Xie Chang'an's eyes darkened, and he immediately wanted to kiss her back, but Ye Jingchen reached out and covered his mouth.

"Not in broad daylight!" Ye Jingchen said.

"You're doing a double standard, allowing officials to set fires while forbidding ordinary people to light lamps!" Xie Chang'an accused with a resentful expression.

If he wasn't allowed to kiss, he reached out and took Ye Jingchen's hand away from his mouth, then held it in his hand and played with it.

"I am the Crown Prince, which is much higher than a local official," Ye Jingchen said with utter shamelessness.

"Now that we've solved Chenxi's problem, shouldn't it be my turn?" Xie Chang'an asked meaningfully while playing with Ye Jingchen's fingers.

"How come I didn't know you had any problems?" Ye Jingchen looked at Xie Chang'an and asked, puzzled.

"Your brothers and sisters, your study companions, and your personal bodyguards—all their problems have been resolved. From now on, will your time belong only to me?" Xie Chang'an said.

Ye Jingchen thought about it and realized that apart from a few younger ones who didn't need to worry about marriage yet, the others really didn't need his concern anymore.

But—

"I still have three things I want to do," Ye Jingchen said.

"Which three items?" Xie Chang'an's expression was rather unpleasant.

He really couldn't stand Ye Jingchen staring at someone else for so long while ignoring him.

"The first thing I want is for my father to approve of you."

"The second thing is to help my father and father reconcile and put aside their past grievances."

"The third thing is to train a qualified successor for Da Yuan."

Xie Chang'an's face immediately darkened.

“The first one is unnecessary, the second one is pointless, and as for the third one—” he said through gritted teeth, “Didn’t you say you just wanted to be a lazy bum? Why are you worrying about these things?”

"Only when Dayuan is prosperous and the people live in peace and contentment can I truly relax. If my successor is incompetent, how can I entrust Dayuan to him with peace of mind?" Ye Jingchen said helplessly.

Actually, he didn't want to think about things that far ahead, but when it came to the future of Dayuan, his sense of responsibility compelled him to consider it.

"Who do you plan to choose as your successor?" Xie Chang'an asked.

"Competitive selection process, choosing the best candidates," Ye Jingchen said, uttering eight words.

Although Xie Chang'an couldn't understand some of the unfamiliar words, he understood the meaning of these eight characters.

"You want them to compete, and then the fittest will be eliminated? Can you bear to see them fighting each other for that position?" Xie Chang'an was somewhat puzzled.

From a young age, didn't Ye Jingchen instill the ideas of unity and friendship in these princes and princesses?

"Why don't we just keep them from knowing they're fighting for the throne? Anyway, Father is still strong and healthy and can serve for many more years. I'm still young, so with the two of us supporting each other, healthy competition is feasible."

"Besides, we still have you. Your intelligence network, in conjunction with Father's Imperial Guard, can monitor the every move of my nephews and nieces clearly. If anyone dares to have any wicked thoughts, we can just kick them out, right?" Ye Jingchen leaned close to Xie Chang'an's ear and whispered in his ear.

Even though he had already done all sorts of intimate things with Ye Jingchen, Xie Chang'an still couldn't stand Ye Jingchen talking in his ear like that.

Perhaps it is precisely because their relationship is now closer that his ears are more sensitive and less susceptible to teasing.

But now it's broad daylight, and in front of everyone, so there's nothing we can do.

So he could only cover his feverish ears with his hands and push Ye Jingchen a little closer to him.

Although Xie Chang'an covered his ears with his hands, Ye Jingchen could still see his bright red earlobes through the gaps between his fingers.

"Your Highness, we've been married for so long, how come you're still so innocent?" he teased.

Xie Chang'an glanced at Ye Jingchen with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, and whispered, "If you're so capable, then don't provoke me outside. When we get back to the East Palace, I'll show you whether I'm innocent or not!"

"Let's go back to the East Palace and talk about it then. I'm going to play with the little ones now. Crown Princess, you can play by yourself for now!" Ye Jingchen said, patting Xie Chang'an's shoulder, and then happily went to find Chaolu and the others.

Chaolu is very experienced in taking care of children. After arriving, she organized the little ones to play the game of "Eagle Catches Chicks". Chaolu was the eagle and Chenxi played the role of the mother hen.

While Ye Jingchen was talking to Xie Chang'an, they had already formed their formation, with a string of little followers following behind Chenxi.

"Would Your Highness like to join us?" Chaolu asked Ye Jingchen with a smile as he approached.

Ye Jingchen waved his hand repeatedly, "No, I'll watch over these little ones. You all have fun."

He didn't want to be a mother hen or a chick; he'd be more like a majestic eagle, but since this was a scene of sibling affection between Chaolu and Chenxi, he decided not to get involved.

There were caregivers watching over them, but their reaction time and skills were definitely not as good as Ye Jingchen's, who was a martial artist. It would be safer with Ye Jingchen watching over them.

"That's good, then we can have even more fun!" Chaolu said, waving her hands as if she were an eagle flapping its wings. "Little chicks, the eagle is coming to catch you! Whoever it catches, I'll eat you up in one bite, woof!"

After Chaolu finished speaking, she opened her mouth and made an exaggerated gesture of swallowing it whole.

The little ones were really into it, and they screamed in fright at her action, making quite a scene.

However, Chenxi, who was standing at the front of the line and forced to act as the mother hen protecting her chicks, was very nervous and looked at Chaolu as if facing a formidable enemy.

This scene is both adorable and hilarious, and Ye Jingchen once again feels sorry that there are no cameras in this era.

Moreover, Salesian Hall did not have any painters.

However, he could mention it to Ye Jingshu later. Anyway, she has money, and arranging a painter for the orphanage is just a matter of a word for her.

If Salesian had had painters, many interesting scenes could have been preserved.

When Chaolu played games, she completely abandoned her image as an intellectual and gentle older sister. She made a lot of exaggerated and aggressive movements, and she even accompanied each movement with a sound, which scared the little ones so much that they screamed and cried. The formation behind Chenxi was particularly chaotic.

But the point of playing games is to have fun, so as long as everyone is happy, that's all that matters.

Chaolu and the little ones really had a lot of fun, but Chenxi's movements were always stiff, like a robot. Chaolu didn't know how many times she was amused by Chenxi's movements.

Although the mother hen was clumsy, she was funny enough that the eagle would laugh so hard he almost choked at the crucial moment, so in the end she didn't catch a single chick, and the chicks won a great victory.

After the game, the little ones were exhausted from running, jumping, shouting, and laughing, their little faces flushed and looking especially cute.

"Sister Chaolu, actually, you just need to find Chenxi a job that requires interacting with people, like working as a caregiver at the orphanage. It won't be long before he recovers, and he might even fall in love with the little one and want to have a child with his own bloodline!" Ye Jingchen said to Chaolu as they left the orphanage.