Ch 99: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

“Are you alright?” Xiang Feicheng’s expression had already returned to calm, a gentle smile softening his features as he looked at Mu Xing.

Mu Xing was still lost in the flood of memories that had just surfaced, when suddenly a voice rang out beside him:

“Xiang Feicheng, what are you doing?”

The voice startled Xiang Feicheng—and snapped Mu Xing back to reality.

He looked up and saw a very delicate and pretty young woman striding toward them with a dark expression.

Mo Niannian had noticed something off with her boyfriend recently. He wasn’t as attentive and caring in their chats as before, he always claimed to be “busy” when she wanted to meet, and even his tone had become perfunctory.

She knew Xiang Feicheng wasn’t exactly a faithful man; before they got together, she had heard a few things about his romantic past.

But love is blind. Xiang Feicheng’s pursuit of someone was something few could resist. Mo Niannian fell for him, and naively believed she would be the destined one to make the playboy settle down.

Clearly, she had overestimated herself.

A woman’s intuition told her something was very wrong.

So she secretly followed his schedule, and after several days finally caught up with him.

From a distance she saw Xiang Feicheng walking with a thin figure beside him. She couldn’t see the person’s face, but Xiang Feicheng’s expression—she knew it too well.

Wasn’t that exactly the look he wore when whispering sweet nothings to her?

Three parts suspicion instantly turned into seven parts certainty.

Chin raised, Mo Niannian strode toward them, her sharp gaze fixed on the “vixen” beside him—

But when her eyes landed on Mu Xing’s pale, stunning face, her aura instantly collapsed.

This… this kind of fragile yet breathtakingly beautiful boy… could he really exist?

What had this dog Xiang Feicheng done to deserve someone like this?

That pretty little brother must have been tricked!

Mu Xing watched the unfamiliar girl storm up, only to falter when she saw him, before turning her scowl back toward Xiang Feicheng.

“Xiang Feicheng, so this is the ‘work business’ you claimed kept you too busy to accompany me?”

Xiang Feicheng felt a flicker of embarrassment, but his expression remained calm and natural. “Niannian, what are you doing here? Shopping for something? Didn’t that bag you like just restock today? I was about to line up and buy it for you later.”

Mo Niannian scoffed inwardly, then softened her face toward Mu Xing. “And this is…?”

Xiang Feicheng replied, “A friend of mine. First time… coming around here. My dad asked me to take him out.”

Mo Niannian arched a brow. “If he’s your friend, why not mention it to me? Do you not take your girlfriend seriously at all?”

Her words were both an accusation and a declaration of identity in front of Mu Xing.

“No.” The quiet Mu Xing suddenly spoke.

Both turned to him.

Mu Xing shook his head. “We’re not friends. Strictly speaking, Xiang Feicheng is my junior. His elders asked him to accompany me outside, that’s all.”

So she had misunderstood?

Mo Niannian looked at him uncertainly. The boy’s expression was cool and distant; the way he looked at Xiang Feicheng held only indifference—and even a trace of irritation and disdain.

Clearly, he really didn’t like him.

But Xiang Feicheng?

Mo Niannian glanced instinctively at her boyfriend—only to see his disbelieving gaze fixed on Mu Xing, utterly blindsided by the words. There was even a faint trace of hurt.

So… Xiang Feicheng’s “interest” was completely one-sided?

A small surge of satisfaction bloomed in Mo Niannian’s chest.

Her mood instantly lifted. Beaming, she looked back at Mu Xing and admitted candidly: “So it’s an old acquaintance. Then I was mistaken. It’s just—my boyfriend here has a messy history. Always flirting everywhere, too many bad habits. I worried someone else had fallen for his act again.”

Mu Xing: “…”

He couldn’t help glancing at her in surprise—it was his first time seeing someone insult another so directly to their face.

Xiang Feicheng’s face darkened with humiliation. Translated on Hololo novels. He looked at her. “Niannian, what nonsense are you spouting?”

She rolled her eyes. “Nothing, just regretting how blind I was to fall for you. Xiang Feicheng, let’s break up.”

For Xiang Feicheng, breaking up with Mo Niannian wasn’t painful. If nothing else were at stake, he’d happily go along—he’d long since grown bored.

But right now was absolutely not the time.

If this really ended here, what kind of man would he seem in Mu Xing’s eyes?

Xiang Feicheng frowned, feigning a headache, looking at her as though she were a childish girlfriend throwing a tantrum. “Niannian, are you mad at me over something silly again, saying these words just to spite me?”

“Don’t try that on me. You know very well if I’m being unreasonable or not.” She gave him another eye-roll. “My friends warned me not to get involved with you, and they were right. Luckily it’s not too late. Let’s just end it here.”

