无翼乌工口里番无色无摭挡

Li Tingqian fell to the ground, puckered his mouth, and wanted to cry.

“Don’t cry!” Ms. Ma shouted harshly, pointing at him, “If you dare to cry, you won’t eat tomorrow either! Get up!”

Li Tingqian crawled up, trying hard to hold back his tears.

Ms. Ma coldly said: “Deshan, watch him. Don’t let him back in the room until an hour has passed.”

She snatched the food box from Li Tingqian’s hand and threw it far away.

Li Tingqian’s little body trembled.

Deshan cautiously said: “The emperor’s eldest grandson is still young, after all. If he gets hurt and the emperor investigates…”

Ms. Ma shot a cold glance at him: “Deshan, if a servant can’t control his tongue, there’s not much use keeping it. It might as well be cut off and fed to my cat.”

Deshan shivered and lowered his head: “This servant understands.”

Compared to letting the emperor’s eldest grandson starve, his own tongue was obviously more important.

Although the emperor’s eldest grandson had an honorable status, he was just a child, with no father or mother. When Prince Yu was alive, he could protect and care for him.

Now that Prince Yu was gone, and the Crown Prince had entered the palace, he had become a small, shivering kitten.

After Ms. Ma left, Deshan pulled Li Tingqian into the courtyard with a cold face and said, “Your Highness, please stand still for an hour before going back in. I have told you before, you are now on the Crown Prince’s side; you shouldn’t get too close to Prince Yu’s side. Why won’t you listen?”

Li Tingqian stood in the middle of the courtyard with tears streaming down his face, gasping for breath. His pale face was streaked with tear marks.

Deshan watched him firmly until he had stood for an hour before turning away with his hands behind his back.

There was no food for him, of course.

Who dared to bring it in?

Palace maid Mo’er came running over, helped Xiaoqian back to his room, and placed him on the bed.

“The Princess Consort is so cruel-hearted, daring to treat Your Highness like this.” Mo’er’s eyes were red, “Xiaoqian, are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

Li Tingqian sobbed: “My leg hurts…”

“This servant will fetch some hot water for you to soak your feet.”

Mo’er brought hot water and helped him wash his face and soak his feet.

Li Tingqian sat there blankly.

Mo’er cautiously asked, “Your Highness, are you hungry?”

“Yes,” Li Tingqian nodded, tears pouring down his face, “Third Aunt threw away the food my Aunt gave me. I miss Fifth Imperial Uncle. Why doesn’t he come back? He would drive away Third Imperial Uncle and Third Aunt.”

Mo’er hurriedly hushed him, “Ancestors, you mustn’t say such things! It would be terrible if someone heard you. Rest for a while, and I will find something for you to eat.”

Mo’er tucked him in and left the room.

After crying for a while, Li Tingqian was both tired and aggrieved, and soon fell asleep.

It was hunger that woke him up.

He opened his eyes, and it was pitch black outside.

“Mo’er?” he called.

There was no response.

He got out of bed, opened the door, and looked outside. “Someone come.”

It took a few calls for a eunuch to answer impatiently, “What’s the matter, Your Highness? It’s the middle of the night, and you’re not sleeping. Are you deliberately making life difficult for us servants? We’re human too.”

Li Tingqian asked, “Where is Mo’er?”

“This servant doesn’t know where Miss Mo’er is. Do you have any other matters, Your Highness? If not, this servant will go back to sleep.”

There was no more movement after that.

Most servants trampled on the weak and fawned on the strong, especially in the palace. Li Tingqian was such a helpless orphan. The servants were all off to curry favor with the Crown Prince’s sons and daughters.

No one paid attention to him.

Only Mo’er, who had always served him loyally.

Li Tingqian was a little worried.

Sister Mo’er said she’d go find food, so why hasn’t she come back?