Your Highness, please stop chasing me.

Ren Yuan looked at Ye Shangyuan with evasive eyes; he was genuinely a little scared at that moment.

Xiao Ye Shangyuan allowed Princess Anning to look him over repeatedly, his young face remaining calm and composed.

Finally, finding nothing amiss with him, Princess Anning straightened up and asked, "Now, who among you can tell me what exactly happened?"

Upon hearing the princess's words, both Ren Yuan and Shen Ji trembled involuntarily, and the two boys beside Ren Yuan were so frightened that they took a step back.

Xiao Shen glanced at Ren Yuan standing in the crowd opposite him, then at his mother's expression.

He gritted his teeth, stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and was about to speak when he was interrupted by Xiao Ye Shangyuan.

Then, Xiao Ye Shangyuan said, "Royal Aunt, it's all my fault. I'm sorry to have troubled you to make this trip. I know I was wrong."

Xiaoye Shangyuan's words were cleverly worded; he admitted his mistake without explaining why. Yet, it sounded like a very sincere apology.

Such petty tricks were no match for the eldest princess, but seeing that Xiaoye Shangyuan was intentionally protecting her, she pretended to accept the apology.

She feigned anger and asked, "Then tell me, how will your royal aunt punish you for injuring Lord Liu's young master?"

Xiaoye Shangyuan did not answer immediately. He calmly walked up to Liu Zihao, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Young Master Liu, I am truly sorry for accidentally injuring you just now."

Upon seeing the young prince bow to him, Liu Zihao was so startled that he quickly dodged away, waving his hands repeatedly and saying, "No, no, no, it was my own carelessness, it has nothing to do with the young prince, there's no need for the young prince to apologize, no need."

Xiao Ye Shangyuan's actions were undoubtedly a slap in the face to Xiao Renyuan and the other two.

The three of them knew very well that this whole thing was caused by their mockery and ridicule of Xiao Shenji and him.

Liu Zihao's injury was entirely accidental. If it weren't for stopping Xiao Yeshangyuan from leaving, Xiao Shenji wouldn't have pushed him, and he wouldn't have fallen.

If we really want to investigate, the three of them were at fault first. If we really want to calculate it, their behavior towards Xiaoye Shangyuan is enough to implicate their families.

However, now that the young prince has admitted his mistake and stopped the matter, he is actually helping them. As long as they don't cause any more trouble, the matter will be over.

Princess Anning could guess what was going on from the children's expressions, and she was very pleased to see Xiaoye Shangyuan make such a move.

She walked over, took Xiaoye Shangyuan's hand, and said with a smile, "In that case, let's leave it at that."

Then, she turned to look at Madam Liu and the other ladies who had arrived, and said in a slightly lower voice, "Madam Liu, since your young master's hand is injured, please take him home for treatment as soon as possible, and don't delay."

Upon hearing this, Liu's mother was so frightened that her hand trembled. She quickly bowed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will take my child back for treatment immediately."

After speaking, she looked up and glanced at Princess Anning, only to see her staring at her with icy eyes.

Startled, Madam Liu hurriedly pulled Liu Zihao away to take her leave.

Qi Min was indignant when she saw that the Princess was practically saying she wanted to drive away Madam Liu and her son. She dared not speak out. At this moment, Xiao Renyuan walked to his mother's side and said in a trembling voice, "Mother, let's go too."

Seeing her son like this, Qi Min suddenly frowned and asked in a low voice, "What exactly happened?"

"Mother, please stop asking. Let's go." Little Renyuan was on the verge of tears, but his mother was still insistent.

As the mother and son were speaking quietly, another boy's mother also came out to bid farewell to Princess Anning.

Seeing this, Qi Min understood somewhat. She glared angrily at her son, then glanced sideways at Qi Yuan standing next to the princess, and stepped forward to say, "The weather has been unpredictable lately, and I have suddenly felt unwell. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

An Ning sneered inwardly, but still asked kindly, "Madam Ren is not feeling well, so please go and rest."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I take my leave." Qi Min bowed and then quickly walked out of the garden with Xiao Renyuan in her arms.

After seeing her leave, Qi Yuan let out a long sigh of relief. She whispered to Princess Anning, "This Qi Min is becoming more and more flamboyant."

Princess Anning regained her smile and said to her, "Why are you so petty, holding a grudge until now? This happened so many years ago."

Qi Yuan smiled but didn't reply. She was also puzzled as to why Qi Min was so jealous of her.

Then, she turned to Xiaoye Shangyuan and bowed, saying, "Thank you for helping Shen Ji out of that situation, Your Highness."

A suspicious blush appeared on Xiaoye Shangyuan's stern face. He waved his hand and said, "Madam Ren, there's no need to be so polite. I, this king, am good friends with Shen Ji. It's only right that I help him."

The little boy spoke in a very formal and serious manner. He also had to always remember what his royal aunt had said: he was a prince of the Western Jade Kingdom and could not refer to himself as "I" but as "this king".

Princess Anning affectionately patted his head. This child was also a pitiful child. This was probably the first time he had ever met a child his own age.

She looked at Shen Ji, then at Qi Yuan, and asked, "I heard that the Emperor has agreed to let your Shen Ji be Yuan'er's study companion?"

Qi Yuan nodded in agreement and said, "His Majesty issued the decree yesterday that I will be entering the palace to study in three days."

As the two were talking, Xiao Shen moved closer to Xiao Yeshangyuan, nudged him with his shoulder, and whispered, "Thanks, brother!"

Hearing this form of address, Xiao Ye Shangyuan was taken aback. No one had ever dared to speak to him in such a tone before. He felt a little curious, wondering, "Is this what a good friend is like?" It felt pretty good. A smile finally appeared on his face, and he said softly, "You're too kind, brother."

The two children smiled at each other.

......

When Ye Chenyu saw Shen Ji hugging him with a sly grin, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Then, his eyes darted around, and a wicked smile appeared on his rosy little face. He cautiously leaned close to Shen Ji's ear and suddenly shouted unexpectedly, "Ah!"

Startled by Ye Chenyu's shout, Shen Ji immediately snapped back to his senses. In his excitement, he threw the child he was holding away.

No sooner said than done, little Ye Chenyu reacted quickly and grabbed Shen Ji's neck tightly with both hands, thus avoiding being thrown out by Shen Ji.

"You brat, you're strangling me! Let go, let go!" Shen Ji said with difficulty, holding onto Ye Chenyu's dangling feet.

"You can't just abandon me!" Ye Chenyu said, seizing the opportunity.

"Okay, let go now." Shen Ji pulled him closer to his chest.

Ye Chenyu released his soft, white hands and asked with a face full of curiosity, "Uncle Shen, why were you smiling so lewdly just now?"