room that always made her feel like ghosts might jump out at any moment. She took a small stool from her space, sat down, and watched the little infant hold his own bottle and drink “glug glug.”
Time passed bit by bit. The infant, full of milk, happily blew a huge bubble, yawned, closed his eyes, and fell into blissful sleep, leaving the miserable Lin Xin alone to face the entire vast abandoned farmhouse.
Suddenly, Lin Xin sensed something and stood up, leaping onto the wall. Her gaze looked into the distance and saw two staggering figures running this way, one of them Mo Ziyuan.
She frowned, returned to the spot, and picked up the basket with the little infant. No matter who had come with Mo Ziyuan, until she figured out the child’s identity, she had to protect him.
Mo Ziyuan’s figure soon appeared on the wall, then he bent down and pulled up another.
Next, the two jumped down from the wall and walked side by side toward Lin Xin.
“Miss Lin, this is the Crown Prince.” Mo Ziyuan pointed to the person beside him—who looked a bit disheveled but still exuded an extraordinary nobility—and said to her.
Lin Xin nodded and slightly curtsied. “This common woman pays respects to the Crown Prince.”
“Miss Lin, no need for excessive courtesy.” The Crown Prince’s voice was very gentle. He extended his right hand in a virtual supporting gesture toward Lin Xin, then said solemnly, “The situation is urgent, so I will be direct. Miss Lin, I entrust my child to you. If in the future I achieve great things, I will send someone to fetch him. If I fail, then let him live out his life as an ordinary person!”
Lin Xin was stunned. Wasn’t this something he should say to Mo Ziyuan? Why had the person he was entrusting the child to become her? And the Crown Prince dared to hand the child to her without even knowing her?
She looked at Mo Ziyuan in bewilderment, using her gaze to ask what was going on.
However, Mo Ziyuan kept his head down beside the Crown Prince, pretending to be dead.
“This… I, this common woman, probably cannot take on the responsibility!” Lin Xin politely declined.
“No, Miss Lin need not belittle yourself. Moreover, since you are a person Zi Yuan trusts, you are naturally someone I trust. I trouble you.” After speaking, the Crown Prince actually gave Lin Xin a cupped-fist salute.
Lin Xin: “······”
“Crown Prince, Mo Ziyuan must have told you—this common woman comes from the countryside. This common woman can guarantee the Imperial Grandson’s safety, but she has no confidence in raising him to become a qualified member of the imperial family.”
The Crown Prince smiled bitterly and shook his head. “I understand. Miss Lin need not worry too much.”
Now Lin Xin was completely speechless and simply gave up. It was just a little infant—fine, she’d raise him. Her space had enough baby supplies to keep him healthy, and as for future education, she could leave that headache to Meng Yichen later.
Suddenly, Lin Xin slightly frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Mo Ziyuan asked.
“Someone’s coming.” Lin Xin twitched her ears. “On horseback, about ten to twenty of them.”
“No need to worry, they are my personal guards.” The Crown Prince glanced at the basket in Lin Xin’s hand, took a deep breath, and turned around. “To avoid more trouble arising, hurry and leave the capital! I don’t even know how many people around me have betrayed me now. If the news leaks, you probably won’t be able to leave.”
Mo Ziyuan and Lin Xin exchanged a glance, then unanimously flashed into the broken house where Mo Ziyuan had been hiding earlier. The basket with the infant was directly transferred into her space the moment they entered the room.
The two each chose a spot suitable for observing outside and focused on watching the empty courtyard.
The sound of hoofbeats drew near, then slowly receded, before moving this way from another direction. Lin Xin then realized these people hadn’t climbed the wall but had found the farmhouse gate and come from there.
“Your Highness!” As the leader approached, he leaped down from his still-running horse and knelt on one knee before the Crown Prince. “This subordinate arrived late. Is Your Highness injured?”
The others also arrived, dismounted, and knelt on the ground.
“I’m fine. Have you dealt with the pursuers?”
The leader answered, “Those were all remnants of the Grand Tutor’s old forces and have been completely eliminated by us subordinates.”
“Very good.”
“Your Highness, it’s too unsafe here. Why not let us subordinates escort Your Highness back to the palace!”
“Mm, then let’s go!”
