Lin Fan ignored the fourth prince's group as he reached his hand out towards Mu Bao Bao.
Then he helped her up into the carriage before getting into the carriage himself, but he took the driver's seat since he couldn't bring a driver with him this time.
If he wasn't traveling alone, he would bring a driver, but it was too dangerous to do that, so he would fulfill that role himself.
But then again, he was also used to this since most of the time he traveled alone.
He was about to move the carriage forward when he suddenly remembered something, causing him to turn back to look in the fourth prince's direction. He calmly said, "Are we heading out or not?"
He didn't know where they were going, so he couldn't lead even if he wanted to.
So he had no choice but to wait for the fourth prince's group to go first and then follow them.
These words snapped the fourth prince's attendants out of their daze and they were about to say something about his supposed rude tone, but the fourth prince raised his hand to stop them again.
Rather than getting angry at Lin Fan's frank tone, he revealed a smile and said, "Let's set off then."
He walked over to his own carriage and waved his hand at his attendants to start heading out.
They all had different expressions on their faces, but it was clear that there wasn't a single one that approved of this. Still, the fourth prince was the fourth prince and there was nothing that they could say about this.
Since the fourth prince had already given his order, the only thing that they could do was follow it.
So the attendants entered the various carriages and they started heading off.
They paid no attention to Lin Fan's carriage and took the lead, creating a full motorcade.
In the end, Lin Fan was left to the very end of this motorcade and could only follow behind them. However, he didn't mind this since this was what he wanted in the first place.
Being able to stay low-key like this was the best thing for him after all.
But it didn't seem like the fourth prince would let him stay this way.
After a day of traveling, they stopped in a clearing by the road to set up camp.
This clearing had plenty of space, so Lin Fan purposefully set up his tent far away from the rest of the group so that the cover of night would be able to hide some things.
But the fourth prince ruined that plan.
Seeing that Lin Fan was camped out far away from the rest, the fourth prince gave a snap of a finger and an order.
After a moment of hesitation from his attendants, they still followed his order in the end and started tearing down the tent that had already been set up. That tent was quickly brought over to where Lin Fan's tent was and they set it up again right next to Lin Fan.
While the attendants were doing this, the fourth prince came over to Lin Fan who was sitting by the fire and sat down in front of him.
After sitting down, the fourth prince said with a smile, "Brother Lin, you shouldn't sit here all by yourself. It's dangerous at night, so we should stick together."
At first no one reacted to this, but then all of the attendants couldn't help looking at the fourth prince with shocked looks.
It wasn't because of what he had said, but rather because of how he had addressed Lin Fan.
"Brother Lin."
A prince was calling this commoner a brother…this was a very big thing!
Lin Fan was also taken aback when he heard this, but then he revealed a bitter smile as he said, "You shouldn't stay too close to me, your highness. Nights are dangerous as you say and you should take care of your own well being. There's no need for you to worry about someone like me."
The fourth prince just replied with a smile, "Brother Lin, there's no need to be like that. We will be safer if we all stick together and watch each other's backs." Then after a pause, he added, "Oh, there's no need to address me that seriously. You can just call me Brother Mu while we're traveling, that should raise less suspicion."
At this, everyone looked at the fourth prince with shocked expressions.
It was one thing for him to address Lin Fan as brother, but it was a completely different matter for Lin Fan to address him as brother.
This was a complete tear down of the wall that is social status between them and it would be catastrophic if someone were to find out about this.
The attendants knew that they had to shut this matter down right away, but they couldn't stop the fourth prince.
So the only thing that they could do was put pressure on Lin Fan.
But Lin Fan also didn't want this either.
He didn't know what the fourth prince was trying to pull, but he knew that it was better for him not to bite on this matter.
After all, being brothers with one of the princes would completely lock him onto that prince's side and before his city was strong enough, that was equal to a death sentence.
Right now, he was able to keep a balance between the princes because they all thought different things about him and he kept everything vague. However, once he made it clear which prince he was close with, there was no doubt that they would never let him off.
So he could never be brothers with the fourth prince.
Even without the attendants glaring at him, Lin Fan would have shut this down anyway.
So with a cough, he said, "Your highness, I don't think we're that close for this kind of thing. It is better if I continue addressing your highness in the same manner."
The attendants gave nods in response to this.
They felt appreciation for Lin Fan for the first time, not because of any good traits of his, but rather because he was someone that knew his place.
He wasn't someone that tried to overreach and burn them all, so they were happy about that.
But the fourth prince wouldn't allow things to end there.
"Brother Lin, even if we aren't close now, we can become closer. So how about we have a little talk and learn more about each other?" The fourth prince didn't give up that easily as he kept pushing.
Lin Fan couldn't help revealing a strange look when he heard this.
The way that the fourth prince kept pushing himself closer to him, it was almost like the way that a man tried to get closer to a woman that he loved…
Could it be that the fourth prince swung that way?
That would explain the enthusiasm that he had whenever he tried to approach Lin Fan, but…was the fourth prince really like that?
No, he couldn't be like that.
Lin Fan threw that thought out of his mind.
He had already heard that the fourth prince was someone who had many flowers in hand and was someone who didn't lack beauties chasing him…
But then again, he had also never heard anything about the fourth prince walking hand in hand with a flower. There were countless flowers available to him, but he had avoided them all…
The more that he thought about it, the more that he thought that his guesses were true.
The way that he looked at the fourth prince kept becoming more and more strange. At the same time, there was a cold sweat that appeared on his back that soon drenched the back of his shirt.
After a long time, he gave a cough and said, "Your highness, I don't think that it's a good idea for us to do that. If we do become closer like this, I feel that it would send off the wrong message to certain people. It is better if we maintain our current relationship."
The attendants all nodded along with this and were about to try convincing the fourth prince against this, but they didn't get a chance as the fourth prince moved first.
The fourth prince puffed his cheeks and pouted his lips as he said, "Brother Lin, is there something that you dislike about me? If so, you can tell me directly and I will do my best to take care of it."
When they saw the dignified and powerful fourth prince acting this way, all of the attendants couldn't help being shocked.
Even Lin Fan, who didn't know the fourth prince that well, was completely shocked by his current actions.
After all, even a fool would be able to tell that there was something off about this…
It was almost like the fourth prince was acting like a displeased lover who had been shunned…
The more that he acted this way, the more that Lin Fan suspected that the fourth prince played for the other team…
With a cough, Lin Fan said, "Your highness, it is getting late. Perhaps we should go to sleep so we can prepare for tomorrow."
The fourth prince clearly didn't like this idea, but since Lin Fan had given a logical idea, he really couldn't refute it.
So with a sigh, he said, "Alright, let's continue this tomorrow then. Brother Lin, I hope that you will be able to understand my sincerity one day."
Then without waiting for anyone to say anything, the fourth prince stood up and walked into his tent.
Lin Fan was just left there with a bitter smile on his face.
The words that the fourth prince had said now…they were like someone who had confessed and had been rejected, but they wouldn't give up on the person that they loved.
Was the fourth prince…really 'that'?
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