There's nothing I can do.
"careful."
Gu Jinning reacted quickly, pulling Quan Zichu away with her left hand and using her right arm to protect Xiaobai, but she was no match for the white figure's speed, and several scratch marks appeared on her right arm in the blink of an eye.
The white figure landed nimbly, bared its teeth at the people, and roared; it was a white dog.
Gu Jinning asked suspiciously, "Where did this dog come from?"
Quan Zichu was still in shock when she looked at the dog again. She stammered in panic, "Cousin, this...this is Princess Anning's snowball."
Snowball is Xiao Ling's beloved pet, and no one is allowed to touch it. Quan Zichu is afraid of Xiao Ling and also afraid of dogs, so she hides behind Gu Jinning in fear. Suddenly, she exclaims, "Oh, cousin, your arm is injured!"
Gu Jinning wasn't scared by the dog, but she was startled by Quan Zichu.
"Why are you making such a fuss? It's just a dog."
"But it's staring at me."
Quan Zichu circled around Gu Jinning, and Xueqiu followed, as if eyeing a piece of fat meat.
"Look, it's trying to bite me."
"What's the panic?"
Gu Jinning hugged the little white dog in Quan Zichu's arms, and Snowball immediately changed direction and stuck its tongue out at Gu Jinning.
Gu Jinning understood, "It's not biting you, it wants to eat the chicken."
"Little White, go!"
Gu Jinning tossed Little White away with both hands. Little White fluttered away, and Snowball immediately chased after it.
"Cousin, this..."
Quan Zichu was worried and didn't know what to do when Gu Jinning pulled him away and said, "Come on, let's watch the show."
Little White flew and landed with practiced ease, heading straight for the cockfighting arena, where Snowball pounced at incredible speed.
Little Whitey clucked a few times and dodged away, flapping its wings and no longer running away. Instead, it faced Snowball and assumed a fighting stance.
Dogs eat chickens, chickens are afraid of dogs, but fighting cocks are naturally aggressive and fear no one.
"Guess who will win?" Gu Jinning asked with great interest.
Quan Zichu said, "Cousin, it's not okay for anyone to win. That's Anning's beloved pet, Anning."
Gu Jinning ignored her and said to herself, "Here's what we'll do: if Xiaobai wins, I'll give him to you for free, without charging you any money."
"real?"
While Quan Zichu was still hesitating, the snowball had already pounced on Xiaobai again.
Little Whitey kicked off with its two legs, flapped its wings and took flight, leaping behind Snowball. Then, in a flash, it landed on Snowball's head, stretched its neck and pecked at Snowball's head.
Snowball howled in pain, rolling around on the ground.
Xiao Lei, who was looking for Snowball nearby, heard a dog barking and followed the sound. He saw Snowball being teased by a chicken, its snow-white feathers turning grayish.
"Snowball!" Xiao Ling hurried over and saw Gu Jinning gloating on the side. He instantly got angry. "It was you who did this."
Gu Jinning rolled her eyes. "The dog wants to eat the chicken, so the chicken has to protect itself."
Upon hearing Xiao Ling's voice, Snowball knew its master had come to its aid. It immediately jumped up from the ground, stretched its limbs, and bared its teeth as it swooped down at Little White.
It was as if in its mind, with its master around, it was invincible.
With a flap of its wings, Little White met the snowball head-on and landed steadily.
With a loud "thud," the snowball crashed heavily to the ground, its belly rolled over, and it lay still. Bright red blood slowly seeped from its white-furred neck.
No one saw how Xiaobai killed him, but it was already an undeniable fact.
"Snowball!"
Xiao Lei rushed over in terror and hugged Snowball, trying to wake it up.
The snowball remained motionless, its body temperature gradually cooling, indicating that it would never wake up again.
Xiao Liu was trembling all over. This was her beloved family member who had been with her for seven years. She was truly despicable.
Seeing that things were not going well, Gu Jinning nudged Quan Zichu, signaling him to run away quickly.
Quan Zichu was terrified and secretly retreated.
"Gu Jinning, you bastard!"
Xiao Lan pointed at Gu Jinning, his eyes blazing with rage, "You deserve to die!"
Gu Jinning said, "It was your dog that chased my chicken first. Look, it has a mouthful of chicken feathers too."
Xiao Ling was consumed by anger and refused to listen to Gu Jin Ning's explanation.
"Guards, seize her and that beast, and beat them to death with sticks!"
Seeing that she couldn't reason with her, Gu Jinning said "You're sick" and turned to leave.
Xiao Ling ordered, "Wu Liu, Wu Qi, what are you waiting for?"
