Tang Zhuyun was seeing red as she beat him. What did she care who he was? Even the Heavenly King himself wouldn't have stopped her!
Linlin stared blankly at her frenzied actions. He hadn't cried when he was beaten, but now tears welled in his eyes.
He scrambled up and wrapped his arms around Tang Zhuyun's waist. "Auntie, Auntie, stop! I'm fine, I'm fine."
Only then did Tang Zhuyun stop. She panted heavily, then stroked his head, her eyes red with anger. "Are you silly? You just let him hit you!"
Linlin's tears streamed down, and he sobbed uncontrollably in her arms.
The young prince who had beaten him was a son born to Prince Rong in his old age, two years younger than his eldest grandson. As a result, he had been spoiled rotten.
Linlin hadn't dared fight back because he was afraid of being kicked out of Prince Rong's household academy.
He was stubborn and could endure it. He wouldn't cry.
But today, in his aunt's arms, he couldn't stop the flood of tears.
Tang Zhuyun quickly figured this out too. Listening to the childish voices beside her squawking like crows, accusing and threatening her while currying favor with the young prince every way they could, she bent down and, with some effort, picked Linlin up. She looked down at the group of half-grown children, her gaze haughty.
She sneered. "It's just a lousy household academy, isn't it? Then he won't attend! I'm the one who hit him, and I'd admit it even before the emperor! The adults in all your families are so capable, aren't they? Then let them argue it out before the emperor tomorrow! I'd like to see whether, when the emperor learns you've been using your strength to bully the weak and your age to bully the young, he'll give you a plaque or reward you with a beating!"
Linlin thought her arms were slender, yet they held a warmth he had never known before.
He sniffled. "Auntie, Grandfather and Father will... will be angry."
He didn't say he wanted to stay. He was only worried that his family would be angry.
"They'll be angry that you were bullied like this!" Tang Zhuyun swept a contemptuous glance over the little brats, who had been stunned into silence by her imposing presence. "Linlin, remember, even if you don't stay here, one day you'll be better than every one of them! We're done with this lousy school! If Grandfather and your father punish you, you still have me!"
Linlin suddenly said loudly, "Let Father beat me! I'm the one who doesn't want to attend anymore!"
"Good boy. Let's go."
But Linlin wriggled out of Tang Zhuyun's arms. "Auntie, I'll walk back with you. I'm never coming here again!"
"All right."
Tang Zhuyun picked up the peachwood hairpin that had fallen to the ground, casually twisted her hair up and secured it, then picked up the food box in one hand and took Linlin's hand with the other. She walked away without looking back.
Prince Rong, standing a short distance away, looked deeply embarrassed. He said to the tall, stern-faced man beside him, "How did these children end up making such a scene today? They weren't like this before... When I suggested Yanran come study, I didn't mean with them. I meant the girls' school in the household..."
That man was none other than the Prince of Jin, whose bed Tang Zhuyun had just failed to climb into.
Although Prince Rong was his imperial uncle, the Prince of Jin was the emperor's own son, and the emperor did everything he could to make it up to him. Thus, Prince Rong had to curry favor with the Prince of Jin as well.
The Prince of Jin replied coolly and distantly, "Thank you for your kind offer, Imperial Uncle, but there's no need."
No need at all.
He would not send his daughter to such a chaotic, foul-aired place.
Prince Rong gave an embarrassed, ingratiating smile. "Then forget it. If you change your mind later, you can send her over anytime."
The Prince of Jin really did want to find some children his daughter's age for her to spend time with.
Besides her worrying physical condition, his daughter was also somewhat... poor at communicating with others.
The Prince of Jin had previously found some young maids to play with her, but the gulf in their status was too great for them to play together, and his daughter's condition had not improved at all.
So the Prince of Jin thought it might be better to find some noble girls of high status. He had planned to visit Prince Rong's residence first, since its household academy was renowned in the capital.
