Chapter 79

Ji Jinyou brought her three brothers and one older nephew back to Miaoyunxuan. As soon as she entered the room, she threw herself into Concubine Ru's arms and said, "Mother, Youyou invited Yu'er and the brothers to come for dinner."

Concubine Ru looked at the four little boys who greeted her as soon as they entered the room, smiled and said yes, then told the palace servants to set the table quickly and asked the small kitchen to add a few dishes.

Then he led Ji Jinyou and the other children into the house, and asked Jin Xing and others to get water for the children to wash their faces and hands.

Ji Jinyou sat on Concubine Ru's lap, pointing at Seventeen with her little hand, "Mother, Brother Seventeen and Brother Fifteen went to ask Father for advice, and Father praised Brother."

When Concubine Ru heard this, she pulled Seventeen over and asked with a smile, "How did you exaggerate? Tell mother quickly."

Seventeen's face was filled with embarrassment, but she still told him about the praise she had received from Emperor Wen Zhao in Chongde Hall.

Concubine Ru was very happy. She touched Seventeen's little face, smiling, and asked in surprise, "Really? Did His Majesty really say that our Seventeen is a 'promising talent'?"

Seventeen's face flushed and she nodded.

Ru Fei smiled, put Youyou on the couch, stretched out her hands to pull the little boy into her arms and hugged him tightly: "Our Seventeen is really amazing."

Ji Jinyou clapped her hands: "Brother is really amazing."

The young master also joined in the fun, clapping his hands non-stop.

Seventeen whispered, "Mother, it was because my fifteenth brother took me with him that I dared to go to my father's place."

Concubine Ru thought he was talking about going to His Majesty to ask for advice, and nodded with a smile: "Then have you thanked your fifteenth brother?"

Seventeen shook his head: "Not yet."

Ru Fei encouraged him: "Go and thank him quickly."

Seventeen nodded, walked to Fifteen, and bowed: "Thank you for your care, Fifteenth Brother."

This solemn greeting made Fifteen feel a little embarrassed, and he waved his hands: "Hey, we are all brothers, why are we being so polite?"

The young master squeezed in between the two and also interjected: "Yes, we are all brothers, no need to be so polite."

This sentence caused everyone in the room to laugh out loud. Ji Jin sighed and patted the young master's arm: "Yu'er, they are all your uncles, not brothers."

Fifteen and Fourteen also reached out to touch the young master's head, saying that he was talking nonsense and messing up the world. The young master smiled and dodged, "Aunt Xiaojiu, please save Yu'er."

For a while, several children became noisy.

---

In the eldest prince's mansion, Mother Tao and her grandson Fu'er were recuperating together. Several imperial doctors worked together to test medicines in turn. Tao Dalin and his wife stayed by their bedside and took good care of them. After a few days, both the grandfather and grandson were out of danger.

The eldest prince and his wife would visit them every day, and they would both breathe a sigh of relief when they saw that the old man and the child were getting better day by day.

Even though they escaped this disaster, the baby was already ten months pregnant and was not even three months pregnant yet, so the two of them still did not dare to let their guard down. They checked all the servants in the mansion, and those who came in and out every day were interrogated and searched at every level to ensure that everything was safe.

This child was hard-won, so the eldest prince's wife stopped going out and stayed at home to take care of the baby.

After each court session, the eldest prince would go to Fengyi Palace to pay his respects to the empress, report on the situation in the palace, and also ask if Tong Tong had revealed any new information.

In order to control the overall situation, Emperor Wen Zhao often chatted with the Empress and the Royal Consort, exchanging the stories he learned from Tong Tong, but nothing major had happened recently.

When the Seventh and Eighth Princesses originally took care of Xiaojiu alone, the two were very excited. They carried her everywhere and liked to dress her up. But ever since the young master entered the palace, he pestered Xiaojiu all day long, and the two became particularly annoyed by the noise. When they saw the naughty child coming to find Xiaojiu, they would hide away and pick up the storybook that they had put aside for many days.

On this day, the Seventh and Eighth Princesses sent the young master to Miaoyunxuan and talked with Xiaojiu for a while. When they saw that the young master had gone crazy again, they both shook their heads and left.

Ji Jinyou took Seventeen and the young prince to Jingming Palace as usual to play with the Fifteenth and Fourteenth Princes.

Several children were playing Eagle Catches Chicken under a tree in the yard. It was a hot day and Ji Jinyou didn't want to run away. She said she would just watch from the side. However, the young master insisted on pulling her to be the hen. Ji Jinyou had no choice but to stand in the front, stretching out her two little arms and running around, trying her best to protect the chicks behind her who were much taller than her.

This time Fifteen was the Eagle. He was nimble and quick. Seeing that Little Nine was having a hard time running, he deliberately slowed down his pace, but from time to time he would reach out from over Little Nine's head to grab him, causing several children to shout and scream, and the yard was very lively.

Several children were playing happily, when suddenly, a few mice jumped out from somewhere and ran towards them.

Ji Jinyou was the first to see it. She was so scared that her face turned pale and she jumped up and down screaming, "Rat, rat."

Seventeen also saw it, picked up Xiaojiu, turned around and ran away.