Two guards leaped forward and blocked Gu Jinning's path.
Gu Jinning smiled at them, "You don't need to catch me, I can walk by myself." With that, she turned and ran.
She turned the corner of the veranda and ran wildly along the cobblestone path.
Wu Liu and Wu Qi were in hot pursuit.
Gu Jinning turned into the alley, just as Yang Yu and Song Ming were walking towards her, she rushed over and shouted, "Deputy General Yang, save me!"
Before Yang Yu and the others could react, Gu Jinning crawled behind Yang Yu and pointed, saying, "Someone wants to kill me."
At this moment, Wu Liu and Wu Qi, whose view was blocked by the bonsai, flew over.
"It's them!" Gu Jinning shouted urgently, kicking the bottom of Yang Yu's scabbard with the back of her foot. A force propelled the curved blade "whoosh" out, drawing an arc in the air as it approached Wu Liu and Wu Qi.
Seeing the flying knife fly out of its sheath, Yang Yu leaped to catch it. Wu Liu and Wu Qi hurriedly drew their swords to defend themselves and began fighting with Yang Yu.
Song Hui drew his knife and was about to step forward, shouting, "What kind of thief dares to commit violence in the Princess's residence?"
Gu Jinning replied, "Princess Anning's guards."
Song Hui suddenly stopped, exchanged a glance with Song Ming, and looked troubled. "Is this...right?"
It's pointless to side with either the princess or the noblewoman; it doesn't matter who they choose.
"It's just ahead."
At this moment, Quan Zichu brought reinforcements, namely Xiao Heng'an, Xiao Liao, and several others.
Xiao Heng'an strode over and immediately noticed the injury on Gu Jinning's arm. He grabbed her arm and said, "You're injured."
Gu Jinning waved her hand dismissively, "It was a dog scratch, nothing serious."
Xiao Heng'an frowned slightly, pulled her behind him, and called out to them, "Ranyi."
Li Ranyi understood and stepped forward, saying, "Princess, let me clean your wound."
Without giving her a chance to explain, Li Ranyi led her into the pavilion behind the building, took out the medicine and powder she carried with her, and cleaned herself up on the spot.
“Princess, any dog scratch, regardless of its size, must be treated promptly to prevent it from spreading to other areas.”
Yang Yu realized that the other party was the princess's person and hesitated whether to stop. He was about to wait for Xiao Heng'an's signal when he turned around and saw that Xiao Heng'an had a serious expression and did not intend to stop.
Yang Yu knew he was angry, so he didn't hold back and used both curved swords at the same time, knocking his opponent back dozens of steps in just two moves.
Xiao Liang stumbled over, shouting like a madman, "All of you, get them! Take them all down!"
She wanted everyone to die with her beloved dog.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Liao's forehead twitched; he was truly troubled by his spoiled and arrogant younger sister.
Xiao Heng'an scolded, "Anning, if you're sick, go see a doctor. Don't act crazy here."
Xiao Lei sneered, "What right do you have to lecture me? Gu Jinning killed my beloved dog, so why are you siding with her?"
Xiao Heng'an stepped forward, his rugged face filled with anger. He shouted sternly, "You let your dog hurt people. If it doesn't die, I will beat it to death!"
Xiao Liu seemed to be frightened by Xiao Heng'an's imposing presence, and also seemed to have lost all his strength. He collapsed to the ground, his lips moving but unable to make a sound.
Xiao Heng said, "Anning, you are a princess, yet you have lost your manners for a dog and openly committed violence in the princess's residence. You have already violated the law. Do you have any defense?"
Xiao Lan pointed indignantly at Gu Jinning in the distance, "She's the one who tried to harm my dog. She deliberately took her anger out on my dog. Why should I be the only one to be guilty?"
"Hey," Gu Jinning called out from a distance, "Don't lie through your teeth."
"Princess."
Li Ranyi tried to persuade her not to be reckless, but Gu Jinning rushed over and pulled her aside.
“Xiao Anning, I’ll say it again, it was your dog that jumped out and hurt me, chasing after my chicken. They fought, and my chicken won, while your dog unfortunately died in the battle. That’s all.”
"Your dog is a treasure, and so is my chicken. You're less skilled, so why should I be buried with you? Even if we take this to the Emperor, it won't make sense."
Xiao Lei said angrily, "Your chicken is not worthy of being compared to my dog."
Gu Jinning moved behind Xiao Heng'an and spread her hands, "Then I have no choice but to go see the officials."
