The villain prince is three and a half years old

Chapter 186: The Scenery is Too High (Two-in-One)

Ning Yuanzhong walked aimlessly, avoiding the eunuchs who were patrolling the harem at night.

The harem was lit with scattered candlelight under the night sky. He avoided the stone lanterns and paper lanterns and walked for a while before finding a dark alley.

This alley is just right for him, as he doesn't have to worry about being seen by passing eunuchs or palace maids.

Entering the alley, he looked up at the stars in the sky. There were only stars to see, as the alley was pitch black.

The towering walls on either side blocked off a small patch of night sky, dotted with stars that seemed incredibly distant. He thought of his childhood, when his mother would sit in the courtyard of Anming Palace, and he would lie on her lap, watching the starry sky.

Those were rare peaceful times, much calmer than now.

At that time, the prince's position was still stable, Emperor Kangning and Queen Yin were still in harmony, and the harem was peaceful and harmonious.

At that time, his mother and Queen Yin often drank tea together, and he had a good relationship with the prince.

Not like now...

Shaking off the bad emotions in his mind, Ning Yuanzhong looked carefully at the galaxy. His mother had taught him the names of some stars when he was a child. He still remembered some of the names, but he had forgotten the positions of all the stars.

He squinted his eyes and searched hard in his memory, not for the knowledge itself, but to make the recollection more concrete.

After a long moment, he lowered his head. He had forgotten everything: the North Star, the Gou Chen, the Cowherd, and the Weaver Girl. He only remembered their names, but had lost their location.

He slowly squatted down in the alley and looked at the dark ground. This darkness did not require any memories and made him feel at ease.

A gust of wind blew in from the alley and passed by Ning Yuanzhong's ear. The young man raised his head, frowned, and put his ear to the direction of the wind.

He heard a rustling sound.

Standing up, he walked in the direction of the sound. When he reached the entrance of the alley, the voices became clearer.

"...Can I see the stars in the sky with this?"

"Is there Chang'e on the Moon? Are there cinnamon trees?"

"The moon is the most boring thing. Looking at the other stars is where the fun lies."

There were a few people stargazing, and the voices sounded familiar.

Ning Yuanzhong walked out of the alley and approached the imperial garden, where he saw several people in the lanterns.

They were the three princes, Ning Xiajing, Ning Zhixing, and Ning Shouxu, and the seventh princess, Ning Xuenian. A palace maid was behind Ning Shouxu, pushing his wheelchair. The other princes' and princesses' maids were waiting in the distance.

Ning Zhixing was fiddling with a device that looked a bit like a telescope, but was bigger and longer, with a stand underneath.

"Is it adjusted?" Ning Xuenian was a little anxious.

"It's almost there." Ning Zhixing adjusted slowly.

This astronomical telescope is the result of his hard work over the past few months. Of course, it is also inseparable from the hard work of the Ninth Prince in looking through the information in his dreams.

This is the first serious test of the telescope. The previous few times, the night sky was cloudy and the test was not complete.

Ning Zhixing originally only told Xia Jing about the test, but unexpectedly the Ninth Prince called Ning Xuenian and Ning Shouxu, turning an experiment into a party.

Ning Shouxu went even further. I don't know what kind of rumors he had in the ear of Empress Dowager You, but he actually brought Sun Jingzhu out and turned a party into a date.

The two children gathered together, Ning Shouxu and Sun Jingzhu gathered together, and he was the only one left, like a servant on both sides.

Muttering to himself, Ning Zhixing adjusted the telescope.

"Shall we look at the Moon first?" he asked everyone.

"Yeah!" Ning Xuenian nodded vigorously.

Xia Jing certainly had no objection.

"After looking at the Moon, let's look at the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl." Ning Shouxu said.

"Okay, take a look." Ning Zhixing stood up and gave them his seat.

Ning Xuenian went over first and looked around.

The excitement and joy on the girl's face slowly melted away. She raised her head, looked at the moon with her naked eyes, made sure that the telescope was pointing at the moon, and then looked at the lens.

The girl pouted. "Where's Chang'e? Where's the cinnamon tree? Where's the moon rabbit? Why are they all bare and gray? They don't look pretty at all!"

"I told you, the moon is boring." Xia Jing patted the girl's head. "There's no Chang'e, and there's no cassia tree either. But there is a moon rabbit, and it's right here!"

As he spoke, Xia Jing rubbed Ning Xuenian's head again.

