The Second Prince Jiang Ming coughed and said, "We still need to go see the Fifth and Sixth Princes. Do you want to come along?"
Jiang Jun nodded, ignoring his slightly dirty outer robe, and followed them out of the courtyard.
At this moment, the Fifth Prince Jiang Rui was still lying on the ground, watching the ants by candlelight, as if he could never get tired of it.
"Have you figured out what's going on?"
"I discovered that they work together in a division of labor and can carry things several times heavier than themselves." After answering, the Fifth Prince Jiang Rui realized something was wrong. Who was asking him a question?
Looking back, he saw that his brothers were all there, so he quickly stood up and stood there awkwardly.
Jiang Jin said helplessly, "It's so late already. If we hadn't come, how long were you planning to stay?"
Jiang Rui retorted, "I was planning to go to sleep anyway."
"From now on, you are not allowed to lie on the ground after the lights are turned on. I will come to check."
Jiang Rui protested: "Mother said we're not allowed to interfere with us."
Jiang Jin squinted and said, "The Empress Dowager meant that the palace servants were not allowed to interfere with us, but she didn't say that we, as the imperial brothers, were not allowed to interfere with you."
Jiang Rui's eyes widened immediately, as if he were asking his elder brother why he was meddling in other people's business.
“I am your elder brother, so of course I have a responsibility to take care of you. Look at how dirty you are. Aren’t you afraid of ants crawling on you and making you itchy? Go wash up, and we will watch you change.”
Hearing him mutter to himself like this, the Fifth Prince Jiang Rui was still calm, but the Fourth Prince Jiang Jun felt even more complicated. It seemed that no one had ever cared about him like this before. His father only asked about his studies, and his mother only taught him manners and urged him to be good. Even the palace servants told him what he couldn't do or say, lest they give others something to hold against him.
Only his brothers would come to see him so late.
Jiang Rui had no choice but to go inside and wash his face and feet with water. It was the first time he had washed himself, so he did it very casually. He didn't even wring out the cloth properly. Not only was his body wet, but the room was too.
Jiang Jin took a deep breath, went over and wrung out the handkerchief for him, then wiped his face, hands and neck again, and as for his feet, she endured it for a moment and wiped them as well.
The others watched him silently. Jiang Ming admired him from the bottom of his heart; he couldn't do it, and he couldn't fake it either.
Jiang Rui froze, not daring to move, until Jiang Jin nudged him: "Can't you just take off your clothes yourself?"
Jiang Rui nodded, but when he tried to put his clothes back on, he couldn't get them right. So Jiang Jin had to help him. After that, he walked out of the courtyard first.
"Eldest brother, where are you going?"
"Go and see the youngest sixth brother. I wonder how he is doing."
Jiang Rui quickly put on his shoes and followed. Before the five of them even entered the courtyard, they heard Xiao Liu's cheers. Sensing something coming, Jiang Jin subconsciously turned his head, and then the mud brushed past the Second Prince Jiang Ming's hair.
"Jiang Gu!" Jiang Ming reached out and touched it, then took a deep breath in disgust. "What are you doing!"
Jiang Gu looked up, staring at them in disbelief: "Why are you all here?"
"How would we know you were still playing so late if we hadn't come?" Jiang Ming gritted his teeth. "You, a prince, are actually playing in the mud!"
The palace servants saw them as if they had seen saviors; finally, someone was going to talk about the Sixth Prince.
The five people looked at the courtyard. Many of the palace servants were covered in mud, not to mention the walls, windows, and doors. It was a complete mess.
"Go and wash me clean right now!"
"Oh." The sixth prince replied regretfully. He wasn't ashamed at all. In front of everyone, he stripped naked and jumped into the bathtub, then started cheering, splashing water all over the room.
Jiang Rui grinned, as if his sixth brother was even less reliable than him.
"What are you showing off for?" Third Prince Jiang Zhen suddenly tapped him. "You're not much better yourself."
Fifth Prince Jiang Rui retorted, "I don't believe that my brothers are acting the same as usual."
Jiang Zhen and Jiang Jun coughed awkwardly, and Jiang Zhen pretended to be calm: "That's still better than you guys."
"Stop playing around." The Second Prince Jiang Ming couldn't stand Jiang Gu any longer and simply lifted him up. "Get dressed and dry your hair."
“You help me.” Jiang Gu reached out his hand matter-of-factly.
Jiang Ming threw the clothes at his head: "Put them on yourself."
Jiang Gu looked at Jiang Jin again. Jiang Jin sighed slightly and then finished dressing Jiang Gu. Then, Jiang Gu's stomach growled.
"You didn't have dinner?"
"Hmm, you forgot about playing?"
Jiang Jin led him to the place where the food was served, and when he looked at it, everything was cold and definitely not safe to eat anymore.
"My mother said that if I missed my daily meals, I should go hungry."
"Brother..." Jiang Gu acted coquettishly very naturally, perhaps emboldened by the series of events that had just occurred.
Jiang Ming snorted from the side: "Don't be soft-hearted, he should be left to starve."
Jiang Gu snorted at him, "None of your business."
Jiang Ming felt uneasy: "It's no use asking the eldest prince to manage it. The Empress Dowager said that no one is allowed to send food anymore."
“Let’s dry his hair first.” Jiang Jin thought for a moment. “Jiang Ming, you help him. I’ll go see what’s left in the small kitchen, or we can take these dishes over and heat them up ourselves. We can’t really go hungry.”
"I'll help him dry it?" Jiang Ming was very unhappy. "Why should I help him?"
"Because you are his second brother, don't be awkward. Hurry up and finish baking so you can go eat something. Don't stay up too late, or no one will get any sleep."
Jiang Zhen quickly followed behind him: "Elder brother, I'll go with you."
Jiang Jun had a sudden inspiration: "Eldest brother, let me help you serve the dishes."
Not to be outdone, Jiang Rui followed behind with a plate of food, leaving only Jiang Ming and Jiang Gu staring at each other in the room.
Jiang Ming was furious: "I really owe you something."
Jiang Gu grinned, but his smile quickly faded as Jiang Ming became increasingly rude, constantly pulling at his scalp.
The palace servants looked at the disgruntled Second Prince, then at the loud and boisterous Sixth Prince, and couldn't help but chuckle to themselves. The Sixth Prince was certainly full of energy today!
"You all clean the courtyard. I'll go report to Consort Zhen so she won't worry."
Meanwhile, the various palaces and courtyards also received news of the princes' predicament of having no one to serve them today. Apart from Consort Shu and Consort Zhen finding it amusing, the others had extremely complicated feelings.
Consort Li, in particular, had a complex expression on her face: "I never expected that he would actually help the prince dry his hair."
She had always regarded the eldest prince as the biggest threat because he received the most favor, and she often tried to sow discord between him and His Majesty. Unexpectedly, the eldest prince did not hold a grudge at all and even took care of her son personally.
"Is this what brothers are? Is this what the Empress intends?" Consort Zhen said, her expression twisting again. "Could it be that she wants to be good to the Prince, so she wants him to give up the throne? Absolutely not, I will never allow it."
After thinking for a moment, Consort Zhen snorted heavily: "Zi Die, go and fetch my treasure box. I cannot let my son be indebted to the eldest prince."
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