The villain prince is three and a half years old

Ning Yuanzhong watched Xia Jing send Xue Zhaoju away, and thought that he would return empty-handed again this time, so he sighed.

He put down his legs that were resting on the table, stood up, opened the door of the tea room and walked out.

Walking past the South Study, he subconsciously looked inside and suddenly stopped.

There is only one desk in the South Study. After school, the desk should be clean, but now there is an extra notebook on it.

Ning Yuanzhong walked into the southern study, picked up his notes and flipped through them briefly. The notes were very new, and contained the content of King Jing's teaching yesterday, as well as part of Zhang Zanyu's lecture today.

Ning Yuanzhong was not interested in Zhang Zanyu's part. He took a look at the content of the King of Jing, confirmed its authenticity, and stuffed the notes into his sleeve.

When he reached the door of the study, he suddenly became suspicious and took it out to take another look.

The handwriting of the notes is different from Xue Zhaoju's, and it is much more beautiful than Xue Zhaoju's. It should be from the ninth prince.

Since he is the ninth prince, it is normal for him to accidentally leave his notes behind.

To prevent any accidents, Ning Yuanzhong went straight to the study and copied the contents of the notes with pen and paper. He only copied the contents of the notes of King Jing, then put the notes back to their place, and did not forget to copy the map on the podium.

Everything was done, he breathed a sigh of relief and walked quickly towards Anming Palace.

After entering the courtyard, the palace maids and eunuchs saluted him, but he ignored them and walked quickly into his study, spread out his notes, and studied hard.

He watched until the sun set and Concubine Duan was outside the door urging him to have dinner. Only then did he put down his notes and rub his head.

The notes were written in great detail, but he still found it difficult to read them.

"Zhong'er." Concubine Duan pushed the door open and came in, bringing a bowl of hot soup.

Ning Yuanzhong took it, put it aside, and felt a little annoyed.

When Concubine Duan saw the paper and pen in front of him, she was so moved that she burst into tears.

"Zhong'er, you've finally grown up," Concubine Duan hugged him, "You must work hard. The future of our Ge family is in your hands!"

Ning Yuanzhong was silent.

Chapter 185 The Ninth Prince is a Good Man

Concubine Duan continued to cry. The woman kept chattering, talking about a bunch of things in bits and pieces, from the situation of the Ge family to the competition for favor in the Qin family, from her efforts to win over to the ingratitude of some concubines.

Ning Yuanzhong's body became increasingly stiff, and he didn't respond.

"Zhong'er," Concubine Duan whispered in his ear, "Your grandfather said that the position of crown prince is unstable. As long as our Ge family grows stronger, this world will definitely be yours."

Ning Yuanzhong remained silent. Concubine Duan sighed and said, "You will understand later."

"What does mother want me to do?" Ning Yuanzhong asked.

Concubine Duan never cried for no reason. Every time after crying, she would ask him to do something.

"Princess Xi and Concubine Niu," Concubine Duan said, "We in the Ge family need them. Find a way to contact your fourth and fifth sisters, and if possible, bring them back to the palace."

"Can't mother do it herself?"

"Mother was too impatient and messed up. Now they have the Queen Mother's support, and there's nothing I can do."

Ning Yuanzhong continued to remain silent. Concubine Duan sighed again and left the study.

The door slowly closed with a click, blocking out the night outside. Ning Yuanzhong stayed in the closed room.

He didn't know what he should do.

……

The next morning, King Jing took the Ninth Prince and apologized to Zhang Zanyu, saying that he would postpone his class for one day as compensation.

Zhang Zanyu did not ask for compensation, but revealed the matter and accepted the Ninth Prince.

Xia Jing lay on the table, feeling like he had become some kind of gift.

Xue Zhaoju looked at his own prince curiously. He had clearly hidden for the entire day yesterday, so why was he caught so early this morning?

Because the Ninth Prince overslept today, when he remembered about the sleep shift, King Jing was already standing beside his bed.

There was no other way, the Ninth Prince could only attend class honestly and vow not to make the same mistake again tomorrow.

By morning, the Ninth Prince had indeed avoided yesterday's fate, but only to a limited extent. He had managed to wake up before the King of Jing arrived, but because he was too sleepy and walked slowly, the King of Jing caught up with him and dragged him back to the Southern Study.

The day's classes ended and it was dusk again.

Xia Jing placed the notes on the table and left the Southern Study.

