"Speak normally!" Ye Jinghe exposed him mercilessly.
These are all tricks he's used before, yet they still dare to use them in front of him.
Ye Jing'an blinked and continued to act cute, "If Fifth Brother can talk to Big Brother like that, why can't I? I'm two years younger than Fifth Brother!"
Ye Jinghe's forehead veins throbbed; this brat actually dared to provoke him!
"No matter how much you pretend, it's just a poor imitation. My brother only likes me the most!" Ye Jinghe said through gritted teeth.
"Is that so? But I feel that my brother is only nice to you out of pity, not because he likes you that much?" Ye Jing'an continued to provoke.
He heard that his fifth brother had been mentally ill since childhood and was most susceptible to stimulation, which would cause him to go crazy.
Everyone in the Wenhua Hall knew about his problem, but because his elder brother, the Crown Prince, protected him, none of them dared to deliberately provoke him.
Ye Jing'an had always wanted to test whether this rumor was true, and today, as they left the palace together, he finally got his chance!
Fifth Prince is already eight years old. If he still goes crazy whenever he is provoked, Crown Prince will definitely be disappointed in him.
Moreover, we are still outside the palace, and this street is so lively. If the common people on the street see him acting crazy and it gets back to Father Emperor's ears, then Fifth Brother will be finished.
"Fifth Brother, with such a terrible personality, how could Eldest Brother possibly be genuinely good to you? He just pities you because your father and mother don't love you!"
"Besides, you have no maternal family to rely on, and you pose no threat to my elder brother, which is why we've kept you in the Eastern Palace all this time," Ye Jing'an continued, adding fuel to the fire.
A flash of red light appeared in Ye Jinghe's eyes.
It had been a long time since anyone had said these words to him, and he almost lost control of the anger in his heart.
However, it was one thing to instigate those palace servants to say these things in front of him, but this time Ye Jing'an actually said these things to him personally. The woman from Lanyue Palace finally couldn't sit still anymore.
"Sixth Brother, are you envious that I can live in the East Palace? If you want to live here too, it's not impossible, just send your mother to the Cold Palace as well." Ye Jinghe patted Ye Jing'an's shoulder, reminding him in a friendly manner.
Ye Jing'an was startled, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
How come you're not going crazy?
Rumors are not to be believed!
Ye Jinghe withdrew the hand that had been patting Ye Jingan's shoulder and put it behind his back.
If Ye Jing'an had said this to his face two years earlier, he might have really gone crazy, but now—
He's no longer the little madman who couldn't handle the slightest provocation!
When his older brother was eight years old, he was able to bring him out of the dark and gloomy Changchun Palace like a god. He is eight years old now, and he can't be too much worse than his brother!
"Wrap up all the pastries I chose earlier!" Ye Jinghe said to the waiter beside him.
He selected a lot of pastries, which filled a large box, and spent most of his thousand copper coins in one go.
After Ye Jing'an saw that he had finished choosing, he also casually ordered a few items and asked the waiter to wrap them up.
"Brother, you used to buy me pastries, but today I bought some for you." Ye Jinghe paid for the pastries, ran up to Ye Jingchen, and said with a smile.
Even though the money was given by his brother, that doesn't stop him from using it to give back to his brother, does it?
"I'll also treat you to the pastries I bought!" Ye Jing'an followed up sweetly.
“A cunning learner!” Ye Jinghe said coldly.
"Brother, I really wanted to treat you to some pastries, but since Fifth Brother doesn't like me getting close to you, in order not to ruin the harmony between brothers, I'd better be sensible and keep my distance from you," Ye Jing'an said with a disappointed look.
Ye Jingchen's eyes lit up upon hearing this. This kid Lao Liu is quite something. As expected of Lao Liu, he's very good at using the strategy of retreating to advance, playing the victim to gain sympathy, and acting innocent to win favor.
As expected of a child carefully trained by Consort Wang, her skills in palace intrigue are quite advanced.
"I won't eat the pastries you bought yet, but—Jing'an, you and Jingning just happened to choose four different flavors of pastries, so you two can share them and try eight different flavors." Ye Jingchen called Ye Jingning over and said with a smile.
Those two little brats weren't paying attention when buying pastries, and now they're getting their comeuppance.
The pastry shop had tools for cutting pastries. At Ye Jingchen's instruction, Donggong Wei personally cut the pastries that the two boys had bought into two equal halves, and then each boy got eight small pieces.
"Since this is your first time buying things, try the delicious treats you chose!" He gestured for the two little ones to eat the pastries.
"Hurry up and eat!" Ye Jinghe urged, munching on a peach blossom pastry while looking on with an expression of barely suppressed anticipation.
Spring came early this year, and the peach blossoms bloomed early too, so we were already able to enjoy Ye Jinghe's favorite peach blossom pastry.
Back then, the first pastry his brother brought him when he left the palace was peach blossom pastry, and ever since then, peach blossom pastry has been his favorite pastry.
Ye Jing'an and Ye Jingning exchanged a glance, each picked up a piece of pastry, and took a bite.
Seeing the obvious expressions of anticipation on their elder and fifth brothers' faces, Ye Jing'an and Ye Jingning already had a premonition that these pastries wouldn't taste very good. But it wasn't until they tasted them that they realized how terrible the pastries they had chosen were.
"Seventh Brother/Sixth Brother, why did you choose such awful pastries?" Ye Jing'an and Ye Jingning looked at each other and said in unison.
"Is it bad? But you chose these pastries yourselves, don't you like them?" Ye Jingchen asked the two little brats deliberately.
"I like it!" Ye Jing'an forced a smile.
"I don't like it..." Ye Jingning said with a look of disgust.
"Whether you like it or not, since you chose the pastries yourselves, you must finish them. Don't waste food," Ye Jingchen said with a smile.
The two little brats exchanged a glance, then looked at the remaining pastries, made a snap decision, closed their eyes, and chose to die early and be reborn.
After all, not every piece of pastry can be unpalatable, right?
But perhaps because the first pastry they ate was too sweet and cloying, all the pastries they ate afterward tasted rather indescribable.
After they finished eating, both kids looked pale and sickly.
This time, Ye Jingning finally gave up on his Luban lock.
"I want to drink water..." he said.
"Does Jing'an want some water too?" Ye Jingchen asked Ye Jing'an.
Ye Jing couldn't continue installing it, so he nodded quickly.
He naturally prefers bland flavors and can't eat sweets, so after eating those eight pieces of pastry, his throat felt cloyingly sweet.
"Linyuan Bookstore isn't far from here, so let's go there first for some tea to cleanse our palates!"
Lin Yuan Bookstore and Tian Gong Pavilion are both located on Zhuque Street, and both occupy the best locations.
These two places were originally shops belonging to the Jiang family, but they were confiscated because of the Jiang family's rebellion.
Originally a place where aristocratic families amassed wealth, Ye Jingchen now uses it to break the class monopoly, which is also a kind of irony for the aristocratic families.
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