This completely baffled He Jiuniang and the Crown Princess. How could someone who had hit someone offer comfort?

"What happened?"

He Jiuniang spoke first, after all, her son had started it, and she couldn't just ignore it.

"Mother, I made my brother, the young master, cry."

The dog answered very sincerely, its honest and simple appearance making people both laugh and cry.

"Then why did you hit your brother, the Crown Prince?"

"He told me to hit him..."

The dog pouted, looking a little aggrieved. It was clearly the prince who told him to hit him, and he hadn't even used much force, yet the prince burst into tears.

Seeing that the adults had arrived, the young prince was too embarrassed to cry anymore and hurriedly stopped crying, but he was still sobbing.

The two adults pulled their children inside and asked the palace servants around them, only then did they learn the whole story.

The young prince heard his parents talking about how good and excellent Gou'er was every day. While he was curious, he was also somewhat disdainful and looked down on him. He thought he was the chosen one of heaven, born into royalty, while Gou'er was just a country bumpkin. What was so great about him?

So, upon first seeing the dog, the young prince declared war on it, roughly saying something like this—

Young Prince: I heard you're very capable, so let's have a competition. I'm a few years older than you, so I'll give you a handicap!

Dog: No need, no need, I can do it!

Young Prince: Enough nonsense, I said I'd let you have it, hurry up!

As he spoke, the young prince provocatively beckoned with his finger, and Gou'er attacked, punching the young prince in the face, after which the young prince began to cry.

Hearing the palace servants speak of him like that, the young prince felt somewhat embarrassed and hurriedly retorted, "It was clearly because I wasn't ready yet!"

The Crown Princess said, "Then let's have another competition when you're ready?"

"Waaah, then forget it!"

The young prince shook his head violently, clearly in great discomfort.

He initially thought Gou'er was just a four or five-year-old kid and figured he could easily make one of them cry with a single punch. But before he could even react, the kid had punched him and made him cry.

It wasn't that he was being dramatic, but this kid was really strong; one punch from him almost knocked his teeth out.

Where does he get such strength?!

"Hahahaha..."

The Crown Princess laughed out loud, showing no mercy. This was the first time she had seen her son get the short end of the stick, and she found it particularly amusing.

This kid used to have a superior sense of honor. When you talked to him about dogs, he was full of disdain. Now that he's seen the real dog, he got a lecture and then he doesn't dare to look down on people anymore.

The Crown Princess felt no pity for her son being beaten; in fact, she thought the beating was justified so he would learn his lesson.

The Crown Princess pulled her son aside and gave him a good talking-to. A little while later, the young prince came over and apologized to the dog.

"I'm sorry, little brother Yu'er, I shouldn't have looked down on you."

His dejected appearance suggested he had been discouraged and was clearly dejected.

Gou'er also said very seriously, "It was my fault. I made a move before you were ready, and I also want to apologize to you."

As they spoke, the two children bowed to each other at the same time, and surprisingly, it looked quite harmonious.

When kids fight, they really do make up as they fight, and before long, they're chatting head to head.

"I'll take you to the Imperial College first thing tomorrow morning. From now on, I'll protect you, and no one will dare to bully you!"

"Great! Your Highness, does the Imperial Academy have a martial arts training ground?"

What do you need a training ground for?

"Of course it's martial arts training! My father said that you can't slack off when it comes to martial arts training."

"So you practice martial arts every day?"

"Yeah! I can already fight against my older brothers!"

...

The two kids had a lot to talk about. Although they were more than three years apart, there was no barrier between them. The young prince was surprised to find that the dog knew all the courses he was learning, and even understood them better than he did.

Now, he was truly convinced by the dog.

Before long, the two little ones had already made an appointment to go to the Imperial Academy together the next day, and even planned for the Crown Prince to build them a martial arts training ground so they could practice martial arts during their rest time.

In this era, literary talent is highly valued, and it is rare to see people practicing martial arts in academies. However, if His Highness the Crown Prince speaks up, then naturally nothing is impossible, especially now that the Crown Prince is at the height of his power, and no one is willing to challenge or contradict him.

Therefore, the young prince only needs to persuade the crown prince.

A moment later, the little lion ran over to the Crown Princess and said, "Mother, from now on, I will also get up every morning to practice martial arts with my little brother Yu'er!"

"Alright, as long as you can get up, your mother will naturally support you!"

The Crown Princess smiled meaningfully. Didn't she know her own son well? He simply didn't have that kind of willpower.

However, she didn't discourage her son's enthusiasm; having such thoughts was a good thing, and maybe he would actually stick to it?

He Jiuniang originally wanted to bring Lu Baichuan and her son to the East Palace for a free meal, but after watching the two little ones chat for a while, someone came to report that the old emperor wanted to see her because he hadn't come for a follow-up visit recently and felt that he was feeling a little unwell, so he asked her to come and take a look.

Well, that's a fairly normal excuse, but then they added an extra clause about bringing the dog along.

This was puzzling. The Crown Princess also found it strange and said, "Why don't we have His Highness accompany you?"

"No need, it's alright."

For some reason, He Jiuniang felt that the old emperor didn't have any ill intentions towards her, and probably didn't care about Gou'er either, so there was no big deal about going to see him.

Even if the old emperor wanted to do something underhanded, he would have to see if she would agree.

After bidding farewell to the Crown Princess and the young prince, He Jiu Niang took the dog to see the old emperor. Since it was in the palace, it wasn't too far away, and they would arrive in no time.

It was Gou'er's first time entering the palace. Although he was very curious, he didn't show it. He followed He Jiu Niang obediently the whole time, behaving in a way that was unusual for a child his age.

"Mother, is the Emperor a good person?"

The dog whispered to He Jiuniang, and He Jiuniang whispered back, "To us, they should be good people."

That's true. After all, the old emperor initially showed interest in her, but after being coerced and tempted by her, he became well-behaved and no longer had those thoughts. He even indulged her.

Furthermore, after learning from Lu Baichuan last night that his true identity might be related to the emperor, it's even less likely that he's a bad person.

After thinking for a moment, she continued to explain: "There is no absolute good or bad in people. It depends on who they are. They may be very good to us, but they may be very bad to others. So you have to feel for yourself whether they are good or bad."