He copied the notes from Xue Zhaoju simply to lure Ning Yuanzhong.

He planned to take his time, fishing slowly, without rushing to raise his rod. Ning Yuanzhong probably thought the Ninth Prince had been too lazy to take the notes back. He would wait until his fifth brother had taken more bait, and then casually tell him that the notes were left behind by the Ninth Prince.

Only in this way can Ning Yuanzhong be given the greatest spiritual shock.

Xia Jing learned this trick from the mass-produced chicken soup stories from his past life. How about when his mother always ate the fish head, thinking she loved it? Only after she passed away did he realize that she actually hated the fish head the most, and only pretended to like it so that the body would be left for him.

When Xia Jing was a child, he cried when reading these stories, and Ning Yuanzhong must have been no exception!

In order to deepen Ning Yuanzhong's "misunderstanding", Xia Jing even staged a scene. When passing by the tea room, he deliberately said loudly to Xue Zhaoju that it was too troublesome to carry the notebook with him, so it would be better to leave it in the house.

Ning Yuanzhong felt more at ease when he was copying the notes.

In order to do this, the Ninth Prince had no choice but to come every time Prince Jing was in class - at least before the get out of class ended.

The King of Jing would catch the Ninth Prince, and he would win and lose sometimes. But when it was his turn to teach, even if he lost, the Ninth Prince would come over on his own initiative. This made the King of Jing very proud. Sure enough, the Ninth Prince liked his class more!

Ten days passed like this, and Xia Jing got used to this kind of busyness.

He did not forget to go to Fuchenzhai twice, and during one of the trips, he met Concubine Duan again.

Concubine Duan did not come to Fuchenzhai with a difficult attitude, but visited her in a very ordinary way. Concubine Xi and Concubine Niu did not dare to stop her and could only receive her.

Xia Jing then "forgot" the handkerchief given by Empress Dowager You in Fuchenzhai.

As expected, Concubine Duan never came again.

At night, Concubine Duan cried in front of Ning Yuanzhong again: "That Ning Xia Jing has gone too far! If it weren't for that old woman, the Empress Dowager, protecting him, I would have skinned him alive!"

Ning Yuanzhong did not answer as usual.

"Go and teach him a lesson. With him here, I can't go to Fuchenzhai at all." Concubine Duan grabbed Ning Yuanzhong's arm.

Ning Yuanzhong did not answer.

"Why don't you help me? Isn't everything I do for you?" Concubine Duan shook Ning Yuanzhong's body.

"Is the matter in the Western Territory also for my sake?" Ning Yuanzhong looked up at Concubine Duan.

Concubine Duan was startled and looked around hurriedly, lowering her voice: "How did you know? What did you know?"

Ning Yuanzhong stood up, left the main hall and returned to his study.

He opened the drawer, took out a map, looked towards the western border, and tried to use the military knowledge he had learned to judge the situation in the western border.

He couldn't find a starting point at all, and the scattered military knowledge he had was not enough to help him understand the situation.

He still needs to learn more.

Fortunately, the Ninth Prince was used to keeping his notes in his study. With the notes, he could learn most of the lessons even if he couldn't attend them.

When he first started picking up the notes, Ning Yuanzhong was a little confused. The Ninth Prince clearly never studied hard in the Upper Study, so why was he taking notes now that he was in the Southern Study?

This confusion did not last long. The South Study implemented one-on-one teaching, so it was normal to be a bit strict.

Tomorrow is another class with King Jing. I wonder what he will teach this time.

This time we will teach you how to deal with various weather conditions.

At dusk, Xia Jing and Xue Zhaoju walked past the window of the tea room. Ning Yuan waited for a cup of tea and pushed the door into the southern study.

He took out his notes, copied them in the upper study, then returned the notes to the south study and placed them on Xia Jing's desk.

"What are you doing?" a powerful voice sounded.

Ning Yuanzhong was startled and turned to look in the direction of the sound. Inside the door frame, in the dim light, King Jing was leaning against it.

Ning Yuanzhong breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he had been discovered by the Ninth Prince, but it turned out to be the King of Jing.

Prince Jing had just come out of the Yangxin Palace and passed through the Qianqing Gate when he saw the sneaky Ning Yuanzhong.

"Are you peeking at your notes?" King Jing stared at the notebook in his hand.

"I was passing by and saw a book on the table. I came over to take a look out of curiosity." Ning Yuanzhong lied, "Ninth Prince is so careless. He forgot to take back the notes he took so carefully."

