The rascal’s soft and sweet voice made Ling Chen even more helpless.
He wanted to walk away, but with the little one’s chubby bottom pressing on his foot, he couldn’t move.
After being pleaded with for a while, Ling Chen finally rubbed his temples and gave in. “I’ll send a message to Murong Xu, but I can’t guarantee he’ll come.”
“Little Uncle will definitely come.”
The little one was confident, saying happily, “Little Uncle must miss me.”
Since coming back from Guan Shan Residence, he hadn’t properly played with his uncle.
“Thank you, Big Brother!”
Excited, the little one opened his arms, asking for a hug.
Sitting in his brother’s arms, with his brother holding his chubby bottom, the little one showered his brother with several kisses.
“Alright, alright, no more kisses.”
Ling Chen didn’t continue indulging him. “Aren’t you going to see Royal Father? You should hurry.”
The little one was set down and waved goodbye to his brother before heading off to find his father.
He arrived at Chengming Hall, where Emperor Ling was currently in a bad mood.
Seeing his father, the little one ran over with his short legs.
“Daddy!”
The little one’s lively voice eased Emperor Ling’s expression slightly. The Emperor reflexively bent down and scooped the little one into his arms.
“Daddy, I was just playing, I didn’t get lost.”
The little one explained why he had been missing earlier, then fed his father a piece of candy and told him about the little monk he had met.
He often shared these kinds of small daily details with Emperor Ling.
Although the stories were trivial and mundane, the little one’s round, bright eyes and expressive face made even the smallest matters sound interesting.
“Father, Goudan said there are even smaller monks at the temple.”
Emperor Ling: “Mm-hmm.”
After a pause, the Emperor’s eyes narrowed as he preemptively warned the little one, “Even though there are smaller monks at the temple, you are not allowed to become one.”
The little one blinked and immediately sold Shikong out once again.
“Master Shikong said I can cultivate in Buddhism.”
Shikong had originally advised the little one to cultivate Buddhism for peace of mind and well-being, but with the way the little one repeated it, the meaning seemed to change.
“We won’t have our Little Seven cultivating Buddhism.”
Although Emperor Ling’s tone remained gentle, his gaze grew cold.
Holding the little one, he firmly stated, “There’s nothing good about cultivating Buddhism. Our Little Seven will remain a fine little prince.”
“Cultivating Buddhism means you can’t eat meat. Does Little Seven like eating meat?”
“Yes!”
The little one answered loudly, “I love fried chicken!”
Emperor Ling: “…”
Emperor Ling: “What’s fried chicken?”
The little one licked his lips and replied longingly, “It’s the chicken cooked by the Big Boss.”
The Big Boss’s fried chicken, paired with noodles, was delicious beyond compare.
“Daddy, do you want some fried chicken? I can make it for you.”
The little one had watched the Big Boss make fried chicken, so he was brimming with confidence, thinking he could recreate it.
Emperor Ling eyed his confident son with suspicion. “You can make it?”
The little one nodded. “I’m really smart!”
He was sure he could make it.
The little one’s strong confidence was contagious, even affecting the Emperor.
The bad mood he’d been in due to the fire at Zhaoxi Palace gradually dissipated as he spent time with the little one.
The little one never asked about the fire in the palace. Instead, he just stuck to the Emperor’s side, spending several hours with him. When it was time to leave, the little one didn’t stay overnight.
The Emperor didn’t expect him to; after all, as an adult man, sometimes he could get other things done when the little one wasn’t around.
“Daddy, I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”
“Alright.”
After saying their goodbyes, the Emperor watched the little one’s figure disappear as he left. He didn’t immediately jump into the tasks he’d intended to tackle but instead began thinking again about the little one’s interest in Buddhist practices.
Master Shikong thought the little one was unlucky.
The Emperor didn’t believe his son was a jinx, but even as the ruler of the empire, he couldn’t change Shikong’s view. Now, what came to mind was—
Was Shikong trying a new trick to deal with his son?
Did Shikong want the little one to become a monk and leave for the temple as a way of removing him from the palace?
