Unfortunately, the two servants were sent back by Young Master Zhao.
Although Young Master Su agreed to let him co to Dongxiang Marquis Mansion and warmly welcod him, Young Master Zhao felt very insecure not knowing where his own ho was.
Furthermore, most importantly, not knowing where his own ho was made Young Master Zhao feel quite embarrassed.
Blushing, he said, "My ho is in Qingyuan Town. My parents ca to the Capital to buy a house, but haven’t decided where to purchase yet..."
Young Master Su said, "When your family has a housewarming banquet, make sure to send us an invitation — we will co to join the fun."
Young Master Zhao nodded repeatedly.
With another playmate, Young Master Su happily took Young Master Zhao to pay his respects to his mother, Mrs. Tang, as well as to Old Duke Chong and the Duchess of Chong, and Princess Fu Yun.
Mrs. Tang and the others had heard of Young Master Zhao, the one who pointed Su Jin in the direction to get his family’s things taken. Mrs. Tang actually felt sorry for him being punished.
Mr. Zhao, his direct older brother, even helped Princess Fuqing while having a broken leg, which showed he had a good heart.
Young Master Su having such a playmate made Mrs. Tang happy as well.
Since Young Master Zhao was staying and eating with Young Master Su, Mrs. Tang ordered another bed to be added in the room, along with all the necessary writing materials matching Young Master Su’s set.
In the morning, Young Master Su went shopping, and in the afternoon, after filling up at the marketplace, he went to the training ground.
Since they were all playing together, it wasn’t possible for Young Master Su and the others to train while Young Master Zhao simply watched.
Young Master Zhao was aware of Young Master Su and the others’ diligence in martial arts and studies and had aid to learn from them.
Young Master Zhao began practicing the ihua Pole.
With a weak foundation, he was the worst among the four and had fallen off the ihua Pole countless tis.
When Old Master Zhao and Mrs. Zhao ca to Dongxiang Marquis Mansion with generous gifts to apologize for their son’s impulsiveness, and also conveniently brought clothes, they found Young Master Zhao bruised and swollen...
Old Master Zhao and Mrs. Zhao almost couldn’t recognize their own son.
Although Young Master Zhao could be mischievous and had playmates in the town, he had never been in such a state.
Despite looking pitiful, he was still smiling.
The way he was smiling, Old Master Zhao and Mrs. Zhao suspected their son had been away from their sight for just a few hours and had been knocked silly by soone.
"What... what happened here?" Mrs. Zhao’s voice was trembling.
"Mom, I’m fine," Young Master Zhao shook his head and replied.
Mrs. Tang looked at Young Master Su.
Young Master Su explained, "He was training on the ihua Pole with us. It was his first try, and he’s fallen over twenty tis, which is why he looks like this."
Then, Young Master Su comforted Old Master Zhao and Mrs. Zhao, "It’s okay, in half a month’s ti, he’ll be just fine."
Old Master Zhao: "...."
Mrs. Zhao: "...."
Falling once left him in such a state; how could he survive falling for half a month?
Mrs. Zhao, heartbroken for her son, wanted to take him ho, but the clothes were already brought, and Young Master Zhao didn’t want to return either.
Young Master Su and his friends were skilled on the ihua Pole, able to run on it, while he was still wobbling — he too wanted to train as skillfully as they.
No wonder the maid of Princess Consort Zhenbei ntioned how diligent and hard-working they were; he needed to be even more industrious to avoid lagging behind.
What could Mrs. Zhao do? She left her son behind, glancing back every few steps, hoping he’d change his mind and co ho, but to her surprise, her son looked happier than anyone as they walked away.
After Mrs. Zhao left, Young Master Zhao and the others returned to soak in the bath, each having a bath barrel with dicine — an experience he had never had before, which felt particularly pleasant.
They played in the garden after dinner, read a book for half an hour upon returning, and then bathed and went to bed.
The next morning, after getting up and eating a bit, they practiced the horse stance. After breakfast, Ninth Prince was going to the palace to pay respects to the Emperor, and they all had to go together.
Yesterday, upon entering the capital, the grand city gates had already amazed Young Master Zhao; today, the palace’s splendor shocked him even more.
Ninth Prince returned to the palace every few days to greet the Emperor, so the gatekeepers knew and did not stop the carriage, oblivious to the extra person inside.
With the carriage stopped, the four kids jumped out one by one.
Having walked the path to the Imperial Study countless tis, they could do it with their eyes closed and didn’t have the eunuch lead them.
The four went to the Imperial Study, but unfortunately, the Emperor wasn’t there — he was in the Imperial Garden.
"Let’s go to the Imperial Garden," Ninth Prince said.
The group proceeded to the Imperial Garden.
Young Master Zhao, entering the palace for the first ti, found everything fascinating; he thought Dongxiang Marquis Mansion was impressive enough, only to find the Emperor’s place even more imposing.
Walking forward, they saw a group of palace maids and eunuchs searching for soone. Ninth Prince stopped a eunuch and asked, "What happened?"
"Responding to Ninth Prince, nothing major happened. A palace maid from Phoenix Palace broke one of the Empress’s valuable jade hairpins and fled, and the Empress is furious, wanting her caught and flogged," the little eunuch replied.
Ninth Prince nodded and dismissed the little eunuch.
Such matters were commonplace in the palace, and both Young Master Shen and Young Master Zhao weren’t surprised; only Young Master Su seed sowhat inexperienced.
He was quite astonished.
