Chapter 19
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The Seventh Prince nodded repeatedly, resembling a chicken pecking at grains.
To get some milk, His Highness could share ten stories!
Xue Yao forcefully pushed the servant out with a firm hand.
Because the Foodmart’s free storage period had long passed, he had hidden a carton of Want Want Milk in his pocket earlier, leaving the other two cartons concealed at home.
When all the attendants had left, Xue Yao took a seat beside the Seventh Prince, retrieved the milk, inserted a straw, and gently offered it to his lips.
The Seventh Prince eagerly sucked on the straw with quick, repetitive motions.
The cub had plump, rosy cheeks that puffed up, fluttering long eyelashes, and pale tea-colored eyes filled with liveliness.
Xue Yao tilted his head and offered a gentle smile.
The difference was too striking.
While engrossed in a novel, he found himself swept away by the charming Prince Ning.
In his mind, Prince Ning was tall and graceful, with an air of elegance and a quiet, proud demeanor.
In the novel, there was a scene where Prince Ning, during his period of adversity and exile, encountered a tribal princess who had been abducted by bandits.
On a tranquil and moonlit night, the graceful princess, veiled, was bound to a wooden post in the center of the bandit camp.
With hunger gnawing at him, Prince Ning set his sights on the camp’s provisions. In the quiet of the night, he moved as silently as a leopard, scouting the camp’s territory.
Upon discovering the bound lady on the wooden post, Prince Ning didn’t immediately rush to her rescue. Instead, he continued to investigate in silence. It didn’t take long for him to grasp the layout of the camp and the number of armed individuals.
Once he was sure there would be no trouble for him, Prince Ning stealthily approached the lady and, with a swift stroke of his sword, cut the ropes.
In a typical situation, a girl abducted in the middle of the night, seeing a stranger suddenly appear, would likely scream in fright. However, in the novel, the princess was left speechless by the sudden appearance of the young man. To everyone’s surprise, she then offered a substantial reward without any hesitation, asking the young man to escort her back to her tribe.
In the novel, Prince Ning hardly spoke to anyone. He shouldered the stolen provisions from the bandit camp and silently moved forward. But he couldn’t stand the persistent requests of the princess, and with a soft tone, he finally said, “Go away.”
The princess had a headstrong and fiery character, and when she got angry, she would stomp her feet. The author would describe a slight tremor in her well-endowed chest when she did so. “My tribe is only twenty to thirty miles from here. If you’re a true gentleman, take me back, and I promise I won’t let you down!”
Prince Ning tilted his head and asked, “No legs of your own?”
The princess, feeling wronged, replied, “It’s a journey of twenty or thirty miles. Aren’t you worried about a young girl like me encountering danger?”
“Keep making a fuss, and you’ll be sent a thousands of miles away. Do you want to go to the Western Heaven?”
While Xue Yao was reading, he couldn’t help but find the male protagonist’s style quite unusual.
In male-centric novels, there were hardly any male protagonists who displayed no sense of gentlemanly behavior towards the reserved girls in their harem. Prince Ning was simply an oddity!
Fortunately, the girl in the book was bold. Even when threatened like this, she didn’t give up the pursuit. However, with the delay in time, the bandits caught up.
“Look! Those bandits are coming to capture me! They want to trade me for our tribe’s treasures. If they can’t gather enough, they’ll kill me!” The princess, tears in her eyes, pleaded, “Young hero, be a true hero! If it weren’t for these bandits chasing me, I could have escaped back to my tribe!”
As soon as she finished speaking, a figure flashed before her eyes. The young man had disappeared, and the princess turned to see the elusive figure moving among the bandits. His sword remained sheathed, but in the blink of an eye, the bandits were sprawled on the ground.
The princess hadn’t even had a chance to react when the young man’s figure reappeared before her. As he passed by her, his lips parted slightly, softly speaking three words, “No one left.”
With no one chasing her, the princess had no choice but to make her way back to the tribe on her own.
This Long Aotian, so cool that he had no intention of courting any girls, had just finished a carton of Want Want milk and, with his chubby legs wobbling, turned to Xue Yao and asked, “Does Your Highness want more? Does Your Highness want more?”
The Seventh Prince once again nodded solemnly, answering his own question.
Xue Yao: “……”
This reality was just too cruel. The novel was misleading!
“I only brought one carton of milk, Your Highness. Can you be patient and let me feed you next time?”
The Seventh Prince immediately lifted his face, using actions to invite a gentle pinch on his proud chubby cheeks.
His Highness was exceptionally obedient!
But Xue Yao, despite the playful gesture, couldn’t help but feel a bit troubled. He playfully squeezed the little chubby cheeks, feeling happy and satisfied.
However, there was still some worry in his heart.
Sooner or later, the Third Prince would come looking for trouble with the chubby cub.
Based on Xue Yao’s observations in recent days, the Emperor favored the Seventh Prince greatly and would visit the school personally when he had the time.
Consort Xi was currently in favor as well, which logically should make the Third Prince somewhat cautious.
Why did he dare to openly insult Seventh Prince as a “barbaric mongrel”?
Xue Yao gazed at the Seventh Prince, who had a slightly dazed expression on his chubby face.
Perhaps it was because he appeared too easy to bully.
Just a while ago at the cuju field, the Seventh Prince had been frightened to tears. The way he looked at the Third Prince was similar to how one might look at a monster.
This only further bolstered the Third Prince’s arrogance.
The Third Prince was nothing but a coward who bullied the weak. He managed to become the Emperor only because Consort Tong, in alliance with the eunuchs, altered the will.
