It seems that the villain is targeting me.

If there is anyone that the eldest prince least wants to see, his younger brother Rickon Hamilton would definitely be in the top three.

The eldest prince actually has a pretty good relationship with his younger brother: Rickon is only seven years old this year, and Charles has never regarded this child as a threat, so he doesn't hate him very much.

Charles even watched Rickon grow up from a little kid to someone who could call him brother and giggle with the gifts he brought him. In his heart, he actually loved this brother who was born to the same mother as him.

But now Charles has vaguely realized that he has been completely abandoned by his father, and that the well-behaved lamb-like little Rickon will replace him and become the master of this palace - this makes Charles unable to let go no matter what.

He stood at the palace door in a daze for a long time before suppressing his emotions. Charles looked at his brother's guardian knight Tony again, waved his hand and walked in.

After walking a few steps, Charles heard a very hearty laugh. The laughter sounded inexplicably familiar, but he couldn't recognize it.

He originally thought that he only needed to report to his mother that he was safe, but he had no idea that the place was so bustling with activity. Several guests were crowded in the reception hall, eating dried figs and drinking white wine while talking loudly about something.

His mother was in the hall directing the servants to pour wine for the guests and did not notice him for the time being. Charles recognized that among these guests were his uncle and several noble adults. He also saw an unexpected guy among them.

That guy was the first one to notice him among everyone. He stood up first and walked towards him with a brisk step, a warm and sweet smile on his face. That smile made the eldest prince shudder.

"Charles!" the man shouted happily, as if they had grown up together and were as close as a pair of trousers.

——It’s Umuda, the man named Umuda!

Umuda looked Charles up and down with his gray eyes, never mentioning the war. He just turned around and called his mother carelessly: "Your Highness Catherine, look, your son is back."

The Queen, who had been facing away from Charles, turned around. She exclaimed and tears flowed uncontrollably the moment she saw Charles.

"Charlie! My darling!" Queen Catherine looked at her eldest son who had not returned home for a long time with tears in her eyes. "Come here, Charlie, let me see - did those barbarians hurt you? Do you have any scars on your body?"

Prince Charles called out "Mother" awkwardly, feeling very embarrassed.

The eldest prince, who had already grown up, obviously felt very embarrassed by his mother's excessive pampering of him in front of so many people.

The guests around also reacted at this time.

Lai: These people are all smart people, they would never embarrass others in front of them, not to mention that the mothers of the two princes are watching them.

So they all gathered around with hypocritical affection, asking Charles about his well-being after he returned from the battle, and very cleverly avoided using any words that would make Charles angry, showing the excellent qualities of someone who had survived the Shrike's knife for more than a decade.

But this cautious avoidance also made the eldest prince feel uncomfortable.

Prince Charles has successfully lit up the skill of "reading people's expressions" through the experience of being in a state of disarray during this period, and has mastered the essence of this skill at an extremely astonishing learning speed.

Simply put, he can now understand what others mean.

Avoidance is also a reaction. These people carefully avoided Charles's defeat and instead kept reminding him of it.

Prince Charles was embarrassed and felt unbearably humiliated, but he didn't dare to get angry at these people - Charles had suffered enough from losing his temper.

At this moment, Charles suddenly noticed that after calling out his name and calling his mother, the man named Umuda quickly stepped aside.

Umuda allowed himself to be surrounded by the crowd, while he stood aside and watched with a happy smile.

He had done it on purpose, and Charles realized it instantly.

But the man seemed to have no purpose. He did not do it intentionally, but just acted on a whim to see how he would react, just like a naughty child plucking the wings of a dragonfly and then putting the poor little insect on the ground to observe.

Umuda seemed to have become one of the people present and was regarded as one of their own by the nobles. The hearty laughter that Charles heard first came from him.

He was eloquent, good at debate, and could be considered humorous. Most importantly, Umuda knew how to say the right thing at the right occasion, which made it easy for him to please most of the guests present.

Everyone present was secretly guessing Umuda's true identity. The man showed signs of being well-educated in his words and deeds, so they guessed that he was a nobleman from outside the place.

Smelling of cologne, well-dressed, with his hair neatly combed back, Umuda looked like the ideal aristocratic young man: strong, tall, well-dressed, and well-mannered.

But in Charles's opinion, Umudah's eyes actually betrayed him. The prince saw the man's hidden madness through those eyes.

That madness made Prince Charles tremble almost instinctively. At that moment, he saw through the man's true nature hidden under his polite appearance, but Charles could not find the accurate words to express it.

