The villain prince is three and a half years old

"Fifth Prince, the Queen wants you to come over." Yaolu said.

Ning Yuanzhong put down the puzzle in his hand and went to the side room of the main hall. Concubine Duan was lying on the Luohan bed, packing the jewelry in the box.

Ning Yuanzhong glanced at the gold, silver, and jewelry, then looked at his mother's face. The previous argument had left no trace. His mother was still the same as before, though she was less complaining and grumbling.

Concubine Duan closed the box, waved to Ning Yuanzhong, and smiled: "Zhong'er went to the Cining Palace today? And met the Crown Prince?"

"Yes." Ning Yuanzhong replied.

"The Queen Mother and the Crown Prince are both very important people. You must build good relationships with them." Concubine Duan looked expectant. "Have you ever told them about your grandfather?"

"No." Ning Yuanzhong's heart felt a little cold.

"There's no rush. Let's talk about this again when our relationship improves." Concubine Duan pulled Ning Yuanzhong's clothes and asked him to sit on the bed. "You must remember that your grandfather is your greatest support..."

"My father is my greatest support." Ning Yuanzhong couldn't help but interrupted Concubine Duan.

"Your father is no one's support, he doesn't care about anyone." Concubine Duan held Ning Yuanzhong's wrist tightly and looked at him seriously, "Only your grandfather will support you. Without him, you can't become the crown prince!"

Ning Yuanzhong didn't say anything.

Before falling asleep, his mother's words echoed in his mind, and he tossed and turned, unable to find peace.

Early in the morning, Concubine Duan woke him up.

"Eat the porridge quickly and go to class early. I asked Yaolu to ask, and your little red flower ranks first. As long as you work harder today, you can have a meal with your father." Concubine Duan held the bowl of porridge and fed Ning Yuanzhong with a spoon.

Ning Yuanzhong took the bowl, drank a few sips, and changed his clothes.

He walked out of Anming Palace and went to the upper study, leaning against the door in a daze.

He had long been accustomed to his mother's nagging. His mother had been nagging him in the same way in the past years.

But it was different recently. Ning Yuanzhong recalled what he overheard when he visited his mother, and the eagerness and madness in his mother's eyes, and felt uneasy and scared.

He wanted to escape. He had been half-escaping for more than ten years and had been a playboy prince for more than ten years, but he still couldn't leave it alone.

He thought of Ning Shouxu and wondered how great it would have been if he had been the one to fall off the horse while bravely saving the emperor that day.

In this way, both my mother and my grandfather can stop thinking about it.

He looked at the glass beside him. Ning Chengrui had broken it once before. The fragments were extremely sharp and could cut his fingertips with just a slight touch.

"Fifth brother." Xia Jing patted his waist.

Ning Yuanzhong put down his hand and turned to look at the boy: "Strange, why are you here for class today?"

"Who said I came here to attend class?" Xia Jing held his head high and chest out, very proud.

"Then where are you going?" Ning Yuanzhong was puzzled.

"Uncle Wang has been keeping a close eye on me these days. I've been discovered even when I was sleeping in Yonghua Palace. I think it's too dangerous in the harem." Xia Jing raised his hand, revealing the sign of Cining Palace, "So I'm going to leave the palace."

Ning Yuanzhong laughed: "Everyone says I'm naughty, but you're the naughtiest one."

"Thank you for the compliment, Fifth Brother." Xia Jing clasped his fists and smiled embarrassedly.

"I'm not really praising you, forget it." Ning Yuanzhong shook his head, "Master Zhang is coming soon, you need to leave the palace quickly, don't get caught on the way."

"Fifth brother, what are you doing here?" Xia Jing walked away.

"Thinking about something." Ning Yuanzhong replied.

"What's there to think about?" Xia Jing pretended to be indifferent.

He felt uneasy. Thinking is a good thing, but if your thinking goes astray, it will not be good.

He had just passed by the Qianqing Palace and saw Ning Yuanzhong standing there with a serious look on his face. He felt uneasy, so he came over to take a look and ask, and sure enough, something was wrong.

"What does Fifth Brother think the meaning of life is?"

Xia Jing suddenly asked a profound question, which stunned Ning Yuanzhong.

Ning Yuanzhong thought for a long time and shook his head: "What do you think?"

