Prince Xiang was already harboring resentment towards Yu Jin but couldn’t act on it. Seeing Er Niu follow them in, he immediately found an excuse.

His face darkened as he asked, “Seventh Brother, I appreciate you coming to see me, but isn’t it inappropriate to bring a dog?”

Before Yu Jin could respond, Prince Lu became annoyed: “What do you mean ‘bring a dog’? Eighth Brother, look carefully, this is Er Niu!”

Seeing Prince Lu’s righteous tone, Prince Xiang was momentarily confused and looked down at Er Niu closely.

Could it be that Er Niu wasn’t a dog?

With its ears pricked up and black nose, though exceptionally robust, it was undoubtedly still a dog.

Prince Lu pointed at the bronze tag hidden on Er Niu’s neck and explained, “Eighth Brother, have you forgotten? Er Niu is the Fourth-Rank General Xiaotian, bestowed by the Father Emperor himself. He’s a colleague of the civil and military officials. Are you saying you’d snub a court official who came to visit you?”

Prince Xiang was left speechless by Prince Lu and said irritably, “Seventh Brother hasn’t even spoken yet, why is Fifth Brother in such a hurry?”

Prince Lu, showing no awareness of coming to comfort someone, retorted, “Because I brought Er Niu!”

Everyone, including Prince Xiang, was shocked. Even the usually low-key Prince Qin couldn’t help but say, “Isn’t this Seven’s Er Niu? How come Five—”

Prince Lu glanced at the imposing big dog, of course not willing to admit he had been intimidated by Er Niu. He cleared his throat and said, “I invited Seven to come with me, and we happened to meet Er Niu, so I invited him along too.”

Prince Xiang held back his anger and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: “Fifth Brother sure has a lot of free time.”

He hadn’t forgotten how Seven had brought Er Niu to visit the former Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace, resulting in the exposure of the former Crown Prince’s feigned amnesia…

This dog was no good—glancing at the muscular big dog, Prince Xiang thought.

Prince Lu frowned: “I know you’re upset, Eighth Brother, but even if you’re unhappy, you shouldn’t speak sarcastically to guests who’ve come to visit you. Back when I was demoted to a Jun Wang if Eighth Brother had come to see me, I would have been moved to tears—”

Prince Lu’s words hit a sore spot, infuriating Prince Xiang even more. He gritted his teeth and said, “Thank you so much for coming to see me, Fifth Brother!”

He knew that this scoundrel Fifth Brother had come to laugh at him!

Coming to laugh at him was one thing, but he wasn’t content with just coming alone; he had to bring Seven’s dog along too.

The more Prince Xiang thought about it, the angrier he became, his face turning very unpleasant.

At this moment, Yu Jin spoke up: “Although Er Niu was brought here by Fifth Brother, I am still his master. Since Eighth Brother doesn’t welcome him, I’ll take my leave.”

Prince Xiang looked at Yu Jin, his eyes blazing with anger.

He had something to say to this treacherous fellow, and now that he had come, how could he let him leave just like that?

Swallowing his anger, Prince Xiang forced out a smile: “Seventh Brother’s words make me feel ashamed. I’m touched that you’ve come to see me, how could I not welcome you?”

“Then Er Niu—”

“I was just surprised, that’s all.”

Yu Jin smiled slightly, like the breaking dawn illuminating the entire hall: “That’s good then.”

Prince Qi found the sight irritating and interjected: “It’s rare for us brothers to gather together. Let’s have a drink with Eighth Brother.”

Prince Lu spoke up again: “When I was demoted to a Jun Wang, Fourth Brother didn’t drink with me. Fourth Brother, you’re showing favoritism.”

Prince Qi: “…”

Prince Xiang secretly clenched his fists, seriously considering whether to drink a couple of glasses of wine and then beat up Prince Lu.

He had never seen someone so shameless. Was being demoted to a Jun Wang something to be proud of? Mentioning it again and again, as if afraid others might forget.

Was Fifth Brother feeling unbalanced and trying to hurt him?