If Xiao Niao were here, she might be able to find a corresponding word, a word specifically used to describe people like Wumuda:

Antisocial element.

Chapter 63: The Impending Conspiracy

Charles was pulled to sit on the soft sofa and receive care from his mother.

He glanced around and did not see his brother Rickon. He asked his mother and got the answer: Rickon was taken to the garden to play by several servants.

This somewhat relieved Charles. At least now, he really didn't want to see his younger brother.

The mother took his hand again and asked with tears in her eyes.

Catherine carefully noticed the dark circles under her eldest son's eyes, so she naturally worried that he had suffered too much while away from home.

But Charles didn't want to recall what happened in those months at all. In the face of his mother's concern, he just responded absent-mindedly the whole time, and his eyes were always glancing in the direction of Umuda.

The eldest prince was sure that he did not know this man. Umuda looked like he came from a good family, but he never mentioned his last name.

There are only two possibilities: either Umudah's behavior and words are all disguised, or he has been expelled from his family.

Prince Charles has noticed that this is a name that is quite Galan-esque. People living in the capital or Highgarden would not give their children such a name.

In fact, if Charles had been born two years earlier, he might have had some impression of Umudah.

About ten years ago, Umuda was a well-known figure in the capital.

Ask any two people on the street, and they'll tell you that this man is a rabid dog out of control—so violent and so notorious that anyone from a respectable family would tell their children to stay away from him.

Wumuda does have the blood of Jialan.

His mother was a Galan slave who was bought by a wealthy man along with carpets and porcelain from foreign countries and brought home for his enjoyment. She eventually became pregnant, gave birth to a child, and died silently in an extremely cold winter.

He did come from a noble family - he was a bastard.

Someone once mocked Umuda for his background, and in the end he had to fish his ears out of a stinky ditch on the side of the road.

At that time, this man was only about ten years old, but he was already regarded as the son of the devil. Even adults did not dare to provoke Wumuda.

Of course, the principle that people leave and the tea gets cold applies to any social environment.

In the months after that incident

, people quickly forgot about this man and his brutal reputation.

Charles didn't know about Umudah at that time. He was just a little boy more than ten years ago. Adults don't want children to know about such bloody and cruel things.

Among the nobles present now, many have heard of Umuda's glorious past.

But because those things happened so long ago, and the man in front of them behaved so elegantly and easily, the noble gentlemen had somewhat forgotten his past reputation for brutality.

——They will pay the price for their forgetfulness.

The second reason is that these noble lords now have a common enemy with Umudah.

"That Shrike... I heard he's already returned home."

The person being discussed was undoubtedly Xiao Niao. These nobles did not dare to call her by her name, but instead referred to her as "Shrike" or "that half-human". Sometimes even the subject was deliberately omitted.

Obviously, in the circle of old-school nobles, Xiaoniao is "the one whose name cannot even be mentioned."

The first person to speak among those present was the eldest prince's uncle, who was a prince.

"...I heard that the Shrike freed thousands of slaves at the border and even used money to resettle them," His Royal Highness gritted his teeth. "Thousands of slaves! They were clearly spoils of war. How could that Shrike just dispose of them with a single word?"

"That's right," someone echoed Prince Wilson, "We don't know how much these slaves would fetch if shipped out, and yet they're just released like that!"

Prince Charles sat on the sofa and listened to what these people said. He felt very annoyed: what they were talking about was actually just to divide the slaves.

These nobles were all in their prime and appeared to be healthy. According to imperial custom, they should have gone to war for the emperor.

However, after they confirmed that the position of general had nothing to do with them at all, they lost interest in fighting and avoided the battle by claiming to be sick and staying at home.

These people didn't contribute any money or effort, but when the spoils were divided, they all jumped out.

"With the army's triumphant return, I wonder how much more reward His Majesty will bestow upon Shrike."

The prince shouted indignantly, spilling a lot of wine from his glass. "In just the past few years, our people have no say in the imperial council. Now, the people in the capital only know the name of Butcher Bird. Who still remembers the Grand Dukes? Who remembers me, Prince Wilson?!"

He was a little drunk and slammed the cup heavily on the table.

"...That Shrike already enjoys His Majesty's favor, and he will only rise to greater heights in the future. By then, there will be no hope for you and me, brothers!"

Prince Charles listened to his uncle's angry remarks, but did not want to get involved - he knew about the existence of the Feathered Guard and was worried that there might be eavesdroppers.

