The villain prince is three and a half years old

"Go out of the palace and see if Xue Zhaoju is a sensible man and how knowledgeable he is." Empress Xian ordered.

She was worried that Xia Jing had been cheated.

"Let's do it today." Ning Shouxu wanted to resolve it quickly as there were only four or five days left before school started.

"Okay, if there is anything, tell me immediately." Empress Xian nodded.

Ning Shouxu waited for a moment, but there was no other topic, and a look of doubt flashed in his eyes.

Logically, my mother should have mentioned Jingzhu and discussed the arrangements at this time. Why didn't she mention it at all?

Ning Shouxu didn't rush to ask. He thought back to his plan. The final step was in his hands. No matter what problems occurred in the middle, as long as he could cut off the last step, there would be no problem. He was very confident.

Since you are confident, there is no need to ask more questions.

"Your son will take his leave." Ning Shouxu packed up simply and left Yanghexuan accompanied by Nanny Yuan.

Empress Xian followed him out and went to the Imperial Household Department.

The Jiaofangsi was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, but the Silijian also had some control. Banquets and entertainments in the palace were all coordinated by the Silijian, with the Jiaofangsi providing the personnel.

After listening to Xia Jing's words in Jingyixuan, Empress Xian felt that it was risky to directly push forward with the plan. Sun Jingzhu and her own child might not have any feelings for each other. She should not rush to send Sun Jingzhu to the common people. Instead, she should capture Sun Jingzhu and bring him to the harem to cultivate feelings with her own child Xu'er first.

She sat in the Imperial Household Department for a while. When the eunuch in charge of the seal came to see her, she said a few perfunctory words, sent him away, and continued to wait.

After finishing a cup of tea, Xu Zhongde ran over and knelt on the ground.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I didn't know you were coming. I went to the Imperial Stables instead."

"It's nothing. I came here in a hurry and didn't inform my father-in-law." Empress Xian helped the kneeling Xu Zhongde up.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Concubine Xian stated her purpose: "Fuqing Palace is too quiet. I am very idle. I want to find someone who can play the zither to add some liveliness."

Xu Zhongde thought that it was probably not that Fuqing Palace was too quiet, but that Yanghexuan was too quiet.

How could the things going on in the palace be hidden from the ears of an intelligence chief like him? There were also many of his people on the Jiaofangsi's painted boats!

If it were someone else, he would definitely refuse to help, not to mention getting involved.

This is not a simple matter of the prince looking for a concubine. It involves the daughter of a guilty minister and Yuzhou. Once the matter is exposed, it will cause a lot of trouble.

He glanced at Concubine Xian. Did this lady think he knew nothing?

Empress Xian was just pretending to be ignorant. If Xu Zhongde really knew nothing, that would be the best, and the matter could be done without spending anything. If Xu Zhongde knew, she also had another plan - the thousand taels of silver in the maid's sleeve and her own favors.

If that doesn't work, she can still go to the Yangxin Palace to ask Emperor Kangning for help.

However, this was a move that would only be taken when forced to do so. It would naturally be a good thing if Emperor Kangning agreed, but if he didn't agree, then there would be no more tricks, otherwise it would be disobeying the emperor's orders.

At this point, unless Xuer goes to ask for it in person, it will be absolutely impossible!

Empress Xian knew that her son was very strong-willed. Asking him to talk about this matter to Emperor Kangning would definitely hurt his self-esteem, so this step must not be taken.

You can’t gamble on Emperor Kangning’s attitude, and if you lose, it will be difficult to recover.

We can only start with Xu Zhongde, and the problem must be solved with Xu Zhongde.

Xu Zhongde was silent for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty has come to the Imperial Household Department. It must be because there are no musicians in the palace that you like. I wonder who your Majesty prefers?"

"I heard that there is a daughter of a criminal on the Qingshui River pleasure boat. Her surname is Sun and she is an excellent zither player." Empress Xian clenched her handkerchief and looked at Xu Zhongde nervously.

Xu Zhongde smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Within two days, I will send Miss Sun to Fuqing Palace."

Empress Xian was surprised and paused when she was about to ask the palace maid to pass her the banknote.

She couldn't believe it. Xu Zhongde was silent just now. He obviously knew something, but he didn't ask at all and simply agreed!

"Wei'er." Empress Xian called the palace maid behind her.

The palace maid stepped forward and stuffed the banknote into Xu Zhongde's hand.

"Thank you for the reward, empress."

Xu Zhongde did not refuse, which further confirmed Empress Xian's guess. If Xu Zhongde did not know the situation clearly, how could he have easily accepted the money?

Empress Xian thought that her power was not enough to make Xu Zhongde please her so much, and there must be other reasons.