"Go to the imperial kitchen and get some lotus cakes." Xia Jing said seriously.

Ning Yuanzhong laughed: "I prefer donkey rolls."

"Let's go, get some food and go out of the palace to play." Xia Jing pulled him.

Ning Yuanzhong was startled, turning his head to look through the glass at the small red flowers on the screen. He currently had the most flowers, and as long as he could finish his classes safely today, he would be able to...

What could he do? He might as well go to the imperial kitchen and get some donkey rolls.

"Which do you think is better, the donkey rolls from the imperial kitchen or the ones outside the palace?" Ning Yuanzhong asked.

"Let's go and compare and take the lotus cakes with us," said Xia Jing.

They went to the imperial kitchen to get some cakes and ate while walking out of the palace.

Xiao Tianzi was waiting in front. He brought casual clothes suitable for Ning Yuanzhong and Xia Jing. The two changed into them, showed the sign of Cining Palace, and walked out of the palace.

The Xue family's carriage was waiting outside, its wheels rolling over the neat gray-white bricks near the palace and onto the mossy and stained stone road.

The Ninth Prince was very familiar with the Xue family. He took Ning Yuanzhong through the corridor, walked left and right, and came to his own courtyard.

Ning Yuanzhong looked around and was very interested in the facilities in the yard.

Xiao Tianzi poured tea, Xia Jing finished a bowl, and Xue Zhixi arrived, followed by a maid.

"How's the business at the shop?" he asked Xue Zhixi.

The main reason I came out this time was to ask about my own business.

After some preparation by the Ninth Prince, the grocery store reopened and launched products such as glass and soap, which were very popular.

Soaps and small toys have been well received by women and children, and glasses for the elderly and those for myopia have become the "big items" that dignitaries are scrambling to buy recently.

They're called "big-ticket" items because they require a certain level of grocery store membership and require stocking, which can be quite expensive. For certain groups, these two items are a necessity, something they can only afford.

As a qualified businessman, Xia Jing made a killing from the rich people in the capital, but those who bought things from him thought it was very reasonable.

Soap fragrances and glassware styles are all available according to membership levels, and have been deeply recognized by customers.

Xue Zhixi told Xia Jing that there was a popular saying in the market: "What membership level do you have? Are you qualified to buy the same thing as me?"

In ancient times, class consciousness was much stronger than in modern times.

Ning Yuanzhong was listening from the side, surprised that the little prince had a business outside the palace, which sounded quite big.

After asking about the business, Xia Jing looked behind Xue Zhixi.

The more he looked, the more he felt that the maid looked familiar.

The maid was very thin, with a narrow face, a pair of slightly bright eyes, an ordinary appearance, and skin that looked like that of a working-class family.

"..."

Xia Jing remembered that this was the woman he met in the East Market last time who sold herself to bury her father!

Didn't the prince give her a hundred taels of silver? Why did she come to the Xue family again?

"You go back first, she stays." Xia Jing pointed at the maid.

Xue Zhixi was also there that day. She knew what the boy was going to ask, so she bowed and left the room.

Ning Yuanzhong sat next to Xia Jing, poured tea from a kettle, and looked at the maid who stayed behind.

"Who was that girl just now?" he asked Xia Jing.

"Xue Zhaoju's sister." Xia Jing replied.

"She looks quite cute, and the Xue family has a good status." Ning Yuanzhong also contracted the old cadre syndrome and started muttering to himself.

"Fifth brother, instead of thinking about that, you might as well think about this." Xia Jing pointed at the maid.

"This?" Ning Yuanzhong was surprised.

He looked left and right but couldn't see anything special about the maid.

"What's your name?" Xia Jing asked the maid.

"Lü Cuishuang." The maid knelt on the ground.

"Why are you here?" Xia Jing asked again.

"The young master didn't want to tell me the identity of my benefactor, so the Xue family drove me away. I had no way to repay them, so I worked as a maid in the Xue family." Lu Cuishuang raised her head and said seriously.

"What benefactor?" Ning Yuanzhong was confused.

Xia Jing briefly told Ning Yuanzhong about how Lu Cuishuang sold herself to bury her father and how her second brother spent a lot of money. Ning Yuanzhong became interested.