The Emperor was a man prone to suspicion. Once someone got on his bad side, he could think of countless possibilities. Right now, there was no doubt—he began speculating about Shikong’s motives.
Meanwhile, the little one, unaware of his father’s thoughts, left his side with a clear objective: to find his older brother.
Ling Chen was efficient. By the time the little one arrived, Murong Xu was already there, talking with him. The little one, curious, perked his ears to listen in on their conversation.
“If the Empress finds out I took your bed, do you think she’ll come after me?”
“Eldeset Prince, I’m so scared! You’ve got to protect me, please!”
Murong Xu imitated the little one’s voice as he teasingly spoke to Ling Chen. After saying that, he couldn’t help but laugh, collapsing onto the bed.
Ling Chen’s face had already darkened.
Murong Xu noticed that the more exaggerated he got, the darker Ling Chen’s expression became. Thrilled by this reaction, Murong Xu wanted to push it even further to see how much he could provoke him.
But Ling Chen didn’t give him a chance this time. Usually calm and composed, the Eldest Prince had reached his limit and physically shut Murong Xu up himself.
“Hey, stop covering my mouth!”
“Why are you so strong?!”
Murong Xu’s voice, accompanied by the sound of some scuffling, reached the little one standing outside.
Worried, the little one pushed open the door and anxiously shouted, “Uncle! Big brother! Don’t fight!”
The sudden interruption startled the two inside. Murong Xu even fell off the bed with a thud.
Seeing his uncle fall, the little one rushed over to help him up. “Uncle, does it hurt? You should be more careful!”
“I hardly ever fall off beds anymore, and you’re so grown up—how could you still fall?” he said, his face full of concern.
“Ahem, Uncle’s fine,” Murong Xu reassured him, feeling more embarrassed than hurt. As he hugged the little one, he shot Ling Chen a sharp look.
Ling Chen took the opportunity to straighten his clothes and regain his composure.
“Alright, alright, no need to check on me anymore,” Murong Xu said, noticing the little one patting him down to ensure he wasn’t hurt. With a smile, Murong Xu playfully bit the little one’s hand. “Uncle’s perfectly fine—how could a simple fall hurt me?”
“Uncle, you’re so clumsy,” the little one grumbled. “You’re all grown up, yet you still fall off beds!”
“That was an accident—no, wait, it was your brother’s fault!” Murong Xu immediately shifted the blame. “He made me fall!”
“Murong Xu, enough!” Ling Chen snapped, glaring at him. “Who was the one stirring up trouble in the first place?”
The little one, watching them bicker, decided not to take sides.
“Stop talking,” the little one said as he raised his tiny hands to cover his uncle’s mouth. “If you don’t talk, you won’t fight.”
Not only did the little one cover his uncle’s mouth, but he also made sure to separate him and his brother. The little one ended up sleeping in the main bedroom with his uncle, while Ling Chen moved to a room next door.
After Ling Chen left, the little one looked at his uncle and muttered, “Uncle is even more childish than a kid.”
Kids don’t fight like that, after all.
“I heard that, Ling Little Seven,” his uncle quipped, narrowing his eyes as he finished setting up the bed, pretending to threaten him.
But the little one wasn’t scared at all. He climbed into bed and snuggled up in his uncle’s arms.
“Uncle, I need to tell you something.”
“Go ahead.”
Murong Xu, seeing the serious look on the little one’s face, held him close, ready to listen.
“Uncle, Master Shikong is a bad monk.”
The little one didn’t mince words. “He wants to harm me!”
“He wants to harm me, and he wants to harm Goudan too!”
The little one’s chubby cheeks puffed up with righteous anger as he spoke.
Murong Xu knew that Shikong had ill intentions towards the little one, but this part about “Goudan” caught him off guard.
“Who is Goudan?”
“The little monk at Guanghua Temple,” the little one explained seriously. “His mother is gone, and his father is Master Shikong.”
Murong Xu: “???”
That couldn’t be right!
