The villain prince is three and a half years old

"Your Majesty the Queen Mother is too kind to accept this compliment. I feel unworthy of it." Xia Jing clasped his fists.

"Come, serve tea to my great general!" Empress Dowager You looked at Xia Jing again, "Even the great general, those children are eating cakes that are not cooked at all. I guess you don't want them?"

"Pastry goes through the stomach, but stability remains in the heart." Xia Jing clasped his hands together. Pastries are a must-eat. The pastries in the Cining Palace are even better than those in the Yangxin Palace!

Empress Dowager You laughed again and asked Yuhe to order more pastries.

She fed Xia Jing a few, then stopped laughing and asked, "The Emperor wouldn't appoint you as a minister in the Upper Study for nothing, but he wants you to rectify the discipline in the Upper Study?"

"Grandma is so smart!" Xia Jing praised.

"So you came to me?" There was a testing look in Empress Dowager You's eyes.

Rectifying discipline is a common task in the court, ranging from rectifying a county to rectifying an entire prefecture.

Although the Shangshufang is small, the princes are of noble status and cannot use many methods. It is more difficult than the general rectification of a county.

If this guy's plan is just to use me, the Queen Mother, to suppress the chaos, then it will be of limited use. As soon as I leave, the chaos will reappear.

Empress Dowager You pondered what she would do if she were in Xia Jing's shoes. She couldn't replace Qi Ruhai, and she didn't have the power to punish the princes.

The only way is to strike in a differentiated manner, and the strike must be continuous.

Empress Dowager You frowned and blamed Emperor Kangning. Why did he give such a difficult task to the Ninth Prince?

"Grandma, this is my plan." Xia Jing took out the Little Red Flower Plan.

Empress Dowager You took it and listened to Xia Jing's detailed explanation, her brows slowly relaxed.

She looked at the little prince in her arms in surprise and admitted that she had underestimated the boy.

Rewarding well-behaved people with red flowers, deducting red flowers from disobedient people, and a series of other measures are equivalent to creating a reward and punishment system out of thin air. Using rewards and punishments, it is easy to play a role in dividing and striking.

Moreover, because it is a system, it can be sustained without much effort.

Divide and strike, and keep striking. This was exactly what she had just thought of, but now it had become a system that was far superior to hers.

She looked at the little red flower system carefully again and saw some shadows of the court's official assessment system in it.

Use the official assessment method to assess the prince?

Can it still be used like this?

Empress Dowager You felt more and more that this system was ingenious and perhaps it could be maintained permanently in the Shangshufang.

The method of the big red flower was the finishing touch. Originally, the concubines were only a little concerned about the studies of their own princes, but did not take it too seriously. In addition, the princes were of different ages and could not be ranked, so the enthusiasm of the concubines could not be mobilized.

Now that there are red flowers given out based on classroom performance, won’t the concubines start to compete with each other?

"Jing'er, do you want me to help you for a few days?" Empress Dowager You quickly thought of the key point.

The study room is in a mess now. We can't give everyone small red flowers and then choose the one who got fewer red flowers to give a big red flower, right?

"Grandma is so smart!" Xia Jing continued to praise her.

"What do you mean by 'smart as ice and snow'? That's just a compliment to the little girl." Empress Dowager You laughed.

"Grandma is still young, of course she can use it." Xia Jing insisted.

It is never wrong to praise a woman for her youth, and Empress Dowager You was indeed very happy.

"Okay, I agree." Empress Dowager You thought about how to implement it. "Just say that I want to listen to the princes reading, and come to the South Study to sit for a few days."

The South Study is just opposite the Upper Study.

"Grandma is the best!" Xia Jing hugged Empress Dowager You's waist.

The task was completed, and it was completed in excess. He originally wanted to ask Empress Dowager You, Ning Zhixing, and Ning Shouxu to take turns to go to the study, but he didn't expect Empress Dowager You to take on the entire task alone.

After eating some pastries, Xia Jing saw that it was getting dark and wanted to leave, but Empress Dowager You stopped him.

"The hostage from Yan State will be arriving soon. Jing'er, please accompany grandma to see him." said Queen Mother You.

She didn't like children, except for the Ninth Prince. She didn't want to talk to the Yan hostage, but she had to show a friendly attitude. It was too troublesome, so she decided to leave the task to the Ninth Prince.

