OFTLHFRO C116

Chapter 116: New Year’s Eve Dinner

After hearing her out, Luo Mingchen said without hesitation:

“Impossible. Xiao Hui is far too obedient. And—‘a light push,’ was it?”

Saying this, he stepped forward a little.

Not knowing what he intended, Liu Lanyun retreated two steps, forcing herself to stay calm.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Luo Mingchen smiled.

“I’ll give you a light push too.”

With that, he flicked his sleeve, sending Liu Lanyun and the two maids behind her flying straight into the snow-covered bushes.

Luckily, the snow was thick, preventing any real injury, but the three of them still saw stars for quite some time.

Xiaochen and Baixue exchanged glances—how very impolite.

Leaving the rear courtyard, they found Huo Yuntao up ahead, seated in his wheelchair and flanked by over a dozen men.

At a glance, these men were clearly not in the same league as the guards Luo Mingchen had seen before. If one had to describe them—

they were professionals.

Seeing this, Huo Yan stepped forward, took Luo Mingchen’s hand, and looked straight at Huo Yuntao.

“Move aside.”

Shadow guards were always well-informed.

They knew that earlier that very morning, the Emperor had praised Huo Yan as a filial son.

But now, seeing this father and son face each other, the relationship didn’t look so harmonious.

In truth, most believed the Emperor had only been mocking him. After all, Huo Yan had been driven back to his maternal grandfather’s family as a child. To say they had a good relationship would be impossible.

The way they were now leaving in such a grand fashion, with so many chests in tow—by tomorrow, the entire capital would know.

Huo Yuntao gazed calmly at Huo Yan.

“Today, as you step out of the General’s Mansion, do you know how the world will judge this?”

“After over ten years apart, Father suddenly cares about such things?”

The tone was biting, dripping with mockery.

“Must you leave?”

Huo Yan answered:

“Move aside.”

Huo Yuntao sneered.

“I can raise you to glory, and I can cast you into the mud.”

Huo Yan remained unruffled.

“What raised me to glory was never you—it was His Majesty. If you wish to replace me, then by all means. I’m sure my two younger brothers would be delighted to take my place at the frontier. Or perhaps—you would go yourself?”

Their gazes clashed.

Then Huo Yan turned to the men behind him.

“Go.”

“Yes.”

Xiaochen directed the others to lift the chests and carry them off.

The dozen guards’ hands tightened on the hilts at their waists.

But the movers—shadow guards in truth—picked up the chests without hesitation, utterly ignoring them.

It was then Luo Mingchen realized—these were no ordinary men.

Seeing their fearlessness, one guard frowned and asked,

“Master?”

Huo Yuntao said evenly:

“Let them go.”

Luo Mingchen gave him a sidelong look.

This was ‘letting them go’?

He couldn’t be bothered to argue. A fight here would be unsightly, and more importantly, a waste of time.

It was New Year’s Eve. He hadn’t even decided on their dinner menu yet.

Once outside the General’s Mansion, Luo Mingchen felt as though he could finally breathe freely.

With all the large and small chests loaded onto the wagons, their procession moved out in grandeur, drawing plenty of curious stares along the way.

“What do you want to eat tonight?”

At Luo Mingchen’s question, Huo Yan came back from his thoughts.

“Anything is fine.”

Luo Mingchen frowned.

“It’s New Year’s Eve. Don’t you have something special you want?”

After thinking for a moment, Huo Yan replied:

“Roast chicken?”

“That works.”

Back at their newly purchased residence, though it was unfamiliar, having paid for it made it far more comfortable. Most important of all, there were no hateful faces to see.

Once everything was unloaded, Luo Mingchen asked:

“Is there a secret passage?”

The question was directed at Xiaochen.

Hearing it, Xiaochen clearly paused before replying:

“There is.”

As expected, the Third Prince would never have chosen a house without hidden mechanisms.

And given the location, they had only been charged about a fifth of the usual price. That was truly generous.

In areas near the nobility, property was always far more expensive than elsewhere in the capital.

Luo Mingchen said:

“Then send everything through the passage.”

“Yes.”

After settling all that, Luo Mingchen went to check on the three children.

Ziyuan and Hongxing were watching over them, though the air was strangely awkward.

When the couple returned, both women breathed in relief and rose to bow.

Luo Mingchen gave them a puzzled glance—why were they sitting so far away at the outer table, away from the children?

After dismissing them, Luo Mingchen asked:

“Xiao Xiang, why were they sitting over there?”

With Ziyuan’s level of professionalism, she would never have chosen to watch the children from afar.

“Mm…”

Though Huo Xiang knew they meant no harm, they were still strangers. So when Ziyuan had asked for instructions, he told her directly to sit further away.

Meeting Huo Yan’s eyes, Luo Mingchen sighed helplessly, then reached out to ruffle Huo Xiang’s hair.

“What do you want for dinner?”

Glancing at his resting brother, Huo Xiang answered gloomily:

“Anything’s fine.”

“…Then I’ll decide.”

Luo Mingchen scooped up Huo Xinyue, who had crawled over from the bed to his side, and asked gently:

“Yueyue, what do you want to eat?”

Huo Xinyue blinked, hugged him, and said:

“Daddy, ducky’s tasty.”

“It is tasty.”

Tilting her head, Huo Xinyue nodded hard.

“Mm! Tasty.”

“Good girl.”

Luo Mingchen turned to look at Huo Yuhui, still asleep. He didn’t really seem to have any particular favorites—he just liked all kinds of meat.

Setting the child down, Luo Mingchen pulled Huo Yan along to the kitchen.

Fortunately, the place had been tidied well. Everything the kitchen needed was already there, including the pork leg, eggs, fish, chicken, duck, and vegetables they had bought earlier in the day.

Handing Ziyuan a banknote worth one hundred taels, Luo Mingchen sent them out to paste the “Fortune” characters and to buy firecrackers.

Hongxing said:

“Lord Luo, we’ve already bought them.”

Well, of course—firecrackers were a must for the New Year.

Luo Mingchen hadn’t expected even that to be covered. He could only say:

“…Then go do something else. I’ll call you when I need you.”

After exchanging a look, the two women obeyed and left.

Sensing they had gone far, Luo Mingchen finally relaxed and said to Huo Yan:

“Having people around is just inconvenient.”

Especially when they belonged to the Third Prince.

From what he had seen, the passage to the Third Prince’s residence took less than fifteen minutes.

Seated by the stove, Huo Yan said:

“Once we leave the capital, it will be fine.”

“And when will that be?”

“Soon.”

Luo Mingchen didn’t take this “soon” to heart. In his mind, leaving after the New Year meant after the Lantern Festival—at least after the fifteenth of the first month.

The meat wasn’t an issue, but as for the vegetables—Luo Mingchen decided to use the ones from his space.

After eating mutated vegetables, ordinary ones tasted bland and lacking.

Soon, the fragrance of cooking drifted from the kitchen, filling the air.

The ones keeping watch nearby wore complicated expressions.

After a long silence, Xiaochen asked:

“What do you think of these two lords’ background?”

Ziyuan was quiet for a moment, then said:

“When I left just now, I felt eyes on us.”

The feeling wasn’t sharp, and it carried no hostility. But as a first-class shadow guard, if she couldn’t sense even that much, she would have long died on her missions.

Baixue said:

“Whatever they are, the master ordered us to protect them, not to spy on them. One step at a time.”

The others agreed.

After sniffing the aroma for a long while, Hongxing swallowed hard.

“Do you think… this New Year’s Eve dinner will include us?”

The other four: “…”