Chapter 156

156 WHO WILL YOU CHOOSE?

“Wu Jinhai?” Zhu Ge parroted, and Bai Chen studied the man’s expression.

He could see how a pair of brown eyes widened after he mentioned the eldest Prince of Wu Li’s name, but for some reason, Bai Chen didn’t see that the red-robed man was too surprised to hear his question.

“Yes,” Bai Chen nodded in response to the question. “Do you know him?”

Now, Zhu Ge furrowed his thick brows before replying, “Of course, I know him.”

This time, it was Bai Chen who widened his blue eyes. “Really? You know someone named Wu Jinhai?”

Bai Chen was excited. He could somehow sense the similarities between the two men who liked to wear red, and he was excited to hear Zhu Ge’s answer. He thought that the two men might be related or something, so he was eager to wait for the man’s answer.

“Yes, I know him,” nodded, Zhu Ge replied. “He’s the eldest Prince of Wu Li, right? Everyone in the empire knows about him.”

“...” That was not the answer he wanted to hear, and Bai Chen fell silent.

He had almost forgotten that Wu Jinhai was a Prince, and the people in the empire would surely know about him. Even the people in Dong Lang knew who Prince Bai Chen was even if they might not know his face, so the situation might be the same in Wu Li.

.....

“Why are you suddenly asking about Prince Wu Jinhai? Did you meet him at the Beast Hunting Event?” It was Zhu Ge’s turn to question the brunette Prince, and Bai Chen once again focused his attention on the man.

“You know that Wu Jinhai participated in the Beast Hunting Event?” Instead of answering, Bai Chen answered Zhu Ge’s question with another question.

“Mhm,” replied the red-robed man while nodding his head. “That Prince has always been in every Beast Hunting Event since he was an adult, and he always comes out victorious. It’s a shame this year’s event had to end abruptly because of the incident that happened in the forest.”

Bai Chen was dumbfounded once again after hearing Zhu Ge’s careless statement. Not many people who didn’t participate in the event knew about the incident that happened last night, but Zhu Ge calmly mentioned it as if he knew a lot about it.

“How did you know that something happened in the forest?” The Werewolf Prince asked again. “You even purposely waited for me in front of my palace, so you already knew that I was going out of the forest today, right? How did you get any information about that?”

It was not like Bai Chen had always trusted Zhu Ge from the start, and it was not surprising that he ended up suspecting the black-haired man.

Ever since they first met three weeks ago, Zhu Ge had acted mysteriously in front of him, and it was only natural that Bai Chen couldn’t fully trust the man.

“Why do you look surprised about that?” Zhu Ge calmly replied to Bai Chen’s question. “I arrived at your palace ten minutes before you returned from the forest, and I immediately went to look for lao Ma. When I failed to find him in your palace, I immediately asked another servant about his whereabouts, and one of them told me that he went to the Imperial Palace to pick you up. He also told me that the Beast Hunting Event ended sooner than planned due to the incident that happened in the forest last night.”

Unfortunately, Zhu Ge looked very calm when he explained what happened to him when he had just returned to Bai Chen’s palace, and Bai Chen couldn’t even find a loophole in the story.

Even when he saw Zhu Ge’s face, he couldn’t find any hint that the man was lying, so Bai Chen had to swallow his suspicions for now.

“I see,” replied the brown-haired Prince as he looked away from the young servant. “Something did happen in the forest last night, and that’s why the Emperor decided to cancel the event.”

For now, Bai Chen decided to tell Zhu Ge the truth even if he purposely skipped the details about the incident that happened in the Forbidden Forest.

“Something did happen in the forest, but you still managed to get to know Prince Wu Jinhai? That’s amazing, ChenChen,” Zhu Ge replied with a light laugh escaping his lips, and Bai Chen turned to the taller man again.

Once again, Zhu Ge brought up the topic related to Wu Jinhai, so Bai Chen decided to use the opportunity to dig up more information about the Prince, “I also didn’t expect that I would manage to get to know him. That Prince saved me when I almost fell into Hell while I was crossing the bridge between the mainland and the forest, and he started talking to me after that.”

Bai Chen tried to throw bait at Zhu Ge, and the man wearing the red hanfu earnestly looked at him as he replied, “You almost fell into Hell? Is there a Hell near the Forbidden Forest? I didn’t even know that there was a Hell near the forest. ”

“...” Zhu Ge’s statement managed to make Bai Chen speechless again.

At this moment, Bai Chen realized that he shouldn’t beat around the bush when he was talking to a weirdo like Zhu Ge, and he decided to get straight to the point, “Forget about Hell, and I just want to hear you answer my question. Have you ever met Prince Wu Jinhai?”

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The reason why he decided to question Zhu Ge was that that man often knew a lot of information about what was happening in Dong Lang and Wu Li. The man knew a lot about the Beast Hunting Event, and he also instantly recognized Wu Jinhai’s name when he had just mentioned it.

“Yes, I’ve met Prince Wu Jinhai before,” replied Zhu Ge, and Bai Chen looked surprised by it. “I guess I was a bit lucky to have met the Prince. I heard he is an introverted person who will always remain unnoticed, but I got the chance to meet him some time ago. I was lucky, wasn’t I?”

Zhu Ge even grinned innocently as he recounted his experience, but Bai Chen remained silent as he studied the man’s expression once more.

Zhu Ge was still a cheerful and carefree person, and he looked relaxed when telling stories related to Wu Jinhai. Once again, Bai Chen didn’t find any strangeness on the man’s face.

“Is that so?” The Werewolf Prince asked dryly. “You said he was an introvert, but he was quite chatty when we were together in the Forbidden Forest. I don’t think it would be difficult for him to make friends with other people.”

He tried to go against Zhu Ge’s opinion, but he tacitly agreed with the man on how Wu Jinhai wanted to stay lowkey most of the time. The masked man always chose to stay at the side when something happened, and it proved that the man didn’t want to be noticed by others.

Bai Chen was preoccupied with his thoughts, but his reverie was broken when he heard laughter. Blinking his blue eyes, he found that it was Zhu Ge who suddenly laughed.

“So, you had fun with Prince Wu Jinhai in the forest, ah? I shouldn’t have felt worried about you because someone took care of you when you were in the forest,” Zhu Ge spoke again, and even if his tone was still light and unhurried, Bai Chen felt that something was off in the man’s voice.

“What do you mean? Did you ever feel worried about me when I was going to the forest?” Bai Chen asked the man.

“Of course, I’m worried about you,” Zhu Ge replied without the slightest hesitation. “I couldn’t go back to your palace when you were going to the forest, and I was afraid that you were going to the forest alone and would end up dying alone there. However, it turns out that you had fun with Prince Wu Jinhai in the forest. For some reason, I don’t feel comfortable knowing that,” Zhu Ge spoke without looking at him, and Bai Chen was quite dumbfounded when he caught the bitter tone that escaped the man’s lips.

Bai Chen ignored how Zhu Ge could easily talk about how he might end up dying alone in the forest, and he focused more on the man’s expression when he spoke to him.

‘Why is he acting like that? Is he... jealous?’ Bai Chen stupidly made assumptions in his head, and he even widened his eyes when he was taken aback by his assumptions.

He and Zhu Ge did have an ambiguous relationship after they met for the first time three weeks ago, but he never thought that Zhu Ge would have such feelings for him.

The man was so carefree and flirtatious most of the time, so Bai Chen was startled by the serious tone that had just greeted his ears.

And while he was still confused by the man’s sudden change in attitude, Zhu Ge suddenly turned to him again before asking, “Between me and Wu Jinhai, who will you choose?”