Murong Xu looked utterly bewildered, but the little one nodded with absolute conviction. “I’m telling the truth. I’m not lying.”
“If Shikong knew that Goudan was his son, he wouldn’t want him,” said the little one with a firm tone. “He would kill Goudan!”
This Shikong, he’s an extremely evil monk!
The things the little one said were beyond Murong Xu’s comprehension. Holding the cub, he said in confusion, “Wait, let your uncle calm down a bit.”
Although Murong Xu didn’t like Shikong either, he still couldn’t quite imagine Shikong having a child. There were too many rumors about Shikong, and all of them painted him as an almost divine figure.
In every story, he was portrayed as perfect, born for the Buddha, without the slightest hint of worldly affairs.
If it were true that he had a son, it would completely destroy his image.
Murong Xu took a long moment to calm down before forcing himself to ask, “Little Seven, where is this Goudan now?”
“To the east.”
The east was where the monks were staying. “Goudan is there doing chores, he has a lot of work.”
“Alright, I understand.”
What the little one had revealed was too significant, so much so that once Murong Xu had composed himself, his first instruction was, “Little Seven, you must not tell anyone about this. Remember, anyone.”
There was no evidence yet to prove that Shikong was Goudan’s father. If this news got out, Shikong would not sit idly by. He would do whatever it took to eliminate the evidence, and if pushed to the edge, he might even take his anger out on Little Seven.
Shikong had many followers, including some fanatically devoted to him. All things considered, the little one needed to be cautious when dealing with Shikong.
Murong Xu had already made up his mind. He needed to investigate the relationship between Shikong and Goudan in secret. Until the evidence was in hand, this matter had to remain confidential.
While Murong Xu was lost in thought, the little one looked up at his serious uncle, grabbed his large hand, and blinked his eyes, asking, “Uncle, why do you believe everything I say?”
His uncle trusted him completely without even questioning how he knew these things.
Murong Xu lowered his head and met the soft, innocent gaze of the little one. The stern expression on his face melted away.
“Because our little Little Seven is a blessed creature,” Murong Xu smiled, remembering what Ah Wu had told him. “Anything a little blessed one says, uncle will always believe.”
Feeling the warmth of his uncle’s complete trust, the little one was moved, his eyes shining. Then, he asked, “Uncle, do you even believe me when I said you were silly earlier?”
Murong Xu: “…”
The smile on Murong Xu’s face froze.
The little one had successfully ruined the touching moment, and seeing his uncle’s stiff expression, he chuckled gleefully.
The pair played around on the bed for a while, with the little one scrambling all over the place. But before long, his uncle grabbed his chubby feet and dragged him back.
Their playful antics lasted well into the night before finally coming to a halt.
Exhausted, the little one laid sprawled on the bed, letting out a small sigh, “No more, I’m too tired. Time for bed.”
It had been a long and tiring day for him.
Murong Xu, seeing that the little one was all worn out, laid down beside him.
The two of them laid side by side, staring up at the bed canopy, the atmosphere warm and peaceful.
That night, the little one slept soundly.
The next morning, Murong Xu was about to leave. He pinched the little one’s cheek and coaxed him, “Don’t frown, it’s not like you won’t see me again. Once uncle finishes his work, I’ll come find you.”
“Then hurry up with your work.”
“Don’t worry, I will.”
After saying their goodbyes, the little one ate breakfast with his eldest brother, Ling Chen, before heading out.
Because of the fire that had occurred the day before, the palace had finally quieted down. Not only was the palace calm, but the court officials had also stopped their gossiping.
The incident at Zhaoxi Palace had put an end to the rumors about the supernatural, with not a trace of the so-called ghosts remaining.
Without the ghost stories, those officials who had been spreading talk of evil spirits were harshly reprimanded by Emperor Ling.
The Emperor had angrily said, “You are my officials, yet instead of focusing on your duties, you spread rumors about ghosts in my palace!”
“Ghosts? Where? Show me one, and I’ll look at it myself!”
The Emperor’s outburst had an effect, and the rumors about the haunting quieted down.
