Chengqian Palace was the place of greatest interest to all the concubines in the harem. As soon as Ye Jingshu arrived at Chengqian Palace, all the other palaces received the news.
As for Consort De, who had planted many spies in the Eastern Palace, she even knew that Ye Jinghe hadn't attended class for half a day and that the imperial physician had been summoned in the afternoon.
As soon as Ye Jingming returned to Yichun Palace, Consort De was already waiting for him.
Consort De has looked quite haggard lately.
Her nephew was beheaded, her elder sister was imprisoned, her father was suspected by the emperor, and she herself was stripped of her power to manage the palace's food and drink. Ye Jingming was even sent to study at the Wenhua Hall.
In just a few days, it was as if she had lost everything.
However, these changes did not break her.
As long as Ye Jingming proves himself, everything she has lost will return to her.
"Did something happen in the Wenhua Hall today?"
Upon hearing his mother's question, Ye Jingming pondered for a moment, then did not hide anything and recounted the whole story.
He knew that his mother had planted people in the Eastern Palace. Even if he didn't say anything, his mother would find out; it was only a matter of time.
To these bystanders, today's events were simply a matter of the eldest princess wanting to play the Nine Linked Rings game, the fifth prince refusing, leading to a dispute between the two, with the eldest prince acting as peacemaker.
If the Fifth Prince hadn't slapped himself so hard that his face was swollen, it would have been a trivial matter.
"Did Ye Jinghe really slap himself so hard that his face swelled up?" Consort De asked.
When Ye Jingming saw his mother ask that question, the corner of his mouth curled up slightly.
These past few days, due to various changes, she hadn't shown a single smile on her face, but now she was smiling.
Ye Jingming nodded hesitantly.
"He's quite a ruthless person. What a pity, why isn't he my child!" Consort De murmured softly.
Ye Jingming subconsciously took a step back.
“Ming’er, you are calm and composed, but you lack the ruthlessness of Jinghe. Look at Ye Jingshu, who is usually arrogant and domineering, but she is also afraid of ruthless people.” Consort De said to Ye Jingming earnestly.
Ye Jingming lowered his head and remained silent.
To be honest, he was also shocked by the slap his fifth brother gave him today. How could he hit him so hard without batting an eye? Didn't he feel any pain?
"Alright, go back to your studies!" Consort De waved her hand dismissively, looking at Ye Jingming's bowed head.
Ye Jingshu went to Chengqian Palace as soon as she finished school, most likely to complain. The emperor has always doted on Lin Luowan's two children, and might make Ye Jinghe leave the East Palace.
If that's the case, she could try to get in touch with the child.
A four-year-old child should be easy to fool. If we let him grow up harboring hatred for Lin Luowan's two children—
Thinking of this, Consort De couldn't help but laugh.
In Yongchun Palace, Ye Jingyu also told Consort Xian about what had happened that day.
Finally, he hesitated and said to Consort Xian, "Mother, you told me to learn from Ye Jinghe and not to be inferior to him in anything, but I don't think I can do what he did today, slapping himself. It hurts just watching it."
Consort Xian patted Ye Jingyu's head and said softly, "Of course you can't learn this from him. Not only can you not learn it, but you should also take it as a warning and be a well-mannered and polite child. He's a little madman, but our Jingyu will grow up to be a proper gentleman!"
"That's good!" Ye Jingyu breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
He doesn't want to be a madman; he wants to be a gentleman.
"However, solving the nine-linked rings is indeed a very interesting thing. You can try to solve it in your spare time."
"Lanxin, go and retrieve my set of nine linked rings made of white jade and give it to Jingyu," Consort Xian instructed.
Lan Xin quickly retrieved the nine-linked rings and handed them to Ye Jingyu.
The white jade was flawless and had a delicate feel to the touch, making it much more valuable than the extremely ordinary nine-linked rings set in Ye Jinghe's hands.
"Solving the Nine Linked Rings requires great wisdom and the ability to make choices. Jingyu, think about it carefully after you finish your homework," the Consort Xian said gently.
Ye Jingyu carried the nine-linked rings back to his palace.
Ye Jinghe spent the entire night trying to solve the nine-linked rings, but he couldn't. If he could solve them in one night, wouldn't that prove he's smarter than Ye Jinghe?
In the Weiyang Palace.
After Ye Jingyu returned to the palace, he instructed the palace maids to find his Golden Nine-Linked Rings.
"Why are you suddenly looking for that thing? You can't solve it anyway, what's so fun about it?" Ji Wushuang asked casually.
“My fifth brother also has a set of nine-linked rings. He knows how to solve it. I’ll go ask him for help.” Ye Jingyu knew that his mother didn’t like his elder brother, the Crown Prince, and his elder sister. She would definitely be unhappy if she knew that he was going to give the nine-linked rings to his elder sister. So he had already thought of another reason.
"He's actually that intelligent?" Ji Wushuang was somewhat surprised to hear that Ye Jinghe could solve the Nine Linked Rings puzzle.
"Such a promising talent is wasted in the palace. If he were in our Ji family, he would definitely be valued and nurtured by the family."
"The Crown Prince is also very good to the Fifth Prince, especially so. My elder sister was even jealous today!" Ye Jingyu said with a look of envy.
Ji Wushuang scoffed, "He can be truly sincere towards the Fifth Prince? I think he's more likely just trying to use him!"
“Mother Consort—” Ye Jingyu sighed deeply, “Why do you always have such a strong prejudice against my brother, the Crown Prince? I have been studying at Wenhua Hall for some time now, and he and my elder sister have not bullied me. On the contrary, they have taken good care of me. Can’t you let go of your prejudice?”
"You little ingrate!" Ji Wushuang poked Ye Jingyu's forehead with a finger and said irritably, "I was just worried that you would be bullied by him without realizing it. The palace is a place that eats people. Your mother is naive and you are naive too. Big Fool and Little Fool, if it weren't for your maternal grandparents' family keeping an eye on you, would you have survived until now?"
"Mother, if you want to scold yourself, then scold yourself. Why drag me into it?" Ye Jingyu muttered in dissatisfaction. "I'm not a little fool!"
"You mean I'm a complete idiot?!" Ji Wushuang angrily grabbed Ye Jingyu's ear.
"Mother, I was wrong—" Ye Jingyu covered his ears and begged for forgiveness repeatedly.
"Your Highness, the nine-linked rings you requested have been found." Su Zhi handed the nine-linked rings, which were twisted like a golden flower, to Ye Jingyu.
Ji Wushuang subconsciously covered half of her face with her hand. Back then, this flower was mostly her creation.
When she was young, there was a period when solving the Nine Linked Rings puzzle became popular in her family. Her older brothers were able to solve it after some time of practice, but she could not learn it even when her brothers taught her step by step.
She was constantly being taken off and put on again, which left her completely confused.
Even now, she has absolutely no clue how to solve that thing.
"How could someone be so desperate as to think about playing this!"
"If you still can't learn it, don't cry in front of me. Anyway, I'm helpless with this thing!" Ji Wushuang waved her hand dismissively.
"Alright!" Ye Jingyu happily put away the nine-linked rings.
He assured her that this thing would never have another chance to appear before his mother!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
