Late at night, in the Ruhui Palace.
Xiao Yanchen was reading a book earnestly. As he read, he couldn't help but think of what happened that afternoon, and he subconsciously touched his head.
Xiao Xizi had hit him right there with a snowball today.
Suddenly, a figure appeared silently beside Xiao Yanchen.
"Master, that little eunuch comes to bully you all day long. Do you want your subordinate to make a trip right now and silence her forever?"
Hearing this, Xiao Yanchen froze completely. His eyes turned red. "Of course not!"
"Xiao Xizi is my best friend. You are not allowed to bully her. She didn't bully me; she has clearly been protecting me all along!"
Xiao Yanchen looked at Seventeen with extreme disappointment. He felt that Seventeen was a bit foolish, unable to distinguish good people from bad ones.
Seventeen: ...
Seventeen silently retreated back to the roof beams.
To be honest, as a shadow guard, he indeed had few emotions and wasn't very good at distinguishing them.
But, snatching food, stealing charcoal, making the master wash clothes and socks, and even throwing snowballs at him—did that count as protection?
The night sky revealed a dark bluish-black hue. The snow had stopped, and when the wind blew, fine snow powder swirled in the air.
A few dim lamps were lit inside the room. A bare-chested man was wiping his sword by the light.
"Great General, I'm afraid the Seventh Prince has been bewitched by a little eunuch slave."
The man stopped his movements, his voice hoarse. "Explain clearly."
The shadow guard lowered his head. "That little eunuch usually steals the Seventh Prince's food and forces the Seventh Prince to wash clothes for him. Today, the Seventh Prince was bullied by that little eunuch again."
"But the Seventh Prince wouldn't allow this subordinate to deal with that little eunuch."
All the eunuchs who had bullied the Seventh Prince before had been taught a lesson by him, but this Xiao Xizi... could she have cast a spell on the Seventh Prince?
The Great General sat back on the couch and sneered. "The Seventh Prince has probably read so many books that his brain has gone foolish. Since he protects that little eunuch so much, you don't need to intervene. When he gets trampled underfoot by others, he will naturally realize his mistake."
People can't be taught just by telling them; they have to learn the hard way.
He didn't have any deep feelings for Xiao Yanchen; it was just that Her Highness the Consort had helped him when she was alive, so he was willing to protect Xiao Yanchen a bit.
As for anything else, he wouldn't meddle in others' business.
But the old imperial physician cared much more about this matter.
For this reason, he even specially went to find Eunuch Liu, asking him to properly discipline his godson, Xiao Xizi.
The old imperial physician gathered around the heating stove to warm his hands and couldn't help muttering, "Eunuch Liu, you should manage your godson. She is making too much of a scene at the Ruhui Palace; it's quite outrageous."
If it were any other little eunuch, he naturally could have directly reprimanded them.
But Xiao Xizi had Eunuch Liu backing him up, and he was afraid of offending this Eunuch Liu.
It wasn't that he looked down on eunuchs, but based on his years of experience, eunuchs tended to have rather twisted personalities. Especially those in higher positions, their temperaments were even stranger.
But he could also understand it. For a grown man to suddenly lose that thing, it was normal to become twisted.
However, Xiao Xizi was still so young; losing that thing shouldn't have such a big impact on him, right? How could he start tormenting people at such a young age?
Eunuch Liu leaned back in his rocking chair, casually cleaning his nails. He raised an eyebrow. "Did she slack off or steal medicine?"
When he first brought this girl into the palace, she was as timid as a mouse. He didn't know when she had turned into a monkey, scurrying around everywhere.
The old imperial physician chattered on and on about the bad things Ji Zhaoxi had done.
"He's still young. You should manage him more, so he doesn't go astray later."
Eunuch Liu brushed the dust off his clothes and smiled. "What are you saying? What crooked path or right path? It's just kids playing around. She probably doesn't even know what she's doing herself."
The old imperial physician's mouth twitched, and he stopped talking to Eunuch Liu.
If he had known, he wouldn't have come to find this Eunuch Liu. He wasn't a normal person himself, so how could he possibly raise a normal little eunuch?
The next day, Ji Zhaoxi went to the Ruhui Palace again.
Previously, she would get lost coming to the Ruhui Palace, but now she knew the way like the back of her hand.
As soon as Ji Zhaoxi arrived, Xiao Yanchen immediately handed her the sparrow in the bamboo sieve.
"Xiao Xizi, I caught it exactly as you taught me."
Xiao Yanchen looked at her with bright eyes.
Ji Zhaoxi nodded with a serious face. "Not bad, but still a bit worse than me."
Hearing Ji Zhaoxi's praise, Xiao Yanchen was very happy and nodded vigorously. "Naturally, I can't compare to Xiao Xizi."
The two ran into the room, while the sparrow on the ground squeezed out of the bamboo sieve in speechlessness and flew away.
Xiao Yanchen had just been practicing calligraphy, and there were still brush, ink, and Xuan paper on the table.
Ji Zhaoxi leaned over to look closely. Seeing where she was looking, Xiao Yanchen felt a bit embarrassed.
The Xuan paper was densely covered with one person's name. Ji Zhaoxi looked at it seriously for a long time. Xiao Yanchen's face grew redder and redder, and his heart became increasingly nervous.
"What does all this written here mean?"
Ji Zhaoxi asked humbly.
It was rare for her to have such an emotion as humility.
Seeing that she didn't recognize it, Xiao Yanchen's heart, which had been in his throat, settled back down, though he felt a little disappointed.
He said softly, "Xiao Xizi, I was writing your name."
After saying that, he lowered his head in embarrassment.
Ji Zhaoxi became interested. "I want to write my name too."
Xiao Yanchen shifted his bottom to make room for Ji Zhaoxi and said softly, "Then let me teach you."
Ji Zhaoxi sat down seriously and straightened her back, looking quite like a scholar.
Xiao Yanchen was also a bit nervous. In his memory, only a teacher could teach others how to write.
He forced himself to stay calm, carefully holding Ji Zhaoxi's hand, and wrote a crooked vertical stroke on the paper.
Ji Zhaoxi complained softly, "Why does this brush keep slipping down?"
Like a loach.
She applied some force, and ink dripped straight down the brush shaft onto her eunuch uniform. Xiao Yanchen subconsciously tried to help her block it, but the two collided. With a wave of a hand, the brush swiped right across Xiao Yanchen's face.
The air suddenly fell silent.
A slanted ink mark was drawn across Xiao Yanchen's fair face. He looked at Ji Zhaoxi, whose face had turned red from holding back laughter, feeling both angry and shy.
Seeing Ji Zhaoxi laughing so hard she was about to fall off the stool, he silently supported her and secretly dotted a spot of ink on the tip of her nose.
Ji Zhaoxi glared at him angrily. Xiao Yanchen lowered his head guiltily, rubbing the ink on his hand.
Xiao Xizi was so bossy. Only she could draw on him, but he couldn't draw on her...
But he only dared to think these words in his heart; he didn't dare say them out loud.
Finally, beside the burning charcoal fire, Xiao Yanchen held a damp handkerchief, clumsily wiping the ink off the tip of Ji Zhaoxi's nose.
He looked at Ji Zhaoxi's nose tip, which had turned a bit red from his wiping, and felt some regret in his heart.
If he had known, he wouldn't have put it on Xiao Xizi's face. Xiao Xizi was careless, but he had done it on purpose.
