It was truly hard to say who had taught little Xiong Bao this technique called “tattling.”

In any case, the two words “tattling” were something this little tyke had mastered to perfection, clinging to Meng Wanyue’s chest and putting on quite the performance.

Yet, as if by unspoken agreement, everyone present—aside from Old Meng Five, who was eager to steer the conversation back to the secrets of the Solitary Island—remained silent, seemingly content to wait until Xiong Bao had finished his fuss before continuing.

“Grandma! You know? You know? You know, right?”

“Grandma, listen to me!”

Xiong Bao’s excited fussing, squirming in Meng Wanyue’s lap, was genuinely worrying—one feared he might crush her stomach in the process.

“Grandma, he’s so fierce! Even Daddy, who’s a prince and so big, can’t control him!”

“Grandma, he keeps saying I stole your thing! That I’m the reason you couldn’t get out!”

…

How could Old Meng Five possibly bear this!

Don’t even try telling him now that a man his age shouldn’t bicker with a child.

What was even happening here, what kind of scene was this?

In front of everyone, with elders senior to him and juniors below him all present—a man his age, being pointed at and scolded by a child not even three years old, and not as a joke either, but genuinely scolded, genuinely tattled on!

Where was he supposed to put his old face?

“You… you… you! Jun Buli, a child just starting to learn how to behave—how can you say something so backwards and unreasonable? This old man only mentioned it a few times, just a few times!” Old Meng Five was remarkably easy to provoke.

Unexpectedly, Xiong Bao got so worked up he nearly bounced right out of Meng Wanyue’s arms, pointing straight at Old Meng Five and shouting, “You’re lying! It was way more than a few times!”

“How dare you!” Old Meng Five snapped sharply. “Do you know where you are, that you’d dare act so outrageous here!”

As he spoke, he shot Ziqing a furious glare, the meaning plain enough—as the mother, she should hurry up and take her son away!

Unfortunately, Ziqing pretended not to understand at all. With the boy’s grandmother right there, she, as his mother, was more than happy to take a little break off to the side!

“Grandma, look, look how fierce he still is! Boo hoo…”

Xiong Bao was genuinely on the verge of tears, his eyes suddenly welling up, tears threatening to spill at any moment.

“Grandma, even with you here, he’s already this fierce—when you’re not around, he must be even… even… even more outrageous!”

Xiong Bao’s use of the word “outrageous” came out with remarkable naturalness.

Even the corner of Jun Beiyue’s mouth twitched slightly.

Of course, Meng Wanyue offered no opinion on the matter of “ownership of the Qiankun Poison Pouch” that Xiong Bao kept emphasizing. She kept shooting Old Meng Five meaningful looks, signaling him not to argue with a child.

But Old Meng Five was thoroughly worked up, unwilling to let it go, and unable to lose face either.

He said very earnestly, “Fourth Sister, this involves the child’s own parents being right here too. I admit I raised my voice a bit, but I was disciplining this child in my capacity as an elder. I wasn’t scolding him for no reason!”

“Alright, alright, he’s just a child who doesn’t understand things yet, don’t bother arguing with him, let it go,” Meng Wanyue coaxed, waving at Old Meng Five from behind Xiong Bao’s back, signaling him to sit back down and stop talking.

Old Meng Five, still deferential to his elder sister, let out a long breath and sat back down.

As for Meng Wanyue, she naturally turned her full attention to soothing Xiong Bao, adopting the same doting attitude as before, the very picture of a kindly old grandmother.

“There, there, sweetheart! Grandma’s out now, and from now on Grandma will take care of everything for you! Now stop fussing…”

“Oh, my precious darling, let’s calm down, calm down, don’t work yourself up. Look at how red your little face has gotten… it breaks Grandma’s heart to see!”

“Come here, let Grandma smooth it over, there, no more anger, okay?”

…

Soothed by Meng Wanyue, Xiong Bao did gradually settle down. Unfortunately, would he really give up so easily after all that fuss?

This was merely his halftime break.

He was secretly wondering to himself—why hadn’t Grandma said anything about the Qiankun Poison Pouch yet?

So, after a brief pause, Xiong Bao wrapped both hands around Meng Wanyue’s neck, his small body suddenly straightening up in an imitation of a grown-up, and asked in a very serious, loud voice, “Grandma, he says the Qiankun Poison Pouch isn’t mine, that it’s yours…”

His words trailed off there.

A flicker of panic crossed Meng Wanyue’s eyes, as if she had never expected this child to have such staying power, bringing up the Qiankun Poison Pouch yet again.

Meng Wanyue seemed momentarily distracted, and after a brief pause, Xiong Bao immediately adopted the pose of a little adult again, glaring and puffing out his cheeks. “I’m so mad, so mad! I love the Qiankun Poison Pouch so much, and he insists I’m stealing it from Grandma!”

Er… (Xiong Bao, could you possibly be any more shameless?)

What kind of logic was this?

This was pure bandit logic.

Even the corner of Ziqing’s mouth began to twitch. Heavens, how had her precious son turned out even more scheming than she and her husband combined?

Faced with such utterly illogical words from a small child, what could Meng Wanyue possibly say? As his doting grandmother, however reluctant she might be, all she could do was coax him along and nod. “Yes, yes, yes, Fifth Granduncle is a big bad villain! Let’s not pay him any mind.”

Even so, Meng Wanyue still avoided addressing the question of the pouch’s ownership directly.

At this, Xiong Bao was overjoyed. He immediately hugged Meng Wanyue tighter and said with a beaming smile, “I knew Grandma was the best, and loves Xiong Bao the most. The Qiankun Poison Pouch is Xiong Bao’s, right!?”

With things having gone this far, could Meng Wanyue possibly avoid answering?

If the adults present still hadn’t picked up on what was going on by now, they’d have to be complete fools.

Old Meng Five froze for a moment, as if suddenly realizing something, while Ziqing and the others struggled to hold back their laughter, careful not to undermine Xiong Bao’s scheme.

Even the neck Meng Wanyue was being hugged around went stiff, and though she couldn’t quite hide her awkwardness, she simply smiled and said nothing.

Smiling without answering—useless. Xiong Bao hadn’t just crawled out of the World of Poisonous Beasts yesterday.

He hugged Meng Wanyue tight, pouring on the cuteness, the flattery, the charm—using every trick in the book.

“Grandma! Tell me, is the Qiankun Poison Pouch Xiong Bao’s!”

“Grandma, you just said Xiong Bao is so amazing, so the Qiankun Poison Pouch is Xiong Bao’s, right, right!”

“Grandma, you said you love Xiong Bao the most, you just said that with you around, nothing’s scary…”

…

No one could tell what Meng Wanyue was feeling at that moment, but Old Meng Five was practically jumping with anxiety.

For one thing, Meng Wanyue had just presented herself as the very picture of kindness; for another, demanding the Qiankun Poison Pouch back at this delicate moment would absolutely ruin that image.

A trace of irritation flickered beneath Meng Wanyue’s eyes, but in the end, she spoke anyway. “It’s yours, of course it’s yours. Grandma guarded the Qiankun Poison Pouch for all those years—it can only belong to our most precious Xiong Bao!”

At these words, Xiong Bao was genuinely delighted. He immediately leaned in and planted a big, enthusiastic kiss right on Meng Wanyue’s cheek.

However, this kiss seemed to come with quite a price attached.

Because Xiong Bao still had one more, extremely crucial matter to bring up…