"Didn't I forget to bring it back?" King Jing looked at Ning Yuanzhong. He had a good impression of this prince. Before, when the prince was still in the study, they had a good relationship.

"Oh? Was it left here on purpose?" Ning Yuanzhong pretended to be surprised.

"There's no need to bring anything back, or even take notes," King Jing replied. "Although the Ninth Prince doesn't have a photographic memory, he can remember most things as long as he listens carefully. Plus, he has excellent talent, so even if the content is ten points, he can learn eleven or twelve points after listening to someone explain it."

Ning Yuanzhong vaguely sensed something was amiss, but before he could come to a conclusion, Prince Jing continued, "The art of war has long been ingrained in the Ninth Prince's mind, so there's no need to write it down in his notes. Lately, I've been wondering why the Ninth Prince has been copying Xue Zhaoju's notes every day. It turns out it's because of you."

Ning Yuanzhong was shocked, and a possibility flashed through his mind like a thunderbolt.

Yesterday he was still wondering why the Ninth Prince, who was so lazy in the Upper Study, became so diligent in taking notes when he arrived in the Southern Study.

He recalled the first time he saw Xia Jing's notes, which was the day after the boy escorted Xue Zhaoju out of the palace and he failed to get the notes.

Did something happen that day?

He said goodbye to King Jing, went to the tea room, and called the eunuch on duty.

The young eunuch was timid, and Ning Yuanzhong only had to hint at it a little before he told everything.

It turned out that Xia Jing had known that he was guarding the tea room for a long time.

Then, the notes in the Southern Study also...

Ning Yuanzhong returned to Anming Palace and sat in the study in a daze, not even bothering to read the notes he had copied.

The study door creaked open and Concubine Duan walked in.

This time, she took advantage of the day when Concubine Xian was sick and reached out to an old sister of Concubine Yi, but she didn't expect that Xiao Yue led Concubine Yun and Concubine Yi to push her back forcefully.

In Empress Xian's group, besides Empress Xian, Xiao Yue can also be in charge.

This made Concubine Duan envious. If there were no capable people in her group, she wouldn't have to run around on her own!

She then thought about how she should have had such a capable sister, Concubine Yun. Why did she and Concubine Yun become enemies? Because of family? That was a matter for later. The initial rift was because of Xiao Yue, because of the friendship between the Ninth Prince and the Seventh Princess.

"That bitch, Concubine Xian! That idiot, Concubine Yun! That bitch, Xiao Yue!" Concubine Duan held Ning Yuanzhong's hand and cursed loudly.

She did not expect her own prince to comfort her, but just confided in him that in the harem, the only person who could make her feel at ease and dare to speak to him like this was Ning Yuanzhong.

"And that Ninth Prince Ning Xia Jing, that little bastard!" Concubine Duan gritted her teeth, but before she could finish her words, Ning Yuanzhong moved.

"Ninth Prince is not a bastard." Ning Yuanzhong looked at Concubine Duan.

Concubine Duan opened her eyes wide and her mouth opened.

"What did you say?" She couldn't believe her ears.

"Ninth Prince is a good man." Ning Yuanzhong said again.

"He is a good man? He is a good man?" Concubine Duan's voice gradually rose, and she stretched out her hand, tremblingly pointing at Ning Yuanzhong.

"My mother has many misunderstandings about him." Ning Yuanzhong added fuel to the fire.

Concubine Duan screamed and trembled all over. "He is a good man, so what am I? He has harassed me so many times! And you actually say he is a good man! I am your mother!"

She grasped Ning Yuanzhong's collar tightly and looked angrily into her own prince's eyes.

"You are my mother, and he is a good man." Ning Yuanzhong looked into Concubine Duan's eyes sincerely.

Concubine Duan let go of his clothes and took two steps back, feeling frightened and angry.

"Your grandfather and I have worked so hard for you, and you dare to say such nonsense!" Concubine Duan was furious. "Get out! Get out!"

She picked up a vase beside her and threw it at Ning Yuanzhong.

Ning Yuanzhong dodged and walked out of the study quickly.

The palace maids and eunuchs stood in the yard, at a loss as to what to do. They only heard Concubine Duan's screams.

"Prince, what's wrong with you?" Yaolu stepped forward and asked Ning Yuanzhong.

Ning Yuanzhong pushed her away and gave her a fierce look. Many of his mother's vicious plans were thought up by this palace maid!

He quickly left Anming Palace.