35. Little puppy

"What's all this noise about so early in the morning?" Qu Zijin's voice came from outside the hall.

He walked in slowly, carrying the books, followed by the little princess who was still rubbing her eyes.

"Grand Tutor!" Jin Lanyue ran to Qu Zijin as if she had seen a savior, her small hands tightly gripping the hem of his clothes. "Your Highness scolded me..."

Qu Zijin frowned slightly and placed the book on the table: "Your Highness, what's going on?"

The young prince, his neck stiff and his eyes darting around, said, "I...I didn't do anything! It was her own doing..."

"What? You're bullying Little Moon again!" The princess instantly snapped out of her daze.

"None of your business!" The little prince's voice suddenly rose as if a cat's tail had been stepped on. "All you do is talk about 'little moon' all the time.' Isn't she just a study companion? Is she worth all this protection?"

Qu Zijin's face darkened: "Your Highness! Watch your words!"

"Did I say something wrong?" The little prince became more and more agitated, his face turning bright red. "Grand Tutor, you always favor her! Last time when we were reciting, I had to recite it all over again if I made a mistake, but you praised her when she made a mistake!"

The little princess put her hands on her hips and said, "That's because Little Moon is only three years old! You're five years old and not as smart as her!"

"You!" The young prince trembled with rage and grabbed the inkstone from the table.

"Stop!" Qu Zijin stepped forward, only to see that the princess had already rushed over.

"Trying to smash things again?" The princess grabbed the little prince by the collar. "I think you need a lesson. Let's see how I teach you a lesson today!"

During their struggle, the young prince accidentally kicked over the mahogany box.

With a click, the lid of the box opened.

A fluffy white ball rolled out.

"Woof!"

The hall fell silent instantly, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

A little white dog wobbled to its feet, its dark eyes warily scanning the crowd.

Qu Zijin instinctively shielded Jin Lanyue behind him.

The princess loosened her grip on the young prince's collar.

Jin Lanyue opened her big, round eyes, her face full of curiosity.

It's a puppy!

The young prince's face turned ashen, and he stammered, "This...this is..."

"Oh!" The princess was the first to react. "You actually brought the dog to play in the Wenhua Palace! I'm going to tell Father Emperor!"

"No!" The little prince panicked and hugged the puppy tightly. "I... I only wanted it to stay here for two days..."

"So you just brought the dog to Wenhua Hall to play!"

"I don't!"

"You are it!"

The little prince looked extremely anxious, stomping his feet while holding the puppy.

Qu Zijin rubbed his throbbing temples: "Your Highness, palace rules stipulate that no one is allowed in the Wenhua Hall..."

"I know I was wrong!" The little prince suddenly burst into tears, holding the puppy up to Qu Zijin. "Look how cute it is, please forgive me this time..."

The puppy whimpered, tucked its tail between its legs, and trembled, looking extremely frightened.

Jin Lanyue peeked out from behind Qu Zijin, cautiously approaching and gently stroking the puppy's head: "Grand Tutor, it's so well-behaved..."

Amazingly, the puppy, which had been trembling, stopped trembling after being gently stroked by the little dumpling.

It twitched its nose and stuck out its tongue to lick the little dumpling's chubby, white fingers.

The little dumpling's eyes immediately lit up with stars: "So cute!"

She looked up at the Grand Tutor expectantly: "Grand Tutor, Grand Tutor, could you keep the puppy?"

“This is against the rules…” Qu Zijin said helplessly.

"Please, Grand Tutor, I promise I will study hard!" the young prince pleaded.

“You say the same thing every time, it’s lost its credibility,” Qu Zijin said.

The little princess stood to the side with her arms crossed: "I...I have no objection, so let's stay!"

"...Nobody asked you that." Qu Zijin shook his head.

Jin Lanyue hugged his knees tightly, her big, round eyes blinking, and pleaded, "Please, Grand Tutor, please~"

"Grand Tutor..."

"Leave it..."

Qu Zijin looked at the expectant eyes of the three children, then at the puppy that had started wagging its tail, and sighed deeply: "Alright then..."

"Thank you, Grand Tutor!" the three said in unison.