The little one also began to reduce his visits to the eastern part of the palace.
He visited less frequently because Emperor Ling had explicitly told him not to go too often.
But the little one still wanted to play with Goudan, so during the few times he did go, he spent all his time with him.
He shared his favorite candies, snacks, and toys with Goudan, while Goudan shared his fruit, the bugs he caught, and little animals he made out of grass.
Even though there was an age difference between them, their friendship grew through these exchanges.
The little one wasn’t always alone when he went; sometimes his sixth brother and fifth sister would go with him.
Ling Ning and Ling Fu enjoyed playing with him, and Ling Ning, who had always been kept inside by Consort Shu, now had permission to play with him more often.
Consort Shu had smiled and said to Ling Ning, “If you want to play with Little Seven, go ahead, but remember, you must listen to your mother.”
Ling Ning stood in front of her mother, shrinking back a little.
Not noticing her daughter’s unease, Consort Shu continued, “Wherever you go with Little Seven, whatever you play, and whatever you say, you must report it all to me.”
“If you can do that, mother will allow you to play with Little Seven.”
Seeing that Ling Ning seemed hesitant to agree, Consort Shu added in a calm, unhurried tone, “I’m only saying this for your own good.”
“Look at this, Little Seven and you are both children of your father, the emperor, but the attention he gives to each of you is worlds apart. If you get hurt while playing with Little Seven, and your father or the noble consort holds you accountable, your mother can help you deal with it.”
“If I know what you two were up to, I can have an excuse ready to help you.”
Consort Shu spoke softly, but seeing that Ling Ning still didn’t respond, her patience wore thin: “I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart for you. If you don’t appreciate it, then just stay in your room.”
Consort Shu’s message was clear—she would not let her out if she didn’t comply.
After delivering her words, Consort Shu turned and headed to the Palace of Consort De. She had been frequenting there a lot lately.
Ling Ning, on the other hand, was locked away for three whole days.
On the fourth day, Ling Ning nodded to Consort Shu. After being let out, she finally got to play with Little Seven again.
But before they played, she lowered her head and admitted, “Little Seven, my mother said I have to tell her everything we play and do together.”
“If I don’t tell her, she won’t let me come out anymore.”
As she spoke, her voice grew softer: “My mother said she’s worried you might bully me.”
“I won’t bully you.”
Little Seven said seriously, “You’re the big sister, and Little Seven is the little brother. Little Seven will protect you.”
Ling Fu, who had snuck out earlier to grab some snacks, nodded along: “Mm-hmm, Fifth Sister, I’ll protect you too, together with Little Seven.”
Upon hearing this, Ling Ning, who had been keeping her head down, looked up and smiled.
Little Seven reassured his fifth sister that it was okay to agree to what Consort Shu asked, and soon enough, they were playing together every day.
Time slowly passed.
Little Seven continued to play with his brothers, sisters, and Goudan in the palace, without making any rash moves.
His uncle had promised to investigate the matter concerning Goudan, and children shouldn’t interfere with adult matters.
After a few peaceful days, another cold palace near Zhaoxi Palace had sightings of ghostly apparitions.
The day after the ghost sighting, in the dead of night, a fluffy little white ball appeared silently in the cold palace.
The little one was dressed in a small black outfit—his fur was so white that it was too noticeable in the dark.
But he didn’t want to get his fur dirty, so during the day, he had specifically asked Shui Shui to sew him the little outfit.
Shui Shui made him several sets of clothes, and after finishing, he couldn’t resist kissing and squeezing his belly and paws for a while.
The black outfit that Shui Shui made for the little one was incredibly cool—it was even a little cape design.
Wearing his nighttime outfit, Little Seven stood on the rooftop, his cape billowing in the wind. The feeling made him think of himself as the hero from a storybook.
“Awooo.”
The little one let out a low growl from his throat, and after doing so, he leaped off the roof and began his search for the ghostly figure.
Little Seven missed nothing, his beautiful round eyes taking in every detail of the dark night.
