Seeing this, Xie Chang'an's eyes turned deep.
These three people now resembled a family of three, while he seemed like an outsider!
He stepped forward, put his arm around Ye Jingchen's shoulder, and said to him in a deliberately gentle tone, "You've been out of the palace for a day now, it's time to go back."
“Brother, I haven’t seen you for several days. Why don’t you stay here tonight? You’ve hardly ever stayed in this room.” Ye Jinghe glanced at Xie Chang’an and said to Ye Jingchen with a somewhat disappointed expression and tone.
Chunming looked up at her brother's dejected expression and glared angrily at Ye Jingchen.
"Then stay one night?" Ye Jingchen asked Xie Chang'an.
Xie Chang'an and Ye Jinghe exchanged a glance, and the two instantly engaged in a fierce battle of wits.
He tightened his grip on Ye Jingchen's shoulder slightly, but his voice became even gentler, "I'll listen to whatever you say."
"We'll stay at the Prince's Mansion tonight, and tomorrow we'll visit the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion to see our ancestors and grandparents before returning to the palace," Ye Jingchen said to Xie Chang'an.
He was thick-skinned, and after a year or two, he was able to face the elders of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion with ease, and even the titles came out very naturally to him.
"Okay." Xie Chang'an smiled and looked at Ye Jinghe with the air of a victor.
"Brother, let's go home!" Ye Jinghe stopped exchanging sharp glances with Xie Chang'an. Holding a candied hawthorn and a small sugar figurine in one hand and Ye Jingchen's hand in the other, he happily walked into the Prince Qian's mansion.
Chunming reached out his hand, but it fell to nothing, leaving him utterly disappointed.
"Let's go." Xie Chang'an noticed this scene, took the hand of his adopted son from his previous life, and walked into the palace.
The moment Chunming's hand was taken by Xie Chang'an, he felt resistance.
He disliked the Crown Prince, who could capture his brother's attention the moment he appeared, and naturally he wouldn't like anyone who was always with the Crown Prince. Besides, his brother seemed to dislike this person very much, and if his brother disliked him, he would dislike him even less.
But when he tried to break free from the hand holding his, he found that although the hand didn't seem to be using any force, he couldn't budge it at all.
"Xiao Chunming, let's go inside quickly, otherwise the person you care about most will be taken away by someone else," Xie Chang'an said to him.
Chunming thought it made sense, so he stopped struggling with the hand and ran to catch up with his brother.
Although he ran, his legs were too short. The person next to him walked leisurely but was faster than him. In the end, he had to drag himself to catch up with his brother and the hated crown prince.
He needs to eat well, grow up quickly, and be as tall as his older brother so that he won't be left behind!
Although the prince taught him to write today, took him out for delicious food, and even took him to a teahouse to listen to a storyteller, and even bought him the candied hawthorns and sugar figurines he had always wanted, he shouldn't dislike the prince. However, the prince had taken away his brother, so at this moment, he still disliked him a little.
He thought the Crown Prince was too cunning. He believed that his older brother must have been won over by his tricks when they were young, which was why he liked him so much!
He must treat his elder brother even better than the crown prince treats him in the future, so that his elder brother will like him more than the crown prince!
"Brother will be staying at the manor tonight. Tell the kitchen to prepare more of your favorite dishes for dinner!" Ye Jinghe instructed Fang Xi and Fang Rui as they came out to greet him.
Fangxi and Fangrui were also very happy. One of them went to the kitchen, while the other went to the courtyard where Ye Jingchen was going to stay.
Although they tidy up the yard themselves every day, they still have to go and check it again to see if anything is missing.
Not long after Ye Jinghe happily welcomed Ye Jingchen into the main courtyard, an uninvited guest arrived.
"Your Majesty is so biased! You came out of the palace to see your fifth brother, but you didn't even remember to visit me next door." Ye Jingyu came to the door with a hurt expression on his face.
Ever since the emperor bestowed two adjacent mansions upon him and Ye Jinghe respectively, Ye Jingyu has enjoyed observing the mansion next door.
Previously, it was to write a letter to the emperor to complain; now, it's also to find fault with Ye Jinghe so that it can be reported to the emperor.
Although he usually finished his work at the same time as Ye Jinghe, the government office was much closer to the mansion than the guard camp outside the city, so he would return to the mansion before Ye Jinghe every day.
After returning to his residence, if there were no urgent matters to attend to, he liked to find a high vantage point with a good view to observe Ye Jinghe's residence before having dinner.
Today, he saw his elder brother at Ye Jinghe's residence, so he found the secret guards who were specifically responsible for keeping an eye on the neighboring residence to question him. Only then did he learn that his elder brother had actually spent the whole morning at Prince Qian's residence and had even taken that child named Chunming out to play in the afternoon.
Ye Jingyu felt very uncomfortable and immediately went to their door.
Ye Jingyu knew that Ye Jinghe had picked up a little beggar who looked a lot like him when he was a child and brought him home. However, Ye Jingyu felt that Ye Jinghe must have a conspiracy to pick up such a child who looked a lot like him when he was a child. He must think that he couldn't compete with Xie Chang'an, that vixen, so he wanted to use this child to compete for favor.
Everyone knows that the Emperor loves children, especially those who look pitiful like Ye Jinghe when he was little.
As it turned out, this tactic was indeed effective; didn't he use this child to lure his elder brother to him?
"Even if your brother forgot to visit you, you still came to me on your own!" Ye Jinghe said with obvious disdain.
"After you get married and have children, I'll definitely visit the Prince Xian's Mansion often," Ye Jingchen joked.
"So it turns out that the Fifth Prince is the smartest. He found a child who looks a lot like himself when he was young to curry favor with you early on," Ye Jingyu said meaningfully.
Ye Jingchen glanced at Xiao Chunming following behind Ye Jinghe and quickly said to Ye Jingyu, "It's fate that Jinghe met Chunming. Jingyu, don't talk nonsense."
"Fourth Prince, you think everyone else is like you just because you're so scheming?" Ye Jinghe glanced coldly at Ye Jingyu and retorted without any politeness.
"But even if you could find a child like yourself when you were a child, you still wouldn't be able to win their favor!" She finished with a fatal retort.
Ye Jingchen glared at Ye Jinghe, then said to Ye Jingyu, "What's with all this 'trying for favor' nonsense? Jingyu was adorable when he was little too. If he could really have a miniature version of himself in the future, I would love him too!"
Ye Jingyu smiled at Ye Jingchen. Although he couldn't compete with Ye Jinghe when he was young, he didn't believe that his child would be inferior to the wild child Ye Jinghe picked up from outside.
Moreover, by the time his child was born, Ye Jing and the adopted child would be too old to compete with his child.
Although Ye Jingyu doesn't have a girl he likes yet, he has full confidence in his child.
Xie Chang'an saw it all clearly from the side. Ye Jinghe bringing Chunming back to the mansion might not necessarily be to curry favor, but Ye Jingyu was genuinely considering using the child to gain favor.
Where does he place himself, the Crown Princess?
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