"One of our own, don't fight!"
Song Shihuan came trotting over and saw the two people wrestling with each other.
Gu Mingzhu and Qingchi each had the other's arm locked in a hold, the bizarre posture leaving both of them unable to move.
"Princess, this Qingchi clearly knows who I am, yet still called me an 'unauthorized person'. He really is just as 'missing a screw' as His Highness the Crown Prince said in his letter," Gu Mingzhu complained, never one to suffer in silence, her little mouth running a mile a minute.
"A gentleman uses his words, not his fists, understand? You threw the first punch!"
Qingchi increased the pressure in his grip. Gu Mingzhu's small face visibly flushed red from the strain. Clenching her teeth, she suddenly exerted force as well, making Qingchi nearly yelp in pain.
"Let go first, then we'll talk."
Song Shihuan urged anxiously.
"Let him let go first!" Gu Mingzhu roared.
"Let her let go first!" Qingchi retorted, not backing down.
"I'll count to three. Whoever doesn't let go, I'll ignore them!" Song Shihuan said sternly. When she reached three, the two obediently released their holds at the same exact moment.
Neither had gained the upper hand.
Gu Mingzhu immediately linked her arm with Song Shihuan's. "Princess, in the capital, I missed you so much I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. I rushed here post-haste. Now that I see you, my heart feels all sweet."
Faced with such sweet talk, a smile immediately spread across Song Shihuan's face. She was coaxed away by Gu Mingzhu without so much as a backward glance at Qingchi.
Qingchi stood there dumbfounded.
It wasn't until Qingling patted him on the back. "You, kid, rely on being the youngest to run wild all day in Qingyun Realm. Had your arrogance checked today, didn't you?"
"That Gu Mingzhu, her mouth runs faster than anyone's. The flesh on her cheeks jiggles when she walks, yet she 'couldn't eat'?" Qingchi acted as if his tail had been stepped on. "I must make Little Shimei see Gu Mingzhu's true colors!"
Hearing this, Qingling facepalmed, beginning to reflect on how he and the other senior brothers had raised their youngest junior brother to be so naive.
"Qingchi, is it possible, just maybe, that Little Shimei knows Miss Gu better than you do, and Little Shimei simply likes it when Miss Gu talks that way?"
Qingchi felt the world spin.
Favoritism!
......
Gu Mingzhu's arrival turned the formerly harmonious Qingyun Realm completely upside down.
Because whenever Gu Mingzhu and Qingchi were put together, they were a force of chaos on the level of troublemaking demons.
"My bird eggs?" Qingchi stared at the empty nest and let out a sharp cry.
"The bird eggs were... were all roasted and eaten by Miss Gu."
Third Senior Brother Qing Zi was the most honest. Watching the furious Qingchi, he pursed his lips. Would these two start fighting again?
"Qingchi, they were actually quite tasty."
They had all gotten a share.
Qingchi's face instantly contorted. She had roasted all his bird eggs and didn't even save any for him!
Brimming with anger, Qingchi went to the lakeside, only to find Gu Mingzhu and Song Shihuan roasting fish and steaming shrimp.
"So it was you who roasted my bird eggs?"
"Are you a bird that you call them 'your' bird eggs?" Gu Mingzhu shot Qingchi a disdainful look. "You dummy, I saved one for you, so stop your whining."
Qingchi, at maximum fury, had a bird egg shoved into his hands.
He awkwardly chewed a few bites and found it rather delicious.
"I, the magnanimous one, shall not stoop to the pettiness of a lesser person." Qingchi swallowed the egg and started eyeing the fish and shrimp greedily.
"Aren't you a general's daughter? How do you have these skills?"
"General Gu campaigns abroad year-round and knows best how to prepare things in the wild. Mingzhu is General Gu's daughter, so she's also very skilled at these things." Song Shihuan sat to the side, clean and pristine from head to toe, like a fairy.
This was actually because Gu Mingzhu had personally fussed over Song Shihuan's appearance.
Then, deciding the dressed-up Song Shihuan was too beautiful, she insisted Song Shihuan not enter the water.
Qingchi's gaze towards Gu Mingzhu instantly changed.
"So it's Heroine Gu. My apologies, my apologies."
Anyone with skills like this was destined to be his playmate.
"This old lady will let you off this time. Consider us friends forged through a fight." The flesh on Gu Mingzhu's little face still looked plump, but Qingchi could now somehow see a certain cuteness in it.
"I'll be your assistant."
Qingchi eagerly trotted after her, busying himself happily.
Only Song Shihuan, who wanted to go into the water but couldn't, sighed.
Her life was hard. Really.
......
Great Qi, Zichen Hall.
Everyone in the hall was trembling with fear. The Emperor these past days was like a balloon ready to pop at any moment.
"Third Prince, Fourth Prince, you are to lead troops and depart for Mobei immediately." Emperor Yuanyou's voice rang out, making everyone's hearts leap into their throats. "Once there, remember, you are merely delivering the troops. How to deploy them is up to Gu Mingning. If anyone causes a major misstep due to your actions, I will have your heads."
Thud. The two princes knelt on the floor.
"Your sons... your sons receive the command."
Then Emperor Yuanyou looked at Cheng Guang and couldn't help saying to him, "You usually dare to impeach even me. Now that the Crown Prince is delayed in returning, why aren't you impeaching him?"
"This official does not dare." Cheng Guang wished he could vanish on the spot.
The Crown Prince and the Princess went to find their master. By reason or by sentiment, there was no fault to find. How could he impeach them?
Impeach them on what grounds?
"You don't dare? Go back and reflect deeply on why you don't dare!"
In less than half an hour, everyone present had been subjected to Emperor Yuanyou's indiscriminate verbal attacks, except for Shen Qingping.
"Shen the Third, you can't always be busy handling cases. You must find time to write some letters to the Crown Prince and Ah Huan, telling them to come back and help share my burden."
Emperor Yuanyou felt bitter inside, having inexplicably become a lonely old man.
"Your Majesty, this official will write shortly. But whether His Highness listens or not, this official cannot be sure."
Emperor Yuanyou was taken aback. Thinking of Song Yu's temperament, his anger flared up again.
"Indulging in pleasure and forgetting home, this is simply indulging in pleasure and forgetting home!"
He must find an opportunity to pass the throne on.
......
One month later, Song Yu returned to Qingyun Realm, utterly exhausted.
Unlike his previous stoic refusal to admit pain, this time Song Yu staggered the moment he stood before Song Shihuan, the grime on his face not even wiped away.
"Father, you're injured!"
Seeing Song Shihuan's worried expression, Song Yu forced a smile, then immediately hissed in pain, putting on a theatrically pitiful act:
"Ah Huan, I brought the thing back. As long as we can save Master Qingshan, no amount of suffering on my part matters."
Having said that, Song Yu rubbed his knees for a moment, then supported his waist, putting on an act of being in pain everywhere.
Qingchi, standing nearby, couldn't help but speak up:
"Your Highness, are you itchy? Bitten by bugs? If it's itchy, I actually have some ointment."
Song Yu's nostrils flared with anger.
Really, how was this Qingchi as troublesome as Gu Mingzhu?
So, Song Yu spoke through gritted teeth:
"Thank you. This prince is not itchy. This prince is in pain."