Let Xia Jing take the Yan State hostage for a tour around the Cining Palace and have dinner, and that would be the end of the task.

"Okay." Xia Jing agreed.

He wasn't particularly interested in the Yan hostage, but he wanted to get intelligence from them about the neighboring Chu State, one of the dominant powers in the later stages of the game.

Chapter 143 Murdering the Prince!

Soon, the palace maids and eunuchs outside the house shouted loudly that the hostage from Yan State had arrived.

Empress Dowager You and Xia Jing left the bedroom together and went to the main hall, where they sat on the armchairs and waited for the hostage to arrive.

The footsteps outside the door were getting closer. Empress Dowager You placed her hand on the tea bowl. When the setting sun cast a shadow on the threshold, she picked up the tea bowl.

The prince of Yan walked in and bowed. Queen Mother You had not yet finished her tea when the room was silent. This silence was a kind of pressure that weighed on the shoulders of the little prince of Yan.

Xia Jing saw the little prince's trembling hands.

thump—

The sound of the tea bowl being placed on the table broke the silence.

"Get up." said Empress Dowager You.

The little prince breathed a sigh of relief, but the fear he had just felt had not yet dissipated. He stood up very cautiously, keeping his head down and staring at the floor tiles.

The Queen Mother You's action gave the little prince a warning, but this warning was not shown on the surface. On the surface, the Queen Mother You just drank a sip of tea.

Xia Jing thought that the majesty of the superior was constantly strengthened through these small actions. Ultimately, majesty was a form of intimidation.

"Raise your head and let me see you." Empress Dowager You said lightly.

The little prince of Yan raised his head, revealing a small face with some baby fat. His cheeks were as white as sheep fat, his lips were as red as the sunset, and his eyes were bright and soft, sparkling like the moon in a clear river.

Xia Jing thought, no wonder the rumors say that the hostage from Yan State is very good-looking. When I saw her today, she is indeed very cute.

Just slightly inferior to the Ninth Prince.

"What's your name?" Empress Dowager You asked again.

"Your Majesty, my father named me Nanzhi, which comes from the line 'The bird of Yue nests on the southern branch.'" The little prince replied.

Her name was Nanzhi and her surname was Yan, so she was Yan Nanzhi.

This name sounds familiar. It is similar to the name of the younger sister of the pair of sisters from Yan State in my memory, with only one character difference.

Perhaps it was popular in Yan State to name brothers and sisters with the same character.

Xia Jing lowered his head and tried to open Yan Nanzhi's interpersonal interface, but found that there was no character frame for Yan Nanzhi at all.

Now that I know the name, the character interface should pop up, why not?

Xia Jing thought for a moment, a name flashed through his mind, and at the same time, the character frame popped up.

【Name: Yan Nanque】

【Age: 5】

[Identity: Princess of Yan]

[Intimacy: 50 (-1)]

Sure enough, it's you!

What is "the bird of Yue nests on the southern branch"? It is clearly "the magpie flies south". Because "magpie" does not sound nice, it is changed to "sparrow". It is called "the swallow on the southern branch" which is taken from the second half of the next sentence "where is the branch to rely on"!

These are not important. What is important is that this is not a proton, but a proton girl!

Even a bold man like the Ninth Prince was shocked by Yan's actions.

Using a princess disguised as a prince to be sent to the Ning Dynasty as a hostage, hiss—

You know what, this trick is quite clever.

If Ningguo asks back, he will refuse to admit it. If the Ningguo army makes a comeback—don’t joke, after signing the treaty, removing the armor and stopping the food supply, it will not be easy to gather the army to fight again.

Besides, the protons were just a bonus; the point of the treaty was the city. Since ancient times, there have been very few protons that could be used.

It's too late to exchange the goods now.

It is impossible to compensate ten times for fake goods.

However, the Ning Dynasty must have spies in the State of Yan, so how come they didn’t discover that the prince was a fake?

Xia Jing was confused and didn't even listen carefully to the conversation between Empress Dowager You and Yan Nanque.

He remembered a custom in the game: if a child was born weak and sickly, it was a sign that the child was being targeted by an evil spirit. In this case, raising a boy as a girl, or a girl as a boy, would deceive the evil spirit and allow the child to escape.

