Chapter 166
166 TRACE OF CURSE ON THE FACE
“Why do you say that Prince Wu Jinhai is a dangerous person, Ma Qiao?” After showing a shocked expression on his face for a moment, Bai Chen was finally able to ask his old servant.
“Aiyah! You must not know much about the eldest Prince of Wu Li, Your Highness!” The old servant quickly answered his question. “I have never met the eldest Prince, but I heard a lot of rumors about him. That’s why I know that the eldest Prince of Wu Li is a dangerous person.”
Bai Chen should have expected it. Of course, Ma Qiao would always rely on gossip whether it was about the people in Dong Lang or Wu Li, and Bai Chen shouldn’t have been surprised when he heard the old servant suddenly say that Wu Jinhai was a dangerous person.
Now, Bai Chen knew that he shouldn’t take Ma Qiao’s words seriously, but that didn’t mean he didn’t need to hear more from his servant. “What rumors did you hear about Prince Wu Jinhai?” He once again asked the question.
The reason why he asked that question was that he still remembered how Wu Jinhai had also said that there were indeed rumors about him when they had only met two days ago.
Back then, Bai Chen had randomly said that he knew some rumors about the masked man, but he actually knew nothing. Therefore, he knew that it would be a good opportunity if he could hear more from the old servant.
“One of the rumors says that Prince Wu Jinhai is a mysterious person, Your Highness,” replied the old servant. “Prince Wu Jinhai always wears a golden mask, right? It is said that he is hiding something dangerous on his face, and that’s why he never shows his face in front of others.”
Sure enough, Bai Chen knew that Wu Jinhai always wore a mask when they were together in the Forbidden Forest.
Even when he only came to his senses after being stung by a poisonous scorpion, the man insisted on covering his eyes because he took off his mask at that time. That moment alone was enough to prove that Wu Jinhai didn’t want to show his face to others, but Bai Chen didn’t know the reason behind it.
.....
At first, he thought that the reason was because of the man’s ugliness, and even Wu Jinhai had said the same thing, but maybe there was another reason behind it.
“Do you know what thing he’s hiding behind his mask, Ma Qiao?” The brown-haired Prince asked his servant again.
Bai Chen had no intention of swallowing everything he heard from Ma Qiao knowing that it was just a rumor that had not been confirmed by anyone, but he believed that it would not hurt if he got more information about the mysterious man named Wu Jinhai.
“About that...” Ma Qiao trailed off as he looked a little hesitant this time. “There are some rumors about things that the Prince is hiding behind his mask, so I don’t know which ones are true.”
Bai Chen playfully raised an eyebrow after hearing the servant’s answer. “Is his ugliness one of the rumors, Ma Qiao?” He asked his servant again.
Hearing that question, Ma Qiao widened his eyes before replying, “Did you hear the rumors of his ugliness too, Your Highness? The rumor even said that Prince Wu Jinhai failed to become the Crown Prince of Wu Li because he was too ugly!”
The Werewolf Prince tried hard not to laugh in front of Ma Qiao. When he had just met Wu Jinhai in the Forbidden Forest, it was Wu Jinhai himself who told him about that rumor, and the masked man also mentioned how he failed to become the Crown Prince because of that.
Now Bai Chen could confirm that the rumors did exist after hearing Ma Qiao’s shocking answer, but he still couldn’t be so sure that the rumors were true.
“I’ve heard the rumor when I visited the Red Pavilion,” Bai Chen randomly answered his servant’s question, smoothly using the advantage of the original Bai Chen who frequently visited the Red Pavilion in Wu Li.
“Yes, yes. A place like the Red Pavilion can definitely be the source of such rumors,” Ma Qiao replied as he nodded his head. “But, no one can confirm that the eldest Prince is really ugly, Your Highness. That’s why other rumors started to spread, but this rumor is less popular than the other rumors related to the Prince’s ugliness.”
Ma Qiao somehow acted more mysterious as he even narrowed his eyes when he said the information, but Bai Chen only thought that the old man might just want to receive praise because he managed to find out some rumors that were not even popular.
“Tell me the other rumors about Prince Wu Jinhai when we are on our way to the Imperial Palace, Ma Qiao,” Bai Chen replied as he brought his body up from his sitting position on the floor.
He could feel how his right leg was slightly numb as he had been sitting on the floor folding his legs for a long time, so he took the time to stomp on it on the floor while waiting for Ma Qiao to get up as well.
After seeing that Ma Qiao was no longer sitting on the floor, Bai Chen started to walk away from the garden pavilion, and his old servant followed behind him as usual.
Even if he didn’t need to act as if he was the real Bai Chen in this world, Bai Chen still took his fan out of his sleeve before he started fanning his face with it.
He no longer needed to imitate the real Bai Chen, but using a folding fan made of paper had become his habit now. He didn’t think it was bad because the air in Dong Lang could be hot at times too, so he calmly allowed himself to have new habits after transmigrating to this world.
He was leading the way to leave his palace to attend the meeting at the Rongyao Imperial Palace, and he finally heard his old servant speak again from behind him.
“Some rumors say that Prince Wu Jinhai is hiding his scar behind his mask, Your Highness. Rumor has it that Prince Wu Jinhai is a bloodthirsty person who loves to fight, and that is why he got so many scars on his face.”
Bai Chen calmly listened to the words spoken by his servant as he continued to fan himself with the fan in his right hand, but he quietly dismissed the rumors he had just heard from the servant.
When he was with Wu Jinhai in the Forbidden Forest, the only time he saw Wu Jinhai fight for real was when the man faced the three guards who were supposed to be guarding Shao Meihui during the event.
Wu Jinhai didn’t look bloodthirsty at all, and instead, the man even avoided a direct fight with his opponent and chose to remain as a bystander on the side.
It was also the reason why Wu Jinhai did not immediately come forward when they witnessed how Bai Renshu and Shao Meihui fought the beasts, and it was like confirmation that Wu Jinhai was not bloodthirsty and always liked to fight.
“Do you still have any other rumors regarding Prince Wu Jinhai’s face, Ma Qiao?” Bai Chen and his old servant had just passed through the gate of his palace, and he once again asked another question.
This time, his servant did not immediately answer his question, but when the old man finally answered, the answer came in a whisper, “I did hear another rumor about Prince Wu Jinhai’s face, and the rumor said that the Prince was cursed, and that’s why he needs to cover his face because there are some traces of the curse on his face, Your Highness.”