Chapter 116: The Seal

"You are all deserving of punishment. Go now, first inspect all the forage and concentrated feed, then summon a physician to prepare an antidote for the poison. Once these tasks are completed, report to receive your lashes. Xin and Stableman Liang will each receive ten strokes as a disciplinary measure. From now on, you must remain vigilant. Finally, send Mother Zhang to me for questioning."

Li Rui, in the end, did not resort to severity. If the situation had not been such a coincidental oversight, Li Rui would likely have ordered twenty lashes before expelling them from the Prince's estate. By keeping the punishment light, he hoped they would be more diligent in the future.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

The two men knelt and kowtowed, accepting their punishment. Despite being reprimanded and sentenced to lashes, they were both willing to accept the penalty.

Later, Li Rui summoned Mother Zhang to inquire about the circumstances. After she arrived, she spent a long time recalling the events.

The castor seeds that Xin had taken were those she had crushed and applied topically to treat her boils and abscesses. Yesterday, she had over twenty seeds left and intended to throw them away, but someone had taken them, mistaking them for black beans and using them as feed.

Fortunately, there were only a few seeds, and some remained in the trough. This suggested that perhaps Teng Yi had detected something amiss and refrained from eating the fodder, though it was precisely placed in Teng Yi's trough.

Dealing with this matter took up the better part of the day. Li Rui returned only after ensuring Teng Yi was properly cared for, having completely forgotten about the pair of yellow-patterned jade seals, which he had left sitting quite openly on his desk.

As it happened, Zhang Xiaolan entered the study in the afternoon. She had intended to find some ink, paper, and brushes to paint the scenery in the back garden, but she spotted an exquisite box on the desk containing something. Looking closer, she saw two seals that felt strangely familiar.

She picked them up to examine them carefully. They were identical to her family heirloom pendant, though one was engraved with the character "Lan" and the other with "Rui."

A wave of confusion washed over Zhang Xiaolan. How could her lost heirloom appear here, accompanied by an identical twin? She was utterly perplexed. She had asked Xiao Lian before, and she claimed to have never seen them. Could Li Rui have taken them?

"Lan-er, you are here!"

Li Rui entered and called out to her. She happened to be standing with her back to him, staring intently at the two seals in her hand, and only turned around when she heard his voice.

"Brother Li, why are these seals in your possession?"

Zhang Xiaolan held the two seals out for Li Rui to see. To her surprise, Li Rui appeared astonished, yet he replied with a hint of shyness.

"Have you already seen them, Lan-er? These are the seals I prepared as a gift for you."

Only then did Li Rui suddenly remember that he had been in such a rush when leaving earlier that he had forgotten to put them away. Since Zhang Xiaolan had already discovered them, he figured there was no time like the present to give them to her.

"A gift for me? Hehe... but these were my things to begin with. Brother Li, you really know how to joke. Who takes someone else's belongings only to turn around and gift them back to the owner?"

Hearing Li Rui, Zhang Xiaolan thought he was being funny. These were her seals—the ones she had worn by her side every day, which only went missing when she traveled to this world. So, Li Rui had found them and kept them.

Returning them was one thing, but claiming they were a gift? She had no idea Li Rui could be so humorous and playful.

"What did you say, Lan-er?" Li Rui was bewildered by her words, unable to grasp her meaning, and asked with a puzzled look.

"I said, these were mine to begin with! You're just teasing me by calling them a gift, aren't you?"

Zhang Xiaolan assumed Li Rui was joking with her, so she teased him back. Having recovered her beloved family heirloom, she clutched it tightly in her hand, unable to put it down.