Fifteen looked back and saw a mouse running under his feet. He stepped on it and killed it.

Fourteen also tried to step on it, but his feet failed several times.

When the young master saw Shiwu step on a mouse to death, he also ran over excitedly to step on it, but he accidentally stepped on the mouse's tail. The mouse got angry and turned around to bite him. Fortunately, the shoe was made of strong material and the bite didn't go through. However, the little boy was frightened and cried out, "A mouse bit me."

Everything happened so fast that by the time the palace maids and eunuchs serving in the east and west side halls all ran out, Jin Xing and others who were waiting at the gate of the courtyard also ran forward, and the mice had already run away without a trace.

Fifteen's face turned cold, and he ran towards the young master, shouting as he ran: "Go call the imperial physician."

Chang Xing responded, shoved the broom in his hand into the hand of someone else, turned around and ran out.

The palace maid Yueji who followed the young master was so frightened that her face turned pale. She knelt on the ground, held the young master in her arms, and asked him where he had bitten.

Jin Xing stepped forward and took Ji Jinyou over, holding him tightly in her arms, while Haitang picked up Seventeen.

Everyone surrounded the young master and asked him questions. The young master pointed at his feet and sobbed, "Feet, feet."

Yueji took off both of his shoes and socks and checked them carefully. Seeing that he was unharmed, she was still terrified and sat down on the ground. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But the young prince kept crying.

Ji Jinyou struggled to get off the ground, reached out to hug the little master, and patted his back: "Auntie, hug me, Yu'er, don't cry, don't cry."

The young master was emotional and wanted to cry again, but he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of his aunt Xiaojiu, so he held it back.

The maid did not dare to delay any longer. She put the young master's shoes and socks back on, picked him up, and bowed to the young masters, "I will take the young master back to find the master first."

After something like this happened, a few people were worried and followed along.

Seeing that the crowd had left in a noisy manner, the Thirteenth Prince walked out of the main hall with a sinister smile on his face, "Liu Cai, well done."

The young eunuch Liu Cai bowed but said nothing. Thinking of the young prince crying loudly just now, he felt uneasy. He quickly took the broom and dustpan, picked up the rat in the yard that was stepped on to death by the fifteenth prince, and threw it away.

Then he returned to his resting room, dismantled the simple cage made of branches that he had previously used to catch mice, broke the branches into small pieces, put them into a cloth bag, and hid it under the bed. He planned to burn it at a suitable opportunity after two days, when everyone had forgotten about it.

Usually at this time, the third princess would accompany the queen, and Ji Jinyou and his group would rush to Fengyi Palace.

The young master did not wait for anyone to report, he got off the ground and ran in. As soon as he entered the room, he threw himself on the third princess and cried again: "Mother, a rat bit Yu'er."

The third princess's face changed, and she quickly picked up her son and said, "Where did you bite? Let me see."

The queen's expression changed as well. She ordered, "Quickly call the imperial physician and tell him who is outside. Let them all come in."

Dangui responded and went out.

Ji Jinyou ran in behind the young master and said hurriedly, "It didn't bite, Madam, Third Sister, don't worry, the mouse didn't bite Yu'er, it just scared her."

After saying that, he grabbed Yu'er's little hand and shook it: "Yu'er, don't cry first, say you didn't bite it."

The Queen and the Third Princess knew that although the little girl was young, she was always trustworthy, so they both breathed a sigh of relief when they heard this.

The queen picked up the little girl, took out a handkerchief and wiped her red face: "Good girl."

The third princess pulled up the young prince who was hugging her neck and crying desperately, "Yu'er, are you scared?"

The young master nodded, aggrieved: "The mouse is so fierce."

The Queen and the Third Princess felt relieved. The Third Princess hugged her frightened son and comforted him softly.

Fifteen or seventeen people followed Dangui in and paid their respects to the Empress and the Third Princess in turn.

"Stand up," the queen said gently, and asked them to sit down again. Then she looked at Yue Ji, the maid who followed the young master, and frowned slightly: "What's going on?"

Yueji briefly told what had just happened in Jingming Palace.

The palace was huge, with a large population, and food was available in every palace, so it was not surprising to have a few rats, and the queen did not think much of it.

After Yueji finished speaking, she knelt down and apologized tremblingly. This palace maid had been following the Third Princess ever since she left the palace. The Queen didn't know what to say, so she looked at the Third Princess.

The third princess did not pursue the matter: "Get up, they are just a few mice, how can you be blamed for this?"

Yueji watched the young master grow up and loved him very much. Thinking of the young master crying out of fear earlier, she blamed herself so much that her eyes turned red: "It was my fault that I didn't take good care of the young master and put him in danger."

The third princess said to her angrily, "Well, you didn't release the mouse, why are you doing this? Hurry up and get up, you still have to take care of Yu'er later."

Yueji then stood up, wiping her eyes, and stood beside the Third Princess. She touched the young master's hand, her eyes full of heartache and guilt.

The young prince also imitated the Third Princess and said, "Yueji, mother has already said that you didn't release the mouse. I don't blame you."

Only then did Rose reveal a hint of a smile.

He said it unintentionally, but listened to it intentionally. Ji Jinyou was stunned.