The villain prince is three and a half years old

She had already gone out and returned to the Summer Palace at the right time.

She entered the house and rubbed Xia Jing's head: "You came just in time to see your brother's new clothes."

As she spoke, she took a robe from the palace maid and changed it for Ning Gaoxiang.

Xia Jing sighed inwardly. This Concubine Rou didn't even bother laying the groundwork and went straight to the point.

This starts with clothes and the comparison begins!

Xia Jing looked at the clothes in Concubine Rou's hand. It was a plain white cotton robe. Unlike the grayish white of ordinary fabrics, this robe was so white that it glowed. When Ning Gaoxiang put it on, it made his skin look brighter.

"What do you think, Jing'er?" Concubine Rou turned her head and looked at Xia Jing.

This fabric is called pearl satin. It has just been developed by the people and has not yet been included in the tribute list, so it is not available in the palace. This will definitely make the Ninth Prince feel unbalanced.

In the past few months, Xiao Yue was promoted to concubine and Xiao Jida was favored by the emperor. Concubine Rou told herself that it was no big deal. She was a concubine and her family was much more powerful than the Xiao family. But emotionally, she still felt jealous.

Any progress made by her opponent made her unhappy.

"It looks good." Xia Jing walked forward and touched Ning Gaoxiang's clothes.

He had just wiped the corner of the table, and his hands were covered with a thin layer of dust. This dust was inconspicuous on other clothes, but it was particularly noticeable on the white pearl satin.

Ning Gaoxiang treasured his new clothes, saw the handprints, and screamed.

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Concubine Rou hurriedly comforted Ning Gaoxiang, "The Ninth Prince didn't mean it, just wash it off."

She said to the palace maid, "Bring me a basin of water!"

After wiping off the fingerprints with water and washing Xia Jing's hands, Concubine Rou continued to seduce him with her clothes.

"As white as a swan." Xia Jing circled around the clothes, eyes full of envy.

Concubine Rou chuckled: "This is a new satin, which is not available in the palace yet. I heard about it and immediately asked someone outside the palace to buy it."

In a short prelude, she revealed her malicious intentions: "Jing'er is like a jade doll, she will definitely look good in clothes."

This was a hint to Xia Jing to go back and ask Xiao Yue for the pearl satin.

With the power of the Xiao family, it was impossible to purchase the pearl satin, so the Ninth Prince must have felt resentful.

"Is he more handsome than Brother Xiang?" Xia Jing asked longingly.

Concubine Rou hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Jing'er is young, so she will definitely look cuter than Xiang'er."

She intentionally changed the words, but Ning Gaoxiang didn't understand what she meant. He only knew that Concubine Rou said that the Ninth Prince was better than himself, and his smile disappeared.

Xia Jing felt that it was not enough, and added: "This dress is so finely made."

Concubine Rou nodded, not realizing she had fallen into Xia Jing's trap: "This was made by Wan Xiuniang, the most famous woman in the capital!"

"Oh." Xia Jing nodded and said innocently, "My clothes were made by my mother."

He raised his hand and showed them the clothes he was wearing. "Look at this little eagle. I asked my mother to embroider it for me. Madam Yun said that making clothes is very troublesome. My mother loves me so much that she is willing to sit by the candlelight for many nights to sew clothes for me."

Children are still naive and think that emotions are better than material things.

After hearing what Xia Jing said, Ning Gaoxiang's victory suddenly turned into a loss. He lowered his shoulders and felt jealous.

His eyes sparkled with desire as he looked at Concubine Rou.

Concubine Rou thought it was not good. It was over. Instead of letting the Ninth Prince compare himself with others, her own children started to do so!

"I brought some snacks from the imperial kitchen. Let's go have some snacks." She quickly changed the subject.

Chapter 84 The Ninth Prince’s New Skin

Clothes are only the most important trick. Concubine Rou also has other tricks, and pastries are one of them.

"How does this honeycomb cake taste? It's a cake that came from the Western Regions, and the palace has just started making it." Concubine Rou smiled, pinched a piece of honeycomb cake and handed it to Xia Jing.

Xia Jing looked embarrassed: "Thank you, Madam Rou, I don't want to eat this."

"Why? It's so sweet and delicious!" Concubine Rou was confused.

"Because it's delicious, I ate too much and I'm a little sick of it lately." Xia Jing scratched his head, feeling ashamed.

Concubine Rou was stunned. This kind of pastry can only be made by one chef in the imperial kitchen. It is not easy to buy. How could you eat too much?

