39. Would you still like to be my friend?

The little princess seized the opportunity to slip a piece of candy into Jin Lanyue's hand: "Don't think so much! Xiaobai is doing well at your house now, isn't that enough?"

"Yes, yes! I will definitely protect it!" The little dumpling nodded emphatically. She suddenly felt much lighter, as if a knot had been untied.

Qu Zijin shook his head and chuckled as he watched the two girls whispering to each other.

But then the little dumpling seemed to remember something and quickly frowned again: "But the little prince..."

"Don't worry!" The little princess blinked. "He's a prince, he has plenty of good things, you don't need to worry about him!"

The little dumpling was still a bit worried: "I'd better go check on him."

-

Jin Lanyue lifted her skirt and tiptoed around the artificial hill.

The setting sun dyed the stone walls orange-red, and there she found that familiar figure—the little prince sitting in the cave with his knees drawn up to his chest, his shoulders trembling slightly.

"Your Highness..." The little dumpling hesitated before stepping forward.

The young prince suddenly looked up, hastily wiping his face with his sleeve: "Who gave you permission..."

Before she could finish speaking, she let out a small hiccup: "Hiccup... I came here..."

The little dumpling took a handkerchief out of her purse and carefully handed it over: "Wipe your face, this...this is very soft..."

A child's delicate skin is easily rubbed red, so this is something her mother specially prepared for her to wipe her face.

The young prince turned his face away, but still accepted the handkerchief.

The little dumpling also saw his red eyes.

"I really like Xiaobai..." the little prince suddenly began, his words somewhat incoherent, "but even that's not allowed by Mother... I can't even have a puppy..."

The little dumpling quietly sat down next to him.

The little prince smelled a sweet scent on her, a bit like candy, and a bit like sweet milk.

For no apparent reason, he felt an urge to confide in someone.

Two little ones squeezed side by side in the cave, their hands wrapped around their knees in unison.

“Last month, my mother threw away the cricket I was raising,” the little prince said softly. “She said that playing with toys was a waste of time. A while ago, she found out that I wasn’t studying but drawing, so she made me copy the book thirty times as punishment…”

The little dumpling let out a soft "ah".

She felt that the little prince's mother was being too unreasonable.

But it seems she has no way to help the young prince change these things.

So, the little dumpling had no choice but to imitate his father comforting his mother, and gently patted the back of his hand with his chubby little hand.

She had never seen the little prince like this before—the arrogant prince who usually held his chin high and walked with an air of superiority was now like a fledgling bird soaked by the rain.

The little dumpling suddenly felt guilty: "Little Prince... is Xiaobai really that important to you?"

The young prince looked at her with red and swollen eyes: "It's very important..."

The little dumpling unconsciously twisted the corner of her clothes.

Just as she was at a loss, the young prince suddenly turned his face away, his voice muffled: "Never mind..."

The young prince said, "If Xiaobai can live a good life... it's fine if she's not by my side."

His voice trailed off: "Anyway...anyway, I can't protect it..."

A teardrop fell to the ground and was quickly absorbed by the soil.

The little dumpling felt her heart ache as well.

She hurriedly pulled out some candied fruit she always carried with her: "Little prince, don't be sad. Look, this candied fruit is sweet. Here, have some..."

The young prince looked at the candied fruit handed to him and said, "You... why do you carry this with you all the time..."

He accepted the candied fruit.

"Because...because it's delicious..." Jin Lanyue muttered softly, very honestly.

The young prince ate the candied fruit, and the sweetness spread in his mouth.

Gradually, she stopped crying.

Seeing that the little prince had finally stopped crying, the little dumpling secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The young prince suddenly spoke up: "Hey, Princess Fukang..."

His voice was so soft it was almost inaudible: "Thank you... for still coming to see me..."

The little dumpling paused for a moment, then broke into a smile: "Because we're friends!"

"Friend..." the little prince murmured, "I've treated you so badly, would you still want to be my friend?"

"It's alright..." The little dumpling tilted its head.

She felt that the little prince wasn't so bad after all.

When he's being mean, they always fight back.