She was about to ask when Xu Zhongde took the initiative to say, "Next month, classes in the study will begin. I wonder if the Ninth Prince is ready?"

"Everything is ready." Empress Xian replied, and wanted to ask Xu Zhongde why he mentioned Xia Jing.

Xu Zhongde still didn't give her a chance to ask, saying he had something else to do and left the room.

On the way back to Fuqing Palace, Concubine Xian pondered Xu Zhongde's words and had to believe a possibility: Xu Zhongde was telling her that he helped her because of the Ninth Prince.

But why did Xu Zhongde and the Ninth Prince become friends?

Empress Xian was puzzled. Apart from delivering gifts to Jingyixuan according to Emperor Kangning's order, Xu Zhongde had no chance to contact the Ninth Prince, and when he delivered gifts, it was always in public.

She went to Jingyixuan halfway, talked to Xiaoyue, and called Xia Jing to ask. Xia Jing pretended to know nothing, which he really should know, because Huijing hadn't revealed anything to him.

Although the reason could not be found, the result was this. Empress Xian added another restaurant for Xia Jing. Although it was not big, it was much more valuable than the shop.

……

Outside the palace, the Xue family.

When the news came from the school that Xue Huaiyuan and Xue Zhaoju were called away together, Xue Zhixi and her mother were extremely panicked.

The servant who delivered the news didn't know who called them away, and didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

Her mother, Aunt Gu, knelt in front of the Buddhist shrine and prayed. Xue Zhixi asked the maid to go find her eldest brother, while she sat at the gate of the yard and watched.

Whenever she saw a servant with a bad look passing by, her heart and courage would tremble, fearing that the servant would bring bad news.

She waited anxiously for an incense stick of time, and a familiar figure walked out from behind the wall.

It’s the second brother!

There were no external injuries on Xue Zhaoju's body. Xue Zhixi breathed a sigh of relief and ran forward two steps. She noticed Xue Zhaoju's dazed expression and became nervous again.

In the room, a family of four sat. The eldest brother, Xue Guanwu, had just returned from outside the house, his forehead covered in sweat.

Everyone was looking at Xue Zhaoju.

Xue Zhaoju explained the situation in a daze, "It was the Third Prince who called us. Xue Huaiyuan entered the room first, and the Third Prince said he was being disrespectful by entering with his left foot first. He scolded him and then tested him on the 100th word in the Analects. Xue Huaiyuan couldn't answer, so he was scolded again."

The three people listening were all worried. Even Xue Huaiyuan, the legitimate son, had to endure such a difficult time, let alone Xue Zhaoju?

"The Third Prince asked a few more very... difficult questions, and Xue Huaiyuan couldn't answer any of them. He scolded him for his bad behavior and lack of knowledge, and ordered the servants to send him to my grandmother."

Aunt Gu's face turned pale when she heard this, and she kept reciting scriptures. She was not knowledgeable, but she knew that these two words were an extremely serious rebuke!

The Third Prince finally ordered his servants to send Xue Huaiyuan to the Old Lady, just like when the Old Lady sent the three children to their parents last night, in order to ask the Old Lady to punish him!

"What about you? What did the third prince say?" asked the eldest brother Xue Guanwu anxiously.

He was already thinking about how much money to spend, who to ask, how to find out the situation, and how to make arrangements to reduce the punishment for his second brother.

Talking about himself, Xue Zhaoju became even more dazed: "I was scared at the time, confused, and stepped into the house with my left foot first."

"You - ah!" Xue Guanwu clenched his fists, and Aunt Gu closed her eyes in fear.

Only Xue Zhixi was as usual, even calmer than before.

Xue Guanwu and Aunt Gu were completely absorbed in their thoughts, but Xue Zhixi stepped out of the situation and thought more. She wondered why the Third Prince had done this, and quickly thought of what had happened last night.

She looked at her second brother, seeking validation.

"I thought I was done for, but the Third Prince not only didn't scold me, he even said that I was very brave for using my left foot even though I was scolded for entering the door with my left foot when I saw Xue Huaiyuan."

"The third prince gave me some questions to test me. Although the questions were not easy, they were much more normal than those of Xue Huaiyuan. I answered most of them. The third prince nodded and said that I had good knowledge, so he let me go back." Xue Zhaoju finished the story in one breath.

"Didn't they scold you or punish you?" Aunt Gu was surprised.

"The Third Prince also rewarded me by allowing me to read in his study."

Xue Zhaoju's trance was transmitted to Aunt Gu and Xue Guanwu. The three of them sat there in a daze, unable to make sense of what was going on. This matter was too strange, and they couldn't tell whether it was good or bad.