The Emperor personally went on a campaign, got hit by a stray arrow, suffered from an infected wound, and due to prolonged fever, he never regained consciousness until his death. He didn’t have a chance to issue any verbal instructions, which allowed Consort Tong to take advantage of the situation.
But even as the Emperor, the Third Prince continued to act recklessly, thinking he could do as he pleased. He started teasing Prince Ning, who was living peacefully far away.
In the novel, Prince Ning never had any desire to become Emperor. Later, he was forced to surrender his military authority and had his fiefs reduced. His life began to resemble that of a commoner.
The Third Prince, now Emperor, was still unsatisfied. He forced Consort Xi, who was now the Consort Dowager, to perform a dance for a foreign prince, all in an attempt to humiliate Prince Ning, who was far away in his own fief.
Consort Xi’s beauty was undiminished, her charm intact. As she entered the hall in a water-like dance gown, the foreign prince was left in awe. She was like a matured Xi Shi!
After her dance ended, the deeply humiliated Consort Xi was eager to leave, but the foreign prince, unaware of her identity, detained her and even forced her to drink with him.
The details of the incident were relayed to Prince Ning’s fief by messengers sent by the Third Prince. The foreign prince’s audacious behavior during the banquet was left vague, allowing Prince Ning to use his imagination.
Prince Ning indeed employed his imagination. He was infuriated to the point that he secretly conspired with the three wealthiest merchants of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, recruited troops and horses, and even enlisted the rebellion forces in the nortwest to march north together.
Although the rebellion occurred after the Third Prince’s decision to curtail the power of the feudal princes, the true reason for Prince Ning’s military action was the humiliation of his mother, Consort Xi.
Based on events in the novel, before the Seventh Prince’s rebellion, he had displayed a rather submissive attitude towards the Third Prince.
Xue Yao believed it was necessary for this cub to exhibit his inherent kingly aura to make the Third Prince reconsider his actions.
“Your Highness, is Third Brother bad?” Xue Yao began to instigate the chubby cub to misbehave.
Merely mentioning Third Brother caused the Seventh Prince’s calm face to turn into panic, even diving headfirst into Xue Yao’s arms.
“Don’t be afraid,” Xue Yao lifted the chubby cub gently and encouraged him softly, “Our Seventh Prince is the most formidable, isn’t that right?”
The Seventh Prince blinked his long eyelashes and replied honestly, “The least formidable.”
Xue Yao: “……”
Does this Long Aotian cub have any dignity at all?
“No, I really think Your Highness is the most formidable,” Xue Yao placed him back in his chair, squatted in front of him, looked up at him, and spoke softly, “Your Highness is a man, you don’t need to fear the Third Prince. A man protects the ones he cares about and is brave.”
The Seventh Prince cocked his head, seeming to partially understand Xue Yao. He held onto the empty Wang Want Milk carton and was unwilling to let it go. The little prince took a few more sips from the now-empty milk carton.
“Your Highness, a man. Lu Qian, a man.” Xue Yao poked the chubby cub’s chest with his finger. “Does a man have someone he cares about?”
The Seventh Prince pondered, murmuring his response, “Cares about mother, cares about Sixth Brother…”
Xue Yao smiled slightly.
No wonder the Sixth Prince had the best outcome. It turned out, in the Seventh Prince’s heart, his position was only second to his mother.
The Seventh Prince continued his earnest list, “Cares about Fifth Brother, Eldest Brother, Father Emperor, Silly Yaoyao…”
Xue Yao’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
You chubby munchkin!
You better explain to me why “Yaoyao” has an adjective in front of the name!!
Who’s silly?
Who said Yaoyao is silly!!!
This chubby cub was still hung up on the mistake of “ended his life, then killed the corrupt officials” from last time, wasn’t he!
What a grudge-holding little rascal!
However, Xue Yao really didn’t expect to be named by the Long Aotian cub.
Could it be the credit of these two cartons of Want Want Milk?
For now, he decided not to argue with this brat. “Silly Yaoyao” continued to guide him with a good temper, “So, Your Highness, do you want to gather the courage to protect them?”
The Seventh Prince looked at Xue Yao and replied earnestly, “They protect Your Highness.”
Xue Yao: “……”
What was to be done, this Long Aotian simply didn’t care about his dignity.
Other male protagonists from other stories would stand up to protect their loved ones, but this male protagonist let their loved ones protect him.
There was no way he’d ever amount to anything.
“They will protect Your Highness, but if they’re not strong enough, would Your Highness gather the courage to stand against the bad guys with them?”
The Seventh Prince pondered for a moment and nodded.
“So, in the future, when you encounter bad people, Your Highness, don’t avoid them. We’re not afraid of them, alright? We can be just as fierce as they are. If they dare to bully Your Highness, we’ll tell Father Emperor.”
The Seventh Prince, upon hearing the words “bad people,” immediately thought of Third Brother and became timid. He looked at Xue Yao with a pitiful expression on his chubby face.
“Don’t be afraid,” Xue Yao encouraged him, “Be brave, Your Highness. How about showing me your fierce side?”
The Seventh Prince hesitated a bit.
“Your Highness needs to be obedient to have milk, you know.”
Encouraged by this, the Seventh Prince pouted, and with a stern expression on his chubby face, he made a funny face at Xue Yao!
Xue Yao: “…Not fierce enough.”
The Seventh Prince thought for a moment and began to emit a terrifying little growling noise from his nose, like a little wolf cub.
Xue Yao looked utterly hopeless.
The Seventh Prince, seeing that Xue Yao still wasn’t scared, took a deep breath, made an even louder growling noise, and slowly flattened the Want Want Milk carton in his hand to display his strength!
Xue Yao: “……”
Alright, in appreciation of the Long Aotian cub’s efforts, he could pretend to be scared for a moment.
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