"My father told the imperial kitchen that I can have whatever cakes and pastries I want." Xia Jing said the most hated words in the most casual way.

This was the privilege that Xia Jing had obtained by playing the victim when Emperor Kangning visited Jingyixuan.

Ning Gaoxiang suddenly felt that the honeycomb cake in his hand was no longer fragrant.

Concubine Rou gritted her teeth and quickly switched to the next battlefield.

"The weather is gradually getting warmer, and I still have a pile of crescent charcoal left in my palace..."

"The Emperor also gave a lot to my mother, and she also gave some to Yi Zhaoyi and the others!"

Concubine Rou's mind was in a trance for a moment, and she said, "That's right, Jingyi Pavilion is small, so it consumes less charcoal."

This is the transition to 'live'.

"Yes, mother is very frugal. She doesn't light charcoal fires in the East and West Side Halls when no one is around!"

Jingyixuan was small, but Xiaoyue had not only the main hall but also the east and west side halls. Concubine Rou was not allowed to use the east and west side halls in the Summer Palace. Who knew that a new concubine of lower rank would move into one of these side halls any year?

Concubine Rou's body shook, and she was shocked to find that she had fallen behind Xiao Yue in many aspects!

This made her feel embarrassed and also alert.

"Jing'er, is there anything you want on a daily basis?" She looked at Xia Jing with a smile and decided to find out first.

Yes, how on earth are you living worse off than me? Ning Gaoxiang stared at him.

"Mom rarely gives me toys." Xia Jing lowered his head and played with the glass cup.

"My room is full of these," Ning Gaoxiang said proudly. "My mother even used an annex to store all those things for me!"

"Yes, Xiang'er's room is full of new and interesting things." Concubine Rou finally found the direction.

She waved her hand and said, "Xiang'er, take Jing'er over to have a look. Let Jing'er take one, or two!"

Ning Gaoxiang's smile froze.

Why should I give my toys to Xia Jing!

This is because the previous pulling and stepping failed, and Concubine Rou can only work hard here.

If you want to arouse the competitive spirit of other people's children, it is not enough to let them see good things, you also have to let them experience and own a small amount of good things.

These good things given away can often accurately ignite the shame of the other parents, making the parent-child relationship more tense.

"Thank you, Madam Rou!"

Under Ning Gaoxiang's reluctant guidance, Xia Jing selected two items from his treasure trove, a painted pony and a wooden carving of an eagle.

"Brother Xiang, where are we going to play next?" Xia Jing held Ning Gaoxiang's hand, very enthusiastic.

Ning Gaoxiang pulled his hand away and fled: "I haven't finished my studies yet, I need to go study!"

Xia Jing touched his nose. The child was so frightened that he started studying seriously.

He took Rendong for a walk around the Summer Palace, but couldn't find his target, Ning Sisi.

Probably in the Queen's Palace.

When the princes reached a certain age, they had to enter the upper study room, and when the princesses reached a certain age, they also had to learn some etiquette and women's work. This place of study should have been the Cining Palace, but Empress Dowager You did not want to take care of these children, so she left it to the Kunning Palace.

"I'm going to the zoo. You take these things out," Xia Jing said to Rendong. "Send the painted pony to Yonghua Palace, the wooden eagle to Guanlanzhai, and the remaining glass cup will be with you for now."

Xia Jing did not plan to take these things sent by Concubine Rou back to Jingyixuan. Although Xiao Yue would not say anything, she couldn't help but feel concerned when she saw them.

Although Xia Jing climbed over walls, fought, and cheated children, he was a good boy and never made things difficult for Xiao Yue.

Honeysuckle nodded and ran back quickly.

She is more obedient than Xiao Tianzi. If she were Xiao Tianzi, she would definitely not let Xia Jing go to the zoo alone.

As the name suggests, a menagerie is a garden where wild animals are raised. It is a zoo in the imperial palace.

Xia Jing's Saker Falcon was kept in the zoo.

There was no way around it. The Saker Falcon was a bird of prey. No matter what the considerations were, Emperor Kangning would never allow the little prince in the harem to carry a bird of prey.

If Xia Jing wants to tame a Saker Falcon, he has no choice but to go to the zoo.

This greatly slowed down his taming speed. In addition, the Saker Falcon was more difficult to tame than the Coal General. Until now, the progress bar was still a long way off.

It would take several days before Haidongqing could deliver the letter to Ning Wanjun.

He felt that his progress was a bit slow, but his progress had become a legend among the eunuchs in the menagerie.

Even the eunuchs who specialized in raising birds of prey couldn't get the Saker Falcon to get close to them, but the Ninth Prince was able to make the bird stand on his shoulder!