Xue Zhixi confirmed her guess that the Third Prince had come to vent his anger on the boy.

Xue Zhixi was curious about the boy's identity, wondering why the Third Prince was so protective of him.

During the day, she asked some people, but no one knew the boy's identity. The old lady deliberately concealed it. At the same time, the boy had a high status and was closely related to the third prince.

She suddenly thought of something, opened her mouth wide, and asked her second brother: "How old is the third prince?"

"Sixteen or seventeen?" Xue Zhaoju was unsure.

The boy was about three years old.

Chapter 112 This Prince Doesn’t Like to Hear

While Ning Shouxu and Xu Zhongde were "carrying heavy burdens and moving forward", Xia Jing was living a peaceful life in Jingyixuan.

The affairs of Xu Zhongde have been known from Empress Xian, and the affairs of Ning Shouxu have also been guessed through the interpersonal interface.

[Name: Xue Zhixi]

【Age: 5】

[Identity: Concubine of the Second House of Xue Mansion]

[Intimacy: 55 → 59]

In the morning, Xue Zhixi's intimacy level went from 49 to 55, and just now, it went from 55 to 59 again.

Zhang Chang must have learned about the enrollment this morning. Because the Ninth Prince's identity could not be exposed, Xia Jing and Old Lady Xue decided not to tell Xue Zhaoju that he was coming to the study room for the time being, and just say that he was an ordinary academy.

The increase just now made Xia Jing confused, but when combined with the intimacy of other characters, he could easily tell what happened.

[Name: Xue Huaiyuan]

【Age: 8】

[Identity: The second son of the Xue family]

[Intimacy: 43 → 40]

In addition to Xue Huaiyuan, there is also his mother, Madam Zhao, whose intimacy dropped from 48 to 47. Madam Zhao was more deeply domesticated by power and did not dare to resent the prince, so her intimacy dropped less than Xue Huaiyuan.

Before last night's incident, Mrs. Zhao's intimacy was 50, and Xue Huaiyuan's was 49. Xia Jing decided to replace Xue Huaiyuan, not only because of the deception and contempt, but also because of this intimacy.

Thinking back to this incident, Xue Zhixi's intimacy increased, while Xue Huaiyuan and Madam Zhao's intimacy decreased. Combined with Concubine Xian's anger at noon, it goes without saying what happened.

Xia Jing looked at his study partner Xue Zhaoju again.

[Name: Xue Zhaoju]

【Age: 8】

[Identity: Bastard of the Second Branch of the Xue Mansion]

[Intimacy: 57]

Xue Zhaoju's intimacy level did not change, and he did not guess the mastermind behind Xue Huaiyuan's punishment.

Xia Jing tutted. This little study partner wasn't very bright. Compared to Xue Zhaoju, Xia Jing preferred Xue Zhixi as his study partner. Not only was the girl clever, she was also attractive.

Unfortunately, girls are not allowed to enter the study.

Xia Jing didn't know that the incident in the afternoon not only increased the girl's intimacy, but also gave her extra fantasies. If he knew, he would not think that this cleverness was a good thing.

Ning Xuenian was still at the Qin family and had not returned yet. Xia Jing had nothing to do, so he practiced martial arts in the Shuiyun Palace until the evening. On his way back, he passed by the Cining Palace and walked in.

This time he didn't climb over the wall. Eunuch Xiao Hu, who was guarding the door, wanted to stop him, but how could he stop the Ninth Prince, a martial arts genius who had practiced footwork? After a while, he lost his target and stood there stupidly.

It is better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. Empress Dowager You was having a meal. Xia Jing sat aside very consciously, took a plate, removed the vegetables in it, and scooped some rice from Empress Dowager You's bowl.

Yuhe stood aside, at a loss as to what to do. Empress Dowager You watched calmly without saying a word.

After confirming that Empress Dowager You tacitly agreed, Yuhe breathed a sigh of relief, called the palace maid, added more rice for the Empress Dowager, and brought a small bowl for the Ninth Prince.

After dinner, the eunuchs cleared the food away and the palace maids brought basins of water for the grandparents and grandchildren to wash their hands.

Empress Dowager You wiped her hands and glanced at Xia Jing: "Why, did you remember there was an old lady here?"

There was some resentment in her words.

Xia Jing has been busy with various things these days and has not come to the Cining Palace.

"Busy." Xia Jing turned over and jumped off the chair to massage Empress Dowager You's legs.

Queen Mother You narrowed her eyes, a flicker of satisfaction in them. Since her grandson knew how to apologize, she spared him.

She stretched out her legs and asked her good grandson to pat them carefully. Unexpectedly, the boy only patted them five or six times before stopping and running to the door.