Because the maids in Dongxiang Marquis Mansion wouldn’t flee after breaking sothing.
His parents wouldn’t flog them due to a montary mistake.
No one is without a slip-up at tis — punishing so severely seed excessively harsh.
Entering the Imperial Garden, the Emperor was drinking tea in a pavilion, with the Empress beside him.
Eunuch Fu stood by the Emperor’s side, and upon seeing Young Master Su approaching from afar, he was about to report to the Emperor but hesitated.
His old eyes seed to be playing tricks on him; how did he see four people?
Closer inspection revealed that indeed, he hadn’t been mistaken — there were truly four.
Eunuch Fu’s gaze lingered a mont longer on Young Master Zhao — not recognizing which mansion’s young master this was, having never seen him before.
The Ninth Prince stepped forward to greet the Emperor.
The Emperor looked at the Ninth Prince’s face, there was a bit of bruising, but it wasn’t serious.
Young Master Su had no bruises on his face, but Young Master Shen had a few more.
And another one...
Noticing the Emperor looking at Young Master Zhao, the Ninth Prince said, "Father, this is Young Master Zhao from the Zhao Family in Qingyuan Town, the one you granted a marriage decree for his elder brother a few days ago."
Fearing this explanation might not make Young Master Zhao’s identity clear to the Emperor, the Ninth Prince added, "He’s the one who directed the Imperial Sister to rob his own family’s house."
Young Master Zhao, "...."
The Emperor couldn’t help but laugh.
Eunuch Fu’s shoulders shook with laughter.
The Ninth Prince continued, "He now also lives at the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion, and I brought him into the palace to greet you."
Perhaps because his daughter had tricked him before, even with Young Master Zhao’s face full of injuries, the Emperor found him particularly pleasing to the eye.
If it weren’t a grand fate, he wouldn’t have directed his daughter to rob his own house.
The Emperor asked the Ninth Prince about life at the Dongxiang Marquis Mansion, and inquired what he had been studying, then allowed them to go play.
In the Imperial Palace, Young Master Su and Young Master Shen had already explored everywhere, so this ti it was mainly to show Young Master Zhao around.
The Ninth Prince introduced the palace to Young Master Zhao, who said, "The Imperial Palace is so big, have you been to every place?"
"We’ve been everywhere," said Young Master Shen.
"Not entirely everywhere, we haven’t been to Chaohua Palace," Young Master Su said ticulously.
Don’t ask him why he rembers so clearly.
The more forbidden a place is, the more you want to take a peek.
Not being this mischievous wouldn’t get you into trouble every other day.
The Ninth Prince said, "Chaohua Palace is a forbidden area, I’ve never been there either."
Young Master Su was tempted again, "Chaohua Palace is where my birth mother lived, if we go and offer incense for her, even if the Emperor finds out, he won’t scold us, right?"
The Ninth Prince and Young Master Shen exchanged glances.
It’s over.
He’s itching for trouble again.
"All the palaces are quite similar, Chaohua Palace isn’t as grand as Phoenix Palace, how about we take a stroll outside Phoenix Palace?" The Ninth Prince attempted to divert Young Master Su’s curiosity.
Unfortunately, it was ineffective.
Young Master Su glanced sideways at the Ninth Prince, "You don’t even dare to take us inside Phoenix Palace, what’s so interesting about the walls?"
Although they’ve visited every palace, it was mostly from the outside, rarely going inside.
Young Master Su wanted to take a look inside, but the Ninth Prince disagreed, and Young Master Shen abstained.
Many tis it ended like this, and they didn’t get to go.
But now with the addition of Young Master Zhao, they usually played by majority rule.
Young Master Su gazed at Young Master Zhao and said, "Do you agree with him, or with ? No abstaining allowed."
Young Master Zhao was in a dilemma, he found a more tactful way to abstain, "We can go take a look, if there’s a dog hole, we’ll crawl through, if not, we’ll go elsewhere."
Although he also wanted to see what a forbidden palace looks like, since it’s an Imperial Palace, there must be many rules.
The Ninth Prince even said it wasn’t allowed, so it’s better not to go.
Young Master Zhao said this, thinking such a grand place like the Imperial Palace surely wouldn’t have a dog hole.
However, as soon as he said this, Young Master Su got excited, "Look, he also agrees to go take a look."
Young Master Zhao, "....???"
"I didn’t agree," he said.
"Chaohua Palace has a dog hole."
"...."
Young Master Su happily ran towards Chaohua Palace.
Young Master Zhao looked innocent.
What could the Ninth Prince do but run after them?
Actually, he thought it probably wasn’t that serious, even if his father found out and they got punished, he wouldn’t beat them to death, at most just ground them or make them copy texts.
Chaohua Palace is a forbidden area, but the guards are few because everyone in the palace knows not to enter Chaohua Palace, and nobody dares to upset the Emperor.
Moreover, there’s nothing inside Chaohua Palace, just so old items of Consort Yun, and even fewer of those since it burned twice.
With no one guarding it, the four quickly arrived at the dog hole.
Young Master Su looked at the bushes and said, "Hmm, these bushes seem to have been moved."
"Have they?" the Ninth Prince asked.
"Of course they have. I specifically covered this dog hole with grass, and now it’s all ssed up, soone must have moved it."
Always wanting to take a peek, Young Master Su intentionally covered it to prevent the hole from being discovered and sealed.
"You kept holding back, and now soone’s beaten us to it," said Young Master Su.
"...."
With that, Young Master Su squatted down and started crawling through.
The Ninth Prince kept watch.
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