This news soon reached Emperor Kangning through Xu Zhongde.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! The Ninth Prince is blessed by heaven and respected by all the beasts. All the beasts and birds of prey in the menagerie behave themselves well when they see him!"

Emperor Kang Ning's reaction was very calm. He was used to the showmanship of all parties and believed that this was also a performance.

However, the common people enjoyed watching such performances, as they enhanced the majesty of the imperial power. Emperor Kangning ordered a set of Xiongnu eagle-wielding warrior equipment to be custom-made for the Ninth Prince by the Chief Craftsman.

Xia Jing did nothing but got a set of handsome skins.

This news was passed to the Cining Palace in another way.

This was the joint work of Xu Zhongde and Huijing, and the middleman of the information was Yuhe.

"Empress Dowager, the Saker Falcon left by the eldest princess is very amiable to the Ninth Prince. The Emperor even gave him a set of falconry training equipment!"

After hearing this, the Queen Mother was silent for a moment, walked into the study and picked up the pen.

Ning Wanjun has arrived at the Beizhen tribe, so you can write to her now.

Empress Dowager You first wrote about the recent developments in the court, and then asked about the political trends in the Northern Zhen and the Xiongnu.

Finally, she wrote about the summer scenery.

"...What a sweet kid, you've been lying to me! Do you know what he said to me a few days ago? He said he's not you and would never go to Beizhen. Humph, if it weren't for you, I would have skinned him alive!"

After expressing her resentment, Empress Dowager You then described in detail how the Ninth Prince was naughty and disobeyed her discipline. She wrote so eloquently that by the time she put down her pen, it was even longer than the previous serious matter!

The corners of Empress Dowager You's mouth twitched. She took another piece of letter paper, shortened the paragraph about Xia Jing in half, and then shortened it in half again before she stuffed it into the envelope with confidence.

How could she, the empress dowager, talk about so many children's matters?

The envelope was placed in a locked box and handed over to the Imperial Stables, who immediately arranged to send the letter to the Beizhen tribe and to Ning Wanjun at full speed.

My friends scolded me for being too lazy, so I will start writing hard tomorrow!

Chapter 85 The Ninth Prince's Way of Making Money

After leaving the zoo, Xia Jing went to Guanlanzhai, where Rendong was waiting for him.

Ning Zhixing was taking inventory of supplies in the yard. Seeing Xia Jing come in, he smiled and said, "Is that wooden eagle a gift for me?"

"Yes." Xia Jing was puzzled as to why Ning Zhixing specifically asked, "Fourth brother likes carpentry, so I asked Ren Dong to bring it to you. Is there anything wrong with it?"

"There's nothing wrong with it," Ning Zhixing said, pulling the eagle wood carving from his sleeve and holding it in his hand. "It's very well done. The wood has a cold, hard texture, and the carving is rough. It's not very refined, but it has a wildness to it. It's a perfect match for an eagle."

Something was wrong. Xia Jing frowned. Ning Zhixing wasn't a boastful person, so why did he suddenly start talking at length, praising the wood carving?

I chose a wooden carved eagle from Ning Gaoxiang's toy library, just because I thought of a Saker Falcon. The wooden carving is not outstanding.

Could it be...

Xia Jing walked up to Ning Zhixing and nodded repeatedly, "Fourth brother is right. I fell in love with it at first sight. Ordinary woodcarvers may have good skills, but their aesthetic taste is terrible. It's rare for them to combine their style and the shape of their sculptures so perfectly. Look at these wings, they're really wings, and look at these claws, they're simply claws! It's truly a reincarnation of Lu Ban, a work of exquisite craftsmanship..."

Ning Zhixing blushed a little and coughed, interrupting Xia Jing's boasting.

This wooden eagle was his creation a year ago and had been bought by Ning Gaoxiang, but he never expected it to return to his hands today. He was in high spirits and wanted to show off the beauty of the wood carving to the boy to satisfy his desire to show off, but he didn't expect the boy to be so cheesy in his praise.

Now, it’s hard to say that I carved this wood carving myself.

He was at a loss for words, and the innocent eunuch next to him blurted out, "The Ninth Prince has a keen eye. This wood carving was carved by my master a while ago!"

"It was actually carved by Fourth Brother!" Xia Jing was shocked and looked at Ning Zhixing with admiration.

Ning Zhixing interrupted hurriedly: "Let's not talk about this. You want to go to the Cining Palace? Let's go quickly. I have something to do later."

His shame wouldn't allow the conversation to continue.