Jiang Qingqing is almost clinging to the eldest prince.

At noon, whenever the eldest prince was reading memorials in any hall of Kunning Palace, Jiang Qingqing would sit beside the table and start tinkering with the calligraphy that she had neglected in the past few days.

Empress Xu happened to be passing by the side hall after finishing her imperial worship.

It was such a beautiful and warm scene.

Jiang Qingqing was lying on the table by the window, tracing characters with a brush held upright. The sunlight shone through, allowing one to clearly see the little girl's long, curled eyelashes, as well as her rare serious expression.

On the other side, the eldest prince was sitting upright on the armchair with a few piled-up memorials in front of him, and he was carefully examining the contents on them.

The first person to notice that there was someone standing at the door was Jiang Qingqing.

She has always been sensitive to the outside world. When Empress Xu passed by the door and turned back, she noticed the movement.

Regarding this behavior of passing by and then stepping back, she said that she had just seen the eldest prince do this not long ago.

I have to say, the tacit understanding between mother and son is really beyond words.

At first glance, they are obviously mother and son.

"Mother!"

Jiang Qingqing saw Empress Xu coming.

The little kid climbed down from the chair and reached out to pull at Empress Xu's robe with the phoenix pattern.

"Be careful!" Wan Qing looked at the little prince's hand stained with ink, her eyebrows jumped, and she was about to reach out to stop Jiang Qingqing's inky little hand.

Before Empress Xu could react, Jiang Qingqing's wrist was quickly grabbed by Wan Qing.

For a moment, the scene was very awkward.

Jiang Qingqing seemed to be about to do something bad when she was stopped by Wanqing's loyal palace maid, while Empress Xu in her phoenix robe stood still.

"…Your Majesty's phoenix robe cannot be cleaned. If the ink gets on it, Your Highness will probably have to make a new phoenix robe."

Wanqing also realized that something was wrong with her. She withdrew her hand with a little embarrassment and quickly lowered her head.

Empress Xu realized Wanqing's good intentions, smiled helplessly and shook her head. She took off the outer garment of her phoenix robe, revealing her ordinary clothes underneath.

"It's okay. There won't be any big events these days where you need to wear a phoenix robe. If it gets dirty, it can just be cleaned partially."

Empress Xu lifted her sleeves slightly and extended her hand to Jiang Qingqing, "Come on, mother, take Qingqing to wash your hands and get ready for lunch."

As soon as Empress Xu spoke, the palace servants all started to get busy, some clearing the tables, some serving the meals, but the eldest prince was the only one who still sat in his original position and read through the memorials.

No one dared to disturb this great master.

Then they waited for lunch to be served. After the three of them finished their lunch leisurely, the eldest prince took the opportunity to wipe his mouth and said to Empress Xu: "I need to go to the patrol camp this afternoon to take a look. Can I take you with me?"

Jiang Qingqing was still thinking about how to bring up this topic naturally, but unexpectedly she didn't expect that the eldest prince still remembered what Jiang Qingqing had asked for in the morning.

She suddenly felt warm in her heart.

When Empress Xu heard these words, her slender brows slightly frowned and her eyes fell on Jiang Qingqing beside her.

The latter noticed Empress Xu's gaze and quickly retracted his own gaze to meet Empress Xu's thoughtful eyes.

The little kid put his hands together, his big round eyes full of hope.

She was just about to pout her little lips and show an innocent expression to act coquettishly towards Empress Xu.

"Your Highness must be accompanied by at least three or four people." Empress Xu was still haunted by the assassination at the eldest princess' residence.

It just so happened that Jiang Qingqing was accompanied by three maids, and she nodded rapidly in response.

Queen Xu then gave a few more instructions, all of which were requests that Jiang Qingqing not act alone.

"You must be extra careful, okay?" Queen Xu's last words, on the contrary, sounded extremely pleasant to Jiang Qingqing.

"Yes! Qingqing has always been by my brother's side and will never act alone. If my brother says go east, Qingqing won't go west!"

Jiang Qingqing's solemn oath sounded so innocent that the queen and her son could only smile helplessly.

"Let's take a break first, and then go over in the afternoon when they change shifts. That way we can see the most complete patrol team."

The eldest prince was relieved to see that Jiang Qingqing had achieved her wish.

Jiang Qingqing had no objection to this. She obediently followed Empress Xu to take a nap until the eldest prince sent someone to say that they could get ready to leave.

She stood up without hesitation, put on her shoes and socks, and followed the eldest prince with Xin Juan, Gan Yuan and Gan Lin.

The patrol camp office in the palace is located at the bottom of the city corner. By walking up a high staircase, you can reach the highest tower in Tianqi's harem, from where you can easily overlook most of Tianqi's harem buildings.

Jiang Qingqing sat down in the main seat, her pair of little feet suspended in the air, swaying leisurely.

The lord who was following the patrol team on the Crown Prince's side seemed to be checking something.

"Is there anyone missing today?" the eldest prince asked in a deep voice.

Hearing such an abrupt sentence, Jiang Qingqing, who was looking around, couldn't help but pay attention.

Then she saw the eldest prince frowning at the names on the list.

"Yes, yes. Today a guard took leave. His name is Zhu Song. It seems that he caught a cold because he was blown by the cold wind while on night duty the day before."

The team leader nodded and spoke with a very good attitude. He told the eldest prince everything at once without even asking him any questions.

Jiang Qingqing walked up to the eldest prince, and out of habit, she reached out her little hand and grabbed the eldest prince's wide sleeve.

He felt the movement of his sleeves, looked down, and saw Jiang Qingqing's pair of round eyes with distinct black and white.

She asked, "Where do the guards usually live?"

"There is a special dormitory not far away." When the team leader saw the most favored little princess coming, his attitude towards Jiang Qingqing was even more respectful than that towards the eldest prince.

The eldest prince spread out the names of the guards on the roster with one hand and frowned slightly.

"What's wrong, my royal brother?" Jiang Qingqing didn't expect that there was one person missing from the patrol team today.

The man she met at the shop at the crossroads was a guard with a sword.

Generally, those who can patrol the palace with knives are mostly members of the patrol team.

The reason I came here today was to take a look at the faces and backs of those people one by one and catch that person.

But there is one person missing right now, what if that missing person is the one she is looking for?

Thinking of this, Jiang Qingqing frowned heavily.

"I came to the patrol team with the intention of checking on everyone. Now you tell me that one person is missing. What's the point of my checking?"

The eldest prince raised his hand to hold the back of Jiang Qingqing's head. Instead of answering her question, he asked the team leader directly.