He asked Lü Cuishuang, "Father has passed away and should be buried as soon as possible. Why are we so hung up on what kind of coffin to use? How about fir wood? Or ordinary wood? Why can't we use straw mats?"

Lü Cuishuang burst into tears. "My family was originally farmers. My father worked tirelessly, trekking through mountains and rivers, and narrowly escaped death several times before finally building a fortune in the city. He was a capable man, and he enjoyed glory and success. He made me a daughter for many years, and I enjoyed many years of happiness. When he died, I couldn't afford a funeral. If I couldn't even give him a cedar coffin, what kind of daughter would I be?"

Ning Yuanzhong was silent, and turned to look at Xia Jing: "He is a man of integrity."

"Get up." Xia Jing said.

"Young master, please tell me where my benefactor is!" Lu Cuishuang refused to get up and kowtowed to the two men.

Ning Yuanzhong looked at Xia Jing with inquiry in his eyes. He felt that it was not impossible to let Lu Cuishuang go to the Prince's Mansion.

"Go down." Xia Jing asked Xiao Tianzi to take Lu Cuishuang away.

Lu Cuishuang’s story is good, but the Ninth Prince is still difficult to manage and feels that there is no need to manage her.

If she was sensible, she should just live her life and not cling to him. Some good intentions only become trouble for others.

Ning Yuanzhong doesn't think so.

After finishing the Xue family's business, Xia Jing took Ning Yuanzhong to a famous pastry shop in the capital and compared the taste of lotus cakes and donkey rolls. The answer was that each had its own merits.

The next evening, they returned to the palace.

In Anming Palace, Concubine Duan had already received the news that Ning Yuanzhong had skipped classes for a day, lost the first place in the Little Red Flower, and lost the qualification to have dinner with Emperor Kangning. She stopped Ning Yuanzhong to ask, but Ning Yuanzhong turned around and went to the East Palace.

As the crown prince, Ning Chunyou also had a residence in the harem, called the Eastern Palace, and the house outside the palace was called the Crown Prince's Mansion.

It happened that Ning Chunyou was staying in the palace today, and Lieutenant General Ning Yuan told Ning Chunyou about Lu Cuishuang.

If Xia Jing knew that he did this, he would definitely sigh. He couldn't even take care of his own affairs, but he still had the mind to meddle in other people's affairs.

Chapter 190 Western Border Incident

Lu Cuishuang’s affairs are not important, what is important is the Western Territory.

That morning, the Ninth Prince hid in Fuchenzhai and slept in the palace of the two sisters Ning Peixiang and Ning Yitao, but he was unexpectedly caught by King Jing.

King Jing held him under his arm and walked out of Fuchenzhai.

"Save me!" Xia Jing reached out to Taoxiang and her sister.

The two girls clasped their hands together and prayed for the Ninth Prince. It was not that they didn't try hard, but that King Jing was too terrifying.

Fuchenzhai disappeared from sight. No one could stop King Jing, and Xia Jing completely accepted his fate.

He looked at the King of Jing and asked, "How did your uncle find me?"

Xia Jing suspected that there were King Jing's spies around him.

King Jing stroked his beard proudly and said, "This is the homework I gave you. Figure it out on your own."

Sure enough, there is something fishy!

Willing to accept the defeat, Xia Jing followed King Jing to the Southern Study.

Prince Jing won a great victory today. Before the bell for class rang, he had captured the Ninth Prince.

Like Zhang Zanyu, he first checked the Ninth Prince's schoolwork to make sure that even on the days he skipped classes, the Ninth Prince had completed his studies, and nodded with satisfaction.

He looked at Xia Jing and Xue Zhaoju and said, "I will ask you a question today. If you can answer it, you will go to Jianting today."

Going to Jianting is also for learning, but the subject is martial arts, which is much more interesting than taking classes in the house.

Xue Zhaoju had no particular interest in martial arts, and his enthusiasm was low. His only real interest came from the problem itself. He loved taking exams.

Whenever Xia Jing was free, he would go to Shuiyun Temple to practice martial arts. He had gotten used to it and was not very interested in it either.

Prince Jing clicked his tongue, forgetting that these two were different from the princes in the upper study.

He changed the reward: "If you can answer this, I will give you a fine horse, a real frontier horse!"

Xia Jing and Xue Zhaoju immediately became interested.