Prince Lu took in Prince Xiang’s expression, secretly delighted.

Did he even need to ask? Of course, he was here to hurt him. Didn’t Prince Xiang realize how many disdainful looks he had endured when he was first demoted to a Jun Wang? Now he finally had company.

“Come, come, let’s drink. Today we’ll only drink, not talk about anything else,” Prince Qin mediated timely.

The brothers took their seats, and soon several beautiful maids brought wine and dishes.

Prince Lu looked at the most beautiful maid several times and sighed: “Eighth Brother’s life is still not bad, at least the serving maids are all beauties… Let me tell you, being demoted to a Jun Wang mainly means a smaller annual salary and some loss of face, but it doesn’t affect Eighth Brother much. After all, Eighth Brother is alone, with no wife or children to support, and no need to keep up appearances for a wife and children…”

Look at the life he was living—not only was his annual salary seized by his tigress of a wife, but there wasn’t even a single decent maid in the entire prince’s mansion, forcing him to develop the habit of eyeing handsome young servants…

Prince Lu felt like shedding tears of sorrow.

Meanwhile, Prince Xiang was about to flip the table.

Don’t stop him; he wanted to kill Fifth Brother!

What was wrong with him being demoted to a Jun Wang? What was wrong with him not having a wife and children?

What deep grudge did Fifth Brother have against him that he needed to torment him like this?

A dog’s bark brought Prince Xiang back to his senses.

Er Niu, smelling the aroma of meat on the table, was wagging his tail with dignity.

Prince Xiang pinched his palm, maintaining his last shred of reason, and forced a smile: “Set a table for General Xiaotian.”

They couldn’t let Er Niu drink at the same table with them, could they? If anyone dared to suggest that, he would lose his temper.

After all, he was already a Jun Wang, could things get any worse?

Soon, two pretty maids brought a small table with a bowl of meat bones on it.

The two maids didn’t dare to approach the calf-sized dog, placing the food from afar and quickly retreating.

Er Niu, seeing only one bowl of meat bones, let out a dissatisfied growl from his throat, only quieting down after receiving a warning glance from Yu Jin.

“There’s no hurdle in life that can’t be overcome. Eighth Brother, let Fourth Brother toast you. After this cup of wine, only good fortune awaits you,” Prince Qi raised his cup to Prince Xiang.

Just as Prince Lu was about to say something sour, Prince Qin whispered, “Fifth Brother, say less.”

For Prince Qin, he just wanted to come quietly and leave quietly, not to be inexplicably drawn into any chaos again.

Fortunately, after a few cups of wine, Prince Lu stopped provoking.

After three rounds of drinks, Yu Jin suddenly stood up.

Everyone looked at him.

“I’m going to the restroom.”

Prince Xiang put down his wine cup: “I need to go too, I’ll go with Seventh Brother.”

Yu Jin nodded agreeably.

Watching the two leave, Prince Lu pouted: “They’re not little girls, why do they need to go to the toilet together?”

Prince Shu asked with a smile, “Do little girls always go to the toilet together?”

Outside, the spring breeze was slightly chilly, clearing one’s mind.

Prince Xiang waited for Yu Jin to come out of the restroom, suddenly stepped forward, and said in a low voice, “Seventh Brother, my disgrace yesterday was thanks to you, wasn’t it?”

Yu Jin smiled: “Has Eighth Brother had too much to drink?”

“There’s no one else around now, why are you playing dumb? Do you think I’m an idiot?” Prince Xiang gnashed his teeth, his expression was fierce.

Yu Jin stood unmoved like a pine tree: “Eighth Brother has had too much to drink.”

Seeing him about to walk back, Prince Xiang reluctantly caught up, lowering his voice: “Seventh Brother, I’m now barefoot and not afraid of those wearing shoes. You’ve schemed against me like this, we’ll see how things go!”

Yu Jin stopped, looked deeply at Prince Xiang, and said earnestly: “Eighth Brother, you’re still young. You don’t know what true misfortune looks like for those who are barefoot.”

Fortunately, he would soon find out.