The surrounding environment was very noisy, but Charles was strangely calm.

It was at this time that Umuda's light voice rang out.

"What the adults said makes sense. That half-man is indeed despicable," Umuda said with that sweet smile on his face. "We should definitely put a damper on their arrogance and let Butcher have a taste of what it's like to be held back."

There was silence for a few seconds, and then someone raised his hand tremblingly and pointed at Wu Muda with a look of disbelief on his face: "You...you actually said it directly...the person whose name cannot be said."

Wumuda thought: Sometimes, when I think about having to work with this group of people, I feel quite overwhelmed.

He was angry in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. He just casually played with the exquisite wine glass in his hand.

"...It's normal for you gentlemen to have concerns," Umuda said in a low voice. "I think many people have noticed that Prime Minister Butcher's eyes and ears are a bit too sharp."

As he spoke, Umuda glanced at Charles with a half-smile: "Don't you agree? Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Charles was suddenly called by his name and subconsciously straightened his back, while the people around him looked at the eldest prince, waiting for his answer.

"Prime Minister Butcher is monitoring everyone around him. Your Highness, you have noticed it, haven't you?" Umuda continued to induce.

Prince Charles nodded stiffly.

Charles could only stare at his knees. It was as if countless annoying mosquitoes suddenly appeared around him. There was a buzzing sound of discussion, interspersed with his uncle's loud scolding.

Umuda sat calmly in his seat, the man crossed his legs, clasped his hands on his knees, and watched other people's reactions coldly.

What was surprising was that the one who reacted the most among all people was Queen Catherine.

Before this, Catherine was just the host and had to accompany them here. She actually didn't care at all about what the men were talking about.

Queen Catherine never liked to hear about these things: politics, war, and things like polo and philosophy - whenever two men get together, they will definitely talk about these topics endlessly.

Catherine focused all her attention on her son. With a mother's sensitivity and intuition, she felt that her eldest son was tormented by fear and was in a state of panic and tension at all times.

This made Queen Catherine very sad.

She secretly blamed her husband for being too harsh on their son, but she didn't know how to ease Charles' pain.

Until she saw her eldest son nod and admit it himself: he was being monitored by the Imperial Prime Minister.

Her eldest son is being monitored, and even her younger son, who is over seven years old, may be under surveillance.

Catherine keenly found the root of the problem: all these situations were based on the tacit consent of Emperor Lawrence, otherwise Xiaoniao would never dare to monitor the emperor's son based on his own personal will.

This made the lioness, who was protecting her cubs, furious as never before.

Umuda noticed this and couldn't help laughing - this was a pleasant surprise for him.

It is conceivable that the Queen will soon turn against Lawrence, which will make the matter known to everyone and will inevitably affect Butcher.

If the affairs of the Yuyi Guard were to be exposed, it would still cause a great impact at the social level.

After all, no matter how loyal a person is, they don't like being monitored by others.

This was the first step of the plan: he had to find a way to cover the shrike's eyes.

Wumuda clenched his hands and felt the thick calluses on his palms - he had extremely thick calluses on his knuckles and palms, which was because he had worked in a dark mine for a full eight years.

This plan has been with him in the dark for eight years. Every day, he is constantly improving its details. He has endured for thousands of days and nights for this.

Wumuda silently stroked his hard knuckles, a bloody storm brewing in his mind.

At this moment, he noticed that the useless eldest prince was secretly watching him.

Umuda put a smile on his face.

He walked over naturally, and as if to comfort him, he gently tapped Charles' tense shoulders like an elder.

"Don't be so nervous, Charlie."

Wumuda smiled and tried to comfort him, then changed the subject: "—I can see that you are afraid. Are you afraid of the butcher bird?"

Charles didn't acknowledge it, he just looked at his knees.

But Umuda didn't need his answer. This person really liked the conversation mode of asking and answering questions by himself.

"Most people here think that Butcher is a terrifying butcher and an unbeatable opponent," Umuda murmured, "but there is no such thing as an invincible person in this world. Everyone has weaknesses that can be exploited."

"His Majesty the Emperor has a bad temper and enjoys drinking, while Banuel Tudor is too loyal. These are their weaknesses. As long as you are determined, you will always find opportunities to exploit them."

Prince Charles' back stiffened. He was like a rabbit being held down by a wolf, not daring to move at all.

The man's gray-blue eyes looked directly at Charles.

"Do you want to know the Imperial Prime Minister's weakness?"