Taking her into his tent, he incurred the wrath of a powerful and mad minister, from which he could

The crying has stopped.

Ji Mingzhe has suffered from asthma since childhood, and she was worried that her younger brother would have an attack if he got excited, and his body wouldn't be able to handle it.

Zong Xian didn't say much, only glanced into the room and said, "He's inside."

Mingyi hurriedly went inside.

Upon entering, I saw Ji Mingzhe and Zong Yue standing together.

Ji Mingzhe is perfectly fine, nothing's wrong.

The person who made the commotion was Zong Yue. His chubby face was covered in tears, and he was still sniffling and sobbing.

When Ji Mingzhe saw Mingyi arrive, his eyes lit up: "Sister!"

Mingyi knelt down in front of him, gently touched his face, and looked at him with concern, "Are you alright?"

Ji Mingzhe shook his head, then looked past Mingyi and landed on the newcomer.

Zong Xian stepped in and went straight to Zong Yue's side, gently scolding, "A real man should be responsible for his actions. What's there to cry about? Aren't you ashamed?"

Zong Yue was sobbing, looking very aggrieved.

Ming was relieved to see that his younger brother had not been punished.

"Brother Yue!"

At this moment, Madam Liu rushed over.

Upon seeing her, Zong Yue felt as if he had found a savior, and he buried his face in her arms, bursting into tears again.

Mingyi quietly pulled her younger brother aside and shielded him behind her.

Madam Liu patted Zong Yue's back tenderly, "Don't cry, don't cry, what's wrong?"

The second half of her question was directed at the old man.

The old man, after being glared at by Zong Xian, said sheepishly, "I took a nap, and before I knew it, the young master had slipped out to play, and was caught red-handed by the Second Master..."

Madam Liu frowned: "Why did he cry like this over such a small thing?"

"This... according to the rules, the young master was given three slaps on the hand."

Zong Yue has never been punished. Even if he made a mistake in the past, Ji Mingzhe would take the blame for him.

If Zong Xian hadn't been there, Ji Mingzhe would definitely have been the one to get his hand slapped.

Just as Liu was about to say something, Zongxian tossed her a piece of paper with a turtle drawn on it and said, "This was also made by Yue-ge'er. He secretly stuck it on the teacher's back."

Liu's expression changed.

Sneaking out to play during class can be considered a child's nature, but drawing a turtle on the teacher is a different matter; it's disrespectful to teachers.

In more serious cases, it could even be described as misconduct, which would damage one's reputation if it got out.

"This is utter nonsense!" Madam Liu immediately grabbed Zong Yue's ear and sternly reprimanded him, making him apologize to his teacher.

Seeing his mother's serious expression, Zong Yue finally dared not cause any trouble and honestly apologized to the old man.

After that, Liu took Zongyue back to be disciplined.

Mingyi took her younger brother's hand and said goodbye to Zongxian, but then he suddenly spoke up, "Wait."

Mingyi looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

Zong Xian said: "Stretch out your hand."

Mingyi didn't understand what he wanted to do, so she had no choice but to do as he was told and extend one hand.

Zong Xianyi grabbed her wrist.

Mingyi's expression changed, and she immediately tried to pull her hand back.

The old gentleman is still here!

"Don't move." Zong Xian said firmly, not allowing her to shrink back, and then took out a handkerchief to wipe her hands clean.

She had fallen earlier, and her hand got dirty from instinctively bracing itself on the ground; it was even a little scraped.

Zong Xian wiped her very carefully, from her fingertips to between her fingers, and then slowly to her reddened palms.

Mingyi inexplicably felt as if she had been licked by something, and goosebumps rose all over her body, causing her to freeze.

The old man next to him saw it and was extremely shocked.

I wanted to bury my head in my chest, so I quickly gathered the books on the table, packed my things, and hurriedly said goodbye.

As soon as the person left, Mingyi suddenly exerted force, pulling himself out of Zongxian's grasp and putting his hands behind his back.

"Alright! Thank you, Second Uncle. Don't get your handkerchief dirty."

She reacted rather strongly, her cheeks flushing slightly.

Zong Xian assumed she was shy, so he didn't press her, only saying, "It's alright, is your other hand injured?"

"It's nothing, just a little cut." Mingyi was afraid he would have to wipe her hands again, so she took out her own handkerchief and wiped them casually.

Zong Xian's gaze fell on her light pink handkerchief, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

It's not light blue anymore.

She changed her handkerchief.

Mingyi, unaware of Zongxian's ambiguous expression, hurriedly took her leave with her younger brother and maid.

-

"Ah Zhe, tell your sister, what exactly happened in the study?"

Once they reached a secluded spot, Mingyi knelt down and inquired about what had happened.

Ji Mingzhe told the whole story.

"Zongyue tried to pin the blame on me again, but my second uncle was very wise and didn't believe him. Later, he found out that Zongyue had drawn a turtle for the teacher, so my second uncle had the teacher hit Zongyue's hand with a slap."

"Sister, these all belong to Zong Yueqian, not me."

"Sister knows." Mingyi patted his head gently and said, "Sister doesn't distrust you. Our Zhe is the best boy."

Ji Mingzhe smiled with relief, but his smile vanished as soon as he saw the injury on her hand.

"How did you get hurt, sister?"

Mingyi smiled and said, "The roads were slippery because of the rain, and I slipped and fell on the way here. It's nothing."

Ji Mingzhe felt somewhat guilty. His sister must have been worried about him, which is why she accidentally fell.

It's still raining.

Mingyi took his little hand. "Alright, let's go back now."

Halfway there, Ji Mingzhe seemed to remember something. He looked up and tentatively asked, "Sister seems quite afraid of that second uncle?"

Upon hearing this, Mingyi's expression became slightly unnatural. "It's not fear, it's awe."

Ji Mingzhe looked at her but didn't ask any further questions.

Yuegui glanced at Mingyi with concern.

Yongshou Hall.

Zong Xian rarely had time to dine with Madam Zong.

As the maid Chun Tao was setting out the dishes, Old Madam Zong asked, seemingly casually, "Did you go to the study today?"

Zong Xian ate slowly and methodically, without even lifting his eyelids: "Hmm, go see Yue-ge'er."

"How come I heard you punished him?" His tone was somewhat displeased.

"That was your naughty grandson who got caught by me. I only gave him a few slaps on the hand. He's a boy, he's not that delicate."

Madam Zong frowned: "We can't just punish him alone, he's not the only one skipping class."

Zong Xian then glanced at the old lady.

Madam Zong continued, "Doesn't he have a study companion? What is the purpose of a study companion? It's to step in and dissuade him when he's being unreasonable, not to join him in his foolishness."

Zong Xian slowly put down his chopsticks without making a sound.

The more Madam Zong spoke, the more excited she became. "You only punish Yue-ge'er and not him, isn't that biased?"

"Then I will do as Mother wishes. I will send someone to fetch that boy and let Mother deal with him as she sees fit." Zong Xian said, then made a gesture as if to give orders to his servants.