Chapter 8 Daddy! I've found my Golden Dragon brother!

Princess Jianing stared blankly at the candied hawthorn skewer handed to her. The hawthorn berries were coated with glistening sugar syrup and had a small hole in them, revealing the red flesh inside.

In all her life, she had never even seen such beautiful candied hawthorns, let alone eaten them.

Her tears, mixed with dust, still clung to her face, making her look like a pitiful little kitten. She hesitated, too timid to reach out and take it.

"Hey, miss, have some!" Mu Yu said anxiously, pushing the food forward when she saw that the girl wasn't moving. "It's so sweet!"

"Thump! Help... Help me!"

In the lotus pond, the palace maid who had fallen into the water was still struggling desperately, stirring up the clear water and making it murky.

The remaining eunuchs and palace maids were terrified. Looking at their companions struggling in the pool, and then at the delicate, innocent-looking baby in front of them, they felt a chill run down their spines.

This little girl is strange!

"What are you all standing there for! Go and save them!" A eunuch finally reacted and pointed at the pool, screaming.

The group scrambled to find bamboo poles, some even trying to get into the water; the scene was chaotic.

Just then, a clear, slightly childish voice came from behind the artificial hill.

"What's all the noise about?"

The sound wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced everyone.

The panicked palace servants turned around and saw the newcomer. They were so frightened that they all knelt down on the ground with a thud, their heads hitting the ground, not daring to even breathe.

"This servant (or maid) greets Your Highness the Ninth Prince!"

Mu Yu looked over curiously.

A young boy dressed in a moon-white brocade robe slowly emerged from behind the artificial hill. He looked to be only eight or nine years old, with a slender build, but his dark eyes held a calmness and majesty beyond his years.

More importantly, in Mu Yu's "Eye of Fortune", the young boy was enveloped in a dazzling golden light!

The golden light was so pure and so dazzling, like a small sun, making everything around it pale in comparison.

A giant golden dragon!

It's that Ninth Prince from the Lie Wang Grandfather's family, the one who's all golden and dazzling!

Mu Yu's eyes lit up instantly, brighter than when she saw a table full of golden melon seeds. She had finally found her "wise ruler"!

Chu Chongjin's gaze swept over the palace servants kneeling on the ground, then fell on the disheveled Princess Jianing, and finally settled on the little one who was holding half a string of candied hawthorns and staring at him with shining eyes.

He recognized her; he had seen her at the Prince Lie's residence that afternoon.

She is the daughter of General Mu Fang, the little girl who dared to say that her brother, the Crown Prince, was going to plant sweet potatoes.

"What are you doing?" Chu Chongjin's tone was calm, revealing no emotion.

The head eunuch trembled with fear and stammered, "Your Highness...it was...it was Princess Jianing who accidentally broke the hairpin that our master had given her. We...we were just trying to help her up..."

He himself felt guilty about saying that.

Chu Chongjin ignored him and looked at Jia Ning instead.

Startled by his gaze, Jia Ning shrank back and whispered, "No...no, it was them...they stole my hairpin..."

That was the only keepsake her mother left her.

"You audacious servant, how dare you deceive me!" Chu Chongjin's face darkened.

The palace maids immediately kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy: "Your Highness, spare our lives! We will never dare to do it again!"

"roll."

Chu Chongjin only said one word.

The palace servants, as if granted a pardon, scrambled to their feet and hastily scooped their soaking wet companion out of the pool. They ran away without looking back, as if a fierce tiger were chasing them.

The world suddenly became quiet.

Chu Chongjin then walked up to Jia Ning and extended a hand: "Can you still stand up?"

Jia Ning looked at his clean and slender hand, hesitated for a moment, and then placed her hand on his.

Chu Chongjin pulled her up, glanced at her faded old palace dress, and frowned almost imperceptibly.

"If you need anything in the future, you can come to Wendao Hall to find me." After he finished speaking, he prepared to turn around and leave.

He usually dislikes meddling in other people's business, but today is an exception.

"Wait a moment!"

A soft, sweet voice called out to him.

Chu Chongjin turned around and saw the little girl named Mu Yu running up to him with her short legs, looking up at him with her rosy cheeks and a serious expression.

Then, as if presenting a treasure, she held up the candied hawthorn skewer with a chip in it in front of him.

"Brother Jinlong, you can have this too!"

Mu Yu was secretly delighted. The Prime Minister Turtle had said that the first step in assisting a wise ruler was to build a good relationship with him! Giving him the best food would surely make him very happy!

Chu Chongjin: "..."

He looked at the string of candied hawthorns, still dripping with saliva, and then at the little girl's bright, expectant eyes, and for a moment he didn't know how to react.

