After her mind was read, the spoiled brat became the darling of the whole group.

"Ha, I thought she was someone important, but she's just a cunning, delicate vixen."

When Princess De'an saw Xie Xing's face, a hint of jealousy flashed in her eyes.

Why would someone who's brought back from the countryside be so good-looking?

Is she deliberately putting on this pitiful and coquettish act to elicit pity from others?

A natural-born seductress!

"Princess!" Xie Mingzhu covered her mouth and exclaimed sweetly as she ran over.

Caught off guard by the sudden whipping, Xie Xing lost his temper. "In broad daylight, even a princess cannot just whip someone like that!"

"And you specifically targeted my face when you slapped me. Are you jealous of me?"

Xie Xingchui's hand trembled slightly at her side as she angrily questioned him.

Unfortunately, her tearful appearance was not aggressive at all, but instead made Princess De'an even more arrogant. She laughed arrogantly: "Jealous of you? You little bumpkin, I'll slap your face today so you can never seduce anyone again!"

Princess De'an sneered: "Don't think that just because you're putting on this pitiful act, I'll go easy on you. I'll beat you anyway!"

Princess De'an flicked her long whip.

"Snapped!"

The whip cracked loudly in the air.

Xie Xing wasn't one to stand there and take a beating. The moment Princess De'an lashed out with her whip, Xie Xing turned and started running.

"You still dare to run?!" Princess De'an raised her eyebrows and sneered. There was no one she couldn't teach a lesson if she wanted to.

Princess De'an was the daughter of the Prince of Zhenbei. Her father and mother were stationed at the border, while she stayed in the capital alone and learned a little bit of martial arts.

With a light tap of her toes, she swung her long whip and quickly chased after Xie Xing.

"Princess!" Xie Mingzhu called out in a trembling voice, but did not move her feet.

clap clap clap!

The long whip danced behind her, and each time it was about to strike Xie Xing, she managed to dodge it in a flustered manner.

[Left side! It's been pulled over!] The system reported the message behind Xie Xing.

Xie Xing's hair was all disheveled, and her already torn clothes made her look even more like a wild girl.

Princess De'an had failed several times and originally only wanted to teach this brat a lesson, but now she was furious and vowed not to give up until she drew Xie Xing's name.

Xie Xing's physical strength was naturally inferior to that of Princess De'an. She looked around and, while running, picked up things from the boat and threw them behind her.

"what!"

Princess De'an was caught off guard and had a bucket of water poured all over her face.

Xie Xing turned around and saw Princess De'an looking disheveled.

She immediately smiled, her eyes crinkling.

Serves you right for whipping me!

"Ah!" Princess De'an clenched her fists, her eyes almost spitting fire, and called out Xie Xing's name, word by word: "Xie... Xing!"

"I'm going to beat your face until it's bruised and battered!"

Princess De'an, brandishing her long whip, charged towards Xie Xing like a madwoman.

Xie Xing's expression changed slightly, and she immediately went straight to the second floor.

Jun Lanjin is on the second floor.

In an instant, chaos erupted on the entire ship, and even the officers and soldiers who were conducting the search looked over in this direction.

This is the last ship. We must find the assassin who tried to kill the Fourth Prince no matter what!

On the second floor, Hua An stood behind Jun Lanjin, looked down, and asked, "Your Highness, shall we lend a hand?"

Having been by Jun Lanjin's side for so many years, Hua An could sense that he treated that little girl differently.

Jun Lanjin smiled slightly and casually raised his hand: "No need."

"I want to see what tricks she can pull."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Xie Xing's head appeared on the second floor.

She was panting heavily from running, and her originally pale face had now turned rosy.

The little girl's eyes lit up the moment she saw Jun Lanjin.

"Your Majesty!"

Footsteps approached from behind.

Xie Xing immediately ran towards Jun Lanjin, her dress fluttering as she ran, and she reached him in the blink of an eye.

Jun Lanjin raised an eyebrow, looking at the young girl with a leisurely air.

Let's see what she's up to.

I saw her—

She slid down to her knees, her hands, which were wrapped into a ball, tightly hugged Jun Lanjin's thigh, hiding behind him, and then loudly complained: "Your Highness! Princess De'an has disregarded etiquette, slapping someone in public, behaving rudely!"

"You need to control her! She hit me!"

Xie Xing held up the hand with a deep whip mark on the gauze to show him.

Jun Lanjin: "..."

Princess De'an, who caught up: "..."

system:【……】

[What a lack of manners! Where did you learn that?] The system was speechless.

Xie Xing chuckled: [I learned it from the etiquette coach that Madam Xie found for me.]

Leaving aside the traditional notions of women being expected to follow the three obediences and four virtues, and obeying their husbands after marriage, the emphasis was on maintaining the demeanor of a noblewoman with every step and every smile.

Xie Xing studied these things for a long time.

Jun Lanjin lowered his eyes and happened to meet the little girl's bright, misty eyes.

Xie Xing met Jun Lanjin's gaze, his eyes darting away for a moment. In his mind, he reiterated to the system, "He's so handsome! He even looks good from this unflattering angle."

Their nostrils are small.

Jun Lanjin: "..."

He couldn't resist and smacked the little girl on the head with his folding fan, saying irritably:

"You're the most unruly one."

Xie Xing was hit hard.

She felt extremely wronged; her hand had been whipped, and now she was going to be hit on the head.

"Get up." Jun Lanjin shifted his foot. "What kind of behavior is this?"

Xie Xing failed to file a complaint and was instead reprimanded, leaving him dejected.

"I didn't start anything, she started it first, so why did you hit me but not her?"

Jun Lanjin's lips twitched.

"Jin, Brother Jin?" Princess De'an became quiet as soon as she arrived in front of Jun Lanjin, and even her arrogance diminished considerably.

But she stared intently at Xie Xing, her fingers clenched tightly, her nails digging into her flesh with jealousy.

Why should she hide behind Brother Jin?

When did Brother Jin become so close to this country bumpkin?!

Jun Lanjin's attitude towards Princess De'an was not as gentle as his attitude towards Xie Xing. The smile on his face faded, and his indifferent and cold peach blossom eyes swept over Princess De'an.

"I had no idea that the princess had become so temperamental that she would do something like slapping someone in public?"

"No, that's not how it is, Brother Jin!" Princess De'an panicked immediately, her fair face flushed red, and she finally blamed everything on Xie Xing: "It's all her fault! It's all her fault!"

Xie Xing's eyes widened. Standing behind Jun Lanjin, she shouted, "What does this have to do with me? You hit me first!"

[I was just being whipped for no reason, and she's acting all wronged. How can she be the one to accuse me first?]

If my hand hadn't been injured, I would have definitely shown her what I'm capable of!

The little girl muttered to herself, muttering to herself, but her body obediently hid behind Jun Lanjin.

There's an old saying: "Those who understand the times are heroes; don't fight head-on if you don't have the strength."