I Became the Older Brother of the Heroine in an Abusive Novel

ue Yunhuan in a loud voice, “The pitch-pot[1] at this year’s Mid-Autumn festival was canceled, did you all know?”

Jun Huailang saw that his smile was smug and full of malicious delight.

And the eunuch serving behind him looked familiar.
Jun Huailang took a closer look and realized that the eunuch was the same one who led the bullying against Xue Yan earlier.
He was also the culprit who damaged the jade arrow.

… So the second prince caused that?

Jun Huailang had to admire his audacity for a moment.
But on second thought, the second prince was the one who flexed his muscles when Xue Yan first returned to the palace.
It seemed that the more familiar they became, the more confident the second prince felt in his backing.

The group of young aristocrats were not as well-informed as him.
But after looking back and forth, they found that there was indeed no pitch-pot equipment, so they all asked curiously, “It’s really not here! Your Highness, do you know why?” 

The second prince smiled meaningfully.

His appearance was just like his mother’s, insipid and mediocre.
He had a square face and a pair of shifty small eyes that squinted when he smiled.

“Because someone broke the jade arrow!” He said.

The group of aristocratic toadies burst into an uproar, talking over each other.
Jun Huailang looked at Xue Yan out of the corner of his eyes, and saw that he seemed unfazed.
He sat there serenely drinking his tea.

Someone asked, “How could it be broken? Didn’t His Majesty bestow the arrows to one of Your Highnesses?”

“Yes, could it be the Fourth Highness?” Another responded

Ol’ sixth Xue Yunhuan was the son of the empress, but he disliked reading.
If one were to pick the most well-rounded prince, it would certainly be the fourth prince, Xue Yunhong. 

But the fourth prince smiled faintly and said, “Where do I have this ability? Everyone is overestimating me,” and kicked them into a frenzy again.
After speaking, he only cared about eating and said nothing else.

The group of young aristocrats discussed again.

“Who had it?” They asked.

The second prince showed a twisted smile.
“The person with this ability would naturally be a star descended to the mortal world.”

A star descended? This strange phrase could only describe one person in the entire palace, the evil star. 

Everyone’s eyes fell on Xue Yan.

Xue Yan raised his eyes as if inadvertently, and his amber eyes looked at them calmly.
Immediately, the aristocrats acted like they saw some kind of monster and avoided his gaze, as if the gods would strike them down for making eye contact.

The second prince burst into laughter, and Jun Enze followed him and laughed too.

Jun Huailang felt uncomfortable.
He pursed his lips and turned away.

At that moment, Xue Yunhuan, who was sitting in the crowd, did not feel like watching the second prince’s monkey show, and stood up impatiently.
This little bully always did whatever he wanted, he turned around and left without saying a word to anyone.

He went to Jun Huailang, knocked on the table, and said, “Go, let’s go and get some fresh air.”

Jun Huailang naturally wanted to go with him, but Jun Linghuan was still eating at the moment and he couldn’t abandon her.

The fourth prince, Xue Yunhong got up and walked over with a kind and gentle expression.
He smiled as he said to Xue Yunhuan, “Sixth Brother, let me accompany you on a walk.
The sky lanterns[2] will be released soon, and Heir Jun can meet us at Taiye Lake.”[3]

Jun Huailang didn’t have much of an impression of the fourth prince but also didn’t dislike him, so he nodded and smiled.
“Then I’ll trouble you to wait for me,” he agreed.

Xue Yunhuan was eager to get away from that silly windbag of a second prince.
He did not refuse and followed Xue Yunhong out.

Seeing this, Jun Linghuan thought she blocked her brother from going out to play.
She had a piece of pastry in her hand, but quickly stuffed it in her mouth.
“Huan-er is almost done eating!” she said, muffled by the food.

Jun Huailang was amused but was also afraid she would choke.
He hurriedly fed her some tea and asked her to swallow the pastry slowly.
“Don’t rush, be careful of choking,” he said, and gently stroked her back. 

He was ten years older than Jun Linghuan, and his second brother was far away in Yumen Pass.[4] From a young age, he had often taken care of his younger sister, and had long been familiar with this task. 

He did not notice a pair of indifferent amber eyes watching this scene.

By the time Jun Linghuan was full, most officials’ sons had already left their seats.
The princes’ seats were also completely empty.
For children, banquets were boring.
The most enjoyable part of the Mid-Autumn palace banquet were the lanterns at Taiye Lake.

Jun Linghuan also thought this.
After she ate her fill, Jun Huailang took her to Taiye Lake.

It was a cool night.
The two of them wore cloaks and walked through a palace full of lanterns.
With their robes swaying gently, they looked like a painting.

Within an incense stick of time,[5] they arrived at Taiye Lake.
Many people were already standing by it.
The full moon hung in the dark blue sky.
Several sky lanterns drifted towards the heavens and the lake shone with reflected light. 

Jun Linghuan whispered, “Wow!” and tugged Jun Huailang towards the side of the lake.

There was a group of people at the lakeside.
As soon as they approached, Jun Huailang heard the second prince’s voice.

“Isn’t that Old Five? Come here, release a lantern with your geges.”[6]

That voice was like a scoundrel in a market, even a deaf person would be able to tell this person wanted to stir up trouble.
Even someone as gentle as Jun Huailang couldn’t help but feel like this person needed a beating.

Notes:

[1] 投壶 ancient banquet game of throwing arrows into a pot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch-pot [2] 孔明灯 a hot air balloon made of paper and bamboo, with an opening at the bottom where a small candle is suspended. https://imgur.com/a/dZAM2rH [3] 太液池 an artificial lake in the Imperial City during the Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. [4] 玉门关 aka Jade Gate Pass, western frontier post on the Silk Road in Gansu. [5] In ancient times, incense was one of the methods used to keep time.
Depending on the type of incense used, it could be anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes, but here it’s probably more like 5 minutes. [6] 哥哥 older brother, can also be used to address older men of the same generation not related by blood.