Brother Jinlong?

What a strange name!

"I won't eat it," he said curtly.

"It's so delicious!" Mu Yu exclaimed eagerly, standing on tiptoe and trying to bring the candied hawthorn to his mouth. "It's faster than Daddy's knife... no, it's sweeter than lotus flower pastry!"

She got so anxious that she stammered.

Looking at her clumsy appearance, Chu Chongjin couldn't help but smile faintly, but he quickly regained his cold demeanor.

Just as he was about to say something more, an anxious voice came from afar.

"Princess! Princess, where are you?!"

It was the little eunuch who was following Mu Yu; his voice was almost crying with anxiety.

Immediately afterwards, a tall and imposing figure, carrying the lingering stench of blood and a murderous aura, strode out from behind the moon gate.

It was Mu Fang.

Upon receiving the news, he rushed over immediately, not even having time to change out of his court robes. Only when he saw his daughter safe and sound did his heart finally settle back into his stomach.

"Little Yu'er!"

"Father!"

Upon seeing Mu Fang, Mu Yu immediately abandoned her "Golden Dragon Brother" and turned to rush into her father's arms, tightly hugging his neck with her little hands.

"Father, I've found Brother Jinlong!" she exclaimed happily, eager to claim credit.

Mu Fang held his daughter's soft little body, still feeling the lingering fear in his heart, but he froze upon hearing this.

He looked in the direction his daughter was pointing and his gaze fell on the young man in brocade robes who was standing quietly.

It is the Ninth Prince, Chu Chongjin.

The boy was also looking at him, his gaze calm and unwavering, and he nodded slightly as a form of greeting.

The last trace of warmth on Mu Fang's face vanished instantly. His expression darkened, his eyes became complex and wary, and the arm holding his daughter tightened involuntarily.

When he saw the child at the Prince Lie's residence in the afternoon, alarm bells went off in his mind.

Now, seeing his daughter calling him "Brother Jinlong" so affectionately, Mu Fang felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

No, absolutely not.

His little fish must never have any connection with the royal family, especially with the Ninth Prince who possesses the "aura of a true dragon"!

"Your Highness." Mu Fang's voice was as cold and hard as the frozen earth at the border. He held Mu Yu in his arms and bowed slightly to Chu Chongjin, his posture distant yet respectful.

“My daughter is unruly and has disturbed Your Highness. I apologize to Your Highness on her behalf.”

These words were spoken so politely, as if to a stranger.

Chu Chongjin looked at him, then at Mu Yu in his arms, who was blinking her big eyes with a puzzled expression, and said calmly, "Your Excellency, you flatter me. Your daughter is just innocent and naive."

"It's getting late, I should take my daughter back to the manor." Mu Fang didn't even bother to reply, and after saying that, he picked up his daughter and turned to leave.

"Father, I haven't said goodbye to Brother Jinlong yet!" Mu Yu struggled in his arms.

"Little Yu'er, be good." Mu Fang's voice brooked no argument.

"Duke Protector of the Nation," Chu Chongjin suddenly spoke.

Mu Fang stopped in his tracks, but did not turn around.

"This afternoon at the Prince's residence, I sensed that the Duke of Protectorate seemed to harbor resentment towards me," Chu Chongjin said calmly. "I wonder how I offended the Duke of Protectorate?"

It's astonishing that an eight- or nine-year-old child could so keenly perceive people's hearts and ask such blunt questions.

Mu Fang became increasingly vigilant.

He slowly turned around, meeting those deep eyes, and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness is overthinking it. There is a distinction between ruler and subject; I dare not."

After saying that, he didn't linger. Holding his daughter who was still muttering "candied hawthorn" and "Brother Jinlong," he strode away, his back view resolute, as if he were fleeing some raging flood or beast.

Chu Chongjin stood there, watching the resolute figures of the father and daughter disappear into the night. His dark eyes were filled with turbulent emotions, and he remained motionless for a long time.

Princess Jianing, who was standing nearby, broke the silence in a low voice, holding the string of forgotten candied hawthorns: "Your Highness... why does the Duke of Protectorate seem so afraid of you?"

Chu Chongjin withdrew his gaze, a glint of unfathomable brilliance flashing in his deep, childlike eyes. He didn't answer Jia Ning, but instead spoke softly to the shadows behind the artificial hill:

"Go, prepare a gift for this prince and send it to the Duke of Protectorate's residence."

A guard emerged silently from the shadows, bowed, and asked, "Your Highness, what kind of congratulatory gift is it?"

A meaningful smile, incongruous with his age, appeared on Chu Chongjin's lips.

“A gift that can help the Duke of Protectorate to ‘resolve his doubts’.”