He searched for hours, and eventually, his paws were starting to feel a bit sore.
As he was about to take a look at his paws, suddenly, there was a sound.
It was faint, but in the quiet of the night, Little Seven’s sensitive ears caught it.
Little Seven had been trained by Ah Wu for some time, and he could now walk silently, without making a sound.
In the darkness, the little one followed the source of the sound, creeping carefully toward it.
Since the ghostly sighting last night, the emperor, who had insisted there were no ghosts in the palace, had not yet ordered this area sealed off.
Perhaps because of the emperor’s inaction, the “ghost” had started moving again.
Little Seven pursued the ghost, and after a while, he finally caught up.
The ghost’s agility was impressive, on par with the palace guards.
But after following for some time, Little Seven confirmed that aside from running fast, the ghost had no other abilities.
In short, he was just quick on his feet.
Fast, but not faster than the newly trained Little Seven.
“Yip!”
Little Seven pushed off his hind legs and, with a bark, lunged forward.
With one swipe of his paw, he tore the ghost’s clothing open, scratching the figure’s back as well.
Little Seven, excited by his success, followed up with a few more swipes, but the ghost kept fleeing without looking back.
From the first scratch Little Seven landed, the person pretending to be the ghost believed they had truly encountered a spirit.
Too afraid to look back, the person only tried to escape faster.
The chase continued for a while, and Little Seven was confident he could take down the ghost. But his confidence drew some bad luck.
As he lunged to bite the ghost’s back, a sudden pain shot through his teeth.
The pain made Little Seven stumble, clutching his cheek with his paw, his eyes filling with tears.
Seeing his pursuer stop, the ghostly figure took advantage of the moment to run even faster.
By the time Little Seven recovered from the pain in his tooth and tried to chase again, the ghost had disappeared.
Little Seven sniffled, looking down at the blood stains on his paw. He comforted himself—
At least it wasn’t a complete failure.
He had confirmed that the ghost was a person. Only people bleed and have body heat.
Little Seven, rubbing his sore cheek, returned to Fenghua Palace. His late return startled Noble Consort Yi.
“Little Seven, didn’t you say you were going to sleep over with Shui Shui?”
“I missed you, Mother.”
Having returned to his original form, Little Seven snuck back late into the night. After washing his hands and face, he changed his clothes and climbed into bed to sleep with Noble Consort Yi.
“Mother, I found the ghostly figure.”
After tidying up, the little one didn’t mention his toothache, only talking about how he transformed into a little ball of fluff to catch the ghostly figure.
When Noble Consort Yi heard that he had gone out to catch the figure, her brows instantly furrowed.
“I transformed in my room, and the guards didn’t see me.”
There were guards outside the room where he slept.
The guards were secretly protecting him, but in his small fluffy form, even if he jumped right in front of them, they wouldn’t pay attention.
The guards were focused only on the young prince and would never expect that a tiny ball of fluff could actually be him.
“Mother, don’t be angry. I swear, I was completely safe!”
Despite the little one’s earnest promise, Noble Consort Yi’s frown didn’t ease.
The little one snuggled closer, trying to act cute.
After cuddling up, he began to recount the details of his nighttime adventure chasing the ghostly figure.
“My claws are really strong.”
The little one proudly stretched out his chubby hand. His small hand was plump, and the nails had been carefully trimmed by Noble Consort Yi. Looking at the soft little hand, one wouldn’t think it could be so fierce.
“Mother, if you find the person with the injured back, you’ll find the ghost.”
“Yes, Mother will look during the day.”
The ghostly figure that appeared in the palace could only be someone from inside the palace.
If they were from outside the palace, no matter how good their skills, they wouldn’t be able to bypass all the security checks.
And once it’s confirmed to be someone from within the palace, it won’t be hard to find.
Everyone in the palace is accounted for in the records, so it’s just a matter of checking one by one. No one can escape.
“Little Seven, didn’t I tell you not to take risks?”
“I didn’t take any risks.”
The little one didn’t feel like he was taking any risks. He believed his plan was foolproof. In this palace, the only one capable of finding the ghost at night was him.