This means that the girl is the Jade Rabbit and her zodiac sign is Rabbit.

Ning Xuenian smiled, then pouted: "I'm not a rabbit."

Ning Shouxu and Sun Jingzhu also looked through the telescope. Although they didn't find Chang'e and Wu Gang, they were also disappointed with what they saw.

When viewed with the naked eye, the beautiful Moon appears to be in such a dilapidated state.

"Look at the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl." Ning Xuenian said again.

She still didn't give up and wanted to see her poor lover whom she met once a year.

Due to the limitations of basic technology, the telescope that Xia Jing and Ning Zhixing made by hand was of limited effectiveness. When looking at the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl through it, the scene was only slightly clearer than what they could see with the naked eye.

"It's not fun." Ning Xuenian dropped the telescope and took Xia Jing's hand, "Let's go somewhere else to play."

Xia Jing thought, this is just a flash in the pan.

"Because that's not how you play it." Xia Jing pulled the girl and adjusted the telescope. "I'll teach you how to see something interesting."

Most stars are too far away from the earth, and even with a telescope, you can't see any details, but if you look at them closer, you can still see them more clearly.

"What is this! There's a ring!" Ning Xuenian was surprised.

"It's Jupiter."

Xia Jing adjusted the telescope again: "This is Saturn."

"There's a crack?" Ning Xuenian was shocked.

After observing the nearby stars, Xia Jing then taught Ning Xuenian to look at the distant ones. The telescope had a stronger light-gathering ability, allowing it to reveal faint stars that were difficult to see with the naked eye.

"The one twinkling in the north is Beichen. As you head south, you'll see the Big Dipper, which looks like a spoon. If you connect the spoon with the surrounding stars, doesn't it look like a bear? And look at the stars on the other side of Beichen. Doesn't it look like a little bear? These are Big Bear and Little Bear, the mother and daughter of the Bear family."

Xia Jing taught the girl to put the stars together and observe the constellations.

To be honest, the structures of these constellations are quite abstract. If you look at them from an adult's perspective, they may seem ridiculous, but they are just right for children.

Ning Xue Nian exclaimed, and quickly applied what she had learned to other situations, letting her imagination run wild on the stars.

After a while, the constellations Rabbit, Koi, Nine Princes, and Telescope appeared in her mouth.

Ning Xuenian was just there to watch the fun. After a brief surprise, Ning Shouxu was busy chatting with Sun Jingzhu. Only Ning Zhixing looked at the stars that were invisible and difficult to observe before, and understood the significance of the telescope.

Ning Zhixing thought, the Imperial Observatory would be fighting tooth and nail, and Emperor Kangning would be alarmed. In the Daning Dynasty, or indeed in all dynasties, the stars represented the will of heaven.

Outside the Imperial Garden, Ning Yuanzhong watched them with envy. His envy wasn't for the equipment that amazed the princes and princesses, but for their atmosphere.

The fifth prince could not remember the last time he had experienced this kind of atmosphere.

Ning Yuanzhong felt frustrated after realizing this. He didn't understand why the Ninth Prince and his men were so warm and welcoming, while Anming Palace was so cold and depressing.

He felt that the lanterns carried by several people were very dazzling, so he turned around and left, wanting to go back to his alley.

He had only taken two steps when two figures bumped into him.

Ning Yuanzhong was anxious and wanted to shut the two of them up, but it was too late.

"Good luck to the Fifth Prince." Two patrolling eunuchs paid their respects to Ning Yuanzhong.

The laughter behind him stopped, and Ning Yuanzhong realized that something was wrong. The Ninth Prince and the others had discovered him!

He felt ashamed, thinking that he was a millipede or an earthworm, an insect hiding in the shadows and spying on others.

"Fifth brother also escaped to wander around at night?" Xia Jing was surprised.

The feeling of surprise was real, but the timing of the surprise was fake. An incense stick ago, when he saw Ning Yuanzhong appear on the 3D map, he was indeed surprised.

"Come quickly, we are looking at the stars!" Xia Jing waved again without waiting for Ning Yuanzhong to answer.

"Fifth brother, come and see my treasure?" Ning Zhixing said with a smile. Although he didn't like socializing, he liked to show off his achievements.

Ning Shouxu didn't object. Concubine Xian and Concubine Duan were almost at loggerheads, but he and Ning Yuanzhong had never had any conflicts.

