Your Little Highness, This Old Servant Really Doesn't Know How to Respond to That!

Jiang Yingcheng had only poked her head in and listened for a moment before her little face turned deathly pale, and she tugged Eunuch Changshun inside.

In the palace, each of them had a dedicated Enlightenment Tutor, who would remain with them and oversee their studies.

The school did not teach much, mostly handwriting practice and recitation.

Many princes came here more to seize the opportunity to build good relationships with those princes most likely to inherit the throne.

Once followers gathered into cliques, all sorts of bullying sprang up.

And whichever way she thought about it, her unlucky seventh brother was bound to be their target!

The closer she got, the clearer the voices inside became.

"It's your first day at school, and you brought this rubbish as tribute to your older brothers? Isn't that a bit out of line?"

The pleasant youthful voice dripped with spite, and the laughter that rose in agreement afterward was even more grating.

Another amused voice immediately followed. "Enough, Sixth Brother. Just look at that shabby bag Seventh Brother carried here. He probably couldn't come up with anything better."

It sounded as though he was helping Jiang Xingran out of his predicament, but the malice in those words ran even deeper than that of the sixth prince, who had spoken first.

Jiang Xingran stood where he was, head lowered and face expressionless.

He had known long ago that this was what awaited him today.

Noble Consort Rou's maternal clan was at the height of its power, and he had already thoroughly offended the Fourth Imperial Prince. How could these people pass up a chance to earn a little favor in front of him?

He had grown accustomed to such things a very, very long time ago.

Compared with the Fourth Imperial Prince's persecution, their words barely even scratched an itch.

Seeing him stand there like a block of wood, the two boys opposite him lost interest. There were plenty of days ahead, anyway. There was no need to rush.

Jiang Yunjian clicked his tongue and slowly tipped the food box in his hand, letting the reasonably delicate pastries inside fall to the ground.

They scattered all over the floor.

He cast a disgusted glance at the Pineapple Cake that had happened to roll to his feet, then raised his foot, planted it on the pastry, and ground it viciously a few times. "What rotten luck."

Jiang Xingran's head snapped up.

After his Imperial Consort learned yesterday that he would be attending school today, she had exchanged the little silver she had for ingredients that very night and stayed up until morning to make this small box of pastries, wanting him to bring them for his brothers.

He did not want his Imperial Consort to worry, so he had said nothing about the Fourth Imperial Prince targeting him, nor had he refused her kindness.

He had intended to eat them himself. Who could have known that Jiang Qiuyu would come straight over, wanting to give him the pastries Consort Yan had made as a gift?

With no other choice, he had taken out his Pineapple Cakes too.

Jiang Yunjian and Jiang Monian had happened to overhear as they passed.

The hatred in Jiang Xingran's eyes was almost solid enough to take form.

Those were pastries his Imperial Consort had spent an entire night making.

Even the money spent buying the ingredients would have fed the two of them for several days.

Yet now the sixth prince had trampled them into the dirt like this. In that instant, Jiang Xingran even felt that what Jiang Yunjian was grinding beneath his foot was his own heart, on the verge of shattering into countless pieces!

"Oh, so our little block of wood can get angry too?" Looking at Jiang Xingran's hate-filled eyes, Jiang Yunjian felt not the slightest fear. Instead, he seemed to have discovered something interesting. "What? Your sixth brother accidentally stepped on your pastries, and now you're upset?"

Jiang Xingran glared savagely at him, feeling the string in his heart called reason stretch almost to its breaking point.

Jiang Yunjian sounded troubled. "But what can we do? Your sixth brother didn't mean to."

Having said that, he turned slightly and walked toward another pastry, lifting his foot to grind that one under his heel as well.

Unable to contain his emotions any longer, Jiang Xingran pulled his sleeve free of Jiang Qiuyu's hand and stepped toward Jiang Yunjian.

