As he spoke, the little prince, quite skeptical, took out his own cricket, Zhuifeng, and had the eunuch take away the other cricket that had just been fighting, while Jiang Jiuniang put her own cricket, Mafeng, inside.
Both crickets were quite polite; neither moved until given the order.
The little prince pointed at his Wind Chaser and muttered, "Wind Chaser, you have to win! If you win, I'll prepare a super big new house for you! I'll also find you a beautiful wife, and then you two can have a whole brood of little crickets, blah blah blah..."
Jiang Jiuniang was speechless. Why did this little kid talk so much?
She urged, "Are you going to play or not?"
"Play!"
The young prince stopped muttering to himself and shouted, "Chasing Wind, go!"
At his command, the cricket named Chasing Wind charged towards Big Mad Horse, only to be kicked away by Big Mad Horse.
With its size advantage, even the most powerful sprinter can't beat the Madman.
The young prince, unconvinced, shouted, "Chasing Wind, let's go again!"
Zhui Feng got up and rushed over again, and then came the pure torture phase.
During this time, Jiang Jiuniang didn't say a word, just crossed her arms and watched the two crickets fight.
"Why don't you just admit defeat? Your Chasing Wind is almost driven mad by the beating."
Jiang Jiuniang picked at her nails and blew on them provocatively.
"I don't want to!"
The young prince's eyes were bloodshot, but he refused to admit defeat.
It was rare for his mother to praise him in front of others, so he couldn't embarrass her, and even less could he embarrass himself.
"Wind Chaser, get up! Charge!"
His voice was hoarse, and tears streamed down his face.
Jiang Jiuniang just watched him, trampling the little guy's fragile dignity on the ground.
Chasing Wind was already on the verge of collapse; if the fight continued, it would be destroyed.
Jiang Jiuniang couldn't bring herself to kill a child's toy, so she reached out and took out the big toy horse, saying, "Fine, fine, consider it a win, I'm not going to compete with you anymore."
"This crazy horse was originally a gift from me to you, you can take it and play with it."
She generously handed over the box, thinking the little guy wouldn't accept it, but he not only took it, but also asked to have another match with Jiang Jiuniang.
Jiang Jiuniang said, "I don't have any other crickets."
The young prince pointed to the cricket that the eunuch had just put away. The cricket had just been chased and beaten by Zhui Feng, and it certainly wouldn't be a match for Da Ma Feng now. He was determined to win it back!
"You use that one."
He wiped away his tears and smiled.
He's got the "Big Horse Crazy" this time, he's sure to win!
Jiang Jiuniang glanced at him and laughed, "Do you really think I can beat you because Da Ma Feng is big? You're wrong. It's because I taught you well. Just you wait and see."
She took the cricket from the little eunuch's hand, put it to her lips and whispered a few words, as if she were imparting her experience. In reality, she sprinkled some strong powder on the cricket and then put it back in the box.
The young prince looked at her as if she were an idiot: "Cricket can't understand human speech, don't try to fool a child!"
The queen, who was hiding behind the tree, covered her mouth and laughed heartily when she heard this. He still knew he was a child!
Jiang Jiuniang put her hands on her hips and said profoundly, "There's no point in saying more. We'll know once we have a competition."
Then, a great war was about to break out.
Just when the little prince thought he was sure to win this time, the once-powerful Big Horse Crazy was brutally beaten by another tiny cricket and ended up on the same path as Chasing Wind.
He stared wide-eyed in disbelief, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"What...what did you do to it?"
The young prince almost roared, tears streaming down his face as he cried loudly.
This woman is a bad person; she only knows how to bully children. It's too much!
"I just told you, it's not that Da Ma Feng is so amazing, it's that I taught him well, why don't you believe me?"
"I heard your mother say before that you were really good at playing with crickets, and I thought you were really that good. But now it seems that you're not all that great. I guess in your mother's eyes, everything you do is the best, so she exaggerates like that."
"Sigh, what a disappointment! You can't do well in your studies, and you don't want to practice martial arts, which is bad enough, but I didn't expect you to be so bad at even playing! How come you can't do anything right? It's a shame that your father and mother still protect you so much and praise you to everyone they meet. You're really pathetic!"
She shook her head with a look of disgust, got up, and turned to leave with her hands behind her back.
She kept muttering to herself, "The deeper the love, the harsher the criticism. This little prince just doesn't study and has no culture, so he doesn't understand the principles. Sigh, it's really a pity for the Empress. She almost lost her life to give birth to him, and I never expected him to be so useless. He's good for nothing, neither academically nor martialally, and even his playfulness is terrible. Tsk tsk tsk..."
Her voice was not quiet; everyone could hear it clearly, including the queen hiding behind the tree.
From the moment she saw her youngest child start crying, she couldn't laugh anymore. Her heart ached, and she watched anxiously, afraid that her youngest child might get hurt by Jiang Jiuniang's anger.
After hearing Jiang Jiuniang's incessant nagging, the little prince could no longer bear it and burst into tears. This person was too wicked; he wanted to go find his mother, waaaaaah...
He ran crying towards the Empress's palace. The Empress could no longer hide behind the tree. She ran out from behind the tree, pretending not to know anything, and hugged her son in her arms with a look of heartache, asking, "Yan'er, what's wrong? Why are you crying like this?"
Upon seeing the Empress, the young prince instantly broke down, crying so hard he couldn't speak and pointed at Jiang Jiuniang while continuing to sob.
Taking the opportunity, Jiang Jiuniang gave the Empress a wink, signaling her to use her maternal love to completely win over the boy.
The Empress instantly understood her meaning and hugged her son, coaxing him, "Yan'er, don't cry. No matter what you are like, you are still my precious darling. I will never dislike you. If anyone laughs at me, I will tell them that you have older brothers and sisters to protect you, and that you are not a child who doesn't understand anything."
The little prince was stunned and forgot to cry. His mother's voice was so gentle, but why were her words so heartbreaking?
What do you mean by saying he's not a clueless kid?
Is this really comforting?
Does the Empress Dowager really think he's just a good-for-nothing?
Just like that wicked woman said, the Empress Dowager always knew he was a good-for-nothing, but because she loved him, she praised him to everyone she met, saying he was good and capable. In reality, he was just a good-for-nothing who was neither good at literature nor martial arts.
"Waaaaah, I want to go to school! I don't want to be a useless brat, waaaaah..."
"Mom, I want to go to school! I'll never bully my teacher again, waaaaaah..."
"I'm not playing with crickets anymore. I'll listen to Mother. Please don't dislike me, Mother... Waaaaah..."
The little boy hugged the Empress and cried uncontrollably, unaware that his mother was giving Jiang Jiuniang a thumbs-up and smiling broadly, her eyes barely visible.
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