Xiang Feicheng remained calm, his voice soft and gentle. “Don’t get upset. If there’s a misunderstanding, let’s sit down and talk it through. I—”

“Pardon me for interrupting.” Mu Xing had to step in, cutting Xiang Feicheng off.

Seeing both turn to him, he spoke politely, “This really seems to be a private matter between you two. It isn’t convenient for me to be present. I’ll take my leave so you can find a quiet place to continue your talk.”

Mo Niannian almost laughed out loud—the pretty little boy’s eagerness to distance himself from Xiang Feicheng couldn’t have been more obvious.

She lifted a hand to cover the corner of her mouth and quickly chimed in:
“No need. I’ve got nothing to say to him, I’ll be leaving now.”

She turned to Mu Xing with warmth.
“Little brother, are you of age yet? Want to exchange StarNet IDs? If you’d like to learn about this planet, you can come to me. I know lots of fun places and delicious food.”

Mu Xing declined, saying he would be leaving here soon anyway. Mo Niannian didn’t push, briskly said her goodbyes, and left.

Mu Xing, unwilling to linger after those memories, didn’t even bother acknowledging Xiang Feicheng. His form dissolved into a wisp of smoke, returning swiftly to the old residence.

That left a dumbfounded Xiang Feicheng standing there alone.

In just that short span of time, he’d lost a good-natured, generous girlfriend—and the favor of a breathtaking beauty.

---

Back in the residence.

Mu Xing began sorting through the memories that had just returned.

He remembered the life of this body.

He was indeed Prince Yu. That man had been Xiang Fangting—the ancestor of Xiang Feicheng.

Back then, Xiang Fangting was born to an ordinary family. Handsome and talented though he was, his humble background kept the nobles of the capital from truly accepting him.

He seemed doomed to mediocrity, until one visit to a temple where he burned incense, he encountered Prince Yu—who had come under heavy escort to pray for his frail health.

Xiang Fangting did not know Prince Yu personally, but from his youthful looks and entourage, he guessed who he was.

What Prince Yu thought was a fateful meeting had, in fact, been deliberately arranged.

At first, Xiang Fangting only wanted to use Prince Yu as a stepping stone into the circles of power. But over time, he discovered that the boy, overly sheltered due to his weak body, was unusually naïve and innocent. In just a few days, he came to treat Fangting as a confidant, subconsciously relying on him.

A fragile, porcelain-like beauty, offering wholehearted trust and dependence—such a thing easily sparked forbidden thoughts.

Xiang Fangting indulged this reliance, even subtly guided it, until reliance shifted into attachment.

…

Mu Xing’s face darkened—not with anger, but with disgust.

Prince Yu had been ruined by Xiang Fangting.

He had never been inclined that way, but under Fangting’s deliberate lead, he fell for a man. Yet Fangting’s heart was not his alone—he had ambition, he had others.

He couldn’t even give him the promise of lifelong companionship.

Through Prince Yu, Fangting caught the Empress Dowager’s eye, and became a favored guest of the nobility.

But once his goals were within reach, as Prince Yu’s feelings deepened, Fangting began to withdraw.

Though he and Prince Yu had been intimate, he started hinting everywhere that he had only ever seen Yu as a younger brother.

Inexperienced in love, Prince Yu blamed himself. He thought he had tainted their friendship with his feelings. He fell gravely ill, his frail health declining further.

But he was not a fool. After recovering slightly, he recalled every detail and found things amiss. He quietly sent a trusted servant to investigate.

The results confirmed it—many of those “fateful” events had been orchestrated by Xiang Fangting.

It had never been his fault. There was no misunderstanding. From the very start, it had been nothing but manipulation and a lie.

Already fragile, just recovering from illness, Prince Yu collapsed under the weight of the revelation.

Unconscious, his body was immobile, but his mind remained clear.

He heard his parents weeping day after day. He heard the imperial physicians pronounce him incurable. He heard that hypocritical man weeping at his bedside, deceiving his parents with his false grief.

He wanted to scream, to rise and tell them the truth—but he could not.

And so, clutching that bitter regret, he sank into eternal sleep.

---

That was, almost entirely, Prince Yu’s life.

After death, clinging to his grievance, his soul did not disperse. He “watched” as Xiang Fangting climbed the ranks, marrying wives and concubines, basking in glory.

Later—perhaps by heaven’s whim—he awoke again in the royal manor where he had lived for over a decade.

The cost: his past memories were gone.

But this time, heaven would not let him go.

He encountered Xiang Fangting’s descendant—Xiang Feicheng.

Though their looks were not so alike, their temperaments were exactly the same.

As blank as a sheet of paper, forgetting everything, Prince Yu once again stumbled into the same trap.

Once more, his heart was trampled.

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