Xiao Liao walked to Xiao Ning's side, pulled her up, and said unhappily, "An Ning, stop making a scene."
Xiao Lei said angrily, "Brother, I'm not making a fuss, Xueqiu is mine..."
Xiao Liao lost his patience and snapped, "Shut up."
The argument attracted a crowd. A man entered the pavilion and asked gently, "What's all this commotion about?"
Li Ranyi slightly raised her eyes and saw that the person who came was wearing an apricot-colored brocade robe, which was adorned with large chrysanthemums embroidered with gold thread. His hair was tied up with a gold crown and jade hairpin, and his face was as gentle as jade, full of spirit.
Such an elegant and graceful demeanor, radiating from within, and exuding a calm and composed air, could only belong to Crown Prince Xiao Yi in the capital.
Li Ranyi curtsied and greeted the Crown Prince.
When Xiao Yi saw that Li Ranyi recognized him at a glance, yet remained calm and composed, he guessed who she was and smiled slightly.
"I wonder what kind of trouble my cousin has gotten into today?"
He spoke softly and gently, looking at Gu Jinning with tenderness, like an ordinary older brother joking with his younger sister, without any hint of sarcasm.
Li Ranyi replied: "It all started because a spoiled and arrogant dog wanted to eat a naive chicken. The dog accidentally injured the chicken's owner and was pecked to death by the chicken. The dog owner was grieving the loss of his dog and acted irrationally. The chicken owner insisted on being right and wouldn't budge an inch."
Xiao Yi stepped out of the pavilion and raised his hand to invite Li Ranyi to go with him, saying, "So, both sides are both right and wrong."
Li Ranyi followed him half a step away, replying, "There's a reason for this, but in principle, the law takes precedence over sentiment."
Xiao Yi looked at Li Ranyi and smiled tacitly, "People have a lot of criticism of my cousin's words and deeds. They always think she is the one who is impolite and never reason with her. Miss Li is one of the few fair people."
As they spoke, the two arrived at the scene of the disturbance, where the crowd quickly stopped their fighting and bowed to Xiao Yi.
Xiao Yi nodded, raised his arm and placed his hand on Xiao Heng's head, bowed respectfully and addressed him as "Uncle Wang," before dismissing the others from further formalities.
Gu Jinning gave a perfunctory bow and said, "Cousin Crown Prince, it's rare for you to come to the Princess's residence, and I'm ashamed that you've encountered such a distressing situation."
Xiao Yi shook his head helplessly, half-scolding and half-doting, and said, "With you around, I don't expect peace to prevail."
Gu Jinning turned her head away and said arrogantly, "This time it wasn't me who caused the trouble."
Xiao Yi looked around, his gaze landing on Xiao Yi. Her clothes were slightly disheveled, her face was pale, and the old woman behind her was holding the lifeless Xueqiu.
Xiao Yi said, "This matter is nothing more than both sides feeling indignant for their beloved pets, which is understandable. Why don't we each take a step back and resolve this peacefully? Do we really have to take it to the government and anger the Emperor?"
Xiao Lan was already angry because of her constant rivalry and setbacks with Gu Jin Ning. She was jealous that Gu Jin Ning had Gu Xue Shu's protection, Xiao Heng An's protection, and that the Crown Prince would still protect her, while her own brother was unwilling to cause trouble and always asked her to be tolerant and inferior. She couldn't help but shed tears.
"How dare I disobey the Crown Prince's orders?" she said defiantly.
Xiao Yi reasoned, "Your Majesty, let's discuss right and wrong. The dog injured the person, but the person is more important than the dog. The dog eating the chicken was the cause, the chicken's resistance was understandable, and the dog losing its paw to the chicken was an accident. You can hold the chicken accountable, but you shouldn't have used force against Jin Ning."
"In this way, if you have grievances in your heart, then let Jin Ning hand over the culprit and let you deal with him as you see fit."
After speaking, Xiao Yi turned to Gu Jinning, demanding an explanation from her.
Gu Jinning immediately understood and winked at Quan Zichu, "Cousin, go and catch that white chicken so the princess can vent her anger on it."
Quan Zichu hurriedly agreed and ran off.
A moment later, Quan Zichu brought over a white-feathered fighting rooster. "Your Highness, the rooster is here."
The chicken also had white feathers, but it was missing several feathers. It was about the same size as Little White, but it looked older and had lost some of its vitality.
Gu Jinning secretly gave Quan Zichu a thumbs up, stepped forward to take the chicken, and handed it to Xiao Liu, saying, "Here, this is for you. This is my treasure, and I reluctantly parted with it to make up for it."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