Even though the little one’s adventure had some success, Noble Consort Yi still spanked his little bottom for being disobedient.
The little one wiggled his body, trying to escape but failed.
After the spanking, he wiped away his tears, muttering several times, “I’ll be good next time. I won’t turn into a little ball and run around. I won’t turn into a little ball to fight bad guys.”
The little one often got overly confident, and Noble Consort Yi had no choice but to be strict with him.
There is no such thing as absolute safety in this world, and she didn’t believe that her little one could always come out victorious in every encounter with bad people.
If he ever lost to a bad person even once, the consequences would be unimaginable.
After she finished scolding the little one, Noble Consort Yi steeled her heart and didn’t comfort him.
The little one, his eyes red and filled with big tears, fell asleep in a huff.
Once he was asleep, Noble Consort Yi finally pulled him into her arms, checked his little bottom, and applied some cream to it.
The night passed.
When the little one woke up the next day, Noble Consort Yi was already gone. He was just about to rub his eyes when he remembered his teacher’s advice.
The teacher had said it was not good to rub your eyes like that.
If you rub your eyes, you could put too much pressure on your eyeballs, and what happens to the eyeballs when you rub them is really scary.
When the teacher said this, the little one was quite frightened.
He used to love rubbing his eyes.
“Sigh.”
Early in the morning, the little one lowered his hands and sighed softly, “I miss my teacher.”
He missed his teacher and his big boss too.
Before he left, Uncle Lian Qing moved into his little room at the big brother’s place, and now he didn’t know if Uncle Lian Qing had moved out yet.
If he hadn’t moved out, the little one wondered where he would sleep when he returned.
Feeling a bit sentimental early in the morning, the little one couldn’t shake his mood.
So, without even washing his face, he decided to write letters to his big boss and his teacher.
They were allowed to write letters, but it was rare for the big boss to respond to them.
The little one was starting to get impatient waiting for a reply.
In his letter to Uncle Lian Qing, he asked, “Uncle Lian Qing, how are you? Are you still staying in my room? My room is very pretty, you know, big boss decorated it.”
“If you like, you can ask big boss to decorate a room for you too.”
The little one was very fond of his small room.
He liked Uncle Lian Qing too, but he was also afraid that Uncle Lian Qing might not give him his room back.
After all, when they played together, Uncle Lian Qing had a habit of making the little one foot the bill.
In the letter to Uncle Lian Qing, the little one subtly hinted about getting his room back.
In his letter to big boss, he wrote a different message: “Big Boss, how’s it going with Uncle Lian Qing?”
“Can you give Uncle Lian Qing a new room?”
“Your room is so big, you could fit two people in it.”
Even before school started, the little one was already scheming.
Though he didn’t get any responses from Uncle Lian Qing or the chief examiner, he did receive letters from other kids, forwarded through the academy.
The kids sent their letters to the academy, and the academy distributed them.
But they didn’t do this often since the academy wasn’t really a post office.
The academy staff opened the children’s letters to check their content. They had to make sure the letters were safe before sending them out.
If the letters contained anything too sensitive, sending them out could cause trouble.
The little one spent a long time writing his letters, and by the time he finished, his face was smudged with ink.
When he writes letters, there are many characters he doesn’t know how to write. For those, he makes up his own way of writing them.
If he really can’t think of something, he just draws a little dot to represent the character he wants to write.
“Our young prince sure is diligent.”
Ji Yan looked at the little one’s soot-covered face and smiled, guiding him to a basin to wash his face.
After washing, the little one tilted his head up and asked, “Where’s mother?”
“Niang Niang went out; she’ll be back later,” Ji Yan answered. Then she called Cui Xi over to take him to eat.
As for Ji Yan, she went to find Noble Consort Yi.
Noble Consort Yi had been busy all day.
The little one didn’t disturb her. He sat on a bench in the pavilion, swinging his chubby legs, listening to Consort Shu and Consort De asking him questions.
