Chapter 19: A four-year-old child outwits the third prince, infuriating him to the point of exploding!
The next day, in the Imperial Garden.
Princess Jianing followed behind Mu Yu, watching Mu Yu squat by the koi pond, her little mouth opening and closing as if she were talking to the fish in the water.
"My little ancestor, you've finally arrived! The commotion in the palace yesterday really scared us aquatic relatives!" A red koi carp floated to the surface and blew a string of bubbles at Mu Yu.
Another golden koi squeezed over, its whiskers swaying: "It's all over. They say you've grown your first protective dragon scale. Our koi clan is counting on you!"
Mu Yu put her hands behind her back, puffed out her little chest, and said proudly, "Of course, I'm amazing!"
Princess Jianing couldn't understand it, but she felt that the little princess was very close to these fish, and even the way she fed them was more interesting than others.
A voice rang out from behind them, interrupting Mu Yu's conversation with her relatives.
"This must be Princess Anguo. She is indeed exceptionally intelligent."
Mu Yu turned around and saw a young man in a brocade robe standing not far away, followed by several eunuchs, each carrying a tray covered with a red cloth.
In Mu Yu's vision, the boy was surrounded by a cloud of gray mist, with several black threads swirling around it.
This color is not good.
It's somewhat similar to what my brother, the Crown Prince, has, but not as intense.
Mu Yu immediately stood up, spread her small arms to shield Jia Ning behind her, and asked warily, "Who are you? I don't know you."
Chu Huaijin paused for a moment, surprised that this four-and-a-half-year-old toddler was so wary.
He softened his voice, trying to sound harmless: "I am your third brother, Chu Huaijin. I heard that the princess was frightened yesterday, so I specially prepared some little trinkets to calm your nerves."
He winked at the eunuch behind him.
The eunuchs lifted the red cloth on the tray.
A bunch of shiny things appeared before my eyes.
The East China Sea Pearl, the Western Regions Glass Cup, and the South China Sea Coral—each one is dazzling and incredibly valuable.
Chu Huaijin was very confident that no child could refuse such a thing, especially a girl.
Mu Yu glanced at it once and then pouted.
"It's not good-looking."
Chu Huaijin's prepared remarks all got stuck in his throat.
"It's not as shiny as the iron plates on my father's armor, nor as beautiful as the golden light on Brother Jinlong's body," Mu Yu commented earnestly.
In Mu Yu's eyes, the light emitted by these inanimate objects was incomparable to the vibrant radiance of national destiny and fortune.
Chu Huaijin looked somewhat embarrassed.
He changed tactics, pointing to the food box next to the tray: "Your Majesty, you also have some candied lotus root and honeydew melons from the Western Regions, which are newly tributed from Jiangnan. Would you like to try some?"
Mu Yu twitched her nose, as if she smelled something sweet, but still firmly shook her head.
“My father said that I should not eat anything given to me by strangers.”
Mu Yu added in her mind, "Especially things given by strangers whose clothes are not nicely colored."
Chu Huaijin's patience was being rapidly exhausted.
He decided to approach it from another angle.
He pointed to the koi in the pond and asked in a pretentious tone, "Does the princess know why the red koi are considered beautiful, the golden ones are considered noble, while the black ones are often regarded as ominous?"
He wanted to use this as a pretext to imply to Mu Yu that the unusual phenomena appearing on her body were not necessarily auspicious omens.
Before Mu Yu could answer, a clear voice interrupted from the side.
"Your Highness is mistaken."
Everyone looked over and saw a boy who looked to be about ten years old walking over.
The boy was wearing a moon-white long robe, with his hands behind his back, and he walked with a proper and measured gait.
"Yan Ziche?" Chu Huaijin recognized him; he was the most beloved grandson of the current Grand Tutor and a famous child prodigy in the capital.
Yan Ziche cupped his hands in greeting to Chu Huaijin, then looked directly at Mu Yu and sized her up from head to toe.
"Are you the little princess who said in the imperial palace that the crown prince should go home and grow sweet potatoes?"
Mu Yu tilted her head, looking at the young man who had suddenly appeared: "Yes, and who are you?"
"My name is Yan Ziche."
After saying his name, Yan Ziche pointed to the koi in the pond and continued the previous topic. His voice was not loud, but every word was clear.
"The Book of Fish Appreciation says: 'Black carp wards off evil spirits, golden carp attracts wealth, and red carp brings good fortune.' Black koi are believed to ward off evil spirits and disasters in feng shui, so how can they be considered unlucky? Your Highness is well-read, surely you are familiar with this story?"
These words completely thwarted Chu Huaijin's earlier attempt to guide the conversation.
Chu Huaijin's face turned pale and then red. He was refuted in public by a ten-year-old child, but he couldn't find any words to refute him.
Yan Ziche didn't even look at him, but continued to stare at Mu Yu, commenting in a mature tone: "It seems the rumors are true, you are indeed very good at tattling, and very good at grasping the key points."
Mu Yu put her hands on her hips and puffed out her small chest: "That's right!"
Yan Ziche nodded, seemingly acknowledging Mu Yu's abilities.
Then, he took a small oil paper packet out of his sleeve and handed it over.
Here, take it.
Mu Yu immediately became alert: "What is this?"
Yan Ziche's face showed a hint of impatience: "My grandfather specially made licorice apricots, good for soothing the throat. You shouted for so long in court yesterday, your throat must be sore. Take it or leave it!"
Mu Yu glanced at him secretly.
This young man has a light white auspicious color on him, very clean, the same color as Xiao Beichen's.
He is a good person.
Mu Yu reached out and took the oil paper package, opened it and smelled it. A sweet and sour smell wafted into her nose, which smelled very nice.
Mu Yu picked up a piece and put it in her mouth, her eyes instantly narrowing into slits.
"tasty!"
Mu Yu picked up another one and turned to hand it to Jia Ning next to her: "Poor thing, you have one too."
Jia Ning glanced timidly at Yan Ziche before reaching out to take it, and whispered a thank you.
Chu Huaijin stood there, watching the three children divide the snacks among themselves, completely ignoring him. His hands were clenched into fists inside his sleeves.
All the rare treasures and delicacies he had meticulously prepared were no match for a small packet of licorice apricots!
"Yan Ziche, you..."
Yan Ziche looked up at him with an innocent expression: "Does Your Highness have anything else? If not, we're going to go see the butterflies over there. I saw a very rare swallowtail butterfly just now, but it flew away too late."
After saying that, Yan Ziche took Mu Yu's hand.
Mu Yu took Jia Ning's hand again.
The three little ones held hands, took their short strides, and ran off into the distance.
On the path in the Imperial Garden, only Chu Huaijin and his pile of priceless "junk" remained, standing in the wind.
"Your Highness..." The eunuch beside him tried to offer some words of comfort.
"Get out!" Chu Huaijin roared.
Chu Chongjin, Xiao Beichen, and now Yan Ziche has appeared!
What magic does this wild child from the countryside possess?
He stared in the direction where the three children had disappeared, his eyes darkening.
He turned around and spoke in a low voice to his trusted eunuch.
"Go and invite Miss Liu here. Tell her I have something important to discuss with her."
If one person can't do it, then find allies.
He refused to believe that he, along with the Liu family, couldn't deal with a four-and-a-half-year-old toddler!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
