Jiayin laughed heartily at the old man's words, and then quickly reassured him.
"Grandpa Village Chief, there's no need to be so nervous. Mr. Jiang said last night that he won't leave Suijintan and will retire here with us."
"Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, and Teacher—Mr. Jiang is His Highness the Crown Prince's teacher, and has shown kindness in teaching him and caring for him as he grew up. As long as he is in Suijintan, the Crown Prince will not treat Suijintan badly."
"Perhaps His Highness the Crown Prince will treat us even better, considering this place to be like a second home to him."
The village chief blinked twice, and finally smiled.
"That makes sense! Scholars all respect their teachers and value the Way! With Mr. Jiang here, we at Suijintan will definitely be fine."
As he spoke, he ran home. "Mr. Jiang said last night that the jar of wine I hid was delicious, and there's still half a jar left. I'll go get it for him now."
Jiayin didn't stop her; even if she wanted to, she couldn't.
The old man is quite old, but his legs and feet are still very nimble!
Leaving aside how Jiayin coaxed the old folks in the village, let's just talk about the main character they were talking about, His Highness the Crown Prince, who had just finished eating and was preparing to go to the Imperial Study.
Just as we turned the corner of the passageway next to Xilong Pavilion, we saw several palace maids and eunuchs searching everywhere, calling out from time to time, "Three pieces, three pieces!"
The crown prince raised an eyebrow, immediately stopped, and asked, "Are the three of them missing?"
Several palace maids and eunuchs were so frightened by the unexpected encounter with the crown prince that they quickly knelt down by the roadside.
Eunuch Feng was just transferred to Xilong Pavilion last night to take care of the Crown Prince's daily life.
Upon seeing this, he immediately stepped forward and reprimanded, "His Highness the Crown Prince is asking you a question, why don't you explain yourselves clearly?"
One of the eunuchs was a bit quick-witted and immediately crawled forward a few steps, respectfully replying, "Your Highness, when the princess left the palace, she left the little fox with her to keep her company, but the little fox was still sleeping in Zhilan Palace last night and has disappeared this morning."
"Her Highness was afraid the little fox would run away, so she instructed us to come out and look for it. We didn't expect to block His Highness's way. Please forgive us, Your Highness."
His Highness the Crown Prince nodded, looked around, and then instructed, "Eunuch Feng, leave a few people behind to help with the search."
Eunuch Feng hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Yes, Your Highness, rest assured, this old servant will go with you to search. As soon as we find it, I will report back to you."
The crown prince gave him a satisfied look, then continued towards the imperial study.
Grandpa Feng breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat smug.
They always envied Steward Yi, but they never expected that he would have such incredible luck, being sent by the Emperor to serve the Crown Prince.
After that, the Crown Prince ascended to that position. Did he end up like Chief Steward Yi?
The Crown Prince appears stern and aloof, exuding an air of authority and nobility, but he is actually not difficult to get along with.
And so, he has already vaguely figured out some of the Crown Prince's temperament, and his future is definitely promising!
Thinking this, he happily led his men to hurry and find the fox.
As a result, they searched for a long time without finding any trace of him. However, just as the Crown Prince turned onto the path next to the Imperial Study, he heard a commotion ahead.
He instinctively stepped forward and saw a white shadow chirping and jumping around.
It was the little fox that Zhilan Palace had been searching for!
"Three!" the crown prince exclaimed instinctively.
The little fox turned its head instantly, perhaps because it had finally seen a familiar face. It rushed forward and jumped directly into the prince's arms, baring its teeth in grievance and whimpering incessantly.
"Alright, alright!" His Highness the Crown Prince reached out and stroked its ruffled fur, holding it firmly in his arms and gently comforting it. "Don't bark, you'll ruin your voice. Were you bullied? I'll get revenge for you!"
The little fox seemed not to understand, and cried for a while before finally quieting down.
The crown prince gently patted its head before looking at the embarrassed Marquis of Dingbei across from him.
"My lord, you have quite the refined taste. Did you come to the palace this morning just to bully a little fox?"
Marquis Dingbei seemed to have his throat choked, unable to utter a sound!
He originally planned to enter the palace as soon as possible, make a name for himself in front of the emperor and the crown prince, and hopefully get some job to show off his abilities and loyalty.
Little did I expect that as soon as I arrived here, I would see this little fox swaggering by.
He wouldn't care if it were any other cat or dog.
But he recognized the little fox.
Back then, the Marquis of Xinting specially led his troops into the mountains to hunt a little fox with three tails, just so that he could play with it for his most beloved adopted daughter.
Because of this, he even submitted a memorial to the emperor, saying that the fox had three tails and was an evil creature.
But the emperor ignored him completely. Instead, when the Marquis of Xinting found out, he tricked him so badly that he almost lost his job guarding the city gate.
Think about it again. He changed sides and betrayed the Empress Dowager in recent days, causing his descendants to bear the infamy for a hundred years, all for the sake of saving their own lives.
As a result, the Li family didn't have to do anything to become the Crown Prince's benefactors, and wealth and honor were within their grasp...
This is so unfair!
He grew angrier the more he thought about it, and before he could hold back, he kicked the little fox as it walked past him...
"Um... Your Highness, I just happened to be passing by, and I don't know what this little beast was thinking, it suddenly lunged at me like a madman..."
Marquis Dingbei glanced at the little fox, certain that it couldn't speak, and thus became even more confident, pulling up his sleeve to show the Crown Prince the scratch marks on his arm.
"Look, this little beast's claws are too sharp! What if it goes berserk again and bites you or the Emperor? Why don't we hand this little beast over to me to deal with!"
The little fox, perhaps unable to bear his smugness, bristled again, wishing it could leap out and scratch his face until it was covered in welts.
The crown prince held it tightly, then looked at the Marquis of Dingbei with a cold smile.
"What you say, Lord Marquis, is quite amusing. This little fox has been raised by the Princess for many years, and I have had quite a bit of contact with it before. It has always been very gentle and obedient."
"Why did it suddenly go mad when it saw the Marquis? Did the Marquis do something to harm it?"
At this moment, Eunuch Feng had already heard the commotion and rushed over.
His eyes darted around and he quickly stepped forward, exclaiming in surprise, "Hey, San Tiao, what are you doing here? The Third Princess has been looking for you! What happened to your tail? It's all gray. Did someone kick it?"
"Take a look and I'll report to the princess to avenge you!"
"When the princess left the palace, she wasn't worried about anything except that you might be wronged! How could you be beaten in just one day? How is the princess supposed to explain this to the princess?"
Upon hearing this, Marquis Dingbei gritted his teeth inwardly. He was clearly a beast. He had been beaten, yet so many people were backing him up!
He wanted to say a few more words in his defense, but then he saw the Crown Prince summon a young eunuch who was not far away.
"You were the one who led the way for Marquis Dingbei, weren't you? Tell me, what exactly did Marquis Dingbei do to anger the Three Tigers?"
The young eunuch stole a glance at Marquis Dingbei, hesitating whether to tell the truth.
Eunuch Feng kicked the young eunuch and scolded, "You dog of a servant, whose eyes are you looking at? Do you think there's anyone here more noble than the Crown Prince? Have you forgotten who your master is?"
The little eunuch shrank back in fright. Just as he was about to speak, the Marquis of Dingbei knelt down with a "plop".
Two updates today! I couldn't resist indulging a bit over the weekend, hence the late update~~
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