Consort Shu and Consort De had passed by the pavilion and saw him sitting there, so they came over.
Consort De frowned slightly and asked him, “Little Seven, do you know about the ghost sightings in the palace?”
“There are no ghosts,” the little one replied, completely off-topic.
Consort De didn’t actually believe in ghosts, but she kept up the pretense.
If there were ghosts in the palace, and the ghost happened to be the biological mother of this little one, she wouldn’t mind seeing that outcome.
So, she continued with the narrative, saying to the little one, “Others have seen it with their own eyes. It’s not just a baseless rumor. Little Seven, I shouldn’t be telling you this, but since you’re still young, I want to warn you. The ghost in the palace might be after you. Be careful at night so you don’t run into it.”
Perhaps because they were outdoors, Consort De’s tone was much gentler than when she spoke to the little one in her own palace.
But the little one wasn’t buying it.
“I’m not afraid,” he said, his expression showing no fear at all. He even smiled, his voice soft and sweet. “I have a peachwood sword. Ghosts are afraid of me.”
“Ghosts aren’t scared of that,” Consort Shu, who had been standing beside Consort De, suddenly spoke up.
“Little Seven, ghosts usually have unresolved grudges,” she said. “The fact that strange things keep happening in the palace suggests that the ghost causing trouble has unfinished business.”
She leaned down toward the little one’s ear, her voice so quiet only the two of them could hear. “Your royal mother’s unresolved grudge is likely because you forgot her kindness in giving birth to you and now recognize the person she hated most as your royal mother.”
Consort Shu spoke with an air of pity, as if she were kindly advising the little one.
The little one looked at her, listening to her words without any reaction.
Consort Shu lowered her gaze and locked eyes with him.
The two of them stared at each other for a moment, but seeing the little one remain calm made Consort Shu feel like she had punched cotton.
Finally, Consort Shu and Consort De left.
The little one watched them go, then turned to find his fourth brother. “Don’t let Consort De spend time with Consort Shu anymore. Consort Shu is so mean.”
The little one told his fourth brother everything Consort Shu had said to him.
After hearing it, the fourth prince’s expression changed several times.
The fact that Consort Shu could say such things showed her malicious intentions were about to surface. If he continued allowing his mother to associate with Consort Shu, they might both be implicated.
“Little Seven, thank you for telling me this,” the fourth prince said as he ruffled the little one’s hair.
While the little one was busy doing good deeds, Noble Consort Yi discreetly investigated the situation.
She was thorough and cautious.
After two days of investigation, she found someone with scratches on their back. This person had secretly sought medicine, claiming to have been scratched by a wild cat.
When Noble Consort Yi heard the news, her expression turned cold.
Her little one was no wild cat.
“Niang Niang, the person is from Consort De’s palace, but I still feel something is off,” Ji Yan reported.
Noble Consort Yi listened and calmly replied, “It’s not Consort De; she’s not clever enough.”
“Then… could it be Consort Shu? She’s been quite close to Consort De recently and has been stirring up trouble.”
Noble Consort Yi had already heard about the things Consort Shu had said and done to the little one.
She waved her folding fan, neither confirming nor denying it.
Sitting gracefully on her chaise, she thought to herself—after so many years, incidents still arise within the palace.
And every time something happens, there’s always one person who manages to stay uninvolved.
While Noble Consort Yi fanned herself in the palace, Murong Xu entered and shared with the little one what he had discovered.
He hadn’t uncovered everything yet, but he came to warn the little one to behave and avoid provoking Shikong any further.
As the little one listened to his uncle mention Shikong, his delicate face suddenly frowned.
In the next second, he rubbed his cheek and angrily declared, “I know what it is!”
Murong Xu: “?”
Murong Xu: “What do you know?”
The little one’s realization struck him like a lightning bolt, and he fumed, “That bad monk is cursing me!”
As soon as he heard the monk’s name, his teeth began to ache.
He had heard adults say that when you’re really mad at someone, your teeth can itch with anger.
But now, he’d leveled up—he was so angry with the bad monk that his teeth actually hurt.