Perhaps fearing that Qu Zijin might change his mind, the three little ones studied exceptionally hard today, and none of them were distracted or fidgety.

They didn't relax until the break between classes.

Jin Lanyue squatted on the ground, staring longingly at the little white dog.

The puppy was so thin you could see its ribs, and its snow-white fur had several scars.

It timidly licked Jin Lanyue's outstretched finger, its wet eyes full of flattery.

"Little puppy..." Jin Lanyue was about to pat the puppy's head when the little prince picked it up.

"Don't touch it!" The young prince hugged the dog tightly to his chest and took two steps back warily. "This is my dog! Enemies are not allowed to touch it!"

The puppy squirmed restlessly in his arms, its eyes fixed on Jin Lanyue, whimpering softly.

"What are you doing!" The princess couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward to snatch the dog. "Can't you see the dog wants to play with Little Moon?"

The young prince clung tightly to the puppy, shouting, "Mind your own business! This is my dog!"

Jin Lanyue twisted her little hands: "But...but the puppy looks so pitiful..."

"Hmph!" The young prince turned his face away, but hugged the puppy even tighter. "It's not pitiful at all! This prince... this prince takes very good care of it!"

The princess sneered and pulled Jin Lanyue aside: "Little Yueyue, let me tell you, this dog is from his mother's palace. His mother has a Persian cat that bullies this dog all the time. A few days ago, his mother told him to get rid of the dog."

Jin Lanyue covered her mouth in surprise: "How could this be..."

"That's right!" the princess pouted. "I think he was reluctant to part with the dog, so he secretly hid it in the Wenhua Hall."

Jin Lanyue looked at the little white dog curled up in the corner of the wooden box, feeling a heavy sadness in her heart, and even her eyes reddened.

She mustered her courage and walked up to the young prince: "Your Highness, please let me raise the puppy, okay? I promise..."

"Don't even think about it!" The little prince stood up abruptly like a predatory animal guarding its food. "You're just trying to take Little White away!"

He glared fiercely at Jin Lanyue: "If you dare to make a move on Xiaobai, this prince will... will never speak to you again!"

The little dumpling was stunned for a moment, and its first reaction was—so this little dog's name is Xiaobai.

The standoff between the three little ones ended with the return of the Grand Tutor.

Classes have to continue.

This time, however, perhaps because of Jin Lanyue's suggestion to raise a puppy, the young prince seemed particularly restless.

His distraction was quickly noticed by Qu Zijin.

Qu Zijin tapped the ruler: "Your Highness, please recite the third chapter of the Analects."

The young prince stood up absentmindedly, his eyes constantly glancing at the little dog in the corner: "Confucius said... Confucius said..."

He stammered for a while, then suddenly said, "Little Bai, stop chewing on the box! Sit up straight!"

Qu Zijin sighed: "Your Highness, please copy the third chapter twenty times."

The young prince sat down silently.

Even when it was almost time to leave school, when Qu Zijin told them to review on their own—although it was supposed to be review, they usually used this time to play—he didn't say a word, just silently copied the book, which was completely different from before.

While the young prince was engrossed in copying, Jin Lanyue quietly tugged at the princess's sleeve: "Princess, Xiaobai is so pitiful..."

The princess lowered her voice: "That's right! Look how thin it is, it must have suffered a lot at Wei Jiayou's mother's place."

She frowned worriedly: "If Father finds out that he brought the dog to the Wenhua Hall, he will definitely have Xiaobai thrown away."

Jin Lanyue asked anxiously, "What should we do?"

The little dumpling instinctively moved closer to the little prince, wanting to try again.

The little prince glared at her fiercely: "Get away! I'm warning you, don't try to steal my puppy!"

[Task triggered]

You coldly watch Wei Jiayou, who is verbally abusing you. He's threatening you again to protect his sweetheart.

You feel incredibly annoyed.

He warned you not to have any improper thoughts, and that you had better obediently submit forever and never have any more improper thoughts.

[Fine, you sneer, then you're going to argue with me anyway.]

If you can't touch her, surely you can touch his other cherished possessions?

You insisted on taking it away to show him!

[Mission: Steal Wei Jiayou's beloved possession]

[Reward: Intermediate Animal Affinity]