Yannanque and Yannanzhi may be the products of this custom.

Xia Jing marveled inwardly. Because the Yan State fell early and early intelligence was scarce, he had no idea Yan Nanque had such a past.

So, the princess who came to the Ning Dynasty with her was the older sister of the Yan sisters?

This is not important. What is important is that Yan Nanque cannot keep it a secret forever. When Emperor Kangning knows her gender, Xia Jing dare not imagine what will happen.

This has nothing to do with the Ninth Prince. Although the Yan sisters are quite popular in the game, there are many more popular characters. Ning Wanjun and Ning Xuenian are more popular than them, not to mention Xue Zhixi, the white moonlight of most players.

The Ninth Prince had no friendship with them, so he would have helped them if it was just a piece of cake, but it was obvious that raising both hands and feet was not enough.

"...From today on, you can stay in the palace without worry. If you have any problems, send your servants to find Yuhe." Empress Dowager You's conversation came to an end.

She turned to Xia Jing and said, "It's time for the Ninth Prince to take the Prince of Yan for a walk to express his goodwill."

"This is..." She wanted to introduce Xia Jing's identity.

"I am the Grand General of the Imperial Study. Your Highness, you can just call me General." Xia Jing interrupted Empress Dowager You.

The trouble was with the Yan sisters and had nothing to do with the Ninth Prince. He thought Yan Nanque was quite interesting and wanted to tease her.

Empress Dowager You glanced at him and testified for the naughty boy: "Indeed, when you study in the upper study, you will need the assistance of the general."

Yan Nanque nodded in confusion.

"Greetings, General." She saluted Xia Jing.

"Prince Yan, you are too polite." Xia Jing took a sip of tea and remained calm.

"There is still some time before dinner. General, please take Prince Yan for a walk in the Cining Palace." said Empress Dowager You.

Xia Jing put down the tea bowl and took Yan Nanque for a casual tour of the Cining Palace. He introduced some of the situations in the harem, mainly the several princes in the upper study.

[Intimacy: 50 (-1) → 56]

Looking at the interpersonal interface, the Ninth Prince scratched his head, puzzled. He spoke casually and simply, saying only that the Fifth Prince was a punk, the Sixth Prince was a nerd, the Seventh Prince was a collector, and the Eighth Prince was a little bully.

To be honest, this introduction is very perfunctory.

This way, the intimacy level can actually increase?

This child is too naive!

What he didn't know was that among the people around Yan Nanque, he was already the friendliest one.

In the State of Yan, Yan Nanque's situation was even worse than that of the previous Ninth Prince. The King of Yan had many children, and she was a fake prince. What status could she have? Without status, she was naturally not respected.

When she arrived in Ningguo, the soldiers who escorted her all the way had just fought a war with the State of Yan, and many of their comrades died in the State of Yan. They were not in a good mood towards her.

Among such a group of people, Xia Jing, who is just a little perfunctory, is simply an angel on earth.

Angel Xia Jing was very busy. After dinner, he was afraid that Empress Dowager You would ask him to send Yan Nanque, so he hurried back to Jingyixuan.

While washing up, Yi Qiu wiped his face and asked curiously, "What kind of person is the prince of Yan?"

"Little Baozi, she looks good, smells good and tastes good. She won't resist if you bite her." Xia Jing said.

Yi Qiu was amused by this analogy. After laughing and thinking for a moment, he said, "This Prince of Yan is a bit like the Ninth Prince when he was a child."

Before Xia Jing traveled through time, the Ninth Prince was also a little punching bag, bullied everywhere.

Putting down the towel, Yi Qiu carried the Ninth Prince to the bed and covered him with a quilt.

……

In the morning, the sun jumped out of the horizon, but it could not jump out of the layers of dark clouds. The sky was dim and the cold wind blew through the tiles, making a rustling sound.

The light coming through the window barely illuminated the outlines of the objects in the room. It was quiet all around, and the Ninth Prince was sleeping soundly in his bed.

Yi Qiu soaked the towel in the basin and watched the cold water turn the soft towel into a wet and cold cloth.

"Sister Yiqiu, are we really going to do this?" Rendong stood aside, looking uneasy. "That's the master!"