Xie Chang'an shoved Ye Jingchen away with such force that Ye Jingchen was slammed against the wall.
"Xie—Chang—An!" Seeing this, Xu Jingjing rushed over. After confirming that Ye Jingchen was alright, she grabbed Xie Chang'an's ear and angrily asked, "What are you doing?!"
Ye Jingchen was a little dazed from the push, but when he hit the wall, he hit his back first and was not seriously injured, so he watched with great interest as Xie Chang'an had his ear pulled by his own mother.
However, as he looked at Xie Chang'an, he noticed that Xie Chang'an's face was actually a little red.
It wasn't the red of someone who was angry, but the red of a fiery sunset.
Ye Jingchen felt as if he had discovered a new continent.
Xie Chang'an's face was originally fair and tender, like the finest white jade. Now, a touch of red tinged the white jade, making her face truly as beautiful as a peach blossom.
Ye Jingchen felt his hands were itching to touch it; he felt he would be doing his hands a disservice if he didn't pinch such a face.
Fortunately, Xie Chang'an was currently being held by the ear by Xu Jingjing, and he was trying to free his ears with both hands. Even if she pinched them a couple of times, she probably wouldn't be caught.
Even if he gets caught, with Xu Jingjing around, Xie Chang'an probably won't dare to do anything to him.
Thinking this, Ye Jingchen decisively reached out his wicked hand and pinched Xie Chang'an's cheek.
Although Xie Chang'an is a bit older now and his face no longer has the plumpness of baby fat, his small face still feels very soft and elastic.
He couldn't resist and pinched it again.
"Ye Jingchen!" Xie Chang'an was so angry that he didn't even care about his own ears and grabbed Ye Jingchen's hand.
"Ah—be gentle, be gentle, my hand is going to break! It's going to break!" Ye Jingchen exclaimed dramatically.
"Xie Chang'an, let go!" Xu Jingjing finally released Xie Chang'an's ear and tried to pry his hand off.
After a period of chaos and turmoil, Ye Jingchen's hands were freed, and Xie Chang'an's ears were freed as well.
"Princess Consort, I just thought it was funny to see Brother Chang'an's face turn red, so I pinched it. He almost broke my hand!" Ye Jingchen hid behind Xu Jingjing, stretched out the hand that Xie Chang'an had pinched, and complained.
There were handprints on his wrist, showing how hard Xie Chang'an had squeezed him.
"Chang'an, why don't you apologize to His Highness the Crown Prince right now!" Xu Jingjing was furious when she saw the purplish handprint on Ye Jingchen's wrist and immediately scolded Xie Chang'an.
Xie Chang'an covered his face with one hand, feeling that his heart was utterly betraying him.
It's just a few pinches on the cheek, why are you jumping up and down like that?
In the Wenhua Hall, besides the older Wu Zemin and Gu Beichen, there were several princesses. Ye Jingchen had pinched the face of every one of them.
"Who told him to pinch my cheek!" Xie Chang'an sneered.
Just then, the Duke of Zhenguo arrived.
The three exchanged a glance, and without hesitation, pretended that nothing had happened, greeted each other, and began the lesson.
At the beginning of the lesson, the Duke of Zhenguo still asked Ye Jingchen to set a question, using a sand table of mountains and hills to deduce the situation, and Xie Chang'an and Xu Jingjing each came up with a plan for marching and fighting.
The subsequent explanation revolved around their plans, discussing which troop types were more suitable for these two terrains, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of marching in these two terrains.
Ye Jingchen had previously worried that he would fall asleep in the Duke of Zhenguo's class, but after these two classes, his worries have lessened considerably.
The Duke of Zhenguo's lectures were very practical, and the content he taught was very useful. Ye Jingchen felt that he shouldn't fall asleep, after all, there was still a little Jinghe in the Eastern Palace who was crying for food.
During the break, Ye Jingchen suggested that they set up three identical sand tables in the East Palace as well.
“These sand tables were made by Shaoling and Chang’an together. Now that Shaoling has gone to the northern frontier, Chang’an, can you manage on your own?” Xu Jingjing asked.
“Chang’an is so capable, he can definitely do it! If you’re free tomorrow, how about you go to the East Palace and help me make the sand table?” Ye Jingchen immediately looked at Xie Chang’an.
Although he appreciated the praise, Xie Chang'an still didn't want to agree, but with his grandfather and mother watching, he couldn't openly refuse.
“Making a sand table requires a lot of materials, some of which I don’t have right now and need time to prepare,” he said.
Ye Jingchen pretended not to notice his reluctance and said very enthusiastically, "Give me the list, and I will instruct the people in the palace to prepare it overnight. It will definitely be ready by tomorrow!"
"Aren't you going to the government office tomorrow?" Xie Chang'an asked again.
“I don’t have any urgent business to attend to at the government office. The sand table is more important. I can ask for leave tomorrow. You can go to the palace at 9:00 AM,” Ye Jingchen replied with a smile.
"You're not usually such a diligent person. You're making this sand table for that little madman, aren't you?" Xie Chang'an said with a sneer as he saw Ye Jingchen off after school.
This time he learned his lesson and kept a distance that was neither too close nor too far from Ye Jingchen.
Ye Jingchen did not deny it, "It both fulfilled his wish and made things convenient for me!"
"His Highness the Crown Prince is truly devoted to the little madman!"
Xie Chang'an finally understands why he was jealous of the little madwoman! But even knowing the reason, his jealousy didn't lessen; on the contrary, it became even more uncontrollable.
"He's my younger brother, and I raised him myself, so of course I have to think about him!" Ye Jingchen readily admitted.
Xie Chang'an felt even more frustrated.
“I think Jinghe has a lot of talent in this area. If he can take charge of the guard battalion in the future, he can become an asset to the Divine Might Army, right?”
Ye Jingchen's main principle is to treat everyone equally. Some time ago, he advised Xiao Jinghe not to argue with Xie Chang'an. Now it's time for Xie Chang'an to make a statement.
"The Divine Might Army does not need the assistance of a commander whose emotions are unstable!"
Ye Jingchen was somewhat displeased. "How can Jinghe's emotions be unstable? He doesn't have an attack anymore! And you, a man in your forties, are still arguing with a child who's only ten years old. You have absolutely no manners. You're getting worse as you get older!"
"I'm not even fourteen years old yet!" Xie Chang'an said through gritted teeth.
Ye Jingchen looked Xie Chang'an up and down. "People say that hatred dissipates with death. I don't understand. What kind of hatred between you can't be erased by death? Is it really hatred born of love?"
Xie Chang'an was so angry at the phrase "love turned to hate" that he laughed. But when he thought about it from another angle, wasn't it just love turned to hate?
But then I thought, where does love come from?
It was just a ridiculous dream, not something to be so suspicious about now!
"He is a prince. As long as he doesn't provoke me, why would I go to the Eastern Palace to cause him trouble?" Xie Chang'an decided to be magnanimous this time.
"Jinghe already promised me that he would never cause you any more trouble!" Ye Jingchen said smugly.
Seeing his smug look, Xie Chang'an regretted agreeing too readily.
"Don't forget about making the sand table tomorrow!" Ye Jingchen reminded him before leaving.
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