Ning Xuenian held Xia Jing's hand. The shadow cast by Concubine Duan still lingered on her, and she also felt a certain fear of Ning Yuanzhong. When she was born, Ning Yuanzhong was already in his rebellious phase and didn't quite understand his brother, the Emperor.

Ning Yuan hesitated for a moment, laughed, and walked to the telescope.

He looked at the stars and nodded: "Interesting."

Then he stood up straight, stopped looking, and looked indifferent.

The fifth prince is a rebellious prince who cares about his reputation and would rather lose the battle than the battle.

If Xia Jing didn't know his character, he would have been intimidated by him.

"Aren't you afraid of being caught for your night outing?" Ning Yuanzhong not only did not show any fear, but also asked Xia Jing and the others.

Ning Xuenian noticed the friendly atmosphere and felt relieved. She continued, "We've been on night tours many times. We have experience!"

Xia Jing had a bad taste in his mouth and deliberately asked, "Fifth Brother, how many times have you been out at night?"

Ning Yuanzhong's body stiffened, and he said calmly, "Do you remember how many breakfasts you had?"

"You're worthy of being the fifth brother." Xia Jing clapped his hands in praise.

He muttered in his heart, this guy is really good at talking.

"Fifth brother, you go out for night walks a lot. Do you know where to have fun?" Xia Jing asked again.

Ning Yuanzhong hesitated. It was his first time going out at night, how could he know where to go?

Xia Jing was just deliberately making things difficult for him, not exposing him, so he quickly offered him a way out: "I understand, Fifth Brother thinks going anywhere is boring."

"That's right," Ning Yuanzhong relaxed and came up with an answer. "But there's also a good place. There's an exceptionally dark alley over there that's great for meditation."

"I know that one!" Ning Xuenian said excitedly, "It's that alley where ghosts hide. A palace maid and a eunuch walked in and never came out again!"

Ning Yuanzhong widened his eyes. What? It’s actually a haunted alley!

Thinking that he had stayed in the alley for so long, Ning Yuanzhong felt cold all over. He looked around and didn't see any dirty things, so he felt relieved.

As a rebellious prince, Ning Yuanzhong certainly had the idea of ​​taking a night walk, but he never dared to do it. The reason was simple: he was afraid of ghosts.

"Just a ghost, nothing to worry about." His voice trembled.

Xia Jing gave him a thumbs up. Ning Shouxu glanced at his trembling fingertips and narrowed his eyes.

"It's been a while since we've been to that ghost alley. How about we go there again?" Ning Shouxu also had bad intentions.

"Forget it, there's nothing to see there." Ning Yuanzhong immediately objected.

"Fifth brother, are you scared?" Ning Shouxu pretended to be surprised.

"How is that possible? I have to stop there for a while every time I go on a night tour. Since third brother wants to go, let's go together." Ning Yuanzhong gritted his teeth.

Sun Jingzhu took his hand off the armrest of the wheelchair, poked Ning Shouxu on the back, and told him not to bully others.

"Haha, forget it. We are here to watch the stars today." Ning Shouxu said with a smile.

With Ning Yuanzhong's joining, the stargazing party became more lively. Ning Xuenian learned and showed Ning Yuanzhong the constellations she created.

"This is Brother Jing's seat, this is General Coal's seat, this is General Yu's seat, this is Jing Yixuan's seat, this is the Ninth Prince's seat..." The girl pointed one by one.

"Wait," Ning Yuanzhong frowned, "Why are there duplicates?"

"There are no repetitions. This is Brother Jing in a robe, this is the Ninth Prince in military uniform, and these are Brother Jing sleeping, Brother Jing running, and Brother Jing holding a slingshot..."

After following Ning Xuenian to look at the entire starry sky, Ning Yuanzhong felt dazed.

He looked up and found that the night sky was filled with summer scenery.

Isn’t the scenery content in this Milky Way a bit high?

However, the Ninth Prince is a good person, so a slightly higher content is not unacceptable.

"This one too," Ning Yuanzhong also created a constellation, "It's the Ninth Prince with horns."

"Can it grow horns?" Ning Xuenian looked at Xia Jing in shock.

Xia Jing's mouth twitched. What are you looking at me for? Ning Yuanzhong said that!

And what the hell is this about having horns? Am I a devil?

He took the telescope and reported to Ning Xuenian and Ning Yuanzhong: "This is Sister Nian'er who turned into a rabbit, and this is Fifth Brother who turned into a roe deer."