The little princess's voice called from afar, and the little dumpling realized it was time for class: "Time to go back..."

The young prince nodded and stood up as well.

His eyes still bore traces of tears, but his expression had calmed down considerably.

He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly reached out and gently patted Jin Lanyue's head: "Um... thank you."

The little dumpling blinked, watching the little prince turn and leave, and said, "You're welcome! Oh? Wait for me! I have to go to class too!"

The young prince's back stiffened, but he still slowed his pace.

The two entered the Wenhua Hall one after the other.

The little princess looked at the two of them suspiciously.

The young prince walked silently to his seat and sat down, while Jin Lanyue smiled and greeted the little princess, seemingly in a good mood.

The little princess was finally relieved.

Good, it seems Little Moon wasn't bullied.

That's all right!

As for whether the young prince was bullied?

Who cares!

-

After another class, as the little girl was tiptoeing to add water to the inkstone, she suddenly heard a crisp "splash" sound behind her.

Turning around, I saw the little prince and princess's desks lying crookedly on the ground, with fine ink spilled everywhere.

Meanwhile, the two little devils who started it all were locked in a fierce struggle.

"It's all your fault for knocking over my inkstone!" The little princess angrily grabbed the little prince's hair crown, her round little face turning bright red.

"You bumped into me first!" The young prince retorted, protecting his hair crown with one hand and pulling at her hair with the other.

The little dumpling stood there holding a celadon water jug ​​that was bigger than her head.

She was conflicted. Should she continue pouring water, or should she try to mediate the fight?

She was all too familiar with this scene—it played out almost three times a day.

But today is different...

The little dumpling made up its mind, put down the water bottle, and ran over with its short legs.

Unfortunately, she was short-legged and slow. By the time she reached the battlefield, the two were already wrestling on the ground. As the little princess's sleeves were soaked in ink, the little prince suddenly let go: "Your new clothes..."

The little princess was stunned, so the little dumpling quickly took out a handkerchief from his bosom and pressed it against the little princess's sleeve: "Wipe it and it won't be dirty anymore!"

"These are my new clothes!" the little princess cried sadly. "Can they really turn back to how they were before?"

"Grace, give it a try!"

"If it doesn't work," the little princess glared at the little prince, "it's all your fault!"

The young prince pouted, "Who told you to fight me... Let's see if it works."

The three little heads unconsciously huddled together, and the ink stains gradually spread on the white handkerchief, forming a strange shape.

The little princess suddenly burst out laughing and pointed at the handkerchief, saying, "Look, doesn't it look like the turtle that Wei Jiayou drew in class?"

The young prince wanted to refute, but when he saw the ink stain clearly, he also laughed.

The crooked ink blob, with two small ink dots on top resembling eyes and a short tail trailing below, truly looked like a silly turtle.

"It really does look like it..." The little prince suppressed a laugh, his voice trembling.

His smile immediately eased the tense atmosphere.

The little dumpling patted its chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

That's great! They're not fighting anymore.

"Let's clean it up!" The little dumpling pulled out another clean handkerchief.

"How many handkerchiefs did you bring?" the little prince muttered, but did not refute the little dumpling's suggestion to wipe them clean.

"Hurry up," the little princess urged, "clean it before the Grand Tutor returns."

The three little ones each took out a handkerchief.

They squatted on the ground, slowly absorbing the ink with handkerchiefs. The shadows of the three people overlapped in the light, creating a rare harmony.

...Of course, in the end, it still wasn't cleaned properly.

When Qu Zijin returned, he saw that ink had been evenly smeared on the ground by the three little kids... and even on themselves.

His vision went black for a moment, but fortunately, he recovered quickly thanks to his experience.

He carried the three little black children out one by one, leaving behind a trail of messy black footprints.

Wenhua Hall was busy for quite a while.

One group of palace servants were washing the floor, while another group followed Qu Zijin to wash the three dark-skinned children until they were white.

The scene was chaotic and disorganized...

In short, Jin Lanyue didn't attend class in the afternoon because the Grand Tutor was busy disciplining them.