Frightened, Jiang Qiuyu hurriedly caught that little scrap of fabric again. "Seventh Brother, don't..."

Those two were used to throwing their weight around in the palace. Even his Imperial Consort had told him to avoid provoking them whenever possible...

Jiang Xingran's gaze darkened. Just as he was about to yank his sleeve free again, a tiny figure shot out from beside him and slammed into Jiang Yunjian like a little cannonball-

Right in the lower back...

Jiang Yingcheng was too short, and she had charged in with her head down. Reaching Jiang Yunjian's waist at all was only possible because the soles of her shoes were thick enough today.

Caught off guard, Jiang Yunjian staggered from the impact and sucked in a sharp breath. "What blind fool dared to ram-Jiang Yingcheng?!"

Halfway through, his voice abruptly rose in shock.

Jiang Yingcheng crouched on the ground and picked up the Pineapple Cake Jiang Yunjian had just crushed, her heart aching for it. When Jiang Yunjian looked over, she had her head lowered and was carefully blowing on it, as though trying to blow away every speck of dust.

Jiang Yunjian could not make out Jiang Yingcheng's face, but she had often trailed after Jiang Huai'an in the past, so he knew her fairly well.

"Eleventh Princess, why did you ram your sixth brother?" Jiang Yunjian's voice was so gentle it could almost have dripped water.

Angry as he was, he also knew that Jiang Yingcheng's standing had risen like a boat on a rising tide. She was no longer someone they could bully at will.

Their Imperial Father had taken her to court two days in a row, a privilege not even their crown prince brother had ever enjoyed.

Jiang Yingcheng suddenly looked up. "These are the pastries Aunties Yunmeng made for my brothers."

The ingratiating smile she had once worn was gone from the little girl's eyes, and her voice held little emotion. She seemed merely to want to state that fact, yet it left both boys completely at sea.

Jiang Yunjian's voice was hesitant. "So?"

Holding the mangled Pineapple Cake, Jiang Yingcheng shakily rose to her feet. Only after taking a moment to recover from the dizziness caused by the collision did she toddle toward Jiang Yunjian on her short little legs.

She stood before Jiang Yunjian and looked up with a sweet smile. "Sixth Brother, lower your head a little."

Jiang Yunjian had no idea why, but instinctively bent down anyway. "What do you want to tell your sixth-"

Seizing her chance, Jiang Yingcheng stuffed the Pineapple Cake she had just picked up off the ground into his moving mouth, successfully disgusting Jiang Yunjian so badly that he nearly threw up his breakfast.

"Mmph-ptui, ptui, ptui!"

After finally spitting everything out, Jiang Yunjian felt as though his mouth was full of grit scraping against his tongue.

In that moment, Jiang Yunjian threw every consideration of status to the back of his mind. He was red with fury, like a boiled prawn. "Jiang Yingcheng! Do you have a death wish-"

Before he could finish venting his anger, Jiang Yingcheng plopped down on the ground in front of him. Tears swiftly welled in her eyes, and she burst into howling sobs-

"Waaaaaah-Chengcheng hurts so much!!" Jiang Yingcheng wailed at the top of her lungs.

[Uncle Changshun, quick, quick, quick! You can come in now!]

Hearing her wails, Eunuch Changshun immediately rushed inside according to their agreed plan. "What happened? What happened? Oh, my little highness, how did you end up sitting on the ground?!"

His reaction was so swift that it seemed to have been rehearsed a thousand times.

Jiang Yingcheng hiccupped through her sobs. "S-Sixth Brother, hic-Sixth Brother hit Chengcheng's head with his lower back!"

"Boohoohoo, it hurts so much!!"

Jiang Yunjian, who stared in stunned disbelief: "..."

Jiang Xingran and the group of princes' study companions, all thoroughly bewildered: "..."

That single sentence choked back every word Eunuch Changshun had prepared.

Your Little Highness, this old servant really doesn't know how to respond to that!