He had not expected to come upon such a scene after arriving, and he was utterly disappointed.
They were a bunch of spoiled young wastrels with improper family values. He looked down on them.
He simply hadn't expected that woman to be so fierce and formidable, like an entirely different person from the one who had tried to climb into his bed that day.
Although she had completely lost her composure, her fierce manner had still left a deep impression on the Prince of Jin.
What was her name again?
The Prince of Jin frowned slightly. Tang Zhu... zi? Sugar Bead? In any case, he couldn't quite remember.
Before, he had felt sorry for Tang Mingfan for having such a daughter, but it seemed she wasn't entirely without merit.
After Tang Zhuyun brought Linlin home and her anger gradually subsided, she began to feel troubled.
Once she had finished applying medicine to Linlin's injuries, the two stared at each other.
"Linlin, do you think Grandfather and your father will be angry?" she asked.
She was already "under a cloud of guilt," and now she had piled one mistake on top of another. Would she be swept out the door?
"They will," Linlin said. "But I'll take responsibility myself. It has nothing to do with you, Auntie! If you're really scared and regret it, then... then I'll think of something."
Tang Zhuyun said, "Regret it? What would I regret?"
There was no way she would regret it. She would never regret a decision like that in this lifetime.
If a perfectly good child grew up in that kind of environment, even if he became the top scholar, his heart would be twisted like a fried dough twist.
What use was an unhappy top scholar? She wouldn't want to be one even if it meant becoming emperor!
"If I regret anything, it's not hitting him a few more times. I'd already hit him anyway," Tang Zhuyun said. "But I really am a little scared. I'm scared of your father. Your father is super fierce, isn't he?"
As she spoke, she imitated Tang Baixin's frown. "Do I look like him? Do I?"
Linlin laughed. "A little."
"Forget it. Never mind. At worst, your father will scold me. He can't hit me anyway." Tang Zhuyun decided to let the broken pot shatter. If Tang Baixin lectured her, she would count sheep!
"Come on, come on, let's eat. The food's gone cold." Tang Zhuyun stood up, took all the dishes out of the food box, and set them on the table. "Try them and see if you like them."
Linlin took the chopsticks she handed him and suddenly said, "Auntie, I'm starting to regret it a little."
"Regret what?" Tang Zhuyun asked, stunned.
"We should have eaten before leaving, so they could envy me for once. They could have looked but not eaten."
Tang Zhuyun laughed. Seeing his serious expression and the amusement in his eyes, she knew he was teasing her. She reached out and pinched his nose. "It's good to see you smile. Heaven and earth are vast, but eating matters most. Let's fill our stomachs and face the storm your father brings!"
"Okay!" Linlin said loudly.
Tang Zhuyun watched the little fellow eat with such relish, looking up now and then to smile at her, and thought, What bad intentions could a child have?
As long as she treated him well, he would wholeheartedly return her kindness with the purest trust.
Wasn't it the same with all three men in the family? Give them a little sunshine, and they would shine.
After watching Linlin finish his meal, Tang Zhuyun shooed him off for a nap.
She pulled the quilt over him and sat on the edge of the bed, looking into his obsidian eyes. "Linlin, don't worry about the future. I've thought it through. Your grandfather and father were both top scholars. Could they really be any worse than those snobbish great scholars at Prince Rong's residence?"
Don't tell her they didn't know Linlin was being bullied. They were just pretending to be ignorant, deceiving their superiors and concealing the truth from those below!
"From now on, Grandfather and your father can teach you your studies at home, and I'll teach you martial arts. You can learn medicine too. We have a bright future ahead of us!"
"Eldest Master, Eldest Master, why are you back now?" Xiu'er's anxious voice came from outside.
Tang Zhuyun thought, How useless. Why feel guilty? Let me handle it!
Oh my, I stood up and my legs went weak... My predecessor's fear of this eldest brother has already become muscle memory...